Zhao Yarong's words already carried a clear bias.
Even though Lu Bei and Xu Qingshuang graduated from the same school, Lu Bei's scores were simply in a completely different league from his current peers.
"Just like the auntie's daughter, I am also in the humanities track, with a total score of 684. Among them, my scores in all three main subjects were well over 130."
Lu Bei calmly recited his college entrance examination score.
Had it not been for his past behavior of being a hopelessly devoted simp—someone who would have made even the internet memes kneel in awe—he would have had an exceptionally bright future.
As a competitor, Xu Qingshuang looked utterly inadequate by comparison.
She had merely scraped past the undergraduate admission line by just over twenty points.
Consequently, a moment later, her fair little face flushed bright red.
She completely lacked the confidence to report her own score.
"I would like to ask the senior to tutor me."
Xiao Wanting said softly, placing her hand over her chest.
A gentle breeze swept past, lifting the hair beside her shoulder.
Her serene face wore a reassuring expression.
"Wait a minute, Lu Bei is a guy, and Miss Xiao is a girl. Is it really appropriate for him to be her private tutor?"
"Besides, as far as I know, Auntie...... you and Uncle are often away from home on weekends. Can you really feel at ease about this?"
Realizing she was about to be eliminated, Xu Qingshuang suddenly panicked.
She slammed her hand hard on the table, stood up, and challenged them.
At these words, Zhao Yarong's expression also grew somewhat unnatural.
Hiring a tutor of the opposite sex...... did indeed seem to carry certain risks.
"Um, is this senior worried that my senior and I won't have anyone to cook for us on the weekends? It's fine; don't let my appearance fool you, but I've actually been diligently working on my culinary skills."
"I definitely won't let the senior go hungry."
Xiao Wanting poked her own chin with her finger.
She tilted her little head with a slightly bewildered look.
Though she didn't look particularly clever, in Lu Bei's eyes at that moment, she appeared exceptionally cute, seemingly radiating a special kind of glow.
For instance...... the glow of maternal warmth, or something similar.
"I still trust Xiao Lu Bei's character. Such an honest kid is truly rare nowadays."
Seeing her daughter's expectant gaze, Zhao Yarong hesitated for a moment. Thinking of the rumors about Lu Bei she had heard before, she ultimately nodded and chose to support her daughter.
"Good grief, you blockhead Lu, you did this just to humiliate me, didn't you?"
Watching her hard-earned advantage instantly collapse, Xu Qingshuang stood up angrily and glared at Lu Bei.
It was as if she blamed Lu Bei for every single reason she had failed the application.
"When hiring a private tutor, what do you look at if not academic scores?"
Lu Bei looked at Xu Qingshuang with a puzzled expression.
Ever since he stopped being a simp, many of Xu Qingshuang's little tantrums and spoiled behaviors—which used to seem like quirks to his past self—now looked utterly unreasonable and absurd.
"I get it, you must have found out beforehand that I was looking for a tutoring job."
"Then you colluded with this family in advance and used this opportunity to humiliate me fiercely, hoping to catch my attention through this stunt. Are you out of your mind?!"
Xu Qingshuang made these completely baseless assumptions, pointing fiercely at Lu Bei.
Yet her self-righteous behavior, meant to argue for her own pride, only served to ruin her image further.
Zhao Yarong and Xiao Wanting both began to frown deeply as they looked at Xu Qingshuang.
What on earth was wrong with this person? Why was she so self-centered?
Did she think the sun stopped spinning just because she wasn't around?
"Alright, if you want to quarrel, please don't do it in someone else's house. Miss Xu Qingshuang, you are not suited to be Xiaoxiao's tutor. Could you please leave now?"
Watching Xu Qingshuang push things too far, Zhao Yarong clearly reached the limit of her patience.
She rebuked her with a slightly angry tone.
However, she never expected that this girl named Xu Qingshuang would be so utterly impolite.
Disregarding the host's face entirely, she turned and glared fiercely at Lu Bei.
"Lu Bei, it must have been so exhausting for you, going to such great lengths to set this up just to pull a stunt like this...... Seriously, are you a child?"
"But let me make it very clear to you: I don't like you, and I don't like this kind of nonsense."
"Hey, did you hear me? You are not allowed to pester me anymore from now on. We just happened to grow up together, and our relationship was never close enough for you to pull something like this."
With teary eyes, Xu Qingshuang kept accusing Lu Bei.
She was a girl who had always been pampered and put on a pedestal, yet possessed a fragile heart.
Yet now, losing face in front of so many people left her completely unable to accept it.
Because of this, she chose to resort to a tactic she had often used before...... elevating herself by belittling Lu Bei.
Xu Qingqing was truly such an arrogant yet deeply insecure girl!
As someone who wasn't particularly outstanding in anything other than her appearance, Xu Qingshuang had always lived in Lu Bei's shadow.
Academic scores, interpersonal relationships, competence in getting things done...... she fell short in every single one of them.
If there was anything she could boast about, it was merely the title of campus belle.
Yet Lu Bei didn't care about that at all; he liked her simply because she was his childhood sweetheart, because they had grown up together and shared a history of innocent affection.
This caused Xu Qingshuang to harbor a lingering, implicit sense of inferiority whenever she faced Lu Bei.
And emotions need an outlet and a point of explosion.
Belittling Lu Bei while elevating herself had become Xu Qingshuang's favorite trump card.
The first time she did it, the girl's heart had also felt a twinge of guilt and embarrassment toward Lu Bei.
Yet under Lu Bei's near-unconditional tolerance, Xu Qingshuang's subsequent behavior could only be described as escalating.
"Lu Bei, you understood what I said, right? I don't need to repeat myself, so stop pestering me!"
Puffing out her cheeks, Xu Qingshuang said angrily.
By this point, she had completely made up her mind.
Even if Lu Bei offered a sincere apology, she wouldn't talk to him for at least three months.
No, she wouldn't pay him any attention for a good half a year.
Xu Qingshuang's imagination of how things would go was quite rosy indeed.
Yet Lu Bei's reaction once again exceeded her expectations.
"Alright."
With a relieved smile, Lu Bei nodded.
Having completely wrapped all of this up, he felt as though a massive boulder had finally lifted from his heart.
"Wait, what did you just say? Did I hear you wrong? Don't be stubborn just because you refuse to face reality."
Xu Qingshuang froze instantly.
The color drained from her lips, and her lively eyes grew somewhat vacant and dull.
Within the span of a single day, she had crashed and burned yet again.
Unlike the anger she felt in the morning...... for some reason, at this moment, she suddenly developed a strong premonition.
It felt as though she had accidentally dropped and lost something precious.