Lin Tingwan Is Coming?

Why was she taking her sister's place at school?

"You'd always refused to talk about it," Jiang Yubai replied almost instinctively. "Why are you suddenly willing to tell me? Had a change of heart?"

Lin Jianxia choked on his words, a breath catching in her chest as she stood up to leave.

"Forget it if you don't want to hear it!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey." Jiang Yubai hurriedly grabbed her sleeve and pressed her back onto the stone bench. "I want to hear it, I do."

Lin Jianxia shot him a glare, while Jiang Yubai gave her an innocent look in return.

Pressing her lips together, she finally said, "Why do you think... I came to school in my sister's place?"

Why?

Jiang Yubai thought for a moment and offered what seemed like the most logical guess.

"Because... paying one tuition fee lets two people take turns attending classes?"

After all, she could barely afford rent. Taking on the school expenses for two people did seem unrealistic.

As if she had expected that answer, helplessness appeared on Lin Jianxia's face.

"Putting aside whether that would even be allowed..." she sighed softly. "If that were the case, what about the college entrance exam? Were my sister and I supposed to take turns going to college too?"

"So..." Jiang Yubai gave her a questioning look.

Rather than answer directly, Lin Jianxia threw out a seemingly unrelated question.

"Do you know about Wanwan's situation?"

"Lin Tingwan?" The image of that bright-eyed girl flashed through Jiang Yubai's mind. He hesitated before answering, "Not really. We've barely interacted."

But then he realized something and complained, "Wait. Since you're the one who's always at school, how could I possibly know her?"

"It wasn't always me. Otherwise, why would I pretend to be Wanwan?" Lin Jianxia curled her lips. "Just tell me what you know."

Jiang Yubai thought back for a moment.

"Our homeroom teacher mentioned it back in our first year. He said Lin Tingwan had congenital mutism, couldn't speak, and that her hearing didn't seem very good either."

Lin Jianxia looked at the setting sun gradually sinking in the distance and softly hummed in acknowledgment.

"Wanwan does have mutism, but it isn't congenital."

She withdrew her gaze, her voice quiet. "There's nothing physically wrong with her. It's just... for psychological reasons, she doesn't want to speak."

"She doesn't want to speak?" Jiang Yubai froze. "Not that she can't?"

"She simply doesn't want to. And what you said about her 'hearing not being very good' isn't right either."

Lin Jianxia shook her head.

"Wanwan's hearing is completely normal. The hearing problem is just an excuse for other people."

"That way, when people talk to her and she doesn't respond, they'll just think she didn't hear them."

"After a while, no one takes the initiative to talk to her anymore."

Jiang Yubai frowned. "Why say that?"

Lin Jianxia glanced at him, her voice dropping even lower.

"For Wanwan, dealing with classmates... is a burden. You could even say she really hates it."

"She actually resists going to school itself. Only when she's alone in her little room can she relax a little."

Jiang Yubai understood somewhat. "So... that's why you went to school in her place?"

But...

He could not help recalling that greeting she had handed over to him—"Hello, Jiang Yubai!"—and those clear, bright eyes filled with a hint of curiosity.

Why did it feel...

like the person he had met was rather different from how Lin Jianxia described her?

"You noticed it too, didn't you?" Lin Jianxia's faint voice came from beside him. "Wanwan treats you differently."

For some reason, Jiang Yubai suddenly felt like he had been caught red-handed.

Shaking off the inexplicable guilty feeling, he nodded. "It does seem a little like that."

The moment this guy actually admitted it, Lin Jianxia's brows immediately furrowed.

"So! When exactly did you sweet-talk my sister?!"

"Hey, hey, don't slander me." Jiang Yubai hurriedly clarified, "What do you mean, sweet-talk? I didn't even say a single word to her in high school, okay?"

Lin Jianxia stared at him for a while, her tone gradually turning baffled.

"You really don't know?"

"Maybe it's because I'm too..."

The words had barely reached Jiang Yubai's lips when he met Lin Jianxia's increasingly dangerous gaze and silently swallowed them back down.

