Chapter 20: Catching the Genius

Jiang Mingzhi returned to class for evening self-study. Guan Jingxu was lying on his desk, taking a short nap, half of his face pressed into his hand, creating a cute shape, with his fan-like lashes casting a shadow.

What a beautiful young man.

Without any warning, Guan Jingxu opened his eyes, and their gazes met.

His eyebrows and eyes were exceptionally good-looking, with shallow double eyelids and slightly upturned corners at the ends of his eyes. He looked a bit dazed from just waking up, like a small animal that had never seen a human in the forest. After a few moments, his eyes cleared, and there was a cold, distant look in them, as if warning others to stay away.

Jiang Mingzhi smiled and asked, “Want a couple of mint candies to wake up?”

“Mm.” His voice had a hint of hoarseness, which, if you listened closely, sounded a bit sensual.

Jiang Mingzhi took out a small aluminum mint tin from her desk and opened it, pouring the mints into his palm.

It was hard to control the amount, and five candies spilled out.

“Too many.”

“It’s fine, I’ll eat two,” she said, and, with that, Jiang Mingzhi picked two mints from his palm and popped them into her mouth.

Guan Jingxu tilted his head back and popped the remaining three mints into his mouth. The spot on his palm where Jiang Mingzhi’s fingers had brushed against it felt a bit itchy, almost as if the sensation could reach into his heart.

Jiang Mingzhi moved the candy to the side of her mouth with her tongue and asked, “I joined the broadcasting station today, and I saw you’re in that group too.”

Guan Jingxu looked confused. “What group?”

Since Jiang Mingzhi hadn’t locked her phone and it wasn’t in the charging cabinet, she opened the WeChat group chat called “Nine Yellow Orioles Singing Among Green Willows” and held the screen up to Guan Jingxu. “This group.”

Under the black cat avatar in the group, there was a note with Guan Jingxu’s name.

His name was so rare that it seemed unlikely there would be another Guan Jingxu in the school.

Guan Jingxu looked at the unfamiliar group name and fell into deep thought.

He really hadn’t joined any broadcasting station.

“I think it was during the first-year school sports meet when I temporarily helped read some scripts for half a day.”

The school sports meet encouraged students to submit their work, and excellent submissions would be read out on the broadcast. When someone from the broadcasting station caught a cold and lost their voice, coincidentally, Liao Jinyi and Guan Jingxu were in the same class. To avoid being dragged into doing hard work, he agreed to help her out for half a day.

As evening study time began, the English teacher arrived in class to distribute the test papers.

The white test papers fluttered down onto the students’ desks like snowflakes. After seeing their scores, some students smiled, while others had worried expressions.

Jiang Mingzhi looked at the 142 points marked in red on her paper and pursed her lips.

It was about what she had expected.

The following day, papers from various subjects were handed out one after another, and everyone began calculating their total score, hoping not to miss any points.

Jiang Mingzhi looked at her math test paper, which seemed enormous.

Her total score placed her 14th in the class, an improvement of 11 spots from the last monthly test, thanks to a boost from English. But her math score was really holding her back.

For subjects like history and language, if she didn’t know something, she could memorize it, but math—if you didn’t get it, you simply didn’t get it.

Her deskmate, Meng Yuanyuan, like her, was a bit weak in certain subjects, especially math and physics.

After the teacher went over the test, Jiang Mingzhi realized that she was the example of what not to do—whether it was a simple mistake or a complex error, she had made both.

When the bell rang for the end of the class, Jiang Mingzhi gently nudged her elbow against Meng Yuanyuan’s. “This weekend, let’s go to the bookstore and buy some study aids.”

Meng Yuanyuan instinctively bit the end of her pen. “Sure, but I have tutoring in the morning and afternoon, so I won’t be free until after 4.”

“No problem,” Jiang Mingzhi replied, turning her body to knock on Guan Jingxu’s desk. “Genius, are you free at 4 this weekend?”

Guan Jingxu ranked first in math in the class and, if things went as expected, was among the top in the grade as well.

