Chapter 34: Efforts to Tempt

Chapter 34: Efforts to Tempt

Qi Yanye had always been at odds with Shi Yu; there was no way he would easily agree to Shi Yu's request to switch seats.

He propped himself up on his elbow, ready to refuse.

"No."

But unexpectedly, a small hand grabbed him.

Lin Yao mistakenly thought Qi Yanye was getting up to give her the seat, so she quickly grabbed his school uniform jacket.

"Qi Yanye, you... don't switch with him."

Qi Yanye: ...

Shi Yu: ...

Shi Yu glanced at the girl's fair fingertips tightly gripping the corner of his jacket, and his dark, clear eyes dimmed for a moment.

Qi Yanye pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth, shifted his gaze to Shi Yu, then looked at Lin Yao, and curled his lips into a smile.

"Alright."

As if he wanted chaos.

Lin Yao felt reassured with Qi Yanye's affirmative answer and lifted her round, moist eyes to Shi Yu.

"You don't need to switch seats."

"I... I don't want to sit with you."

At these words, the entire class gasped in surprise.

Hiss... The class monitor is something else, actually daring to reject Brother Yu.

That's right; last time, Shi Yu publicly said he wouldn't sit with Lin Yao. Now it's her turn to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Zhou Yuwei took out a bag of sunflower seeds from the back row and started munching while watching.

She had said that Lin Yao and the school bully were more interesting together. She never expected that yesterday after school, Shi Yu would suddenly propose switching seats to interfere.

Breaking up a couple is not okay.

Look, they just got slapped in the face by the original couple.

Shi Yu's dark eyes fixed on Lin Yao. "Reason."

Lin Yao, "Ah?"

"The reason why you don't want to sit with me." He repeated in a low voice.

Lin Yao: "..."

What other reason could there be?

She didn't need to cling to him; why sit with him?

Even if she needed help with physics, she could ask him at home or after class.

Qi Yanye, after all, is the protagonist of the book, and he is... so pitiful.

Now when she looks at Qi Yanye, she finds him kind-hearted. How bad could such a filial boy be? It's just a facade of defiance.

Lin Yao felt that Qi Yanye seemed to have simpler thoughts.

Unlike Shi Yu, who seems deep and always stares at her with those dark, penetrating eyes, as if she might make a mistake at any moment. Sitting with him would be stressful.

Better to keep some distance. Who knows if she might offend Shi Yu with a wrong word and bring herself trouble.

Besides, sitting next to Qi Yanye allows her to closely observe the emotional dynamics between Qi Yanye and Shi Nian, which is better than sitting with Shi Yu.

Lin Yao hummed for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason.

Shi Yu's dark eyes stared at her.

After a few seconds, he spoke in a low, cold voice, "I understand."

Lin Yao: ? ? ?

Understand, understand what?

Lin Jingtao, sitting in front of Lin Yao, turned around and laughed muffledly, covering his face with his arms.

When he looked up, he met Shi Yu's icy gaze.

Lin Jingtao!!!

Lin Jingtao: "Yu, Brother Yu, what's wrong?"

Shi Yu: "Switch seats."

Lin Jingtao: "Ah, switch what seats!?"

Then Lin Jingtao's seat was switched with Shi Yu's.

Shi Yu sat in the seat in front of Lin Yao, calmly placing his backpack in the desk.

He took out a physics workbook from his bag and turned around, lazily spreading it open on Lin Yao's desk. "Did you finish yesterday's assignment? Give it to me to check."

"The two example problems circled here are your weak spots. Look at them first; I'll give you more exercises later."

Shi Yu's slender, attractive fingers drew several circles on the page, capturing everyone's attention.

Those who were watching from the sidelines, including Lin Jingtao, who had just been replaced, never expected to see such a scene.

They thought Shi Yu was merely teasing Lin Yao, but it turned out he was genuinely offering to tutor her?

It made sense, though. Rumor had it that Shi Yu and Shi Nian now lived with the Lin family, and their parents seemed to have some connection. Shi Yu coming to school to tutor Lin Yao was probably an act of gratitude.

Wait, is Brother Yu actually tutoring someone?

Is our God Yu returning to the academic scene to tutor others?!

Lin Yao's hand trembled slightly as she took the study guide from Shi Yu.

As she reluctantly pulled out a test paper from her bag, she muttered softly, "We don't have to do physics right away at school, right? We can do it at home too..."

"We need to review it both at school and at home," Shi Yu said, his eyes focused and serious. "You've fallen behind in physics, and much of your knowledge is still at the junior high level. If you don't catch up soon, it will be hard to significantly improve your score for the next exam."

