Two hours, of course, wouldn’t be enough.

But Shen Yi was patient now. He knew he had to take things step by step, so he just nodded.

Besides, their homes weren’t far apart. Two hours could easily turn into three, or even four...

The atmosphere in Year 3, Class 10 was great now. Many people had thought Sun Guotao was saddled with a thankless task, but who could have predicted this? In their first monthly exam, the class had jumped from second-to-last to fourth from the top. It was a massive improvement.

After all, the first and second-ranked classes were the honors classes. Between them, they had one hundred students who basically occupied the top 150 spots in the entire school.

Anyone who could squeeze into the school’s top 150 was considered a good student.

And making it into the top 50 made you an elite student.

But Sun Guotao just said with a beaming smile, "We’re just getting started. Those kids are all good kids. They’ve got plenty of potential left."

"You’re not being modest at all, are you, Vice-Principal?"

**

When school let out, Shen Yi and Qin Jiao pushed their bikes out together, discussing the solution to a math problem. Then, not far ahead, they saw Chen Feng on his bike with Lin Nian riding on the back.

Lin Nian turned to glance at Qin Jiao, then wrapped her arms around Chen Feng’s waist as if staking a claim.

Qin Jiao was a little speechless.

’Then again, it made sense. In Lin Nian’s eyes, Chen Feng and I were probably supposed to be a couple. In my past life, I dropped out of school early and ended up tied to Shen Yi, so of course, I never had much of a chance to interact with Chen Feng.’

’Later on, even though we both ended up living with the Shen Family, I was technically Chen Feng’s sister-in-law, so nothing could have happened between us anyway.’

’But this life is different.’

’In this life, Chen Feng and I are still just classmates. Even with the unpleasantness from before, that little bit of friction might not mean anything.’

As Qin Jiao watched the pair, Shen Yi was watching them too, a faint trace of envy in his eyes.

’If only Xiao Jiao were willing to sit on the back of my bike and wrap her arms around my waist...’ He turned to look at Qin Jiao and saw her clear gaze fixed on something, her thoughts unreadable. He felt a little helpless.

It looked like he would have to keep working hard to make that happen.

Qin Jiao and Shen Yi arrived home together. As they reached the main gate, they heard the sound of crying coming from inside.

Qin Jiao froze. Her first thought was that her mom or Xiao Shi was being bullied. She tensed up like an angry bird, wings flared and ready for a fight.

A moment later, however, she realized the person crying wasn’t her mom or Xiao Shi.

Shen Yi looked concerned. "Do you need help?"

"Not for now. I’m going to go in and see what’s happening."

She still treated him like an outsider, which brought a flicker of disappointment to Shen Yi’s eyes. He quickly pushed it aside, however, and said calmly, "Okay, I’ll head home then. If you need anything, just let me know. We’re... neighbors, after all."

"Mhm."

Qin Jiao was too worried about her family to pay much mind to Shen Yi’s "neighbors" comment. She pushed her bike into the courtyard, propped it aside, and hurried inside.

Shen Yi knew how fiercely protective Qin Jiao was of her family.

He let out a soft sigh.

’When will I become part of the family she protects?’

Qin Jiao had no idea what the person behind her was thinking. She hurried into the house, only to find her aunt, Qin Na, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time. Her aunt’s eyes were red from crying, there were red marks on her exposed arm, and one side of her face was slightly red and swollen.

So the crying Qin Jiao had heard earlier had been her aunt, Qin Na.