Inside the classroom of Class 27, Senior Three.
"It's true. Li Lili, Zhong Xiaoling, and I all saw it."
"That car must have cost well over a million, right? What does Xu Lai's family do for a living to be so loaded?"
"Who knows... But right before he got into the car, he even smiled at our class belle, haha."
...
Several female students were whispering and gossiping. The class belle they were referring to was Li Lili—at least now, with Lin Ruoruo hiding her face behind a curtain of long hair, Li Lili was the undisputed belle of the class.
Right at that moment, class monitor Zhao Kai walked over carrying a cup of milk tea, intending to give it to Li Lili.
Having been in the same class as Li Lili since their first year of high school, Zhao Kai had harbored secret feelings for the class belle for a long time.
Hearing the girls' discussion, a strange expression flashed across his eyes, filled with resentment, anger, and a mix of other emotions.
He quickly collected himself, however, and walked toward Li Lili with a beaming smile.
"Lili, I bought you some milk tea."
Li Lili looked at the milk tea Zhao Kai was handing over, but instead of taking it, she turned to him and said seriously, "Zhao Kai, can't you put this kind of effort into your studies?"
Seeing that Zhao Kai had no intention of leaving, she added, "Drink it yourself. I need to study, so please don't disturb me."
Hearing this, Zhao Kai still looked at Li Lili with a smile. "Have a taste, Lili. It's a new flavor from the milk tea shop outside the school gates."
"Some people really have no shame. She's rejected you so clearly, and you're still standing here." At that moment, Zhang Xiaobei, who was sitting nearby and browsing short videos on Xulin Audiovisual, chimed in with a taunt.
Zhang Xiaobei was one of those students in the class who didn't care much for studying. However, because he had a decent academic foundation, his grades remained around the middle of the pack. Every time Zhao Kai came over to bring things to Li Lili, Zhang Xiaobei would make sarcastic remarks.
Glancing at Zhang Xiaobei next to them, Zhao Kai felt a surge of anger. "Zhang Xiaobei, why are you everywhere? Nobody's going to think you're mute if you don't speak."
Zhang Xiaobei wasn't one to take abuse lying down. "I'm just stating facts. Didn't you see that Lili doesn't even want to bother with you? What kind of big shot are you trying to act like here?" With that, he stood up, ready for a direct confrontation with Zhao Kai.
"You two are enough. Will you ever finish?" Li Lili spoke up, cutting them off.
Hearing Li Lili speak, Zhang Xiaobei flashed her a cheeky grin, demonstrating a 180-degree change in expression, before sitting back down in his seat. "Indeed, there's no need to lower myself to the level of such people. If you're so capable, why don't you learn from that Xulin Group and donate a teaching building to our No. 1 High School?"
What Zhang Xiaobei mentioned was precisely the video content he had just scrolled past on Xulin Audiovisual.
Xulin Group had donated 50 million yuan to Jiangcheng No. 1 High School to be used for expanding and renovating the campus library.
Hearing Zhang Xiaobei's words, Zhao Kai's face darkened with frustration and speechlessness. He wanted to retort, but fearing Li Lili's displeasure, he angrily retreated to his seat, a vengeful look flashing in his eyes.
Li Lili, standing nearby, also rolled her eyes at Zhang Xiaobei. "Zhang Xiaobei, how come I've noticed your mouth getting more and more obnoxious lately?"
"No way." Zhang Xiaobei hastily denied it, then lowered his voice to ask Li Lili, "Li Lili, is what Zhong Xiaoling and the others said true?"
Prompted by Zhang Xiaobei's question, Li Lili's urge to share some juicy gossip was instantly ignited. "It is! And what's more, there was this middle-aged guy bowing and scraping to him."
"So impressive? Then tell me, if his grades are so good and his family is so rich, why did he suddenly move from Jinling to Jiangcheng, and end up in our ordinary class?"
Hearing Zhang Xiaobei's question, a sharp glint flashed in Li Lili's eyes. She turned her head to scan the room, first looking in the direction of Xu Ke's desk, and then toward the seats of Xu Lai and Lin Ruoruo.
Turning back around, she let out a string of giggles, as if she had discovered some earth-shattering secret.
"What are you laughing at?" Zhang Xiaobei asked.
"Don't go prying. Knowing too much won't do you any good." Changing the subject, Li Lili didn't answer Zhang Xiaobei directly, but instead teased him.
"Tsk, if you won't tell me, fine."
...
At that very moment, Lin Ruoruo walked into the classroom, which immediately caught Li Lili's attention. She watched Lin Ruoruo's figure, as if hoping to see something else trailing behind her.