Lin Yao: "..."

Tsk.

A clear scoff came from Qi Yanye nearby.

Lin Yao turned and glared fiercely at Qi Yanye.

What was he doing? Her physics was bad, but his grades were even worse across all subjects. How dare he laugh at her?

Puffing her cheeks, Lin Yao, driven by the desire to make others suffer if she couldn't, spoke in a soft, innocent voice, "It's all my fault. My physics is so poor that I can't teach Qi Yanye anything. But I am his little teacher, and I can't just give up on him. Shi Yu... since you're tutoring me anyway, could you also help tutor Qi Yanye in physics?"

The moment these words left her mouth, Qi Yanye's smirk froze, and his handsome face quickly fell.

Even Shi Yu paused as he took the test paper.

But Lin Yao looked completely innocent and obedient, her eyes filled with genuine concern for her classmate as she gazed at him earnestly.

"Alright." Shi Yu agreed after a brief pause, his voice controlled.

Lin Yao smiled. Smiles don't disappear; they just shift.

This made Qi Yanye grind his teeth in frustration and turn to look at Shi Yu with a strange expression.

Back when Shi Nian used to tutor him at home, Shi Yu always watched coldly, and even when Shi Nian asked him to substitute, he would refuse indifferently.

Qi Yanye knew Shi Yu better than most. He was never the kind-hearted type.

When did he start agreeing to such troublesome tasks just because of a girl's request?

Before Qi Yanye could mock him, he noticed the class becoming restless.

"Brother Yu, include me in the tutoring!"

"Yeah, Brother Yu, mark the key points for the next exam... Even though my grades aren't great, if I do well, my mom promised to let me go abroad for a concert during summer break."

"God Yu, what are the key points for math in the next exam? I don't ask for much, just passing is fine."

Lin Yao watched as classmates holding various textbooks and study guides gathered around, feeling bewildered.

Even Shi Nian, who had just sat down, looked confused.

Lin Jingtao, sitting in the back row, was frantic, rummaging through his bag for his crumpled textbooks and practice books, rushing to secure a spot.

Almost knocking over Zhou Yuwei's sunflower seeds.

Zhou Yuwei gave him a disdainful look, "What are you guys doing? Have you gone mad?"

"What madness? Didn't you see that Brother Yu has agreed to tutor again? Hurry up!" Lin Jingtao said anxiously, "Damn, where is my math workbook? I can't find it."

Zhou Yuwei popped a sunflower seed, her face calm and puzzled.

She liked Shi Yu, but she didn't really know him well. Since transferring to No. 3 Middle School, she had been in a different class and didn't understand why the students in Class 13 were so enthusiastic about Shi Yu tutoring.

Lin Jingtao finally found his torn math workbook.

He nudged Zhou Yuwei, "Why are you still sitting there?"

"What should I do?" she replied.

She planned to study abroad and wasn't particularly interested in studying.

"Go get tutored by Brother Yu! Do you know how he got the title 'God Yu'... When he first transferred to our class, he casually marked the key points and gave us a few lessons during breaks. In that exam, three people from our class made it into the top 100 of the grade! Even I passed all my subjects, and my dad rewarded me with the latest smartphone."

"I've been eyeing another new gaming console recently. I'm going to Brother Yu now..." Lin Jingtao rushed forward with his books, "Brother Yu, mark the key points for me too!"

Zhou Yuwei dropped her sunflower seeds in surprise, "..."

Shi Yu was surrounded by a sea of students.

Lin Yao thought Shi Yu would show impatience or at least a hint of displeasure.

After all, so many people had suddenly crowded around him.

But Shi Yu did not.

Apart from looking slightly cold, he was patient and meticulous with everyone, accepting all who came to him.

Shi Yu took the textbooks, exercise books, and reference materials handed over by his classmates one by one, answering their questions and even marking out review scopes and key problems as per their requests.

This left Lin Yao somewhat stunned.

Her initial intention of dragging Qi Yanye into this ordeal turned into a slight sense of surprise and gratitude.

She never expected that Shi Yu could be more tolerant and enthusiastic than she had imagined.

Although he seemed a bit cold when explaining problems, his attitude was excellent.

The problem-solving methods he chose were the most suitable for Class 13 students, showing that he had deliberately adjusted his approach to ensure everyone could understand.

It was the first time Lin Yao had seen this side of Shi Yu.

