There was no sound on the other end of the phone at first and Xia Yao was about to ask what was going on when she heard a shallow laugh and a lazy voice asked: "Want to see me naked?"

Xia Yao was startled and her pen fell to the floor. No, had he heard everything about her conversation with the Rainbow girls? Did he know about Red Hair's naked pillow of him?

She instinctively answered: "How do you know?"

There was another light laughter and Xia Yao realized what she had said. She quickly denied it, her tongue almost tied: "Xu Shizhou, don't laugh! Only ghosts want to see you naked!"

But because of her embarrassment, her voice sounded shy and the teenager replied in between laughter: "Yes, yes, you don't want to see me naked."

He was acting just like a kid and Xia Yao rolled her eyes with anger: "Don't laugh, don't think about it, I only like studying!"

"Yes, yes, I'm not thinking about it."

Xia Yao calmed down: "I will hang up if there isn't anything else, I have homework to do."

The boy finally stopped laughing and said: "Don't hang up." He paused for a split second, "I heard about everything that happened tonight from the other girl. That said, you escaped so fast, are you... Are you afraid of me?"

"..." Xia Yao couldn't say whether she was or not and answered instead: "Hurry home to study."

Xu Shizhou's heart sank, the girl was indeed scared by him and his friends. She liked learning so much too, he should study well.

"Don't hang up yet, one last thing." He spoke slowly and lazily, "Come watch my basketball game on Sunday at the gym."

Xia Yao was taken aback. Basketball game? No thank you, she wanted to learn.

Probably guessing what she was going to answer, Xu Shizhou quickly added: "Don't refuse, you must come."

And as a result, he accidentally hung up the phone.

"What time? I don't want to go there all day, can you tell me when you are playing?" Xia Yao asked.

She didn't get a response for a long time and realized her screen had turned dark. Well then, she could always take some books with her and wait for his game. But now, not only did she have to go look at a house with Ji Huai on Saturday, but she also had to go watch Xu Shizhou play on Sunday. Xia Yao suddenly felt that all her study time for the weekend had disappeared.

***

It was already late November and while it had started snowing in some parts of the country, City T was a southern city and the temperatures in the winter rarely dropped below zero.

Xia Yao was wearing a black windbreaker and her hands were in her pockets. From a distance, she saw the teenager under the tree dressed in a gray coat. As if he had felt her gaze, his head raised and he glanced in her direction. The sunlight fell on his face and he looked very handsome.

Time flew so fast and it was already Saturday, the day Xia Yao would visit the house. She had barely gotten the 100,000 yuan of moving fees but was already about to spend it.

Heartache.

"Tsk, tsk, Ji Huai is so handsome!" Xu Yinuan hugged Xia Yao's arm and snickered, "Xia Yao, don't you think so?"

"Ugh." Sweet Sister sighed, "I want to think about it too but I don't have a chance."

Xia Yao rolled her eyes: "It's because you spend all your time daydreaming that your grades don't improve."

She waved at the boy and walked to him quickly before asking: "Have you been waiting for a long time?"

"No." His voice was clear and he shielded Xia Yao from the traffic. He casually stopped a car and added, "Come on, let's go see the house."

Ji Huai knew Xia Yao's situation very well and he was very much aware she must be rather anxious to move from the Xia family house. He sat on the passenger seat and the three girls took the back and kept on chatting.

Xu Yinuan glanced at Xia Yao and asked: "Ji Huai, where are we going? Could it be your neighborhood?"

"That side is very good and close to the school." Sweet Sister echoed, fully understanding Xu Yinuan's meaning.

"Ji Huai, you live alone, Yaoyao is in your care!"

Sweet Sister gave a thumbs up: "Yes!"

"..." Xia Yao glanced at the chirping girls next to her and said coldly: "Shut up."

She then looked back up front, "Ji Huai, don't pay attention to them. They do so little homework that they can talk nonsense all day long."

The teenager smiled and looked at the girls in the back row from the rear view mirror, and noticed it had become a mess.

Xia Yao was leaning down on Xu Yinuan, hooking a strand of her hair, and was threatening softly: "You make up things about me and talk about it in front of me, I have a good temper and will not take it into account. But it's not good to talk nonsense in front of Ji Huai..."

"... Be careful or I will tell everyone you like Xia Yuan!"

Xu Yinuan was startled and she blushed: "What are you talking about?"

Sweet Sister leaned on her other side and said, a little surprised: "No, no, Sister you cannot like Xia Yuan, it isn't allowed. It's better to find someone else!"

"..."

They kept quarreling until they reached their destination and as Xu Yinuan said, it was Ji Huai's neighborhood. Ji Huai had talked to Xia Yao about it before and she was not surprised; she just wanted to rent a room and as long as she could live in it, she didn't have many requirements. But obviously, it was better if the rent was not too high.

She discreetly glanced at the boy next to her, wondering what kind of discount she could get. They were classmates, 10% should be okay, right? But then again, Ji Huai had lived in her house, so perhaps 20%?

