Jinghuai City was enveloped in lingering rain at the end of July.
This season was always rainy, with fine, dense drops falling endlessly and spreading an overwhelming, unbroken sorrow.
The morning exercises at Jinghuai No. 1 High School were canceled because of the rain, so the students took a brief rest in their classrooms.
At that very moment, outside Class 1, Grade 12,
Ding Yebai stood in the corridor with one hand resting on the silver railing, gazing languidly into the distance.
Rain fell from the eaves like strings of pearls, like suspended silver threads, trickling and dripping...
This boy merely had to stand there to attract the gazes of countless passing students.
Slender yet tall, with fair skin and a cool expression.
His air was extremely distinctive. The cold detachment that seemed to come from his very bones gave outsiders the illusion that [he wasn't interested in anything at all].
"Ding Yebai?"
Homeroom teacher Zhang Wei walked over from the distance carrying four certificates.
Hearing his name, Ding Yebai turned his head, naturally lowered his hand, straightened up, and looked at him calmly. "Teacher?"
Zhang Wei said, "These are the awards you won in the city competition last time. Mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology—you took first place in all of them. Four certificates. Take them."
Ding Yebai accepted them with both hands. "Thank you, Teacher."
"Mm. It's nothing. Congratulations." After saying that, Zhang Wei hurried past him, his bustling manner somehow kicking up a small gust of wind.
After walking only a few steps, he suddenly thought of something, turned around, and stood in front of Ding Yebai once more.
Ding Yebai: "?"
Zhang Wei said, "I still wanted to ask you—did you properly analyze your results from the last exam?"
Ding Yebai raised his eyes and looked at Teacher Zhang's dark, somewhat weathered face. He said slowly, "Mm, I analyzed them. There are still quite a few areas where I'm lacking in mathematics and comprehensive science."
Zhang Wei frowned as he listened, both helpless and exasperated.
This kid was so outstanding in mathematics and comprehensive science that he scored nearly full marks every time. What was there to analyze???
"Tsk. Ding Yebai, your mathematics and comprehensive science are already excellent. You can set them aside for now."
"My comprehensive science is still a little weak."
"You're pretty modest, kid."
Zhang Wei spoke helplessly, then rubbed his aching temples. He silently lamented how terrifying the current level of academic rat racing had become. Just look at what it had driven their child into.
"Ahem! Ding Yebai, you still haven't understood what I mean. I want you to analyze your English and Chinese."
Ding Yebai's expression remained calm. Even when those two subjects were mentioned, he was still as cold and indifferent as ice shrouded in mist.
"English, 90. Chinese, 112. Both improved by one point compared with last time."
"Ding Yebai, I don't think those reflect your true level."
Ding Yebai froze for a moment. He seemed to read from his teacher's eyes the meaning: [Teacher believes your potential is limitless! You can score even higher! Believe in yourself!]
But he didn't choose to follow his teacher's lead. After closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, he slowly raised them. "It indeed isn't my true level."
"Oh?" Zhang Wei stared at Ding Yebai's cold face, feeling a little excited inside.
The truth was that the teacher had thought of a novel he'd stayed up late reading a few days ago. The protagonist in it was a fake underachiever, a master at controlling his scores.
Could Ding Yebai be that kind of student too? he wondered silently.
"Ahem, Teacher?"
"Er... Huh?!" Zhang Wei only came back to himself after the student called out to him, and he was visibly embarrassed.
"Teacher, being off by one or two points in Chinese is very common. As for English, it's because this test was too easy. I just got lucky, that's all."
Ding Yebai used an utterly flat tone to shatter his teacher's beautiful, chuunibyou-like, and extremely brief fantasy.
Zhang Wei: "..."
Fine. He could only change tactics and continue educating this child.
He wiped the awkward smile from his face and switched in an instant to his usual stern expression. He said earnestly, "Let's not talk about Chinese for now. Your English worries me, and it worries the English teacher even more. She keeps asking me in the office whether she taught you poorly. Otherwise, why would such a smart child be bad at only her subject? If something is bothering you, come talk to the teacher as soon as possible."
"No. The teacher is very good. It's my own problem." Ding Yebai hurriedly explained.
Zhang Wei said, "Ye Bai, don't think I'm nagging. This year, you really need to improve your English. You don't have to give up mathematics and comprehensive science! Just spare a little energy for your weak subject. Ideally, you should develop evenly in every area, right?"
Ding Yebai's gaze darkened, and he nodded silently.
Actually, he had never taken English seriously before.
Even he was surprised that he managed to scrape by with passing marks every time.
Previously, he had relied on mathematics, physics, and chemistry to pull up his score and still ranked near the top. But the Gaokao was different. As long as one subject was a weak link, the odds of getting into the country's top university were practically zero.
If he wanted to achieve his dream, he had to develop in every area.
