A street urchin turned academic genius, starting by saving the blind school beauty.

Chapter 73 Turning the Tables

When Lu Zhaoye returned to the classroom, evening self-study had already officially begun.

The teacher sitting on the podium watching students study was none other than my first-year high school Chinese teacher, Old Man Yun.

Unexpectedly, after all the twists and turns, I've ended up back under Old Man Yun's command.

Old Man Yun didn't have the bad habit of wandering around; he mostly sat on the podium reading articles during evening self-study sessions.

Lu Zhaoye peeked into the row in front of him. Qin Tian was secretly reading a novel on his MP3 player, while Lu Zichen was working on physics problems.

Then I looked at my silly deskmate and saw him staring at me with wide eyes.

"what?"

Xu Qingwan blinked, handed over a bit of her math workbook, and pointed at something with her pencil.

"You don't know how? Figure it out yourself."

Lu Zhaoye glanced at the question; it wasn't the kind of question designed to show off one's skills.

He planned to write a detailed outline for the novel so he could start writing as soon as he got home that evening.

The articles he's published in the past few days have garnered him a group of fans, but they've also received criticism from readers, namely that the character of Xu Ziqing he's portrayed is somewhat unsatisfactory.

So he decided to go back that night and revise it; after all, his readers were his bread and butter, and he had to listen to their advice.

After talking with Lao Zhang, Lu Zhaoye felt he had to make money as soon as possible. Originally, he only wanted to help Xu Ziqing get her eyes treated.

But the girl is quite pitiful, so I guess I'll have to help her out when the time comes.

Just as Lu Zhaoye was about to start writing, Xu Qingwan suddenly stretched her leg over and quietly moved her chair a little closer.

"What are you doing, baby?"

Xu Qingwan blushed instantly, stepped on Lu Zhaoye's shoe, and then said through gritted teeth,

"Teach me quickly, or I won't let you call me baby anymore!"

"?"

Lu Zhaoye was amused. Did you really think you could control whether or not someone cried out?

Please, my mouth is mine!

However, just as Lu Zhaoye was about to start arguing, Xu Qingwan suddenly stuffed a blue object into his mouth.

"??"

Lu Zhaoye's gaze shifted downwards, and he then noticed that Xu Qingwan was holding a blue water glass to her lips.

Moreover, the style looks exactly the same as the green water glass that Xu Qingwan had in her desk drawer.

"If you teach me the problem, I'll give you the cup," Xu Qingwan said, blushing.

Lu Zhaoye nodded blankly, preparing to put the cup in his pocket; he just happened to be missing a cup.

However, Xu Qingwan suddenly stopped and put the cup in her desk drawer.

"Teach me first,"

Lu Zhaoye smiled. It's just a question; how much time can it waste?

"Watch closely."

Lu Zhaoye snatched the pencil from Xu Qingwan's hand, took a piece of draft paper, and began to demonstrate on it.

Seeing that Lu Zhaoye was in the zone, Xu Qingwan's eyes darted around, and then she spoke directly.

"Are you and Xu Ziqing very close?"

Without hesitation, Lu Zhaoye answered instinctively.

"Yes,"

Not redeemable!

Lu Zhaoye immediately realized what was happening, swallowed hard, and turned his head away guiltily.

Xu Qingwan's expression was cold and stern, her baby fat on her face taut, and her eyes glared at him menacingly.

"You and she have known each other for a long time, haven't you? Why was she in the office last Monday? Are Su Cheng and Wen Ningning also involved in this matter?"

Lu Zhaoye was momentarily bewildered by Xu Qingwan's three consecutive questions, but he quickly realized he couldn't afford to be passive and had to take the initiative.

"What's wrong? Are you jealous?"

Xu Qingwan was taken aback by this answer.

"You...I'm not jealous, I..."

Cold sweat beaded on Lu Zhaoye's forehead, but he maintained a confident smile and continued to ask,

"Then why are you asking so many questions? You're not my girlfriend."

