The Pig Eating the Cabbage

"You hugged her?!"

"Uh... she insisted..."

"She insisted, so you hugged her?!"

"...I never said I hugged her."

Hearing that, Lin Jianxia immediately relaxed.

"Whew... that's good."

"She hugged me."

"?"

Lin Jianxia nearly failed to catch her breath.

"Is there any difference?!"

Jiang Yubai shrugged.

"Of course there's a difference. If I hugged her, that's called a hug. If she hugged me... then I was just a body pillow, the kind whose hands didn't wander."

"But you still hugged!"

"Hey, weren't you the one who told me to meet her requests as best I could?"

Jiang Yubai complained.

"Your Wanwan only made that one request, and she made it more than once. It wouldn't have been right for me to refuse."

Lin Jianxia instantly caught the key point and warily raised her eyes. "More than once?"

"Wait, how many times have you two hugged?"

Jiang Yubai had no intention of hiding it—no matter how anyone looked at it, he wasn't the one with bad intentions.

"Yesterday was the second time. The first time, she didn't even ask me. She just pounced on me."

"But after I spent half an hour explaining things to her... this time, she finally knew to write it in her notebook and ask me first."

He paused, then said leisurely,

"Just a friendly reminder: your sister read that novel of yours, so she thought hugs were supposed to feel nice. It has nothing to do with me."

Lin Jianxia's originally indignant expression suddenly froze.

After a long while, she plopped her face into her palms, her muffled voice drifting through her fingers.

"I'm such a sinner..."

Jiang Yubai took a bite of his ham-and-egg pancake and said indistinctly,

"If you think this is bad, I can just refuse her from now on."

"Or... if you think talking like this is a problem to begin with, I can try to have less contact with her."

Lin Jianxia kept her head down and said nothing.

Jiang Yubai glanced at her and reminded her,

"I should make this clear in advance. Your sister's understanding of things... is actually pretty problematic. I can't guarantee what this will turn into in the end."

Lin Jianxia finally reacted.

She lifted her head and stared at him quietly for a long moment before suddenly sighing.

"I know. Wanwan never had much of a chance to learn about these things when she was little, let alone receive any systematic education on dealing with people and life."

"And over the past few years, she's shut herself away more and more tightly. It's only gotten worse."

Jiang Yubai gave a quiet "Mm."

Lin Jianxia pressed her lips together before saying, "Still, thank you for being willing to tell me all this."

"No matter what, it's better than her staying cooped up in her room alone all the time."

"If possible... I hope you can still talk to Wanwan more in the future."

"After all..."

Lin Jianxia pursed her lips and didn't continue.

After all, aside from her sister, you seemed to be the person Wanwan was most willing to get close to.

"Sure."

Jiang Yubai nodded without much objection.

"Let me put on some armor first. If anything really happens later, don't put all the blame on me."

"...What exactly are you planning to make happen?" Lin Jianxia's tone instantly became wary.

But Jiang Yubai wasn't flustered at all. He merely shrugged.

"I can only guarantee that I won't cause any problems on my end. I won't seduce your sister or anything. As for the rest..."

He shot Lin Jianxia a sideways glance.

"You should first think about how to hide those novels of yours. They really will lead kids astray, you know."

Lin Jianxia choked up. She had wanted to retort that Wanwan was only a few months younger than him, but swallowed the words at the tip of her tongue and merely gave a sullen "Oh."

So annoying.

Why did it feel like her own tender, juicy cabbage had been rooted up by someone else's pig, while she could only stand by and watch?

And she couldn't even get mad, because her own cabbage had made the first move.

Not only that, she even had to think about how to make sure the pig ate comfortably!

Forget it. It was only one... two hugs.

At worst, she could go back and have a proper talk with Wanwan. What could possibly happen?

Thinking that, Lin Jianxia immediately felt much more at ease.

She glanced at the porridge on Jiang Yubai's desk, curled her lip, and asked,

"Is there enough?"

?

Wait, if I said there wasn't, were you going downstairs to buy me more?

Jiang Yubai warily raised his head.

