Standing at the doorway, Zhou Shiyan waved to Zhao Xuanwen, who was sitting in the classroom.

Only then did Zhao Xuanwen realize that Zhou Shiyan had really come to see her.

Though her head was full of questions, she still stood up and walked toward the door.

Once at the entrance, Zhao Xuanwen looked at Zhou Shiyan with confusion and asked,

"Are you here to ask me for snacks?"

"No."

Zhou Shiyan’s face was expressionless.

"I want to know how you did on the monthly exam."

"Why are you asking that... That’s private. I—I can’t just tell you that!"

Even as she said that, Zhao Xuanwen wasn’t truly concerned about privacy—she just didn’t want to be laughed at if she told her the score.

After all... she really didn’t do well this time.

Looking at Zhao Xuanwen, Zhou Shiyan seemed to know what she was really thinking.

She softly said,

"Tell me, I won’t tell anyone else."

"Really?"

"Mm."

"Then... okay."

Seeing Zhou Shiyan nod, Zhao Xuanwen hesitated for a moment, but eventually agreed to tell her the score.

However, there were still other students around. Even though most already knew how she did, she didn’t want to say it aloud in front of them.

After a brief struggle, she leaned in close to Zhou Shiyan.

Lowering her head, she covered her mouth with one hand and whispered,

"The total score is 700... I got just over 300..."

After saying that, Zhao Xuanwen straightened back up.

Zhou Shiyan fell silent.

She’d known from when they were in the same class that Zhao Xuanwen didn’t get good grades, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad...

It seemed like aside from subjects like politics, history, and Chinese, the rest were probably all guesswork.

This was going to be tricky.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Shiyan asked,

"Which high school are you planning to list as your top choice?"

"Uh... I want to apply for No.1 High School, but my grades aren’t good enough..."

"No.1 High, huh... Then let’s go with that."

"Huh?"

Zhao Xuanwen let out a confused sound, staring blankly at Zhou Shiyan.

She didn’t get what she meant by that.

Before she could ask, Zhou Shiyan continued.

"Last year, No.1 High’s cutoff was 600. If you’re only 50 points short, you can probably get in with the right connections. Your family shouldn’t have trouble with that."

"I can’t even get over 500..."

"It’s okay. Starting this week, I’ll tutor you every week."

"......"

Zhao Xuanwen froze.

She thought maybe her ears were broken.

Zhou Shiyan... said she’d tutor her?

Why?

"Why? Why are you going to tutor me?"

"For... some reason."

She mumbled that quietly, then added,

"Liu Zhiyue will definitely get into No.1 High too. If your grades improve, you two can be at the same school again."

"You two?"

Normally not the sharpest, Zhao Xuanwen caught that key phrase instantly this time.

Her brows furrowed.

"What do you mean by that... Why ‘you two’? Your grades are good too—wouldn’t you get into No.1 High as well?"

"......"

Zhou Shiyan hadn’t expected her to catch that.

She went silent, staring at Zhao Xuanwen.

"There’s still about three months left. If you give it your all, you can raise your score a lot."

Zhou Shiyan didn’t answer the question directly—instead, she changed the subject.

Just as she finished speaking, the bell rang from down the hallway. The students who had been goofing off in the corridor all rushed back to their classrooms.

Zhou Shiyan was no exception.

Before she left, she gave Zhao Xuanwen one last look and said softly,

"I know... you like him too."

Leaving behind that strange and cryptic remark, Zhou Shiyan turned and walked away from the classroom door.

Zhao Xuanwen stood frozen in place.

She didn’t go back to her own classroom immediately. Instead, she just stared at Zhou Shiyan’s retreating figure...

And watched...

Until she disappeared from view.

It must’ve been her female intuition—

Zhao Xuanwen sensed something wasn’t right. Zhou Shiyan never used to say things like offering tutoring. And just now, she’d said... that way, she and Liu Zhiyue would be at the same school again.

Could it be...

Zhao Xuanwen’s eyes widened.

She seemed to understand the truth.

Could it be that... Zhou Shiyan had been distracted in class, and that caused her grades to drop so much that she couldn’t get into No.1 High?

No, no... if that were true, how could she tutor me?

But then... what is the reason?

Zhao Xuanwen fell deep into thought.

Her brain was running at full speed, but even so, she couldn’t figure out why Zhou Shiyan would do this.

Why... would she tutor her...

And more importantly, why did she say I also liked Zhiyue...

Why use "also"?

Before she could think further, a book suddenly smacked down hard on her head.

"Owwww!" she cried out.

Zhao Xuanwen clutched her head and turned around.

When she saw her homeroom teacher’s stern face, her expression immediately turned to panic.

"Teacher!"

"What are you doing standing here like a statue? Class has started and you're still out here? Do you want to stand through the whole period?"

"No! I—I..."

"Enough with the stammering! Get inside!"

As the two of them walked into the classroom, the hallway returned to silence.

When Zhou Shiyan returned to her classroom, the teacher was already standing at the podium. She paused at the door and called out,

"Late."

"Mm, come in."

After the teacher gave permission, Zhou Shiyan walked back to her seat and sat down.

She pulled out the textbook and worksheet for this class from her desk and neatly placed them on the table. Only then did she look to her side at Liu Zhiyue.

Liu Zhiyue, who had been looking at the blackboard, caught her movement from the corner of his eye.

He shifted his gaze from the board and looked at Zhou Shiyan beside him.

A puzzled look crossed his face.

The teacher had already started writing on the board, and the rest of the students were fully focused.

Only these two were acting differently.

They looked at each other.

A long while passed.

Then Zhou Shiyan picked up her pen and wrote two characters on her draft notebook.

【一中】

(No.1 High)

Those characters were clearly seen by Liu Zhiyue, and in that moment, he instantly understood what she meant.

A small smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

Liu Zhiyue nodded silently at her, then turned back to the blackboard.

But what he didn’t notice...

Was Zhou Shiyan’s eyes—brimming with apology as he looked away.

Her head lowered slightly.

She moved the notebook with "No.1 High" written on it aside and silently repeated in her heart:

I’m sorry. This will be the last time I lie to you...