"It's all your fault."
Yu Shanshan lowered her head slightly. Had she known this would happen, she wouldn't have hitched a ride.
"Is Old Hu really that scary?"
Lin Yi couldn't help laughing.
"Do you know Old Hu's nickname? Everyone in our class calls him 'Spitting Hu'."
Yu Shanshan was still a bit puzzled. Old Hu wasn't even her head teacher, so why would he look for her?
Could it be because of her and Lin Yi?
Well... aside from that, she couldn't think of anything else.
Soon, they reached the office.
"Report!" (x2)
"Come in."
Old Hu was the only one in the office. When Lin Yi pushed the door open, he was holding a thermos cup and drinking water.
The two of them walked up to Old Hu, and Lin Yi glanced at the wolfberries in the thermos, his mouth twitching slightly.
Middle-aged life gives you no choice, wolfberries in a thermos—Old Hu certainly knew a thing or two about preserving his health.
Yu Shanshan put her hands behind her back, pretending to be a good, obedient child.
"Look serious! You scored that terribly and you still have the nerve to smile."
Old Hu glared at Lin Yi.
Lin Yi wiped the smile off his face. With Yu Shanshan present, he didn't dare crack jokes with Old Hu like he usually did.
"Do you know why I called the two of you here?"
Old Hu put on a stern face and immediately began applying pressure.
The two of them spoke in unison: "I know." / "I don't know."
"Lin Yi, you speak first."
"I didn't perform well in the morning exam."
Lin Yi had truly done his best, but his foundation was too poor and time was limited—66 points was his genuine level right now.
"And?"
Old Hu remained noncommittal. He had heard his share of gossip among the students.
Based on Lin Yi's past grades, passing should have been no problem at all, yet he actually scored a 66 this time?
Could this kid really be involved with Yu Shanshan...
He had originally planned to discipline Lin Yi a little, but Yu Shanshan had happened to walk right into the line of fire, so he called them both in together.
"Nothing else?"
"Are you sure? Then how come I heard that the two of you have been acting a bit abnormal lately?"
Old Hu's gaze swept across their faces. Even though Yu Shanshan wasn't his student, what needed to be said had to be said.
Yu Shanshan bit her lower lip. See? She had guessed right.
"Yu Shanshan, your head teacher has told me more than once that you're actually quite smart, but you just don't apply your mind to the right things."
Old Hu weighed his phrasing. After all, she was a girl, and he couldn't be too harsh, otherwise what would he do if she started crying in a moment?
"And you, big as you are, scoring such a low mark—I'm embarrassed for you."
Old Hu certainly wasn't nearly as polite with Lin Yi.
"The college entrance exams are right around the corner. Time is tight, which means you need to put your mind into your studies even more.
Make sure you don't give yourself cause for regret. I don't care whether there's anything going on between the two of you or not, but you must watch your influence while you're at school, you hear me?
If I catch you two dating behind my back, don't blame me for being harsh."
Having been a head teacher for so many years, what kind of students hadn't Old Hu seen?
Whether the rumors were true or false, once he spotted such a sign, he had to nip it in the bud, and he didn't mind playing the bad guy.
"Teacher Hu, I understand."
Yu Shanshan lowered her head, looking as obedient as a little white rabbit.
"Alright, you can go back first."
"Goodbye, Teacher Hu."
As Yu Shanshan reached the office door, she didn't forget to turn back and stick her tongue out at Lin Yi.
"Old Hu, there really is nothing between her and me."
"Then how do you explain your score this time?"
"..."
Lin Yi still felt rather helpless.
"The college entrance exams are coming up soon, so everything must take second place to them. Your grades are already a bit shaky to begin with, Lin Yi. I'm not joking with you—if you dare cause me any trouble at a critical juncture like this, I'll have your mother take you back home to raise pigs."
Old Hu said irritably.
"I want to sign up for a tutoring class. Do you know anyone?"
Lin Yi couldn't be bothered to explain further. Having been a head teacher for so many years, Old Hu should know quite a few people, and someone he recommended would definitely be more reliable than outside places.
"I'll give you a phone number, contact him yourself, and just say you're my student."
Old Hu's expression softened a fraction. Willingness to study was a good sign; as the saying goes, even sharpening your weapon at the last minute makes it brighter.
He had always opposed the school's decision to cancel evening self-study classes, but unfortunately, his voice carried little weight.
Stepping out of the office, Lin Yi didn't see Yu Shanshan anywhere. It wasn't until he walked out of the school gates that he spotted her standing not far away.
"I thought you had already left."
It seemed Yu Shanshan was still somewhat afraid of Old Hu, having fled all the way to the school gates.
Then again, there really weren't many seniors who dared to disregard Old Hu.
"Someone must have snitched on us."
Yu Shanshan hopped onto the back seat, her little hands tightly gripping Lin Yi's school uniform.
"Who would be that bored?"
Lin Yi didn't think so. Lately, he and Yu Shanshan had been walking rather close, so it was inevitable that some gossip would reach Old Hu's ears.
"Jiang Manni, of course. She loves snitching the most."
After coming out of the office, Yu Shanshan thought about it carefully—given Jiang Manni's character, she really was capable of doing something like that.
"Let's be more careful from now on. After all, the college entrance exams are almost here."
Lin Yi felt Old Hu was right; with the exams so close, affecting others really wasn't a good idea.
"You aren't trying to back out of this, are you? If you dare go back on your word, I'll tell Old Hu you're chasing after me."
Yu Shanshan poked her finger against Lin Yi's back. Careful it is, then—at the very least, they could stay further apart.
"..."
Lin Yi was left somewhat speechless. Old Hu was right—Yu Shanshan really was quite smart, she just didn't use it in the right places.
After dropping Yu Shanshan off at her residential complex's entrance, Lin Yi found the phone number Old Hu had given him and dialed it directly.
After hanging up, he set off again on his electric scooter. The sun hadn't set yet, and he wanted to go take a look at the tutoring center.
The tutoring center was located in an office building quite close to home. Lin Yi went up to the second floor and saw a middle-aged man wearing glasses.
"You're the one who contacted me just now, right?"
The man stepped forward with a smile.
"Yes, I'm Teacher Hu's student."
"I've already called Old Hu, and he told me all about your situation. Let me show you around first, you can just call me Teacher Wang."
Teacher Wang was quite enthusiastic, leading Lin Yi around on a tour of the facilities.
"We just started a math sprint class. If you have time, you can sit in on it for a bit later. It doesn't matter whether you enroll or not; Old Hu and I have known each other for over ten years, so I certainly won't rip you off."
"That's great."
Lin Yi didn't refuse.
When he got home, it was already past nine o'clock. Lin Yi gave his mother a voice call and told her about the tutoring class.
Bai Xiuning was quite pleased and directly sent her son a large red packet with the note: "Eat on time."
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
When you have a goal and work hard toward it, you truly feel a sense of fulfillment.
Lin Yi went to school during the day, attended the tutoring class at night, and even spent his weekends at the tutoring center. To sum it all up in one word: exhausting.
The study atmosphere at the tutoring center was very good, which wasn't hard to understand—anyone who came here definitely wasn't willing to just give up and lie flat.
After a week of burying himself in his studies, dark circles had formed under his eyes. So be it; there was still half a month left, and once he got through it, he'd be free.
That evening, as soon as Yu Shanshan arrived home, she noticed that Jiang Xiufang's expression looked somewhat off.
Her very first reaction was: Oh no, something big has happened.