MTLY | Chapter 24

◎Pushing Your Luck.◎

Jiang Yu didn’t go to evening self-study tonight. Qin Shuxia specially found them an empty classroom and started preparing for the modeling competition.

Besides Jiang Yu and Han Shuming, there was also a girl from Jiangbei Affiliated High School on the team for this international contest. The three of them formed a small group, with Qin Shuxia as their advisor.

Jiang Yu was a little out of sorts tonight. He, who was usually the most focused one, had checked his phone several times.

Han Shuming, sitting beside him, asked, “Something up?”

Jiang Yu spun a pen between his fingers, his thin lips pressed together.

How should he put it? Maybe it was conscience kicking in, a little guilty. After all, he had made the girl cry. Picking that song back then had been a little mischievous, but he definitely hadn’t been laughing at how slow she was. He had just caught sight of that clumsy figure, found it amusing, and thought she was pretty cute.

Jiang Yu clicked his tongue softly and looked at his phone. This little girl was just flat-out ignoring him now.

“Old Han, help me keep an eye on things. I’m going out to make a call.”

It was self-study hour, and the whole campus was unusually quiet. The brightly lit classrooms cut the teaching building into neat, pale-white squares.

Jiang Yu walked out into the corridor and dialed Song Tinghuan’s number. After two rings, the call connected. Before he could say anything, he heard the girl’s muffled voice through the receiver.

She bit down on the two words “Jiang Yu” so softly, her voice carrying a trace of restraint, like she had been wronged quite badly.

Jiang Yu rubbed the bridge of his nose and suddenly felt like a complete bastard. Why had he teased a little girl like that?

But Song Tinghuan’s voice sounded off. It had a crying lilt to it.

Jiang Yu’s brows and eyes turned cold at once, and his expression sharpened too.

After asking several times, the girl finally stammered and told him that she had gotten her pants dirty, and wanted him to buy something for her.

For a moment, Jiang Yu went blank.

The pale moonlight drifted in through the window and fell across the young man’s cool, fair ear, while a blush slowly crept up from underneath.

*

The school supermarket had this stuff, but Jiang Yu wasn’t sure which section it was in.

He first bought a mask from the cashier, then, under the scrutinizing gaze of the plump middle-aged woman, slowly tore open the transparent packaging and hooked the black mask over his ears.

Seeing that the woman was still staring at him, Jiang Yu gave a deliberate cough to cover for himself. “I caught a cold.”

The section with daily necessities was all the way in the back. Jiang Yu looked at the rows of pink and pastel-colored packaging on the shelves, and for the first time, he showed an expression close to complete confusion.

Which one the hell was he supposed to buy?

He wanted to ask Song Tinghuan, but then he remembered the girl’s aggrieved little voice, and the way she blushed at the slightest teasing in normal times. Jiang Yu gripped his phone, hesitated for a long while, and then shoved it back into his pants pocket.

“Jiang Yu?”

A clear female voice sounded nearby. Jiang Yu turned his head and saw Han Jingjing looking at him with raised brows and a face full of interest.

Han Jingjing was not shy at all. She walked straight over, lifted her chin slightly, and smiled in a nosy, gossiping way. “Didn’t expect this. Our campus heartthrob Jiang actually has this kind of need.”

Jiang Yu: “…”

Knowing she was deliberately teasing him, Jiang Yu only got more annoyed. “Hurry up.”

“Hm?”

“Which one do I buy?”

“Is that how you ask someone for a favor?”

“…”

Meeting Jiang Yu’s cool, indifferent gaze, Han Jingjing rubbed her nose. Thinking that she would still have many more chances to ask favors of this young master later, she immediately gave in. “Fine, wait outside. We girls are buying things here. What are you standing around for?”

Jiang Yu: “…”

Not long after, Han Jingjing came out with a black bag in her hand. She had specially asked the cashier for it. She herself didn’t mind, but Jiang Yu’s junior schoolmate… tsk, that girl really was far too thin-skinned.

