Yukinoshita's Way of Correcting

This book had already been changed to contracted status, and my writing journey had set foot on a new path.

With everyone's votes supporting it, the new book ranking had already squeezed into the top hundred!

Thank you all for encouraging this little newbie (??????)??

Volume 1: First Meeting in First Year of High School: Lingering

Dong Yunshan drank his cola while organizing his thoughts.

After Yui Yuigahama entered high school, she started paying attention to makeup and dressing up, and her image changed greatly.

That could be judged from her somewhat immature makeup.

Although Dong Yunshan did not have much experience with makeup, he had come into contact with it a lot through work, so he could still tell that Yui Yuigahama was not very practiced at applying makeup and had not yet found a style that suited her.

If it were a little lighter, the effect would be better.

As a classmate, Minami Sagami saw Yui Yuigahama becoming cuter and cuter, so jealousy arose in her heart, and her attitude toward her turned cold.

Logically, it made sense.

Because her good friend Kaori was in the Handicrafts Club, Yui Yuigahama often went there to hang out and was noticed by Sato.

To get her attention, Sato picked up Yui Yuigahama's plush toy, deliberately let her see it, and then refused to return it.

Although it was a little childish... it was not impossible.

Because of her personality, Yui Yuigahama was mindful of interpersonal relationships and thus fell into distress.

Even if she got the plush toy back in a way that did not affect her relationships, Yui Yuigahama would still fall into the same distress for the same reason.

That was giving someone a fish.

Only by making her stop reading people's faces and learn to bravely express her own thoughts could the same distress be eliminated.

That was teaching someone to fish.

Based on the information currently available and her past experience, the conclusion Yukino Yukinoshita reached was very reasonable, and her solution was also very correct.

But in Dong Yunshan's heart, there was always a lingering abnormality he could not ignore.

This feeling was a little like... listening to a boss paint a rosy picture.

Gold would always shine, keep your feet on the ground and work hard, don't compare yourself to others, strive to improve yourself, look farther ahead, opportunities were reserved for those who were prepared, if you bloom, the breeze will come of its own accord... These words were also reasonable, and they were also correct.

Burp~

But just thinking about them made Dong Yunshan feel stuffed.

"Ha!"

A light shout interrupted Dong Yunshan's thoughts. He raised his hand skillfully and blocked the approaching fist.

As Shizuka Hiratsuka withdrew her fist, she threw out another left hook.

Dong Yunshan leaned back slightly to avoid it, passed the cola to his left hand, and pressed down with his right, suppressing Shizuka Hiratsuka's uppercut.

"Not bad." Shizuka Hiratsuka withdrew her fist appreciatively, then gathered her flying long hair with a refreshed expression. "How's the match going?"

"Right now, she has the upper hand." Dong Yunshan recalled their earlier conversation. "I'm like a rookie soldier getting lectured."

"That's inevitable. After all, she's an extremely outstanding student." Shizuka Hiratsuka took Dong Yunshan's cola and drank a big mouthful. "However, those who have plenty have their own troubles too."

Dong Yunshan did not mind the cola being snatched away.

For a two-yuan cola, the first sip alone was worth one and a half.

If two people drank it, that was equivalent to earning one yuan.

He raised one eyebrow. "The troubles of those who have plenty?"

"She's very gentle, and she's always been very upright." Shizuka Hiratsuka finished the rest of the cola in two or three gulps and tossed the can into the trash. "But the problem is, this world is neither gentle nor upright. I imagine living like that must be very tiring for her."

"...Today's client reminded me of a friend of mine." Dong Yunshan lowered his eyes slightly. "When he first entered the workplace, in order to fit into the group as quickly as possible, he worked hard to cater to others. He helped people write documents, helped people bring coffee, helped people revise PPTs, helped people work overtime."

Hiratsuka transfer skirt Shizuka sighed. "Still too 9 one one nine young..."

Dong Yunshan shook his head. "Then he became the fastest one to get promoted and became the department manager."

"Huh?" After a brief moment of surprise, Shizuka Hiratsuka came back to herself. "Then he had pretty good luck, meeting a good company."

"After he was promoted, a certain leader targeted him at every turn." Dong Yunshan smiled. People really did laugh when they were speechless. "It wasn't until he was forced to resign that he found out the leader disliked him only because he had said a few extra words to the female colleague the leader liked."

"I..." Shizuka Hiratsuka was momentarily at a loss for words. Only after quite a while did she recover. "You mean, the world has a gentle side and an ungentle side, times when it's upright, and moments when it's twisted?"

"It's hard for me to understand the troubles of those who have plenty that you mentioned, sensei, because I myself suffer from mild intellectual disability. I can just take care of myself in daily life, so I'm treated as a normal person." Dong Yunshan raised his hand and tapped his own head. "It's hard for me to distinguish encouragement from empty promises, hard for me to see clearly in school whether the world is gentle and upright, impossible for me to judge other people's intentions without having contact with them, and impossible for me to guide people in the correct direction."

