Chapter 52
Noticing Long Aotian's gaze, Hu Yuying paused her movements, biting her lip as her breath quickened in that moment.
Taking a deep breath, she curled her raised fingers slightly before letting them drop, returning to her seat at the dining table.
Li Qingxue, witnessing this scene, blinked slightly.
Then she turned to look at Long Aotian.
Long Aotian's hand holding the mirror froze, seemingly unsure of what to do with it.
He could only pretend to adjust his bangs, stealing a glance at Hu Yuying. Seeing her expression remain calm, he secretly sighed in relief, quickly restoring his usual nonchalant demeanor.
"Here, your mirror," Long Aotian said, handing it back to Li Qingxue.
Taking the mirror, Li Qingxue tucked it back into her pocket.
Yet, her peripheral vision occasionally darted toward Hu Yuying. With a girl's intuition, she seemed to sense something significant.
This wasn't just a hunch; Li Qingxue was quite clever, especially when it came to her memory.
She clearly recalled Long Aotian saying not long ago in the hallway, "I understand her a little..."
"Long Ge, I'm done eating too."
"Oh, then let's go," Long Aotian stood up and looked at Li Qingxue, who was still finishing her meal. "We'll head out first."
"Okay, see you in class," Li Qingxue replied. She had arrived late and was taking her time with her food.
As Long Aotian and Hu Yuying left, Wang Rui, who had been keeping her head down, finally lifted it. "Qingxue, you scared me to death."
"If I had known the tablemate you were talking about was Long Aotian, I would have preferred to eat alone."
Li Qingxue chuckled, "You’re such a scaredy-cat. You’ve never even interacted with Long Aotian, so why are you so frightened?"
"Besides, he’s not some evil overlord..."
Wang Rui was about to say more when suddenly a figure stopped beside them. A deep, magnetic voice slowly resonated, "Sometimes, you can know a person’s face but not their heart. Bad people never wear their 'badness' on their faces!"
After saying this, Ye Liangchen forced a smile and nodded at Li Qingxue before leaving!
Having been watching from the sidelines, Ye Liangchen felt like he was about to bite his own lip raw!
"You're courting disaster! Long Aotian, you’ve already set yourself on a path to ruin!"
---
**Chapter 62: Long Aotian's High Spirits**
Walking behind Long Aotian, Hu Yuying's curled fingers tightened slightly. In that moment, her heart raced, and a shy glow flickered in the corners of her eyes, gentle and delicate.
She didn’t know what had come over her earlier, watching Li Qingxue and Long Aotian interact as if she had lost her mind. By the time she came to her senses, her hand was already resting on Long Aotian's head.
Now, thinking back to her actions in the cafeteria, her palm tingled slightly, a sensation she couldn’t quite describe.
Clenching her small hand, she took a deep breath and hurried a few steps to catch up with Long Aotian, trying to steady her chaotic breathing as she stole a glance at him.
Noticing that Long Aotian's expression was normal, she couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved. Still, she was slightly anxious—would her actions seem too frivolous to him?
Girls shouldn’t casually touch boys' heads, just as boys shouldn’t casually tug at girls' hair.
Lost in her thoughts, she became a bit dazed.
Before long, Hu Yuying felt herself bump into something warm and slightly firm.
Startled, she quickly snapped back to reality.
"What were you thinking? You looked so lost!" Long Aotian chuckled.
He had noticed Hu Yuying seemed a bit out of it; she hadn’t even seen the campus streetlights ahead.
Long Aotian was curious to see if she would actually bump into something, and sure enough, she nearly did.
If he hadn’t raised his hand to shield her, she would have definitely hit her forehead.
"N-no, nothing," Hu Yuying said, touching her forehead, appearing a bit shy and awkward. If Long Aotian hadn’t protected her, she would have surely hurt herself.
But seeing the smile on Long Aotian's face, she couldn’t help but smile back.
"You're such a scatterbrain. Always remember to take care of yourself, my little ditzy one."
Hu Yuying stubbornly shook her head. During her time with Long Aotian, her personality had subtly changed; she was now brave enough to joke with him. "I’m not scatterbrained! I just wanted to test if Long Ge would protect me right away."
"Oh, so you’ve learned to argue back. Not bad," Long Aotian said, genuinely pleased.
In the past, she would just accept whatever others said without a word of protest.
At least now she could hold her ground and argue back, which was a good sign.
As for what happened in the cafeteria, Long Aotian considered it a minor episode.
After all, Hu Yuying was his little sidekick!
Helping this big brother out was only natural, right?
---
Three days of exams passed quickly.
The pressure of senior year was palpable, not just for the students but for the teachers as well.
After supervising the exams, they rushed back to their offices to grade papers.
By the afternoon of the third day, the results of the monthly exam were already out.
Long Aotian almost immediately took Hu Yuying to the front as soon as the scores were announced.
Thanks to the intimidating presence he had established earlier, no one dared to challenge him for a spot.
"Wow, double first place."
Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue’s names were tied for first, which was quite eye-catching.
This surprised Long Aotian a bit, yet it also felt somewhat expected.
In the original story, Hu Yuying was already a good student, but after transferring, she had been bullied by Long Aotian, which had hindered her studies.
Now that he had crossed over, not only had he not bullied Hu Yuying, but he had also protected her. Given her foundation, it was no surprise she scored high.
As for Li Qingxue, Long Aotian swore he hadn’t known she was the second female lead, the "white moonlight."
By chance, after he had guided her, she had come to realize that her focus should be on the college entrance exam.
Perhaps that was why she could set aside distractions and devote more time to her studies.
Otherwise, according to the original story's progression, the second female lead would be in a phase of regret, her studies severely affected.
There was no way she could have tied for first place with Hu Yuying.
Unlike Long Aotian, Hu Yuying, having just arrived, wasn’t looking down from above; instead, she was looking up from below.
In the bottom ten, Long Aotian's name was nowhere to be found.
In the bottom twenty, his name was also absent.
With seven classes in senior year, totaling around 420 students, she finally found Long Aotian's name in the 389th position, with a total score of 318.
Just as Long Aotian was about to praise Hu Yuying for maintaining her performance, ensuring she could get into her dream university, she excitedly turned to him, "Long Ge, you scored 318 this time, a jump of thirty places!"
"What?" Long Aotian's eyes widened.
He admitted that upon hearing Hu Yuying say he had improved by thirty places, he felt a bit elated.
Unconsciously, he straightened his back, even placing his hands behind him, his mouth nearly stretching into a grin, yet he maintained a calm tone, saying, "Not bad!"
It seemed that for Long Aotian, this exam score was a source of pride.
At least that’s how his classmates perceived it.
Hu Yuying, who had topped the grade, didn’t carry herself with such arrogance; she wasn’t strutting around like Long Aotian, who seemed ready to look down on everyone.
How could he feel so proud about being in the bottom thirty when Hu Yuying, the top student, didn’t act that way?
Unaware of what others thought, Long Aotian was genuinely happy. This meant that his time studying with Hu Yuying had not only improved him but had done so significantly.
If he continued to work hard until the college entrance exam, he might not need to rely on connections or spend years saving up to attend university.
He could get in on his own merit.
And then, he would walk a path completely different from the one he had once known.
A path entirely unlike his previous life—thinking of this made Long Aotian feel exhilarated!
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