Study Group

"Should I wait for you around the block?" asked the taxi driver.

"Uhm, no need… I'll order another taxi when the time comes," responded Ye Qing, as his software update was about 99% finished by now. As he alighted from the taxi, as expected, the phone was already undergoing reset. Ye Qing nodded to himself and stored the phone away in the pocket of his pants, waved the taxi off, and started crossing over to the Heartstring Restaurant.

"Hm?" Ye Qing almost immediately spotted Zi Rumeng who was foolishly staring his way.

'What a coincidence,' Ye Qing thought to himself. Nonetheless, he smiled faintly and walked over. As for Zi Rumeng, she had also not expected to run into Ye Qing here of all places, she even thought that Teacher Xue might have something to do with it, given how much the latter knew of the insider information.

Zi Rumeng's friend had also noticed Ye Qing walking over, and the two girls ended up lagging behind the study group who began to file into the establishment enthusiastically.

"I didn't expect to meet you here, Class President Zi," Ye Qing greeted the young female with a smile as he turned to the other. "You are?..."

"Oh," the other female student smiled back. "You can call me Sister Yu, but my name is Yu Lansi. Who are you, handsome?"

"Sister Yu it is," Ye Qing nodded. "I'm the new transfer student to our public high school, I started attending supplementary classes yesterday. You can call me Brother Ye, and my name is Ye Qing, as in the silent night."

Yu Lansi's eyes widened with a sudden realization as she exclaimed, "So you're that new transfer guy! Haha, Meng'er was holding onto your jacket the entire day, how come you've forgotten something like that on school grounds? Then again, she did say you lose yourself easily when you're focused on studying."

"Now that you've mentioned it," Zi Rumeng interjected. "Why didn't you come to school today? You've missed plenty of materials…"

Ye Qing smiled. "Well, a lot of things happened, and the gist of it is that I'm occupying a big house all to myself now, so there's plenty of adjustments to make."

Ye Qing disdained lying, but he could be ambiguous about some things to avoid talking too much. Since Zi Rumeng didn't mention the auction to this close friend of hers, then he wouldn't mention it either, it could remain their little secret for now.

Zi Rumeng was relieved that Ye Qing didn't bring up the auction night, but she could immediately connect the dots based on what he said, and she thought to herself, 'So, Madam Ye is leaving? She's probably making her way to the Central Regions to establish a foothold… Sigh, fortunes really come and go on a whim!'

"What?! You're living alone? How old are you now, to actually live by yourself? What about your parents?" Yu Lansi fired her rapid chain of questions. As it seems, this girl was the type to speak whatever comes to mind, which didn't deviate much from her tall and energetic build, not even the school's uniform stood much of a chance when it came to concealing her fiery, exotic temper.

Ye Qing's heart shook as a sliver of unease bubbled in his eyes. However, the thick canopy of bangs concealed it very well, and he could only laugh dryly and respond, "If they didn't move out, how would I be in this situation? It's fine, though."

"Class President! Sister Yu! Hurry, everyone is waiting for you!"

Another high schooler popped her head from the front door and called out, feeling a bit out of sorts seeing her classmates talking to a stranger in the streets.

Zi Rumeng suddenly recalled the real purpose of coming to Heartstring Restaurant, an idea quickly forming in her mind as she asked, "Why not join our study group? We have prepared the materials for the week, this weekly gathering happens every Monday as the teachers supplement the students with a general concept to study, so we gather as a group and exchange notes together."

Yu Lansi also piped up, "Yes! Meng'er said you look very handsome when you're focused-..."

Zi Rumeng immediately clasped Yu Lansi's mouth, and the latter could only mumble and struggle to breathe from the sudden assault, her gaze pitiful even as she wrestled herself free once again. "Meng'er! I swear you'll be the death of me one of these days!"

Zi Rumeng's face was beet red as she stomped her foot on Yu Lansi's, exclaiming with a hint of shame in her tone, "God knows how many people you've killed already with that big mouth of yours!"

Ye Qing rubbed his nose, but he still hesitated as he said, "Um, is it appropriate though? I came here with a reservation to have dinner, so I didn't bring any study materials with me."

Even if he knew that a study group was scheduled for today, he didn't have any notes or books since he didn't have the time to buy any that fit the school's catalog.

"It's fine," Zi Rumeng hurriedly expressed. "You're a new student so you're not that familiar with our study materials or the school's general curriculum. You can treat this study group as a quick walkthrough as you prepare to join the study group for next week."

Yu Lansi interloped into the conversation again, saying, "Hey, if you're all alone in a big house, wouldn't it be better if we schedule the study group meetings there? I mean, I feel bad to take advantage of Brother Zhou's generosity all this time, and I'm trying to save money for my university, so…"

'This girl really shoots her mouth,' Ye Qing lamented on the inside, but he sank into silence as he pondered over the possibility. ZI Rumeng's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't cover up Yu Lansi's mouth this time, as she was quite curious about what sort of a house would Madam Ye have lived in.

"Well," Ye Qing hesitated for a bit but nodded helplessly. "I don't mind, however, you might wanna bring some raw cooking materials with you since I can't cook… Actually, leave the raw materials to me. No, actually, I'd have hired some people to do the chores by then, so there shouldn't be any issues when it comes to food…"

This was Ye Qing's first time inviting people over to his house, and whenever an issue worth addressing popped up in his mind, he would immediately think of a solution befitting his new lifestyle, which made his speech come off as comedic and awkward in the eyes of Zi Rumeng and Yu Lansi.

Yu Lansi chuckled. "This must be your first time home alone, isn't it?"

Even as she spoke, she circled her arms around Zi Rumeng's left arm and nudged her best friend to hurry up. "Let's go already, Meng'er, even more of our classmates are calling out for us."

She turned her head to look at the entrance, and as expected, another girl was heading downstairs, they could see her through the swathe of people.

"Are you coming or not?!" Zi Rumeng, even while being pulled away by Yu Lansi, had the spare time to look back and invite Ye Qing one last time. "I still have your jacket in my bag!"

"Fine, since you've already come so far," Ye Qing helplessly agreed, following behind the two.

…

In a private room on the top floor.

Heartstring Restaurant wasn't a luxurious establishment for the novelrich of the society and hence, their prices were relatively cheap when compared to the famous dining pavilions located throughout Haikou. However, moderate as these pieces may seem, that's only when compared to the behemoths of the industry.

In a sense, for a high school student to afford a private room reservation in such a place was very, very extravagant. Of course, to Brother Zhou, this was a small price to pay if he wanted to impress the host of beautiful and intelligent classmates of his.

What young man didn't enjoy vanity?

What young man didn't desire an illustrious reputation?

What young man didn't enjoy gazes of awe, admiration, and bashful amours from young women?

Brother Zhou definitely didn't belong to that category of young men.

A young female student entered the room and took her seat by the dining table as she helplessly shook her head, laughing. "Sister Yu and the Class President are still talking with that stranger downstairs, but they're already coming over, I saw them even before I got the chance to descend the staircase."

Brother Zhou nodded. "He must be an old acquaintance they've stumbled into by chance, we could afford to wait for a bit."

The young student thought for a bit and said, "I'm not sure, but I think they've invited him over to join us, do you think that's the new transfer student Teacher Xue talked about?"

Although the student said Teacher Xue, it was actually Zi Rumeng who introduced the topic in regard to Ye Qing, though the students had the impression she did so on behalf of Teacher Xue.

Brother Zhou narrowed his eyes.