So when he saw someone able to do it, he felt a certain abnormality he could not ignore.

Shizuka Hiratsuka asked with interest, "So?"

"So I can only use a stupid method and turn my thoughts into actual action." Dong Yunshan took the strawberry yogurt out of his pocket. "If I want to verify something, I work hard properly and see whether there's a reward; if I think the world is neither gentle nor upright, I go look and see whether there really is no gentleness or uprightness; if someone picks something up and doesn't want to return it, then I go interact with that person and see whether he really doesn't want to return it."

"That's no stupid method. It's seeking truth from facts, and it's profoundly meaningful." Shizuka Hiratsuka rubbed Dong Yunshan's head. "Then go do it. Keep the drink for yourself. I don't like this one."

"Uh... I wanted to ask you to help deliver it to the Service Club." Dong Yunshan explained, "I bought this for Yukinoshita and the client."

Shizuka Hiratsuka bent her arm and hooked it around Dong Yunshan's neck. "You little brat, you actually dare make your teacher run errands?"

"Teachers steal students' cola too." Dong Yunshan patted her arm. "If you eat someone's food, you owe them. If you take someone's things, you're beholden to them."

"You little brat..." Shizuka Hiratsuka let go of Dong Yunshan in annoyance and took the two cartons of strawberry yogurt. "So where are you going?"

"I'm going to seek truth from facts." Dong Yunshan looked at the floor map by the stairwell. "If I remember right, the Handicrafts Club is..."

Here.

Dong Yunshan raised his hand and lightly knocked on the door of the Handicrafts Club's activity room.

"Come in," a girl's voice called from inside.

"Excuse me." Dong Yunshan slid the door open and walked in.

Compared with the Service Club, the Handicrafts Club was a bit more cluttered.

Dong Yunshan did not look closely at the Handicrafts Club's furnishings. Focusing on recalling the photos on Yui Yuigahama's phone, he quickly swept his gaze over the three boys and two girls in the activity room, then soon locked on to his target.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Dong Yunshan. I came here hoping to ask the Handicrafts Club for a favor." Dong Yunshan smiled at one of the girls in the Handicrafts Club. "You're Kaori, right? A friend of mine showed me your work before. Your style is very distinctive. I was wondering if you have time recently."

"Please sit." Kaori stood up and led Dong Yunshan to a relatively tidier area. "That depends on what exactly you want made."

The Handicrafts Club had all kinds of odds and ends and tools. Even when they were well organized, it was still inevitably a little messy, so they had deliberately left an area near the door for communicating with students outside the club.

"To be honest, I haven't really decided myself." Dong Yunshan lowered his eyes slightly. As he spoke to Kaori, he covertly kept an eye on the other members of the Handicrafts Club. "If I were giving it to a cute girl like you, do you have any good recommendations?"

The moment those words left his mouth, the Handicrafts Club fell silent.

The two boys and two girls who had originally only glanced at him before continuing with their handicrafts almost all stopped what they were doing at the same time and looked toward Dong Yunshan. Amid the many surprised gazes, the almost ferocious hostility in the eyes of the boy farthest away was especially obvious.

And the only person in the Handicrafts Club who had not looked at Dong Yunshan—Kaori—happened to be looking at that boy.

"Sorry." Kaori quickly withdrew her gaze and gave a polite smile. "There are many kinds of cute girls, so I can't give you any useful advice. Maybe you could go back, think it over properly, and come again."

"That makes sense." Dong Yunshan took out his phone. "How about this? Let's exchange email addresses. Once I have an idea, it'll be easier to get in touch."

Kaori hesitated. "Well..."

"That was rude of me." Dong Yunshan acted as though he had only just realized it. "I'll exchange with another club member instead. It's easier for guys to talk to each other."

Dong Yunshan walked straight toward the boy he had noticed earlier. "Classmate, would it be convenient to exchange email addresses?"

"Ah... sure." The hostility in the boy's eyes faded. He took out his phone and exchanged email addresses with Dong Yunshan, even sending a test email.

The signature was—Sato.

Things seemed to be getting clearer and clearer.

But he still needed further confirmation.

"Hello, Sato. I'm Dong Yunshan. I guess this means we know each other now." Dong Yunshan blinked. "If you have any worries you need help with, you can come find me at the Service Club."

"Worries?" Sato's gaze obviously shifted aside. "...Okay."

"Well then, I won't disturb you any longer." After saying goodbye to the members of the Handicrafts Club, Dong Yunshan returned to the Service Club.

Sliding open the Service Club's door, Dong Yunshan saw Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita drinking strawberry yogurt, as well as Shizuka Hiratsuka leaning by the window.

"Dong Yun!" Yui Yuigahama put down her drink and took out some coins from a change pouch shaped like a small shoulder bag. "Thank you for bringing me a drink."

Dong Yunshan waved his hand. "I told you, it's a perk."

