The next day, the results of the monthly exam were out. Su Yanxi undoubtedly ranked first in the class and the entire grade, only losing four points in the language composition.
On the other hand, Mu Qi, who was sitting next to her, didn’t have as many points as Su Yanxi.
Hu Ying, whose score was similar to Mu Qi’s, exchanged surprised glances with her.
Su Yanxi took Mu Qi’s test paper and carefully went through it from top to bottom. Then she looked at her seriously and said, “Mu Qi, starting from tomorrow, I will give you extra tutoring.”
“No,” Mu Qi declined as she took back her test paper.
At this moment, Hu Ying grabbed her own test paper and left.
Su Yanxi glanced at her, then shifted her gaze back to Mu Qi. She reached out and tugged at Mu Qi’s sleeve.
This act of coquetry startled Mu Qi, who looked at her in astonishment.
Su Yanxi’s face blushed slightly, but in order to help Mu Qi with her studies, she endured it, bit her lip, and said, “With this score, you might fail the college entrance exam. Don’t you want to attend the same university as me?”
Mu Qi looked at her seriously and then shook her head.
Seeing this, Su Yanxi’s eyes instantly became moist. Before Mu Qi could react, tears began to fall.
Mu Qi: “… What’s happening again?”
Su Yanxi was genuinely crying this time. She had been looking for the other girl for so many years, never expecting that she wouldn’t remember her and, moreover, wouldn’t want to attend the same university. This was truly heartbreaking for her.
Mu Qi suddenly felt at a loss, hastily comforting her, “I’ll attend the same university, okay? I’ll catch up.”
Mu Qi couldn’t comprehend why this girl was so persistent. However, at the same time, she felt that the girl genuinely cared about her, especially during the time she had a fever. On that occasion, the girl cried, and Mu Qi thought it was to persuade her to go to the hospital. However, upon reflection, she realized that the girl’s eyes were filled with genuine concern.
So, she figured that the girl’s determination that time must have been moved by the worry in her eyes.
Thinking about this, Mu Qi sighed and felt a warm current in her heart.
When the girl mentioned going to the same university together, Mu Qi did feel a flutter in her heart, but thinking about her parents, she fell silent again.
Now, she was conflicted, unsure whether to continue insisting on her initial thoughts.
“Really?” Su Yanxi looked at her with red eyes, still sniffling a bit from the earlier crying.
Mu Qi touched her forehead and nodded, affirming her decision.
Su Yanxi immediately smiled through her tears, and there was still some moisture on her face. Mu Qi couldn’t help but flick her nose and teased, “Crying and laughing like a little fool.”
Back at their seats, Hu Ying had been paying attention to them. At this moment, she was somewhat speechless.
Seventh Brother’s flirting skills were top-notch. He made the cutie cry but with just a few words, he made her laugh again. Why hadn’t she noticed before how good Seventh Brother was at teasing?
In the evening, after school, Hu Ying took advantage of Su Yanxi’s inattention and couldn’t help asking Mu Qi beside her, “Seventh Brother, what did the cutie say today? Did you make her cry?”
Mu Qi didn’t respond to her question but instead looked at Su Yanxi’s figure, lost in thought. After a while, she turned to Hu Ying, lowered her voice, and asked, “Do you think intentionally performing poorly in exams to attract parents’ attention is childish?”
Hu Ying was a bit puzzled, not understanding what Seventh Brother was talking about. After pondering the statement for a few moments, she couldn’t believe it and asked, “Seventh Brother, you’re not talking about yourself, are you?”
Mu Qi glanced at her and then caught up with Su Yanxi’s footsteps.
Watching Mu Qi’s departing figure, Hu Ying scratched her head, unsure about the situation.
Mu Qi wasn’t seeking an answer from Hu Ying with that question. Instead, she was self-reflecting. At this moment, she had a moment of clarity. In two months, she would turn 18, entering the realm of adulthood. Repeating the actions of two years ago would indeed be too immature.
Seeing the smile on Mu Qi’s face, Su Yanxi tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Mu Qi, did something happy happen?”
Mu Qi patted her head and smiled without saying anything.
Because she had come to terms with something, Mu Qi, returning to her seemingly cold home, no longer felt lonely. Her mood was even quite good. She enjoyed a delicious late-night snack, had sweet dreams when sleeping, and woke up feeling refreshed.
The next day, when Su Yanxi and Hu Ying saw Mu Qi, they felt that something had changed about her.
Hu Ying, uncertain, glanced at Mu Qi and asked, “Seventh Brother, did you find money at the door early this morning? Why are you so happy?”
Mu Qi laughed and said, “Yes, let’s go. I’ll treat you to breakfast.”
Seeing this side of Mu Qi, Su Yanxi’s lips also curved into a smile. She grabbed Mu Qi’s hand and cheerfully declared, “Great! I want two big meat buns!”
Hu Ying also chimed in, “I want five!”
Mu Qi playfully patted the back of her head and scolded, “You’ll eat yourself to death!”
As the three walked into the classroom together, the other students noticed that Mu Qi seemed different today.
Usually, Mu Qi always wore a serious expression, as if someone owed her money. But today, she seemed to be beaming with happiness.
