Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A warning, then.

My heart brimming with malice, I dug out an old English newspaper I no longer used.

Then I cut the letters out one by one:

“Don’t smile at anyone.”

“I’m watching you.”

I glued the letters onto a blank sheet of paper.

Then, while no one was looking, I secretly slipped it into Xie Yu’s textbook.

Tomorrow.

I thought, pleasantly.

What kind of face would he make tomorrow?

The next day, when I arrived in the classroom, Xie Yu was already in his seat.

No frown. No looking around. Nothing out of the ordinary.

He was as calm and composed as ever.

Then he looked up, saw me, and smiled. “Good morning, Xiaocui.”

“Good morning.” I sat down.

Strange.

Had he not seen it?

Or had he seen it and was pretending nothing had happened?

Or-did he simply not care?

The third period that morning was PE, with free activity time.

I saw a girl walk up to Xie Yu. I didn’t know what she said.

When she smiled, she looked sweet. Very cute.

But after Xie Yu listened to her, he shook his head. “Sorry, today isn’t really convenient.”

The girl looked a little disappointed, but she still smiled and said, “Maybe next time, then,” before leaving.

He never used to refuse people.

Xie Yu was the kind of person with impeccable manners.

I lowered my eyes.

A strange sense of satisfaction suddenly welled up inside me.

So obedient.

The corners of my mouth lifted before I could stop them.

Sure enough, after being warned, he had behaved.

My desire for control was satisfied.

Like bread swelling in the heat of an oven, rising until it overflowed the paper cup.

-Once again, I confirmed that I really was a pervert.

Winter break arrived very quickly.

The college entrance exam was next semester, but the students at this elite school didn’t seem nervous at all. They slacked off in class as usual and chatted after class as usual.

After all, no matter how they did on the exam, their families’ connections would always pave a road for them.

I was different.

Fortunately, the heavens had given me an especially useful brain.

On the day final exam scores came out, I was still first in the grade.

Nearly thirty points ahead of second place.

Xie Yu was second in our class, though he ranked a few places lower in the grade overall.

That afternoon, when the semester ended,

Xie Yu turned his head to look at me, his amber eyes filled with sincerity.

“Xiaocui, when you have time during winter break, can I ask you questions?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Then can I add you on WeChat?”

I successfully added Xie Yu on WeChat.

His Moments were very clean.

Completely blank, set to show only the past month.

But there was nothing there.

All I could do was open his background image again and again, zooming in and out.

The days of winter break passed very slowly.

My uncle didn’t come home much, either.

Part-time work. Practice questions.

Occasionally, Xie Yu would message me.

He’d ask about a few problems.

Then the conversation would turn into casual chatting.

Every now and then, he would send a few photos.

The sky.

Books.

A kitten.

One of them was a night view.

I zoomed in and looked closely. In the reflection on the marble countertop, I could see a figure.

A blurry upper body.

Still wearing an open bathrobe.

I couldn’t see it very clearly.

Instead, it had the beauty of a pipa half-hidden in a woman’s arms.

I immediately long-pressed and saved it.

The next second, a system notice appeared: “The other party has recalled a message.”

About half a minute later,

he sent another message:

-Sent the wrong thing (>﹏.)

-[Image]

It had turned into a math problem.

I also pretended I hadn’t seen anything.

And sent him the solution steps.