Yukinoshita's Correction Method

"..." The other end of the line was silent for quite a while. "I really can't help much with that."

Dong Yunshan smiled. "I know. I'm already very grateful this time."

"If we start saying thank you to each other, that just makes us strangers." There was laughter from the other end too. "Come by after your exams. I'll set you up with a proper chance to relax."

"I'm not old enough to go into bars yet."

"I've got karaoke too. It's the kind of style you young people like—so it's settled."

After a few brief pleasantries, the call ended.

The call had come a little later than Dong Yunshan had expected.

It seemed that Nakamura had hesitated for a while over whether to retaliate.

Dong Yunshan looked at the sky dyed red by the evening glow, complicated emotions stirring in his chest.

Young people...

He gently shook his head, turned, and entered the family restaurant.

"Hurry, hurry, we were just waiting for you!" Yui Yuigahama waved at him. "We've all finished ordering."

Dong Yunshan sat opposite Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama, flipped through the menu, and ordered two main dishes.

After the little incident that day, Yukino Yukinoshita no longer trusted the three of them at all when it came to their attitude toward studying.

What had originally been a study session started on a whim had turned into the standard routine for the past few days.

Even dinner was settled directly at the family restaurant.

Komachi Hikigaya, however, had left early. She still had to go home and make dinner for her little brother and mother.

"Even though this isn't the first time I've seen it..." After the food arrived, Yui Yuigahama took two bites, then stared at Dong Yunshan. "I still can't believe it."

Yukino Yukinoshita, who was eating her own portion unhurriedly, could not help looking at Dong Yunshan as well.

The food vanished like the Yangtze River in full flow, and the drinks disappeared like leaves swept away by a gale. It was like he was dumping them into a bin.

Dong Yunshan's table manners were not really a problem, but he ate far too quickly.

Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita had not even finished half of their food before Dong Yunshan had already started on his second portion.

"Chew slowly." Yukino Yukinoshita's fine brows furrowed slightly as she pushed a napkin toward Dong Yunshan. "If you eat too fast, it's easy to overdo it."

Dong Yunshan wiped his mouth and took a big gulp of his drink. "I know my own appetite. This is just enough to line my stomach."

A growing boy could eat his father into ruin.

On top of that, Dong Yunshan had a habit of working out, which meant he burned a lot of energy. Recently, he had also added mental exertion on top of that, so naturally, his appetite had increased quite a bit.

"Drink more slowly." Yukino Yukinoshita sighed. "Review today's material again after you go home. I'll check it tomorrow."

"Huh?" Yui Yuigahama's face twisted bitterly, and the food in front of her suddenly seemed far less appetizing. "You're still going to check...?"

"You can choose not to review it, but I will definitely check." Yukino Yukinoshita shot Dong Yunshan a sidelong glance. "If you can't learn it, you may ask me for help."

"You're overthinking it." Dong Yunshan swallowed the food in his mouth. "This material will be done in an hour."

Yukino Yukinoshita nodded. "Then I'll add another hour's worth for you."

Dong Yunshan: "?"

Yui Yuigahama burst out laughing.

The study session ended with dinner, and everyone went home.

After returning home, Dong Yunshan tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa, did a simple cleaning of the apartment, and only began his daily workout once the food had mostly digested.

However, he had only just finished warming up when he received a call from Shizuka Hiratsuka.

"How's your review going?"

Dong Yunshan answered honestly, "Aside from Japanese, I've pretty much reviewed everything."

"You little brat..." Shizuka Hiratsuka was a Japanese teacher. "Forget it. With your past grades, I doubt there'll be any major problem."

"Then why did you call...?"

"I've always had that interest." Dong Yunshan raised one eyebrow, sensing that something was off. "But Sensei, this seems like the first time you've been so interested—what's going on?"

"One of my students is going out with friends." Shizuka Hiratsuka sighed. "I'm a little worried, so I'd like you to go along and look after her."

"More accurately, she's a former student of mine. She graduated a year ago." The sound of a lighter came from Shizuka Hiratsuka's end. "Phew~ Besides, before I started sending you out on jobs, weren't you having plenty of fun outside too?"

"She?"

"So now you understand why I'm worried, right?"

"Then why does she want to go out?" Dong Yunshan noticed something odd. "I don't think you're the type to worry over nothing. Since you're uneasy, that means these so-called friends aren't actually reliable, right? Is there really a need for her to go out with people like that?"

