"......Was that Third Master Qin's PPT?"
The classroom grew noisy again after the moment of silence.
The female students took a deep breath, excitedly covering their mouths: "What kind of fairy man is this, even helping with homework. Don't tell me they're living together?!"
"A PPT made by Third Master Qin, presented by Qiao the Campus Belle. With my experience, being on the first page of their family tree wouldn't be going overboard, right?"
"I doubt any other PPT could be more valuable than this one, damn it. Better take another good look."
"I heard Third Master Qin also graduated from Peking University, he's our senior schoolmate. Ahhh why wasn't I born a few years earlier!"
"I suddenly remembered a certain warm-hearted senior schoolmate who anonymously sent sunscreen and mosquito spray during military training. Could it be...!"
"Don't be like this, my heart can't take it. I'll go to the trash can in a bit to dig out the discarded sunscreen bottle, and enshrine it in the dorm."
"Qiao the Campus Belle and Third Master Qin are...? I ship her with that white-haired mixed-race hottie though. What about Cheng Lawyer? I actually don't mind if the four of them live together."
"My shipped CP came true? I really love this age difference!"
"Forgive my limited imagination, I really can't picture what it looks like for a business tycoon like Third Master Qin to fall in love."
"Well you can see now, helping his girlfriend with her PPT."
"Mature, steady, wearing a suit and typing away at the computer to help his girlfriend with her PPT. I can visualize it now! I'm really going to go crazy over this ship!"
A female student, blushing with excitement, bravely raised her hand: "Qiao the Campus Belle, can I gossip about you and Third Master Qin?"
The students instantly quieted down and looked towards Qiao Ying, even the teacher joined in on the gossip.
Seeing Qiao Ying deliberating, the students pricked up their ears in anticipation.
But Qiao Ying simply said: "Let's get back to class."
"Oh come on, just say a little bit. Not even about your relationship, anything else like daily life, work, we want to hear it all."
Everyone expressed their desire to learn about the life of a tycoon.
Qiao Ying spoke frankly: "He goes about his daily life and work as usual, nothing much to say. Let's get back to class."
But at this point, none of the students were still in the mood for learning. All were on their phones, posting and gossiping away.
The news soon reached Qin Hanyue's ears.
Qin Hanyue silently browsed the forums on his phone.
Compared to Qiao Ying's life, his was indeed rather boring.
The teacher tried to get the students to quiet down again.
"There was another group project done quite well. Let's have the new student from that group come up and brief everyone."
The student sitting quietly in the last row slowly stood up, but didn't move or say anything.
The teacher encouraged: "Don't be nervous. Just like Qiao earlier, it was perfectly fine. Relax."
"Teacher, he doesn't have a computer yet. For this group project, he provided the ideas while I and the other students put together the PPT. He may not be too familiar with it, why don't you call up someone else instead?"
"Alright, then you present on his behalf." The teacher waved his hand, signaling for the student at the back to sit down again.
"Huh? Do I have to?" The good-natured student who volunteered to help the new kid ended up shoved onto the stage himself, crying out in distress.
The student at the back sat down again. As he looked up towards the podium, preparing to take notes, he noticed someone staring at him.
He glanced over to find that it was the girl who just presented to the class — Qiao Ying.
Bewildered, the student withdrew his gaze and looked back to the podium.
Qiao Ying stared fixedly at the male student, finding him familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. Familiar because of his resemblance to someone from her past, but unfamiliar because there was no such classmate originally in her cohort.
Even with her blurred vision, she still recognized him as the student she saw while waiting for the crossing light after leaving the gas station last time.
She had chased after him into the alley but failed to find him.
And just yesterday evening when she was walking Fourth Master, she seemed to catch a glimpse of him near the school as well.
A bolder male student from the back rows plucked up the courage to say: "Qiao... Sis Qiao, he's new here."
The nervous student had curled his toes tightly in.
Ever since Qiao Ying utterly crushed the basketball team from their rival school last time, smashing their backboard, all the guys in school collectively surrendered to her awesomeness.