Xu Qingwan was instantly stunned by Lu Zhaoye's words.

Yes, she's only known Lu Zhaoye for less than a month.

What reason did she have to care about Lu Zhaoye's relationships with other people? Besides, someone as outstanding as him must be liked by many people, right?

Xu Qingwan lowered her eyes, the coldness from before vanished, leaving only the worry, fear, and inferiority complex that followed her impulsiveness.

Seeing the change in Xu Qingwan's expression, Lu Zhaoye realized that things had gone about the right track and offered her a way out.

"Oh, I see. You're not trying to make me study harder, are you?"

Xu Qingwan reacted slightly, and upon hearing this, she grasped at it like a lifeline, and hurriedly said,

"Yes, that's right. I was just worried that others would affect your studies. I didn't have any other intentions."

Lu Zhaoye nodded, suppressing a laugh as he explained.

"Before, because of those two guys Wen Ningning and Su Cheng, I had been secretly bullying Xu Ziqing, and that's how I got to know her."

"You should know what comes next. Wen Ningning and I had a falling out. She and Su Cheng wanted to mess with me, but they messed with the wrong people, so they've both disappeared from No. 2 Middle School."

"During this process, Xu Ziqing became my underling, sharing the same identity as Chen Ziniu and the others."

Lu Zhaoye omitted some key parts, but he was indeed telling the truth.

Xu Qingwan lowered her head thoughtfully, silently weighing in her mind which identity—"housekeeper" or "little brother"—was closer to Lu Zhaoye.

The final conclusion, of course, is that the housekeeper is closer to her, after all, the word "housekeeper" in her name means "mother-in-law".

"Oh, I see. Well...that's good then."

Xu Qingwan didn't dare to look at Lu Zhaoye, and said softly with her head down.

Lu Zhaoye continued,

"Yeah, that's great. Do you know why I was able to get into the advanced class?"

"Besides my natural intelligence, it was also thanks to Xu Ziqing giving me a martial arts manual that I was able to succeed."

Xu Qingwan was somewhat bewildered, unsure of Lu Zhaoye's meaning, until he took out a beautifully packaged booklet from his bag.

"Now that I have succeeded, I will bestow this secret manual upon you."

Xu Qingwan took it and looked at it, her mouth slightly agape in utter shock.

But after reading it, she felt even more inferior because she couldn't offer Lu Zhaoye the same kind of help.

And upon closer reflection, it seems she can't offer Lu Zhaoye anything.

Xu Qingwan returned the booklet to Lu Zhaoye and said softly, "She gave this to you, I don't want it."

Without saying a word, Lu Zhaoye simply stuffed the booklet into his desk drawer.

The two remained silent. Xu Qingwan took back her workbook and started working on the problems, but didn't touch a single one.

Lu Zhaoye was secretly observing Xu Qingwan's reaction, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

"Xu Qingwan, didn't you say you'd give me the cup? You're not giving it to me now?"

Xu Qingwan didn't speak, but her hand, which was gripping the pen, suddenly loosened and reached under her desk.

Touching the two identical cups, Xu Qingwan was overwhelmed with thoughts; she had almost forgotten...

When Lu Zhaoye was in Class 7, he must have put in a lot of effort for himself, studying diligently and asking Xu Ziqing for study manuals.

She knew that Lu Zhaoye was working so hard all for her sake.

Otherwise, why would it suddenly appear when I was on the verge of collapse?

Otherwise, why would they just casually bring me home?

Otherwise, why would I allow myself to sleep on the same sofa with him?

All of this is traceable; he wanted to use this to increase even his own goodwill towards him!

Xu Qingwan understood. She took out her ever-used green water glass from under the table, smiled, and turned her head.

"This cup is for you."

Seeing Xu Qingwan's very strange look, Lu Zhaoye had a bad feeling. Besides, the color of this cup was off.

"Isn't mine...blue?"