No wonder the name sounded familiar from the very beginning!
In her previous life, Xu Tian had kept it very well hidden. No one found out, and in the end, she and Zhou Chen had their taste of the forbidden fruit.
When Xu Tian became pregnant, she was too afraid to tell her family. She secretly went to an illegal clinic alone to get an abortion, but she suffered massive bleeding and died on the operating table.
Her father came to the school, determined to find the boy responsible.
Although the teacher had no intention of handing over one of his students, he still investigated the matter.
In her previous life, no one ever found out Zhou Chen’s identity. He certainly wasn’t going to come forward and admit it himself.
The teacher had no choice but to ask Fifth Brother, one of the school’s directors, to negotiate compensation with the family.
But the negotiations fell through.
Xu’s father didn’t want compensation. He wanted revenge for his daughter.
During the argument, Xu’s father accidentally pushed Fifth Brother from the building. Fifth Brother fell and broke both legs.
Yu Xiaxing had only wanted to provoke the student’s parents into lodging a complaint as soon as possible. She had never intended to stand by and watch a girl walk toward a dead end when she clearly needed guidance on how to save herself.
Besides, the matter could easily trigger a chain reaction and end up implicating her as well.
She immediately called the health teacher in Xu Tian’s class.
“Mr. Yang, you don’t have a class later, do you? Give Xu Tian a private lesson on sexual relationships. Don’t just cover abstract biological knowledge. Explain everything from an adult perspective—physical, psychological, every aspect of it.”
After a pause, Yu Xiaxing added, “What if there’s a second Xu Tian?”
“You’ll need to use your evening study periods to teach every class about sexual relationships. You can arrange the schedule yourself, and you’ll receive overtime pay—triple your usual salary! But today, give Xu Tian and Zhou Chen a private lesson first.”
“Yes, Board Director! I’ll take it very seriously!”
Mr. Yang, the health teacher, was overjoyed.
These days, many schools hired health teachers in accordance with the Education Bureau’s directives.
Yet the schools never actually scheduled classes for them. Instead, they expected students with questions about their bodies to seek the teachers out on their own.
Who would do that?
He never expected that a marginal teacher like himself would have his work taken seriously one day!
At first, he had thought the school’s young Board Director was too inexperienced, and deep down, he had been somewhat unwilling to accept her authority.
But now that he thought about it, the rumors were true. Every member of the Yu family’s Seven Prodigies was young and accomplished, and Board Director Yu was the most outstanding of them all.
Sure enough, the rumors hadn’t been exaggerated!
-
An hour later, Xu Tian emerged from Mr. Yang’s office with her face flushed red.
She had originally planned to return to class.
But everywhere she went, she could hear her classmates whispering.
“That’s her, right? The one who got the youth dating fund.”
“She got ten thousand yuan for free. What a deal.”
“…”
She felt so embarrassed that she could hardly stand it.
Besides, the school had even given her permission to skip class openly and go on a date, so she quickly called Zhou Chen over and left the school with him.
Once they were outside, Zhou Chen asked her excitedly, “Did you receive the money?”
Xu Tian nodded. “Yes. The school already gave me the ten thousand yuan.”
Zhou Chen said matter-of-factly, “Then transfer it to me.”
Xu Tian froze. “Why?”
“You’re so silly. Isn’t the guy supposed to pay when a couple goes out together? Transfer the money to me. I’ll cover all our dating expenses!”
Something about that made Xu Tian uncomfortable. But in their relationship, she had always been the one who loved more and held the weaker position. In the end, she obediently transferred the money to him.
Zhou Chen smiled even more happily, took her hand, and led her out on their date.
They had an expensive meal, drank milk tea, played claw machines, and watched a movie…
After going through the whole routine, both of them thought the same thing: Having money was wonderful. This was what being in love was really supposed to feel like.
The movie ended at around eight that evening.
