Song Yuyu looked at Xia Yingluo's earnest face and was genuinely moved.
"Yingluo."
Only then did Song Yuyu understand what true love really meant.
"Yuyu, do you know? Ye Chen opened this restaurant for me; if it weren't for me, he wouldn't be losing money. If the place keeps losing money, he'll have to keep pouring more in…"
Song Yuyu nodded, still a bit dazed.
"You don't want Ye Chen to keep spending money on you, is that it?"
Xia Yingluo nodded. "Mm. I know he never blinks when it comes to spending on me, and he doesn't mind—but I do. That's not the kind of love I want."
Song Yuyu was taken aback.
Xia Yingluo went on, "The love I want isn't him silently giving everything for me; I want to be the one standing behind him, helping him succeed. I don't want him shielding me from every storm—I want us to face the wind and rain together."
"But right now… I don't want to keep going like this."
When she finished, Xia Yingluo's expression dimmed.
Ye Chen kept spending money for her—
setting up a bookstore, building a Basketball court, even opening this hot-pot place.
She felt she was letting him down.
After listening, Song Yuyu clenched her fist. "I don't totally get it, but I'm your best friend. Whatever you want to do, I'll help."
"Mm." Xia Yingluo looked at Little Yu, warmth filling her heart.
Then, instead of climbing into bed, Song Yuyu dashed outside.
Xia Yingluo blinked, wondering what the girl was up to.
Soon, loud knocking echoed from outside.
"Wake up, everybody, wake up!"
In no time Song Yuyu had hauled everyone into the courtyard.
The kids were dead-tired after a full day and could barely keep their eyes open.
Hauled out like this, they all looked bewildered.
Song Yuyu, pumped up, raised a little fist. "Let's review today's work and figure out how to make the Hot Pot Restaurant even better tomorrow!"
The kids glanced at the star-filled sky, then at the hyper Song Yuyu.
Then: "…"
From the courtyard came Song Yuyu's shrieks.
"Hey, hey, no hitting!"
Don't hit my face
Her yells echoed for a long while.
Next morning Ye Chen got up, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed for school.
With the National Higher Education Entrance Examination drawing near, the Sprint Class had become a separate unit.
In other words, the Sprint Class students now stayed in one room the whole day.
Ye Chen had slept wonderfully.
He had no idea Xia Yingluo had lain awake all night worrying about the losses.
Even less did he know Little Yuyu had taken a beating for the restaurant's sake.
To Ye Chen the sun was shining and everything felt perfect.
Just outside the estate he heard an engine roar.
A dozen metres away a Volkswagen shot toward the crossing, heading straight for him.
Apparently the woman at the wheel had mistaken the gas for the brake.
She meant to stop, yet the car only sped up.
"Watch out—"
Pedestrians nearby couldn't bear to look and shut their eyes.
Ye Chen's gaze sharpened; he stamped his foot and sprang aside.
Luckily the System had strengthened his body—otherwise he'd be done for.
Still, the side-mirror scraped his arm.
Bang!
The VW slammed into a roadside tree and finally stopped.
Ye Chen looked: his arm was skinned.
A glance at the car showed it in worse shape—the whole front was crumpled.
He glared at the wreck, fury flaring.
If he hadn't dodged, he'd have been KO'd.
The door opened and a woman in her twenties scrambled out.
Then she frantically yanked open the rear door.
"Grandpa, are you all right?"
An old man stepped out. "I'm fine—go check on the lad you nearly hit."
A sixty-something gentleman tottered down, worry in his eyes.
He looked toward Ye Chen.
Seeing Ye Chen basically okay, he exhaled in relief.
He hurried over. "I'm so sorry, young man."
Noticing Ye Chen's bleeding arm, he snapped at the girl, "Weiwei, stop standing there—take him to the Hospital!"
The girl flustered, said, "I'm really sorry—this is my first day driving; our chauffeur took the day off, so I…"
Ye Chen stared speechless. "Next time, sis, learn which pedal is the brake before you hit the road."
Today she'd been lucky it was him—at that speed anyone else would be dead or badly hurt.
"I…" The girl flushed bright red.
Ye Chen checked the time—ten minutes to class.
It was just a scratch, so he said, "Forget it. Just be more careful," and walked off.
Watching him leave, the girl murmured, "Grandpa, that boy seems to be from Jiangzhou Middle School."
The old man nodded. "Yes. And she's right—you'd better retake driving school."
The scare still lingered… Ding-ling!
Thanks to the delay, Ye Chen reached the Classroom late.
He was heading for his seat when a voice rang out.
"Stop right there."
Ye Chen paused; on the podium Physics Teacher Sun glared at him.
"Student Ye, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination is almost here—how can you still be so lax? Late to class?"
Many classmates gloated at the scene.
The happiest were Zhao Kai and Wu Bin.
Both had secret crushes on Li Sitong and Xia Yingluo, yet the two school flowers were monopolised by Ye Chen.
That irked them no end.
Seeing Ye Chen scolded delighted them.
Li Sitong and Xia Yingluo watched from the back, worried.
Up front Su Xiaonuan was anxious too.
Recently Ye Chen had been tutoring her; her scores had soared—and she realised she might have fallen for this handsome, gifted Teacher Ye.
Seeing him reprimanded, she fretted.
Back in Class Five he'd often slipped in just under the bell, but nobody cared if he was late.
The Sprint Class was different; its three teachers were strict.
Ye Chen stopped. "Sorry, sir, something delayed me a few minutes on the road."
"Hmph—don't tell me you were helping some grandpa cross the street; I've heard that excuse dozens of times," Sun Qiang snorted, pushing up his glasses.
He hated students lying to cover mistakes.
Ha-ha!
Zhao Kai and Wu Bin in the front row burst out laughing.
Ye Chen stayed calm, nodded and said, "I wasn't helping anyone cross, sir—I nearly got hit by a car."