WAYCAV Chapter 19

Shen Nianjing had already seen Su Zhiyan’s message, but he chose to pretend he hadn’t.

If Su Zhiyan asked again later, he’d just say he’d been too busy to check his phone. That was the plan, at least.

But it’d be even better if Su Zhiyan didn’t ask at all.

He was preparing for his new tutoring session on seventh grade math that afternoon. The basic concepts came easily to him, and he quickly finished arranging the lesson plan and practice problems.

A glance at the clock told him nearly an hour had passed.

Shen Nianjing stared blankly at his phone lying silent on the desk.

Should he reply to the message?

But if it was really urgent, knowing Su Zhiyan’s personality, he would have directly told him what it was about. He wouldn’t have delayed for so long without asking a clear question.

Shen Nianjing let out a breath of relief, suddenly feeling more confident about his decision to play blind.

Just as he reached for his phone, planning to head downstairs to grab something to eat—

[Su: Video Call]

Shen Nianjing: “!!!!!!!!!” What the hell?

He fumbled in panic and accidentally pressed accept.

Shen Nianjing: “……”

Great, time to die.

“Um… well… I wasn’t looking at my phone just now, I was just about to—” The excuse tumbled out instinctively before he froze.

On the other end of the video call, Su Zhiyan’s eyes were slightly red at the corners with a hint of tears, staring at him in confusion.

His nose was also a bit red.

As if he had just been crying.

“?!?!?!” Shen Nianjing didn’t know how to react.

His mind went completely blank.

He had expected to see Su Zhiyan’s usual frown with suppressed anger, and had already thought of excuses to make.

“Huh?” Su Zhiyan on the other end blinked, as if just realizing they were on a video call.

“……”

The scene fell into silence. Shen Nianjing felt like he couldn’t breathe. He stood up and cracked open the window for some air, his mind a jumbled mess as he tried to piece together what was happening.

Su Zhiyan actually cried? Could Su Zhiyan even cry? No way, maybe it was allergies.

He pushed open the window, his gaze wandering over the street outside, occasionally flickering back to his phone screen.

“Sorry, I don’t know how I accidentally started the video call.”

The person on the other end suddenly spoke up, confusion in his voice—and was that a hint of laughter?

Wasn’t he crying? Why is he laughing now?

Shen Nianjing stared motionlessly at the pedestrians on the street below.

What’s so funny! Did he look ridiculous or something?

Shen Nianjing felt like there must be a row of question marks floating above his head.

“I signed up for that competition they announced the day before yesterday. It was posted on the college website, did you see it?”

Shen Nianjing blinked. “No, didn’t hear about it,” he blurted out.

Yeah right, he thought to himself.

That competition was a big deal. It was hosted by a company that often collaborated with their college. The first prize was a whole twenty thousand yuan, but it required two people to compete, and the project requirements were quite high, so Shen Nianjing hadn’t even considered it.

Could Su Zhiyan be…

As if reading his mind, Su Zhiyan continued, “It’s a high-value competition. I’ll send you the link so you can check it out.”

“If you’re willing to be my teammate, I can help sign you up too, is that okay?”

“…” Shen Nianjing silently lowered his eyes to the screen.

Su Zhiyan was looking at him with intense focus.

Shen Nianjing: “…”

Damn it. How am I supposed to say no to that?

What was Su Zhiyan trying to do?

“Let me think about it,” he mumbled. “I’ve got tutoring every afternoon at three during the holiday. I probably won’t have enough time.”

“If middle school courses are too much for you to handle, it’s a wonder how you got into A University.”

Shen Nianjing: “…” Damn, could this guy ever leave someone a way out when he spoke?

“I’m pretty busy after all, I’d like to get some rest too,” he explained.

Su Zhiyan tilted his head on the screen, slightly frowning, looking confused. “Your idea of rest is turning down competition prize money related to your major, but spending your free time doing part-time jobs?”

“I’ve been wanting to ask you. With your strong professional skills, why do you keep doing manual labor jobs to make money?”

Shen Nianjing stood holding his phone, finding this version of Su Zhiyan, who seemed genuinely concerned for him, quite unusual.

He hesitated for a moment, and when he looked back at the phone screen, his eyes had become much calmer.

