Chapter 14: Friday Interwoven with Warm Breezes

"My sister asks if you are free tomorrow?"

Staring at the returned draft notebook, Jiang Yubai paused mentally, an imaginary question mark popping up over his head. He wondered what on earth that meant.

Tomorrow? Wasn't that Saturday?

Could it be that she was moved by his diligent snack-feeding these days and planned to treat him to a good meal to show her gratitude?

He thought for a moment, picked up his pen, and scribbled a reply in the notebook:

"I'm free. What's up?"

After writing, he conveniently fished out a packet of milk candy from his backpack, pressed it on top of the notebook, and passed it back. Before long, the notebook was returned:

"My sister says she is very grateful that you are willing to extend the rent deadline. She hopes you can come to our house on Saturday. She wants to hand the rent to you in person."

The moment he saw the contents, Jiang Yubai subconsciously narrowed his eyes. He checked the words several times just to make sure he hadn't misread them.

He wondered what the meaning of this was.

If someone told him Lin Jianxia felt a bit of gratitude toward him, Jiang Yubai might actually believe it. But to say she was *so* grateful that she wanted to hand the rent to him in person—he absolutely didn't buy it.

Putting aside the fact that this girl had always guarded against him like he was a thief, his continuous teasing via notes these past few days meant she had probably cursed him out eight hundred times in her head already.

So was this... a trap disguised as a feast?

Could it be that she truly couldn't afford the rent, so she found an excuse to invite her grand landlord in to wine and dine him... and when the time was right, Lin Jianxia would smash a cup as a signal for an ambush, sending three hundred axemen rushing out from the back rooms to mince him into meat paste?

At this thought, Jiang Yubai cast a suspicious sideways glance, just in time to catch Lin Jianxia secretly peeking at him from the corner of her eye. Seeing him turn his head, the girl immediately withdrew her gaze, staring motionlessly at the workbook in front of her.

"Could you make your guilty conscience any more obvious?" he thought.

There was definitely a trap. Jiang Yubai's mouth twitched, and he casually wrote down:

"Sure, I'll come over on Saturday afternoon then."

He was eager to see exactly what she had up her sleeve.

After writing, he subconsciously fished out a small packet of biscuits from his bag. Just as he was about to put it on the notebook, he suddenly paused.

"Wait a minute, wasn't she the one asking me a favor this time? Why do I still have to feed her snacks?"

"Forget it," he decided.

He gently placed the biscuits on the notebook and pushed them over. However, after waiting for two minutes, Jiang Yubai didn't see the notebook passed back.

Looking sideways, he saw that Lin Jianxia was sitting upright, staring intently at the textbook on her desk, looking entirely focused on solving her math problems. The draft notebook remained untouched at the corner of her desk—only the small packet of biscuits on top had mysteriously disappeared.

"Oh, I see. Eating the bait but spitting out the hook, huh? You haven't even replied to my previous message," he mused.

Jiang Yubai was so annoyed he actually laughed. He reached out, took the notebook back, and neatly copied his previous question again: "By the way, what kind of songs does your sister usually like to listen to?"

"Hmm, add a small bun to that. Perfect," he thought.

This time, the reply came back very quickly. Jiang Yubai took the notebook and saw two English words neatly written on it.

"Summer's Wind."

"Not bad, not bad. Quite tasteful," he thought.

Nodding in satisfaction, Jiang Yubai pondered for a moment and casually scribbled another question.

"Hmm... what is your sister's type? Does she have any specific standards for a partner?"

After writing the question, he lowered his head and rummaged through his backpack for a moment. In the end, he decided to supplement her with some vitamins, reaching in to grab a tangerine and gently placing it on the notebook.

He had to admit, this interaction really felt a lot like feeding a virtual pet back in the day.

As it turned out, people always said girls ate very little, but that definitively did not apply to a senior in high school. Sleeping late and waking up early every day, coupled with high-intensity mental exertion—even someone who ate like a bird couldn't withstand such drainage. Naturally, the body's demand for energy soared.

Lin Jianxia was no exception.

Ever since discovering that snacks were her ultimate weakness, Jiang Yubai unfailingly visited the supermarket every morning. He would stuff all kinds of treats into his backpack like a wholesale restocker, just waiting for study hall to roll around so he could feed her.

In just a few short days, he had managed to indirectly pry into Lin Jianxia's height, weight, taste preferences, and even her daily routine.

Of course, Jiang Yubai didn't do this to prepare to woo her or anything like that. He simply felt that teasing her was far too entertaining.

Although Lin Jianxia might not have realized it herself, the way she got infuriated by the questions but didn't dare to lash out in person—having to vent all her frustration through the heavy strokes of her pen—was simply hilarious. He could even roughly gauge her current anger level by the pressure of her handwriting and how messy her characters were.

With these scattered thoughts swirling in his mind, Jiang Yubai spun his pen and glanced sideways.

The draft notebook was still lying quietly in its original place, and that bright orange tangerine was still sitting squarely on top of it.

Through his feeding experiences over the past two days, Jiang Yubai had gradually figured out a pattern. Generally, in this situation, it wasn't that Lin Jianxia hadn't seen the note, nor was she being a picky eater. It was just that for this particular question... she probably didn't want to answer.

Jiang Yubai spun his pen with a hint of regret. He figured asking about her ideal type straight to her face crossed her boundaries a bit too much.

He took the notebook, picked up his pen to cross out that line of text, thought for a moment, and then asked from a different angle.

The familiar rustling of paper sounded again. Lin Jianxia caught sight of the rewritten question from the corner of her eye.

"Then does your sister follow any celebrities? Are there any male stars she particularly likes?"

"What! The! Heck!" she mentally screamed. "Isn't this just asking about her ideal type in a different way?!"

Lin Jianxia pursed her lips. Strangely, a wave of intense annoyance didn't surge up in her heart this time.

For one, these kinds of questions had popped up way too often lately—so much so that she had completely checked out. She didn't even have the energy to get mad anymore. And secondly... this Jiang Yubai wasn't even trying to hide it! He dared to ask about height, weight, and taste preferences. He was only one step away from directly asking, *Is your sister interested in me?* It was absolutely outrageous!

Was he really not afraid that she, the 'younger sister', would go back and tell on him?

"Forget it. It's already Friday anyway," she thought. "Once I get my paycheck tonight, I'll take the opportunity while paying the rent tomorrow to make things perfectly clear with him!"

As for right now...

Lin Jianxia pursed her lips, reached out to tuck the tangerine into her backpack, and heavily wrote down two large words on the draft notebook:

"NO ONE!!"

She unprecedentedly added two exclamation marks at the end, deceiving herself into thinking it conveyed a strong sense of anger.

Just as she passed the notebook back, the dismissal bell rang out with a sharp BRRRING.

Lin Jianxia packed her backpack almost reflexively and fled the classroom. Only when she walked out of the school gates and blended into the flowing crowd did she finally relax her tense shoulders and gently let out a breath.

"Finally... I've survived this week," she thought happily. "As long as I go to the bookstore to get my wages, I'll be able to pay the rent tomorrow. That massive boulder hanging over my head can finally drop. And most importantly—I finally won't have to put up with that jerk's endless tricks and teasing anymore!"

At this thought, the corners of Lin Jianxia's mouth curled up unconsciously. She walked briskly toward the bookstore, her steps light and free.