Conversations in the male dorms now revolved around Qiao Ying every day, constantly rewatching videos of her basketball highlights, getting pumped up every time.
The basketball enthusiasts in particular practically worshipped Qiao Ying to an indescribable extent.
Qiao Ying: "What's his name?"
The male student did not expect Qiao Ying would talk to him, and his heart instantly started racing as he breathed hurriedly: "His name is... Xiao He, yes Xiao He. Grass radical at the bottom with the character for solemn on top, and the He in harmony. He came on the second day you took leave. He's our Department of Computing's new departmental grass — what those girls coined him as."
Qiao Ying: "Which school did he transfer from?"
Male student: "He... doesn't seem to be a transfer student. I'm not too clear."
"I can, uh, help ask him about it after class later if you want, Sis Qiao."
The student was diligently listening in class, yet that gaze remained fixed upon his face. He looked over again to see Qiao Ying still watching him.
"Hey, Xiao... Xiao schoolmate right? The counsellor is looking for you, hurry over."
A classmate by the front classroom door called out to the student at the very back right after class ended.
The student promptly got up and left via the rear door.
In the counsellor's office, the counsellor passed a pen to Xiao He: "Xiao He, the financial aid stipends have been approved. Just sign here."
"The quota for this financial aid was originally maxed out. It's our principal who dipped into his own pockets. You've got to study hard, Xiao He, don't let Principal Zhang down with his expectations of you!" The counsellor exhorted earnestly.
The student nodded and signed his name.
Counsellor: "You must be finding it tough to adapt since you just got here. Spend more time interacting with your classmates, it'll be fine. Come look for me if anything crops up."
The student then left the office.
Right outside, he almost knocked right into Qiao Ying who was standing there.
Giving her an impassive glance, he carried on his way.
Qiao Ying watched him until he disappeared from her view.
Zhang Chengyong had just brewed a pot of tea when Qiao Ying arrived.
"A rare guest indeed! Where have you been hiding away all these days? I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about school and this old man. I just brewed this pot of hot tea, come come come over."
Qiao Ying sat down.
Zhang Chengyong asked expectantly: "Qiao's here to acupressure me right? It was good of you to still remember this old bones of mine."
Qiao Ying: "I'm here to ask you about someone."
Zhang Chengyong: "Oh? You need me to check on a person? Who is it?"
"A new classmate of mine."
"You mean Xiao He?"
"Mm."
"What about him?"
"I wanted to know which school he transferred from. I'd like to see his records."
Zhang Chengyong passed Xiao He's documents to Qiao Ying.
"He's not a transfer student. His circumstances are rather special."
Zhang Chengyong sorted out his words and relayed Xiao He's situation.
"The child has tough luck. His mother is severely ill at home, and his alcoholic father neglects the mother and son. Life has never been easy for him. He had to juggle school with caring for his bedridden mother since young, taking on odd jobs to cover expenses from middle school onwards. In the end, he narrowly missed the crucial college entrance examinations because of his father, and ended up missing one subject due to various reasons."
"But the child is truly resilient. Despite missing one subject, his results were still stellar, more than qualifying for an average university. Unfortunately, given his family circumstances, he eventually gave up on tertiary education. He went to work as an apprentice mechanic at an auto repair shop, earning money while caring for his mother."
"When I found out about his plight recently, I made an exception to enrol him. I had originally intended to subsidize his living expenses as well, but the stubborn child refused outright. So I arranged for him to take on some part-time work at the school cafeteria and library."
"As for his mother's condition, I had Dr Ming take a look at her. She probably doesn't have long left... *sigh*..."
"Qiao probably doesn't know this, but when I went to that repair shop to look for him, he was in the midst of changing a car tire. That arm of his, it looked no thicker than a monkey wrench to me. Half a grown kid, barely managing square meals..." Zhang Chengyong's heart ached more and more as he spoke. "And the bl**dy customer was even heckling him on the side."
Qiao Ying held Xiao He's file, gazing at the gloomy, gaunt yet familiar face in the photo. She was somewhat lost in thought.
Why does he resemble Feng Ying so much? Even their builds are alike.
