"What are you looking at?" Xu Zhuoyue asked, puzzled as he followed Song Yunshen's gaze. He thought Song Yunshen was looking at someone in the ranks.
Song Yunshen had come back to his senses by then, though he was still a little surprised, and didn't immediately answer Xu Zhuoyue's question.
Xia Yunuo said Xia Jinshu was her older sister?!
Come to think of it, both of them did have the surname Xia.
But he didn't think he'd ever seen Xia Jinshu come to their class to find Xia Yunuo.
By rights, shouldn't sisters have been closer at school?
If he hadn't been able to hear Xia Yunuo's thoughts, Song Yunshen would have remained in the dark.
Come to think of it, hadn't he also heard Xia Yunuo's thoughts in the cafeteria a couple of days ago?
She seemed to have said then that her older sister's favorite food was crispy chicken cutlet.
Well... at the time, Song Yunshen hadn't been completely certain that the voice belonged to Xia Yunuo herself. After confirming it later, he hadn't really remembered what she'd been thinking that time, so he'd put it out of his mind.
So Xia Jinshu really was Xia Yunuo's older sister.
He really hadn't expected that.
Had he almost become Xia Yunuo's brother-in-law in the future?
He just didn't know who his future wife was.
The dates on which Xia Jinshu's Future Diary updated were a little too random.
Who knew when another diary entry from between 2032 and 2036 would appear?
"I'm talking to you. What are you spacing out for?" Seeing that he was still in a daze, Xu Zhuoyue couldn't help asking again.
"Nothing." Listening to Xia Jinshu's speech on the flag-raising platform, Song Yunshen gazed at her figure in the distance and checked again that she was the girl he had met at the English Club that day. "I'm listening to my future girlfriend's speech."
"What kind of daydream are you having?" Xu Zhuoyue looked at him speechlessly. "I asked Fat Dragon, and Xia Jinshu really is considered the school belle of the second years. Don't tell me she actually wrote you a love letter?"
"You don't believe me?"
"Heh, if you've got the guts, show me."
"How could I just show someone else a love letter?" Song Yunshen shook his head, looking inscrutable.
Hearing that, Xu Zhuoyue believed him even less. He scoffed and dropped the subject, then asked, "What about Xia Yunuo, then?"
"Sigh... I don't want to be a scumbag either." Song Yunshen put on a troubled expression.
"Give you an inch and you take a mile. You're really starting to fantasize, huh?" Xu Zhuoyue said irritably.
Song Yunshen couldn't really say much more to him, so he continued pondering the matter of the sisters, Xia Jinshu and Xia Yunuo, while also giving some thought to the tutoring arrangements.
After the flag-raising ceremony ended.
Instead of returning directly to her classroom, Xia Jinshu headed toward the English Club and picked up the reply Song Yunshen had written.
Once she was back in the classroom, she took advantage of the time before the first lesson to open Song Yunshen's reply and read it carefully.
[Hello, fellow student,]
[I was happy to receive your reply and learn that my previous letter was able to help you.]
[However, to do well as a tutor, your own abilities are just as important as having a way to find students.]
[So, if possible, may I take the liberty of asking about your current grades in each subject?]
[If your grades are very good, perhaps I can help you find a part-time tutoring opportunity.]
[I look forward to your reply.]
After reading the letter, Xia Jinshu confirmed that Song Yunshen really hadn't mentioned that he was the one looking for an English tutor.
But she had already learned that from last night's diary entry.
At the thought of earning at least a hundred yuan an hour as a tutor, Xia Jinshu couldn't refuse his kindness.
So during the first English lesson, Xia Jinshu bent over her desk and wrote a reply.
When it came to signing her name at the end, she hesitated again and again before finally putting pen to paper.
The last class of the morning ended.
For once, Song Yunshen didn't charge out as soon as the bell rang. Instead, he took his time tidying his desk, only getting up and leaving the classroom after Xia Yunuo stood.
On the way to the cafeteria, Song Yunshen walked over to Xia Yunuo and said, "Let me buy you lunch."
"Huh?" Xia Yunuo was visibly taken aback. She hadn't noticed him earlier and had thought he'd already raced off to the cafeteria with Xu Zhuoyue.
Hearing Song Yunshen's voice now, she was clearly a little surprised.
[Was that a little too abrupt?]
[But there's no other way. I'll give it a try first.]
Because they were close together, Xia Yunuo could hear Song Yunshen's thoughts more clearly.
Listening to the voice in her mind, Xia Yunuo quietly pondered whether another boy was hitting on her.
At the end of the day, Song Yunshen was a normal boy too...
She had thought there might be something different about him, since she could hear his thoughts.
[Was another boy hitting on me?]
Hearing Xia Yunuo's thoughts, Song Yunshen couldn't help twitching his lips. The girl was rather full of herself.
All right, maybe she isn't... Song Yunshen glanced at the profile of the girl beside him and silently took back what he had just thought.
"I borrowed your English homework before," Song Yunshen said. "I've always believed in returning favors, so let me buy you a meal to thank you."
[Hopefully she won't get the wrong idea again. I'm really not trying to pick you up, even if you are very pretty.]
[***Damn!** What's with that guy's eyes? Where's he looking? Perv!*]
[Hmm... there isn't much of a curve there. What's there to look at?]
Nowhere near Xia Kening's.
All sorts of thoughts flashed through Song Yunshen's mind.
As Xia Yunuo listened to the thoughts in her head, she turned to look at Song Yunshen. When she noticed his gaze on her chest, her face immediately hardened.
What on earth is going on in this guy's head?!
As for boys' gazes, to be honest, Xia Yunuo had grown used to them over the years.
Whenever she walked down the street, at least nine out of ten men couldn't resist looking at her.
[But why does he want to buy me a meal?]
[Is it really just to thank me for lending him my English homework?]
[It can't be that simple, can it?]
[Doesn't his group usually borrow homework from Kang Ping?]
"I'll take your silence as a yes," Song Yunshen said, seeing that she had plenty to say in her head but remained silent aloud.
He wasn't one to dither, nor did he have so many hang-ups. When he had something to say, he said it straight, without beating around the bush.
Ordinarily, Xia Yunuo should have refused by now.
She was indeed short of money. Even in the school cafeteria, most of the time she could only afford vegetables, and could only order a meat dish occasionally.
But that didn't mean she would accept someone else's charity for no reason.
If she wanted to, she could easily have a different boy at school buy her a meal every day.
But she clearly wouldn't do that.
By then, however, the two of them had reached the cafeteria entrance. Xia Yunuo looked at the "steamed egg with minced pork patty" displayed on the electronic screen and couldn't help swallowing.
Hmm... I just haven't had meat in a long time. That's all.
Xia Yunuo looked at Song Yunshen's sharply defined profile and replied softly, "Mm."