A lazy smile played on Song Xinya's lips as she spoke in a mock-serious tone, "You're a minor. I'd feel bad letting you treat us."
Jin Ruizhi: "You don't need to be polite with me. A single pair of my limited-edition sneakers is worth 880,000. Treating you all to a meal isn't even as expensive as buying a pair of shoes."
Song Tingye had never seen a rich kid travel all the way here just to insist on buying people dinner: "Bro, you're so generous."
Jin Ruizhi looked at Song Tingye.
His gaze, completely different from the friendliness in Song Tingye's eyes, was full of hostility.
He then looked at Jian Yiyi, who was sitting next to Song Tingye, his eyes darting back and forth between the two.
He looked like he was trying to catch them having an affair.
Jin Ruizhi walked over to Jian Yiyi, gripped the top of her chair, and formed a half-embrace with his arm, semi-circling Jian Yiyi in his arms.
He glared coldly at Song Tingye. "Who are you?"
Jian Yiyi noticed Jin Ruizhi's hostility toward Song Tingye and spoke up for him, "He's a good person."
Jin Ruizhi lowered his eyes, his gaze landing on the girl's snow-white, smooth neck. "You think highly of him."
Jian Yiyi: "He is a good person to begin with, a very, very good person."
Jin Ruizhi's face darkened like coal.
Song Xinya chimed in at the right moment, "Yiyi, are you hungry?"
Jian Yiyi: "I'm hungry."
Song Xinya looked at Jin Ruizhi. "Are you going to let people eat or what?"
Jin Ruizhi withdrew his fierce glare from Song Tingye and sat in the empty seat next to Jian Yiyi.
The waiter brought the tea. Jian Yiyi poured a cup for Song Xinya and another for Song Tingye.
Jin Ruizhi handed his cup over himself. "I'm thirsty too."
Jian Yiyi poured water into his teacup. With her head lowered, her long eyelashes cast a shallow shadow, and the strands of hair falling by her cheeks looked gentle and demure. Her beauty was clean and pure.
Jin Ruizhi sat back and secretly observed her.
He picked up the water she poured. It was oolong tea, whose roasting process usually brings a roasted aroma and a faint bitterness, but as Jin Ruizhi drank it, it tasted like honey water—incredibly sweet.
Song Xinya asked, "Yiyi, what do you want to eat?"
Jian Yiyi, who sold tofu at the wet market, ate tofu most often. She had it every day and rarely ate meat.
It was her first time at such a high-end restaurant, so she had no idea how to order. She said with a hint of restraint, "I'm not a picky eater. Anything is fine."
Song Xinya: "What flavor do you prefer? Sweet or salty?"
Jian Yiyi: "I prefer spicy food."
Song Tingye and Song Xinya exchanged a glance. "We like spicy food too."
Out of the four people at the table, three liked spicy food. Only Jin Ruizhi preferred light flavors and liked Cantonese cuisine.
Jin Ruizhi felt even more like an outsider.
Song Xinya asked him, "Young Master Jin, what do you want to eat?"
Jin Ruizhi: "Pan-seared foie gras, extra spicy."
Song Xinya: "Extra spicy? Can you handle it?"
Jin Ruizhi: "I'm only worried it won't be spicy enough."
Song Xinya: "Alright, I'll order it for you."
Song Tingye: "Spicy beef, cumin beef, braised beef short ribs, sliced beef in golden sour soup, Beef Wellington, and red wine stewed beef."
A consistent love for beef. A total beef fanatic.
Actually, in such a high-end restaurant, beef was relatively cheap.
Song Xinya started ordering: "Australian king crab, wild yellow croaker, Thai mantis shrimp, and bluefin tuna."
Jin Ruizhi: "Teacher Song sure knows how to eat."
Song Xinya: "Does your wallet hurt?"
Jin Ruizhi: "Not at all. Money is only money when it's spent. Unspent money is just a string of numbers in my account."
