Chapter 21

“As long as you’re happy.” Qiao Zhenzhen smiled and smoothed his hair again, only hurriedly pulling her hand away when the homeroom teacher shot a warning look.
“The papers have been handed out. Look over your mistakes yourselves first, if you don’t understand something, discuss it with your deskmate and fill in the gaps.” The homeroom teacher finished and left.
The class immediately grew noisy. Qiao Zhenzhen stared at her paper and Chi Shen’s placed side by side and felt a visual shock as intense as witnessing a battle. For the first time she felt a sting of inferiority and quietly rolled up her paper.
“Fifty points. Very good.” Chi Shen said seriously.
Qiao Zhenzhen: “...Can you stop praising me like that right after getting a 150?”
“You have the basics,” Chi Shen continued seriously.
Looking into his black pupils, Qiao Zhenzhen sat up straighter. “Is there still hope for me?”
“There is.”
Qiao Zhenzhen suddenly felt resolute. “Okay, I’ll work hard!”
A faint curve touched Chi Shen’s lips and he nodded once.
Qiao Zhenzhen’s determination wasn’t a whim. After promising Chi Shen, the first thing she did when she got home was find Qin Jing. “Mom, starting tomorrow I want to come home an hour later every night.”
Qin Jing paused. “An hour later for what?”
“I want Chi Shen to tutor me,” Qiao Zhenzhen said. “There’s less than a year until the college entrance exam. I want to try to get into a university in the same city as him.”
There was no point aiming for a particular top school; at best she could hope to get into a university in that city. With Chi Shen’s scores, he’d likely choose from only a couple of colleges, and even the worst universities nearby probably had high admission thresholds. She had to try her best.
Qin Jing nodded at that. “Ambitious. But why must he tutor you? Why don’t I hire a tutor?”
“Mom, would a hired tutor know next year’s exam as well as he does?” Qiao Zhenzhen countered.
Qin Jing hesitated, then was immediately persuaded. Each year’s papers emphasize different styles; however up-to-date a hired tutor might be, they might not match a top-performing high school student’s grasp of the current exams. Qiao Zhenzhen’s point was valid.
“Alright. I’ll have the driver pick you up an hour later every day,” Qin Jing said, narrowing her eyes. “But we’ll try it for a month. If your midterm a month from now shows no improvement, you can’t bother Chi Shen anymore.”
“...What progress can be made in a month? Learning takes steady effort,” Qiao Zhenzhen protested.
Qin Jing shot her a look. “Fine, if you won’t, then don’t. Go hire a tutor, middle-school level knowledge is enough to teach you.”
Qiao Zhenzhen pouted and held out her hand. “Pinky swear.”
Qin Jing couldn’t help laughing and then solemnly hooked her pinky with hers.
With Qin Jing’s permission, Qiao Zhenzhen began tutoring sessions with Chi Shen. Unfortunately, the holiday arrived before they’d even had two days of lessons.
“...I finally started studying seriously and suddenly we get a seven-day break. How am I supposed to keep this up?” Qiao Zhenzhen sulked. Other high schools’ National Day holidays were at most three days; their city of Chengde insisted on a full week, it felt like an affront to exam-oriented education.
Chi Shen watched the furrowed lines on her brow and after a moment said, “You can come to see me during the holiday.”
Qiao Zhenzhen instantly perked up.
“I won’t go out,” Chi Shen added.
Qiao Zhenzhen laughed. “You planning to starve yourself at home?”
Chi Shen said nothing.
“What time do you usually get up? I’ll come once you’re awake.” Qiao Zhenzhen’s mood brightened.
Chi Shen thought for a moment. “Six.”
“...Then let’s meet at nine. That’s settled.” Qiao Zhenzhen decided promptly.
Chi Shen paused, and as always offered no objection.
On the first day of the holiday Qiao Zhenzhen left at eight. Qin Jing was doing yoga; seeing her bound energetically down the stairs, she blinked. “Why are you up so early?”
“I’m going to Chi Shen for tutoring.” Qiao Zhenzhen answered.
Qin Jing, surprised, said, “So studious?”
“Of course. I’m going to make a splash in the next exam.” Qiao Zhenzhen lifted an eyebrow.
Qin Jing smiled and noticed her backpack was unusually full. She called over, “What have you got in there?”
“Textbooks, materials, and some snacks.” Qiao Zhenzhen opened her bag and a bag of chips immediately popped out.
Qin Jing was speechless for a moment. “Are you going to study or go on a picnic?”
“No choice, Chi Shen doesn’t have snacks there and I might get hungry.” Qiao Zhenzhen shrugged.
Qin Jing glanced at her, fetched a few desserts from the fridge, and shoved them into the backpack. “Eat fewer snacks and more proper meals.”
“Got it. I’m off!” Qiao Zhenzhen said, then ran out.
Qin Jing sighed helplessly and glanced at the date on her phone; a brief shadow of sadness crossed her eyes.
Qiao Zhenzhen walked straight to Chi Shen’s place and ran into the homeroom teacher in the corridor. She froze and hurriedly greeted, “Hello, teacher.”
“Why are you here?” the homeroom teacher asked, puzzled.
