The afternoon exam went smoothly.
At dinner, Song Yunshen bestowed his favor on his good brother for a change, racing to the cafeteria to eat with Xu Zhuoyue.
Afterward, he went to play basketball again.
Song Yunshen stood a towering 1.85 meters and was quite athletic. He held sway on the basketball court and put on a dazzling performance, attracting girls to watch him play from time to time.
When Song Yunshen returned to the classroom after basketball, Xia Yunuo stopped him before he reached his seat.
"Something up?" Song Yunshen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Are you free tomorrow afternoon?" Xia Yunuo hesitated, but took the initiative to ask. "We could go to the library, and I could go over the English exam with you."
It doesn't have to be the library. It's just that evening self-study isn't very convenient, with all our classmates in the classroom.
Besides, the library is usually pretty empty on Saturday afternoons, and Sis seems to have somewhere to go tomorrow afternoon too. It would be a perfect chance to be alone with Song Yunshen.
Not that I mean I want to be alone with him! I just don't want Sis to see us, or she'll start jumping to conclusions again!
Before Song Yunshen could say anything, Xia Yunuo's inner thoughts had already bombarded his mind.
He scratched his head helplessly. "I'm afraid I can't tomorrow afternoon. I have something to do with my family."
He had only promised his aunt that morning that he would go back early tomorrow afternoon to play with Yingying. He couldn't break his word.
"Oh, I see..." Xia Yunuo felt a little disappointed at his answer. "Then we can still do it later..."
"But we could wait until Sunday," Song Yunshen interrupted. "Are you free Sunday afternoon?"
He didn't particularly want Xia Yunuo teaching him in the classroom either. What was the fun in being gawked at like a monkey?
"Sure." Xia Yunuo's eyes lit up, and she nodded vigorously. "I'm free."
"Then it's a date." Song Yunshen smiled faintly. "Want to have lunch first? Then we can go to the library together."
"Huh? Lunch? Where would we eat?" Xia Yunuo paused. "I don't think the school cafeteria is open on Sundays."
"Outside, of course," Song Yunshen said. "Even Confucius collected tuition from his disciples. What's wrong with me treating Teacher Xia to a meal out?"
"I-I don't think that's right." Xia Yunuo hurriedly shook her head and politely declined. "You already treated me today. On Sunday, I can just eat at home before meeting you."
"Don't worry, it's not expensive," Song Yunshen said. "I still have a group-buy coupon on Meituan. Buy one serving of braised chicken and rice, get one free. You really don't want to come?"
"Buy one, get one free?"
"Yeah." Song Yunshen nodded. "I'll show you on my phone."
"Don't... We're in the classroom." Xia Yunuo hurriedly stopped him. "I-I'll go, then."
"That's more like it. See you Sunday, Teacher Xia."
"Mm..." Xia Yunuo blinked. Something about the way he called her Teacher Xia felt strange, making her heart tingle.
By then, Song Yunshen had returned to his seat, where Xu Zhuoyue promptly caught him in a headlock.
"You rascal, what were you whispering about with Xia Yunuo over there?"
"We were discussing where to go on our honeymoon after we get married."
"Yeah, right."
"Heh." Song Yunshen pushed him away. "How could a mortal understand a god's daily life?"
"More like a lunatic." Xu Zhuoyue spat. "Not a single word out of your mouth is true."
"I'm just afraid the truth would hurt too much," Song Yunshen sighed. "After all, you're not a kid anymore, and you still haven't even held a woman's hand."
"As if you have." Xu Zhuoyue sneered. "We've been in the same class since elementary school. Wouldn't I know if you'd ever dated anyone?"
"What do you know?" Song Yunshen said nonchalantly. "I've even touched a breast."
"In a wet dream, maybe!" Xu Zhuoyue burst out laughing.
Song Yunshen shook his head and sighed. "These days, nobody believes you even when you tell the truth."
"If your nose grew every time you lied, you could fucking assassinate the president of the United States with it by now," Xu Zhuoyue said irritably.
After evening self-study ended, Song Yunshen left school and rode his bicycle all the way back to Tangning New Residence.
He went upstairs, hurried into his bedroom, took out his key, and opened the locked drawer to retrieve the Future Diary.
He had swapped souls with Xia Kening yesterday, so he hadn't had time to check it until tonight.
When he opened the Future Diary, he saw that another new entry had appeared.
He laid the Future Diary open on his desk and read it carefully.
[Saturday, June 28, 2025] [Started doing my summer homework during self-study this morning. I'll try to finish it all next week, so I'll have more time to work during summer vacation.] [The cafeteria had shredded pork with green peppers and beef brisket stewed with potatoes for lunch. Both are dishes I love.] [Sigh... It's all Junjun's fault for giving me a piece of brisket. I'm still savoring the taste.] [In the afternoon, I went to some milk tea shops farther away to ask about summer jobs. Most places didn't want to hire a minor, and only one was willing to take me in.] [It's good enough that I found a part-time job, so I won't be picky. Once summer vacation starts next week, I'll report to that milk tea shop.] [The older girl who manages the shop seems like a good person. I hope everything goes smoothly.]
That was the only new entry in the Future Diary. He didn't know whether it had appeared yesterday or today.
Song Yunshen silently committed its contents to memory, then suddenly noticed another issue.
Xia Jinshu had clearly arranged with him earlier this week to have lunch together tomorrow.
So why did the Future Diary still show Xia Jinshu having lunch with her classmate?
June 28 was tomorrow, all right.
Did that mean the changes he made to the future wouldn't be reflected in this diary?
Song Yunshen mulled over the rules behind it, his head spinning a little.
Suppose the worldline in which he had suffered through a divorce in his previous life was A, and the changes he made to the future after obtaining the Future Diary created worldline B.
Then were the entries appearing in his Future Diary still written by the Xia Jinshu of worldline A, with no connection to worldline B?
Song Yunshen considered the various possibilities and arrived at a rough understanding of the Future Diary.
Just as he was thinking hard, the phone beside him vibrated.
He picked it up and saw that Xia Kening had sent him a message.
[Xia Kening]: How did you do on your English exam? [Song Yunshen]: Thanks to you. [Xia Kening]: You did better than usual? [Song Yunshen]: Just as badly as I do in science. [Xia Kening]: I already did my best on your science subjects! And no matter how bad your English was, it couldn't have been as bad as your science, could it? [Song Yunshen]: So you do have a little self-awareness. [Xia Kening]: And here I was, checking in on you. Your mouth is more venomous than a cobra! [Song Yunshen]: Who was it that said we should delete each other? [Xia Kening]: Fine, delete, delete, delete! I'll delete you right now! [Song Yunshen]: What's the point of getting so worked up? I know you can't bear to do it. [Xia Kening]: If I weren't afraid we wouldn't be able to contact each other the next time we swap, I'd have deleted you ages ago! [Song Yunshen]: Oh, already looking forward to the next swap? [Xia Kening]: Meet me tomorrow afternoon if you dare. My fists are itching right now. [Song Yunshen]: You think I'm Xu Lingcheng? I could hold your head back with one hand, and it wouldn't matter if you swung your little fists like flaming wheels. [Xia Kening]: I'm ignoring you!
Heh, ignore me, then. A little brat is still a little brat, so childish.
Song Yunshen smiled and put his phone aside, then took out his own diary, intending to write an entry first.