24

"Save the URL to continue watching next time."

The young girl's voice was already quite soft, and now, having just woken up, it sounded even softer, with a little lilt at the end that was very charming.

Guan Che was stunned. As someone used to hearing "sister" and "little sister" from various people, he had never encountered a response like Lin Tiao's before.

The chopsticks he had in his mouth fell to the ground with a clatter. He snapped back to reality, bent down to pick them up, and glanced back at the person standing behind him.

Jiang Yan remained silent, his face expressionless as he made eye contact with Guan Che.

Guan Che felt a bit flustered, thinking that Lin Tiao's "brother" might just have severed his bond with Jiang Yan.

He chuckled awkwardly, placed the small dumplings he was holding on the table, and subtly moved away from Jiang Yan. "Uh, Lin Tiao, is your friend still not up yet?"

Lin Tiao didn't notice the turmoil in Guan Che's mind. Her use of "brother" was merely a casual joke, and she didn't take it seriously. Hearing his question about Meng Xin, she replied casually, "Meng Xin probably isn't up yet. I'll go upstairs and wake her."

"Go ahead, we'll wait for you back here," Guan Che said, pointing to the small lounge behind the bar.

"Okay."

Lin Tiao turned and went upstairs. Guan Che leaned against the bar, his gaze on Jiang Yan. He raised his hands and swore, "I swear to heaven, I'm used to calling people that. I didn't mean anything by it."

Jiang Yan didn't look at him and carried the food to the small lounge.

Guan Che followed, carrying his things, and said, "Believe me, I would never disrespect a friend's wife. You know what kind of person I am."

They entered the lounge together. Jiang Yan placed the food on the square table in the middle and, hearing Guan Che's words, looked up with a faint smile. "What kind of person are you?"

He lowered his head and started unpacking the breakfast, continuing, "You're not a person."

Guan Che laughed, seeing that Jiang Yan wasn't actually angry, and leaned closer. "You're still jealous over just being called 'brother.' I'm just calling her 'sister.'"

Jiang Yan frowned, his voice a bit harsh, "It's not just about being called 'brother.' She's just a young girl who isn't even of legal age. You should show her some respect."

"I'm respectful! It's just 'sister'—I used to call my classmates that in middle school for two years. Why shouldn't I show her respect?"

"It's none of my business how you call others. He's a big man with a thick skin. How you address him is irrelevant."

Guan Che wanted to argue further but noticed Lin Tiao and Meng Xin approaching, so he stopped. He said, "Anyway, there's definitely something going on."

He then turned to Lin Tiao with a casual attitude. "Sister, you're up! Come and have breakfast."

Jiang Yan: "…"

Damn it.

By the time breakfast was finished, it was already late. Jiang Yan and Guan Che quickly cleaned up the trash, and the four of them headed out together.

The early autumn sun was not very strong, and there was a cool breeze.

Guan Che was from the nearby No. 9 Middle School, which was just across the street from No. 10 Middle School. When they reached the intersection, they went their separate ways. Before leaving, Guan Che made sure to tease Jiang Yan one last time. "Sister, I'm leaving now. Goodbye!"

Jiang Yan: "…"

Lin Tiao smiled awkwardly but politely and waved. "Goodbye."

As the three of them reached the school gate, the head teacher, Li Kun, checked his watch. Seeing their slow pace, he shouted, "What are you three doing, moving like a slow-moving ox cart?"

The three of them: "…"

Lin Tiao couldn't understand how a man in his forties could be so energetic every day, with a voice loud enough to reach the sky, completely different from the middle-aged Mr. Yu.

Under the watchful eye of Principal Li Kun, the three hurried into the school.

Just as they reached the bottom of the teaching building, the bell for the morning self-study rang. Meng Xin had self-study with Mr. Yang, the homeroom teacher, and upon hearing the bell, she called out, "Mr. Yang has been strict about tardiness lately. Tiao Tiao, I have to go now."

Without waiting for Lin Tiao's response, she disappeared.

Lin Tiao and Jiang Yan remained at the staircase on the first floor.

Not knowing if it was just her imagination, Lin Tiao felt that Jiang Yan seemed much quieter than usual this morning, especially during breakfast.

