After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Choose Between a Love Letter and a Secret Kiss

And so, apart from Zhao Jingqun, who stood watching the young man from a distance, the other three went about their business, clearly not believing that Tao Ning could solve the problems.

Zhao Jingqun frowned, staring at the young man as he wrote with a look of intense concentration. A wave of complex emotions welled up inside him. This simpleton was truly naive. Why didn’t he just use his phone to calculate or look up the problems?

But then he remembered He Niannian saying the problems couldn’t be looked up, and that Tao Ning didn’t have a cell phone at all. Zhao Jingqun didn’t know what to do with this simpleton.

As he was thinking, Zhao Jingqun was suddenly startled. Why did it matter to him whether this simpleton could solve the problems or not? Wasn’t he paying him a little too much attention?

He awkwardly shifted his gaze away from Tao Ning. Just then, the young man’s soft voice drifted over like a gentle breeze: “I’m done.”

Zhao Jingqun’s gaze was drawn back to him.

The breeze died down, and the other three were all surprised. He Yan looked down at his watch. “What the hell, you’re done in less than half an hour…?” He thought, “At least pretend a little better.”

Just as everyone was thinking the same thing, He Niannian walked over, “swoosh,” and snatched the test paper. Her face was full of mockery as she looked down. But before long, her expression changed from disdain to seriousness.

When she finished, she gritted her teeth and yelled at He Yan, “Quick, get the answers from my bag!”

He Yan also realized something was wrong and quickly grabbed the answer key. Their school would send out the answers after distributing the incredibly difficult problems. Whether students cheated or not was up to them.

As he handed it over, he glanced at the test paper in He Niannian’s hand. On it, one part was He Niannian’s sloppy handwriting, and the other part was a neat, square script that perfectly matched the young man himself. Every stroke of the solution was written out like a methodical robot.

He Yan understood some of it and realized that the solution written by the young man from the remote mountains was even easier to understand and more detailed than the answer key!

And it was… all correct!

He Yan was so shocked he couldn’t speak. He secretly clicked his tongue in amazement. What kind of freak did he just meet?! He even solved the final large problem. And there were five multiple-choice questions and five large problems in total. This country boy took less than half an hour to finish all the problems!

He knew that even the top student in their class couldn’t do that. The only people with that kind of speed and accuracy were the ridiculously smart competition freaks at their school, and those freaks had already been pre-selected by famous universities at home and abroad. A small number of them were aiming for the top student title in the province.

But now, those problems that stumped countless people were solved by a student from a remote mountain village!

This… this…

He Yan’s mood instantly changed as he looked at Tao Ning. It was as if he was no longer looking at a country bumpkin from the mountains but a super monster with three heads and six arms.

While he found it incredible, He Yan was also relieved. At least this kind of freak would probably stay in this remote mountain village his whole life. They wouldn’t have to deal with people like him when they went back to school.

On the other side, He Niannian was clearly devastated. She stared at the answers the young man wrote and the standard answers over and over again in disbelief. In the end, her hand holding the test paper trembled. Remembering how she had mocked the young man for so long, her eyes turned red. “…Did you look it up on your phone? How could you possibly solve it?”

But He Niannian had forgotten that she was the one who had proudly said the answers couldn’t be found on a phone.

She seemed unable to accept that a student from a mountain village had outdone her, a student from an elite school. With a “smack,” she threw the test paper on the ground, and large tears rolled down her cheeks.

He Niannian yelled loudly, “Who do you think you are?! So what if you solved it? It was just luck! You don’t deserve to teach me!”

Zhao Jingqun’s face instantly turned grim. His nonchalant demeanor vanished, replaced by an oppressive aura. He stood in front of Tao Ning, his icy eyes looking coldly at her. “Are you looking for trouble?”

Although many people spread rumors that the eldest son of the Zhao family had once been a hooligan, not many had actually seen it. But at this moment, no one would doubt that the rumors were false.

The oppressive aura he exuded, along with the coldness in his eyes, was something that could only be forged in a chaotic environment.

However, in her anger, He Niannian didn’t care about the consequences of provoking Zhao Jingqun. Like a cornered rabbit that would bite anyone, she yelled back with red-rimmed eyes, “Yes, I am looking for trouble! What are you going to do about it? You’re Sui Sui’s brother, so why are you always protecting an outsider?! What’s so good about him that you have to protect him…”

If she hadn’t said this, it might have been better. But as soon as she did, Zhao Jingqun’s face grew even gloomier. But if you looked closely, you would see a flash of panic in his eyes. He even glanced out of the corner of his eye at the young man who was standing there helpless.

He gritted his teeth slightly. “Shut up.”

