Chapter 17
When Luo Shuxin said he’d take responsibility, he really meant it. In class, he helped Jiang Jian stay efficient; after class, he supervised him while he did practice problems.
Jiang Jian complained and moaned for a while, but eventually got used to it.
He already had the foundation to make it into Class One — he just needed to get back into shape. With a week of Luo Shuxin’s correction and guidance, Jiang Jian was soon back to being motivated.
Luo Shuxin coached him hand-in-hand, analyzing each subject’s strengths and weaknesses. Whenever he encountered a problem that suited Jiang Jian while doing his own practice, he’d set it aside for him — truly dedicated and responsible.
At first, the two would stay in the classroom for the last self-study period of the day. During that time, Jiang Jian focused on solving problems, and Luo Shuxin would explain anything he didn’t understand.
Later, they realized it wasn’t very convenient. After all, it was still a shared classroom, and even if they kept their voices low, they could still disturb others. So, after some discussion, they started going to an off-campus café-style study room. The time stayed the same — matching the last self-study period at school.
But while the café study room had many good points, it also had one bad one.
The environment was just too pleasant, and it seemed to attract way too many couples. These people came under the pretense of “studying,” but it was obvious studying wasn’t what they were doing.
As Jiang Jian worked on his problems, he often heard nearby couples giggling — “hehehe” — and sometimes a girl would playfully scold, “What are you saying?” while lightly hitting the boy’s shoulder.
Jiang Jian was easily distracted. Once the noise around him increased, his train of thought broke.
Today, there was again a couple not far away, laughing loudly enough that their table shook.
Many of the serious students cast condemning looks their way, but the couple seemed completely oblivious.
Though the café study room was privately owned, it was located near the school and made money off students wanting to study. The sign “Please Keep Quiet” was clearly posted on the wall.
Jiang Jian stopped writing and sent a WeChat message to Luo Shuxin:
[Jiang Stir-Fried Shredded Potatoes]: I have a really evil idea right now.
[Jiang Stir-Fried Shredded Potatoes]: What if I take a picture of them and send it to Mr. Fei? Do you think he’d see it as me redeeming myself and maybe put in a good word with the princess for me?
[Jiang Stir-Fried Shredded Potatoes]: That way, we could split up — you rely on grades, I rely on selling out my comrades.
[Jiang Stir-Fried Shredded Potatoes]: We’d both have bright futures.
When it came to problem-solving, Jiang Jian might not be faster than Luo Shuxin — but when it came to typing speed, he was easily twice as fast.
Meanwhile, Luo Shuxin sat calmly amid the noise, as if he’d built his own little island of focus. Neither the noisy couple nor Jiang Jian’s constant messaging disturbed him.
Jiang Jian reached out and yanked the worksheet out from under Luo Shuxin’s hand.
Luo Shuxin: “?”
When he saw Jiang Jian waving his phone, he finally picked up his own to take a look and started typing:
[Crayon Shin-chan]: Kang Kang just praised you this morning. If your English paper isn’t done by the end of today, what do you think his reaction will be tomorrow?
Jiang Jian: “……”
He looked down at his half-finished English homework.
Resigned, he reached into his bag for his noise-canceling earphones — but before he could put them on, something happened at the noisy couple’s table.
A girl with a high ponytail walked over to them and softly asked if they could lower their voices a little.
She hadn’t spoken loudly, but the problem lay in how the couple responded.
The boy immediately snapped,
“What do you mean, lower our voices? Are we really that loud? Did we disturb your high-and-mighty top-student studying?”
“N-no, not at all,” the ponytail girl stammered. Clearly a people-pleaser, she instantly backtracked when confronted, saying what she thought he wanted to hear.
The girl from the couple was embarrassed and tugged at her boyfriend’s sleeve. “Don’t be so mean to her. It is our fault — sorry, we’ll be quieter.”
But the boy wouldn’t let it go. “Why should we be the ones to quiet down? Huh? We’re not even in school anymore, why should we cater to those stuck-up straight-A students? Did we even bother her? Go on, ask her — hey you, did we bother you?”
“……”
“You did.” Jiang Jian answered — loud and clear.
The boy froze, not expecting anyone to actually respond. But when his eyes swept over and landed on Jiang Jian, he stopped cold.
Jiang Jian added, “I said you did bother me. Didn’t hear me?”
The boy’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. He clearly wanted to say more, but Jiang Jian’s reputation at Jiangshui No. 1 High was… complicated. He didn’t quite dare pick a fight with him.
Jiang Jian and his little crew claimed they only fought school bullies and thugs who extorted classmates, but in the eyes of ordinary students, anyone who could fight was still a bit of a delinquent—someone to be feared.
The high-ponytail girl clearly looked like an easy target—soft, timid, the kind you could scare off with just a few harsh words. But Jiang Jian? He was the kind of person who might actually throw a punch.
And if he did start a fight, his crew would likely join in.
The girl in the couple couldn’t bear the embarrassment anymore. She quickly stood up and apologized, “Sorry, sorry! We’ll leave right now.”
The two hurriedly packed their bags and slipped away, tails between their legs.
Just moments ago, Jiang Jian’s face had been dark, full of “ready to brawl” energy. But when he turned around and saw Luo Shuxin watching him, he lifted two fingers beside his cheek and made a “V” sign, grinning like a goofy, curly-haired puppy.