"Remember to knock when you come in." Yukino Yukinoshita had learned from Shizuka Hiratsuka where Dong Yunshan had gone. "After one trip to the Handicrafts Club, did you find evidence that can refute me?"

["She wasn't in a bad mood. She felt jealous when she saw you."]

["If he didn't want to return it, he would definitely hide it, not deliberately let you see it."]

["Just a childish little trick boys use to get attention."]

Recalling what Yukino Yukinoshita had said, Dong Yunshan returned to his seat and sat down. "Your judgment was correct."

["As long as you point out how childish that behavior is and call out how nasty he's being, he'll obediently hand the doll over."]

Dong Yunshan finished sorting out his somewhat jumbled thoughts. "The solution you gave was also correct."

"The match is decided." Yukino Yukinoshita shook the drink carton in her hand. "I originally wanted to make you be a statue for a while, but now... this carton of yogurt is enough."

After all, Dong Yunshan had gone to buy drinks earlier to break the awkwardness.

So Yukino Yukinoshita took the fact that Dong Yunshan had bought her a drink as her demand of Dong Yunshan after winning.

Shizuka Hiratsuka lifted her chin toward Dong Yunshan. "I was right, wasn't I?"

"You were indeed right. Yukinoshita really is gentle and upright." Dong Yunshan smiled. "So I've also decided to lower the demand for my victory a little."

Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze sharpened. From the meaning in Dong Yunshan's words, it sounded as if he already had certain confidence in winning.

But Dong Yunshan had clearly just said that her judgment and method were both correct.

Then...

"Let me make this clear first." Yukino Yukinoshita set down her drink and folded her arms before her chest. "Whether you use words to lead Yuigahama into avoiding the problem, or use sophistry to argue by force, I won't acknowledge it."

"I'm only going to ask one question whose answer I already know." Dong Yunshan gathered his messy black hair behind his head. "Then, outstanding Yukinoshita, you'll admit defeat."

"Fine." A cold flame lit in Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes. "If you can really do that, I'll count it as you winning twice."

I was planning to settle things at the end of each semester... Shizuka Hiratsuka muttered inwardly, yet a satisfied smile appeared on her face, clearly appreciating the clash before her. "Good. As the judge, I approve. If Dong Yunshan can make Yukino admit defeat with one question, it'll count as Dong Yunshan winning twice. But if he can't, then he loses twice."

"If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't notice. But Yui Yuigahama, I believe in you." Dong Yunshan pressed his index and middle fingers together and tapped his temple twice. "I want you to think back carefully. Was Sagami already cold toward you to begin with, or did she become even colder after you explained that you were looking for a lost stuffed toy?"

Yui Yuigahama had been worried that she might fail to live up to Dong Yunshan's trust, but after hearing the question, she immediately relaxed.

For other people, it might not be so easy to distinguish between being cold and suddenly becoming colder.

But for Yui Yuigahama, who was used to reading people's expressions, the two were extremely easy to tell apart.

So she quickly gave her answer.

"Sagami already seemed to be in a pretty bad mood..." Yui Yuigahama recalled the scene at the time. "After I told her my stuffed toy was missing, she obviously became even colder..."

"Or rather," Dong Yunshan added, "she showed clear hostility toward you."

Yui Yuigahama nodded lightly.

Yukino Yukinoshita's fine brows furrowed slightly, her cherry lips pressing into a thin line, and her gaze wavered like never before.

As if to hide it, or perhaps to think more clearly, Yukino Yukinoshita closed her eyes.

Her pale, delicate hands clenched tightly into small fists, and her curved lashes trembled. Only after quite a while did Yukino Yukinoshita open her eyes again. "I..."

She bit her lower lip lightly, complex ripples spreading through her icy-blue eyes, her pleasant voice like a clear, cold stream. "I admit defeat."

The Truth Comes Out

"Huh—!" Yui Yuigahama's eyes widened in shock. "What's going on? Why all of a sudden..."

Yukino Yukinoshita had clearly seemed so confident before.

"I made an incorrect judgment about your situation based on my own experience." Yukino Yukinoshita let out a long breath. "Being cold toward you to begin with and becoming even colder after learning you were the owner are two different situations."

Yui Yuigahama didn't understand. "They are?"

"If she was cold toward you, then it was aimed at you. If she became even colder after learning you were the owner, that means her cold attitude was aimed at the owner. As for why she would be cold toward the owner, or even hostile..." Dong Yunshan repeated what he had told Shizuka Hiratsuka earlier. "I have a friend who was constantly targeted by a superior. It wasn't until he was forced to resign that he found out the superior disliked him only because he had exchanged a few extra words with a female coworker the superior liked."

"Sagami thought I... no, she thought the owner of the stuffed toy was too close to the person she liked, so when I asked her if she'd seen my stuffed toy, she showed hostility toward me." Following Dong Yunshan's line of thought, Yui Yuigahama analyzed it, then quickly found the problem. "But why would she think that?"