Xia Ruan felt a dull throbbing in her forehead. She glanced up at the teacher, then quickly sent a message to Xia Fei. 

【 Brother, I’m begging you. Can you just not do anything right now? Please? 】 

Xia Fei scratched his head. Why did Ruan Ruan sound as if he had done something unforgivable? 

While he was still confused, the teacher had somehow appeared at his desk without him noticing. She held out her hand, waiting silently until he placed his phone on her palm. 

In a calm tone, she said, “Come with me to the office after class.” 

After the teacher turned and left, Xia Fei angrily glared at Lu Yan. Seriously? He couldn’t even give him a heads-up? 

“Didn’t you hear me knocking on the table just now?” Lu Yan looked at him as if saying, “I already warned you.” 

Xia Fei was frustrated. How was he supposed to know that knocking on the desk was a reminder? Lu Yan always did that, and Xia Fei thought it was just him being bored. 

Lu Yan ignored him and continued his own work. 

Xia Fei wasn’t afraid of going to the office. He just felt that getting his phone back might be troublesome, probably another reflection letter. He thought for a moment, then took out some paper and a pen to start writing. 

Lu Yan glanced at his actions and couldn’t help but curl his lips slightly. 

After class, Xia Ruan originally wanted to find Xia Fei to talk to him, but since he had to go to the office, she gave up.  

Instead, she stood up, walked over to the first row, and bit her lip as she looked at someone. 

“Lu Yan?” she called out softly. 

Lu Yan lazily glanced at her and said, “What’s the matter?” 

“Did my brother cause any trouble for you?” Xia Ruan asked cautiously. 

Lu Yan rested his right hand on the desk, tapping it absentmindedly. That’s when Xia Ruan noticed he had really nice hands—clean and well-shaped fingers. She wasn’t the type to obsess over hands, but they really were…nice. 

She spaced out for a moment, until she heard his amused voice.  

“Not yet.” 

Xia Ruan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. That’s good. Then, she looked at Lu Yan seriously, “I’ll keep an eye on my brother and make sure he doesn’t cause you any trouble.” 

Lu Yan casually nodded, seeming not to care much about such small matters. Just then, Lu Jizhou walked over, and Xia Ruan quickly returned to her seat. 

“Hey, brother, what did the soft girl say to you?” Lu Jizhou asked in a gossiping tone, leaning close to Lu Yan. 

Lu Yan pushed his face away, then looked at him with an unreadable expression. “Soft girl?” 

Lu Jizhou thought he didn’t know who he was talking about, so he quickly explained, “It’s Xia Ruan, look, she even confessed to you in front of everyone. What else could we call her but that?” 

Lu Yan gave him a brief glance, and Lu Jizhou immediately leaned closer. “You still haven’t told me what the soft girl said to you just now. Another confession?” 

For the first time, Lu Yan felt that Lu Jizhou was being way too nosy, so he stood up and walked out of the classroom. Lu Jizhou followed behind, shouting, “Ah Yan, you still haven’t answered my question!” 

After they left, Fan Shujuan glanced at Xia Ruan, who had a calm expression, and after thinking for a moment, she said, “Lu Jizhou was just being noisy, he didn’t mean anything bad.” 

Xia Ruan was a bit surprised by Fan Shujuan’s words and looked up at her. 

Fan Shujuan smiled and explained, “He’s my aunt’s son. Don’t take what he said to heart. He’s just not good with words.” 

Even though he had lowered his voice, they were seated in front and behind each other, so they could hear everything clearly. 

Xia Ruan hadn’t expected they had this relationship, and Lu Jizhou’s words weren’t really a big deal. Thinking about it, she shook her head. “I don’t mind.” 

Fan Shujuan thought that Xia Ruan seemed much cuter now than before, so she couldn’t help but speak up. “It’s right to focus on studying now. When it’s time for the college entrance exam, put in the effort, and wouldn’t it be better if you could get into the same school as Lu Yan?” 

Xia Ruan was a little surprised that the class monitor, Fan Shujuan, would say such a thing, so she looked at her a bit longer. 

Fan Shujuan smiled at her. “I’ve never been against early love, as long as it doesn’t affect your studies and is healthy.” 

Xia Ruan smiled back at her. “You’re right, but I think I still need to clarify for myself. I’m studying hard now not because of Lu Yan, but for myself.” 

Fan Shujuan wasn’t surprised. After spending some time with her, she could tell that Xia Ruan looked at Lu Yan differently. 

Not like she liked him, but more like… he was a problem she had to deal with. 

As the two were talking, Xia Fei walked into the classroom. Xia Ruan stood up from her seat. Xia Fei smiled at her. “Ruan Ruan.” 

Xia Ruan looked at him expressionlessly. “Brother, you promised me to study hard.” 

Xia Fei wanted to say, “Didn’t you also send WeChat messages during class?” But the words were on the tip of his tongue, and in the end, he didn’t say anything. He just lowered his head. “Got it.” 

Seeing this, Xia Ruan softened her voice. “Brother, didn’t you notice something?” 

Xia Fei raised his head and looked at her in confusion. “What’s the matter?” 

Xia Ruan’s voice became even gentler. “Look at you, these past few days, you’ve either been scolded by mom or by your teacher. And all of it is related to the same person. So, you should stay away from him in the future.” 

Xia Fei thought for a moment, and it seemed that Ruan Ruan was right. He had been scolded repeatedly, and it was all connected to Lu Yan. 

