Just as Song Yunshen was about to start writing in his diary, someone knocked on his bedroom door.
"Shenshen, I need to talk to you."
"Come on in."
Song Yunshen put down his pen for the moment, put the Future Diary beside him in a drawer, and locked it.
By then, Song Mingyuan had pushed the door open and come in. He sat down on the edge of the bed and said to his son, "Remember to come back early tomorrow afternoon and go next door to spend some time with Yingying. We're having dinner at your uncle's house."
"I know. Uncle already told me," Song Yunshen replied. "Anything else?"
"That tutor of yours," Song Mingyuan asked tentatively, "how's the search going?"
"I've already found someone," Song Yunshen said shamelessly. "I searched the whole school for English experts and finally found a top grandmaster willing to come out of seclusion."
"Boy or girl?" Song Mingyuan still only asked the key question.
"Girl," Song Yunshen confessed honestly.
"Pretty?"
"I suppose she's pretty..." Song Yunshen admitted somewhat reluctantly.
Song Mingyuan smiled, not paying too much attention to that. "What's the girl's name? What year is she in? How are her grades?"
"Xia Jinshu, second year of high school. She came first in her year on the midterms." After answering, Song Yunshen grumbled, "Are you checking her household registration or what?"
"We're bringing her into our home, so of course I have to ask." Song Mingyuan put on a stern face. "Have you two settled everything? Remember to sign a contract."
Come to think of it, why does that name sound a little familiar?
That was what Song Mingyuan thought, but he didn't dwell on it.
"I've arranged to have a meal with her tomorrow and discuss the details. Dad, how much do you think would be appropriate?" Song Yunshen asked.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Song Yunshen couldn't help feeling as though they were discussing a bride price.
It was all the fault of that evil Douyin. Lately, he'd been scrolling through videos about girlfriends and wives in the middle of the night, and he kept coming across ones about bride prices and the like.
"You can decide that yourself. I only have veto power; the rest is up to you." Song Mingyuan had no intention of interfering too much. "Once you've settled things with her, remember to draft a contract for me to look over. If there's no problem, you can sign it."
"I have to draft the contract myself too?"
"You're an adult now. You need to learn to do things yourself instead of always relying on your dad," Song Mingyuan said. "I can still check things over for you now, but when I'm old, you'll have to take care of me."
"That's a long way off." Song Yunshen chuckled. "You're still hale and hearty. You'll live another fifty years at least."
Song Mingyuan smiled without saying anything. He simply stood up, dusted off his backside, and waved as he left the bedroom.
After seeing his dad out, Song Yunshen stretched, picked up his pen again, and thought for a moment before starting his diary.
He had originally wanted to write down what had happened with the soul swap yesterday too, but after thinking it over, he decided against it.
After all, he had already promised Xia Kening that it would be a secret between the two of them, and that they absolutely couldn't let a third person know.
Although he was the only one who could read the diary, it would still be down on paper.
Just in case, Song Yunshen wrote only about what had happened today.
[Friday, June 27, 2025]
[Had the English exam this morning. I did so-so and have no idea what score I'll get. Hopefully I'll pass.]
[Even if I don't, all that'll happen is Peipei will call me to her office, and I can trick her out of another lollipop.]
[Had lunch with Xia Yunuo. This time I didn't tell her beforehand that I was treating her. I just forced the issue, and she couldn't refuse.]
[She quite likes chicken wings. I tricked her by saying I thought they were too salty and gave her an extra one.]
[She kept saying there was too much and she couldn't finish it, but didn't she end up eating every last bit? If I hadn't been there, I suspect she would've licked the plate clean. So cute.]
[Oh, right. I went to play basketball afterward, and when I got back to the classroom, there was a bottle of iced black tea on my desk. Xia Yunuo probably gave it to me.]
[I feel a little bad about it. She normally only spends two and a half yuan on lunch, but that bottle of iced black tea cost three and a half. She really spent a lot on me.]
[Still, I didn't expect the cool and aloof-looking Xia Yunuo to actually be a shy girl. She was too embarrassed to even give me the iced black tea in person.]
[I made plans with her this evening to have lunch together on Sunday. She only agreed after I tricked her by saying I had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for braised chicken and rice.]
[I should let Aunt know beforehand and have her send me a coupon, so Xia Yunuo doesn't find out I tricked her.]
[I also have to have lunch with Xia Jinshu tomorrow to talk about the tutoring.]
[Dad said I'm in charge of the whole thing and even have to draft the contract myself. I'll ask Doubao to draft one for me in a bit.]
[I'll set the tutoring rate at a hundred yuan an hour. I wonder if Xia Jinshu will agree.]
[Oh, right. After the technology exam tomorrow morning, I have to go with Xia Yunuo to see Uncle. I can ask him about the going rate while I'm there.]
In a bedroom in the Tangning New Residence East District, Xia Jinshu had mixed feelings after reading the latest diary entry.
What do I do?
Her little sister really seemed about to be spirited away by this boy named Song Yunshen.
Xiao Nuo had eaten lunch with him again today, taken the initiative to buy him iced black tea, and even made plans to eat out with him at noon on Sunday!
And it was braised chicken and rice...
Xia Jinshu could feel herself salivating already. She wanted some so badly...
She shook her head and pushed her craving for food to the back of her mind, then looked at the rest of the entry. After that, she was a little confused.
What did he mean, after the technology exam, he was taking Xiao Nuo to see Song Yunshen's uncle?
Could it be that Xiao Nuo and he had already progressed to the point of meeting each other's relatives?!
No... wasn't that a little too fast?
Besides, this guy called Song Yunshen had quite a few little tricks up his sleeve. He had deliberately given Xiao Nuo an extra chicken wing and tricked her by saying he had a coupon.
Xia Jinshu frowned, secretly on guard. She thought that once she became his tutor, she couldn't let this guy fool her.
Sure enough, not a single truthful word came out of a man's mouth.
As for the tutoring pay, a hundred yuan an hour was already a lot, and Xia Jinshu wouldn't ask for more.
Even if Song Yunshen lowered the price a little, that would be fine too. It would just mean spending a little more time tutoring him.
As long as she could earn money reasonably and legally, Xia Jinshu thought she could accept it.
Still, just in case, after their talk tomorrow at noon, she would look around for part-time work at milk tea shops that afternoon. At least she would have a backup.
Otherwise, if something went wrong with the tutoring job for Song Yunshen, she might end up unable to tutor him and with no time to find another part-time job.
With that thought, Xia Jinshu put away the diary in her hands, then took out another diary of her own and bent over it to write her entry for the day.
By the time she finished, her younger sister, Xia Yunuo, had just finished bathing and come out of the bathroom.
Seeing that Xia Yunuo had washed her hair and sat down beside her to blow-dry it, Xia Jinshu couldn't help falling into thought.
Normally, girls with long hair rarely washed it every day.
There was no other reason; it was simply too much trouble.
As for Xia Jinshu and Xia Yunuo, washing their hair did take time, and they also tried to save whatever they could.
But Xia Jinshu had only noticed today that Xia Yunuo seemed to have been washing her hair every day this week.
Recalling the diary she had just read, Xia Jinshu sighed silently, then couldn't resist asking tentatively, "Xiao Nuo."
"Mm?"
"Did you have lunch with that Song Yunshen today?"