It's Only Right That I'm Good to Ding Yebai (Seeking Collection, Votes, and Follow-up Reads)

Jinghuai No. 1 High School

Classroom, Class 1, Grade 12

Students, having just finished a school assembly, returned to their classroom for evening study.

Teacher Zhang Wei prepared to go over the test papers.

It was the familiar "passing the train" method of reviewing questions.

Zhang Wei: "Starting with the class president. Each person takes one question and passes it down."

The class president, sitting in the front row, always serious and diligent, stood up with a "swish" upon hearing his name. He pushed up his glasses, took out his test paper, and began to explain the first multiple-choice question of the reading comprehension section.

Ding Yebai sat in the second to last row, with his good buddy Lu Shuai in front of him.

The two of them were currently counting the students, calculating which question would be theirs when it was their turn.

"Hey Ye Bai, for the second multiple-choice in the classical Chinese section, it's mine, the first one. What did you pick for your first one?" Lu Shuai turned his head and whispered.

Ding Yebai: "B"

Since they had the same answer, Lu Shuai happily smiled, "Right, I also got B."

Before answering, they would ask other classmates for their choices. If they matched, it boosted their confidence; if not, they would quickly check where they went wrong.

It was a common tactic...

This method of counting heads was most vulnerable if a student in front couldn't answer the teacher's question and the next person had to take over. Then, the previously calculated order would become meaningless.

Or, the teacher might suddenly get passionate about a particular question, explaining several in a row before randomly picking a student to discuss one.

Therefore, Ding Yebai accounted for several subsequent questions and checked carefully.

He would only bother calculating like this for Chinese and English. For Math or Science, he was 100% accurate even if he did it on the spot.

After calculating which question would be his, he obediently listened to other classmates explain theirs.

While listening, he twirled his pen, still maintaining the same cold, distant demeanor as before, giving off an air of aloofness that kept people at arm's length.

He happened to hear a classmate translate the word "childish," and his spirits suddenly lifted.

He blinked, staring blankly at the back of the boy, mumbling, "Childish... childish... Yang Zhi?"

"Ding Yebai?" his female deskmate asked.

Ding Yebai snapped back to attention, straightened his body, and asked, "What is it?"

Female deskmate: "Did you think of something happy?"

Ding Yebai was confused.

"No."

"But..." His deskmate glanced at him sideways, then lowered her head to look at her paper, saying softly, "You looked like you were smiling quite happily."

"..."

Ding Yebai suddenly pinched his own face. Even without looking in a mirror, he could feel his muscles tighten.

This is terrible, I was smiling way too exaggeratedly.

What on earth was I smiling about?

Speaking of which, I don't have Yang Zhi's class today when I go home. Why do I feel a little strange?

Meanwhile

Yang Zhi's home

Yang Zhi turned on a small lamp and was organizing practice papers in her bedroom.

Sister Lin sat beside her, resting her chin on her hand, watching her with languid eyes.

After a long while, She asked, "Hey, Yang Zhi, you're tutoring for free, right?"

Yang Zhi, still looking down at her papers, replied, "Yes."

Sister Lin frowned in distress, sat up, and continued, confused, "Then since you're tutoring for free, why are you putting in so much effort? Why go through the trouble of finding mistakes from his practice papers, analyzing the reasons for the errors, and then finding similar problems online to print out for him?"

She paused, her eyes showing more pity than confusion. "There's no need, is there? Is all this hard work for a free gig just for a thankless task?"

Pat.

Hearing this, Yang Zhi capped her pen and set it aside. She turned to face Sister Lin directly. "Sister Lin, you're mistaken."

Sister Lin: "??? Huh?"

Yang Zhi smiled slightly, lowered her gaze, and said very gently, "At the time, Ding Yebai's sister was willing to take care of Grandma wholeheartedly for a month. And afterwards, she simply said, 'We're good friends, of course I'd help with this favor.'"

Every time she recalled that moment, Yang Zhi felt deeply touched.

Even good friends shouldn't be taken for granted.

"So, I absolutely have to do everything I can to help Sister Yue Rong. I'll start with this small matter of helping Ding Yebai improve his English. I'll definitely help him get a good score."

"I know this favor is hard to repay, and asking her for money again would be heartless. From now on, I'm willing to do anything I can to help her."

She spoke with such conviction that Sister Lin was completely taken aback.

"Oh, oh, I see."

"Ding Yebai... he's my good friend's younger brother after all. It's only natural to look after him a bit," Yang Zhi turned around and said these casual words.

"So, how are Ding Yebai's grades now?"

"There's been a big improvement. His English level should be able to score over a hundred now. He has great potential and can still improve further."

"..."

It was a wonder that kid could focus and study seriously when faced with your face.

Sister Lin raised an eyebrow, opened the drink on the table, took a big gulp, and then leaned back lazily in her chair. "Speaking of which, today is Qixi. Are you just going to stay home quietly?"

Yang Zhi chuckled softly and said self-deprecatingly, "Where else can I go?"

Sister Lin: "Ah... that's right. You don't have a boyfriend. It's okay, I don't either. But hey, Grandma always told me to believe that someone will stand up for you. I'm not sure about myself, but it's very possible for you, Yang Zhi. After all, you're as beautiful as a flower and as gentle as water."

Yang Zhi's lips curved upwards into a beautiful arc, smiling faintly, "Sister Lin is also very beautiful. You should be more confident."

"Oh, don't tease me... Never mind, you just focus on making questions for that high school student. I'm going to get some comfortable sleep. I have to leave again tomorrow." Sister Lin placed the drink on the table, lifted the covers, and lay down.

Yang Zhi looked at her with a hint of reluctance, her eyes full of tenderness. "Have a safe trip. I'll take good care of Qiqi for you."

Sister Lin winked at her and gave her a thumbs-up. "Great! I believe in you, Yang Zhi. Leaving Qiqi in your care, I'm most at ease."

Yang Zhi lowered her eyes, her smile innocent and bright.