People living in this neighborhood were from the wealthy circle of City T. Most of the houses were single-family villas but some duplex lofts had been built during the planning.

Before they went in, the security guard at the door saw Ji Huai and rushed to greet him.

"It looks great here! I will buy one too, I want to be Yaoyao's neighbor!" Sweet Sister held Xia Yao's hand and looked around.

"Then I will buy one too and the three of us will be next to each other!" Xu Yinuan agreed.

Xia Yao: I'm just looking for a house to rent.

They soon arrived in front of a building and Ji Huai opened the door. Xu Yinuan and Sweet Sister immediately let go of Xia Yao's arms and bounced in.

— They didn't want to be light bulbs for too long and they left Ji Huai and Xia Yao behind.

Ji Huai said: "This is a 40m2 two-bedroom loft. The ceiling is about 5 meters high, and there is a small dining room adjacent to the living room."

Xia Yao nodded as she listened. The loft had been finely decorated, a fully applied kitchen was at the entrance and the bathroom was separated from the rest. She followed Ji Huai upstairs.

"There are two rooms, one on the left and one on the right, four-meter floor-to-ceiling windows and an office with good lighting. When you look down you can see the entire living room."

Xia Yao looked and saw Yu Yinuan and Sweet Sister already playing on the couch. She turned her head and asked the biggest question in her mind: "Ji Huai, isn't the monthly rent very expensive for this kind of house?"

Ji Huai looked at her. He already had his suspicions since the girl had started charging for her tutoring; the Xia family was not even remotely short of money but she wanted to sever the relationship with them. And as she was looking at a small house by herself, it only confirmed his thoughts.

Realizing he wasn't answering, Xia Yao smiled: "Classmate, can I have a discount?"

Her eyes were bright and her smile was different from her usual cuteness. Ji Huai wanted to answer that it was free; what she wanted, he wanted to give, but he knew she wouldn't be happy like this.

"60% off, how about 10,000 a month?"

A discount.

Xia Yao tilted her head, thinking she wouldn't have to rent for too long anyway; she could always move out and get a loan for college next year. She raised her palm and said cheerfully: "Deal!"

The two clapped hands but Ji Huai's palm lingered a little.

With Ji Huai's help, renting the house went much smoother than expected. However, it was not time to leave the Xia family home just yet and Xia Yao calculated on her fingers before reaching her final decision; she would probably not be able to move out until after next week.

—Ah, she really wanted to push Xia Xi now. She could only be thrown out after she lost her memory!

Sweet Sister had looked for places to eat and had already booked the restaurant. At noon, the group walked toward the place talking and laughing; Xia Yao and Ji Huai discussed homework while Sweet Sister and Xu Yinuan were trying to decide on what to order.

Suddenly, Xia Yao felt Sweet Sister stop and she followed her gaze and found Xia Xi and Xia Yuan.

—Crap, Xia Yuan is hugging Xia Xi.

—Xu Yinuan likes Xia Yuan.

When these two pieces of information appeared in Xia Yao's mind, she had a bad feeling. Ji Huai had not noticed the situation yet and was still walking forward.

Xia Yao instinctively grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him back. She stood on tiptoe and whispered: "Xia Xi and Xia Yuan are there."

Her hands were soft and a delicate fragrance reached Ji Huai's nose. He bent down so she wouldn't have to stay on tiptoe too long. His hand was being tugged and his heartbeat sped up, not really listening to whatever she was saying.

"What's wrong? Why did everyone stop?" Xu Yinuan had her back turned to Xia Xi and Xia Yuan and she didn't see them. But she did see the ambiguous behavior of Xia Yao and Ji Huai.

She grinned: "Wooooo~ What are you whispering about?"

Xia Yao showed disinterest and said instead: "Change of plans! We don't want to eat Italian today anymore." She raised her eyebrows and glanced at Sweet Sister on the other side, "Right?"

Xu Yinuan didn't know how to read between the lines and replied: "Okay, let's change then! But I still want gelato~"

"Why would you eat ice cream on a cold day—"

But before she could finish speaking, Xia Yao saw the girl turn her head and Xu Yinuan instantly froze and her whole body was petrified.

Xia Yao slowly let go of Ji Huai's hand she was still holding. She looked up at him and shook her head as she explained: "Xu Yinuan likes Xia Yuan."

Ji Huai was a little puzzled: "Isn't it better to witness it?"

Xia Yao tilted her head and thought about it, before finally answering: "Yes, she will be able to forget about him and start studying instead!"

Xu Yinuan was stunned and Sweet Sister approached her to hug her and comfort her until she noticed her friend's excited expression.

Xu Yinuan looked around and unable to hide her impatience, she whispered: "Let's follow them and see what they will do! Brother and sister are taboo, they know how to play!"

Ah, I like this friendship between the three girls! Xia Yao's family is too dramatic but she had good girlfriends!

And Xu Yinuan has her sense of priorities straight, I like it.