Chapter 56: The Third Wheel

Just as Wenxiu had expected, when Zhou Jingchen saw her tagging along like a giant lightbulb to join their meal, his whole face darkened, and a chill seemed to radiate from him.

Under the blazing sun, Wenxiu felt as though she were in an air-conditioned room.

He wanted to chase her away, but Yu Qian was openly protective of her; if he let her stay, it interfered with his chance to foster intimacy with Yu Qian.

Ignoring his frustration, Yu Qian linked arms with Wenxiu and walked toward the restaurant, leaving Zhou Jingchen no choice but to follow behind, enduring the situation.

Throughout the meal, he barely had the chance to exchange a few words with her. Every time he tried to speak, Wenxiu would interject, steering the conversation elsewhere.

When he finally escorted them home, hoping to linger and say a few more words, Wenxiu and Chen Ying fixed him with blazing, unwavering gazes, silently declaring that they wouldn’t look away unless he left.

Unable to tolerate the scrutiny—one word, one gesture met with even sharper stares—Zhou Jingchen hastily bade Yu Qian farewell and returned to his own home.

After he left, Yu Qian couldn’t help but laugh. “Wenxiu, you’re something else. You made him look like a thief.”

“He is a thief,” Wenxiu and Chen Ying replied in unison.

Yu Qian burst out laughing.

“He’s stealing from the Yu family’s garden, how is he not a thief?” Wenxiu argued with conviction.

Yu Qian was momentarily stunned. “What? Garden?”

“You know, aren’t you the prized cabbage of the Yu family?”

Yu Qian was speechless, exasperated. “So you mean Zhou Jingchen is the pig, rooting up our prized cabbage?”

“Exactly, that’s what I meant!” Chen Ying chimed in.

Over the past few days, she’d finally figured it out. The young man next door had his eye on the employer’s little daughter, and the daughter seemed equally interested in him. But she couldn’t quite understand—Miss Yu had only just graduated from elementary school, why were the employer and Wenxiu so comfortable letting her interact with other boys?

Though Wenxiu always seemed displeased with the young man, when he truly tried to cultivate a relationship with Miss Yu, she didn’t stop him.

She decided not to overthink it. Just follow Wenxiu’s lead—if the elder sister wasn’t worried, why should a servant be?

Shaking her head, Yu Qian didn’t know what else to say and turned upstairs to her study.

Now, only the integrated science exam on the overcast morning remained. Yu Qian had always been weak in science since her previous life, and even with the cleansing pill broadening her mind in this one, she couldn’t instantly become a science prodigy.

If she wanted her grades to stay near the top, she had to master science.

If she was weak in a subject, she’d simply study harder.

She spent a great deal of time reading and practicing, eagerly asking questions when she didn’t understand, determined to learn well.

To ensure the exam went smoothly, Yu Qian decided to complete another practice set.

This set was tailored for her by Yu Zhen, said to be a must-do for students preparing for the entrance exam.

It was tough, but luckily, Yu Qian had built a solid foundation over the past two years. The more problems she solved, the easier it became to find solutions, no matter how difficult.

After finishing, she checked her answers: out of a total score of 150 for three subjects, she earned 123.

Her biggest weakness remained chemistry; in biology and physics, she only lost a few points on major questions, barely deducting ten points.

“Why does chemistry even exist in this world?” Yu Qian muttered in frustration.

Feeling a bit dejected, she opened her computer and logged into Penguin. Zhou Jingchen had already sent her numerous messages.

“Cutie. / Poor thing”

“Wenxiu is really annoying.”

“We didn’t get to talk properly at all today.”

“Cutie, let me take you to your exam on the overcast day, okay?”

“I’ll pick you up afterwards, too.”

“Say yes, won’t you~”

“Cutie, since you haven’t replied, I’ll take it as your consent.”

“All right, it’s settled then. I’ll take you to your exam and pick you up afterward.”

Zhou Jingchen looked at his textbook, distracted. He kept glancing at his computer, but Yu Qian hadn’t replied, nor was she online.

“I wonder what Cutie is doing right now,” Zhou Jingchen mused, tapping his desk and thinking of her.