【18.】

  The following period of time was relatively calm, and I thought the big trouble would be over. Even in this not-so-large campus, I rarely saw the figure of Du Bin, a wind-and-cloud person. However, rumors about him were always a topic that every girl had to discuss after dinner. When Tao Hao and I ate in the cafeteria, we often heard many things about him. These boring college girls seemed to think that missing any information about Du Bin would make them out of date. Every time I heard this, I sneered at it, thinking that these people were blinded by his good looks and confused right and wrong.

  The courses in the second semester of junior year are tight and deadly, but the days pass quickly in this rhythmic life. The final exam was really busy, and I even dreamed of higher math books every day. Fortunately, I was still active in class on weekdays, and I didn't lose my mind at the end of the term.

  Then comes summer vacation.

  This summer seems to have arrived particularly early, I've been staying at home all day and still can't help but sweat profusely. Liu Xian didn't do well on her final exams, her parents were a bit unhappy about it and even had a fight. It's so hot outside yet they're still arguing...I really admire their family dynamics. In comparison, I think my parents are more open-minded, they know what kind of child they have at home, why bother forcing the child to be someone they're not?

  Liu Xin's eyes were red and swollen like a walnut, I squeezed into her quilt in the middle of the night and poked at her ribs: "Hey, still hurting?"

  She had just cried, her nose still stuffy: "Who's sad?!"

  "Hmph!" I snorted in disdain "What's with all this fuss when nothing's even happened?"

  She buried her face in the pillow: "Sister... don't say anything more."

  I reached out and held her hand: "Tell me, what's going on?"

  She remained silent, with only her shoulders slightly trembling. I knew that when a person is heartbroken, any words of comfort seem pale and powerless, so I gave up on the useless language of consolation and simply patted Liu Xian's back gently, as if soothing a child, telling her that I was always here for her.

  After a while, she suddenly said in a low voice: "They are so busy with their business... they don't even care about me. Even when I'm sick, they can't take care of me, and if I don't do well on the exam, what right do they have to be ashamed of me?"

  I sighed: "Liu Xin... don't be too stubborn. They are your parents, even if they're wrong, you should think about them a bit, if not for you, they could now completely enjoy their later years, their savings are enough to live a very comfortable life in the second half of their lives."

  "But I want them by my side."

  At this moment, Liu Xin abandoned her long-standing disguise of strength. Although she is still a little girl, I think it's very real. She's still so young and has such complaints, which is perfectly normal.

  "Yao Xin... They can certainly spend the whole day with you, but if they do, maybe your life won't be as rich as it is now. It's not about my sister's power or social status, this is one of the few feudal ideas that still makes sense today, maybe they just want to try their best to make you marry well. If there comes a day when they can no longer take care of you, at least you won't have to live by looking at others' faces. Yao Xin, you're still young. You don't know how many things in this world are beyond one's control. So I especially cherish your current innocence, I don't like to say too much to you, but I hope you understand. Understand and be considerate of them, okay?"

  She fell silent for a moment and nodded. I felt relieved, actually what I said, she might not have understood, just being too serious.

  "Sister... can you help me? You're good at math, aren't you?"

  "Alright, I'm on holiday anyway, call me whenever."

  A few days later, on Sunday afternoon. I indeed became Liu Xin's home tutor, but what I didn't expect was that Shen Zhong also came back with us. When I saw him, my thoughts even came to a halt.

  "Sister." Liu Xing was exceptionally excited "Get slippers for Shen Duan!"

  "Oh"

  I mechanically replied and then ran over to get Shen Zhong's shoes, because I was really too nervous. For the first time, I had such a feeling, my hands and feet didn't know where to put them.

  "I heard from Liu Xin that your math is pretty good."

  He said something out of the blue and I thought for a long time before answering: "Nothing happened."

  "I've come to listen, don't mind, do you?"

  I'm quite particular about it!!!! But stealing a glance at Liu Xian's tense expression and slightly expectant look, I let out a sigh of relief. Forget it, it's rare for this little girl to be so happy.

  "As long as you don't mind, it's fine if I'm a bit ignorant and lacking in learning."

  He took off his coat and handed it to me, saying casually: "I won't mind yours."

  My heart was so excited by these words that I took several deep breaths to barely recover. It made me once again admire Shen Zong's powerful aura.

  When Shen Zhuo was teaching, he was very quiet, with one hand holding a pen and the other hand on the table. His slender white fingers captivated me, almost making me fall into such beauty irretrievably.

  "Liujia..." He tapped his pen on my book "Here, if we don't use vector method... directly using geometric method, wouldn't it be simpler?"

  "My nerves were stretched taut: 'How is geometry done?'"

  He leaned in a bit closer: "You see... I want to make an auxiliary line from here... and then find this height..."

  Shen Duan drew a line on the paper, and the whole problem became clear. I couldn't help but admire him.

  "Ah!" Liu Xin laughed "It's really much simpler now! Shen Duan, you're amazing."

  He smiled humbly, and I looked over to find him looking at me too. He seemed to be waiting for my praise, with a childlike expression. I chuckled and said, "I'm not as good as you."

  Shen Dang smiled, revealing a row of white teeth, extremely pleased with himself.

  When I was packing up my things in the evening, I found that the pen I used to teach with was gone. I ran to ask Liu Xian, but she hadn't seen it either. I was secretly worried, so I just pretended to say: "Maybe it fell on the ground, let me take a look again."

  She didn't think much of it: "After all, it's just a pen."

  I went back to the house and carefully searched again, but as Liu Xin said, it was just a pen. However, I wanted to prove something desperately. Finally, I lay in bed thinking: A rich young master with a lot of money, why is he so obsessed with a pen?