Chapter 11
Watching Hu Yuying flustered and in a tizzy, Long Aotian couldn't help but chuckle. This girl really was easy to tease.
Just look at her little face, all flushed.
Seeing the smile at the corner of Long Aotian's mouth, Hu Yuying, who had been nervous, suddenly felt a bit more at ease.
In the course of their unintentional interactions, and under Long Aotian's deliberate guidance, the awkwardness that had clung to Hu Yuying had dissipated significantly.
In the past, if she had heard such words, she would have lowered her head, too shy to even look anyone in the eye.
The ugly duckling becomes a swan because it was a swan all along.
Hu Yuying was just like that. Following the familiar trope in novels, the female protagonist always undergoes a gradual transformation, ultimately stunning everyone with her complete metamorphosis.
What she needed most right now was to build her self-confidence.
It’s easy to destroy someone’s confidence.
But building it up? That’s a whole different story.
At least for Hu Yuying, today was undoubtedly a wonderful day.
The compliments she received today surpassed those from her entire first and second years combined.
All thanks to having a great big brother.
Thinking of this, Hu Yuying silently encouraged herself, determined to help her brother improve his grades.
Seeing Hu Yuying so motivated, Long Aotian felt a surge of energy himself.
Ten minutes later: “Hold on a sec, my brain’s a bit scrambled right now. Let me think... the known function f(x) = kx + b...”
Hu Yuying waited quietly, but when she saw smoke rising from Long Aotian's head, her eyes widened in surprise.
Pointing at his head, she exclaimed, “Big Brother, you... you’re smoking!”
“Huh?” Long Aotian paused for a moment. “I can’t see it! Am I finally growing a brain?”
“Then do you still want to learn?”
“Of course!” Long Aotian replied without hesitation. “I feel like a genius possessed right now, and I can’t stop!”
After Hu Yuying completely recounted the problem-solving process, she looked at Long Aotian with earnest anticipation. “Did you get it?”
“Uh, sort of,” Long Aotian admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed. He hadn’t really grasped it, but he didn’t want to let her down.
After all, the impression he wanted to leave on Hu Yuying was that of a powerful, wise figure!
If she found out he was actually a bit of a fool, would she still respect him?
Hearing Long Aotian’s words, Hu Yuying’s eyes sparkled with mischief as she tilted her head, trying to suppress a laugh. “Shall we go over it again?”
The reason she was holding back her laughter was that Long Aotian clearly hadn’t understood but was pretending he had.
He looked so sheepish, a stark contrast to how he had scolded Wang Shuo earlier!
A bit silly, really.
“Okay, let’s do it again. Write it down.”
“Sure.”
As the top troublemaker in Class 7, here he was discussing studies with a new classmate.
This was something he would never have dared to imagine before.
But their conversation was a bit too abstract, wasn’t it?
Overthinking to the point of smoke rising from his head, and he called it being possessed by a genius.
He must have been feeling guilty earlier, claiming he had already learned it!
Everyone was secretly watching Long Aotian and Hu Yuying, whispering among themselves.
Even Wang Shuo couldn’t help but glance at Long Aotian. “Is he serious?” His tone reflected disbelief.
“Could it be that he’s really growing a brain? I saw the smoke too,” Wang Shuo’s deskmate said, astonished.
As the second-to-last and last in the class, they could hardly believe that the bottom student was actually taking the initiative to learn, even to the point of smoking from it.
With over sixty students in the class, the teacher couldn’t go into detail during lessons due to time constraints, or else the new curriculum would fall behind, so the explanations weren’t comprehensive.
Hu Yuying’s one-on-one guidance was incredibly detailed, breaking down the problem-solving steps.
Sometimes when Long Aotian didn’t understand, Hu Yuying would immediately switch to a different approach, helping him grasp the concepts more quickly.
“Did I get it right?”
Hu Yuying nodded gently. “Mm-hmm.”
