Chapter 42

  Yucai's awkwardness had passed, and he let out a sigh of relief. During the morning reading class, while others were seriously reading English, Yucai was also seriously reciting geography. Then, he was called out by the head teacher and caught red-handed. With his head hung low, Yucai followed Wang Laoshi to the office, thinking to himself that reciting geography during English reading shouldn't be a big deal, so why was he being taken to the office? But then, Wang Laoshi actually stepped out and even closed the door behind him. This time, Yucai was truly shocked - wasn't it just reciting geography? Did they have to lock him up?

  Yu Xi's classmate was startled and just lifted her head to find a man in his 40s sitting on the leather armchair behind the large office desk, with a square face, deep contours, and a tired expression.

  "What's wrong?"

  Yu Cai nodded, "Who are you?"

  "My surname is Shi."

  Yu Cai took two steps forward and stretched out her hand, "Mr. Shi, hello."

  The man slightly inclined his body, stretched out his hand to hold Yucai's hand, but did not stand up. "Hello, sit down."

  Yu Cai stepped back two steps and sat down on the sofa opposite him, "May I ask, Mr. Shi, what brings you to find me?"

  The man rubbed his temples and said, "I heard that you've been tutoring a boy since the first year of high school, and he's made great progress?"

  "Uh, it's not very big, slightly better than before."

  "Don't know if you're willing to take on another student like this?"

  Yu Cai Zheng was about to refuse, but the other person cut him off, "You don't have to rush to refuse, Cheng Yu studies well and doesn't need you to worry, he—"

  The man rubbed his temples again, "It's like this, Cheng Yu sometimes has extreme thoughts, and he was hit hard this time. I had no choice but to send him here. I'll let Teacher Wang arrange for him to sit with you, you don't need to do anything on purpose, just lend a hand when he needs it, and your salary will be tripled."

  Yu Cai was stunned, what's going on?

  "Mr. Shi," Yu Cai smoothed out her hair and gathered her thoughts, "Your words are extremely vague, making the boundaries of my responsibilities even more unclear. I'm afraid it's going to be very difficult for me to take on this task."

  The man sighed, "I know, I'm also really helpless, otherwise I wouldn't have asked you, a little girl. Teachers Wang and Mei have high praise for you. You just need to follow your own heart and do things as you see fit. Whether or not you're up to the task doesn't matter. As long as you agree to be Cheng Yu's deskmate, that's all that matters."

  Yu Cai hesitated, then spoke sincerely, "Mr. Shi, please forgive me. You also know that at our age, there are many misunderstandings between boys and girls. One careless move could lead to countless rumors and gossip, which would greatly affect my studies and mood."

  "You didn't have problems with your previous students either?"

  "A Xi is my younger male cousin."

  "Little girl, this way you can still deceive those high school students."

  Yu Cai was startled, and immediately calmed down. "Since you know, I don't need to hide it either. I originally pretended to be Ah Shi's cousin to avoid gossip. If there is now another cousin, it will be difficult for people to believe."

  The man chuckled softly, and the fine lines at the corners of his eyes added an inexplicable flavor to his slightly pale face. Yu Cai unconsciously straightened her already straight back, and what flashed through her mind was the scene of Qi Shu Fan smiling at Xiao Xiao after doing something wrong.

  "It's been many years since anyone dared to lie straight-faced in front of me."

  Yu Cai's expression didn't change, "What I said is fact."

  "Lying also includes concealment. Little girl, you shouldn't be so blunt in refusing like you're not short of money like a year ago, right?"

  Yu Cai forced herself to calm down, "Even if it is, so what? My main task now is to study, I don't want to spend my mind on other things."

  "You shouldn't be short of that 700 yuan for this month's rent either, right?"

  "That's my business."

  The man suddenly changed his overbearing attitude, lazily leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. "Little girl, I have the ability to arrange for you and Cheng Yu to sit at the same table without asking for your opinion, and I've made some observations about your character. Even if I didn't pay you a salary, if Cheng Yu were in trouble, you would definitely lend a hand. Cheng Yu is a very good kid, and after spending more time together, you'll definitely come to like him as much as you like Qi Rui. As for why I'm here today...I just hope you can be a bit more proactive. Cheng Yu has been very unstable lately, and I'm worried about him."

  "So you're saying that either I obediently take your money and work for you, or I'm moved by your charming personality and work for you for free?"

  The man laughed again in a low voice, this time with obvious pleasure. "I haven't seen such an interesting little girl like you for many years. Believe me, you will get along very well with Cheng Yu."

  Yu Cai's many years of good girl image almost failed, "Mr. Shi, let's discuss the conditions again, I only need to be Cheng Yu's deskmate, lend him a hand when possible, and you won't hold me responsible whether I succeed or not, as long as I sit responsibly by his side during class, right?"