“What’s wrong?! Did I hit a nerve?” He Niannian acted as if she had found a way to retaliate, and her rage became even more blatant. “I think you’re being nice to this country bumpkin because…”

“Niannian!”

At this moment, Zhao Jingsui stepped in and interrupted her. She walked between the two, and the tense atmosphere eased a little.

Zhao Jingsui hugged He Niannian, who began to cry in her arms. “Sui Sui… they’re all bullying me… I want to go home.”

Zhao Jingsui patted the person in her arms and coaxed her softly, “It’s okay, it’s nothing. He just got lucky. Maybe he’s done it before. Niannian, you’re the most amazing one.”

“Sui Sui is right…”

Looking at the two hugging each other, the anger in Zhao Jingqun’s heart burned even hotter. He sneered, his words sharp: “Self-deception.”

As soon as he said this, it was like a match lighting a bomb. He Niannian burst out of Zhao Jingsui’s arms, her hair disheveled and her eyes red, glaring at him.

Just as she was about to yell again, a very soft voice rang out, instantly calming their fury.

“She’s not wrong… I… I’ve done the same problems before.”

They looked over and saw the young man standing alone, his head bowed. The sky was getting dark, and no one could see the expression on his face, but they could hear his voice, as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. “It was… it was my fault.”

At this moment, the young man seemed to show the true insecurity of someone from the remote mountains. His hands were trembling slightly, clutching the hem of his clothes, looking extremely uneasy.

“I… I won’t do it again.”

Zhao Jingqun looked at him, and suddenly, his heart felt like it had been soaked in a bitter liquid. His entire heart was so bitter that it could break with the slightest touch.

After saying these words, the young man fell silent. He lowered his head and took out three very neat hundred-yuan bills from his pocket that were obviously carefully protected. Then he picked up the crumpled test paper, smoothed it out, and placed the money on top of it.

“I accidentally broke your suitcase last time. I’m sorry… This money is compensation.”

He didn’t understand interpersonal relationships. His initial intention in solving the problems for He Niannian was to genuinely help her and apologize to her at the same time.

But now, it seemed he had messed everything up.

Maybe he really wasn’t suited for getting along with people. He always seemed to make things worse. Many people at school also said he was dull.

He used to do dozens of people’s homework every day because they didn’t want to do it. They would mockingly say to him, “Hey, you simpleton, aren’t you smart? Then you can do our homework too.”

His sister had told him to get along well with people, so Tao Ning did it, hoping to befriend them. But after he helped them with their homework, he would just be ridiculed the next time.

And now… it was the same…

The young man said no more. He slowly walked alone to a tree, his back looking thin and lonely.

He Niannian looked at the hundred-yuan bills, about to say that her suitcase cost more than a few hundred yuan, but she heard a cold, bone-chilling voice beside her: “Try saying one more word?”

At this point, all three of them could tell that Zhao Jingqun was truly angry. An incredibly powerful sense of oppression settled heavily over them.

He Yan swallowed hard, and under immense pressure, pulled He Niannian away. “Okay, okay, it’s just a few problems. Let’s go.” Then he whispered in her ear, “You better stop talking. I feel like this god of destruction really wants to beat you up…”

The sun was gradually setting. In the time that followed, the atmosphere among them was heavy. Apart from He Niannian, no one else spoke.

It wasn’t until the sky grew dark that Tao Ning drove them back. As soon as they got home, Zhao Jingqun left without looking back.

Tao Yuan put her hands on her hips. “Hey, why isn’t that kid eating again…”

Tao Ning silently picked at his bowl at the dinner table. In his mind, he heard the sound of a system cracking melon seeds.

Hey, simpleton, a new mission has been issued.

Ding-dong! Triggering the second task for the Zhao Jingqun solo route—

Before tomorrow dawns, choose to either write him a love letter or secretly kiss him! Choosing both will make the capture even better. Good luck with the capture, little dumpling!

Tao Ning was stunned. The system cracked its melon seeds even more enthusiastically in his mind.

Simpleton, choose one.

The atmosphere froze for a few seconds. The system heard Tao Ning whisper, “I’ll do both.”

The system’s melon seeds fell to the ground. It was shocked: Simpleton, have you come to your senses?!

Didn’t this little simpleton used to be quite resistant to these tasks? Why was he so proactive today?

Tao Ning lowered his eyes, his long, thick eyelashes trembling slightly, seemingly revealing the young man’s thoughts. “N-no, it’s not that. I just think he’s a good person… I think of him as a friend.”

That makes perfect sense, simpleton! It’s good that you’re not against it. If you don’t really like them, you can just be friends with them.

But can humans secretly kiss their friends?

“I… I guess so…”

Support