Chapter Thirty-Four

  The mid-term exam is approaching, Yu Cai decided to take the exam seriously and leave a good impression on the head teacher. In case of any special situation in the future, he can also give himself some leeway, so he worked hard for half a month, especially on the politics taught by the head teacher.

  Yu Cai Ping's foundation was not bad, and with the advantage of having ten more years of experience and knowledge, she indeed made a good start in the mid-term exam. Except for mathematics being just average, all other subjects were top-notch, bilingualism aside, geography almost full marks, politics unexpectedly got first place, history also did well, averaging out to seventh place in the class, even Yu Cai Ping herself was surprised.

  Call home and let your parents be happy for a while, so they can buy more food to nourish their brains well, don't let too many brain cells die, or you won't get good grades next time.

  Yucai's new head teacher had naturally heard of Yucai, the bilingual genius who made Lao Mei both love and hate her, but she didn't expect that Yucai would do so well in other subjects too. Without being held back by science and math, she directly rose from the bottom to the top, and was lavishly praised by the head teacher, who awarded her a Best Progress Award.

  Yu Cai now felt a little regretful, this time the exam results were too good, next time if she didn't get such good grades, she would inevitably be scolded by a group of people, it would have been better to maintain a slow and steady progress image, which would be more beneficial to her "good student" image in the teacher's mind.

  Yu Cai was not in the mood, and He Qi's classmate was also not feeling well. He was one of those students with great talent, almost without studying, he could maintain a good grade, but this good was not the best, so he always hovered around tenth place in the class. This time, he still performed normally, scoring eleventh place, which was already quite good, but compared to Yu Cai, it wasn't enough...

  Yu Cai and He Qi were both lost in thought when Ji Shu, who had just returned to the county town that morning, woke up from his sleep and was chatting with Lao Mei on the phone.

  Lao Mei carefully told him about the situation with Qi Shi, especially mentioning that Qi Shi's language this time was surprisingly qualified, because he never wanted to write compositions, but this time he condescended to write one.

  Qī shū fán de dì yī fǎn yìng jiù shì Yù Cǎi de gōng láo, shì shí shàng, zhè yě dí què shì Yù Cǎi de gōng láo, Yù Cǎi ǒu ěr tīng shuō Qī shì zhī kǎo shì dū huì zuò de jiù zuò zuò, bù huì zuò de jiù jué bù miǎn qiáng, yībān yī gè xiǎo shí zuǒ yuē jiù chū kǎo chǎng, hěn shì jīng yà, bié de yě suàn le, yǔ wén kě shì yào xiě zuò wén de, zěn me ne yī gè xiǎo shí shí jiān yě bù gòu ā!

  Yu Zai, adhering to the principle of being faithful to his duties, ran to ask Qi Shi Zhi and got a reply that he didn't want to write an essay as it was tiring. Yu Zai was shocked and repeatedly reminded Qi Shi Zhi before the exam to make sure he would write the essay. Qi Shi Zhi hesitated for a moment, probably thinking that writing the essay would only be tiring for a short while, and then nodded in agreement.

  Qǐ shì zhī zhè qiānɡ qiān yī diǎn tóu, què ràng yī zhí jiāng yù cǎi kàn zuò jiù mìnɡ liǎo de qǐ shū fán lì jí jiāng yù cǎi shēnɡ dào fú mù de dì wèi, guà le lǎo méi de diànhuà hòu, jiǎ zhe diǎn gěi hé qí dǎ le ɡe diànhuà, dànɡ rán hé qí zuò wéi jiān shū zǐ dì de dài biǎo, shǒu jī shì bì bèi de.

  After exchanging a few pleasantries, he handed the phone to Yu Cai. Seeing that Qi Shu Fan was serious, she readily agreed. After school, she followed Qi Shi Zhen and Xia Yunyun to the old camp with Qi Shu Fan.

  Yu Cai had been thinking about Qi Shu Fan's gift of hair accessories, and when she saw him, she felt especially close to him. She immediately ran up to give him a big hug and exclaimed, "Dear uncle, you must treat me to a good meal today! Your last gift made me cry for an entire afternoon, and my eyes are still swollen now!"

  What did he do that was so special when all his passionate efforts were thwarted and he was at a loss?

  "What's the gift that He Qi Xia Yun Yun is asking about?" Yu Cai pointed to the crystal hairpin on her head, "It's this one, isn't it pretty? Dear uncle, please forgive me. Although I want to treasure and collect it carefully, I'd rather wear it out to show off and make everyone envy me."

  Qibook patted Yucai's shoulder and a smile floated onto his face.

  He Qi looked at it for a while and didn't find anything special, but Xia Yunyun was full of envy and praise.

  Yu Cai was even more pleased, and handed one to Xia Yunyun, "Look, this one has a small 'cai' character on it, and there's a 'yu' character on the side".

  Xia Yunyao immediately pouted and said, "Qiu uncle, you're being biased!"

  "Alright, next time also help our Yunyun make one, okay?"

