Chapter 14

"No need to follow irrelevant people," Fu Ming Shi undid it for her, adding, "Focus on preparing for the college entrance exam. You can play on Weibo after."

Zhen Bao shrank back, feeling the pressure of a teacher's urging once more after having dropped out for so long.

"Mr. Fu, we're taking off soon."

Fu Ming Shi put away his laptop and phone for Zhen Bao as well.

"It might be a little shaky," he said, worried she wasn't used to flying.

Zhen Bao grew nervous. The plane really took off and her face paled. She shut her eyes tightly, hands clutching the armrests. Suddenly a large hand covered her left one. Zhen Bao opened her eyes in shock. Fu Ming Shi was casually continuing to hold her hand. Their eyes met. He gestured out the window with his chin. "Watching the sunset from a plane gives a very different feeling."

Zhen Bao couldn't help but turn towards the window.

She saw a magnificent sea of clouds, crimson at the horizon like waves, gradually fading in color.

She watched, mesmerized.

The setting sun coming through the glass window also tinted her cheeks red. Fu Ming Shi's gaze moved from her forehead all the way down, passing over her shimmering eyes, delicate nose, and landing on her pink lips, staring for a long time before slowly letting go just as she was about to react.

But the delicate sensation lingering on the back of her hand seemed to congeal in her palm.

Arriving in the capital, Zhen Bao began receiving intensive closed-door cram school tutoring for the college entrance exam. She was taking the science track. Fu Ming Shi selected six tutors from the résumés of top exam prep teachers forwarded by his assistant. Their average age was forty. They would directly stay at the villa and coach only Zhen Bao.

To prevent Zhen Bao from getting distracted, Fu Ming Shi stayed at another property these days and hadn't returned to the villa. He called every few days though. The old master had visited a few times.

All tutoring ended on the 5th since the exam officially started on the 7th. After seeing her English tutor Mr. Li out, Zhen Bao looked back at Fu Ming Shi's so-called European-style villa and suddenly felt an empty nest sensation.

Zhen Bao took Hei Dan to the second floor study, wanting to do some more English listening exercises, her weakest subject.

Hei Dan wandered around the desk before obediently lying down at its master's feet, head on the floor. After sprawling for a bit, Hei Dan suddenly perked up its ears and scampered to the French windows, beady dog eyes staring straight at a black car driving in.

"Woof!" Hei Dan barked.

Zhen Bao didn't hear it.

Hei Dan was a good guard dog. It didn't bother its master, running out on its own instead. Nimbly going downstairs and out to the living room, seeing the bad man who had bullied its master emerge from the black car, Hei Dan immediately began barking while retreating, still a bit afraid of the other party.

"Hei Dan!" Housekeeper Wang Ma admonished it in a low voice. Why make a fuss at every newcomer?

Hei Dan behaved itself a little better.

Fu Ming Shi took off his suit jacket as he walked inside, asking Wang Ma, "Where's Zhen Bao?"

"Miss Zhen is in the study, working very hard," Wang Ma said with a smile, speaking as if bragging about her own child, proud and wanting to show off to someone. Her son was now in 10th grade and taking the college entrance exam next year. Recently whenever she went home, she would use Zhen Bao as an example to spur him to study.

Fu Ming Shi's eyes flickered. He tossed his jacket on the sofa and headed straight upstairs. Hei Dan wanted to follow but was called back by Wang Ma.

Fu Ming Shi's pace going up the stairs was neither loud nor soft. Reaching the second floor, looking at the half-open study door, he involuntarily slowed down. Arriving at the entrance, he saw Zhen Bao sitting sideways at the desk, headphones over her head, posture upright, left hand holding a practice exam paper, right hand gripping a pen, marking answers.

Fu Ming Shi knocked on the door.

The audio track had just finished reading a question when Zhen Bao turned in surprise to see the man she hadn't met in nearly a month standing at the door, black pants and white shirt accentuating his handsome features with a sense of distance. Shock winning over delight, Zhen Bao immediately took off her headphones and stood up with a smile. "You, why did you come back today?"

They weren't that familiar to begin with, and it had been a long time since seeing each other, so some estrangement was inevitable upon reuniting.

"Not welcome?" Fu Ming Shi walked over, asking lightly with a hint of laughter in his eyes.

Realizing he was joking, Zhen Bao suddenly rediscovered the dynamic between them from their journey to the capital. She couldn't help glaring at him a little.

There was an English practice exam Zhen Bao had just finished on the desk. Full score was 150 and she had gotten 114.

Zhen Bao lowered her head, fidgeting with the desk, aware it wasn't a high mark.

The exam being right around the corner, Fu Ming Shi didn't want to put more pressure on her. "Not bad. How much did you get for the other subjects?"

In the past couple days, Zhen Bao had been doing mock exams. She scored 135 in Chinese, 120 in math, and 213 in comprehensive science.

After Fu Ming Shi calculated it out and looked up last year's minimum admission scores in the capital on his phone, he laughed. He sincerely praised her, "Several dozen points above last year's first-tier minimum. Based on this, even if you relied on yourself, as long as your performance is steady during the actual exam, you should be able to get into a good university." With self-study alone, she could test into these scores. Zhen Bao would definitely have been a top student if she had stayed in school.

There was meaning behind his words. Zhen Bao repeated in puzzlement, "Even if I relied on myself?"

Fu Ming Shi turned around, leaning back against the desk with both hands braced on its surface, head tilted as he looked at her. The sunlight shining through illuminated half his face, also gentling his gaze. "Zhen Bao, you're my fiancée. If you want to attend university, even without taking the exam, I can arrange for you to enroll in any institution."

Having already witnessed the Fu family's wealth, Fu Ming Shi's statement didn't deliver any new shock value to Zhen Bao. She just felt a little uncomfortable, lowering her head to say, "However much I test into is how much it is. If I can't make it into first-tier, second-tier colleges are still pretty good. Don't get me in through connections." She didn't want classmates ridiculing her for taking a backdoor. She had no money, but she wanted to enter university through real scores.

"Alright, but before going into the exam, it'd be best to relax and not do any more practice questions tonight. Let's go out to eat."