Just want to have a falling out with your father
After explaining everything clearly, Qiao Yu felt refreshed and invigorated. She confidently led Lin Qing back, striding forward with great vigor. But after taking just a few steps, she saw Cong Ye sneaking around, looking suspicious. Immediately, she began to reproach him, not holding back.
Cong Ye was initially unconvinced, but it wasn’t until Lin Qing spoke gently and explained things to him that he finally believed Qiao Yu truly had no intention of bullying her.
After this whole ordeal, lunch break was almost over. The three of them walked back while carrying their books. Qiao Yu didn’t learn anything during the entire afternoon, and she unjustly suffered. Her face drooped down in disappointment.
“You just want to have a falling out with your father.”
“If I fail my monthly exam, it will be because I couldn’t study properly this afternoon. So, Cong Ye, you’ll have to make up the lessons for me.”
She grumbled impatiently, and Cong Ye knew he couldn’t argue back. Among the three, only Lin Qing was in a good mood, so she reached out and gently patted Qiao Yu’s hand, smoothing her hair.
“Alright, don’t be angry. We’ll come back tonight.”
Her soft voice, like a clear spring washing away stones, extinguished Qiao Yu’s anger. She hadn’t forgotten to do Lin Qing a favor either, giving Cong Ye a stern glare. “Did you hear that, Cong Ye? Today, if it weren’t for Lin Qing’s plea, I wouldn’t let this go!”
Cong Ye wore a pained expression as he nodded and thanked Lin Qing. She responded with a gentle smile, “You’re also looking out for me. Both Qiao Yu and I know that.”
Qiao Yu and I?
Cong Ye felt a stir in his heart, sensing that Qiao Yu’s words seemed to imply a distinction in their relationship.
It seemed that Lin Qing and Qiao Yu truly had a close bond. He realized that he had been meddling where he shouldn’t have. He thought about how he had caused trouble for them and gave her an apologetic smile.
Although Qiao Yu had deviated from the original plot, she was still dedicated to her role. Her material radar buzzed and quickly recorded in her mind: “Month X, Day X, Cong Ye and Lin Qing exchanged smiles in the corridor.”
This was truly a memorable first. Qiao Yu sighed with relief—Cong Ye had grown a little more. She used to think he had a perpetual smirk of mockery.
After an unlucky lunch break, there was finally something positive. Qiao Yu happily returned to the classroom and attended the afternoon classes, half-understanding what was being taught, eagerly waiting for Lin Qing to enlighten her after school.
“Ha…”
Qiao Yu stood in the self-study room, her face filled with confusion.
In front of her were three tables set up by Cong Ye during lunchtime. Cong Ye was sitting in his usual spot, blinking innocently at her.
She looked at Lin Qing, who had the same bewildered expression, not knowing what ideas were swirling in Cong Ye’s head. Weary, she asked him, “What are you up to now?”
“Isn’t it because I made a mistake at lunchtime?”
Cong Ye burst into laughter and pulled out his notebooks for each subject from his backpack.
“I was thinking, maybe I can also help you with tutoring as a way to make amends. Teaching together will surely be more effective than just one person teaching, right?”
… Qiao Yu really didn’t understand why he was so determined to study with the two of them. But his proactive request to join was quite rare. What if he had developed feelings for Lin Qing’s beauty? Wouldn’t that be a great thing?
So, after getting Lin Qing’s consent, the three of them sat neatly in a row.
This time, there was no awkwardness like during lunch. The three of them got along harmoniously. Qiao Yu was deeply moved by the guidance she received. In the gaps between solving problems, she even found some time to chat with the system, wondering if it was not ideal for her to sit in the middle.
“… It’s rare that they can review together, but they haven’t communicated at all while I’m in the middle.”
“That may be true, but both the male and female leads are technically here to tutor the host. It would be even stranger if the host didn’t sit in the middle.”
That makes sense. Qiao Yu stopped writing and pondered. What if she found an excuse to leave and create an opportunity for them?