Jiang Jian was pleased with himself — peace at last!
Thanks to Jiang Jian’s intervention, the café study room stayed blissfully free of giggling couples for quite a while afterward.
Under Luo Shuxin’s guidance, Jiang Jian spent several weeks grinding through endless sets of practice questions. According to him, at this point, just looking at a question bank made him want to throw up.
Shao Xing slapped Jiang Jian’s shoulder. “You really don’t know how good you have it. I’d kill to have Xin-ge tutor me this closely—but he wouldn’t even bother. So what is this between you two now? Mutual attraction between handsome guys?”
Jiang Jian shamelessly said, “Who knows, maybe that’s actually possible.”
Shao Xing smacked his thigh dramatically. “See! I knew my face would hold back my future one day. Didn’t expect it to happen this early—still in high school and already a curse!”
That evening after self-study, Jiang Jian was called in by the homeroom teacher to talk about his recent academic improvement. Because of that, he got to the café study room later than usual.
When he arrived, he saw Luo Shuxin’s bag sitting at their usual spot, along with a cup of ice cream placed on his side of the table.
Jiang Jian didn’t think much of it—he assumed Luo Shuxin had bought it. The café study room sold drinks and desserts—coffee, milk tea, fruit tea, ice cream, little cakes. Studying was brain-draining, so Jiang Jian often ordered sweets halfway through his work, usually getting an extra one for Luo Shuxin too.
Luo Shuxin wasn’t really into sweets, but after sharing so many with Jiang Jian, he’d started occasionally ordering small desserts in return. It had become a habit between them.
So Jiang Jian happily dug into the ice cream, eating more than half the cup before Luo Shuxin returned to his seat.
Luo Shuxin had his phone in hand—probably just got off a call.
Seeing Jiang Jian eating so intently, he casually asked, “Why’d you get that flavor? Didn’t you say you hate matcha?”
Jiang Jian froze mid-bite. “Wait—wasn’t it you who bought it?”
He had thought Luo Shuxin bought it, so he’d forced himself to try a few bites out of politeness.
Luo Shuxin looked down at him, expression full of quiet helplessness.
That look was very familiar to Jiang Jian.
It was the exact same expression he himself wore whenever he found Luo Shuxin lost—gentle, indulgent, and full of “oh, you silly fool” affection.
And, just like how he’d always argued with Luo Shuxin, Jiang Jian deliberately opened his mouth wide and shoved the rest of the ice cream into it.
There. Ate it. What are you gonna do about it?
Cocky as he was, he still had to clean up after himself. He went to the front desk and asked the barista who had placed the ice cream on their table.
He originally thought someone had just left it there by mistake.
But after asking, he learned that a girl had bought it and specifically asked the staff to place it at their seat.
Jiang Jian: “Which girl? Is she still here?”
The waitress, thinking she was about to witness a romantic moment, discreetly pointed her out.
By the window sat a quiet-looking girl at a single-person table. An exercise book lay open before her, but she wasn’t writing—she was holding her phone and typing, clearly chatting with someone.
Jiang Jian thought she looked familiar. After digging through his memory, he realized—
Wasn’t that the timid little “quail” who’d been hanging around Yin Ying that day?
Jiang Jian: “……”
So not only had he eaten someone else’s ice cream—it had been a confession ice cream.
Judging from the situation last time, that cup must have been meant for Luo Shuxin.
Jiang Jian felt awkward for a moment, but remembering how Luo Shuxin only cared about studying, he relaxed a bit.
He ordered another ice cream from the same brand but in a different flavor and asked the waitress to deliver it to the girl.
The waitress, grinning like she was witnessing true love unfold, asked, “What should I say when I give it to her?”
Jiang Jian said, “Just tell her: You’re a good person.”
Waitress: “……”
When Jiang Jian returned to the table, he brought Luo Shuxin a cup of milk tea and, puffing up like a proud peacock, told him he’d just helped him “cut off a peach blossom and end a karmic tie.”
Luo Shuxin gave him a questioning look, but Jiang Jian just smirked and refused to elaborate, enjoying keeping him in suspense.
Jiang Jian and Luo Shuxin hadn’t deliberately hidden their improved relationship—but they hadn’t announced it either. So naturally, a few people were out of the loop.
Like Yin Ying.
Yin Ying was surprised to hear that her friend had tried confessing again, and been rejected again—both times, somehow, because Jiang Jian had interfered.
She couldn’t help ranting a bit in the group chat:
[Not_a_YingYingMonster]: Could it be that Jian-ge actually likes that transfer student? Why else would he stop a girl from confessing to his buddy?
[Youth_and_Cicadas]: What what what—ears perked up.jpg
[Lu_Xun’s_Former_Home]: …Or, hear me out—maybe Luo-ge was just too embarrassed to reject her himself, so our Jian-jian did it for him.
[Not_a_YingYingMonster]: My bestie is pure, natural, a priceless gem! Why would that Luo guy turn her down?! I’m going to see for myself whether it’s that Jiang kid meddling or that Luo one being blind.
[Youth_and_Cicadas]: Should we really go? Wouldn’t that be… kind of bad?”
[Lu_Xun’s_Former_Home]: Go where—the café study room near the school gate? I wanna go too! I want to bask in the glory of the academic gods!”
[Youth_and_Cicadas]: Then I’m going too!
……