Just as she was feeling disappointed and preparing to lower her head to do her homework, that figure appeared—it was Xu Lai.
Seeing this, Li Lili smiled, feeling as though a huge, sweet melon had dropped straight from the sky, enough to keep her entertained for half a year.
And Li Lili's smile the moment Xu Lai walked into the classroom was caught entirely by Zhao Kai, who was sitting diagonally behind her. Naturally, Zhao Kai completely misinterpreted Li Lili's mood at that moment.
...
Lin Ruoruo walked back to her seat and took out the math test paper from the previous day's exam, wanting to review the incorrect answers.
Looking at the test paper with a score of only 92, Xu Lai made up his mind: he was going to help Lin Ruoruo improve her grades.
It had been nearly two weeks since he transferred to Jiangcheng No. 1 High School. Although there hadn't been any unified exams, over the past week, teachers of various subjects had successively organized pop quizzes.
Looking at Lin Ruoruo's scores, her total across all subjects didn't even reach 500 points.
Actually, Xu Lai could more or less guess the reason. While high school academic pressures were mounting, Lin Ruoruo's mother's health was deteriorating day by day. This forced Lin Ruoruo to spend a massive amount of energy taking care of her mother, leaving her with no time to finish much of her homework, let alone review the day's lessons when she got home.
Over time, Lin Ruoruo's grades had been steadily declining. Fortunately, her academic foundation was solid. Xu Lai believed that with his one-on-one guidance and another semester's time, he could definitely help Lin Ruoruo elevate her grades by several notches.
For Xu Lai, whether it was to help Lin Ruoruo snap out of her current state or to boost her grades, the first step had to be changing her overly introverted and insecure personality in crowds—ensuring at the very least that she could communicate normally in any environment.
While Xu Lai was staring blankly at Lin Ruoruo, a pair of eyes in the front row would occasionally glance over at Xu Lai and Lin Ruoruo.
At the same time, another pair of eyes on the left side of the classroom was watching every move in the front row.
It was truly a case of matryoshka dolls within dolls.
"Ruoruo, have you ever thought about which university you want to attend?" Xu Lai asked.
Hearing this, Lin Ruoruo gently shook her head. "I... I haven't thought about it."
She didn't even dare to think about it. With her mother in poor health and herself having practically no time to study every day, she'd consider herself lucky just to get into a tier-two university with her current grades.
"There are still several months left. How about we work hard together?" Xu Lai looked at Lin Ruoruo with a gentle smile.
Looking at Xu Lai's serious expression, which didn't seem like he was joking, Lin Ruoruo couldn't help feeling doubtful inside.
"Do I really still have a chance to work hard?"
Seeing Lin Ruoruo lost in thought, Xu Lai smiled faintly and said, "I can tutor you. Do you trust me?"
Lin Ruoruo blinked her large eyes and nodded innocently. "I do trust you."
For some reason, even though this was a boy she hadn't seen in over a decade, and it hadn't even been half a month since they reunited, she felt as though he had always been right by her side, and she believed his words implicitly.
"B... but I don't have any money."
Hearing this, Xu Lai couldn't help wearing a complicated expression, feeling a pang of heartache.
"I won't charge you anything for tutoring."
Lin Ruoruo shook her head again. "How can that be? I can't take up your time for nothing."
Xu Lai rolled his eyes playfully and then said, "You can compensate me in other ways."
With a smile on his face, he looked at Lin Ruoruo and said, "Just like when we were kids—if I eat your snacks, you pinch my cheeks."
Lin Ruoruo bit her lip. "T... then if you tutor me, I'll let you pinch my cheeks too."
As she spoke, her face flushed slightly. "B... but it has to be when nobody else is around, okay?"
He had originally just wanted to make a joke to tease Lin Ruoruo, never expecting that she would actually agree.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
Looking at Lin Ruoruo's adorable and naive expression, Xu Lai's gaze grew somewhat burning.
Feeling Xu Lai's gaze, Lin Ruoruo's already slightly flushed cheeks turned even redder, resembling cherry blossoms.
...
Time flew by. After school, Xu Lai accompanied Lin Ruoruo to the school gates as usual. Once they stepped outside and said their goodbyes, the sturdy-looking woman stepped in to take over.
Standing at the school gates, Xu Lai watched Lin Ruoruo walk gradually into the dark alley, feeling a twinge of sorrow.
"Brother, you're treating your future sister-in-law so well—does she even know?" Xu Ke's voice suddenly came from behind him.