Friday Woven with Warm Breezes

"Is your sister free tomorrow?"

Looking at the draft notebook passed back to him, Jiang Yubai gave an inward uh and couldn't help a question mark from popping up over his head.

Wait, what was that supposed to mean?

Tomorrow? Wasn't that Saturday?

Could it be that she had been moved by his diligent snack offerings these past few days and planned to treat him to something nice as thanks?

After thinking it over, he picked up his pen and wrote a reply in the notebook:

"Yeah, I'm free. What's up?"

After writing that, he casually pulled a packet of milk candies from his bag, placed it on the notebook, and passed it back.

Before long, the notebook came back again:

"My sister says she's very grateful that you were willing to extend the rent deadline. She hopes you can come over to our place on Saturday. She wants to give you the rent in person."

The moment he read it, Jiang Yubai instinctively narrowed his eyes and checked it several times before confirming that he hadn't misread it.

No, what was this supposed to mean now?

Jiang Yubai might have believed, somewhat, that Lin Jianxia felt a little grateful toward him.

But he absolutely didn't believe she would be "so grateful that she wanted to hand him the rent in person."

Not to mention that the girl had always treated him like a thief, he had spent the past few days teasing her through notes in every way imaginable. She had probably cursed him eight hundred times in her heart already.

So was this... a feast at Hongmen Gate?

Could it be that she really couldn't afford the rent, so she had deliberately found an excuse to invite him, the big landlord, inside and treat him to food and drink...

Then, once the time was right, Lin Jianxia would smash a cup as a signal, and three hundred axe-wielding men would rush out from the house and chop him into minced meat?

At that thought, Jiang Yubai cast a suspicious sidelong glance and happened to meet Lin Jianxia's furtive gaze.

The moment she saw him turn his head, the girl immediately looked away and stared motionlessly at the exercise book in front of her.

...Could you make that guilty look any more obvious?

This was definitely a trap.

Jiang Yubai twitched the corner of his mouth and casually wrote:

"Sure. Then I'll come over Saturday afternoon."

Let's see what you've got.jpg

After writing that, he instinctively pulled another packet of little biscuits from his bag. Just as he was about to put it down, his hand paused.

Wait, wasn't she the one asking him this time? Why was he still feeding her snacks?

...Forget it.

He gently placed the biscuits on the notebook and pushed it over with them.

After waiting two minutes, Jiang Yubai still didn't see the notebook come back.

When he glanced over, Lin Jianxia was already sitting properly, staring fixedly at the textbook on her desk with the appearance of someone fully focused on solving problems.

The draft notebook, meanwhile, remained untouched at the corner of the desk—except the packet of biscuits on top had vanished.

Fine, fine. Eat the sugar coating and send the cannonball back, huh? You haven't even answered my previous message yet.

Jiang Yubai was so annoyed he nearly laughed.

He reached over, took back the notebook, and neatly copied his earlier question again: "By the way, what kind of music does your sister usually like?"

Hmm, add a little bread too. Perfect.

This time, the reply came quickly.

Jiang Yubai took the notebook and saw four neatly written characters on it.

"Summer Wind"

—Not bad, not bad. She had pretty good taste.

He nodded in satisfaction. After thinking for a moment, Jiang Yubai casually wrote another question in the notebook.

"Hmm... what's your sister's type? Does she have any standards for choosing a partner or something?"

After writing the question, he lowered his head and rummaged through his backpack for a while. In the end, he decided to give her some vitamins, so he pulled out an orange and gently placed it on the notebook.

...Come to think of it, this really did feel a little like feeding an electronic pet back in the day.

It was said that girls ate little, but that definitely didn't apply to high school seniors.

With early mornings, late nights, and intense mental exertion every day, even a "bird stomach" couldn't withstand that kind of consumption. The body's demand for energy naturally increased.

Lin Jianxia was no exception.

Ever since discovering that snacks had a special effect on her, Jiang Yubai had gone to the supermarket every morning without fail, stuffing all kinds of snacks into his backpack like he was stocking up supplies, just waiting to feed her during self-study.

In just a few days, he had indirectly pried out nearly everything about Lin Jianxia's height and weight, food preferences, even her daily routine...

Of course, Jiang Yubai wasn't doing this to prepare to pursue her or anything.

He simply thought... teasing her was really fun.

Lin Jianxia might not have noticed it herself, but the way she got furious at his questions yet didn't dare show it to his face, only able to vent all her emotions through the tip of her pen—it was just too entertaining.

He could even roughly judge her current anger level from the force of her handwriting and how messy it became.

With these scattered thoughts running through his mind, Jiang Yubai spun his pen and glanced to the side.

The draft notebook was still lying quietly where it had been, and that orange-yellow orange was still sitting primly on top of it.

After the past two days of feeding her, Jiang Yubai had gradually figured out some patterns.

Usually, when this happened, it wasn't that Lin Jianxia hadn't seen it, nor was she being picky. It was just that this question... she probably didn't want to answer it.

Jiang Yubai spun his pen with slight regret.

Sigh, directly asking about her ideal type in front of her... that seemed to have crossed the line of what she could accept.

He took the notebook, crossed out the line he had written, then thought it over and changed the direction of his question.

The familiar sound of paper rustling came again. Lin Jianxia glanced from the corner of her eye and happened to see the question that had been rewritten.

"Does your sister follow celebrities? Does she have any male stars she particularly likes?"

What! Is! This!

Wasn't this just another way of asking about her ideal type?!

Lin Jianxia pursed her lips, yet surprisingly, not much anger rose in her heart.

For one thing, this kind of question had appeared far too~ often~ lately. There had been so many that she had already started giving up; she didn't even have enough energy left to stay angry.

For another... Jiang Yubai didn't even bother pretending! He dared ask about everything from height and weight to food preferences. The only thing he hadn't asked was, 'Is your sister interested in me?' This was simply outrageous!

Wasn't he afraid that she, the "younger sister," would go home and complain to her sister?!

Forget it. Today was Friday anyway. Once she got paid tonight, she would use the chance to pay the rent tomorrow to make things clear to him!

As for now...

Lin Jianxia pursed her lips, put the orange into her backpack, picked up her pen, and heavily wrote two large words in the draft notebook:

"NO!!"

For once, she even added two exclamation marks after it, trying to deceive herself into conveying at least a little anger.

Just as she passed the notebook over, the dismissal bell rang.

Lin Jianxia packed her bag almost reflexively and fled the classroom as if escaping.

Only after leaving the school gates and blending into the flowing crowd did she finally relax her tense shoulders and let out a soft breath.

Finally... she had made it through this week.

Once she collected her wages from the bookstore, she would be able to pay the rent tomorrow.

That huge stone that had been hanging over her head could finally fall.

And most importantly—she finally wouldn't have to endure that bastard's endless variety of teasing anymore!

At that thought, the corners of Lin Jianxia's lips unconsciously lifted, and she walked briskly toward the bookstore.