Jiang Yu said, “Hurry up.”

Han Jingjing asked, “Where is she?”

Seeing the impatience all over Jiang Yu’s face and the arm he had already raised, Han Jingjing immediately went along with it. “Fine, then you deliver it yourself.”

Jiang Yu’s hand froze in midair.

Han Jingjing snorted with a laugh and deliberately pressed him. “Please, hurry up.”

*

Song Tinghuan was hiding in the bathroom. Once her panic and anxiety faded, embarrassment slowly welled up instead. Her cheeks started to burn.

Only then did she realize, belatedly, just how absurd it was to ask Jiang Yu for help with this.

As she was feeling awkward, a clear female voice sounded from outside the bathroom door. “Junior schoolmate?”

Song Tinghuan recognized Han Jingjing’s voice at once. “Senior… I’m here.”

She didn’t even have time to wonder why it was Han Jingjing delivering the things. She hurriedly took the bag she was handed and said softly, “Thank you, Senior.”

“You’re welcome. Mm, your voice is really nice. Call me Senior again.”

“…”

The sanitary pad problem was solved, but Song Tinghuan still felt terribly humiliated looking at the small smear of blood on her pants. She took off her school jacket and tied it around her waist, barely enough to cover it.

After dawdling her way out of the bathroom, Song Tinghuan saw Han Jingjing and Jiang Yu waiting at the door. Jiang Yu had actually come along too.

Seeing her clothes tied around her waist and only a thin short-sleeved T-shirt left on top, Jiang Yu frowned slightly. Jiangbei had a wide temperature difference between day and night in late spring, and this little girl was especially afraid of the cold.

Song Tinghuan shuffled up to them and thanked Han Jingjing again. “Senior, thank you.”

Her voice was soft and sweet. Han Jingjing’s eyes lit up. “Mm, you’re so cute. Can you…”

“Can you stop acting like a pervert?” Jiang Yu cut her off and raised a hand to pull down the zipper of his school jacket.

Song Tinghuan was still a little dazed when she was suddenly wrapped in a familiar, fresh scent. Jiang Yu draped his jacket over her.

Above her head, the young man’s voice was icy. “Don’t you know Jiangbei has a big temperature gap between day and night? If you catch a cold, I’ll still have to take care of you.”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

Han Jingjing, watching the show from the side, clicked her tongue and muttered, “Your mouth is so mean.”

After something like this happened, Song Tinghuan didn’t want to go back for self-study anymore. Wearing dirty pants was incredibly uncomfortable, and right now, all she wanted was to go home.

But she wasn’t sure how to ask Qin Shuxia for leave.

She absolutely couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth. If she lied… what if Qin Shuxia saw through it? How would she explain then?

Just as she was hesitating, Jiang Yu, walking ahead on the left, turned his head.

“I’ll tell Old Qin for you and ask for leave.”

Song Tinghuan: “Hm?”

Jiang Yu looked her up and down. “Or do you want to go back for self-study?”

Song Tinghuan shook her head quickly. “I’m not going back. I’m going home.”

Jiang Yu curved his lips a little and gave a soft mm. He took out his phone, and the call was clearly to Qin Shuxia, using the excuse that Song Tinghuan wasn’t feeling well.

“Mm, then I won’t go back either later. Could you please have Old Han send me a copy of the data?”

Song Tinghuan followed behind him step by step, quietly listening to him talk on the phone, surprised that he was actually this familiar with Qin Shuxia. Song Tinghuan had heard some gossip about Qin Shuxia before.

He had taught in Beijing before, and later, it seemed because something happened to a student, he left his old school and came to Jiangbei. At first, many parents at Qingde did not approve of him, and even reported him to the education bureau. Later, Qin Shuxia shut everyone up with one outrageous college entrance exam passing rate after another.

She had heard that all the students he taught liked him, no matter how good or bad their grades were.

“Hey.”

Beside her, Han Jingjing poked her arm. “Junior schoolmate, are you okay?”

