In the autumn afternoon sunlight, countless tiny dust motes danced, swirling around a smiling Zhu Yaya.
Yan Heng stared blankly until the girl, not receiving an answer, blinked in confusion. Only then did he somewhat flusteredly avert his gaze, his thick eyelashes fluttering slightly as he composed himself. With a cool expression, he replied with an extremely perfunctory "Mm."
Knowing his aloof nature, Zhu Yaya didn't pay much attention to his perfunctory reply. Soon, hearing the preparatory bell for class, she stood up and hurried back to her own classroom.
But, Yan Heng stopped her. He turned his head away, lightly coughing into a fist placed at his lips: "Zhu Yaya, ahem, wait for me after school this afternoon."
Huh? Zhu Yaya's face was a picture of question marks.
Li Hao, standing off to one side, made exaggerated faces at Yan Heng, only stopping when Yan Heng shot him a dangerous glare.
"Alright." Brother Yan's words couldn't be ignored! Underling Zhu Yaya could only agree with a bitter smile.
Back in class, Xu Baoying also learned about her bet with their homeroom teacher, Chang Wen, giving her a thumbs up: "You're something else, sis."
She returned a smug smile.
After school, Zhu Yaya originally intended to continue her grand mission of tailing the female lead, but remembering the directive from her newly acknowledged 'big brother,' she obediently squatted on the first floor, waiting for Yan Heng to come down.
Yan Heng always walked unhurriedly. By the time he appeared, more than half the students had already left.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, though not a trace of apology showed in his expression.
Zhu Yaya grumbled a few words in her heart.
"To my house first," Boss Yan immediately issued the command.
"Okay." Big brother's words must be obeyed. The model underling of China obediently agreed, not even asking for a reason.
Yan Heng gave a slight nod, seeming quite satisfied with his new underling's attitude.
She thought it would delay her mission of tracking the female lead, but Yan Heng and Xu Chun lived in the same building, so she could still see Xu Chun. Zhu Yaya secretly rejoiced.
Her attention fixed on Xu Chun behind her, she almost tripped. Fortunately, Yan Heng reacted swiftly, grabbing her arm in time.
He unconsciously frowned, his face stern: "Watch where you're going!"
Zhu Yaya felt a pang of fear, having nearly landed face-first. Her small face paled: "Mhmm!"
Yan Heng withdrew his hand, walking beside Zhu Yaya, thinking to himself, why is a girl's arm so soft?
At the foot of Yan Heng's building, he looked down and told Zhu Yaya to wait for him. Like Zhao Jing, he nagged a long list of precautions, but still feeling uneasy, he led her back a stretch of the way to the 'Everyday Breakfast' shop. There, he asked the familiar proprietress to keep an eye on Zhu Yaya, feeling slightly more at ease, before running home.
Zhu Yaya kicked a small pebble by her foot somewhat discontentedly, suspecting Yan Heng was questioning her intelligence.
The proprietress, standing to one side, laughed quite merrily.
Yan Heng was quick, and his stamina was good too. When he returned to the breakfast shop, he wasn't even out of breath, calmly handing Zhu Yaya several notebooks with somewhat cheap, worn-out covers.
"What's this?" Zhu Yaya curiously took them.
"My study notes from first year of high school," Yan Heng said calmly. "If you want a top-three grade ranking, you still need to put in some proper effort."
Zhu Yaya initially wanted to refuse, but considering it was Yan Heng's kind intention, she hugged the notebooks and gave him a grateful smile: "Then I'll thank Brother Yan. With Brother Yan's notes, I'll definitely get first place."
She thought Yan Heng would sneer and ignore her, but unexpectedly, he actually nodded and said, "You can do it."
Zhu Yaya snickered inwardly; she hadn't expected Yan Heng to be so confident in his own notes. This expressionless ice block was quite narcissistic.
Yan Heng glanced at the darkening sky. "It's getting late. I'll walk you home."
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble?" Zhu Yaya felt a little embarrassed. What kind of boss would send his underling home?
I have a part-time job in the southern district tonight. It's just on my way.