"Other students might not understand, but you should." Shizuka Hiratsuka fell silent for a while. "There are some people who, even if you really dislike them, you still have to associate with. That's what they call..."

"Social obligations." Dong Yunshan understood. "Their families have business dealings?"

"Not just business. There are many other things too... As an heir, it's very important to build good relationships with people of the younger generation while still young." The sound of Shizuka Hiratsuka exhaling smoke was very clear. "Normally, for social events at this time, I'd go with her. But I'm out of town today, and her gathering came up very suddenly, so I can only entrust this to you."

"Since you've put it that way, Sensei, I can hardly stand by and do nothing." Dong Yunshan set down the dumbbell in his hand. "I'll take this request. Let me change first."

"I've already spoken to her. The meeting place is by the station. I'll reimburse your taxi fare."

"Forget the reimbursement. Can you just add it to my score instead?"

"If you have to take a make-up exam, I can prepare some sample questions for you," Shizuka Hiratsuka said in an unfriendly tone. "Along with a few combo punches."

"Then you'd better reimburse me..." The amusement in Dong Yunshan's voice was unconcealed. "Wouldn't want your combos to miss and make you cry again."

"You little brat!"

"Oh, right. What's that student of yours called?" Dong Yunshan changed the subject in time.

"Her name is..." Shizuka Hiratsuka paused. "Haruno Yukinoshita."

"Hello~" A lively girl's voice came through the phone. "Little underclassman, are you here yet?"

"I just got out of the taxi." Dong Yunshan answered while looking around.

An amusement arcade, KTV, movie theater, park, remote-control racetrack, plus plenty of places to shop.

Across the street, the neon sign of a KTV blinked excitedly at passersby. Overhead, the monorail sliced across the night sky. Most of the people coming and going along the road were young, strolling and wandering in loose rows.

Dong Yunshan swept his gaze around and immediately noticed a figure waving an arm. At the same time, the lively voice on the phone grew noticeably brighter. "I see you~ Over here, over here!"

"I see you too." Dong Yunshan waved in acknowledgment, crossed the road, and walked over.

As the distance between them closed, the girl's figure grew clearer as well.

Brilliant neon light outlined the elegant curves of her silhouette, but it could not conceal the luster of her fair skin. Her short black hair fluttered and bounced with each little tiptoe she made, light and lively.

The tightness of her slim, pale jeans formed a striking contrast with the floaty lace of her top, displaying at once an enviable slenderness and a fullness that stirred jealousy.

Even when Dong Yunshan drew close, the girl still did not hang up. She stood right in front of him, eyes on him, tilting her head as she spoke into the phone. Her smooth short hair fell softly, swaying as it reflected the dazzling neon. "Hello there, little underclassman~ I'm your client—Haruno Yukinoshita."

"Hello, I'm Dong Yunshan." Hearing his own voice come from her phone, Dong Yunshan hung up. "It's an honor to take on this request."

Haruno Yukinoshita lowered her phone, broke into a big smile, and generously held out her hand. "Dong Yun, I'll be in your care~"

Dong Yunshan took her fingers and gave them a light shake. Looking at her face, seven parts similar to Yukino Yukinoshita's yet entirely different in bearing, he offered a polite smile. "Yukinoshita, I'll be in your care as well."

"Mm..." Haruno Yukinoshita put both hands on her hips. "That won't do."

"Oh?" Dong Yunshan raised one eyebrow. "How so?"

"I was worried you'd dress too formally at first, and when I saw you were dressed casually, I was happy for a second." Haruno Yukinoshita puffed out her pink cheeks slightly. "But then you started talking so seriously..."

Haruno Yukinoshita moved to Dong Yunshan's side and jabbed him with her elbow again and again. "Where did your high school vitality go? Come on, come on~"

"High school students right before exams are like this." Dong Yunshan raised a hand and precisely blocked Haruno Yukinoshita's elbow strike. "Half-dead, barely alive."

"Pfft hahahahaha! It's not that exaggerated... But speaking of which, I really am sorry." Haruno Yukinoshita stuck out her tongue. "Calling you over to help at a time like this. But I didn't have a choice either. Little Shizu didn't have time, and if I called someone from home over, it would just make the atmosphere really stiff."

"I understand." Dong Yunshan nodded. "If you have any requirements, I'll do my best."

