Zheng Xunqian was more patient than expected.

Jing Tian had a poor foundation and relied on self-study to grasp only half-knowledge. He didn’t want to lose face in front of Zheng Xunqian, so he stubbornly tried to figure out the problems without asking for help. As a result, the solutions ended up being all over the place and chaotic.

He had anticipated being mocked a few times, had already braced himself for it, but Zheng Xunqian remained remarkably calm throughout. He explained without much emotion, calmly pointing out where Jing Tian went wrong, why it was wrong, what the correct approach should be, and why it should be so. After explaining, he would let Jing Tian try again. If there were still problems, he would reiterate in a different way.

Jing Tian had expected him to be a strict teacher who enjoyed belittling others, but he turned out to be an emotionless teaching machine.

After a few times, Jing Tian was influenced by the atmosphere, and the pressure gradually dissipated. Finally, he was able to let go of unnecessary reservations, ask questions honestly, and express his doubts.

He asked, and Zheng Xunqian answered.

Jing Tian wasn’t the smartest type of student, but he had been admitted to A University based on his own abilities. With a meticulous and patient teacher explaining things to him at any time and specially selected targeted exercises, his learning efficiency was quite good, and his progress was impressive.

“They’re all correct,” Zheng Xunqian said, putting down the densely written draft paper, “You’ve written the process very systematically.”

The latter half of the sentence could be considered praise, rounded up.

Indeed, learning was something that could make people happy and give a sense of achievement.

Jing Tian bit his lip, unable to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth, feeling elated inside.

“Anything else?” He lowered his head and flipped through the list of exercises.

“Yes, but let’s leave it for today,” Zheng Xunqian said, “We’ve covered all the types of questions today. For the next few days, let’s review them daily to reinforce our memory.”

“Okay,” he nodded, then asked, “Shall we move on to the next chapter?”

Zheng Xunqian looked at him somewhat helplessly, shook his head, and said, “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Huh?” Jing Tian blinked his eyes twice, subconsciously touching his stomach.

“It’s 6:30,” Zheng Xunqian said, “I’m hungry.”

Jing Tian suddenly woke up from his trance.

They had been studying for over three hours straight, longer than class time. No wonder his head felt a little dizzy; he was actually tired.

Studying should be combined with rest to achieve better results; it was time to take a break.

“Shall we go to the cafeteria now?” Jing Tian said, adding, “I’ll treat you!”

He had said he would treat Zheng Xunqian to lunch today, and in reality, the price of a bubble tea wasn’t much different from that of a bowl of fish noodle soup. Considering the two trips, it would balance out, so it was time to treat him again.

Moreover, the experience just now was really great.

Zheng Xunqian’s logical explanations and precise expressions, easily understandable, had greatly helped him, allowing him to fully experience the joy of learning.

As long as Zheng Xunqian was willing to continue tutoring him, he would be willing to treat Zheng Xunqian to lunch every day.

“Sure,” Zheng Xunqian said, “Let’s go now, there’s not much left.”

“How about eating out?” Jing Tian suggested.

“It’s too far, I don’t want to walk,” Zheng Xunqian said, then got up again and walked to the corner of the dormitory, squatting down, “What about this? Do you want to eat this?”

Not far from the box of oolong tea, there was also a box of instant noodles.

“There are six different flavors,” Zheng Xunqian said.

This person occasionally did things completely incompatible with his image and temperament, Jing Tian marveled.

“No, only five left,” Zheng Xunqian said, looking down, “Come over and pick.”

Suppressing a smile, Jing Tian walked over, crouched down beside him, and picked out a box of shrimp and fish-flavored noodles from the box.

Soon, the air in the dormitory was filled with the smell of shrimp and fish-flavored noodles mixed with spicy beef.

The two of them ate silently, each holding a bowl of noodles.

Without saying anything, the atmosphere seemed a bit awkward.

But Jing Tian couldn’t think of a topic.

It was better during studying; everything felt so natural and comfortable then.

Perhaps Zheng Xunqian was very suitable as a teacher.

With his level of guidance, if he worked as a part-time tutor, he would surely be very popular, right?

After seriously thinking about it, Jing Tian suddenly became worried again.

Perhaps some kids would be intimidated by his presence and become nervous, unable to concentrate. If the student was a girl, she might be blinded by his appearance and be unable to focus.

Imagine a middle or high school girl in the midst of her first love, sitting next to an opposite-sex tutor who is tall, handsome, and slightly older, with his gentle and pleasant voice, even the fingers tapping on the paper are long and beautiful—how could she not be swayed?

“What are you smiling about?” Zheng Xunqian suddenly spoke.

Jing Tian was startled, anxiously lifted his head, glanced at him, then immediately lowered it again. “Nothing.”

After saying that, he picked up his bowl and drank a big mouthful of soup.

“You’ll get bloated drinking like that at night,” Zheng Xunqian reminded him.

Jing Tian put down the bowl, nodded blankly, “Oh!”

“My roommate will be back soon,” Zheng Xunqian said, “It’s going to be noisy, and it might be hard to concentrate on studying.”

