Chapter 59: Rescuing the Top Student from School Bullying (7)

Zhou Chenglong didn’t return to class. Luo Xun had a very happy day. She finally had new books and could earnestly take notes during lessons. After a full lunch, she took a nap and had energy for the entire afternoon.

That evening, she refused to let Tang Qi escort her home again, but her refusal was pointless—Tang Qi would just force her into the car. Yet, Luo Xun didn’t dislike Tang Qi’s forceful nature.

At the intersection, Tang Qi got out of the car and walked her to her door. Seeing the dark, unlit house, Tang Qi hesitated, thinking she should find a time to talk to Luo Xun about moving.

“See you tomorrow.” Luo Xun waved.

“See you tomorrow.” Tang Qi reached out and squeezed her bun again. She felt it was easy to get addicted to this. She chuckled quietly, unable to resist a cheesy line: “Make sure to dream of me when you sleep!”

In the darkness, Luo Xun blushed furiously again. She fled from Tang Qi and ran back home. As Tang Qi watched her silhouette disappear, an immense sense of peace filled her heart.

Truthfully, she still wasn’t sure what her feelings for Luoluo were. Probably affection! But she knew with a clarity that she liked having Luoluo by her side.

She had learned the taste of companionship and never wanted to experience that feeling of utter loneliness again.

Senior year had no proper weekends, just a half-day break on Sunday afternoons. Usually, during this half-day, Luo Xun would collect bottles to supplement the household income, or go to the market to pick up discarded vegetables.

This week, she hadn’t bought breakfast for Zhou Chenglong and saved a bit of money. After much hesitation, she decided to use this half-day to study, for the first monthly exam of senior year had arrived as scheduled.

Tang Qi was a transfer student and was assigned to the last exam room. The other students were arranged by their grades. Luo Xun was in the second exam room.

All subjects were finished in a single day. Without giving anyone a chance to catch their breath, two days later, the results were posted on the large Honor Roll. The rankings, written on red paper and pasted on the school’s bulletin board, were nothing short of a public execution.

Tang Qi and Luo Xun walked into the school to see a crowd gathered around the bulletin board. Luo Xun was a bit nervous, but also expectant. “I wonder how my results are?”

This time she had studied properly; maybe she had improved a bit!

Tang Qi knew Luo Xun’s grades were good. The Book of the World wrote that when Zhou Chenglong had achieved success and fame, he pursued Luo Xun and always brought up the past, saying Luo Xun was a top student.

But by then, Luo Xun had already dropped out of school for many years. Wasn’t that just stabbing a knife into her heart?

Did Zhou Chenglong actually like her, or did he just like watching her fall from her pedestal?

Tang Qi walked up to the bulletin board. Seeing her, the others silently made room. A few whispered things like, “Tang Qi is here.” “Is she Tang Qi?” “So impressive!” and other such comments.

Luo Xun didn’t understand why. Her eyes moved to the Honor Roll, and the first thing she saw was the name at the very top, written with the thickest marker: Tang Qi, Score: 748.

“Tang… Tang…” Luo Xun grabbed Tang Qi’s hand, overjoyed and surprised. Her voice even rose a pitch. “You’re first! You’re so amazing!”

Tang Qi wasn’t surprised, but being looked at with such adoration by Luo Xun was rather gratifying.

She smiled and lightly pinched Luo Xun’s bun. “Let’s find yours.” She began to seriously search for Luo Xun’s result and finally saw her name at the 268th position.

A grade had over a dozen classes, nearly a thousand students. This result wasn’t bad. But for Luo Xun… Tang Qi immediately noticed Luo Xun’s expression was off. She reassured her, “It’s alright.”

Luo Xun felt terrible inside. This time she had time to review, she thought… she thought her grades would be very good.

For a whole class period, Luo Xun was despondent. After class, Tang Qi went to find the homeroom teacher. Hearing that Tang Qi wanted to see previous transcripts, she readily brought out the transcripts from the first year of high school to the last.

Luo Xun had entered the school ranked second in her class and fiftieth in the grade. By the midterms of the first semester, her grades had risen to first in her class and the top ten of the grade.

But in the monthly exam after the midterms, her grades slipped. Every exam after that, her rank and scores would drop a bit more, never recovering.

Tang Qi understood in her heart. This was when Luo Xun first started being bullied, and it affected her grades. The best she’d done since was the final exam of her second year: eighth in her class and sixtieth in the grade.

It was hard to imagine, after enduring so much malice, how Luo Xun had managed to grit her teeth and persevere!

The System kept scolding Zhou Chenglong while feeling heartbroken and trying to defend Luo Xun: “Luoluo was bullied, and when she got home, she still had to take care of her mother. She’s very strong.”

“Yes!” Tang Qi put down the transcripts. For others to achieve something with one part effort, Luo Xun needed ten or a hundred times that.

What if those things hadn’t happened to her?

How dazzlingly bright should her Luoluo have shone?

Back in the classroom, this period was the most hard-won PE class of senior year. The students had long since run off, leaving only Luo Xun, still sitting there in a daze. Tang Qi took her hand and said with a low laugh, “Still upset?”

Luo Xun blinked. Tang Qi leaned in and pointed to her own face. “Did you notice, while you were upset and daydreaming, you missed an opportunity right in front of you?”

“What opportunity?” Luo Xun’s mind was a little blank.

“The me standing in front of you, the top student in the grade.” Tang Qi’s slender, pale fingers tapped the desk. “You’re about to miss tutoring from the top student. Beg me, maybe I’ll help you…”

She tugged at the hem of Luo Xun’s clothes, her tone teasingly rising at the end. “What do you say? Hm~”

Luo Xun didn’t react for a moment and tilted her head to look at Tang Qi. Tang Qi chuckled, leaning closer until their noses were almost touching. “You looking this cute is practically illegal!”

