"Lin Xuan, did you see my message? Why aren't you replying?"
Yu Jiaxin finished typing her message and hit send.
If Lin Xuan didn't reply to her, she felt like she wouldn't be able to sleep at all tonight!
Lin Xuan stared in surprise at the message Yu Jiaxin had sent.
He really hadn't expected her to have so much to say, and even ask why he hadn't replied.
When he used to send countless messages to her in the past, he never saw her reply with more than a few words.
Did he really have to reply every time she sent something? How ridiculous.
Lin Xuan sent a single question mark back, then ignored her.
"Ding."
The message notification sounded. Was it a reply from Lin Xuan? Full of anticipation and a touch of nervousness, Yu Jiaxin tapped open the message.
There were no extra words, no cute emojis—just a cold, single question mark.
It seemed he wasn't even willing to type one extra character.
Seeing the message, Yu Jiaxin instantly felt a rush of blood to her head and furiously hurled her phone onto the bed.
Who does he think he is?! She had clearly given him an out, and yet he sends a question mark back! Ever since she was a little girl, every guy had revolved around her. When had she ever been treated with such disrespect?
Fine, if he won't reply, then he won't! She would never pay attention to him again! He was nothing more than a loser—what right did he have to be worth her concern?
Yu Jiaxin told herself, comforting the thought with the fact that among her many admirers, there were plenty of guys far better than Lin Xuan!
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, someone knocked on Lin Xuan's door.
"Who is it, coming to knock on the door this early in the morning? Xuanxuan, go open the door! Grandpa is in the bathroom!"
Lin Changshan shouted from inside the bathroom toward Lin Xuan's bedroom.
"Got it!"
Lin Xuan immediately scrambled up, got dressed, and checked the time. It was only a little past 6:00 AM! Who on earth would come knocking this early?
Opening the door, a familiar face appeared before Lin Xuan. It was none other than Zhao Tianxiang, holding a bag of steamed buns.
"I must say, you sure drag your feet when it comes to opening a door. Don't tell me you weren't even awake yet!"
Zhao Tianxiang asked Lin Xuan.
"Do me a favor, big bro, who gets up at 6:00 AM?"
Lin Xuan rubbed his bleary eyes and said.
"I get up at 6:00 every day to read. Didn't we agree yesterday that I'd tutor you this morning? Did you forget?"
Lin Xuan looked Zhao Tianxiang up and down, then asked suspiciously:
"You brat, do you really get up this early every single day?"
"Yeah. Usually, I get up at 6:00, read for two hours, and then it's pretty much time for class."
...
No wonder this kid's grades were so good. He woke up to study at 6:00 AM—it would be a miracle if he didn't do well!
"All right, let me in first! I brought you guys breakfast!"
Zhao Tianxiang was quite thoughtful, knowing they definitely wouldn't have had time to make breakfast this early.
"Xuanxuan, who's there?"
"It's me, Grandpa Lin, Tianxiang!"
"Oh, you're here to help Xuanxuan with his studies! Coming over this early, I appreciate the hard work."
Lin Changshan had just walked out from the back and said to Zhao Tianxiang.
"It's nothing, Lin Xuan and I are good brothers, helping him study is the right thing to do. Oh, right, Grandpa, I brought breakfast for you both—hurry up and eat it while it's hot!"
Lin Xuan took the steamed buns from Zhao Tianxiang's hand and popped one straight into his mouth.
The flavor wasn't bad at all—pork and cabbage filling.
He pulled out another one, and handed the rest to Lin Changshan.
"Grandpa, you eat first. Zhao Tianxiang and I are going back to the room to study!"
"Alright, go ahead. Don't work too hard—you need a balance of work and rest when studying."
"Got it, Grandpa, don't you worry!"
With that, the two of them went back into the bedroom.
Zhao Tianxiang had agreed with Lin Xuan yesterday to start by tutoring him in math.
