You're a Good Person

"Um... actually, I might... have something I'd like to ask you."

Hearing that, Jiang Yubai gave a quiet aha inwardly, knowing the main event had finally arrived.

This request... was most likely the real reason she had been acting so unusually today.

Jiang Yubai had originally thought she was short on money and wanted an advance on her salary or something, which was why he had brought it up himself earlier.

But if it wasn't that... then what could it be?

Jiang Yubai couldn't help growing curious and nodded.

"Sure. Go ahead."

Lin Jianxia pressed her lips together, her voice dropping softer.

"I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to... make time to talk to Wanwan?"

?

"Wait, after all that buildup and hemming and hawing, that's what you wanted to say?" Jiang Yubai was practically torn between laughter and tears. "I thought you were going to ask me to blow up the school."

He had thought she was going to ask something serious, but after all that, it was just chatting with someone?

He said casually, "It's just talking, right? Sure. When should I go?"

Yet when Jiang Yubai agreed so readily, Lin Jianxia did not look relieved. Instead, her gaze drifted even more, and she guiltily turned her little head away.

"A-all the time."

Jiang Yubai: "?"

He stood there, stunned for a long while before asking hesitantly, "Wait, I don't think I heard you clearly. You said... when, exactly?"

Lin Jianxia's ears grew even redder, and she did not dare meet his eyes at all.

"I mean... all the time..."

Jiang Yubai stared at her for a moment before finally blurting out, "Today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow. What day is 'all the time'?"

Lin Jianxia thought about it, then answered uncertainly, "Every day?"

Jiang Yubai: "?"

"Lin Jianxia," he sighed faintly, his tone turning strange, "I admit it was my fault to have you bring breakfast into my room earlier, but you don't have to mess with me like this."

"I mean it!"

Seeing that Jiang Yubai did not believe her, Lin Jianxia immediately grew anxious.

"...You mean you want me to go talk to your sister every day?" Jiang Yubai gave her a peculiar look. "What are you trying to do, find your sister a boyfriend?"

"Of course not!"

Lin Jianxia was so angry that she instinctively raised a hand to punch him, only to force it back down halfway.

Why was this man's head full of such weird things?

She pressed her lips together, her voice lowering. "It's... it's to help treat Wanwan."

Treat her?

At that, Jiang Yubai put away his playful attitude and frowned.

"Treat her? Just by talking?"

It wasn't that he did not believe her. It was just that this method... sounded a little absurd.

Lin Jianxia fell silent for a few seconds before speaking softly. "I think I told you before, Wanwan wasn't born unable to speak. It happened later."

"Right." Jiang Yubai nodded promptly. "I remember."

"Happened later..."

As if she had recalled something, Lin Jianxia's eyes dimmed.

"The reasons are complicated. By the time I noticed, Wanwan had already... become like this."

She pressed her lips together, seemingly unwilling to say more, and continued in a low voice.

"The psychologist I took Wanwan to see before said her condition was complicated. It was connected to her experiences and personality, and there was no miracle cure that could completely fix it."

"The doctor said... if she really wanted to get better, the key was still herself."

Jiang Yubai listened quietly. Only then did he nod and ask curiously, "So what does that have to do with me talking to her?"

Lin Jianxia did not answer right away. She only said softly, "The doctor also said that the way to help Wanwan get better was actually simple... let her go out more, interact with people more, and stop bottling everything up alone."

At that, she gave a bitter smile.

"But aside from me, her older sister, Wanwan almost never communicates with anyone else. Even at school, when facing teachers, she only ever nods or shakes her head."

"...Except for one person."

Hearing that, Jiang Yubai hesitantly pointed at himself.

"...Me?"

"Yes." Lin Jianxia nodded. "At first, I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just a coincidence... or maybe just a passing novelty."

"After all, Wanwan had taken a brief interest in things before, but usually, after only a few days, she would completely lose interest."

Her voice lowered, carrying a stifled sense of conflict. "It wasn't until yesterday that I realized I might have been wrong."

"To Wanwan... you really do seem different."

For a moment, Jiang Yubai did not dare respond.

Because he knew that if everything Lin Jianxia said was true—

Then Lin Tingwan really did seem to see him... a little differently.

From Lin Jianxia's perspective, her younger sister had probably only taken the initiative to pass him notes and was willing to have a few simple conversations with him. That alone was enough to shock her.

But Jiang Yubai himself knew that things might be even more...

Aggressive?

He cleared his throat. "So... you want me to talk to Lin Tingwan every day?"

"...Yes."

Seemingly realizing that her request was asking too much, Lin Jianxia bit her lower lip, lifted her head, and looked at Jiang Yubai earnestly.

"My salary... you don't have to pay me. If you're willing, I'll make all three meals for you every day from now on. Even if... I have to bring them to your bedside like I did this morning, that's fine."

Her voice trembled slightly. Clearly, it had taken a great deal of courage for her to say it.

Lin Jianxia knew that what she was asking was somewhat excessive.

After all, they were in their final year of high school, with so little time, and Wanwan always kept everything to herself and never spoke... Jiang Yubai was not related to either of them. There was no reason for him to help them.

But... for the first time in all these years, she had seen hope that Wanwan could get better.

She absolutely could not give up.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Yubai's mouth twitched, and he could not help complaining, "Lin Jianxia... what exactly do you think I am? Some heartless landlord exploiting child labor?"

Lin Jianxia had nearly been reduced to tears, but his words caught her off guard, choking back the sob that had reached her throat.

She opened her mouth to argue, but Jiang Yubai casually waved a hand, his tone lazy.

"You'll get paid as usual. It's all going to end up back in my hands through rent anyway. Otherwise, when you can't afford the rent, what are you going to do? Wail your eyes out again?"

Lin Jianxia snapped back angrily, "When have I ever wailed my eyes out?!"

Jiang Yubai ignored that, shrugged, and said, "All right, all right. I'll be her conversation companion."

"But let me make this clear first—if there's a day when I go and she ignores me, that can't count as me slacking off."

Even though she had hoped for it beforehand, when Jiang Yubai truly agreed, the sour, swelling emotion in Lin Jianxia's heart clogged her throat, leaving her unable to speak for a moment.

She pressed her lips together, her voice as soft as a feather landing on the ground.

"Jiang Yubai... thank you. You really are a good person."

Jiang Yubai: "?"

Wait, I'm helping her out of kindness, and she immediately gives me the good-person card?

"Never say that to me again," he said with a solemn expression. "Praise me for anything you want, just don't praise me for being a good person."

Lin Jianxia blinked in confusion. Though she did not quite understand, she still nodded instinctively.

Jiang Yubai snapped his fingers in satisfaction.

"That's more like it. Besides, it's not like I'm losing out—getting to talk to a beautiful girl every day is something plenty of people would beg for."

"Oh, right. Since you want me to go talk to her every day, when would usually be convenient?"

Lin Jianxia's eyes lit up, carrying a cautious hint of expectation.

"How about... now?"