Undeniably, regardless of the type of Mu Qi, she somehow attracted people’s attention.
However, these students had been ingrained with the idea that grades determined everything. No matter how beautiful someone was, without good grades, they wouldn’t have a good job in the future.
Because Mu Qi had agreed to tutoring, during self-study, Su Yanxi had her work on assignments. After completing them, Su Yanxi would check her work and then teach her the corrections.
Sitting in front of Mu Qi were two female classmates who wouldn’t usually turn around to talk to them. Of course, sometimes they had to turn around to ask Su Yanxi questions.
Now, they unexpectedly heard that Su Yanxi was helping Mu Qi with tutoring. The two girls glanced at each other, both expressing surprise.
After all, Seventh Brother’s reputation was well-known, and everyone was familiar with him. His grades had always been at the bottom since the first year, and his grades from middle school were so poor that he couldn’t even meet the school’s admission requirements for high school.
Later, people said Mu Qi’s father bought his way in with money.
However, nobody had actually witnessed it, so this piece of gossip was only circulated quietly.
The crucial point was this guy who loved to fight, skipped classes and slept during lessons, and never took anything seriously, not even assignments.
Since the transfer student Su Yanxi came, Seventh Brother had been copied assignments every day.
But now, judging by the sounds from behind, was this Seventh Brother actually studying seriously?
The two girls surreptitiously turned their heads and saw that Mu Qi was indeed diligently working on her assignments. Without asking Su Yanxi next to her, her serious demeanor left the two female students somewhat stunned.
Su Yanxi noticed Mu Qi being scrutinized and immediately lifted her head. She squeezed her way towards Mu Qi and asked the two girls, “Do you have a problem?”
The two girls immediately shook their heads, turned away, and dared not look again.
Due to Su Yanxi’s sudden squeeze against the wall, Mu Qi raised an eyebrow. The critical girl’s entire body leaned against her, a position that made Mu Qi a bit uneasy, causing her ears to turn slightly red. Finally, she cleared her throat, poking the girl’s shoulder with her finger.
Su Yanxi then regained her senses, shifted to the side, her face also slightly flushed. She took out the exercise book and said, “Let’s get to work.”
Mu Qi’s lips curved slightly. Without teasing the girl further, she nodded and said ‘okay,’ continuing to focus on her work with a pen in hand.
However, the scene from just now lingered in Mu Qi’s mind. Sometimes, she found herself involuntarily glancing at Su Yanxi beside her.
The earnest girl was very beautiful and cute, with long and curled eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. It stirred something in Mu Qi’s heart.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yanxi noticed Mu Qi zoning out and waved her hand in front of her.
Mu Qi snapped back to reality and smiled at the puzzled look from the girl. “I’ve finished.”
Surprised at how quickly Mu Qi completed the task, Su Yanxi took her exercise book and, within three minutes, furrowed her brows and pouted, looking at Mu Qi.
“What’s wrong?” Mu Qi felt a bit guilty at Su Yanxi’s expression.
“Out of ten questions, you got eight wrong,” Su Yanxi continued to pout.
Mu Qi cleared her throat, took back the exercise book, glanced at it, thought everything was correct, but facing the girl’s annoyed expression, she touched her nose and chuckled. “Not bad, got two right.”
Seeing Mu Qi’s expression, Su Yanxi wanted to laugh but held it in, finally bursting into laughter. At the same time, she poked Mu Qi’s cheek with her finger, making a ‘pop’ sound, a childish act.
Due to this action, Su Yanxi couldn’t hold back her laughter, and she poked Mu Qi’s face with her finger too, also accompanied by a ‘pop’ sound.
Not far away, a pair of resentful eyes were watching the two of them.
Since a while ago, Hu Ying had been observing them. Watching them playfully poking each other’s faces was one thing, but they even added sound effects, especially Seventh Brother. The childish appearance of the two made her shiver involuntarily. She rubbed her shoulders, retracted her gaze with a ‘hey,’ deciding not to look anymore, afraid of being influenced.
Night self-study quickly passed, and the time that Mu Qi usually treated as a nap became a time for doing homework. When it was time to leave school, she felt relaxed and walked with a light step.
Hu Ying, carrying her school bag, looked at Mu Qi, who had both hands empty, and couldn’t help but ask, “Seventh Brother, where’s your school bag?”
“If the homework is done, why carry a school bag?” Mu Qi glanced at her.
Hu Ying: “…” She wanted to beat Seventh Brother.
“Then why do you usually bring a school bag home? You never do homework the next day.” Hu Ying said.
Mu Qi halted and nonchalantly said, “Just for show.”
Hu Ying: “…” She didn’t want to talk to Seventh Brother for now.
The tutoring continued for several days, not only surprising the two girls in the front row but also becoming known to the whole class.
Although most people found it novel, some were secretly watching the show.
With the final exams approaching, considering Mu Qi’s usual bottom-ranking grades, many couldn’t believe that she could improve so quickly in such a short time.
Mu Qi paid no attention to the reactions of others, doing whatever she normally did.
Hearing the whispers behind her, Su Yanxi felt a bit displeased. She silently thought, “Wait until my family’s Mu Qi gets good grades. I’ll scare you all. Let’s see if your faces turn red then.”