Surprised, she saw Lin Jingtao also holding a textbook and squeezing in beside them. She couldn't help but gently tug at Lin Jingtao's sleeve and ask, "Is Shi Yu very accurate with his predictions? Has he given lectures before?"

Lin Jingtao repeated what he had just told Zhou Yuwei.

"Later, this became widely known, even reaching the classes ranked behind us. Other class teachers personally approached Brother Yu, wanting to organize joint tutoring sessions for the bottom five classes. But Brother Yu refused and stopped helping people at school, only occasionally teaching at Zhi Xue."

Lin Yao looked back at Shi Yu with astonishment, "…"

No wonder she encountered Shi Yu at Zhi Xue back then; he was lecturing there?

"This problem, Qi Yanye, you probably don't know it either."

"Listen together."

At this moment, Lin Yao saw Shi Yu lift his dark eyes and specifically call out Qi Yanye's name.

The already annoyed school bully's face darkened instantly.

He raised an eyebrow, "No need, I have a private tutor who comes to my house on weekends."

Qi Yanye's gaze fell pointedly on Shi Nian's stiffened back.

Lin Yao knew that Shi Nian had mentioned this to her last night.

Qi Yanye had asked Big Shi to connect him, willing to pay 500 yuan per hour for Shi Nian to give him private tutoring.

With such a high tutoring fee, the Shi family, being short on money, had no reason to refuse. Even though she knew Qi Yanye might deliberately make things difficult for her, Shi Nian still agreed.

Shi Yu later learned about this and casually pointed out, "Private tutoring? You mean Shi Nian?"

Holy crap, Shi Nian is actually going to tutor the school bully privately?

The surrounding classmates were all surprised, never having associated these two individuals.

Qi Yanye smiled, his gaze falling on Shi Nian's back, "Yes, it's Shi Nian. Shi Nian ranks higher than you in the school exams, so I don't need your instructions."

Shi Yu nodded indifferently.

"So... are you planning to have my sister tutor you in science? Or are you changing your major to arts?"

He posed a soul-searching question.

Qi Yanye: "..."

Shi Nian, listening ahead: "..."

Lin Yao, watching from the side: "..."

Pfft... Several classmates couldn't hold back their laughter.

Shi Nian doesn't excel in science subjects.

And everyone in Class 13 knows that the school bully's science grades were once top-notch in their class, but his arts scores were abysmal.

Lin Yao swore that this was the first time she saw a frustrated expression on the school bully's fierce yet handsome face.

Shi Yu said, "Forget it, consider it my act of kindness. I'll go to your house on weekends to tutor you too."

The nearly enraged Qi Yanye lost his composure, "What... did you say?"

Shi Yu's cool gaze swept around and finally landed on Lin Yao's face.

"Other classmates who need help can join us. We'll all go to Qi Yanye's house for tutoring on weekends."

The entire class: "..."

Wow, what was supposed to be a three-person weekend tutoring session suddenly turned into a class outing!?

*

On Saturday morning, Lin Yao, as usual, was sleeping in.

Before long, Xia Tingnan dragged her out of bed.

"Aren't you supposed to be going to a classmate's house for tutoring today? Why are you still sleeping in..."

Xia Tingnan handed Lin Yao breakfast and grabbed her backpack.

"Shi Yu and Shi Nian went early, and your class teacher even came to pick them up. You've been sleeping in, and your classmates are already downstairs waiting for you."

"Classmates?" Lin Yao, eating her bread, looked up in surprise.

Xia Tingnan: "Yes, I just ran into them while buying groceries and hurried back to wake you up. Hurry up and finish eating, then go down. It's a rare opportunity."

The top three students in the grade and the national scholarship winners are tutoring them. What kind of class has this kind of setup?

Xia Tingnan now felt somewhat comforted; what Shi Nian said about Class 13 not being much worse than Class 1 wasn't too exaggerated.

Lin Yao hadn't heard that any classmates would be coming to see her today. She quickly wiped her mouth, changed her clothes, put on her backpack, and went downstairs.

Xia Tingnan sent her into the elevator. "When you participate in class activities, interact more with your classmates, be proactive, and do more practice problems. Oh, right, still be careful not to eat anything random and stay safe."

"Mm." Lin Yao responded absent-mindedly, thinking instead, there should be good food at Qi Yanye's place, right?

But if there isn't, it doesn't matter; she can order takeout.

She didn't notice at all that her backpack was a bit bulging, as if it contained more things than usual.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, she walked out and saw three figures standing in front of the building entrance.

Lin Jingtao, wearing a baseball jacket, stood under the shade of a tree, cheerful and waving at her.