“I… I’m fine.” Song Tinghuan’s cheeks were slightly red. “Just…”

“I know, I know.” Han Jingjing had only been worried that Song Tinghuan might be uncomfortable because she had been silent the whole time.

She glanced at Jiang Yu and reminded Song Tinghuan, “If you feel unwell after you get back, just boss Jiang Yu around. Don’t make yourself suffer.”

Song Tinghuan fell silent. How could she possibly have the nerve to boss Jiang Yu around?

Jiang Yu had already finished the call. He looked back at the two girls whispering to each other. “Han Jingjing, aren’t you going back for self-study? Old Song’s been cracking down pretty hard lately.”

Han Jingjing: “…”

Seriously, why did a perfectly good handsome guy have to have a mouth?

Although Han Jingjing was an arts student, she had already fallen behind one full round of final review because of training recently, so she didn’t dare waste any more time. Under Jiang Yu’s cold gaze, she slunk away toward the teaching building.

Song Tinghuan looked at Jiang Yu, who was still standing where he was, and after a moment of silence said, “You should go back too. I can get home by myself.”

“I’ve already asked for leave.”

“You’re going to skip class?”

“…”

Jiang Yu angled his eyes toward her, the girl’s slightly startled pupils reflected in his gaze. “Song Tingting, could you have a little conscience?”

Song Tinghuan: “…”

Oh. So he was going to take her home.

Because her pants were dirty, Song Tinghuan didn’t want to take a taxi, and even after getting on the bus, she refused to sit down.

“I… I’ll just stand here. You sit.”

It wasn’t rush hour, and there were still plenty of empty seats on the bus. Jiang Yu glanced at the girl standing stiffly beside him, then silently stood at her side.

From his angle, the girl’s ears were flushed red. Her hair was tied into two low pigtails, and a patch of skin at the nape of her neck was exposed, looking especially fair.

Jiang Yu withdrew his gaze and held onto the overhead strap.

The young man was tall and lean, wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt. Night wind squeezed in through the window, and the soft white fabric clung to the thin lines of muscle beneath it. He had his head slightly bowed, and on one ear hung a pair of electroplated green earbuds.

After a while, the bus stopped and a group of kids who had just finished class swarmed on board, noisy and rowdy. One of the boys turned around, laughing and joking with his friend, nearly bumping into Song Tinghuan. Jiang Yu shifted slightly and blocked him off.

Song Tinghuan didn’t notice any of it. She just looked quietly out the window until her gaze fell back onto the glass.

She looked at the young man’s reflection in the window, black pants and white shirt, eyelashes lowered. His hair seemed to have grown a little longer, giving him a soft, fluffy look.

Huh? When had he moved to stand behind her?

Song Tinghuan couldn’t reach the strap, so she could only hold onto the seat beside her. Looking at the glass now, it seemed as if Jiang Yu was enclosing her in front of him.

That realization made Song Tinghuan’s heart twitch. She quickly lowered her head and drove all those strange thoughts out of her mind.

Too weird. Free novel + V: ayounovel2

She really felt like she had been acting weird lately.

Jiang Yu didn’t know what she was thinking at the moment, but in his line of sight the girl’s ears seemed even redder, and even the pale white curve of her neck had faintly taken on a rosy tint.

Tsk, wasn’t this just a normal… um, physiological reaction? Did she really have to be this embarrassed?

She really had a bit too thin a skin.

*

The bus could only stop at the sign outside the villa. By the time they walked home, Song Tinghuan’s face was already bloodless, cold sweat beading on her forehead.

Meng Shutang hadn’t been in a good mental state recently and had gone to bed early. Everyone tacitly avoided disturbing her, because once she was awakened, she would almost certainly spend the whole night unable to sleep again.

Jiang Yu didn’t know much about this, but he had heard that some girls would feel unwell at this time. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and asked a single word, “Does it hurt?”

Song Tinghuan bit her lip. The dull ache below, tangled up with embarrassment, made her feel miserable. She hadn’t usually been this sore during her period before. Only then did she remember that yesterday, because she’d wanted something cold, she and Guan Linlin had each eaten an ice cream after lunch.

