Maybe It Was Fate!

Qingshui County No. 2 Middle School, evening self-study period.

Li Ye propped his cheek with one hand, turned to look at Wen Leyu beside him, and a teasing smile curled across his lips.

"Little girl, now you know there are always people beyond people, and skies beyond skies, don't you?"

That day, Wen Leyu had kindly prepared an English test paper for Li Ye, hoping to help him raise his grades so he could get into the Foreign Languages Institute.

Yet she had not expected Li Ye's "return gift," and so the two began their mutually beneficial arrangement of "one paper from you, one paper from me."

For example, today Wen Leyu excitedly pulled out an English test paper for Li Ye, only to find that Li Ye had brought out a set of three papers: mathematics, physics, and chemistry.

When Wen Leyu curiously asked where he had gotten them, Li Ye brushed her off with a single word—"Secret"—then left her struggling bitterly in a sea of questions.

Watching Wen Leyu scrunch her delicate little face into a bun, Li Ye vaguely felt a sense of satisfaction at "raising" her budding in his heart.

Wen Leyu's foundational knowledge was unexpectedly solid. She truly had never encountered many of the question types before, but after racking her brains, she could still find the correct method.

Even for problems she genuinely could not solve, a little guidance from Li Ye was enough for her not only to grasp them immediately, but also draw inferences from one instance to another.

She was material for a top student!

Li Ye could say with certainty that in all of Retake Class One, no one possessed better academic aptitude than Wen Leyu. Getting into a national key university would be a piece of cake; with some cultivation, she might even have a shot at Tsinghua-Peking Universities.

Moreover, Wen Leyu had successfully had her "fighting spirit" for solving questions ignited by Li Ye. Whenever she finished one of his test papers, she would lift her chin slightly at him like a victorious soldier, waiting for praise.

That adorable and pretty look of hers made Li Ye, who was several decades old when both lives were added together, sigh with feeling—"After so many years, this old man's heart has stirred again."

"Tap, tap, tap~"

With the soft sound of the door opening, a figure entered the classroom and walked toward Li Ye.

It was actually Wen Leyu's mom, Teacher Ke.

Li Ye sensed that Teacher Ke had come looking for him. Just as he was about to rise and greet her, Teacher Ke waved her hand, then took out a letter and handed it to Wen Leyu.

Wen Leyu's expression changed dramatically. She hurriedly tore open the envelope and began reading the letter.

Teacher Ke lightly tapped on Li Ye's desk, then walked outside.

Li Ye understood and hurriedly rose to follow her. Wen Leyu, meanwhile, had been completely absorbed in the letter in her hands and did not even notice Li Ye leaving.

The moment Li Ye stepped out the door, countless murmurs drifted from behind him.

"Look, look! I knew Li Ye was going to be in trouble. He actually dared to hook up with Teacher Ke's daughter—he really doesn't know whether he's alive or dead."

"No way! They're desk mates; it's perfectly normal for them to discuss problems. Don't you also get all lovey-dovey with Wang Chun Hua all the time?"

"What lovey-dovey? We're discussing literature. Does Li Ye understand literature?"

Li Ye frowned, feeling somewhat puzzled.

If Teacher Ke intended to prevent Wen Leyu from having too much contact with him, Li Ye could understand that.

After all, a phoenix fallen on hard times was still a phoenix. Li Ye's family background could at most be considered decent in Qingshui County; compared to someone like Wen Leyu, who might rise from the ashes and live forever at any moment, the gap was immense.

But if that was really the case, why would Wen Leyu come to evening self-study?

After Teacher Ke had been hired by the County Second High School, the school had cleared out a dorm room for her. Usually, mother and daughter lived on campus.

Because the County Second High School students had rather weak English foundations, Teacher Ke held office hours every evening, and any diligent student could come to her with questions at any time.

So when the mother and daughter had first arrived at the school, Wen Leyu had studied in her mother's office, keeping her company during self-study.

But ever since Li Ye and Wen Leyu began helping each other prepare test papers, Wen Leyu had spent several consecutive evenings attending self-study in Retake Class One.

If Teacher Ke truly wanted to keep the two apart, wouldn't it have been enough to make Wen Leyu go back to the office to do problems? Why summon him?

Someone of such a high caliber probably would not pull some clumsy stunt like, "Here's a million, leave my daughter," right?

"Sit!"

Teacher Ke led Li Ye into her office and casually shut the door behind them.

That only deepened Li Ye's doubts.

