Volume 1 Chapter 55: Phone Call That Never Ends
That week, Gao Liang became quiet.
Every evening study session, the girl would bring books from all kinds of subjects and come to study with him.
But…
There was one subject she never brought.
Math.
She only did a few math test papers once in a while. Gao Liang didn’t look at them carefully, but he had a strange feeling…
She looked more and more confident each time.
This made Gao Liang start to wonder, do tutoring workbooks these days not even give answers anymore?
How else could she become more confident like this?
Anyway, Gao Liang was the first to lose his patience.
And then…
……………………
That Saturday, Lin Lin was cleaning her room at home.
She opened the window. Outside, the moon was bright and the stars were few, their light spreading over the city. Holding her phone, she checked the time.
Ah, it was almost time to start streaming.
The study session…
She rested her chin in her hands, feeling a little nervous. Just thinking about messing up the study session and turning into a “20 IQ idiot” made it hard for her to relax.
Sigh~
While she was worrying, her phone screen suddenly lit up. Lin Lin froze, then saw a name on the QQ call screen.
Ga—Gao Liang?
Eh? Eh? Eh?
The girl got nervous and held her phone, not knowing what to do for a moment.
What’s going on? Why is this guy calling me…
Hmm…
I should probably answer.
She gently pressed the green answer button and raised the phone to her ear. After a short pause, she spoke softly, “Hello…”
“Ah, Lin Lin.”
Gao Liang’s gentle voice came from the other end. “You picked up so fast. Are you studying? Hehe, don’t tell me you’re just playing on your phone?”
“Tch~”
The girl puffed out her cheeks and glanced at the computer beside her and the messy desk. “I can’t be studying every single day, you know. You dummy…”
“Well, since the exam is next week, I wanted to call and remind you to study,” Gao Liang said with a bit of laughter in his voice. “After all, if I lose, I won’t be able to sit next to you anymore.”
Being caught red-handed, the girl fell silent for a moment, then let out a helpless sigh.
“By the way, the monthly exam suddenly got delayed. That was your doing, wasn’t it?”
Lin Lin voiced her guess with a pout. Gao Liang sounded a bit surprised on the other end, but still laughed and nodded.
“Yeah… when I was talking to the principal about Li Ming, I casually mentioned that the students didn’t have enough time to review for this exam.”
“You really are something…” Lin Lin turned her head away. “Were you afraid I wouldn’t have enough time to study? Honestly, you’re just helping in the worst way. Studying a few more days won’t help me much anyway, now Han Kui just has even more time to study.”
Although her words sounded a little blaming, the girl actually felt a small sense of warmth in her heart. Without noticing, she lowered her head to look at her fingers and waited for his reply.
“Ahaha…” Gao Liang gave an awkward laugh, then continued to urge her on. “Then study a bit more. That Han Kui, I think she’s been studying pretty seriously these past few days. Lin Lin, be careful she doesn’t pass you.”
“Mm… she does seem very confident, and she’s working really hard.”
The girl didn’t take it too seriously. She smiled and looked out the window.
The two of them fell silent for a moment.
Talking on the phone with a rival felt strangely interesting.
Lin Lin blinked, then heard Gao Liang softly ask from the other side of the call,
“So, Lin Lin, what are you doing right now?”
“Uh… watching the stars, I guess?”
“Huh? Watching the stars?”
She looked up at the endless sky, suddenly raised one hand, pointed into the distance, and said,
“Gao Liang, can you see the sky right now?”
“Oh… I think so?”
Holding his phone, Gao Liang hurried to the window, pushed it open, and let the fresh air brush over his face. He lifted his head and looked up, only to see the sky full of stars.
He was stunned. It was the first time he had looked at the sky this carefully, something he usually never paid attention to.
“So beautiful—”
He said it without thinking.
On the other end, the girl smiled and said, “Gao Liang, look to the north. Can you see the brightest star?”
Gao Liang followed her words and looked north. There it was, a star shining like a bright diamond at the edge of the sky, so bright it almost hurt his eyes. The girl asked proudly,
“Do you know what that is?”
“The North Star,” Gao Liang answered right away.
The girl paused for a moment, then sounded a little disappointed. She let out a long, playful “Ahhh—” before saying unhappily, “You already know it? Geez. I finally had a chance to show off a bit.”
“Ahaha…” Gao Liang scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. He should’ve pretended not to know, he should’ve given Lin Lin a chance to shine.
They fell silent again. After a long while, Lin Lin sighed softly and said in a low mood,
“The night sky is really nice tonight…”
“Yeah,” Gao Liang replied quietly.
Such a calm atmosphere always made people think more deeply.
The girl blinked sadly, then suddenly sighed into the phone.
“I’m sorry, Gao Liang. Even though this whole thing is mostly settled, there are still a lot of rumors at school. People think you’re dating someone like me, and that’s caused you trouble…”
“Huh?”
Gao Liang froze, then quickly spoke up,
“What are you talking about, Lin Lin? You’re amazing! I… I don’t care about those rumors. They’re not even true. I’m just worried that they might hurt you. And honestly, this whole thing is my fault anyway. If I had just chosen a proper tutoring center, even my family wouldn’t have let this happen…”
“sigh” The girl still sounded a bit insecure. Holding onto the corner of the wall, she said, “Maybe you don’t really understand, but this challenge from Han Kui, I have to accept it. Not only accept it, but give it my all. I can’t always…”
Rely on you, my rival, to fix everything for me…
That would be too strange…
In the end, she didn’t say those words out loud. She stayed silent for a moment, then heard Gao Liang’s firm voice encouraging her.
“Yeah! Then do your best, Lin Lin! I believe in you, you can do it!”
“Mm!” Lin Lin wiped the small tears from the corner of her eyes and smiled, nodding. She checked the time, it was almost time. She quickly said goodbye,
“Ah, I have something to do. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up. Bye~”
“Yeah, good luck!” Gao Liang nodded, then suddenly remembered something. “Uh… you know P-site, right? That video site. There are some study live streams there. If you’re unsure about something, you can check them out!”
“Got it, got it!” the girl replied casually, then hung up. She ran to her desk and started tidying up again.
Stream time!
“Ahem—ahem! Good evening, everyone! Your Ari-chan is here. Today’s stream is a study session~”