Apart from telling the incessant chatterbox Guan Che to be quiet, Jiang Yan hadn't said a word.

"You—" Lin Tiao was about to ask something, but Jiang Yan had already taken a long stride up the stairs. She hesitated for a moment and quickly followed.

The bell for the preparatory period had just rung, and the classroom was still empty of teachers.

Lin Tiao followed Jiang Yan into the classroom and took a seat. Hu Hanghang and Song Yuan, who were sitting behind them, leaned in and asked, "How come you two arrived together?"

"We were together last night," Lin Tiao replied, putting her bag back into the drawer and turning to look at them.

"Geez," Hu Hanghang slapped the table, looking distressed, "Bro, you really have no shame."

"Lin Tiao is so young," Lin Tiao said.

Lin Tiao was at a loss for words.

Jiang Yan glanced at Hu Hanghang, his look akin to that of someone seeing a fool. "You need to get your brain checked. Don't drag others down with you."

Hu Hanghang fell silent, and then asked Lin Tiao quietly, "What's going on? Why were you together last night?"

The progress seemed too fast for him to handle.

Lin Tiao felt she had dug herself into a hole. She wasn't sure whether these two knew about Jiang Yan working outside.

She hesitated, unsure how to respond.

This hesitation gave Hu Hanghang a different impression. "Lin Tiao, be bold. Song Yuan and I will stand up for you."

Hearing this, Song Yuan pushed his head away. "You can be foolish on your own, but don't involve me."

"For crying out loud, is that what you call making sense?" Hu Hanghang briefly doubted his friends were real.

Lin Tiao couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes, she wondered how Jiang Yan, with his temper, ended up with so many lively friends.

She beckoned Hu Hanghang closer, whispering, "Last night after school, my deskmate wanted to go online. I caught him and followed him to supervise."

Jiang Yan, who was listening nearby, "..."

This was becoming a serious matter.

Hu Hanghang became even angrier. "Bro, you really have no shame."

No one else picked up the conversation, but he continued, "You went online without telling us. Were you secretly leveling up?"

"Old Song, you should manage this. Isn't this too much?"

Jiang Yan moved his chair back and slapped Hu Hanghang on the head. "I work night shifts; leveling up is not my business."

"Oh, if you had said so earlier," Hu Hanghang rubbed his head and quieted down.

The Chinese teacher, Mu Hui, entered the classroom holding a cup of water, and the room immediately quieted down.

Lin Tiao pulled out her Chinese textbook, flipped through a page, and asked Jiang Yan, "Do Hu Hanghang and the others know about your job at the internet café?"

Jiang Yan glanced at her and nodded, but said nothing more.

His job wasn't a secret. During his first year, he often went out instead of attending self-study sessions. Over time, it was impossible to keep it hidden.

However, he hadn't expected even his little deskmate to know now.

Thinking of this morning's events, Jiang Yan looked at her with lowered eyes. "In the future, stay away from Guan Che."

Lin Tiao was surprised and asked, "Why?"

She actually thought Guan Che was quite fun and approachable, even if his manner was casual.

"What's with the 'why'? Just because you called him 'brother' once doesn't make him good news," Jiang Yan said, his temples throbbing at the thought of this morning's 'brother' calls.

"Why didn't I notice how easy-going girls were back then?"

Lin Tiao opened her mouth, startled. "He didn't actually ask me to call him 'brother.' I just joked around because he was calling me 'sister.' It has nothing to do with him."

"So now you're defending him?"

Jiang Yan's face was cold as he stared at her. He wanted to say something but ended up saying nothing.

Lin Tiao looked at him, trying to suppress her laughter. "Is it really okay for you to speak ill of others behind their backs?"

Jiang Yan remained silent.

Lin Tiao looked at him for a moment and finally gave in. "Alright, I'll try to interact with him less in the future."

She then added, "But honestly, calling someone 'brother' isn't a big deal."

"If you want to hear it, I can call you 'brother' ten times."

Jiang Yan, "..."

She proceeded to call out, "Brother," repeatedly.

Jiang Yan was stunned, unable to react. Lin Tiao continued to call, "Brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother, brother."

"..."

Damn it. Jiang Yan cursed silently in his heart.

It must be said, Lin Tiao was a master at dealing with all kinds of flashy things.

