11

The story of how Jiang Yan became Tao Jia's savior goes back to the last day of the previous semester, the final day of exams.

After Jiang Yan and his three friends finished their meal, they didn't return to the classroom. Instead, they went to a small internet café outside the school and played a couple of games. On their way back, they encountered some security guards stationed at the school gate.

The four of them then took a detour to the old gate on the west side of the campus and planned to climb over the dilapidated wall nearby. However, they ran into a group of vocational high school students.

The group was pulling a young girl, and there weren't many people on the street at that time. The girl was being dragged into an alley in broad daylight.

There were also some cries for help.

Jiang Yan initially didn't want to get involved. After all, people from the vocational high school were known for their unsavory behavior, and getting involved with them could be quite troublesome later on.

But ignoring it didn't seem right either.

Seeing that the group was about to enter the alley, Jiang Yan raised his arm and threw a plastic bottle with a drink in it at one of them.

Hu Hanghang, who was with them, shouted loudly, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Pay attention in public!"

The few boys at the alley entrance turned around and looked over. One of them, with dyed blonde hair, impatiently said, "Mind your own business, got it?"

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, picked up a stick from the pile of trash nearby, and knocked it against the wall a few times. "Sorry, but I'm going to take care of this matter."

Clearly looking for trouble, the vocational high school students were not unfamiliar with such situations and immediately became aggressive, swinging their fists at Jiang Yan's face.

Jiang Yan reacted quickly, dodging to the side and hitting one of them on the back with the stick, landing a heavy blow.

His friends Xu Yichuan and others swiftly joined the fight, and their teamwork, honed through countless brawls, left the vocational students at a disadvantage.

Unable to win openly, the vocational students resorted to underhanded tactics.

The blond-haired guy, taking advantage of Jiang Yan's distraction, raised a baseball bat, which he had apparently found somewhere, and swung it at Jiang Yan's head.

"Yan'er! Behind you!" Xu Yichuan shouted.

Jiang Yan turned around and dodged, but his shoulder still took a severe hit. Song Yuan, who was close by, seemed to hear a bone-breaking sound.

"Damn you!" Hu Hanghang, with his built physique, punched the blond-haired guy's nose and then grabbed his collar, smashing his head against his own knee.

The blond-haired guy ended up with a face covered in blood.

Xu Yichuan and Song Yuan quickly came over to add a few more kicks.

It was a fight with both sides suffering injuries.

Jiang Yan was rushed to the hospital, while the vocational students were taken away by the police who arrived later. The rescued girl was also taken to the police station.

Later, the girl testified that Jiang Yan and his friends had acted heroically, so the matter concluded with the vocational students being detained.

And that girl who was rescued was Tao Jia, who had been in the same exam room with Lin Tiao and Jiang Yan.

---

Lin Tiao learned about the heroic deed from Hu Hanghang, who embellished the story with his own version, "... Just as it happened, I used a standard Wing Chun punch to knock down the bad guys, and then I performed a Foshan Shadowless Kick to completely defeat them, I..."

"..." Lin Tiao rolled her eyes at him. "You're dead."

"Pfft." Hu Hanghang couldn't help but laugh. "Sis, wait, can't you listen to me seriously?"

"Given the time, I might as well use it to study properly." Lin Tiao set aside the gossip and pulled out a test paper from her bag.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yan, who was quietly watching a drama and keeping his achievements hidden, looked up at her and meaningfully said, "The early bird catches the worm, and diligent effort compensates for lack of talent."

Lin Tiao immediately retorted, "You're the one who's clumsy!"

"... As expected, she probably wouldn't understand these things coming from a poor student."

---

It was a sunny Tuesday, but after a rain, the temperature had dropped noticeably, with a hint of coolness in the wind.

Lin Tiao arrived at the classroom quite early, with only half the students present.

As class was about to start, Jiang Yan and his group burst in, each holding breakfast and munching on soy milk and yogurt.

Jiang Yan sat down at his desk and tossed a bag of soy milk onto Lin Tiao's desk. "A cup of soy milk in the morning helps you stay alert and sharp all day."

"..."

Somehow, Lin Tiao felt that after getting to know this person, he seemed to treat her like she was a fool.

She didn't know how she had given him the impression that she needed brain food, when he was the one who really needed it.

Of course, she couldn't say that out loud.

Under the circumstances, Lin Tiao took the still-warm soy milk from her desk and said sincerely, "Thank you."

Jiang Yan: "..."

The bell for morning reading rang.

The class health commissioner, Li Jiang, walked over to this group with the duty roster. "Wait, Xu Huanhuan, today it's your group's turn to do the cleaning. Make sure to assign the tasks. Lin Tiao has an arm injury, so she'll be exempt from duties for now."

"Okay, got it." Xu Huanhuan took the roster from Li Jiang and glanced at the name "Jiang Yan" on the list behind her, her hand trembling slightly.

Assign tasks?