  "Yes, Teacher Mei is right, you have a very sharp tongue."

  Yu Cai took a deep breath, alright, she was magnanimous and wouldn't bother with someone who wasn't clear-headed. "A Shi pays me 1,400 yuan per month, times three is 4,200, since we've met it's fate, I'll just count it as 4,000 for you."

  "You're too polite, little girl. I'm older than you by a few years, how can I take advantage of you? Five thousand per month is fine. This card was opened in your name, and on the 18th of every month, money will be deposited into it on time. Take good care of it."

  Yu Cai almost failed again, okay, someone had already dug a pit for her to jump into, and even the card was ready.

  Yu Yu, still feeling depressed, lost interest in gossiping after leaving the office and vented his frustration on the flowers and grass on the playground. He didn't return to class until it was almost time for lessons to start.

  The first class was Mr. Wang's politics class, and he was followed by a tall and thin boy. As soon as they entered the classroom, the students started chattering and discussing. Li Yueting's eyes turned red with excitement, and she called out repeatedly, "Yu Cai, quick look, so handsome!"

  Yu Cai never dared to be careless about La Fen's political history, and was reviewing the notes from the previous lesson. Upon hearing this, she looked up and saw that he was indeed quite handsome, with a sharp jawline and bright eyes, although his pale complexion made him look almost sickly. However, compared to the two handsome brothers of the Qi family, he couldn't hold a candle. She nodded perfunctorily, "He's pretty good-looking."

  Li Yueting gave her a glance, "I know your younger cousin is handsome, but you don't have to look down on all the other handsome guys either?"

  What else can Yu Cai say?

  Teacher Wang smiled all over his face, "Classmates, this is Shi Chengyu. From now on, he will be a classmate with everyone. Li Yuetian, you sit in the middle."

  Li Yuetin didn't understand, but she listened and sat down in the empty seat in the middle. Yu Cai looked at the empty seat on her left and felt a chill run down her spine. Oh God, what's even more terrifying than having a male deskmate is having a handsome deskmate!!!

  "Shi Chengyu, you sit next to Yu Cai. Yu Cai, Shi Chengyu just arrived and needs help adapting to the new environment quickly."

  When Mr. Wang finished speaking, the classroom was in an uproar. The table where Yu Cai sat was at the north end of the classroom, with two people per table, unlike the three tables connected in the middle. In a strict sense, all six people could be considered as sitting at the same table. This phenomenon of one boy and one girl sitting at the same table had almost never happened before.

  Yucai's classmates were shocked and when they came back to their senses, everything had settled down. Teacher Wang had already started lecturing diligently, and the students began to listen attentively to the lesson. Although it was unavoidable that some of them would sneak a peek at Yucai and the new student, Yucai burst into tears. Why did she have such a bitter fate? She had just escaped being seated next to a beauty, only to be thrown together with a handsome guy now?

  The next class, a handsome male classmate appeared, and the high school students who were excited about gossiping had unprecedented enthusiasm to hold onto Yu Cai, either admiring or teasing her good fortune. Yu Cai looked at a certain classmate whose icy face was not inferior to Qi Xie's, and finally had the self-awareness of a transmigrated female pig. It is said that wherever the transmigrated female pig exists, there must be a multitude of beautiful men, and Yu Cai was indeed the legendary pig's foot ah!

  It turns out that sitting at the same table as a handsome guy is more stressful than sitting with a beautiful girl. Shi Chengyu, from the very beginning, emerged with an extremely high-profile image, attracting attention from countless people. Yu Cai, as a green leaf, also benefited from the situation and wherever she went, there were people pointing and whispering. Gu Yueyue, that gossip girl, didn't even need to be mentioned. Even Yang Jun came specifically to take a look and patted her shoulder, envying her good fortune. Yu Cai was so angry that she almost destroyed him on the spot.

  And Shi Chengyu's personal style of doing things has obviously added countless seasonings that make people talk about it, such as so far, no one has ever heard Shi say a word, such as his homework book that will never appear, and the young and beautiful woman who picks him up...

  When everyone was talking and gossiping, Yu Cai finally confirmed one thing - she had gloriously upgraded to being a "mother" again. Shi classmate didn't know whether he was mute or cool to the point of not speaking, and he wouldn't even lift a finger, his backpack was probably packed by someone else, bringing it to school was just for show, he would never take out books or pens, of course, whether he took them out or not had nothing to do with her, but the problem was that Yu Cai had many years of teaching experience, every time she saw that empty desk, she couldn't bear to let the teacher be insulted, so she could only resign herself to helping him take out books and turn pages, what a bitter fate.

  But a group of enthusiastic boys and girls, after countless defeats, finally understood that Shi Tong was an unbreakable diamond, and they shifted their target to Yu Cai. Well, it seems that good fortune is not so easy to come by.