"Xia Jinshu..."
Song Yunshen leaned over to look at the name, and his expression turned a little strange.
What was going on with me lately?
I keep running into pretty girls with the surname Xia.
There was Xia Yunuo in his class, whose thoughts he could hear.
There was Xia Kening, his junior from middle school, in the rental he had taken over from his dad.
And now there was Xia Jinshu.
"Do you know her?" Song Yunshen asked curiously.
He still couldn't be sure that the owner of the Future Diary was this second-year senior named Xia Jinshu.
But since Zhong Long was so certain that Xia Jinshu was the prettiest of the bunch, then, given Song Yunshen's standards for finding a girlfriend, the prettier she was, the better.
Song Yunshen also recalled the girl he had seen outside the English Club the day before.
She really had been stunning.
At school, Xia Yunuo was the only other girl who had ever made him feel that way.
"Of course I know her," Zhong Long said, bobbing his head. "But she definitely doesn't know me."
"Tell me more."
"If it's Xia Jinshu, Brother Shen, you should give up." Rather than introducing her right away, Zhong Long tried to dissuade him.
"What do you mean?"
"Xia Jinshu is devoted to her studies. I hear her family is pretty strict, and she's already turned down a lot of guys who confessed to her," Zhong Long said earnestly. "You hardly ever cross paths with her, so I don't think you've got a chance."
"I told you, I'm not looking for a girlfriend." Black lines covered Song Yunshen's forehead. "What else can you tell me?"
Seeing how determined he was, Zhong Long stopped trying to dissuade him and continued, "Xia Jinshu gets excellent grades. She consistently ranks in the top ten of the second year, occasionally in the top three, and she even took first place in the midterms two months ago."
"She gave a speech on the flag-raising platform, sharing her study tips. Don't you remember?"
Song Yunshen racked his brains when he heard that, only to find it was fucking useless.
After all, at every flag-raising ceremony, he and Xu Zhuoyue played a game to see who could hold back their laughter. Whoever failed automatically earned a death stare from their homeroom teacher, Old Zhang.
Who actually pays attention to what the person on the flag-raising platform is saying?
They're so far away that you can't see them clearly, no matter how good-looking they are.
"I don't remember." Song Yunshen shook his head again. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, I've got even more detailed intel." Zhong Long chuckled and rubbed his fingers together.
"Two meals." Song Yunshen rolled his eyes. "Hurry up."
"You got it!" Zhong Long picked up his phone and searched through it briefly before lowering his voice. "I'll give you the gist, then send you the details separately in a bit."
"Xia Jinshu, class president of second-year class four, student council officer."
"Birthday: July 20, Cancer. Gentle, sensitive, and principled. Currently single."
"Likes vegetables, doesn't like meat, and there's no record of her having any favorite snacks."
"There are a few other bits and pieces, but I won't read them all. I'll send them to you on QQ so you can look for yourself."
Song Yunshen listened attentively and nodded slightly, though for some reason he felt a little uncomfortable.
Even a campus information broker as formidable as Zhong Long could only guess that Xia Jinshu liked vegetables, disliked meat, and didn't eat snacks.
But Song Yunshen knew perfectly well that she simply couldn't afford them.
Coming back to his senses, Song Yunshen couldn't resist taking Zhong Long's phone and peeking curiously at his notes.
"Just how many girls' details do you have saved?"
"Hey, hey, hey! Not that many, not that many." Zhong Long quickly took his phone back, wearing an awkward grin. "Just earning a little meal money."
"I think I saw Xia Yunuo's in there too?"
"Ahem... Brother Shen, are you interested in information on Xia Yunuo too?" Zhong Long asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "I've noticed she's been coming to you with math questions a lot lately. Isn't that a better bet than Xia Jinshu?"
"Send me Xia Yunuo's too."
"Uh... well..."
"Three meals."
"You got it!"
"Speaking of which, where do you get all this information?" Song Yunshen asked, puzzled.
"These days, information is money," Zhong Long said. "Among us first-years, Xia Yunuo is probably one of the most popular girls, right?"
"Lots of guys from other classes want to find out about her."
"But they can't very well ask Xia Yunuo or the other girls in her class directly, so they can only come to us guys, right?"
"Then why do you have information on Xia Jinshu too?" Song Yunshen asked.
"I'm expanding my business." Zhong Long chuckled. "I also offer breakfast orders, homework copying, phone rentals, takeout orders, and so on. Interested, Brother Shen?"
Song Yunshen: "...That really won't be necessary."
"Well, come find me if you need anything later." Zhong Long returned the list to Song Yunshen. "I don't need to look up anyone else on here, right?"
"Not for now." Song Yunshen took back the list and turned around, intending to visit second-year class four.
At the very least, he had to confirm whether this senior named Xia Jinshu was the girl he had seen at the English Club yesterday.
With that thought, Song Yunshen hesitated no longer. He got up at once and headed for the second-year teaching building.
Unfortunately, it was only a little after four in the afternoon, and Xia Jinshu didn't seem to have arrived at school yet.
Song Yunshen couldn't find her in the second-year class four classroom.
After evening study began, he went again during the first break, but still couldn't find her.
He had no idea where she had gone.
Could she be sick and absent?
With that thought, Song Yunshen gave up on seeing her that day for the time being and decided to wait until tomorrow.
It wasn't that he didn't want to come back after the second evening study period.
It was mainly because...
"Um..."
"Have a seat, have a seat. I'm going to the bathroom." When Xu Zhuoyue saw Xia Yunuo approaching with her math workbook, he immediately sprang from his seat and spoke with a broad grin.
"Thank you," Xia Yunuo said calmly. She took his seat and showed Song Yunshen her workbook.
"Which problem?" Song Yunshen was already used to this.
After all, lately Xia Yunuo had come to him with math questions almost every day after the second evening study period.
Today was clearly no exception.
Was my charm really that irresistible?
Then again, maybe Xia Yunuo really is just eager to learn.
"This problem isn't hard. You just need to draw an auxiliary line here." Song Yunshen glanced at the question and began explaining. "See? Doesn't that make it clear right away? So the key to this kind of problem is figuring out how to think of drawing that auxiliary line. Think about it..."
Song Yunshen explained earnestly and carefully, taking her math level fully into account as he taught her, starting with the basics and breaking everything down piece by piece.
Xia Yunuo listened attentively, though she felt a little helpless as she stole a glance at Song Yunshen's profile.
[Was my charm really that irresistible?]
Hearing the voice that popped up in her head, Xia Yunuo sighed.
He's so good-looking, but isn't he a little too narcissistic?
As the thought crossed her mind, Xia Yunuo noticed Song Yunshen's voice pause. He suddenly turned his head and glanced at her.
"W-what is it?"
"Nothing." Song Yunshen tried hard to keep the corners of his mouth from turning up and continued explaining the problem earnestly.
[He's so good-looking.]
Oh, come on. I know I'm handsome, but Xia Yunuo, you can't keep staring at my face. Could you pay attention to the lesson?
Otherwise, wouldn't I be explaining all this for nothing?