Dare she assign tasks to the big guy?

So as soon as morning reading ended, Xu Huanhuan pulled Lin Tiao aside for help. "You know we're all on cleaning duty today, right?"

"Hmm? What's up?"

"Jiang Yan will be joining us too," Xu Huanhuan said, leaning on her desk. "So, could you help—"

"Help him with the work?!" Lin Tiao cut her off before she could finish. "Don't even think about it. He's got hands, doesn't he?"

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Yan, standing outside the window, looked inside with confusion.

"...Sister, are you always this irritable? Does your family know?"

Xu Huanhuan was nearly in tears. "No, I'm asking you to help assign tasks to Jiang Yan. We can't all be sweeping the classroom, and since your arm is injured, Li Jiang said you don't need to do any work."

"Fine, then let him take out the trash."

"Ah... Is that okay?"

Lin Tiao rubbed her brow. "Why wouldn't it be? Everyone can do it, and so can he. Don't worry, I'll tell him after school."

Xu Huanhuan was so moved she nearly cried.

---

After school, those on duty had to stay in the classroom to clean. Lin Tiao remembered Xu Huanhuan's request and spoke to Jiang Yan as soon as class ended.

"Today, we have to clean together, and you're in charge of taking out the trash."

Jiang Yan laughed when he heard this. "What's this? Cleaning duty? When have you ever seen me on duty at Number Ten High?"

"Never before, but today's your chance." Lin Tiao knew that making Jiang Yan take out the trash was a bit of a humiliation, so she pulled out a pair of disposable gloves from her bag. "Here, in case you're not used to it, I specially prepared gloves for you."

"Well, aren't you nice." Jiang Yan leaned against the wall, his bangs falling over his forehead, his dark eyes watching her as he chuckled. "There are so many people on duty; why must I be the one to take out the trash?"

"Because you're the only one without anything to do."

Lin Tiao wasn't lying. Of the seven people on duty, Xu Huanhuan and her deskmate, along with Song Yuan and Hu Hanghang, each handled a small part of the cleaning. The only other person left was Tao Jia, who was erasing the blackboard. So, Jiang Yan and Lin Tiao were the only ones without tasks.

"Hmm?"

Jiang Yan realized, "Aren't you also without anything to do?"

Lin Tiao lifted her injured arm. "I'm an invalid."

"I'm an invalid too, just that my cast came off a bit earlier."

Lin Tiao looked at his whining manner and coldly retorted, "Weakling."

"…?" Jiang Yan actually laughed this time, his tongue briefly touching his cheek before letting go. "What's this? Just taking out the trash and it's already become a personal attack?"

"Yeah, just taking out the trash. You can't keep whining; I don't know how you'll manage anything in the future without whining."

"…" Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, looking at her meaningfully. "I might not know what I'll do without whining, but there's one thing I definitely won't whine about."

"?"

Just then, his yellow joke that was about to slip out of his mouth suddenly felt inappropriate, as if saying such things to her was a great sin.

"Forget it, I won't tell you." Jiang Yan straightened up, rubbing her head gently with his warm, dry hand. "Move aside, I'll take out the trash."

Lin Tiao only realized she had been patted on the head after Jiang Yan left the classroom.

How ridiculous.

Does patting someone on the head make them grow taller?

---

After the seven of them finished cleaning the classroom, it was past twelve. Xu Huanhuan and her deskmate planned to grab a bite in the cafeteria, while Lin Tiao had gone to the restroom and hadn't returned yet.

Only Tao Jia, a girl, and the four boys were left. "Where are you guys planning to eat? Let's go together."

Xu Yichuan, putting his arm around Hu Hanghang's shoulder, said, "Sure, let's go to Uncle Chen's place. His food is really good."

Tao Jia checked the time. "It's almost twelve-thirty. We should hurry, or we might not get a seat."

Yes, yes, Fatty, move faster." Xu Yichuan pushed Hu Hanghang, who in turn squeezed closer, with Song Yuan following. Tao Jia was left behind.

After walking a few steps, she noticed Jiang Yan still standing at the back and smiled, "Jiang Yan, why aren't you coming?"

Xu Yichuan, ahead of them, answered, "He's waiting for his deskmate."

Hearing this, Jiang Yan looked up. "Yeah, you guys go ahead. I'll wait for her."

Tao Jia nodded. "Okay, then hurry over later."

Jiang Yan didn't respond further. Hu Hanghang urged Tao Jia to hurry, and she smiled as she followed. "You seem pretty familiar with Lin Tiao. Were you in the same class before?"

"No, we were only in the same class this semester."

"Then Jiang—" Tao Jia started to ask something, but Hu Hanghang interrupted, "Song Yuan, call Uncle Chen first. It'd be awkward if there's no seat when we get Back."

"Okay."

The topic was abruptly cut off.

Tao Jia's shoulders relaxed slightly, and she turned her head back, her lips curving down a bit.