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“What about the host’s tutoring?”
“…”
Oh, right.
Choosing between what’s more important and what’s less important was unnecessary. Qiao Yu, who didn’t want to fail the monthly exams, simply gave up on the idea of matchmaking them here.
“Is there something wrong?”
Perhaps she had paused for too long, and Lin Qing timely approached her to inquire. Qiao Yu quickly waved her hand and refocused on her paper.
But before she could solve a few more problems, Cong Ye leaned over again and used his pen to point at the question she had just completed. “You got it wrong. Let me explain it to you.”
How did he notice so quickly? Could he be a genius who could glance at a problem and immediately know the answer?
Perplexed, Qiao Yu handed over her paper, and Cong Ye explained it to her, making gestures and doodles in his draft book. She soon had an epiphany and took back her paper, praising him, “You’re pretty impressive, Cong Ye. You explained it quite clearly.”
Cong Ye proudly gave her a look that seemed to say, “Don’t you know who I am?” It was as if he had caught his breath after being praised. Qiao Yu ignored him and continued to work on her paper.
She quietly wrote for a while, and just as Qiao Yu was jotting down the calculation steps in her draft book, Lin Qing’s cool hand reached over and gently pointed at her notebook.
“You should use this formula here.”
She took Qiao Yu’s pen and wrote down the correct steps in an elegant font on the notebook. After finishing, she gently tucked the strand of hair that had slipped near her ear and smiled at Qiao Yu.
“Oh, oh, I got it, I got it! Teacher Lin is amazing!” Qiao Yu couldn’t help but flatter her. “Teacher Lin is so smart and beautiful. I’m so lucky to have you as my only teacher!”
“…Smooth talker.”
Lin Qing had developed some resistance to her compliments. She glanced at her with a hint of annoyance and then turned her head away, but the slight upturn of her lips indicated a good mood.
It seems that Lin Qing is even more impressive, being able to spot mistakes with just a glance at the draft.
Qiao Yu marveled at the fact that they truly deserved to be the male and female leads while continuing to write.
However, in the following half hour, things became increasingly strange, making Qiao Yu feel uneasy.
Mathematics was her least confident subject, and she had forgotten almost all the function formulas. Therefore, she was more likely to get stuck and make mistakes while solving problems on the exam paper.
… Even so, could Lin Qing and Cong Ye be so sensitive to her mistakes?
At first, it was relatively normal, with both of them teaching her in a friendly manner, going through the questions one by one. But later, it escalated, turning into a fierce competition. As soon as Qiao Yu wrote down a wrong answer, both of them would pat her shoulder like they were competing for a buzzer, without any gap in between.
The one who didn’t manage to grab it would even show a very understandable expression of dissatisfaction, which left Qiao Yu bewildered.
… What kind of act is this?
Qiao Yu held onto the pen, feeling dazed as she looked at the multiple-choice question in front of her, another question she wasn’t very good at.
She stared at the paper and could sense the invisible pressure coming from both sides. It felt like the two of them were staring intently at her pen. But when she turned to look at them, both of them seemed to be diligently writing, completely focused. It made Qiao Yu wonder if she was hallucinating.
She didn’t know how to solve this particular question in front of her. However, she was still haunted by the situation earlier when her mistake was immediately discovered. So, she decided to bluff her way through this one, thinking it would be better than admitting she didn’t know.
Qiao Yu looked at the four options and cautiously drew a vertical line in one of the option boxes.
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There was no reaction from either side.
She felt sweat forming on her forehead, licked her lips, and carefully made her second stroke.
When the curve she was drawing under the pen started to show a vague bend, she heard a sharp intake of breath from one side. Startled, her hand trembled, and she quickly changed it into a larger curve — she wrote a ‘D’.
Both hands from the left and right clapped on her shoulders, and Cong Ye, who was quicker, joyfully pointed to her paper.
“You’re wrong! It should be option A!”
Qiao Yu couldn’t take it anymore and slammed the table.
“What on earth are you guys doing?”