Zhang Wei said, "After the parent-teacher meeting yesterday, I actually spoke with your mother at length. She said she'd help you study too."
Ding Yebai said, "My mom... help me?"
His brows relaxed, and the hazy gloom in his eyes vanished in an instant. He suddenly became spirited.
How would she help him?
Could she be buying him a pile of reference books? In that case, she might as well not help.
The teacher hadn't explained clearly, and his mother, Feng Pingping, hadn't mentioned it to him at all.
Everything was shrouded in mystery, making him even more curious.
It wasn't until after six in the afternoon
that Ding Yebai grew more and more certain that something was wrong. He had a feeling that something bad was waiting for him.
As a day student, Ding Yebai didn't have to attend evening self-study, so he could go straight home after school.
After riding his bicycle home without a hitch, he looked up at the brightly lit second floor and raised his brows in confusion. "Someone's home?"
The place he lived was a traditional courtyard house built by his family.
From the outside, all the courtyard-villa residences in this area had an antique, scholarly air.
His older sister, Ding Yuerong, had graduated from university three years ago and was the founder of the Kankan Manhua app. She had been very busy lately and slept directly at the company.
His engineer father, Ding Dahai, spent most of the year away for work, and his return times were unpredictable.
As for his mother, Feng Pingping, she was a professor at Jinghuai University. The university treated its veteran professors very well and had assigned them housing, so for convenience, she went straight there after work every day.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, as long as Ding Yebai wasn't home, the lights in the house couldn't possibly be on.
Ding Yebai pushed his bicycle into the courtyard. After kicking down the stand with his foot, he slung his black schoolbag over one shoulder and opened the door.
Once inside, he turned on the lights, took off his rain-soaked jacket and hung it on the coat rack, then ran upstairs.
Could Mom have come home specially? Maybe he would get to eat food she had cooked today!
At the thought, Ding Yebai happily raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a faint delight.
The rainwater on the boy's hair and face had not even been wiped away before he ran straight upstairs.
When he was almost there, he deliberately slowed his hurried breathing.
He childishly restrained his smile, but the happiness between his brows was impossible to hide.
A moment later
he stepped onto the final stair of the second floor and said faintly, "Mom—cough, cough... Sis, why is it you?"
Ding Yebai saw Ding Yuerong sitting in the second-floor living room drinking coffee, and the smile at the corners of his mouth instantly froze.
Ding Yuerong sat with her legs crossed, her back straight, dressed in a small business suit. After casting him a sidelong glance, she smoothed her neat short black hair and deliberately took a slow sip of coffee.
Ding Yebai: "Ah..."
Sure enough, he had just been imagining things.
"Hm? Is that Ding Yebai home?"
Ding Yebai was lowering his eyelids in dejection when a gentle female voice suddenly came from nearby.
He raised his eyes and watched as an unfamiliar young woman stood up beside Ding Yuerong.
With a polite smile on her lips, she waved and greeted him cheerfully. "Hello, my name is Yang Zhi."
Ding Yebai froze.
Ding Yuerong had blocked her too completely before.
He hadn't even realized that a guest had come to the house.
"Hello." Ding Yebai curved his lips into a faint smile.
The smile was shallow and vanished instantly, like water passing without a trace, quickly leaving his face expressionless.
He knew very well that after seeing Yang Zhi for the first time, a different emotion had clearly appeared in his dark, indifferent eyes.
This older sister's air perfectly embodied the words dignified, intellectual, and elegant.
She was very young and didn't look much older than him.
She was tall and slender, with straight, long legs. She wore a white shirt and light-blue jeans, looking neat and refined.
Her skin was fair and delicate, and her long black hair fell naturally like a waterfall. Her side-parted bangs made her look even more serene and gentle.
At first glance, she was like a refreshing spring breeze. On closer inspection, her features were even more harmonious and exquisite. She was more than merely pretty; the longer one looked, the more charm she revealed. Her eyes were limpid and bright like autumn waters, with naturally double-lidded almond eyes. The downward tilt of her eye corners added a touch of pure innocence. Her facial lines were smooth, with no flaw to be found.
A beauty like a painting, gentle as an orchid.
Ding Yuerong turned her head toward Ding Yebai and noticed for the first time that a different emotion had appeared on his icy face.
Although the fluctuation was extremely subtle, she still caught it.
Heh heh~ So you're that kind of person, Ding Yebai.
After staring at your older sister's face with that same icy expression for so many years, you immediately look different when you see Yang Zhi, huh?
"Ye Bai,"
she raised the corners of her mouth slightly and continued, "isn't your English just so-so? Look, my junior schoolmate, Yang Zhi, is going to tutor you."
"Tutor me at home?" Ding Yebai was utterly bewildered, his brows naturally drawing together.
"Mm... That's right!"
"..."
The internal review has passed, so rest assured and invest.
Before you continue