After The Honest Person Was Discovered For Simultaneously Pursuing Three People - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: I’ll Jump Off This Mountain

After Tao Ning finished speaking, he found a suitable patch of grass for them to sketch on. Then, he went through the things he had brought and walked over to Zhao Jingqun, who was smoking alone in a corner.

“Here,” Tao Ning said, handing him a bottle of bug spray. “Put it on mosquito bites. It can stop the itching.”

Zhao Jingqun’s smoking paused. He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, stared at the young man for a moment, then threw the cigarette butt on the ground, and took the bug spray. His tone sounded casual as he asked, “How did you know I got bitten by mosquitoes?” But the corner of his mouth curved up in amusement.

This little gay guy must have been eavesdropping on his conversation. He was really good at showing his devotion.

“You said in the car just now that you didn’t sleep well because you were bitten by mosquitoes,” Tao Ning paused, thinking that the mosquitoes at his house never bit him, but now that there was another person, it was his fault for not thinking it through. Thankfully, he had brought the bug spray.

“I’ll light a mosquito coil tonight.”

Was he afraid that he wouldn’t stay at his house anymore? First, he gives him bug spray, and now he offers to light mosquito coils.

For some reason, this thought made Zhao Jingqun feel even better. But he didn’t show much emotion on his face. He was about to ask this simpleton to show him where to make a vow when He Yan’s sarcastic voice came from nearby.

“He Niannian, you need to go back to elementary school. You can’t even do basic addition and subtraction. There’s no one in this world dumber than you…”

“He Yan, are you looking for a fight?! Don’t you know what kind of trash you’re teaching? I also suggest you go back to elementary school for Chinese. With your language skills, only a pig could understand you!”

“Yeah, I’m teaching a pig!”

He Niannian immediately became furious. With a “smack,” she threw her physics test paper on the ground, rolled up her sleeves, and got ready to fight He Yan.

Zhao Jingsui, stuck between the two of them, said helplessly, “Why don’t you try a homework app or something…”

The Zhao family was wealthy and powerful. Zhao Jingsui’s grades were good, but she loved to paint and was on an artistic path, which was why she brought her painting supplies this time.

The He family was also wealthy, but they were different. They were nouveau riche whom the upper class looked down on.

To help the family fit in, He’s parents worked hard to cultivate their children, sending the He siblings to an elite private school that only high society could attend.

Not including other fees, the tuition alone was six to seven hundred thousand yuan a year, so He’s parents placed a high value on their children’s grades and rankings.

He Yan’s grades were barely passable, while He Niannian’s were a bit of a disaster, especially in subjects like math, physics, and chemistry. Now that He Yan was mocking her, she couldn’t take it anymore and immediately pounced on him with her claws out.

Just as the two were about to have a death match, a clean, soft voice sounded from behind them, “I can teach you.”

Hearing this, He Niannian looked over.

She saw the young man, dressed in faded clothes and shoes, walking slowly toward them. He bent down to pick up the test paper she had crumpled into a ball, gently unfolded it, and then patiently smoothed out the creases.

The young man lowered his head and glanced at the paper, revealing the side of his fair, graceful neck. After a few seconds, he looked up, and behind his thick, plain black-rimmed glasses were a pair of clear and sincere eyes. “I know how to do these problems. I can teach you.”

He Niannian’s hand, which was gripping He Yan, stopped. She felt like she had just heard something even more ridiculous than being called a pig by He Yan.

She crossed her arms, her disdain and contempt unconcealed on her face. “Are you kidding me? Do you even know what you’re saying? Can the things you learn in this mountain village even compare to what we learn? The problems at our school are a thousand times harder than those at the best school in your city…”

Because the school followed an elite model, it had countless extracurricular activities. The homework they assigned usually came from competition problems, which were difficult for some students. So many chose an artistic path or studied abroad early on.

The small number of students who were still pursuing a cultural education were either smart enough not to rely on their families or were average students who were specially recruited by the school to improve their enrollment rate at prestigious domestic universities.

Of course, He Niannian was an exception. She had no talent for art and refused to be outdone by He Yan, so she was still trying to keep up with her cultural studies.

Hearing this, Tao Ning was a little flustered. “I, I…”

“What’s wrong with letting him try?”

At this moment, a low, slightly cold voice interrupted the tense atmosphere. Zhao Jingqun walked over with his hands in his pockets, a half-smile on his face as he looked at the pouting He Niannian.

The man was smiling, but his eyes were cold, making people nervous just by looking at him.

He Niannian’s arrogance immediately deflated. She was genuinely afraid of this man. Rumor had it that before he entered the Zhao family, he wasn’t just a hooligan, but he had also collected protection money. This was too far-fetched for people who had lived in a greenhouse their whole lives, and it made people want to stay away from him.

Zhao Jingsui also seemed afraid that Zhao Jingqun would harm He Niannian. She quickly walked to her side to protect her. “Brother… Niannian just talks like that, but she doesn’t have a bad heart.”

As she spoke, her gaze toward Zhao Jingqun was a little wary, completely unlike how she would look at her own brother. Zhao Jingqun stood opposite the three of them, shielding the young man behind him, his shadow stretching long.

Tao Ning stood behind him, staring blankly at the tall figure in front of him. Zhao Jingqun was tall with long legs and a strong presence, but he was always smiling, always nonchalant, as if he didn’t care about anything or anyone.

But at this moment, he seemed a little lonely.

The young man’s heart stirred imperceptibly.

Finally, He Niannian muttered, “Fine, let him try. Hmph, don’t blame me if he makes a fool of himself when he can’t solve it.” She rolled her eyes and added, “You can’t find the answers to these problems online.”

Tao Ning lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Zhao Jingqun also frowned. Although he had been shocked by the two walls of awards this simpleton had, that was just a small-scale thing.

It was obvious that a student from a small mountain village couldn’t possibly compete with students from a prestigious school that had access to the best educational resources in the country, let alone solve their problems.

So he walked over to the young man, who was still looking down without saying a word, and wanted to get closer to give him a few words of advice.

When he got closer, he smelled the real reason he couldn’t sleep last night—that sweet, cloying lemon scent. Zhao Jingqun awkwardly stopped and said in a low voice, “It’s okay if you can’t do it.”

Tao Ning didn’t explain. He nodded and found a clean patch of grass to sit down on.

Zhao Jingsui gave him a pen. He took it and began to write with his head down.

Time passed slowly. He Niannian didn’t even bother to go over and look. She rolled her eyes and pouted, “If he can solve it, I’ll jump off this mountain, okay? I can’t believe it, sigh.”

She picked at her nails and said indifferently, “Hey, I won’t blame you if you can’t solve it. After all, I know you country folks want to feel important, but don’t pretend to know things you don’t next time…”

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