"Unsolicited kindness is either treachery or theft. What are you up to?"

Lin Jianxia ground her teeth. "Can't you tell good from bad? I'm telling you to hurry up and eat! You're going to be late!"

Jiang Yubai froze. "What, you're going to school today? Lin Tingwan isn't?"

"Mm."

Lin Jianxia nodded, then sighed again.

"I originally wanted Wanwan to go to school so she could interact with more people and maybe improve her condition."

"But as you can see, school hasn't made her better. Instead, it's only made her sink deeper into her withdrawn state."

"Rather than that..." She paused, sounding rather helpless. "Rather than that, chatting with you is more useful."

Hearing that, Jiang Yubai gave an "Uh."

"So Lin Tingwan won't be going to school anymore? What about her classes? Won't she fall behind?"

"Of course not. If Wanwan wants to go herself, that's another matter. As for her schoolwork... I'll help her catch up."

After answering him, Lin Jianxia couldn't help glancing at the wall clock again and urged,

"Hurry up, we really are going to be late!"

Fine, fine...

Jiang Yubai drank the last mouthful of porridge, then stuck the half-eaten ham-and-egg pancake in his mouth and said indistinctly,

"Let's go."

When the two entered the classroom one after the other, they immediately drew quite a few looks.

But as soon as Jiang Yubai swept his gaze over, the other students all lowered their heads as if guarding against a thief, leaving him utterly baffled.

What was going on? Was his aura really that intimidating now?

Jiang Yubai didn't dwell on it. He put down his backpack, took his seat, and sorted through the test papers on his desk. For a moment, he actually had nothing to do.

After all, he used to either arrive late or just barely make it on time. Even when he managed to have a few extra minutes, he had to hurry and finish the breakfast he'd bought outside the school gates. When had he ever had ten whole minutes to spare like today?

Lin Jianxia, on the other hand, had already handed in her homework and picked up a book to review.

Ever since they left the residential complex, she had been diligently cosplaying her own sister, refusing to say a single word.

Jiang Yubai looked around the classroom. Most of the students had already arrived.

Some copied homework, some caught up on sleep, and some chatted. Like every morning, the room was lively.

His gaze quickly locked onto a figure bent over and scribbling furiously. With a raised brow, he got up and walked over.

Li Yang was busy borrowing someone else's work for reference when he suddenly sensed a figure beside him. He jolted all over and jerked his head up.

When he saw it was Jiang Yubai, he finally let out a long breath.

"Brother Jiang, you scared me to death! I thought Ms. Zhang was here..."

Jiang Yubai looked around, dragged over a chair from a classmate who hadn't arrived yet, and sat down beside him.

"Not bad, Yang. I was wondering why you hadn't come to ask me for papers these past few days. Turns out you found a new supplier?"

"You sit too far away, Brother Jiang." Li Yang grinned. "Wang Jianglong's pretty good at math too, so this is more convenient."

Wang Jianglong was his new deskmate. He wasn't particularly familiar with Jiang Yubai, so he merely nodded at him in greeting.

Jiang Yubai withdrew his gaze and clicked his tongue.

"Ms. Zhang set up this 'study group' so you could help each other out. Yet you turned it into a 'copy-each-other's-work group,' huh?"

Li Yang didn't even look up, his pen flying across the page.

"That counts as helping each other too!"

Naturally, Jiang Yubai hadn't come to police him for copying homework. He was here for something else.

"Hey, Yang." He rubbed his chin. "You're well-informed. Have there been any rumors about me lately?"

The moment he said that, Li Yang's pen stopped. He looked up.

"...Brother Jiang, there actually is one."

There was?

Jiang Yubai frowned.

"What? People are still spreading rumors? Is it about me and Lin Tingwan again?"

"Ah, no." Li Yang's expression turned a little strange. "It's just about you alone, Brother Jiang."

"Just me? What is it?" Jiang Yubai was taken aback.

Li Yang smacked his lips and spoke in an extremely solemn tone.

"Brother Jiang, they're saying... you're the principal's son."

Jiang Yubai: "?"