Seeing that she obediently accepted it, Ye Jinzhi finally raised his wrist and glanced at the time on his watch.
"Let's go. Class is almost over, let's head back to the classroom."
Bella was still standing frozen in place. He had already taken the lead with his long legs, but stopped after two steps, turning back to raise an eyebrow at her.
"What, do you need your teacher to hold your hand?"
"Who wants you to hold their hand!"
Like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, Bella quickly hurried to catch up.
Not far away, Ma Xin'er, who had been loitering in the convenience store, saw the two of them move. Moving faster than anyone, she pushed the door open and walked out with absolute casualness just before they passed the entrance.
"Oh my, what a coincidence," Ma Xin'er said, shaking the bottle of Genki Forest in her hand.
Watching her clumsy acting, Bella couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
Seizing the opportunity, Ma Xin'er linked arms with Bella. While rapidly wiggling her eyebrows at the back of the figure ahead, she leaned in close to Bella's ear, lowering her voice to a volume only the two of them could hear.
Walking in front, Ye Jinzhi didn't turn around, but hearing the commotion of the two girls messing around behind him, the corners of his lips unconsciously curled up into a smile.
As if noticing something, his gaze fell to his feet.
The sunlight stretched his shadow long. He slowed his pace and shifted slightly toward her side, letting his shadow quietly drape over half of her figure, pulling her into it bit by bit.
The three of them walked across the sports field like this, one in front and two behind, heading straight for the teaching building.
Just as they stepped into the first-floor lobby of the teaching building, Ye Jinzhi suddenly stopped and turned around.
Bella, who was busy joking around with Ma Xin'er, nearly crashed headlong into his chest and had to brake abruptly.
"After school later, wait for me at the usual place," Ye Jinzhi said, looking down at her with a natural tone.
Then, he cast a faint glance at Ma Xin'er, who had her ears perked up beside them, and added,
"No rush. Take your time packing up, I'll wait for you."
Bella: ???
The usual place?
What usual place?
Since when did she and he have a usual place?
After saying that, Ye Jinzhi didn't linger and walked away toward another teaching area.
As soon as his tall, slender figure disappeared around the corner, Ma Xin'er, who had been holding it in, finally couldn't restrain herself anymore.
She first drew in a dramatic, exaggerated breath, then raised her voice and started teasing Bella:
"Oh my, oh my! 'No rush, I'll wait for you'—tsk tsk, Bella, just listen to that tone."
Ma Xin'er slapped her thigh as she spoke,
"And 'the usual place'? Spit it out, is it some corner of the library, or the little garden behind the sports field?"
"Ma Xin'er! Can you keep your voice down!"
Bella hurriedly reached out to cover her mouth, terrified that the students who hadn't dispersed in the lobby would hear.
"What usual place? I have no idea, he's just talking nonsense."
Ma Xin'er wore an expression of 'do I look like I believe you?' and chuckled mischievously:
"Ahaha, sure, sure, I get it."
Knowing when to stop, Ma Xin'er smilingly pulled down Bella's hand from her mouth and linked arms with her again to walk toward the classroom, her mouth still going:
"Alright, alright, he was talking nonsense. Leaving you with a special piece of nonsense before he left—I totally understand this kind of flirting!"
"What are you even saying!" Bella grumbled weakly.
As soon as the two entered the back door of the classroom, Bella felt something was wrong.
Several gazes instantly fell on her. Some looked blatantly, while others pretended to casually peek while flipping through their books.
Obviously, that little interaction on the court just now had already spread, at a speed rivaling the campus intranet.
Bella took a deep breath and sat back in her seat, looking straight ahead.
The class flew by. When the school bell rang, Bella dawdled, stuffing her things into her backpack one by one.
She shouldered her bag and had just turned her head to say goodbye to Ma Xin'er, only to see the girl sling her bag over her shoulder with lightning speed, flash her a cheeky grin, and wave vigorously.
"I'm off, I'm off! My mom is rushing me home for dinner, I'm in a hurry! Bye Bella! See you tomorrow~"
"Ah, oh okay, see you tomorrow." Bella waved her hand.
The students in the classroom left one after another. Bella sat in her seat and dawdled for quite a while longer, not slowly walking out of the classroom until the students on cleaning duty started sweeping the floor.
The usual place?
What usual place?
The setting sun shone obliquely into the hallway, dyeing the floor a vibrant orange-red.
Going against the flow of the crowd, Bella walked with hesitant steps, ultimately arriving at the small pavilion.
This was the only location that could barely be considered their usual place.
Just as she approached the pavilion, Bella saw Ye Jinzhi sitting there.
Hearing her footsteps, he didn't look up. He merely turned a page of his book with his finger, his voice carrying a touch of laziness:
"You're 15 minutes late, student Bella."
She sat down opposite Ye Jinzhi and casually set her backpack on the stone table, making a soft thud.
Only then did Ye Jinzhi raise his eyes to look at her. His gaze lingered on her face for a moment before he tapped his finger on several sheets of paper already laid out on the stone table.
"Take a look."
Bella had expected to see densely packed math problems or study materials, but when she took a closer look, she was completely stunned.
The top sheet was actually a floor plan of a house.
Confused, she flipped to the next few pages, which were all dry data reports.
Bella stared at the bolded words on it and read them softly aloud:
"Research Report on the Residential Safety and Late-Night Travel Risks for Women in Urban Villages..."
She abruptly lifted her head, looking at Ye Jinzhi with eyes full of disbelief:
"What... what is this? So you weren't going to tutor me in math?"
Ye Jinzhi shifted into a more comfortable position to lean back. He wasn't in a hurry to explain, simply reaching out a finger to tap on a few red dots on the floor plan.
His voice unconsciously dropped, his tone tightening a bit,
"Bella, the place where you live has less than 50% security camera coverage, and the lights in the back alley have been broken for two months with no one to fix them. If you don't even know how to survive safely until the college entrance exams, what's the point of me teaching you more math problems?"
"These data... when did you look into this?" Bella looked down at the papers, her mind in a bit of a mess.
The light of the setting sun fell on Ye Jinzhi's eyelashes, casting a small shadow.
Ye Jinzhi raised an eyebrow, concealing the hint of obsession deep in his eyes, and returned to his usual cynical, devil-may-care demeanor:
"Take a guess, my little doll."
Hearing this nickname, Bella jerked her head up, unexpectedly crashing into those captivating, fox-like eyes.
"Was it that early...?"
"Yes."
Looking at her expression, the smile at the corners of Ye Jinzhi's lips deepened a fraction:
"As a master, how could I not recognize my own doll at first glance?"
As he spoke, he reached out a hand to touch a strand of Bella's hair that had been blown messy by the wind. Then, his fingertips landed on the red dot of the floor plan, his tone turning somewhat playful:
"What, you changed your identity, entered the same school, and pretended not to know me from the very beginning. Were you planning to just forget your master like this? Hmm?"
"Ye Jinzhi, you..." Bella opened her mouth, only to find her throat terribly dry.
"What exactly do you mean?"
"Move into my house and live with me."
