At the convenience store.
Since winter break was officially starting today, they wouldn't be seeing each other as frequently during this period. Murong Huan held Song Yi's hand, looking at her with reluctance to part.
The table was filled with various drinks, while only strawberry milk sat in front of Hang Feng.
Song Yi looked at Murong Huan helplessly and said, "It's just a break, it won't affect anything. We can meet whenever you want."
Murong Huan pouted, "But still..."
She understood the logic, but she just couldn't bear to part!
Jiang Yiheng looked out the window and said coldly, "Don't just think about the break. With your grades, Song Yi's tutoring sessions probably can't stop."
Murong Huan embarrassedly ruffled her hair and shouted, "Jiang Yiheng! You're really good at humiliating people!"
Hang Feng, however, caught the key point and asked Song Yi, "What tutoring?"
Song Yi pointed at the three people in front of her and said, "I tutor them."
"Oh right," Quan Le said while scratching his head troubledly, "I haven't finished my last assignment."
He looked towards Murong Huan as he spoke.
Murong Huan immediately became alert, "Don't look at me, I won't let you copy my work."
Quan Le looked at Murong Huan pitifully and said, "Please?"
Murong Huan frowned, "What will you trade for it?"
"I..."
"That's enough," Song Yi interrupted their "transaction" with a meaningful smile, "Is this how you usually handle my assignments when I'm not around?"
They should at least wait until she leaves to discuss this!
Murong Huan & Quan Le: "..."
Song Yi continued, "This assignment isn't urgent, you can write it next time. After all, we'll be going over the final exam papers the day after tomorrow."
At this point, Song Yi deliberately put on a troubled expression and said, "By then, the test results should be out. The one who shows the least improvement will be in trouble."
She didn't finish her sentence but gave a threatening look to the three people before her.
Quan Le complained loudly, "That's not fair! My grades are better than theirs, so I'll definitely lose if we're looking at improvement!"
Shen Yujing crossed his arms, "That's what you get for doing well before."
Quan Le: "You!"
Seeing that everyone at the table was about to start arguing, Jiang Yiheng quickly stepped in to stop them, "Can you two be quiet? It's Song Yi's birthday today, cause less trouble."
Shen Yujing and Quan Le glared at each other before looking away in different directions, dissatisfied.
Murong Huan then said, "Since it's Song Yi's birthday, why don't we play a game?"
Shen Yujing, who loved games the most, immediately became interested and asked, "What game?"
Murong Huan spoke seriously, enunciating each word, "Guardian Angel."
Jiang Yiheng looked over and asked, "What's that?"
Song Yi frowned slightly, feeling like she had seen this kind of game in some Mary Sue novels.
But except for Song Yi, the others clearly hadn't heard of this game, so Murong Huan began to explain.
"Guardian Angel, as the name suggests, means to guard and protect others." As Murong Huan spoke, she took out a prepared stack of sticky notes and a pen from her pocket, saying, "There are six of us in total. We'll write our names on six pieces of paper, then draw lots. Whoever you draw, you'll have to protect them for the next week. After seven days, we'll each grade our guardian angel's performance, and the guardian angel with the highest score wins. If your protected person discovers your identity as their guardian angel during this time, you automatically fail at being their guardian."
"Sounds interesting," Shen Yujing nodded, but added, "But it's winter break now, and we won't be able to meet often. How can we protect each other?"
"Then let's have tutoring sessions for a week," Murong Huan said with a bright smile. "Since Song Yi, Jiang Yiheng, and Hang Feng all have good grades, they can all tutor us three. We'll stay together this week."
Quan Le: "Great idea!"
Song Yi shrugged, "I'm fine with it. It's a good chance for you all to do more practice problems during the break."
Usually, she taught three students by herself, but with Jiang Yiheng and Hang Feng joining as helpers, it would be easier with two more assistants - not a bad thing at all.
Jiang Yiheng pressed his lips together but nodded.
Everyone's eyes turned to Hang Feng, waiting for his answer.
Hang Feng took a sip of his strawberry milk and said, "Okay."
"Yay!" Murong Huan cheered, then carefully wrote down everyone's names on the sticky notes.
Six pieces of paper were folded similarly and placed on the table, and everyone took turns picking their papers.
Song Yi didn't have much expectation. According to Mary Sue novel patterns and the so-called protagonist's halo attraction law, she would probably draw Shen Yujing.
Thinking about having to protect Shen Yujing for a week, Song Yi suddenly felt this task might be more difficult than imagined.