"Huh?" Haruno Yukinoshita looked at him suspiciously, her expression a little aggrieved. "Why do I feel like... you're so guarded around me?"

She was sharp.

Dong Yunshan was indeed wary and on guard against Haruno Yukinoshita.

The reasoning was very simple. If Yukino Yukinoshita really had an elder sister at home with this much overflowing approachability, there was no way she would have ended up the way she was now.

With that as the premise, then examining Haruno Yukinoshita's behavior revealed that, in the span of just a few sentences, she had already changed her mode of interaction three times without leaving a trace.

At the start, she used the image of an innocent, romantic upperclassman to close the distance. After receiving Dong Yunshan's formulaic response, she turned into the image of a sincere, apologetic older sister, smoothly pouring out her troubles as well.

When Dong Yunshan did not take the bait, Haruno Yukinoshita switched again into a sensitive, wounded mode.

Dong Yunshan was able to notice so quickly partly because he had previously interacted with Yukino Yukinoshita and knew something about her family situation, and partly because... he had seen this too many times.

As the saying went, once bitten, twice shy. After years of being a corporate livestock and getting harvested like chives crop after crop, Dong Yunshan became instantly alert when faced with this kind of routine.

The words Haruno Yukinoshita said were automatically replaced in Dong Yunshan's mind with more familiar content.

Exclusive form of address to close the distance → Family, welcome to my livestream!

Sincere apology and pouring out troubles → Just taking up a tiny bit of everyone's time. Please take a look at these unsold quality goods of ours!

Sensitive, wounded, straight-ball questioning → Why won't you believe us?

Why was he so guarded against her?

Dong Yunshan could not answer that question.

It was not as if he could say he had watched too many livestreams and had long since built up immunity to these sales pitches.

But in his experience, there was no need for him to answer this kind of question either.

The person asking would soon provide a reasonable, well-supported answer that was extremely favorable to themselves.

"I know..." Haruno Yukinoshita blinked. "You got nervous because you saw Yukino's family member."

Classic false attribution.

First came the ulterior motive, and then they would immediately fast-forward to "competitor sabotage."

"Or..." Haruno Yukinoshita narrowed her eyes. "Did Shizuka say something bad about me?"

At times like this, denial was useless.

The people who said they had no ulterior motives were exactly the ones who had ulterior motives.

The people who said it wasn't an attack from a rival company were absolutely the rival company's paid trolls.

Dong Yunshan couldn't find the button to exit the livestream, so he could only pick one of the two answers she had offered and go along with it.

"I am a little nervous," Dong Yunshan said with a soft laugh. "After all, you're the older sister of a classmate in the same club. If I can't properly complete your request, I'm afraid I won't have the face to see her afterward."

He avoided the main issue.

By admitting to the insignificant part of the other person's accusation, he could dodge the parts that were unfavorable to him.

Almost every major public opinion crisis could be defused with this move.

"Relax! It's not like I'm trying to break you two up. Youth only comes once, so you have to enjoy it properly." Haruno Yukinoshita put her left hand on her hip, while the fair, delicate fingers of her right hand poked Dong Yunshan's cheek. "But you can't go too wild, okay? If you make Yukino cry, her big sister won't forgive you!"

She made it sound as if there really was something between Dong Yunshan and Yukino Yukinoshita.

"I'm so jealous that Yukinoshita has an older sister who protects her like this." Since Haruno Yukinoshita had no intention of stopping while she was ahead, and was even poking his face, Dong Yunshan didn't mind poking at Haruno Yukinoshita's sore spot either. "Being cared for so meticulously by her older sister, she must be very happy."

"Then you'd better take good care of her." Haruno Yukinoshita's gaze shifted slightly, and in the next instant, her brilliant smile seemed to eclipse even the glow of the neon lights. "In that case, Yukino's good big sister will be your good big sister too~"

"We'll talk about the future when the future comes." Dong Yunshan was as practiced as a customer service agent. "My task today is to take good care of you."

"How dependable~" Haruno Yukinoshita nodded in satisfaction. "Then I'll be counting on you today. Make sure you perform well, okay? If something comes up that you can't handle, just ask your big sister for help!"

Following Haruno Yukinoshita into the KTV, they wound this way and that until they reached the reserved private room, from which muffled singing drifted out.

Haruno Yukinoshita reached out and pushed the door, but it wouldn't budge.

The singing inside came to an abrupt stop. Then the door was opened from the inside.