The teacher's eyes widened, had he seen wrong? Damn, the phone had slipped from under the desk and he hadn't seen it clearly!

Xia Yao tilted her head and looked at Ji Huai picking up her phone. Seeing that the two of them were standing calmly, the teacher became even angrier; he had never encountered such thorns in thirty years of teaching!

"You don't know how to answer yet you dare to sleep! And you! You dare to play with your phone during class! If you don't know how to resolve it, stand there for the whole class!"

"Teacher, I didn't say I couldn't do it."

"I will do it."

The two of them spoke almost simultaneously and they looked at each other in a tacit understanding. Xia Yao shrugged, as soon as the teacher had asked her, she had already calculated the answer in her head, but she didn't want to go write it.

The teacher's face darkened even more: "If you can do it, why don't you come to the board? Don't be so arrogant, when you fail you will be the one embarrassed!"

"√3."

"Left question is √3."

Xia Yao and Ji Huai stayed at their desks and spoke at the same time. Xia Yao put her hands in her pockets and glanced at the teenager next to her instinctively. He was looking at the blackboard, his profile was perfect as if carved from stone, and his eyes were focused on the equation. Xia Yao immediately retracted her gaze, eager to solve it faster than him!

The teacher was taken aback, could the other question be so simple the answer could be seen at a glance? He cleared his throat: "The equation on the right—"

Xia Yao quickly interrupted: "n=2795."

This was a new problem from the latest math competition and the teacher had not read the answer yet. He snorted: "Eh, this student shouldn't just randomly answer..."

"The correct answer is 2795."

"This male student! You are still rushing to help her, but did I ask you? Why are you talking so much?"

The teacher looked at his paper with an unpleasant expression and found out that 2795 was indeed the correct answer.

The classroom suddenly became quiet; the students knew the level of the two of them and they looked at the teacher with a little sympathy. He had just been slapped in the face and was looking rather ugly.

The teacher glanced at Xia Yao angrily and tried to restore his image: "Being able to answer is not an excuse to sleep or play with your phone in class. You will regret it in the future if you don't listen well!"

Xia Yao nodded, thinking that he was right and that knowledge was the best weapon in this world. But at the same moment, the bell rang and the teacher hummed heavily, before striding away with his textbook and test papers under his arms. He had been specially hired as a temp and he never wanted to come back to teach this class again, unless his salary was tripled!

Xia Yao dashed forward and stopped the man at the door of the classroom. Class had barely ended and all the students were still in their seats; thirty pairs of eyes looked towards them, waiting for a good show. The teacher had made things difficult for Xia Yao, she must definitely want to get even!

"Teacher." Xia Yao slowly said, "Could you lend me the competition papers? I want to study it."

Instead of asking Ji Huai for her phone back, she asked for more homework, which could quench her thirst for knowledge.

***

Xia Yao asked for the papers from the angry teacher and she headed back to her seat happily, only to find someone waiting for her there.

It was Ji Huai. Oh yes, he still had her phone.

"Ji Huai, thank you just now." Xia Yao smiled.

"It was nothing. Here is your phone." He lowered his head slightly and handed her the device. The phone case was a fancy cream-colored gel, covered with girly elements such as bows, lace, small rainbows, and other stickers. It was a friendship case Xu Yinuan had made for her.

Xia Yao took the phone back and checked the case carefully, grateful nothing had happened to it.

Then she heard the boy's voice again.

"Xia Yao, are you looking for a room?"

"Huh?" Xia Yao raised her head and met his bright eyes. She didn't avoid them and answered honestly: "Yes, I'm going to go see a house this weekend, I want to move out."

Ji Huai had already moved out of the Xia family's home last month. He stared at the straightforward girl, before coughing a little: "I can accompany you."

He had already guessed Xia Yao would want to move out, as soon as she had started charging for her tutoring sessions after class. Indeed, this house wasn't hers but the home of the dove that had already occupied the magpie's nest.

Xia Yao looked at the teenager and thought his ears seemed a little red.

"I have already told Xu Yinuan and the others, I will go with them. I really appreciate your kindness, but there is no need to bother you."

She had already sent a message to her friends to inform them about her intentions, and her sisters didn't agree. Why should she spend money for the wrong house? What about staying at Xu Yinuan's on Monday, at Sweet Sister's on Tuesday,... just like the ancient emperor at his concubines' places!