It was simply inconceivable to not make use of such a brilliant math genius.

Guan Jingxu raised his eyes, his gaze questioning as it met hers.

“I wanted to ask you to recommend a few study materials. The ones you suggested last time were really good,” Jiang Mingzhi said.

She blinked, her tone a bit pitiful, “Derivatives are so hard, and then there’s that probability and statistics. The problems alone are enough to drive me in circles.”

As she spoke, she patted Meng Yuanyuan’s arm, seeking agreement. “Right, Yuanyuan?”

Spending every day with a bunch of high school students, even though Jiang Mingzhi was a twenty-something soul, she had slowly adapted to this identity and found herself talking more than before.

Meng Yuanyuan nodded. “And derivatives, they’re really hard too.”

This was Jiang Mingzhi’s first time asking a boy out on the weekend. Although the reason was legitimate—buying study materials—she was still worried he might refuse, so she quickly added, “You can bring Zhuang Heyang along if you want.”

“Sure,” Guan Jingxu said, twirling the black pen in his fingers.

Jiang Mingzhi smiled brightly, and the three of them agreed on a meeting place.

---

The much-anticipated Friday finally arrived. Even though the sky was overcast, Jiang Mingzhi’s mood remained unaffected.

Before she left, the housekeeper, Sister Fang, had handed both her and Pei Jinyang an umbrella, as the weather seemed to be on the verge of rain. Jiang Mingzhi placed the umbrella in her bag.

The rain that seemed to be holding back finally started pouring around 3 p.m.

Accompanied by thunder, the sky darkened as if it were already night. The classroom lights were on, pushing back some of the gloom.

The large raindrops hammered against the ground, and a boy in the class shouted, “Ah, I didn’t bring an umbrella!”

“Are you trying to scare me to death? I thought the thunder made you transform into something else!”

“I didn’t bring an umbrella either. Looks like I’ll have to call my dad to pick me up.”

“Maybe it’ll stop by the time school ends.”

But the weather didn’t cooperate. By the time the school bell rang, the rain was still drizzling outside, and through the thick curtain of rain, the view was barely five meters.

Jiang Mingzhi packed her bag and noticed that Guan Jingxu was still working on his problems. She asked, puzzled, “Why aren’t you leaving yet?”

Guan Jingxu looked up and softly replied, “I didn’t bring an umbrella.”

Jiang Mingzhi glanced at the umbrella in her hand. “How about you borrow mine?”

Guan Jingxu’s home was about a ten-minute walk from the school, and he usually walked back.

“We can share the umbrella until we get to the school gate. Once I get in the car, you can take it and walk home.”

Guan Jingxu hesitated, as he could see that Jiang Mingzhi’s umbrella wasn’t very large. If they both used it, it might be a bit of a struggle.

Zhuang Heyang swaggered over, patting Guan Jingxu’s shoulder. “I’ve got an umbrella. If you call me ‘Dad,’ I might consider taking a longer route and giving you a ride home.”

Guan Jingxu smiled. “If you want to die, just say it.”

Zhuang Heyang laughed, clearly in a playful mood. “I want to live.”

Jiang Mingzhi shook the umbrella and said to both of them, “Let’s all leave the school gate together, then you can each have your own umbrella.”

Once outside the teaching building, Jiang Mingzhi and Guan Jingxu walked side by side, the boy holding the umbrella and tilting it slightly toward her side.

Her arm brushed against his faintly, and she could feel the fabric of their clothes rubbing together every now and then. The tip of her nose was filled with a mix of the cold rain and the warm scent of his body, which was unexpectedly refreshing.

Jiang Mingzhi’s baby blue DEX shoes splashed against the shallow puddles, creating ripples.

Behind them, Wei Daiqing watched the scene with clenched fists.

Ever since Jiang Mingzhi, the transfer student, arrived, the relationship between her and Guan Jingxu had grown increasingly distant.

Meanwhile, Jiang Mingzhi kept finding ways to get closer to Guan Jingxu, using study as an excuse, but in reality, she had other plans.