Cong Ye’s thoughts were actually quite simple.
At first, he felt that he had misunderstood Qiao Yu and needed to make it up to her.
But then he noticed that whenever Qiao Yu had a question she didn’t know, she would always go to Lin Qing first. He was sitting there with nothing to do, while his own revision went smoothly.
This wouldn’t do.
Cong Ye suddenly became anxious.
He needed to be of some use! Otherwise, why did he come here?
But he didn’t dare to directly tell Qiao Yu to come to him with her problems, fearing that it would remind her of the unpleasant memories from earlier and bring bad luck upon himself. The idle and soon-to-be laid-off Cong Ye racked his brains and finally came up with a brilliant plan.
If Qiao Yu didn’t come to him, then he would take the initiative to point out her mistakes! Whoever found the mistake should be the one to speak up!
Immediately, he eagerly inspected Qiao Yu’s paper as if he had discovered a way to get rich. It didn’t take much effort for him to find the incorrect question and he forcefully explained it to her, feeling a sense of relief.
Indeed, people are happy when they create value. Today, Cong Ye learned something new.
To avoid exposing himself as deliberately picking out mistakes, he patiently waited a few minutes before pointing out the second question. After doing so, he brushed it off and concealed his achievements, then continued to focus on inspecting Qiao Yu’s paper, aiming for the third question. She had made too many mistakes, and he began counting the time carefully.
But this time, he couldn’t proceed as planned—Lin Qing beat him to it and pointed out the incorrect question, intercepting him.
At first, he thought it was a coincidence, but when Lin Qing repeatedly took the initiative and didn’t even spare Qiao Yu’s rough drafts, Cong Ye’s expression turned serious.
When Lin Qing finished explaining a question once again, she seemed to casually glance in Cong Ye’s direction. Their gazes met briefly above Qiao Yu, who was diligently writing.
Although they quickly looked away from each other, Cong Ye couldn’t shake the feeling that a sense of tension filled the air.
Alright, this is war!
His competitive nature was fully ignited, and a strong desire for victory burned within his chest.
In that case, let’s compare and see which teacher is the most competent!
Lin Qing’s thoughts became more complicated.
When faced with Cong Ye’s friendly gestures, the clever Qiao Yu stepped aside, pushing Lin Qing in front of Cong Ye, extending her hands to indicate that it was up to Teacher Lin to make the final decision. Let’s see if she would give him the opportunity to teach.
Lin Qing could only sigh helplessly and reluctantly agreed.
After all, Cong Ye had taken a humble posture, and this matter would also benefit Qiao Yu. There was no reason to refuse.
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She sat down and took out the prepared test questions from her bag, handing them to Qiao Yu. She quietly instructed her to ask for help if there were any questions she didn’t understand. Cong Ye also echoed her words, patting Qiao Yu’s back and telling her not to be polite.
Lin Qing smiled and turned her head, effectively concealing the slight displeasure in her heart.
She wasn’t actually very willing to have Cong Ye join in.
As Lin Qing looked at her review materials, she became unusually absent-minded.
Although she didn’t know why, it seemed like she preferred to study alone with Qiao Yu.
Not long after, Qiao Yu came over to ask her a question, and Lin Qing earnestly explained it to her. When she raised her eyes, she met Qiao Yu’s clear amber eyes, which reflected only her in their entirety. Qiao Yu’s clear voice, filled with admiration, showered her with praise.
She had heard plenty of compliments throughout her life, but for some reason, she couldn’t resist Qiao Yu’s praise. She could only pretend to be annoyed and urge her to focus on the questions, trying to conceal her own confusion about how to respond.
Around Qiao Yu, it seemed like many things became beyond her control.
As she casually averted her gaze, she recalled Cong Ye’s eager and excited expression when accepting the challenge earlier. She lightly pursed her lips and belatedly felt a sense of annoyance.
This was bad, she seemed to be on the verge of doing something childish.
As for why she would act this way, the current Lin Qing still didn’t understand.