Seeing him deep in thought, Xia Ruan spoke again. “Brother, trust me, I really don’t like him anymore, so don’t go causing trouble for him.” 

Fan Shujuan, who had been listening, finally understood that the person Xia Ruan was talking about was Lu Yan. She glanced at Xia Fei, who looked a bit lost. 

She thought for a moment—wasn’t he called into the office just now because he sent Xia Ruan a message on WeChat? Well, never mind. This sibling issue seemed like something she shouldn’t get involved in. Xia Ruan was probably just looking out for her brother, so Fan Shujuan picked up her textbook and began to review. 

Xia Fei scratched his head and comforted Xia Ruan. “Okay, I got it. I won’t cause trouble for Lu Yan anymore.” All this time, it seemed like Ruan Ruan was just afraid he’d cause trouble for Lu Yan. She was even lying to him for his sake. Xia Fei felt a little bitter and, at the same time, pushed aside his plans to look for Lu Yan after school. 

Seeing that he agreed, Xia Ruan smiled and continued, “I asked mom to sign me up for a tutoring class. Brother, you should come with me.” 

Xia Fei furrowed his brow and looked at Xia Ruan with a pitiful expression. “Ruan Ruan, can I not go?” 

Xia Ruan tugged at his sleeve and pouted. “Brother, just go with me. There are so many people at the tutoring class. What if someone bullies me?” 

Xia Fei thought for a moment. It did make sense—students who go to tutoring classes usually struggle with their grades. There might be some troublemakers there too. Ruan Ruan was so pretty now, and if he didn’t go with her, she’d be in danger. So, he quickly nodded. “Ruan Ruan, don’t worry, I’ll go with you.” 

Fan Shujuan stopped flipping her book and smiled slightly. Although Xia Fei was a student who gave teachers and class leaders headaches, he was truly a good older brother. 

Lu Yan and Lu Jizhou walked into the classroom just as the bell rang. Because Xia Ruan was sitting in the front row, she caught a faint smell of tobacco as they passed by. She glanced curiously at them. The book didn’t mention whether the male protagonist smoked, so she wasn’t sure if it was Lu Yan or Lu Jizhou who had the smell. 

As soon as Lu Yan sat down, Xia Fei immediately smelled the smoke on him. He frowned. “You smoke?” 

Lu Yan raised his arm, sniffed his sleeve, and casually replied, “No, I probably just picked up the smell from someone nearby.” 

Only then did Xia Fei relax his frown. “Ruan Ruan doesn’t like the smell of smoke.” As a rebellious youth, smoking was a basic skill, but since Xia Ruan didn’t like it, Xia Fei had stopped smoking. 

Lu Yan’s lips twitched, and then he looked at Xia Fei. “What does her dislike of smoke have to do with me?” 

Xia Fei thought about how much Ruan Ruan had done to keep him from bothering Lu Yan, yet this person acted as if nothing was wrong. He immediately shot a glare at Lu Yan, who met his gaze without backing down. Thinking of Ruan Ruan’s efforts, Xia Fei’s anger quickly subsided. He ripped off the last page of his notebook and wrote, “Wait after school.” 

Lu Yan raised an eyebrow. “What, you want to fight me?” 

Xia Ruan, hearing no noise from the front, breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Xia Fei had taken her words to heart. 

Ming’an Middle School didn’t require students to attend evening study sessions, so most people preferred to go to tutoring classes instead of staying for extra study time. 

After school in the afternoon, Xia Ruan grabbed her backpack and walked over to Xia Fei. “Brother, I’ve already sent mom a message. Let’s grab a bite to eat and go straight there.” 

Xia Fei took the backpack from her. “Ruan Ruan, you go to the restaurant we usually go to by the school gate. I’ll be right there after using the restroom.” 

Xia Ruan nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll order the food first.” 

After watching her leave, Xia Fei turned his attention to his deskmate. Seeing that Lu Yan was still focused on his homework, Xia Fei angrily snatched the pen from his hand. “Don’t you have anything to say?” 

Lu Yan looked at him calmly. “What do you want me to say?” 

Xia Fei was a little agitated. “Ruan Ruan has done so much for you, and you’re not the least bit touched?” 

Lu Yan scoffed. “What does that have to do with me?” 

Xia Fei glared at him, wishing he could knock him out and drag him to Ruan Ruan’s room to let her deal with him. But unfortunately, Ruan Ruan wouldn’t like that; she was intent on pursuing these empty ideals. Before he could think further, Xia Ruan called him to hurry up. 

Xia Fei glanced at Lu Yan and then warned him, “You’ll regret this one day.” 

Lu Yan ignored his words and continued solving the math problems he had left unfinished. 

After Xia Ruan hung up, she sat at the table, waiting for Xia Fei. The table next to hers was occupied by four boys wearing the school uniform from Renhuai High School. Renhuai was the best private high school in Rong City. Ideally, Xia Fei and Xia Ruan should have gone there too, but their mother, Zhou Jingyi, thought Ming’an’s learning atmosphere was better and might help motivate them. So, she enrolled them there instead. 

“While Xia Ruan was lost in thought, someone suddenly appeared in front of her and loudly asked, ‘Excuse me, I lost my phone. Can I borrow yours?'” 

Xia Ruan paused for a moment. Wasn’t this something the second male protagonist would say to start a conversation with the female protagonist? Had she just received the second male protagonist’s attention? 

Author’s Note: This is not the second male protagonist. Not the second male protagonist. Not the second male protagonist. I’ll say it three times for emphasis.