Chapter 148: Blush

Ye Ci was not in the mood. She remained silent but followed Su Yuan.

Ning Li carried her bag and glanced at her watch before deciding to follow Su Yuan as well.

…

The study room on the second floor.

Ye Ming was not home yet, so only Su Yuan and her daughters were there.

Ye Ci sat there with a straight back, looking nervous.

Meanwhile, Ning Li lounged on the couch lazily.

Su Yuan glanced at Ye Ci and sighed.

“Lil Ci, you did poorly in your midterm. May I know why?”

Ye Ci shook her head.

“I just happened to miss the mark this time, that’s all.”

Su Yuan did not believe her.

She had been the girl’s stepmother for many years now. Other than the resistance that she had felt during the early years, Ye Ci had always been an obedient girl.

She had not needed to worry about Ye Ci’s studies before.

Ye Ci doing poorly in the midterm was not normal.

“Lil Ci, if you are facing any problems, you can tell me. If it’s the pressure, talk to me. I can share the burden with you,” Su Yuan said softly.

“Is it because of Lil Cheng…”

“It’s not because of Lil Cheng.”

Ye Ci stopped Su Yuan and forced a smile on her face.

“It’s just that I failed to adjust my mindset and did not plan my schedule well. As a result, I missed many chapters for the midterm. It won’t happen again.”

Despite her saying so, Su Yuan felt bad for the girl.

“It’s my fault. You are in your last year of high school. You are already busy with the competitive Physics class and yet I still asked you to tutor Lil Cheng.”

Ye Ci claimed it was not Ye Cheng’s fault but Su Yuan knew that the boy had taken up a lot of her time and energy.

She had thought Ye Ci could handle the burden but she was wrong.

“Mom, please don’t. He has nothing to do with this,” Ye Ci said as she shook her head.

Su Yuan did not argue with her on this.

The sister and brother pair had always been close, Ye Ci would never blame Ye Cheng for her poor results.

However, Ye Ci would have to bear the consequences.

“I’m looking for a new tutor for Lil Cheng so you can focus on your studies now.”

Su Yun then glanced over at Ning Li with a conflicted look.

She knew how Ning Li had fared in the midterm.

She had been shocked and dubious when Ning Li had gotten first place in the monthly test because she had seen the girl’s files before she came to Yunzhou.

However she looked at it, Ning Li did not look like a straight-A student.

However, Ning Li had done it a second time and placed first in the whole city.

Judging from Geng Haifan’s reaction, it was not difficult for Su Yuan to tell that Second High was treating Ning Li as one of its best students.

Ning Li’s results were real, which caused her to have mixed feelings.

Was she happy?

All this only proved that the girl lied to her before.

Was she proud?

Ning Li had lived with her grandmother before she moved in and everyone knew it.

Even though Ning Li was doing great in her studies now, Su Yuan would not be able to claim the credit. People might even call her heartless for abandoning such a good daughter.

The better Ning Li was, the harsher the situation was for Su Yuan. Su Yuan had abandoned her daughter without a second thought back then. No matter how she or anyone else looked at it, it had been a huge mistake.

Su Yuan knew it was inappropriate for her to think like that, but she could not help it.

Ye Ci was the girl that she had raised but Ning Li’s arrival had outshone Ye Ci in every single aspect.

It felt like the effort that Su Yuan had spent on Ye Ci was nothing more than a joke.

“Ning Li, Mr. Geng told me today that you’ve agreed to help Lil Ci with her homework?” she asked.

The moment she asked the question, the room fell silent.

Ye Ci curled her fists tightly. She felt insulted again.

Ning Li nonchalantly played with her phone. She looked at her mother when she heard the question before glancing over at Ye Ci. She noticed that Ye Ci was looking tense, so she smiled.

“Ah, right. Yes.”

Ning Li nodded.

Su Yuan sighed a breath of relief.

Ning Li did not want to tutor Ye Cheng but she had agreed to help Ye Ci.

It was strange but as long as it could help Ye Ci with her studies, it was worth a try.

“If you agree, why don’t you start today—”

“Mom,” Ye Ci said suddenly. She sounded a little stiff.

“We can take it slowly. It’s not appropriate for me to disturb Sister Ning Li’s studies. I’ll try to rearrange my schedule to fit Sister Ning Li’s timetable. You don’t have to worry about it.”

As though she suddenly noticed that her tone was a little inappropriate, she took a breath and said, “I’m a little tired today. I want to have a rest.”

Su Yuan patted the girl’s head.

“Okay, the midterm is over now. Go have a good rest.”

Ye Ci nodded.

“Thank you, mom.”

Ning Li got up. She raised a brow at the two of them and said, “Let’s take a rain check then.”

She was fine with the time. It would be up to Ye Ci as to whether or not she would deign to lower herself and acknowledge that she was not as good as Ning Li.

Then, Ning Li left the room.

…

Back in her room, Ning Li’s phone buzzed as soon as she put her bag down.

She had a look and noticed that it was a video call from Lu Huaiyu.

When she remembered that he had not replied to her message all day, she hesitated slightly before answering it.

The video was blurry and it was difficult for Ning Li to see it clearly.

She moved the phone closer to her face.

The camera shook for a moment before a beautiful collarbone entered Ning Li’s sight.

The camera moved up all of a sudden. The man’s Adam’s apple and defined jawline were visible.

A drop of water trickled down his jaw and fell off the tip of his chin.

Ning Li blushed.