Zhu Yaya: ...So, just how many part-time jobs does Yan Heng have?
Arriving at the foot of her building, Zhu Yaya thanked Yan Heng repeatedly before going upstairs home.
The first thing she did upon returning to her room was to fish out her phone from under the quilt, open QQ, accept Li Hao's friend request, and then add Yan Heng's QQ number. Yan Heng's QQ didn't even have his own profile picture! The avatar was grey. The request wasn't approved yet; Yan Heng probably wasn't online.
The second thing was to put down the phone and open the notebooks Yan Heng had given her.
It had to be said, Yan Heng's handwriting was truly beautiful, full of strength and character. Moreover, the notes were concise and to the point, highlighting key parts in red ink, and supplemented with a whole bunch of stuff even Zhu Yaya, who had already taken the college entrance exam once, couldn't understand.
If you have any questions, ask Baidu.
Zhu Yaya silently pulled out her phone again, opened Baidu, and—wow—this was advanced mathematics content.
She put away her dismissive attitude, sighed, and realized she really had to prepare properly for this monthly exam. If she didn't get first place, she'd feel that she had let down her former teachers.
Zhu Yaya reopened her textbooks and, following Yan Heng's notes, carefully went over the material, feeling relieved that she hadn't refused the notebooks.
After studying Yan Heng's notes, the ways she could approach problems had noticeably increased. So she could also think about them from this angle... Holding Yan Heng's notebook, Zhu Yaya became lost in thought.
When Zhao Jing came to deliver warmed milk, Zhu Yaya was still studying. Seeing this, she told her to rest early.
Zhu Yaya gave a few perfunctory replies and continued reading.
Thus, the next day, at the Everyday Breakfast shop, Yan Heng encountered a Zhu Yaya with dark circles under her eyes yet brimming with energy.
Yan Heng's brows were tightly knit, and while working, he kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Pulled an all-nighter?" When Zhu Yaya came to buy steamed buns, Yan Heng couldn't help but ask.
"Yep!" Zhu Yaya answered quite readily.
Even Zhu Jianjun felt sorry for them when he saw them during the morning jog.
Yan Heng's frown deepened. "Don't stay up late. It's bad for your health!"
Zhu Yaya wanted to retort, but was interrupted by the proprietress: "Alright, alright, I need to do business. Don't flirt here, holding up other customers buying buns."
Zhu Yaya's face flushed crimson. "We are not!" she shot back, then hid far away.
The tips of Yan Heng's ears turned red, though he maintained a cool facade. After some thought, he said to the proprietress very seriously, "We are students."
"So?" The proprietress shot him a look.
"We are not dating."
The proprietress let out a derisive snort. "She comes chasing after you here every day."
Yan Heng lowered his head without a word. After a long while, a few phrases drifted out, spoken slowly: "She might just be acting on a whim. You know my family situation. She'll return to where she started." She deserves better.
The proprietress sighed and shook her head.
In the classroom, Xu Baoying touched Zhu Yaya's panda-like dark circles in surprise. "You're really going all out for that bet with Teacher Chang, huh? Look at these dark circles! Tsk tsk tsk!"
Zhu Yaya irritably swatted Xu Baoying's hand away. "It's not entirely because of that. Don't taint my pure and flawless love of studying."
"Heh." Xu Baoying let out a mocking laugh. "But why are your dark circles so pronounced?"
"Maybe it's because my skin is too fair! Skin like congealed cream, you know!" Zhu Yaya shamelessly replied.
"Heh heh heh."
Perhaps Zhu Yaya's dark circles were too shockingly conspicuous; even Chang Wen found it a bit hard to ignore and invited her out for tea and a chat again.
Perhaps from visiting the office too often, Zhu Yaya acted completely natural throughout. Before leaving, she even had the cheek to ask Chang Wen for a small packet of tea leaves.
"Professor Chang, your tea is so fragrant! After drinking it, I feel much more energetic. Could I... hehe!"
Chang Wen: "...Just take it."
"Not that much, a small packet is enough. Drinking too much tea can cause insomnia!"
Chang Wen: Heh.
