Saturday.

Liu Zhiyue was already getting ready to head out.

His dad had gone out early in the morning for some errands, and no one knew exactly where he went.

But since An Yuanyao had passed the most dangerous period of her pregnancy, she could now move around freely. As long as there wasn’t any serious impact, she’d generally be fine.

Even so, Liu Zhiyue still felt uneasy.

Before leaving, he carefully instructed his little sister.

“Xiazhi, you have to take good care of Mom. Absolutely make sure she doesn’t fall.”

“Don’t worry, I got this!”

Liu Xiazhi patted her chest with a little fist, sounding super confident.

She looked completely self-assured.

But that exact look made Liu Zhiyue feel like she wasn’t reliable at all.

After a brief hesitation, he turned to An Yuanyao and said,

“Mom, if anything happens, call me right away. I’ll come back immediately.”

“It’s fine, I’m not going out for a walk today. I’ll wait until your dad comes back.”

“Alright, then I’m heading out.”

“Go on, have fun~”

“……”

Looking at An Yuanyao, who was smiling with her belly showing as she said that, Liu Zhiyue couldn’t help but feel a little shy.

It seemed like Dad must’ve told her everything…

Meanwhile, Liu Xiazhi, hearing their conversation, looked completely confused.

She kept asking questions.

“What are you doing? Take me with you!”

Liu Zhiyue ignored his little sister and stepped outside after finishing his preparations.

Even after he left, Liu Xiazhi wouldn’t stop asking.

“What’s Gege going to do? Is it fun? Why didn’t he take me with him?”

“Uh…”

Hearing her daughter’s barrage of questions, An Yuanyao didn’t quite know how to answer.

No doubt about it—this kid’s curiosity was intense!

Riding his e-bike, Liu Zhiyue arrived at Zhou Shiyan’s home.

After waiting downstairs for a bit, he saw her coming down with a backpack on.

Liu Zhiyue was momentarily confused.

“Why are you carrying a backpack?”

“You’ll find out in a bit.”

She said that casually.

Even though last night’s incident had just happened, Zhou Shiyan quickly snapped back to reality.

She had promised to tutor Zhao Xuanwen over the weekend.

That made things a bit complicated.

And Liu Zhiyue had no idea about any of it. Once Zhou Shiyan got on the e-bike, he took her away from her apartment building.

Following Zhou Shiyan’s directions, Liu Zhiyue kept riding until he started to feel like something was off.

He’d been to this area before.

If he remembered right… this was not only his old neighborhood but also…

When they arrived and parked, he looked at Zhou Shiyan in confusion as she got off the bike.

“What are we doing at Zhao Xuanwen’s house?”

“Actually… I promised to tutor her.”

“You promised to tutor her? What do you mean?”

“Two days ago, I agreed to help her get into No.1 High School… the same school as you.”

“……”

Looking at Zhou Shiyan as she said that, Liu Zhiyue didn’t know what to say.

This girl… always coming up with these unpredictable ideas.

What was she thinking?

He didn’t get it…

But no matter how helpless he felt, they were already here—what else could he do?

After parking the e-bike, he followed Zhou Shiyan to Zhao Xuanwen’s apartment.

The elevator stopped.

The two of them stepped out and rang the doorbell.

After a moment, the door opened.

Zhao Xuanwen peeked her head out.

When she saw Zhou Shiyan and Liu Zhiyue standing there, she froze on the spot.

Her big eyes stared blankly at Liu Zhiyue behind Zhou Shiyan.

“Y-You… what are you doing here?”

“He…”

“I was worried Shiyan wouldn’t be able to teach you by herself, so I came to supervise.”

Liu Zhiyue said that to help Zhou Shiyan out.

And when Zhou Shiyan heard his explanation, she didn’t say anything else.

Zhao Xuanwen also heard it. Once it sank in, she just threw out a line,

“W-Wait a sec!”

Then—bang—she slammed the door shut.

The two of them looked at each other, puzzled.

What was that about?

After a while, Zhao Xuanwen reopened the door—this time freshly changed.

She’d just swapped out her casual clothes.

A milky white sweater that reached her upper thighs, paired with white socks that went up to her calves.

It looked nothing like her usual self at school.

She seemed much quieter.

Especially with her hair tucked to one side, showing one ear, and… she was wearing glasses.

Liu Zhiyue noticed right away.

They didn’t have lenses.

“Come on in.”

She said that while fully opening the door and letting them in.

Once they entered, Zhao Xuanwen closed the door behind them.

She handed them a pair of guest slippers while saying,

“My mom just mopped the floor last night, so try to keep it clean.”

They both changed into slippers.

It was much warmer inside than outside.

Looked like the heater or AC was on—no wonder she wasn’t wearing much. A few minutes in and it already felt a little stuffy.

Liu Zhiyue turned to Zhao Xuanwen.

“Right, forgot to ask—how’d you do on this month’s exam?”

“Uh…”

Zhao Xuanwen, who had been smiling just a moment ago, instantly froze the second Liu Zhiyue asked that.

How could she bring up something so embarrassing?

Even Zhao Xuanwen felt a little awkward.

She hesitated for a second.

“My score… let’s just say it wasn’t great…”

“How much?”

“Just… just a tiny bit worse than the others…”

She even held up her index finger and thumb to show a tiny gap.

That little bit of difference.

But Liu Zhiyue knew her too well.

Just a few seconds of that guilty behavior, and he guessed it.

After all, after two years of being desk mates, he had a solid grasp of her actual skill level…

“About 300?”

“Mm…”

She lowered her head. Having Liu Zhiyue hit the mark in front of Zhou Shiyan made her feel totally humiliated.

Why’d he have to say it out loud…

Ugh, so annoying.

“You…”

That’s all Liu Zhiyue said, clearly disappointed.

Back when they were classmates, he’d spent so much time tutoring her—he’d been helping her since elementary school—and now this?

Sure, she used to score in the 200s, and getting into the 300s was technically an improvement, but still…

Way too little progress.

With that score, unless someone pulled strings, she’d only get into one of those bottom-tier high schools.

Realizing this, Liu Zhiyue couldn’t help but sigh.

Hearing that sigh, Zhao Xuanwen felt even more crushed.

Her head dropped lower, and she kept fiddling with her hands.

Zhou Shiyan saw all this and picked up her backpack.

Then she said,

“Let’s get started. Let’s try to make it into No.1 High School together.”