13. Seeking Help

The midterm exams were scheduled for the end of the month. Pei Huan had been having so much fun lately that she almost forgot about them; it wasn’t until Li Xuan reminded her that she snapped back to reality. Staring at the stack of review materials on his desk, she still couldn't believe it. "Didn't we just finish the monthly exams?"

"That was more than half a month ago already," Li Xuan replied, exasperated.

Pei Huan nodded in understanding, then suddenly remembered something and looked at Li Xuan with a blank expression. "But why are you starting to review too? Haven't you always just winged your exams?"

Li Xuan scratched his nose, avoiding her gaze, but still found an excuse for himself. "My parents said if I get such a low score again this time, they’ll cut down my allowance."

"Are you really someone who would bow for five measures of rice?" Pei Huan asked soul-searchingly.

Li Xuan nodded with utmost seriousness. "I am."

Pei Huan looked at him as if deeply heartbroken, only a step away from accusing him of secretly leaving her behind to make his own way in the world.

But that very night when she got home, her parents gave her the same ultimatum: if she scored as low as last time in the midterms, they would reduce her allowance. Pei Huan didn’t dare to protest a word—after all, her lifeline lay in their hands.

Pei Yan sat nearby, sipping water, watching Pei Huan’s thunderstruck expression with barely concealed glee.

Once they were upstairs, Pei Huan began her complaints. "You just let them say that and didn’t help me at all?"

"How could I help?" Pei Yan replied, speechless. "With scores like yours, I’m embarrassed to admit you’re my sister at school."

Pei Huan thought about it and had to agree. Pei Yan was top of the senior year, and people often said, with grades like his, his sister’s must not be bad either. Whenever that happened, Pei Huan, usually quick-tongued, could only stand beside her brother and smile quietly.

"If Mom and Dad really cut down my allowance, will you help me out?" Pei Huan looked at him hopefully.

Pei Yan answered with just two heartless words: "I won’t." Then he disappeared into his room.

Pei Huan stared wide-eyed at his firmly closed door.

Really? Weren’t people at school always saying how generous and helpful Pei Yan was? Then who was that cruel soul who just shut her out?

Left with no choice, Pei Huan had to buckle down. When Li Xuan, Wang Xun, and Tang Yue saw her staying in her seat reviewing notes after class, they couldn’t help but sigh in amazement. Tang Yue teased, "Well, look at that—when did our Huan start studying of her own accord?"

"If you’re willing to support me for a month after the midterms, I could drop it all and hang out with you right now," Pei Huan replied.

That was all it took for Li Xuan to catch on. Leaning in, he said mischievously, "Wasn’t there someone yesterday calling me out for bowing down for five measures of rice? So who’s bowing down for five measures of rice today?"

"Me." Pei Huan responded with a deadpan face.

The three burst out laughing, while Pei Huan looked at them speechless.

Weren’t true friends supposed to stick together through thick and thin? Why were these three now ganging up to mock her?

During lunch break, Li Xuan and Wang Xun went off to play basketball, leaving Pei Huan alone in the classroom, diligently working through problems. But there was one question she just couldn’t solve, no matter what she tried. Just then, Lu Yinghuai happened to walk by her desk. She grabbed the corner of his shirt as if clutching a lifeline. Lu Yinghuai knew exactly what she wanted but still turned to look at her.

"I can’t solve this problem. Can you teach me?" Pei Huan asked, her sincerity almost making her fold her hands in prayer.

Without a word, Lu Yinghuai sat down at Li Xuan’s desk. Pei Huan slid her test paper over, pointing at the question she couldn’t do, looking up at him with genuine eagerness to learn.

Lu Yinghuai only needed a few seconds to get a sense of the problem. His clear, cool voice sounded, "You should start like this with this question..."

He had a very pleasant voice, and as he explained, it became even lower and clearer. For a brief moment, Pei Huan almost regretted asking him for help.

After he finished, Lu Yinghuai glanced at her and immediately realized she hadn’t really listened. With a sigh, he said, "I’ll explain it again."

Pei Huan nodded, this time focusing all her attention on the problem. After his explanation, she suddenly understood and tried it herself. Lu Yinghuai looked over and said, "That’s right."

"I’m awesome, aren’t I?" Pei Huan looked at him, waiting for praise.

Lu Yinghuai glanced at her before finally saying, "You are."

Taking advantage of his presence, Pei Huan asked him about all the points she didn’t understand. Lu Yinghuai’s explanations were simple and clear; after hearing them twice, she could grasp the solutions. By the end of lunch break, her progress was remarkable.

"Remember to review later, or all my explanations will be useless," Lu Yinghuai said mildly.

"I know, Teacher Lu," Pei Huan replied with a grin.

The title made Lu Yinghuai pause for a split second. Meeting Pei Huan’s smiling eyes, he felt a strange emotion stir within him, but his face remained expressionless as he stood up and left without another word.

