Although Lu Yige rarely came to school, she was still something of a minor celebrity. Everyone at Hengyang High knew that there was a sickly young heiress in the second year who was not expected to live past twenty-five.
What was more, the person walking beside her was Hengyang High's school heartthrob.
Jiang Yu maintained a consistently indifferent expression and kept neither too close nor too far from her, as though they had truly just happened to be walking together by chance.
Just before the class bell rang, Lu Yige and Jiang Yu entered the classroom one after the other.
The teacher had arrived early. Seeing Lu Yige, he paused in surprise. "Student Yige is back in class. Are you feeling better?"
Lu Yige replied softly, "I'm much better after the surgery. I'll be able to attend classes regularly from now on."
The teacher nodded and gestured for her to take her seat.
Looking at the familiar overcrowded classroom and the desks piled high with reference materials, Lu Yige suddenly felt that her fate was rather miserable.
Her parents had divorced when she was young and formed new families of their own, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother. After twelve years of hard study, she had finally been admitted to a top-ten university—only to be killed in a car accident before she could even enjoy her college years.
Her grandmother must have been heartbroken. She wondered how she was doing now.
Lu Yige's eyes reddened slightly.
Now she had to go through the college entrance exam all over again. If it weren't for having to follow the original plot, she would much rather stay home every day as a pampered heiress with everything handed to her.
Someone patted her hand. She turned her head and saw Jiang Yu looking worried as he handed her a tissue. "Are you okay?"
I'm fine—just have some candied plums.
Lu Yige silently added the joke in her head, then took the tissue and said in a muffled voice, "Thank you."
"Use my textbook during class," Jiang Yu said, staring straight ahead rather than at her. "It looks like you haven't brought yours over yet."
Lu Yige pursed her lips, accepted the book, and couldn't help adding, "We can look at it together."
There was nothing strange about that. Back in high school, she had often shared textbooks and test papers with her deskmate—everyone forgot things from time to time.
Jiang Yu lowered his gaze. "No need."
If you don't want to, then don't. Why look so aggrieved about it?
Lu Yige opened the textbook. The name "Jiang Yu" was written in a flowing, elegant hand, and she stared at it for quite a while.
Though he wasn't much as a person—scheming and gloomy—his handwriting was undeniably neat and handsome.
This period was Chinese class. The teacher liked to walk around as he lectured, and when he reached their side of the room, he sharply noticed that Jiang Yu didn't have a textbook.
Tapping the desk lightly with his pointer, the teacher said, "Student Jiang Yu, where's your textbook?"
Lu Yige lifted the book slightly to indicate it. The teacher immediately understood. "So you gave it to Student Lu Yige. Helping others is a good thing, but you can also share it together."
As he spoke, the teacher pulled the textbook slightly toward the middle.
Many students cast curious, probing looks their way, including the female lead, Jiang Nian.
Behind them came the gossiping whispers of two girls:
"I saw the two of them enter the school together this morning."
"They're not together, are they?"
"They actually look pretty well matched."
"But I think Jiang Yu has a crush on Nian Nian."
"You can eat recklessly, but you can't talk recklessly. Who in this school doesn't know Jiang Nian and Young Master Chi are a couple?"
On the surface, Jiang Yu looked calm and unruffled, but Lu Yige saw him quietly clench his fist.
Lu Yige let out a barely audible sigh. No matter how deep your feelings, you're still the second male lead. No matter how close your childhood bond, you're still the second male lead. No matter how meticulously you scheme, you're still just the second male lead.
Scumbag, do you know what you lose to Chi Yexuan in? You lose by one extra stroke in your name!
If you weren't planning to take advantage of me, I might still support you, pity you, sympathize with you for three minutes—but since you're this scummy...
Jiang Yu turned his head and happened to meet Lu Yige's fervent gaze.
Lu Yige: awkward.jpg
She quickly looked away and said softly, "I told you we should share the book."