Not to mention that this was the 1980s—even in later times, if a teacher of the opposite sex called a student into the office alone, they would leave the door open to avoid gossip.

"Sit down. Don't overthink it. There are simply a few things I want to ask you about."

Teacher Ke personally pulled out a chair for Li Ye, leaving him somewhat flattered.

After Li Ye sat down, Teacher Ke asked seriously, "Did you and Xiao Yu know each other very well before?"

"..."

Wouldn't you know whether I was familiar with your daughter?

Li Ye was deeply baffled. From the memories he had inherited from the original owner of this body, there was not much information related to Wen Leyu. The two had merely "known of" each other.

Yet hearing Teacher Ke say this made Li Ye realize that Wen Leyu's attitude toward him did seem somewhat different from how she treated others.

Wen Leyu had already been at the County Second High School for many days. She seemed to deliberately keep her distance from everyone else, and she did so very skillfully.

But this little girl clearly treated Li Ye differently from others. From passing him little notes at first to later helping him by preparing questions, it felt as though they were not far from being opposite-sex best friends.

But Li Ye could not say that to her mother, so he answered ambiguously, "Sorry, Teacher Ke. I wouldn't say Wen Leyu and I were particularly close before. Why are you suddenly asking this?"

Teacher Ke smiled. After pondering for a moment, she said, "Perhaps you've noticed as well. Xiao Yu is rather timid and rarely talks or interacts with others, but these past few days, I've noticed that she seems to click with you? Is that right?"

Li Ye did not understand what she meant. "Teacher Ke, we're helping each other with our studies. Do you think... there's something inappropriate about that?"

Teacher Ke was startled.

She understood what Li Ye meant and was extremely surprised by how sensitive he was to others' intentions.

Li Ye was actually asking her directly, "Do you disapprove of me interacting with your daughter?"

An eighteen- or nineteen-year-old young man possessed such a keen mind, and his speech was orderly and measured. Calling him an outstanding young talent would not have been an exaggeration.

The more Teacher Ke looked at Li Ye, the more pleasing he seemed to her. She quickly said, "Li Ye, you've misunderstood. I don't think there's anything inappropriate between you and Xiao Yu. I hope this kind of help can continue, and... deepen somewhat."

Teacher Ke, what exactly did you mean by that? Should I start calling you something else right now?

Li Ye nearly let his thoughts run wild.

"Yesterday, Xiao Yu told me a great many things. Some were questions about test problems, and some were about you. No matter what, I hope you can maintain this state between you."

Teacher Ke took several test papers from the drawer of her desk and handed them to Li Ye. "I prepared some questions. Work through them with Xiao Yu—learn from each other and help each other."

Li Ye finally understood Teacher Ke's painstaking intentions.

Perhaps something had happened to Wen Leyu in the past few years, leaving her with a habit of not liking to speak. She probably did not talk much even with her mother.

This was not a problem that injections or medicine could cure. Teacher Ke had probably worried herself nearly to death over Wen Leyu.

The hearts of parents everywhere were pitiable. Now that Teacher Ke had discovered Wen Leyu "clicked" with Li Ye, she had placed her hopes on him, an outsider.

Li Ye accepted the test papers and said with a smile, "Thank you, Teacher Ke. Wen Leyu is very good at both English and Chinese. I'll ask her for more guidance."

Teacher Ke's eyes lit up, and she nodded. "Then thank you. But Xiao Yu may have a bit of a temper sometimes, so I hope you can be more accommodating."

"Alright, I understand."

Li Ye left Teacher Ke's office and returned to the Retake Class One classroom.

Wen Leyu had already finished reading the letter. When she saw Li Ye return, she wrote on a note, "What did my mom call you out for?"

Li Ye answered naturally, "Teacher Ke gave me a few test papers and wanted to test me. There are a lot of questions I can't do. Help me take a look."

Sure enough, Wen Leyu became interested. She took Li Ye's papers and looked them over, picked up her fountain pen, scribbled out the answers in a few strokes, and began explaining the problems to him.

Seeing how animated she was, she was clearly very happy.

She had been badly suppressed by Li Ye's sea of questions these past two days, nearly to the point of damaging the little girl's self-esteem. Now, at last, there was a time when Li Ye had to ask this top-student Wen for help!

Outside the classroom window by the back door, Teacher Ke let out a soft sigh, anticipation filling her eyes.

Her daughter had not been this lively in a long time. Usually, Wen Leyu barely spoke to her. Perhaps this really was fate.