“What’s illegal?” Luo Xun was startled by the magnified face and instinctively leaned back, only to lose her balance and fall backwards.

Tang Qi, with quick reflexes, caught her and pulled, adding a bit of mischievous force.

Due to the counter-force, Luo Xun fell directly onto Tang Qi, her face landing right on her chest. A faint scent of soap wafted into Tang Qi’s nose.

There was an indescribable, subtle sweetness to it.

An embrace! Tang Qi’s eyebrows curved in delight, her laughter shaking her chest. This life’s Luo Xun was a tiny little one, incredibly comfortable and soft to hold in her arms.

She really wanted to pinch her! Tang Qi thought, a little shamelessly!

Luo Xun only felt her face bump into something soft. Uncomprehending and curious, she gave it a squeeze, and then heard Tang Qi’s amused voice: “How’s the feel?”

The feel?

Luo Xun looked up and only then realized what she was squeezing. She immediately raised her hands, stammering, “I, I wasn’t… I’m sorry!”

She tried to pull back, but Tang Qi held her tightly. This time, she was so tense she didn’t dare move. Her hands pushed against the chair, straining to keep her face from touching the softness before her, her whole body stiff as a board.

“‘Sorry’ and that’s it?” Tang Qi looked down and unexpectedly discovered that because of Luo Xun’s exertion, her collar had opened wide. From this angle, she could see… Luo Xun’s chest, a complete, unobstructed view.

Tang Qi mentally chastised herself, looked up at the ceiling, but couldn’t resist a sidelong glance before coughing a few times. “Ahem, how about this: I tutor you, and we’ll call it my compensation to you.”

She let go of Luo Xun. Luo Xun struggled to sit up, completely unaware she had just been seen in full. “You’re tutoring me, so how is that you compensating me?”

Tang Qi rubbed her nose and laughed awkwardly a few times, unable to suppress the stirring curiosity in her heart. Her mouth ran off, teasing, “Because I want to stay with Luoluo!”

After successfully making Luo Xun blush bright red, Tang Qi made a final decision. “Then it’s settled. I’ll tutor you. How about this… you come stay at my place in the evening, and I’ll help you study.”

Luo Xun, who had been blushing, immediately refused upon hearing this. “No, no, I can’t!”

“Why not?” Tang Qi asked the question despite knowing the answer. She felt like she was luring a young girl away.

“My mother’s health is poor; she’s bedridden. I need to go home and take care of her.” Luo Xun shook her head. “You can just explain things to me during breaks.”

“Luoluo, do you want to get into a good university?” Tang Qi suddenly became serious. Luo Xun nodded; this was her dream since childhood.

“Then think about it. It’s senior year now. We have less than a year until the Gaokao. This year determines your future, your whole life.” Tang Qi coaxed and guided earnestly.

“You get home at nine every night and have to care for your mother and do housework. How much time does that take? What if you used that time to study?” Tang Qi steadily led Luo Xun’s thoughts along with her own. “How much time are breaks during the day? Enough for a few problems?”

“With your current grades, you need systematic tutoring, not just ten or twenty minutes here and there!”

Luo Xun was silent. Tang Qi put away her serious expression and revealed her ulterior motive. “Here’s the deal: you and your mother both move into my place. My house is very big; it’s just me and the nanny. The nanny can help take care of your mother, and you’ll have more time to study.”

Luo Xun’s immediate reaction was to refuse, but Tang Qi cut her off directly. “No refusing. Think about your future. If you feel you owe me, you can pay me back when you earn money later. You can pay me back double, triple, right?”

“But…”

“There’s no ‘but.’ If you feel uncomfortable about it, you can write me an IOU.” Tang Qi took out a pen and paper. “Just write that you’re staying temporarily at my place, and the rent and tutoring fees will be repaid after university graduation.”

She picked up the pen and quickly wrote out the IOU. “Done, just sign your name.”

Luo Xun didn’t know how she had been persuaded. In a daze, she signed her name, then couldn’t help but ask, “What if I can’t pay it back?”

Tang Qi revealed a big, bad wolf’s smile. “You won’t. You have to believe in yourself.” She tucked away Luo Xun’s self-signed contract.

Tang Qi returned home in a very good mood. She called the nanny to tidy up the room, made a list, and told the driver to go buy some things tomorrow.

“What’s Luoluo doing?” Tang Qi asked the System.

Whenever she left, she’d have the System keep an eye on Luoluo, afraid something might happen. The System laughed so hard it rolled around. “She’s telling her mom everything you brainwashed her with today. It looks like her mom is about to be convinced, too.”

“Host, you, tricking Luoluo into cohabitation, really…”

How was this a trick? She genuinely wanted to help Luo Xun improve her grades!

The System clicked its tongue on the side, then suddenly changed its tone. “Host, I see a few strange people near Luoluo’s house.”

Tang Qi abruptly stood up, threw on her coat, and headed out. The System spoke: “I’ve seen these people before. They’re students from your school. They just sneaked into the yard of Luoluo’s house.”

“Exchange for a Teleportation Card.” Tang Qi didn’t hesitate. The System quickly made the exchange. “Spending 1000 points, exchanging Teleportation Card!”

In the next moment, Tang Qi appeared at the intersection of Luo Xun’s street. She deactivated her invisibility and immediately heard a muffled cry nearby, a sound clearly made by Luo Xun.

Tang Qi’s fury blazed sky-high. She kicked open the gate to Luo Xun’s yard. The originally dark house was now lit. Several people were covering Luo Xun’s mouth, and several others were cursing loudly.

Mother Luo was lying face down on the ground, her fate unknown!