Jiang Yu shifted his gaze to the textbook as well. "Mm."
The second class was mathematics—Lu Yige's favorite subject. Unlike the elegant, sharp female teacher she'd had in high school, the math teacher here was a half-bald, middle-aged man.
As her former homeroom teacher used to say, his forehead shone with the light of wisdom.
The math teacher walked in smiling, holding a stack of test papers.
Groans of complaint rose throughout the classroom.
"Your results from last week's monthly exam are out. Not a single perfect score—and you call this an experimental class?"
"It was too hard!" a loud-voiced boy shouted.
The teacher said no more and handed the papers to the students in the front row to distribute.
Jiang Yu received his paper. Lu Yige glanced at it—146 points.
Tsk, tsk. His grades really weren't bad. He probably lost a few points on the final question.
Jiang Yu clearly thought the same and flipped straight to the last page.
When Lu Yige saw the final question, she froze. Wasn't this the exact same problem from her college entrance exam?
Back then, she had had fifteen minutes left after checking her paper, and she'd managed to solve the final sub-question. Even now, thinking about it still made her blood surge with excitement.
Lu Yige was instantly energized. She said to Jiang Yu, "I know how to do this!" Then she snatched his paper and pen and bent her head to calculate rapidly.
Jiang Yu frowned. He felt that Lu Yige was a bit overly excited. On the few occasions she had come to school before, she had always looked at him gently, blushing whenever she spoke.
Could it be that she simply loved studying that much?
But he was soon drawn in by the formulas she wrote out. The tangled thoughts he'd had during the exam suddenly unraveled.
"Students in the middle, second row from the back—what are you whispering about?" the math teacher's slightly shrill voice rang out.
Lu Yige reflexively looked up. Only when she noticed the surrounding gazes did she realize the teacher was referring to them.
"I was explaining a problem to him," Lu Yige said weakly.
"Explaining a problem? Which one?"
"The last question."
"Are you the teacher, or am I? If you want to discuss problems, do it after class. If you're that capable, why don't you come up and explain the last question yourself?"
"No, no," Lu Yige waved her hands. "Teacher, I was wrong. I won't discuss problems during class again."
Only then did the teacher seem satisfied and move on to the next question.
The experimental class moved quickly. In less than half a period, most of the paper had been covered, leaving only the final question.
Just as the teacher was about to begin, he suddenly let out a surprised sound. "Huh."
"If I remember correctly, no one in your class got this question completely right. That student just now—come up and explain it. Don't go teaching your classmates something incorrect."
"Oh."
As Lu Yige was about to stand up, Jiang Yu stopped her and said to the teacher, "Teacher, her health isn't good. I'll explain it instead."
The classroom erupted in teasing cheers.
Lu Yige felt her face heat up. This kind of behavior was far too easy to misunderstand.
Was Jiang Yu planning to give up entirely? Even if the female lead wouldn't end up with him, he didn't know that—so was he really going to let Jiang Nian misunderstand things like this?
"Her health isn't good..." The math teacher seemed to realize something at last. "You're Lu Yige, aren't you? My eyesight isn't great—I didn't recognize you. Student Yige, you've come to class."
"Yes," Lu Yige replied obediently.
Jiang Yu wrote out the solution on the blackboard in smooth, flowing strokes, then walked straight back down.
The teacher nodded approvingly. "Very good. And this is the optimal solution to the problem."
The students applauded noisily, and it took quite a while for the clapping to die down.
"Alright, alright," the teacher said helplessly. "Let's go over a few other methods."
When class ended, Lu Yige was just about to thank Jiang Yu.
She saw Jiang Nian drag over a stool and sit beside him, blinking her eyes. "Xiao Yu, the teacher erased that method too quickly. I didn't finish copying it down. Can you work through it again for me?"
Lu Yige clicked her tongue softly. So he wasn't being kind—he just wanted to show off in front of the person he loved. How childish.
"Hey."
