On the morning of the second, Xia Yu lay on the sofa on the balcony, listening to music while doing exercises.
Although he now had Gu Zixiao to practice with, Gu Zixiao wasn’t always available. During the remaining time, Xia Yu still had to practice on his own.
It would be great if there was someone living in his house, ready to practice skills with him anytime.
It seemed like there might be someone like that?
Xia Yu looked at Yuxue, who was browsing the amulet forum beside him.
“What ranking did you get in the mid-term exam?” Xia Yu asked the girl.
Yuxue lifted her head, first showing surprise—why was her brother suddenly interested in her studies?—then she became proud.
“I got first in the class!” Yuxue raised her head proudly, waiting for Xia Yu’s praise.
“What about the whole school?” Xia Yu asked again.
“I’m also fifth in the school!” Yuxue folded her arms, even more proud.
However, the reaction she received was vastly different from what she had imagined.
“Only fifth? That’s too bad,” Xia Yu sighed and shook his head.
“What’s wrong with fifth place? How did you do, Brother?” Yuxue was unconvinced.
“I ranked first in the entire school this monthly exam, ten points ahead of the second place,” Xia Yu replied.
“…” Yuxue fell silent.
“As my sister, not ranking first in the entire school is embarrassing. Bring me your math textbook; I’ll tutor you,” Xia Yu revealed his true intention.
“My math score is already 140!”
The full score for middle school math is 150.
“You didn’t even get a perfect score in the first year? That’s terrible. Bring all your stuff over quickly!”
Pressing Yuxue down on the table to study, Xia Yu felt twice the joy.
This girl was too lazy. At home, she only watched cartoons and didn’t study at all, aside from finishing her homework. Having such great talent and not using it for exams was a waste.
After explaining a few problems to Yuxue, Xia Yu received a call from Gu Zixiao.
“Xia Yu, I’m ready. Where should we meet?” On the other end of the line, Gu Zixiao sounded determined. He had made up his mind to fight for the pig-headed person.
“Come to my place.”
“Okay.”
Xia Yu was about to give his address when Gu Zixiao hung up.
“???”
Xia Yu redialed and told Gu Zixiao that he had moved.
Twenty minutes later, Xia Yu received a call from the security guard, asking if Gu Zixiao could be let through.
Five minutes later, Gu Zixiao arrived downstairs at Xia Yu’s house.
Seeing Xia Yu open the door, Gu Zixiao was astonished.
“This is your house?” Entering the villa, he looked around.
The villa was decorated in a modern minimalist style. Minimalist was just a style, not a material. The furniture and walls, when examined closely, were all perfectly crafted—not the kind of low-end goods that only look good from a distance—and must have cost a fortune.
“Mm.” Xia Yu led Gu Zixiao upstairs.
“Does this place still have rentals?” Gu Zixiao already had a guess, but he still couldn’t believe it.
“No, I just bought it recently. Got some money lately.” Xia Yu replied.
“You got a huge villa so quickly recently? Did you sell yourself?” Gu Zixiao looked at Xia Yu suspiciously.
“Snap out of it. No rich woman would spend millions on a man.”
“Then how did you manage this?”
“I conned it out of a rich little girl.”
“…Really?” If anyone else had said that, Gu Zixiao definitely wouldn’t have believed it. But regarding Xia Yu, he felt that this might actually be possible.
“Just kidding. In your dreams, everything’s there. Being supported by a rich woman might get you a few million at most. It’s better to work hard yourself.” Midway through speaking, Xia Yu paused. He recalled that there indeed was a rich girl willing to buy him a private hospital.
“Sigh,” Gu Zixiao sighed.
Arriving at the second floor, Xia Yu let Gu Zixiao wait in the living room.
After scanning the second floor’s environment again and confirming that he would never be able to afford such a villa himself, Gu Zixiao obediently took out his pen and notebook from his backpack.
“Hello.”
At this moment, a crisp voice came from the balcony, reaching Gu Zixiao’s ears.
Looking up toward Yuxue, Gu Zixiao grabbed Xia Yu’s collar: “Is this the rich little girl?”
“Didn’t you meet her last time? She’s my sister!” Xia Yu pinched Gu Zixiao’s hand to help him stay alert.
“Pain! Pain!” Gu Zixiao exaggeratedly cried out.
After Xia Yu let go, he picked up his pen and notebook: “I’ll go to the balcony too.”
As he stood up, a palm landed on his shoulder, pressing him back onto the sofa with great force.
From the shadows behind him, a face emerged, eyeing him with glowing red eyes.
“Ahh, I think the living room is better. I’m afraid of heights and can’t stay on the balcony,” Gu Zixiao quickly opened his exercise book and started working.
Xia Yu retracted his hand, ending the intimidation, and returned to his bedroom, tossing three exercise books to Gu Zixiao and coldly saying: “Do the ones I’ve marked.”
After speaking, he returned to the balcony, his expression softening as he began teaching Yuxue again.
Gu Zixiao pressed his slightly trembling thigh.
He had always thought that the scenes in comics where one look instilled fear in others were artistic exaggerations. He never expected that such a thing could actually exist!
In his heart, he felt wronged again.
I’m your close friend for years, yet you’re harsh with me just for your sister!
Damn it, I also want a lovely little sister to play games with me!
Sighing, Gu Zixiao picked up the exercise book Xia Yu gave him and flipped through the problems Xia Yu had marked.
These were all the same type of problems: three in the first book, four in the second, and one in the third.
He pondered, realizing that finding these eight problems among the thick three books must not have been easy.
Indeed, Xia Yu still loved him!
He eagerly started working on them.
What he didn’t realize was that with his exam proficiency at Level 4, Xia Yu could instantly spot the patterns in standard problems. To identify these eight questions, Xia Yu had merely skimmed through the three books in just three minutes.
After finishing teaching Yuxue, Xia Yu came to the living room. Gu Zixiao had already completed five problems: one fully solved, three partially solved, and one only the first sub-question completed.
Holding the exercise book, Xia Yu asked Gu Zixiao: “All five of these questions follow the same pattern, with no significant difference in difficulty. But why can you solve some completely, while on others you only manage the first sub-question—why such a big gap? Do you know the reason?”
“Because of love?” Gu Zixiao made an old joke.
“It’s because you don’t consciously apply set patterns when solving problems. You’re just randomly guessing based on inspiration!” Xia Yu wrote down the common approach to these questions on paper and began explaining it to Gu Zixiao.
What he was doing, metaphorically speaking, was transforming a pure and innocent person who relied solely on instinct and enjoyment into a cunning person who used various dirty tricks.
Gu Zixiao’s expression turned serious, much more focused than he had been in class before.
Previously, he always slacked off in class because he couldn’t feel his improvement, thinking that whether he listened or not made no difference. But with Xia Yu, he could feel his progress.
Actually, it was just that the experience gained in regular classes was too little for Gu Zixiao to notice, while the experience gained with Xia Yu was much more noticeable.
After teaching Gu Zixiao, Xia Yu went back to Yuxue, alternating between the two.
At noon, Gu Zixiao, who stayed for lunch at the villa, saw Yuxue could cook as well, and shot Xia Yu another jealous glance.
He glanced very carefully and subtly.
In the afternoon, after finishing studying, Gu Zixiao came to Xia Yu’s study again, touched Xia Yu’s trophies, played with Xia Yu’s game console, and reluctantly left the villa.
During the seven-day Labor Day holiday, the three of them spent their time like this. When school resumed, Yuxue gained a certain degree of freedom, while Gu Zixiao continued to suffer yet enjoy himself under Xia Yu’s pressure.
In this way, the college entrance exam quickly approached.
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