"Let's start reviewing from the first-year high school math material..."
With that, Zhao Tianxiang took out his notebook, which was filled with many important key points, and began explaining while comparing it to the first-year math textbook.
Lin Xuan listened attentively. Zhao Tianxiang explained concepts and gave Lin Xuan problems to solve, and whenever Lin Xuan got stuck, Zhao Tianxiang continued explaining.
The entire morning passed quickly, and before they knew it, it was close to 11:00 AM.
"I've been explaining things to you all morning, I'm exhausted! You're paying for my internet fees this afternoon, got it?"
Zhao Tianxiang stretched lazily and said.
"No problem, piece of cake!"
"Though I didn't expect you to pick up the studying so fast. I even thought I was moving a bit too quickly, but in just one morning we got through nearly half of the first-year math textbook."
Zhao Tianxiang discovered that Lin Xuan actually had a real talent for studying. Once he explained a problem-solving approach just once, Lin Xuan could quickly solve similar problems on his own.
In reality, most math problems relied on fixed algorithmic logic; the only variable was one's own brain, figuring out how to apply methods to work through the algorithms and solve the problems.
In the past, Lin Xuan's mind wasn't on studying at all, so naturally listening to lectures was in one ear and out the other. But now he was different—he was studying with an urgent desire to learn, and coupled with Zhao Tianxiang's careful guidance, his progress was naturally lightning-fast.
"Fast? Feels alright to me."
"Don't be so modest. If I had to learn at your speed, I definitely couldn't keep up. If you put in a little effort, kid, you've definitely got a shot at getting into a key university!"
"For real?"
"Trust me, you can't go wrong!"
"We'll focus on math for these first two weeks, and once we get math sorted out, we'll move on to English, Chinese, physics..."
"Sure, no problem!"
There were currently three months left until the college entrance examination. He didn't know if there was still enough time, but he would just give it his absolute best. That way, at least he wouldn't have any regrets, Lin Xuan thought to himself.
The two weekend days passed quickly. Over the weekend, Zhao Tianxiang had already helped Lin Xuan review all of the first-year math, and this week he planned to use the school days to help him review the second- and third-year math as well.
Time felt a bit tight, so Lin Xuan decided that, just like Zhao Tianxiang, he would get up at 6:00 AM and head to the classroom early. That way, he could squeeze out an extra two hours every day to dedicate to his studies.
On Monday, Lin Xuan arrived at school early, intending to buy breakfast at the entrance and eat it in the classroom.
"Boss, I'll take..."
"I know you, two orders of steamed buns with a bowl of millet porridge and an egg, right?!"
"Got it packed for you, 20 yuan total, thanks!"
The owner of the breakfast stall at the school gate had long since recognized Lin Xuan. Every morning he would come here to buy two breakfast sets—one for himself, and one rumored to be for the school belle.
This was something the breakfast stall owner had once overheard students talking about. Lin Xuan was referred to by his schoolmates as the ultimate simp.
"Young man, seeing you keep this up for three years, I've got to hand it to you—you're something else! But as someone who's been around the block, let me give you some advice: if you can't win her over, just let it go! It sounds terrible when everyone calls you a simp!"
The breakfast stall owner said.
...
Lin Xuan was left speechless after hearing that...
Looking at the breakfast shoved into his hand, Lin Xuan couldn't be bothered to explain. He handed the money to the boss and walked into the school carrying his breakfast.
Inside the classroom.
Yu Jiaxin had arrived quite early today. Including the weekend, Lin Xuan hadn't paid any attention to her for three whole days!
Last time she had secretly vowed to herself never to pay attention to Lin Xuan again, but not long after, she found herself hoping that Lin Xuan would reach out to her.
Coming in so early today was also so she could catch sight of Lin Xuan a bit sooner.
In the past, whenever she rejected Lin Xuan's confessions, it took him at most three days before he came back to pursue her again. This time probably wouldn't be an exception either, right?