While tutoring Wang Shuang, Xie Qian’s nose suddenly itched.
Wang Shuang’s brain… making the same mistake on similar questions three times… If they weren’t friends, Xie Qian would’ve kicked this underachiever out.
“You’re not focused today,” Xie Qian concluded.
Wang Shuang’s gaze drifted, “Am, am I?”
Xie Qian stared silently, and Wang Shuang, losing confidence, admitted the reason.
He wanted to visit the *Star River and You* filming set.
But he couldn’t come up with an excuse to skip class.
Wang Shuang knew that, even without him, the so-called assistant producer, the set would run fine.
And the academic pressure was really heavy!
Wang Shuang couldn’t fathom his own thoughts.
Or rather, he resisted digging into the truth—what was drawing him to the set?
An answer loomed vaguely, but he shied away from it. Sharing his awkward feelings with a friend was tough, but Xie Qian was different. Xie Qian wasn’t a blabbermouth, and as a “life winner” with a girlfriend, maybe he could offer guidance?
Hesitantly, Wang Shuang spilled his thoughts, hoping for Xie Qian’s advice.
Xie Qian thought seriously, “I think you’re just not doing enough practice questions.”
Wang Shuang: “…!”
No!
That’s not it at all!
Wang Shuang wanted to argue, but Xie Qian’s serious look made him pause, and his restless heart began to calm.
He realised Xie Qian wasn’t joking. Xie Qian not only said this but lived it.
—So, Xie Qian and Wen Ying weren’t secretly dating? Was Li Mengjiao wrong?
Did Xie Qian like Wen Ying?
Wang Shuang racked his brain for clues—signs were everywhere, yet none were certain.
But Xie Qian’s treatment of Wen Ying was definitely special. If forced to tutor one of three underachievers, Xie Qian would pick Wen Ying!
Suddenly, Wang Shuang wasn’t in a rush.
Even someone as great as Xie Qian couldn’t fully control the future or act freely. So, an underachiever like him didn’t need to be anxious.
Wang Shuang steadied himself.
A knock came at the study door. It was Wen Ying, still on the phone.
“…Got it, see you, Class Leader!”
Wen Ying put her phone away, “Auntie Liu says it’s time for you two to eat.”
Wang Shuang perked up at the mention of food, casually asking, “You guys have class activities this weekend?”
“No activities. Not the Class Leader from Class 16, but my old junior high Class Leader. Oh, you don’t know him, but Xie Qian does.”
Xie Qian’s hand paused while packing books, “Song Shao? What’s he calling about?”
Wen Ying’s expression was seven parts pride, three parts modesty, “To congratulate me, of course. He saw the promotional video.”
Her invisible tail was practically wagging.
Was Song Shao’s congratulations that big a deal to make her so happy?
Fresh off counselling Wang Shuang, Xie Qian suddenly felt a pang in his chest.
He didn’t think he was wrong, but if underachievers made him feel stifled, he had ways to make them miserable.
Xie Qian decided being a tutor was indeed his best role right now, wielding sacred authority over underachievers.
The two underachievers happily went downstairs to eat, oblivious to the looming danger.
Li Mengjiao, who missed the tutoring session, later heard about that Sunday afternoon and was glad she did.
The two underachievers were pitiful.
Truly pitiful.
…
Being an underachiever was, of course, miserable.
Running the writing competition, though, brought a sense of achievement.
Not just for Wen Ying—even Mrs. Wang, thrust into the role, was starting to savour the work.
Of course, she’d never admit it aloud. She couldn’t let Yuan Fenghui get too smug or let her husband think her job was easy.
For the family, the wife was sacrificing so much!
That was Wang Jun’s feeling.
His wife was so busy, so hardworking, all for the kids, for the family.
Wang Jun knew nothing about the writing competition, or he’d have wanted to help.
As Wen Ying and the others predicted, the four promotional videos aired on Hunan TV caught media attention.
Ordinary writing competitions didn’t get such buzz.
New things always face resistance at first, and the “Tianjiao · Spark Cup” was no exception, with critical articles popping up one after another.
The short story category’s 200,000-yuan first prize became the main target of attack!
Because of Wen Ying’s promotional video, Wen Dongrong walked with a swagger at work. Thinking of the first workday after the video aired, when he ran into Old Li at the office entrance, and Old Li, trembling, turned and fled, Wen Dongrong couldn’t help but chuckle—
After that, Old Li avoided him for days, terrified. Wen Dongrong didn’t press his advantage, learning “restraint” in his gloating for the first time.
This puzzled Old Li, who thought Wen Dongrong was possessed.
Had he taken the wrong medicine?
Of course not. Wen Dongrong had heard a rumour.
Sure enough, one afternoon, the big boss called him in. There was a Party school training slot, and the boss assigned it to Wen Dongrong, praising his recent work enthusiasm.
Wen Dongrong had always performed well, but lately, he’d shown more drive. The difference between passively doing tasks and actively seeking progress was something the boss noticed.
Alongside this proactive attitude was Wen Dongrong’s growing “maturity.”
Not hounding Old Li constantly was, in the boss’s eyes, proof of his steadiness.
If Old Li knew the boss’s thoughts, he’d probably wail.
Wen Dongrong hadn’t stopped gloating.
He just stopped doing it at work, calling Old Li during off-hours instead!
Old Li wasn’t having it.
He wasn’t inferior to Wen Dongrong, except that his kid wasn’t as accomplished as Wen Dongrong’s daughter.
But was that Wen Dongrong’s doing?
It was the girl’s own writing talent!