But the good thing was that Shen Yujing wasn't very clever, so the chance of being discovered as his guardian angel wasn't very high.
With these thoughts, Song Yi opened her paper, but was surprised at the name she saw.
She had miscalculated - it was him?
Had the Mary Sue halo stopped working?
Although Song Yi didn't understand, she didn't mind.
Murong Huan announced loudly, "Everyone should have seen who they're protecting now, right? Remember not to let others find out."
Quan Le snickered and said, "Don't let others find out? Don't tell me you wrote your own name on all the papers?"
"Nonsense!" Murong Huan rolled her eyes at Quan Le, "I'm not that kind of person, these are the game rules!"
"Fine," Quan Le nodded and stood up, looking at Hang Feng with a casual expression, "What do you want to eat tomorrow? Should I bring you breakfast?"
Shen Yujing frowned at Quan Le, "Don't tell me the person you're protecting is Hang Feng?"
Jiang Yiheng spoke calmly, analyzing, "Impossible. Who would be stupid enough to expose themselves so blatantly right from the start? He's just trying to confuse your judgment."
Shen Yujing nodded thoughtfully, agreeing, "You have a point."
Quan Le didn't answer Shen Yujing's question. It was getting late, and soon he left arm in arm with Shen Yujing.
Today's gathering came to an end, and everyone went their separate ways.
Walking home, Song Yi took out the crumpled paper from her pocket, looked at that person's name one more time, then tore it up and threw it in the trash.
Song Yi pondered somewhat worriedly about what to do next as she walked home.
*
At the Hang residence.
When Hang Feng returned home and opened the refrigerator to get water, he was surprised to find several leftover dishes inside.
Hang Feng looked at his grandmother and asked, "Did you cook all these dishes today?"
Usually, when his grandmother was home alone, she wouldn't even bother cooking one dish, often just eating porridge with some pickled vegetables.
No matter how many times Hang Feng told her otherwise, she wouldn't change, always thinking she should save money on her own meals whenever possible.
Grandmother came out with a mop and answered, "I... I made a mistake, I forgot you were going to Song Yi's birthday celebration today, so I made extra dishes."
Hang Feng nodded, not questioning this explanation.
He walked to his grandmother's side and tried to take the mop, saying, "It's so late, you should go to sleep. I'll mop the floor."
But his grandmother stubbornly held onto the mop, saying, "You need to study, go rest quickly."
Hang Feng said helplessly, "I finished my exams today, tomorrow's the start of break."
Even with him saying this, his grandmother wouldn't give him the mop. She couldn't bear to let her grandson do any hard work.
Hang Feng had no choice but to think about thoroughly cleaning the house some day when his grandmother wasn't home.
Hang Feng walked to the balcony, planning to get his change of clothes for a shower, but froze when his eyes fell on the balcony corner.
He strode back to the living room and asked his grandmother, "Grandmother, where are the fish tank and the turtle from the balcony?"
"The turtle..." His grandmother gripped the mop tightly before saying, "Today while I was at my stall, I got into an argument with someone. That person fell and got hurt, and I had to pay several hundred yuan in compensation, so... so..."
Grandma wasn't good at lying, so her speech became hesitant and stumbling.
But to Hang Feng, it seemed like she was just trying not to worry him by avoiding the details of what happened.
Hearing Grandma's words, Hang Feng naturally forgot about the turtle and asked, "Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Grandma quickly waved her hand dismissively.
After making sure Grandma wasn't injured, Hang Feng gave her a few words of caution and this time forcefully took the mop from her hands, saying, "You should go rest."
Afraid that Hang Feng would investigate further about the turtle, Grandma hesitated before letting go of the mop.
It should be fine, right...
Is it because people overthink things when they get old?
Although Hang Feng usually took care of that turtle, it wasn't really anything important, was it?
She just couldn't let him know that Xu Che had taken it, or else a small matter would turn into a big one.
Thinking about the relationship between her two grandsons, Grandma's back seemed to become more hunched.
Never mind.
Children must find their own way in life; things... will get better in the future.
After finishing mopping the living room, Hang Feng went to take a shower.
He didn't think about the turtle anymore; although it was a pity, what mattered was that Grandma was okay.
The paper slip he had drawn today was lying on the table, and looking at the name written on it, Hang Feng once again fell into silence.
That night, almost everyone was pondering the same question—
What does it mean to protect someone? What exactly counts as protection?
Is it about being good to him/her? But specifically, how should one do that?
And most importantly, it must not be discovered.