Jing Tian still kept his head down, staring at the soup in the bowl. “Shall we stop here for today?”

“Yeah, go back and review some more. If you have any questions, feel free to ask anytime,” Zheng Xunqian said.

Jing Tian used his fork to pick up the few remaining noodles in the bowl. “Okay, I’ll finish quickly and go back…”

“Don’t rush,” Zheng Xunqian said, “Eat slowly. There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

“What?” Jing Tian finally raised his head.

Their eyes met, and Zheng Xunqian didn’t immediately speak. Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled.

“You have been constantly staring at me,” he said.

Immediately, Jing Tian looked away.

Why would I stare at him? Does he think he’s handsome or something? he thought.

Immediately after, he asked and answered himself in his mind. Indeed, he was handsome.

He was so good-looking, and he looked even better when he smiled.

Zheng Xunqian wasn’t suitable to be a tutor; he would mislead others.

“What did you want to say?” Jing Tian asked.

“It’s not convenient to study in the dormitory,” Zheng Xunqian said. “My dorm is usually noisy, we were able to study peacefully because no one’s here today. We should find a fixed, quiet place.”

This was indeed a problem that needed to be solved.

Jing Tian’s dormitory currently only had two occupants, so the situation was a bit better. But Yang Yue was in the same class as them, and when they had free time to study together, Yang Yue was usually in the dormitory as well.

It wasn’t that he deliberately wanted to avoid him, but knowing Yang Yue’s gossipy nature, he couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable in his presence.

The self-study room or the library wasn’t very suitable either.

According to Yang Yue, the location of the school’s self-study room was very tight, and seats were often fought over. Moreover, everyone was quietly focused on their own studies, so it wasn’t suitable for verbal guidance.

The library was the same.

“Where should we go?” he muttered softly.

“Ask a teacher?” Zheng Xunqian suggested.

“Teacher Xia?” Jing Tian asked. “Can he help us?”

Zheng Xunqian nodded, “Why not give it a try?”

This was indeed a solution.

Teacher Xia was quite concerned about his learning situation and had expressed support for his determination. Perhaps he would be willing to help with a little favor.

Time was of the essence. Jing Tian picked up his phone, found Teacher Xia’s number, and began to contemplate as he looked at the screen.

“What are you staring at?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

“…wait,” Jing Tian said with a serious expression, furrowing his brows, “Let me think about what to say first.”

For someone who was introverted and not good at socializing, every voice call was a daunting challenge. It required mental preparation and pre-planned lines to put into action.

Zheng Xunqian was speechless, shook his head, and once again took Jing Tian’s phone.

“Let me do it,” he said.

After saying that, he pressed the call button.

Jing Tian felt relieved and waited obediently.

The call was quickly connected.

Jing Tian strained his ears but still couldn’t hear what the other end was saying. However, from Zheng Xunqian’s words, he could roughly guess.

“It’s me, Zheng Xunqian, Jing Tian and I are studying together…”

“Yeah, it’s going well. He’s learning very fast…”

“…No, not at all. He’s very serious and smart. Today, I tried explaining some things to him, and it went smoothly. At this rate, there shouldn’t be any difficulties by the end of the semester…”

“Yeah, there’s something we need your help with. We want to find a suitable place for studying and doing exercises…”

“…Teacher, please think about it. He’s so dedicated and focused. Now that he’s willing to learn, he just lacks a bit of the right conditions.”

Jing Tian kept his head down, staring at the bottom of the soup bowl, his cheeks flushed.

“Okay, thank you. Sure, wait a moment.”

After saying that, Zheng Xunqian returned the phone to Jing Tian, indicating that Teacher Xia wanted to talk to him.

Jing Tian quickly took it. “Hello? Teacher Xia?”

“Jing Tian,” Teacher Xia’s tone was full of incredulity, “I didn’t realize you and Zheng Xunqian were so close?”

Jing Tian didn’t respond directly, but laughed foolishly twice.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? I wouldn’t have bothered Zhang Yuewei,” Teacher Xia continued, “Regarding the venue issue, I can’t confirm it temporarily. I’ll have to go and ask. I’ll give you a reply tomorrow.”

“Okay! Thank you, teacher!” Jing Tian hurriedly replied.

“No problem, just study well. As long as you graduate smoothly, I’ll be satisfied,” Teacher Xia said.

After hanging up the phone, Jing Tian breathed a sigh of relief.

“He said he can only give us a reply tomorrow,” he told Zheng Xunqian.

“It’ll definitely work out,” Zheng Xunqian said. “He has the key to the Secondary Teaching Building’s small study room. We can use it once we apply.”

Jing Tian was stunned.

This guy had already planned it out.

“Do you remember the small study room there?” Zheng Xunqian asked.

Of course he didn’t.

Jing Tian didn’t speak or move.

He looked at Zheng Xunqian’s half-smiling face and thought to himself, could it be that he doesn’t want to tell me we’ve had dates there too?

Zheng Xunqian stared into his eyes and continued, “Forgot, huh… Well, I’ll take you to jog your memory tomorrow.”