  Xia Yun was satisfied, and after a few people finished eating, He Qi suggested going to the game hall to relax. Xia Yun initially disagreed, but couldn't withstand He Qi's persuasion, who also brought up Yu Zai's excellent performance last time as a comparison, and finally nodded in agreement.

  He Qi dragged Yu Xuan to play the dance mat as soon as they entered the game hall, choosing a song that was even faster than the one Yu Xuan and Qi Shi played last time. After Yu Xuan barely finished dancing, she leaned against the machine, almost panting to death. As a result, He Qi started attacking her again.

  Xia Yunyun saw Yu Zai's good performance and also let go, pulling Qi Shi to play, He Qi changed a slow song for them.

  Yu Cai caught her breath and came to Qi Shu's side, "Aren't you going to play?"

  Qī shū fán jǔ jǔ jiān, yù cǎi lā zhe tā de xiù zǐ, "péi wǒ qù wán dǎ dì shǔ ba, wǒ jué de nà ge zuì yǒu yì si le".

  Translation:

  Qishu Fan shrugged his shoulders, Yu Cai pulled on his sleeve, "Accompany me to play Whac-A-Mole, I think that's the most interesting one".

  After playing whack-a-mole, Yu Cai was really exhausted and leaned on the recliner to rest, not wanting to get up again. Qi Shu Fan frowned, "Xiao Cai, your physical condition is too poor".

  Yu Cai clutched at her heart with a pained expression, "It's not a physical problem, it's my fragile heart!"

  Qishu sat down beside her, smiling brightly at her.

  "By the way, what's wrong with Ji Shi?"

  "Hmm, it seems this time I passed the composition, language and literature exam."

  Yu Cai naturally knew this and raised an eyebrow, asking, "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

  "Shi Zhi——" Qi Shu paused for a moment, "Xiao Cai, I've been thinking, since Shi Zhi is willing to listen and learn from you, why don't you teach him some other things as well."

  Yu Cai looked at him in surprise, "You must be mistaken, he's willing to write an essay, I reckon it's because he saw my face, and also because I've been nagging him every other day. Alas, his mother is a stubborn one, she won't let me help with the household chores, saying that I'm too old and frail. But I'm not one to be trifled with, I'll get it done eventually."

  Qishu Fan naturally thought of these, and sighed with a bitter smile, "I have no way to deal with him, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered you three times. Why don't you try, whether it's effective or not, I won't force the issue".

  "But if Jixi thinks I'm being too pushy, not knowing when to stop, and taking myself too seriously, then he won't even listen to my Chinese or English, and might even start disliking me - what can I do?"

  Ji Shu never thought that Yu Zai would change his mind one day due to intentional or unintentional psychological suggestions, so he didn't think about the problem at all. He hadn't even considered that Yu Zai might dislike Yu Cai. When he heard what Yu Cai said, he was stunned.

  Yu Cai saw him deep in thought and didn't speak up either, just raised his head to stare blankly at the ceiling.

  After a long time, Qi Shu Fan sighed and said, "Forget it, I was too impatient, let's just leave it like this for now".

  Yu Cai comforted him, "You don't have to worry too much about this, I'll take care of it."

  "I'm counting on you."

  Yu Cai saw that he was still a bit down, so she stood up and said, "Dear uncle, why don't we go ask He Qi to teach us how to play games? We're both beginners, it's just right for us to partner up."

  When several people left the game hall, it was already after 10 o'clock. Ji Shu Fan as usual invited Yu Cai to his home.

  Yu Cai resolutely refused, seeing Qi Shu still wanting to say something, hastily explained, "My younger brother was admitted to No. 1 Middle School this year and now lives with me. If I don't go back, he will worry."

  "Why don't you bring your little brother along to play at my place too, it'll be more fun with more companions."

  Yu Cai lowered her voice, "My brother is unstable and likes to have fun. If he plays like this once or twice, it will be hard for him to calm down and focus on studying later. I think that if someone can be like He Qi Xiaoyu, who can play wildly and then immediately calm down and study, it's either because they are naturally stable and diligent, or because they had good family education from a young age and have already gotten used to this kind of situation."

  Qishu looked at her with a serious little face, "Okay, next time we'll go again".

  Yu Cai stuck out her tongue, "I didn't realize it myself, but after going through so much with you, I can still maintain my excellent quality of being pure and hardworking, amazing!"

  Yu Cai was joking, but Ji Shu suddenly felt a chill in her heart. What Yu Cai said wasn't wrong; although it seemed like she had done everything for Yu Cai's benefit, and she had always emphasized that herself, from another perspective, wasn't it also a kind of... A poor rural girl who suddenly saw this group of people with good family backgrounds and good looks, all trying to win her over in every way possible - how many could resist?

  After getting used to luxury, how should she deal with herself in an ordinary and dull life...

  She had always only considered her positive influence on him, but never thought that she would be negatively affected by it. In the end, she was selfish.

  "Xiao Cai, I'm sorry."

  Qī shū fán tū rán zhèng zhòng dào qiàn dà chū yù cǎi yì liào, lèngle lèng fāng dào, "è, wǒ gāngcái shuō xiào de".

  Whenever he opened his mouth to speak, he ultimately remained silent.