That evening, Xiao Chen was still waiting for Yu Na at the north gate of the school.
After the evening self-study session ended, Yu Na walked directly towards the north gate.
As soon as she got into the car, without even putting on her seatbelt, she took out Qiao Rui's mystery novel from her bag and questioned him: "Did you buy this for Qiao Rui?"
"Huh?" Xiao Chen glanced at it, "No, why would I buy this for him."
Yu Na gave him the book, "Luckily I was the one who confiscated it this time. If it was Principal Qin, you might... be asked to go to the school again."
"Then let him ask," Xiao Chen casually responded, "But next time, could he please not ask me to go again?"
Yu Na: ?
He nonchalantly said: "What if, Teacher Yu personally asked me to go to the school one time?"
Yu Na didn't have time to joke around with him right now. "How are you not worried at all? Qiao Rui will be a high school senior soon."
Xiao Chen had long given up on him and didn't keep track of his grades at all. "What do I have to worry about? I'm just his older brother."
"......"
What Xiao Chen said was true to his heart. Since Qiao Rui came to Changwan, he had only been responsible for his living expenses and didn't manage his studies.
But as his class teacher, it made sense for Yu Na to be anxious.
Xiao Chen held her hand and gently squeezed her fingers, trying to coax her in a good temper: "When I get back, how about I give him a beating, hmm?"
Seeing that Yu Na was still frowning worriedly,
Xiao Chen added: "I'll beat him in front of you."
Yu Na still didn't say anything.
Xiao Chen: "Or you can beat him."
"Let's forget it," Yu Na finally spoke, looking exhausted, "I'm tired, I want to go home."
Yu Na leaned back in her seat, gazing out the window without uttering a word.
When Xiao Chen stopped at a red light, he stroked her head and asked, "You're still upset?"
"No," Yu Na shook her head, "I just feel like when he gets to his third year, it won't only test the students, but me as well."
As the car entered the underground parking garage of Huating One, Xiao Chen held her hand. "That won't do, hmm?"
Yu Na unbuckled her seatbelt and looked at him: "What do you mean?"
"You're already so anxious and he hasn't even started his third year yet. What will you do when he actually becomes a third-year student?"
"I think it's probably because this is my first job, and I want to do my best."
Xiao Chen ruffled her hair, "Don't think like that, it'll tire you out."
Yu Na forced a smile: "Okay."
She opened the car door, "Well, I'll get going first."
"Wait a moment," Xiao Chen grabbed her arm, "How could I let you leave in this state?"
Yu Na looked at him in confusion.
Xiao Chen let go of her arm, "I'll sleep with you tonight."
"But—"
"Don't care about him."
Xiao Chen didn't let her refuse and accompanied her back to Huating One.
While Yu Na was showering, Xiao Chen sent Qiao Rui a WeChat message: 【Not coming home tonight】
He remembered how distressed Yu Na looked earlier because of Qiao Rui, so he sent Qiao Rui two more messages—
【Your allowance will be halved from now on [smile emoticon/]】
【If you upset my girlfriend again, your allowance will be completely canceled】
Qiao Rui: 【??????】
C: 【Looks like you have too much spending money with nowhere to spend it, so I'll help reduce that burden for you】
C:【I give you money to eat, drink, and have fun, not to cause trouble for my girlfriend every day】
Qiao Rui: 【I was wrong [crying emoticon/] [crying emoticon/]】
Xiao Chen ignored him after that.
10 minutes later, Qiao Rui sent him another WeChat message. By then, Yu Na had already finished showering. Xiao Chen was in the bathroom showering.
When Yu Na got into bed, she noticed Xiao Chen's phone light up. She took a look and surprisingly, it was a message from Qiao Rui—
【Bro, are you angry?】
【I won't upset Teacher Yu ever again [crying emoticon/]】
Yu Na: "......?"
She had wanted to unlock his phone to see, but she quickly dismissed that thought. She forcefully waited until Xiao Chen finished showering and got into bed before asking him, "Qiao Rui sent you a WeChat message."
"Ignoring him."
"What did you say to him?"
"Halving his allowance. If he upsets you again, I'll cancel it completely."
"Actually I was overthinking things earlier," Yu Na said, snuggling up to him in his arms, "Maybe it's also because you weren't here the last two nights."
Xiao Chen chuckled, "Is that so?"