Qiao Zhenzhen glanced up to the apartments above. “Ah... I’m here to get tutoring from a classmate.”
The homeroom teacher paused, noticed the packed backpack, and her expression softened. “It’s good you have this intention, but remember to balance work and rest.”
[Favorability +0.01, now 260.01]
The last time she’d received such a favorability bump was right after she’d been reborn. Qiao Zhenzhen paused, realizing the homeroom teacher had just granted it, and smiled. “I’ve been slacking for two years; it’s about time I worked. You go on, teacher, I’m going to study now.”
"If there's anything you don't understand, message me, or you can come find me in Room 603," the homeroom teacher reminded her.
"Okay!" Qiao Zhenzhen waved and shot off like a streak.
Delayed a bit by her mom and the teacher, she arrived at Chi Shen's door right at nine. She was catching her breath and about to knock when the door opened on its own.
She paused. "How did you know I was coming? Is the soundproofing here really that bad?"
"I'm standing at the door." So he could hear her.
Hearing that, a mischievous smile tugged at Qiao Zhenzhen's lips. "Were you waiting for me on purpose?"
Chi Shen glanced at her and a faint flush colored his face.
Qiao Zhenzhen laughed and stepped inside, dropping down on the floor by the coffee table as if she'd done it a hundred times. She emptied her backpack in one go. Chi Shen sat with her, quietly sorting everything into neat piles, then pulled out the textbooks and said seriously, "Today we'll study math and the sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology."
Qiao Zhenzhen nodded. Her Chinese and English had always been decent, and she hadn't neglected them after leaving school. Her last monthly test wasn't remarkable, but compared to subjects like math she at least passed.
She trusted Chi Shen had worked out the specifics of the tutoring, so she didn't ask further. Still, he explained on his own: "Each unit in these subjects overlaps. Studying them together makes it easier and more intuitive."
Qiao Zhenzhen hesitated, casting him a look that was hard to read.
Chi Shen immediately grew awkward. "What's wrong?"
"It's the first time I've heard you talk this much," she said, her eyes sparkling.
Chi Shen's face inexplicably flushed. "Studying."
"Then you need to talk more, otherwise I won't understand," Qiao Zhenzhen said with mock seriousness.
He gave her a look, then quickly bowed his head. "That sounds awful."
Qiao Zhenzhen frowned, then suddenly cupped his face. As his cheek was covered by her warm little hand, Chi Shen looked up reflexively and met her earnest gaze. "It doesn't sound awful at all."
Chi Shen's lips trembled and his throat felt dry.
"I really like it." She lifted the corner of her mouth, her smile bright as the sun.
Chi Shen hurriedly dropped his gaze and pulled his hand free. He paused, flustered, and opened the math textbook. "Let's start with Unit One."
Qiao Zhenzhen watched the flush climbing his neck and smiled to herself, when a notification chimed inside her head,
[Affection +10, current 270.01]
Qiao Zhenzhen was speechless and asked the voice in her head, "Can you take away that 0.01?"
It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the homeroom teacher's goodwill, it's just that the little tail after the decimal point looked tacky.
"How would you like it removed?" Xiao Ba asked.
Qiao Zhenzhen frowned. "I don't know, do something random?"
"How about... give it to me?" Xiao Ba suggested tentatively.
Qiao Zhenzhen thought for a moment. She couldn't do much with 0.01 herself, so she nodded. "If you want it, take it."
"Thank you, host!" Xiao Ba's voice trembled with excitement.
[Affection now 270]
Qiao Zhenzhen shook her head with a smile. Then she looked up and met Chi Shen's dark eyes and sat up a little straighter. "…Everything okay?"
"Don't get distracted," he said earnestly.
Qiao Zhenzhen: "…Oh."
Chi Shen as a teacher was a little different from the Chi Shen she knew, and Qiao Zhenzhen didn't dare rile him. For the next three hours she was unusually focused, and as a result she breezed through the first unit of every textbook with ease, hardly able to believe it.
"At twenty-eight your brain is more logical and your attention is sharper than at eighteen; your memory's a bit weaker, but that can be strengthened. So relearning what you studied at eighteen will be relatively easy, if you consolidate properly, you'll do even better than you did then," Xiao Ba explained earnestly.
Chi Shen had only three words: "You're smart."
Qiao Zhenzhen was delighted by the compliment.
She glanced at the time, it was already noon, and offered to treat Chi Shen to lunch. He hesitated, as if he had something to say.
"What did you want to say?" Qiao Zhenzhen asked, curious.
"Let's eat." Chi Shen lowered his eyes.
But Qiao Zhenzhen planted her feet. "You clearly had something to say. I won't go unless you say it."
Chi Shen pressed his lips together, and when he saw her insistence he murmured, "I bought groceries."
Qiao Zhenzhen's eyes lit up.
"I want to cook for you."
She agreed at once. "Great! Let's eat at home!"
"Weren't you planning to eat out?" Chi Shen frowned.
Qiao Zhenzhen patted his shoulder. "If there's no better option, why go out when we can eat at home?"
Chi Shen's expression softened and he went straight to the kitchen. Qiao Zhenzhen tried to follow but he ushered her back out.
"There's grease and smoke."
...Alright then.