While waiting for the food, Jin Ruizhi kept staring at Song Tingye. He glared especially fiercely when Song Tingye and Jian Yiyi leaned their heads together to talk.
Song Tingye complained inwardly: Does this guy have a brain disease?
But you don't bite the hand that feeds you. Since he was getting a free meal, Song Tingye didn't curse him out loud.
Knowing the other party was unfriendly, Song Tingye naturally wouldn't suck up to him and didn't talk to Jin Ruizhi either.
While waiting for the food, Jian Yiyi and Song Tingye had a great chat.
During the meal, Jian Yiyi and Song Tingye picked up food for each other.
After the meal, Jian Yiyi and Song Tingye agreed to leave together.
After Jin Ruizhi swiped his card and paid, he turned his head to see Jian Yiyi smiling beautifully and sweetly at Song Tingye.
Snap! He snapped his black card in half.
Song Xinya watched the whole scene and walked past him. "There are many types of sourness. There's lemon, vinegar, and watching the girl you like interact with another man."
"Firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, you, and tea. Young Master Jin, you are reeking of sourness right now."
Jin Ruizhi: "Why did you bring a boy to hang out with Jian Yiyi?"
Especially since this boy was so handsome.
In terms of looks and height, this boy didn't lose to him at all.
Song Xinya: "Jian Yiyi wants to improve her grades. This boy is tutoring her and explaining problems to her."
Jin Ruizhi: "Are his grades really that good?"
Song Xinya: "He's ranked first in his grade at Jingbei City First Middle School. What do you think?"
Jin Ruizhi: "He's so handsome, he doesn't look like someone who is good at studying."
Song Xinya: "Don't judge a book by its cover. That's appearance discrimination."
In the afternoon, Song Tingye went to Jian Yiyi's house to continue tutoring her, explaining math, physics, and chemistry problems.
Jin Ruizhi followed them.
Jian Yiyi and Song Tingye talked animatedly, discussing either senior year math problems, physics problems, or chemistry problems.
Jin Ruizhi, a poor student, didn't even know freshman year knowledge, let alone senior year material.
He couldn't get a word in edgewise the entire time.
Song Tingye's brain: an ocean of knowledge.
Jin Ruizhi's brain: the water in the ocean.
For the first time, standing next to a boy his age, Jin Ruizhi felt completely outshined, even though he was wearing 880,000-yuan basketball shoes and was covered in designer brands.
For the first time, Jin Ruizhi realized that a man with knowledge was so attractive.
For the first time, Jin Ruizhi saw Jian Yiyi looking at a man with admiration, and that man wasn't him.
Throughout the entire afternoon, Jian Yiyi's gaze didn't land on him even once.
Jin Ruizhi stood in the corner, watching Song Tingye shine brightly.
Song Tingye had a very likable personality—lively, cheerful, and humorous. Not to mention, he was the top student in his grade with excellent academic performance. He knew how to solve every problem; none of those obscure and difficult math questions could stump him.
For the first time, Jin Ruizhi felt a sense of inferiority.
He didn't even dare to speak. He was afraid that the moment he opened his mouth, he would expose his empty head and his barren knowledge, showing that he knew absolutely nothing about math, physics, or chemistry.
He, who usually tried every possible way to get close to Jian Yiyi, lowered his head and left silently.
Song Xinya crossed her arms, taking in all of the young man's emotional journey.
The next day, she brought Song Tingye to tutor Jian Yiyi again.
She took pictures and posted them on her social media moments.
Settings: Visible only to Jin Ruizhi.
The third day, she brought Song Tingye to tutor Jian Yiyi once more.
She took pictures and posted them on her social media moments.
Settings: Visible only to Jin Ruizhi.
By the fourth day, Jin Ruizhi couldn't sit still anymore and took the initiative to look for Song Xinya.
"Mr. Song, I want to sign a tutoring contract with you and study hard."