After Lin Tiao's calls that morning, Jiang Yan didn't speak a single word to her for the next four classes. He looked as if he wanted to sever all ties with her.

But Lin Tiao didn't take it to heart.

She knew Jiang Yan just needed some time to cool off. After a while, things would naturally get better.

At noon, Lin Tiao had planned to have lunch with Meng Xin, so she didn't join the other four. She left as soon as class ended and went to Meng Xin's class downstairs.

The teacher was keeping the class late.

Lin Tiao stood in the hallway, waiting for about five minutes, and finally heard the noise from inside. She turned around and saw the teacher leaving with books and teaching materials, with Meng Xin following behind, head lowered.

It seemed she had been caught sleeping in class.

Lin Tiao couldn't help but laugh. As the classroom erupted with students leaving, she stayed put and casually glanced around.

Not surprisingly, she saw Tang Yushi and her friends walking out of the classroom, chatting and laughing.

Tang Yushi clearly spotted her too.

Lin Tiao raised her eyebrows, provocatively looking at her.

Since school had just started and nothing significant had happened, she hadn't had a chance to address the issue from the basketball court last time.

Since they had run into each other now, she decided it was time to get some clarification.

Tang Yushi seemed to have something to say, and after talking with her friends, she walked alone towards Lin Tiao.

The crowd around them moved back and forth.

Lin Tiao wasn't worried about what Tang Yushi might do.

"Lin Tiao," Tang Yushi, who was about 1.7 meters tall, stood in front of Lin Tiao, exuding an imposing presence. She pressed her lips together and said, "I was wrong about what happened at the basketball court last time."

"..."

This wasn't what she had expected; it didn't follow the script.

Lin Tiao leaned back against the railing, creating some distance between them to reduce the pressure. She squinted her eyes and asked, "So, you did it on purpose?"

Tang Yushi didn't expect Lin Tiao's logic to be like this. After a few seconds of hesitation, seemingly realizing something, she nodded, "Yes, I did it on purpose back then."

Lin Tiao was surprised at how easily she admitted it. She scrutinized Tang Yushi's face and then said "I've always wondered if I did something to offend you. Since my first year in high school, you've always had something against me."

"But later, I stopped thinking about it. The answer isn't that important to me."

Lin Tiao glanced downstairs, her expression unusually serious. "I hope the incident on the basketball court was the first and last time. You might think I'm not one to seek revenge, but I'm not foolish enough to let others bully me without retaliating." She smiled, but the smile was cold. "I didn't pursue it before because we were in the same class and I didn't want to escalate things."

Another reason was that Lin Tiao's homeroom teacher in her first year was a friend of her parents. She had been independent since a young age and didn't like to involve her parents in these matters.

In the first year, Tang Yushi frequently targeted Lin Tiao, forming cliques and pulling in her dorm mates and the girls in the adjacent dorm to her side.

Lin Tiao didn't board at the school and had only Meng Xin to hang out with. She had a relatively quiet period at the beginning of the school year but didn't mind.

Later, during a spring outing organized by the class, Lin Tiao, despite not being very active, quickly integrated with the other girls due to her strong personality.

Lin Tiao didn't pay much attention to Tang Yushi, who was simply jealous of her for being outstanding, beautiful, and good at studying—something that was understandable.

Lin Tiao's indifference made Tang Yushi think she was easy to bully, and since Lin Tiao usually appeared soft, Tang Yushi assumed she wouldn't dare to stand up to her.

So that day on the court, Tang Yushi threw the ball at her without considering the consequences.

Unexpectedly, Tang Yushi, who had tried to negotiate with Jiang Yan and ended up in an awkward situation, couldn't help but retort, "Yes, it was wrong of me to throw the ball at you. I apologize."

"But that was between us. Why should Jiang Yan come after me?" Tang Yushi's anger grew. "Do you think that just because you have someone backing you now, you're so great?"

Lin Tiao was genuinely shocked, thinking this girl's logic was different from normal.

She sneered, "If you hadn't provoked me first, would he have come after you? Please, look at yourself before criticizing others."

Tang Yushi was furious. "Do you think Jiang Yan will always be on your side?"

Lin Tiao was about to respond when a lazy voice suddenly came from behind.

"Why wouldn't he?"