"My family is in the real estate business."

After turning down Ji Huai, Xia Yao had started looking at the competition papers and her eyes suddenly lit up when she heard him. She raised her head again: "Why didn't you say so? Thank you for helping me then!"

Her eyes were bright and she was grinning wildly. She didn't know prices or how to compare houses but Ji Huai would definitely know! If his family was in the business, he must be super good at it!

***

Xia Yao was sitting with her legs crossed and tried to finish this last set of maths papers before the end of the self-study class. But at the time, the system sounded.

Xia Yao: No, no, it clearly stated at the beginning it wouldn't affect my studies!

[Please, show up at the corner of the Third High School before 18:35 and be sure to complete the plot of "The sweetheart of the three big bosses".]

With a sigh, Xia Yao put the papers in her bag. She recalled the plot, in the original novel, the vicious character had seen the heroine and Xu Shizhou get closer to each other and had come up with a scheme.

Xu Shizhou was handsome and even more when he was fighting. The whole City T knew about him and he had a lot of fans, and the delinquent girls from the Third High School would all swore to hook up with him at some point.

Xia Yao didn't like those courageous girls; how hooking up with him was something to be proud of?

The delinquent girls from the Third High School were the most ruthless of all City T and they were crazy in their pursuit of Xu Shizhou. The vicious female character had seized this opportunity and spread the message that Xu Shizhou liked the heroine, instigating them to deal with Xia Xi. This move had actually been the smartest scheme she had had in the whole novel.

But now, Xu Shizhou and the heroine were not close, what could she do about it? Did she need to re-write the novel?

Xia Yao thought about it and really couldn't keep studying. She sent a message to her friends telling them she had to leave after class and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already 5:30 pm.

Sure enough, right when the last bell of the day rang, Xia Yao threw the pen in her bag and jumped out of the classroom. It would take about a forty minutes walk from there to the Third High School, she was racing against time.

As soon as she stepped out of the building, a large black shadow headed her way. Xia Yao couldn't see who was coming but as she was about to avoid it, she felt her body tilt backward; the strap of her bag had been caught.

She always carried her backpack on one shoulder only and the other strap had been pulled by someone. Annoying, who dared to stop her!

Xia Yao turned her head and flicked her high ponytail. After seeing the person behind her, she rolled her eyes and stopped walking. It was Xu Shizhou who hadn't shown up since morning.

The teenager was wearing a black hoodie and black sweatpants. A pair of sneakers was on his feet, one hand was in his pocket and the other was holding Xia Yao's strap. He glanced at her and asked casually: "Xia Yao, what are you so anxious to get out? Didn't you say you would tutor me?"

Xia Yao lightly patted his hand away and shrugged: "I have things to do, I am in a hurry."

"Let me take you back..." Xu Shizhou started to say but his phone vibrated and interrupted him. He looked at it and noticed it was from Zhang Sa.

Zhang Sa was one of his good buddies. Since they were kids, they had hung out and fought together. They were really close.

But recently, he had caught up with his goddess after great difficulty and should be with her at the moment. Why would he suddenly call him?

"Wait, I need to get that." Xu Shizhou gestured towards Xia Yao.

Xia Yao put the bag that had fallen slightly back, trying to calculate the time and see if she would be too late. Although she didn't know why she should wait for him, Xu Shizhou wasn't someone she wanted to provoke and felt it was better for her to be obedient, and she decided to think about math problems in the meantime.

The call was short but Xu Shizhou's eyebrows were furrowed; it was obviously not good news. He turned his head and his eyes went up and down Xia Yao's body a few times before he said: "Go home early."

"Yes!" Xia Yao held her bag and was ready to rush to the school gate. But unexpectedly, the boy stretched out his hand again and grabbed the strap one more time.

Xia Yao's momentum was great, and because she was suddenly dragged back, her body was unstable and she staggered. She stabilized herself in time and didn't fall in the boy's embrace but looked at him angrily.

Of course he was the culprit and she couldn't help but glare at him.

Xu Shizhou looked at her bulging appearance and the corners of his mouth curled up. His other hand raised and he touched the girl's head.

Xia Yao looked at him in a daze and heard his lazy voice again: "Go home early."

Xia Yao was very confused and didn't understand why he would say the same thing twice. But when she saw him turn around and walk in the other direction, she confidently rushed out of the school to find a shared bicycle.