When Li Xuan came back, he saw Pei Huan smiling happily. He sat down, took a sip of water, and asked, "What’s making you so happy?"

"I’m going to ace the midterms," Pei Huan declared confidently.

Li Xuan glanced at her densely filled test paper and teased, "Didn’t expect it, but you’re actually kind of impressive when you put in the effort."

Pei Huan felt quietly smug.

Li Xuan tidied his desk before saying, "The sports meet is next month."

"I know," Pei Huan put her pen back in her case. "I didn’t sign up for anything. Did you?"

"I was coaxed into it. They said if I didn’t, no one at school would get to admire my handsome self," Li Xuan replied, pretending to be helpless.

Pei Huan looked at him blankly. "And you believed that?"

"Why not? I might pick up a few more fangirls," Li Xuan said narcissistically.

Pei Huan decided not to engage with him any further.

Soon, the midterm exams arrived. They were much more formal than the monthly tests, with stricter proctoring. Pei Huan’s usual tricks were useless in such a big exam. Faced with a math paper even harder than the monthly one, she could only grit her teeth and push through.

That afternoon, when she got home, Pei Yan could tell she looked as if she were about to collapse. For once, he showed some brotherly concern. "Don’t be so discouraged. If you really run out of money, I’ll help you out."

At those words, Pei Huan’s lifeless eyes suddenly glowed. "You mean it, Pei Yan?"

His sister’s sudden change of expression startled Pei Yan. "I-I do."

Pei Huan put on a look of tearful gratitude. "They say girls with big brothers are lucky, and you really are my brother!"

Pei Yan was so embarrassed by her antics that he wanted to crawl out of his skin, especially since they were out in public. Worried more people would notice them, he quickly said, "Enough already, okay? I’ll buy you something good to eat, just stop embarrassing me."

"Okay," Pei Huan agreed cheerfully.

After that, Pei Huan shamelessly ate away a good amount of Pei Yan’s money. Watching her eat with such joy while his wallet grew lighter, Pei Yan almost wanted to strangle her, but since she was his sister, he could only endure it.

He consoled himself with that thought.

After the midterms, they had a two-day weekend. Pei Huan was called out to go shopping by Shen Qinshi and Tang Yue. The three of them wandered the streets, popping into any shop that caught their interest before moving on.

"I heard we’ll be changing seats again after this midterm, right?" Tang Yue asked.

"Yeah," Pei Huan nodded.

Shen Qinshi was surprised. "That’s how your class assigns seats?"

Both nodded. Shen Qinshi was green with envy; in her class, the homeroom teacher assigned seats based on whim, so who you sat with depended entirely on her mood. Tang Yue and Pei Huan listened and felt lucky that their class was so democratic.

"But isn’t Lu Yinghuai in your class? I bet a lot of people want to sit with him," Shen Qinshi said, smiling.

"He’s in high demand," Pei Huan replied, sipping her milk tea. "But right now he sits with our school beauty, and I feel like after the midterms it’ll still be the two of them."

"Really?" Shen Qinshi was surprised.

There had long been rumors that those two were together, though it was hard to tell how much truth there was.

Tang Yue said, "What’s so great about that? I haven’t seen Lu Yinghuai actually talk to Yuan Tao more than a couple times all month. It’s always her putting herself out there while he ignores her."

Shen Qinshi was curious. "Seriously? Even someone as pretty as Yuan Tao can’t get a reaction from him?"

"Who knows," Tang Yue shrugged. "They say Lu Yinghuai isn’t interested in girls at all."

Shen Qinshi and Pei Huan listened and had to admit Tang Yue made some sense.

That day, Yuan Tao was also out shopping with her friends. From a distance, she spotted Pei Huan and the others but had no intention of greeting them. One of her friends commented, "Isn’t that the girl you said was competing with you for Lu Yinghuai?"

Yuan Tao stayed silent, which was as good as admitting it.

Her friend, also a rich girl, sized up Pei Huan for a few seconds before a look of disdain appeared in her eyes. "I thought she’d be something special, but she’s not even as good as you."

The friend’s contemptuous tone delighted Yuan Tao, though she still replied, "It’s not nice to talk about people like that. Let’s just go."

Her friend knew her too well and grinned. "Don’t pretend—you’re thrilled inside, aren’t you?"

Yuan Tao playfully slapped her friend. "Why do you have to say it out loud when you can already tell?"

Her friend snorted, but followed Yuan Tao away.

Meanwhile, Pei Huan had long sensed someone watching her, but when she turned around, she couldn’t find anyone.

Maybe she was imagining it?

The three of them stayed out until evening, only heading home after dinner.

Pei Yan was waiting for her at the corner. Pei Huan was surprised to see him. "Why’d you come to pick me up tonight?"

"Mom made me," Pei Yan replied, putting away his phone.

Of course, other than their parents, no one could order around this household’s living Buddha.

Pei Huan grumbled internally while following Pei Yan back home.