"It should be. I'm feeling much better now. I was sleeping alone the last two nights with no one to talk to, so I could only think about things related to work. So..."
"Then don't think about it tonight," Xiao Chen rolled on top of her, his tone casual, "Why don't we do something else tonight?"
Yu Na: "......"
......
After some intimacy, Yu Na contentedly lay in his arms.
"This is my first time discovering it has an anti-anxiety effect!"
Xiao Chen still wasn't satisfied. "Want to go again?"
"Pervert!"
He nuzzled into the crook of her neck. "Baby, I still want to."
Blushing furiously, Yu Na said, "Uh...okay then..."
A trace of a wicked smile emerged as he lowered his head to kiss her, not missing a single spot.
Yu Na let out faint moans, powerlessly grabbing his shoulders, clenching and scratching.
After finishing, they cleaned up and returned to bed.
It was already late into the night.
Drowsiness quickly overcame Yu Na, and Xiao Chen hugged her tightly, "Go to sleep."
"Mm..." But she kept her eyes open, and after a while, said, "Xiao Chen, I don't want to be apart from you."
"Then I'll accompany you tomorrow too," Xiao Chen kissed her forehead, "Alright?"
"But if so—"
"No buts," Knowing her concerns, Xiao Chen said, "Why worry so much? I can't always neglect spending time with you because of him."
Yu Na listlessly traced circles on his Adam's apple.
Just then, she heard him utter words of affection as he kissed her lips, "I miss you."
......
The next day, Yu Na was woken up by Xiao Chen.
She was used to setting a loud, jarring alarm to prevent her from oversleeping.
But after waking up, Xiao Chen turned off her alarm, afraid of hurting her ears.
After washing up, Xiao Chen made breakfast. Then he returned to the bedroom to wake Yu Na up. "Let's eat at home today. I'll drive you to work after."
There was still ample time, so Yu Na tossed and turned in bed, before burrowing back into the blankets.
Xiao Chen bent down, moved to her ear and asked, "Not getting up? Then want to go again?"
"......"
As soon as Yu Na heard that, she immediately threw off her blankets and opened her arms to him coquettishly, "Carry me up."
Xiao Chen smiled indulgently and moved closer to her. Yu Na put her hands on his shoulders as Xiao Chen carried her up.
She rubbed against him in his arms. After fully waking up, she lazily went to the bathroom to wash up.
Xiao Chen returned to the dining room and set the table for breakfast.
After breakfast, he drove her to the north school gate.
Yu Na entered the classroom vigorous and refreshed. She unconsciously glanced in Qiao Rui's direction.
She immediately sensed something was off.
Typically at this time Qiao Rui would either be leisurely eating breakfast or chatting with the student in front of him.
But today, he was actually studying.
He was studying attentively. Taking a closer look, Qiao Rui had his head lowered looking over test questions while Xu Yi patiently explained them to him. Qiao Rui listened closely, occasionally nodding.
Could it be that Xiao Chen's words last night had an effect? Was he still afraid of his older brother after all?
Yu Na secretly rejoiced. She had randomly paired Qiao Rui with his deskmate initially without expecting this arrangement to work out much better than before.
In the next few days, as if having a kind of awakening, Qiao Rui studied very diligently with Xu Yi becoming his tutor.
She thought to herself, a deskmate really does make a big difference. There's a need to reshuffle the seating arrangement next time based on grades after the weekly test.
......
That Thursday night after Xiao Chen dropped Yu Na off at home, right as she took off her clothes, her room plunged into complete darkness.
Yu Na shuddered in fright.
The power was out.
She was afraid of the dark, especially when alone.
Yu Na quickly took out her phone and sent Xiao Chen a WeChat message—
N: 【I think there's a power outage......】
N: 【Have you left yet?】
C: 【No】
C:【Let me ask】
Before even two minutes passed, the door was suddenly opened. Xiao Chen also had his phone flashlight on as he walked in from outside.
Seeing him, Yu Na instantly felt relieved as delight showed on her face. She ran up to Xiao Chen and asked, "Why did you come back?"
"You're scared of the dark. How could I let you sleep alone?"
Xiao Chen pulled her into his embrace, looked her over seriously, his expression ambiguous, "Nice pajamas, I like them."
"...," Yu Na glanced down at the clothes she had on.
It was Xiao Chen's T-shirt.
