Chapter 15

After I finished teaching all my remaining classes at the agency, I asked Fang Xiaotian’s younger sister, Fang Xiaolin, to hang out.

The way we met was quite extraordinary.

Cheng Yedu had gone on a trip to the suburbs with his friends. He brought me, and Fang Xiaotian brought his sister.

That day, the girl seemed very aloof, hiking by herself in silence, not saying an unnecessary word.

At one point, she wanted to use the restroom, and I went with her.

On our way back, we overheard Cheng Yedu on the phone with someone.

“She’s average-looking, works as a tutor.”

“Are you jealous? If you’re jealous, then come back. The moment you’re back, I’ll break up with her.”

The air around us grew heavy.

That was when I was most infatuated with Cheng Yedu. I knew he wasn’t serious about me, but hearing him say those words was still incredibly cruel.

Fang Xiaolin must have seen how hurt I was.

She walked straight over to him, kicked him from behind, and yelled, “Jerk.”

Cheng Yedu was so shocked he dropped his phone.

I was deeply impressed.

What a hero.

She didn’t even know my name.

…

We became close after that.

She told me not to be a fool in love, and I gave her advice on preparing for her olympiad.

In truth, she would have excelled even without my help.

She was exceptionally talented, incredibly hardworking, and intensely focused.

Someone like her would succeed at anything she did.

When she heard I had broken up with him, Fang Xiaolin was very worried. She would check in on me every few days.

“Are you okay, Zhixia?”

I would say I was fine, but she wouldn’t believe me and would ask again a few days later.

She was at a boarding school, so she couldn’t come see me or exact immediate revenge on Cheng Yedu.

But she persistently left passive-aggressive comments under every single one of his social media posts, followed by a long string of thumbs-down emojis.

Cheng Yedu replied to her once: “You’re supposed to be on my side. I used to hold you when you were a baby.”

Fang Xiaolin: “Jerk!”

I got a secret thrill out of it every time.

…

When I saw Fang Xiaolin, she ran up to me like a little rocket.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her concern sounding a bit robotic, as is common with introverted geniuses.

I opened my phone, went to my email, and showed her the acceptance letter.

She gasped.

“Wow!”

“It’s MIT! Einstein’s university!”

Her eyes sparkled.

“What’s your research focus? Can I come visit you someday?”