“Fine then.”

Since he couldn’t refuse anyway, he could just slowly distance himself after getting the prize money.

“Why so reluctant? Weren’t you the one who said teammates should get along well and help each other?”

“When did I say…?” Shen Nianjing instinctively argued back, when suddenly the scene from that drunk night at the KTV flashed through his mind.

Damn, he really did say that.

Why did he even have time to worry about Su Zhiyan?

Shen Nianjing closed the window and returned to his desk to organize his things, feeling somewhat helpless. “I told you to get along with your teammates, not to make me your teammate.”

“It’s basically the same thing. Isn’t choosing someone I already get along with as a teammate the most efficient way to skip the whole ‘getting to know you’ phase?”

Shen Nianjing: “…” Well, that logic was very Su Zhiyan.

Tucking his notebook and self-made problem sets into his bag, he finally said, “Got it. What time tomorrow?”

“At 8 a.m., third floor study room at East Campus Library. I’ve already reserved seats. Just come over after you finish breakfast.”

Of course he did. Shen Nianjing shook his head, half-impressed. And he even factored in time for him to eat.

“See you tomorrow then,” he said.

The person on screen nodded, fingers hovering to end the call.

Somehow, Shen Nianjing suddenly really didn’t want him to press that button.

“Hey,” he blurted out.

“Hm?” Su Zhiyan’s finger paused.

“Did you just… cry?” he asked.

“Huh? No, I wasn’t.” Su Zhiyan opened his mouth in surprise, not understanding why he asked that.

“Then why are your eyes and nose all red?”

Looking like he’d been bullied or something.

“You mean this?” Su Zhiyan laughed. “My phone hit me.”

Shen Nianjing: “……” He shouldn’t have asked.

“Well, bye.” He quickly hung up and left home after taking several deep breaths.

On the subway, Shen Nianjing lowered his eyes to their chat window and the 10-minute call record.

He seemed to find it increasingly difficult to refuse anything related to Su Zhiyan.

This wasn’t a good sign.

The subway arrived at his stop. Shen Nianjing strode out of Exit B, head held high with determination in his eyes.

He’d made up his mind to gradually distance himself from everything related to Su Zhiyan. He couldn’t let himself be led around by the nose like today.

Even if Su Zhiyan never left him an out, he’d leap off the cliff himself if he had to!

If I don’t go to hell, who will?! Shen Nianjing nodded firmly and walked steadily toward the residential complex where he’d be tutoring. He smoothly checked in with security and registered at the front desk, successfully arriving at his work “battlefield.”

Surprisingly, the little girl he was tutoring was sweet, smart, and quick to pick things up. She got concepts after just one explanation.

Shen Nianjing felt relieved, thinking he hadn’t made a mistake accepting this job.

“Shen-gege, you explain things so well!” The girl beamed, politely sliding a fruit platter prepared by the housekeeper toward him. “Way better than my brother!”

“Really? Thank you for the compliment, Yaoyao.” Shen Nianjing smiled, picking up a piece of honeydew melon as he listened to the little girl continue her rant.

“Yes! Ever since fifth grade, my brother refused to help me with homework. He said I couldn’t keep up with his thinking, and teaching me would be a waste of both our time.” She mimicked her brother’s tone dramatically.

Shen Nianjing: “……”

These words… why did they sound so familiar?

“It’s clearly his teaching method that’s the problem, but he blamed it on my brain! Now he won’t even come home during breaks, just to avoid me asking for help.”

Shen Nianjing chuckled lightly. “I’m sure your brother means well.”

“No way!” The little girl argued, yanking her tablet off the shelf and flipping to a page before shoving it in front of Shen Nianjing. “Look, he just looks down on me!”

The font on the tablet was quite small and hard to see. Shen Nianjing leaned forward, his eyes falling on the chat window and profile picture.

A familiar hand-drawn bear avatar stared back at him. His pupils constricted violently.

[Gege: Got another tutor?]

[Gege: Fine, trying different teaching methods might be good, since you can’t even keep up with your school teachers.]

Shen Nianjing: “……”

That tone, that avatar.

Wait, even though he’d said he’d go to hell, this wasn’t quite what he had in mind?

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