Zhou Chen took her hand and led her into a nearby alley. There was a small hotel there.
Xu Tian immediately realized something was wrong and quickly pulled her hand free.
“I’m going home.”
Zhou Chen frowned, a trace of impatience flashing across his face. “Stop being so coy. This is normal. I love you so much—how can you bear to reject me?”
Xu Tian instinctively stepped backward.
Mr. Yang had told her so much that day.
He said that at their age, the most important issue wasn’t whether their bodies were mature enough, but whether their minds were mature enough.
Once a girl had sex with someone, she could easily develop an unhealthy dependence on him.
The teacher had told her that at their age, they absolutely had to protect themselves.
She had been so embarrassed that her face had burned while listening, but deep down, she was still a child who listened to her teachers.
Before this, no one had ever taught her any of these things.
But once someone explained them to her, she would take them to heart.
“I don’t want to. It scares me.” Her voice grew softer and softer.
Zhou Chen’s expression darkened.
After a long silence, he spoke again. “Fine. But you have to make it up to me.”
“There’s a game console I’ve wanted for a long time, but I never had the money to buy it. It’s only a little over three thousand yuan. We can use our dating money to buy it. Then we’ll tell the school we played it together, so it counts as a dating expense. That should be okay, right?”
Xu Tian’s heart softened. After refusing one request, she couldn’t bring herself to reject another. In the end, she agreed.
“All right.”
Zhou Chen was satisfied. “Then go home by yourself. I’m not taking you.”
Xu Tian nodded and turned toward the bus stop.
-
Zhou Chen rushed to the mall before it closed and bought the game console.
Afterward, he still had more than five thousand yuan left.
He had already made plans for the remaining money. He could treat his buddies to several good meals and buy himself two pairs of new shoes.
He was basking in the pleasure of his plans when he looked up and saw someone standing outside a dessert shop across the street.
It was the class beauty from his old school.
She looked anxious as she repeatedly tapped at her phone. It seemed her phone had run out of battery, leaving her unable to pay.
Zhou Chen took the initiative and walked over, generously pulling out his own phone.
“I’ll scan it for you.”
“Thank you.” The class beauty looked delighted. “I’ll pay you back when I get home.”
“No need. It’s just a little money.”
The class beauty waved her hands. “I’ll definitely pay you back. Your family isn’t well-off either.”
“…”
Zhou Chen gritted his teeth, then pretended to sound casual.
“That was before. The old man wanted to put me through some character-building, so he had me pretend to be poor at school.”
The way he said “the old man” carried an unmistakable air of old-money wealth. Ordinary people would have said “my grandpa.”
The class beauty praised him. “Wow, I never would’ve guessed you were a rich second-generation heir!”
Zhou Chen gave a crooked smile. “It’s nothing… Since everyone happens to be free tonight, I’ll invite all our old classmates out for a late-night meal.”
“Sure, sure!”
Looking at the class beauty’s admiring gaze, Zhou Chen thought of Xu Tian’s ordinary appearance.
Suddenly, he felt that he deserved someone better.
This was the confidence money had given him.
After dinner, they went to an upscale karaoke lounge.
By the end of the night, he had spent every last bit of the money.
Just as he was heading home, completely satisfied, he suddenly received a call from Xu Tian.
“What is it?”
Xu Tian asked cautiously, “Could you transfer three thousand yuan of my bonus back to me? My dad spent the whole day moving cargo for someone. His back is so exhausted he can barely straighten up. I want to buy him a massage device.”
Zhou Chen replied, “No. The school regulations say the money can only be used for dating expenses.”
Xu Tian said, “But the game console you bought counts! Why doesn’t a massage device? Besides, you could give me the rest of the money. I was the one who ranked first in the exam, so that’s why we received the bonus in the first place.”
“I spent it all. That game console was expensive.”
He couldn’t be bothered to argue with her. He hung up immediately and turned off his phone, refusing to discuss it any further.