He shrugged, his tone becoming more sincere.

"I really don't know. Why don't you just ask your sister? I'm curious too."

Lin Jianxia ignored that and turned her little head away, continuing from where she had left off.

"Because of Wanwan's condition, I simply couldn't rest easy letting her go to school alone."

"If she got bullied at school, or something upset her... she wouldn't take the initiative to tell me."

"On top of that, she already hated going to school, so I simply took a leave of absence from Lin No. 5 High School and attended classes in her place. It also made it easier to look after her."

Jiang Yubai raised his brows. "So... you used to attend Lin No. 5 High School?"

"Yes, but I came here soon after." Lin Jianxia lifted her chin, with a trace of pride in her tone. "But my student registration is still there. After the college entrance exam, I can still be with Wanwan."

Jiang Yubai gave an acknowledging sound. He did not ask anything like, "What about your parents?" Instead, he merely said, "So... you've been working while taking care of Lin Tingwan all this time?"

"What else was I supposed to do?" Lin Jianxia rolled her eyes at him. "I'm super capable, okay?"

Jiang Yubai's mouth twitched.

"Who was it that got their wages docked and didn't say a word, then opened the door the next day with swollen eyes? Who didn't even get angry after all the food was eaten, and could only cry?"

The proud look on Lin Jianxia's face stiffened.

Seeing her expression, Jiang Yubai sighed.

"I'm really curious. Before I met you... how exactly did you survive?"

Ever since he had met her in that corridor, he had always felt this girl looked miserable.

For Lin Jianxia, the string of life seemed to be constantly stretched taut, as though it might snap at any second.

Yet even so, she had somehow stumbled along with her sister and grown up this much.

"What do you mean, how did I survive?!"

As though someone had stepped on her tail, Lin Jianxia immediately retorted.

"I had a steady job before, okay? I could always pay the rent!"

"There were hardship grants, living expenses, and wages from odd jobs. Things had actually been pretty good."

She kicked away a small stone by her feet in frustration, her voice lowering with a faint, barely noticeable grievance.

"If the store where I worked hadn't suddenly moved away, and if it hadn't happened to coincide with... I would've had enough money."

So that was it.

Jiang Yubai quietly went, Oh, to himself.

Ever since meeting her, he had always felt like he had been the one supporting her—her rent kept getting delayed, and he had never stopped feeding her.

But actually...

In the places he could not see, during the much longer time before she became his deskmate...

This girl, who always looked like she was on the verge of collapse, had apparently been working very hard to live in her own way.

Forget it. From now on...

Well, he would bully her a little less.

That was what Jiang Yubai decided.

Perhaps recalling some unpleasant memories, Lin Jianxia vigorously shook her head, and her tone relaxed again.

"It'll pass somehow. Wanwan and I... we've always made it through one hurdle after another."

She stood up and patted the dust off her school uniform. "That's all. I'm heading back first."

"You absolutely can't tell anyone what I said today, especially about Wanwan and me."

Seeing that she was leaving, Jiang Yubai hurriedly spoke up.

"Hey, wait—"

Lin Jianxia turned her head, questions in her eyes.

"I'm just curious." Jiang Yubai looked at her hesitantly. "Why did you suddenly choose today to tell me all this?"

Logically speaking, from her perspective, shouldn't she have kept something like this hidden for as long as possible?

His eyes lit up. "Could it be that you finally believe I'm a good person?"

"Good, my ass!" As if suddenly remembering something, Lin Jianxia's expression instantly turned furious. "I almost forgot to mention this..."

Seriously, who knew what kind of love potion Jiang Yubai had fed her little sister...

She took a deep breath, her tone carrying an unmistakable threat.

"Wanwan is coming to school tomorrow. If you dare bully her... you're finished."

A good person... pfft!

Having thrown out those words, Lin Jianxia huffed and stormed off in a rage.

Jiang Yubai was left standing there, blinking as he failed to process it for a moment.

Wait, what had she just said?

Tomorrow... Lin Tingwan was coming to school?