While she was feeling speechless, someone called out to her.
Lu Yige looked over and saw a boy about 160 centimeters tall wearing glasses. She said, "Kid, you've got the wrong place. Go straight down and turn left—that's the middle school division."
The boy rolled his eyes silently. "I'm not a kid, and I'm not short. I just grew late. My dad is 1.85 meters, my mom is 1.70. Conservatively, I'll be 1.90."
Oh. Judging from how smoothly he said that, he'd clearly repeated it many times before.
"So what do you want with me?"
The boy slapped a test paper onto her desk. Lu Yige looked at the name—Xu Lu.
"Look at the last question. I used the same method as you, but I messed up the final step."
"And?"
Xu Lu said, "I could've gotten full marks."
Lu Yige was speechless. "I call you a kid and you won't admit it. If you're not a kid, why do you keep doing such childish things? You make a basic mistake and come whining to me—what, do you expect me to add points to your score or something?"
Xu Lu was instantly cowed and snorted coldly.
"Lu Yige, someone's looking for you at the door," a passerby said.
Lu Yige looked over and saw the driver standing with an unfamiliar face. When he spotted her, he smiled.
Her books had arrived.
"Hey, kid, help me carry the books," she called out.
Xu Lu said, "I told you, I'm not a kid."
Just as he was about to stand up, Jiang Yu rose from his seat. "I'll do it."
Lu Yige stared at him blankly and realized that Jiang Nian had already left.
That evening at dinner, Jiang Yu said lightly, "Auntie, Yige's academic performance is actually very good. She hasn't fallen behind at all because of her illness. I don't think I can help her much."
"How could that be?" Lu Yige said softly. "Other than math, you're better than me in all the other subjects."
Jiang Yu was about to say something else when Mother Lu cut him off.
"It's fine. You can learn from each other and improve together. The most important thing is that Yige likes you."
"Mom," Lu Yige said coquettishly.
"And you?" Mother Lu continued.
"What?" Jiang Yu felt a faint flutter of unease.
"Yige likes you. What about you? What's your attitude?"
"Of course I like her too." Jiang Yu's eyes looked dark and clear.
Mother Lu felt a slight stir in her heart.
"It's just that I think I'm too useless right now—not worthy of her."
He lowered his head, looking frustrated and helpless.
Mother Lu smiled. "Whoever she likes is the most worthy. You're both still young. I'll tell others that you're a child I sponsor."
The tension in Jiang Yu's heart finally eased.
"When you reach the legal age, you can get married."
"Alright." His long lashes trembled as they lowered, concealing the expression in his eyes.
"Mom!" Lu Yige put on a shy act. "How can you talk about that already?"
"It's something that has to be said sooner or later," Mother Lu replied gently.
Lu Yige fled the dining table in embarrassment and ran upstairs.
Once she reached a spot out of sight, she slowed her pace, climbing the stairs leisurely step by step while humming a song she used to loop constantly in high school: "Keep it simple, keep the way you speak simple."
Jiang Yu had agreed to marriage so early on—he was really willing to go all out.
Still, it was obvious that her mother didn't truly trust him yet, and her father hadn't even returned home. This so-called engagement was probably nothing more than words.
Thinking of Jiang Yu's long-suffering expression earlier made Lu Yige want to laugh. This scumbag's heart must be bleeding inside, yet he still had to put on an act of deep devotion, as though he would marry no one but her.
Your acting has improved a little, young man.
Thinking of the Lu Yige in the book—deceived by Jiang Yu's masterful performance into loving him deeply, as well as the Lu parents who trusted him implicitly—Lu Yige let out a sigh.
Jiang Yu, you really don't deserve it.
***
IMPORTANT
It's a Human Translated Web Novel.
Free Chapter - Upto 20
Paid Chapter - 21 - End [One Time 3$]
OR
All Shop CN & Exclusive CN Novels Access
[Patreon Link On Bio~]