“Yes!” He stretched, feeling quite proud of himself.
He had solved the problem without anyone telling him how, piecing it together step by step from Hu Yuying’s guidance!
A genius—he was truly a genius!
Seeing Long Aotian’s happy expression, a glimmer of light flashed in Hu Yuying’s eyes, but it quickly dimmed as she seemed to recall something.
Everyone’s happiness seemed so simple.
In the past, when people saw her in distress, they would find joy in it.
Some appeared domineering and hard to approach, yet their happiness stemmed from solving the most basic math problems.
Why was it so hard for her to find joy?
She didn’t ask for much, just hoped that no one would bully her anymore.
If she hadn’t met her big brother, she might still be getting picked on.
Taking a deep breath, she mustered the courage to look at Long Aotian. “Long Ge, if I’m your sidekick, will I not be bullied anymore?”
Long Aotian fell silent for a few seconds upon hearing this.
Then, meeting Hu Yuying’s gaze, he didn’t directly answer her question. Instead, he said earnestly, “Do you know how exceptional you are?”
“Exceptional? Me?” Hu Yuying’s eyes momentarily filled with confusion.
“Let me take a guess. If I get it right, will you nod?”
Hu Yuying looked at Long Aotian without speaking, then nodded.
“Among those who bullied you, did someone ever confess to you, only to be rejected?”
At this, Hu Yuying instinctively pressed her lips together, but under Long Aotian’s gaze, she still nodded.
Long Aotian chuckled softly. “Looks like I guessed right.”
“Among those who bullied you, did they ever insult your appearance? Accuse you of cheating on tests?”
Hu Yuying recalled something, her gaze dropping as her head unconsciously lowered, but she still nodded.
“So now you understand just how exceptional you are, right?”
“Exceptional people will always attract each other, but some who only want to possess you, like visual predators, will do everything they can to drag you down.”
“Because you’re so exceptional, to some people, you’re like a swan compared to a toad, or clouds compared to dirt.”
“When the swan becomes an ugly duckling, or when the clouds are sullied by mud, only then do they have a sliver of a chance.”
At this point, Long Aotian cast a pointed glance at Wang Shuo, who was digging his nose.
Hu Yuying followed Long Aotian’s gaze, then quickly looked away.
“But jealousy can also distort one’s appearance.”
“The ones they admire are easily drawn to you, and their self-esteem begins to suffer. When they realize they can’t measure up to you but refuse to admit you’re better, that’s when the targeting begins.”
“They’ll find ways to expose your most embarrassing moments, tarnishing your once pristine image.”
“And so, a you covered in blemishes becomes less exceptional.”
Long Aotian’s words seemed to be comforting Hu Yuying, but in reality, he was amplifying her strengths.
As a passionate young man from a new world, Long Aotian was 28 years old before he crossed over.
In front of an 18-year-old girl, calling himself an “uncle” didn’t seem out of place, did it?
Having experienced the ups and downs of society, he had seen too much of human nature, the warmth and coldness of the world, and the malice of people, so he naturally knew how to comfort others effectively.
In fact, Long Aotian wasn’t entirely wrong.
After middle school, boys and girls enter a phase of youthful confusion.
By high school, the attraction between the sexes, combined with the hormonal turbulence of adolescence, often leads to special infatuations with those who are particularly good-looking.
Rejection of a confession can breed resentment, and this is common even among adults.
It’s perfectly normal to feel jealousy when someone you like is interested in someone else.
The root of the problem still lies within Hu Yuying herself...
**Chapter 14: You Deserve the Best Life**
Beauty combined with excellence is a powerful combination, but if not utilized properly, it can lead to a dead end.
Being shy and socially awkward makes one an easy target.
The reason they dared to bully Hu Yuying was that she didn’t dare to fight back; they thought she was easy to push around.
A simple example would be the beautiful girl who interviewed them today.
She was just as pretty and did well in her studies.
But why didn’t anyone dare to bully her?
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