Clack, clack, clack—
Yu Shanshan kicked a pebble on the ground far away. Actually, she had really wanted to explain herself to Lin Yi just now, but upon second thought, she figured there was no need since it was only their first day meeting.
Yet, Lin Yi had bought her a treat at noon.
Yu Shanshan was still quite conflicted. Because of her appearance, she practically had no male friends, and most guys who approached her had some kind of motive.
Throughout their interactions today, however, Lin Yi hadn't given her that vibe at all. Anyway, it felt quite rare.
Her reason for approaching Lin Yi had indeed been to get back at Jiang Manni, but upon closer reflection, doing that really wasn't very nice.
"You say the two of them treated me like a pawn, but aren't you doing the exact same thing?"
Yu Shanshan bit her lip. *Who would've thought Lin Yi could be so smart?*
Clack, clack, clack—
Thud—
"Huh?"
Old Hu pushed his bicycle, looking in bewilderment at Yu Shanshan behind him.
"Teacher Hu, I'm sorry."
Yu Shanshan looked like she was about to cry.
"Do try to be more mindful."
Old Hu didn't dwell on it, pushing his bicycle away.
Yu Shanshan let out a sigh of relief. Should she apologize to Lin Yi, after all?
……
When Lin Yi arrived home, neither of his parents was there. They probably wouldn't be back tonight either. The furnishings at home were just as he remembered them, seemingly unchanged.
As one of the city's well-known large-scale pig farmers, his family was quite well off. The only downside was that his parents were usually too busy; being able to come home once a week was already pretty good.
Lin Yi took a bag of frozen dumplings from the fridge. After eating them, he started working on test papers. A little past eight o'clock, he received a message from Jiang Manni.
"Why did you have to be like that?"
Lin Yi glanced at his phone, then set it down. He couldn't even be bothered to reply.
"Why aren't you replying to me?"
Before long, another message came in from Jiang Manni.
Lin Yi felt a slight urge to delete her, but considering the relationship between their families, he held back: *Studying, please do not disturb.*
Upon seeing the message, Jiang Manni froze instantly. Why was Lin Yi being so cold?
The two of them had grown up together, and Lin Yi had always taken good care of her, never acting so aloof toward her before. Could Yu Shanshan have said something to him?
Thinking of that afternoon's P.E. class, Jiang Manni suddenly had a bad feeling and hurriedly picked up her phone to send Lin Yi a voice message.
"Did Yu Shanshan say something to you?"
Soon, she received Lin Yi's reply: *You're so annoying.*
"......"
Jiang Manni doubted her own eyes. Lin Yi actually said she was annoying?
After sending the reply, Lin Yi switched his phone to silent.
As for Jiang Manni's actions in his past life, he wouldn't pass judgment on them.
The only thing he wanted to do was to become a better version of himself.
When the car accident struck, his mind had been filled with guilt toward his parents and regret for not having had the time to experience more of the world's wonders.
Life is short; if people aren't of the same kind, they shouldn't force themselves together.
Everyone has their own karma; refusing to interfere or get involved is the ultimate form of self-redemption.
For Lin Yi, mathematics was truly difficult. Even though he racked his brains, what he didn't understand remained stubbornly incomprehensible.
Just past nine in the evening, Lin Yi went to take a shower. His head was spinning.
Bzz—
The phone resting on the desk vibrated gently.
Five minutes passed.
Ten minutes passed.
Yu Shanshan yawned. Why wasn't Lin Yi replying? Could he actually be mad?
She had already apologized.
Could he be asleep?
Yu Shanshan hesitated over whether to call Lin Yi via voice chat, but wouldn't that make her seem too forward?
Yet, she was indeed the one in the wrong first.
She had pondered for a long time after getting home before mustering the courage to apologize to Lin Yi. If she hadn't been agonizing over this, she would have gone to sleep long ago.
Judging by today's interaction, Lin Yi was actually a pretty decent guy. *Oh well, whatever!*
Yu Shanshan directly placed a voice call.
When the call came through, Lin Yi had just finished his shower. Picking up his phone, he saw it was actually Yu Shanshan.
"Hehe~ Did you see the message I sent?"
Yu Shanshan's voice was soft and sweet; since she was apologizing, she naturally had to put on an apologetic attitude.
"I was taking a shower just now."
Lin Yi said this while wiping his hair. While looking in the mirror earlier, he had been considering whether to change his hairstyle. His current hair was utterly abysmal, completely unworthy of his good looks.
*Never mind, I'll deal with it over the weekend.*
"Oh, then hurry up and read it, and make sure you reply after you do."
With that, Yu Shanshan hung up the voice call.
Lin Yi opened their chat window.
"Jiang Manni went to snitch on me this morning and got me punished to stand, which is why I used you to piss her off. I'm sorry, you aren't a pawn???o????·?o????????"
The corners of Lin Yi's mouth curved upward involuntarily, and he quickly replied: *Got it.*
Before he could even put his phone down, another message from Yu Shanshan arrived.
"Then you're not allowed to be mad."
"I'm not mad."
"It's not the first time Jiang Manni has targeted me. If I don't get back at her, she'll definitely keep pushing it."
"Oh, I need to study now. We can chat when I have time."
"If there's anything you don't know, you can ask me o(*^▽^*)┛"
Lin Yi couldn't help but smile. In his memory, Yu Shanshan's grades didn't seem to be very good.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course (????)"
"Then how do you solve this problem?"
Lin Yi snapped a photo and sent it directly.
"Hold on, brain is running at full speed～"
Yu Shanshan stared at the picture for a long time without figuring out what was going on, so she had no choice but to post it in the class group chat.
"Does anyone know how to do this problem? Are there any math geniuses out there?"
Suddenly, the class group chat exploded like a boiling pot.
Soon, Yu Shanshan received several pictures. She picked the one from the student with the best grades and forwarded it straight to Lin Yi.
*Hehe, she was definitely going to pull off this flex.*
Receiving the image, Lin Yi was still somewhat surprised. Was Yu Shanshan really this formidable?
"Praise me T^T"
"You're amazing. I still have a few more problems I don't know how to do."
"Hmph, send them right over."
At 11:00 PM, Yu Shanshan went to sleep fully satisfied, while Lin Yi continued his arduous battle until nearly 1:00 AM before resting.
He didn't sleep well that night; he had dreams.
Differentials, geometry, and polynomials took turns chasing him around, hunting him all night long.
At 6:50, the alarm went off.
He walked out the front door right at 7:00. Lin Yi went downstairs to wheel out his electric scooter. For the coming month, he planned to ride the electric scooter to school.
This not only saved time but was also much more convenient.
At the entrance of the residential complex, Jiang Manni kept craning her neck looking around, until she caught sight of Qiyue, and a smile blossomed on her face.
Sunshine spilled across Qiyue's face, casting a halo over his features. His handsome facial contours were as dazzling as the male protagonist stepping out of a manga.
The only minor flaw was that he was a bit on the short side.
"Let's go."
Jiang Manni quietly hooked her finger into Qiyue's.
"Aren't we waiting for Lin Yi?"
Qiyue's pace didn't falter in the slightest.
"Nope, not waiting."
A flash crossed Jiang Manni's eyes. She was going to use her actions to tell Lin Yi that she was angry.