Beside him, Zhou Yuwei wore a white dress, looking quite disdainful of Lin Jingtao and keeping a distance from him.

Between Zhou Yuwei and Lin Jingtao stood Song Zishan, an art student with light purple streaks in her hair, light makeup, and a very trendy mini skirt.

Lin Yao approached and asked in surprise, "How did you know where I live?"

Lin Jingtao replied, "Brother Yu asked me to pick you up. He and Shi Nian have already gone ahead, worried you might get lost."

Song Zishan smiled coolly. "Shi Nian asked me to come pick you up."

It turned out that neither of them had asked each other, but both were concerned that Lin Yao might get lost.

Only Zhou Yuwei was different.

Zhou Yuwei pushed aside Lin Jingtao and linked arms with Lin Yao. "I'm different. I followed them here to find you. It's rare to have an off-campus activity, let's go together."

Lin Yao: "..."

She had to admit, she hadn't expected Zhou Yuwei to suddenly be so clingy.

So the four of them took a cab and headed to Qi Yanye's house.

Lin Yao originally wanted to say, how could Qi Yanye's house be hard to find?

But as the car drove further and further away, even gradually leaving the city area, she learned that Qi Yanye actually lived in a wealthy district far from the city center.

Isn't Qi Yanye supposed to have a sad background?

How could he live in a wealthy district? Could it be that he has reunited with his mother?

Not knowing the details, Lin Yao didn't ask anyone else. She had stayed up late doing practice problems last night and was a bit sleepy, so she fell asleep leaning against the window.

When Zhou Yuwei woke her up, the car had already stopped outside a large estate.

Lin Yao: "..."

She knew that the male leads in novels were usually rich, but she didn't expect them to be this rich.

"Wow, Qi Yanye's house is huge..." Lin Jingtao and Zhou Yuwei looked around curiously.

Song Zishan casually took out her sketchbook, chose an angle, and started sketching the estate.

Lin Yao noticed that the estate not only had a large main building but also a fountain in the front, gardens, ponds, and a swimming pool in the back—everything one could want.

Stephen happened to come out to greet them and immediately scolded them, "What's wrong with you guys? You're the last ones to arrive. Everyone else is already here. Hurry up and go inside for class."

Stephen was thrilled that Shi Nian and Shi Yu were willing to give group tutoring sessions on weekends. He volunteered to work overtime and brought everyone over early in the morning.

Stephen led the four into the main villa of the estate. As soon as they entered, they were amazed by the opulent yet understated luxury of the interior decor.

Stephen pointed upstairs. "Shh, keep it down. Classes are ongoing upstairs. The room on the left is for history subjects, and the one on the right is for physics. This time we'll start with 1+2, next time we'll cover the main subjects. Find your seats and head up."

Without asking, they knew that Shi Nian would teach history, and Shi Yu would teach physics.

Lin Yao wanted to find Shi Nian first, but since he was teaching, she couldn't disturb him. So she went into the room on the right with Lin Jingtao.

As soon as they opened the door, Lin Yao heard a familiar, casual, and cold voice from inside.

She recognized the voice—it was Shi Yu, lecturing on physics.

She paid no mind and quietly walked in with Lin Jingtao.

After passing a row of display cabinets near the entrance, Lin Yao's view widened, revealing the layout of the room.

The front of the room was set up like a stage, with various long desks arranged below, several rows deep.

On the stage, the projector screen behind Shi Yu emitted a soft glow.

Because of the lecture, the curtains were drawn, making the room dim, illuminated only by the desk lamps at each seat.

The young man standing on the stage, still in his black hair and black hoodie, with his bangs slightly hanging down, was staring intently at the computer screen in front of him, his face obscured by the backlight.

At that moment, Shi Yu seemed to hear the commotion and looked towards Lin Yao.

That glance.

Lin Yao's heart skipped a beat.

On Shi Yu's nose... he was wearing half-rim glasses.

The sharp and smooth lines of the youth's face were softened by the glasses perched on his nose, tempering his carefree demeanor and adding an unusual aura of abstinence.

This was the first time Lin Yao had seen Shi Yu like this.

Her heart began to race uncontrollably.

She silently scolded Shi Yu for being truly unfair, no wonder he could become one of the main characters in the original book.

Who knew that Lin Yao's favorite type of male lead in otome games since childhood was precisely the kind who is usually beautiful and exotic but becomes serious and abstinent when wearing glasses.

Thump, thump...

Lin Yao felt her heartbeat becoming too irregular.

She suddenly lowered her head, not daring to look anymore.