Seeing that Song Tinghuan still didn’t speak, Jiang Yu didn’t ask further. To be honest, he didn’t have much experience with this, and really couldn’t help much. Besides, this little girl was far too shy.

“Then you… rest early. If you need anything, call me.”

Song Tinghuan gave a soft mm, keeping her head down as she headed straight to her room.

Her pants were only a little dirty, but fortunately, Jiang Yu’s school jacket hadn’t been stained.

The jacket still needed to be worn tomorrow morning, so Song Tinghuan endured the pain and went downstairs to the laundry room.

This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Once, when her pants got dirty, she had wanted to wash them secretly, but Song Mingcheng found out. Song Mingcheng was a grown man, and it was this kind of topic, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to say much. It had been the family helper who told her, during her period, to avoid cold food and not to be greedy for cool things.

Later, the helper paid more attention. Every time she guessed that Song Tinghuan’s period was coming, she would be especially mindful of her diet and would also help wash any dirty clothes.

In Song Tinghuan’s memory, she hadn’t washed her own clothes for three or four years, much less during her period.

She wasn’t being spoiled, she just didn’t feel well. So when Jiang Yu found the laundry room, what he saw was a small, pitiful figure standing by the sink all alone, hunched over with her brows tightly furrowed.

“Song Tinghuan.”

Song Tinghuan turned around. Because of the cramping pain in her lower abdomen, her whole face looked deathly pale.

Jiang Yu was standing by the door, a bag still in his hand.

“Washing clothes?”

“Mm.” Song Tinghuan lowered her eyes. “I have to wear them tomorrow morning.”

“Didn’t you have a spare?”

“I enrolled late, so I only have one set in size S. The new ones have to be custom-made with the next batch.” Song Tinghuan explained.

Besides, she also didn’t really want to leave dirty clothes sitting overnight.

Jiang Yu walked closer, still carrying the chill of the night on him.

“You went out?” As soon as she asked, a paper bag was shoved into her arms. Song Tinghuan instinctively caught it. Her fingertips were still wet, and when she looked down, she saw what was inside.

Two packs of sanitary pads, a pair of overnight period shorts, a bag of heat packs, and a box of brown sugar ginger tea.

Song Tinghuan blinked. Back when she was in Lingcheng, the family helper would always prepare these things for her in advance.

Jiang Yu had already walked up to the washbasin. His long, pale fingers reached into the basin, and Song Tinghuan instantly realized what he was about to do. Embarrassment and awkwardness surged up in an instant, and she hurriedly said, “No need, I can do it myself…”

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to touch cold water at this time?”

“…”

Jiang Yu had already turned on the tap, and the rush of water drowned out Song Tinghuan’s pounding heartbeat.

“Jiang Yu.”

“Mm.”

Song Tinghuan tightened her hold on the paper bag in her arms. “Thank you.”

Jiang Yu didn’t say anything, just silently and carefully washed the clothes in the basin.

“Keep yourself warm, don’t go overeating cold things just because you want them. If there’s anything you don’t understand…” Jiang Yu paused.

Damn it, he didn’t understand either.

Song Tinghuan looked at him blankly. “What?”

Jiang Yu threw out a cold line: “Ask Han Jingjing.”

“Oh.”

“Do you need me to ask for leave for you tomorrow?”

Song Tinghuan shook her head.

Jiang Yu had already tossed both of their school uniforms into the washing machine. When he turned around, he found that the little girl was still standing there in a daze.

“Anything else hurting?”

Song Tinghuan hesitated, then asked tentatively and carefully, “Jiang Yu, can you make miji yuánzi?”

Jiang Yu: “…”

Author’s Note:
Jiang Yu: I won’t make it. I’ve never even heard of it. Song Tingting, don’t push your luck, okay? The kind with a bit of black sesame filling, though, is that okay?

Today’s double update is done, a tiny little red packet~