That which is important to me is even more important to her.

Xia Xinyu's way of perseverance might not be to speak her mind directly.

Rather, she only speaks the truth that won't upset others.

If she truly thinks something, but saying it would cause sadness, she'll hide it in her heart, warming it with her gentle spirit before speaking.

What's important to her is to support her parents' funeral and comfort her lonely grandfather.

What's important to me is the equation 504 + 121 = 625 and the math competition that can shorten that gap.

[But how do you know that what is important to me is not even more important to you?]

The bug has appeared again.

But she can't hear my thoughts.

The expression she sees on my face now is probably the same as always, without any ripples.

"If you feel lonely, you can do more than just look up at the stars."

Can't starlight be found on Earth as well?

You don't have to look so high to find solace.

"Coming from your mouth, those sentimental words... feel strangely subtle." Although she said that, Xia Xinyu's expression was happy.

Which girl doesn't like to hear nice things?

"The important things for you..." Chen Yuan gazed into Xia Xinyu's night sky-like eyes and paused for a long time before saying, "Once they're done, remember to come back."

I can't say it.

Not because Chen Yuan was shy or embarrassed to be so mushy.

But because he heard Xia Xinyu's thoughts.

She said:

The difference of 121 points is much bigger than I imagined.

I hope he stays calm.

Even if he acts impulsively… I will forgive him.

However, it's like how I've been working hard to save every penny, because I know that after Mom and Dad died, I have no source of income, and every minute I stay in Xia Hai is costing money.

Who is…

[Doesn't want romance?]

"Of course, I'll come back." Xia Xinyu smiled, wiping away a bit of moisture from the corner of her eye that might have been caused by tiredness, and jokingly said, "If I don't come back, then you come find me."

"Okay." Chen Yuan agreed.

If you don't come back, I'll carry you from Jingnan to Xia Hai Eleventh High School.

And I'll take care of your transfer procedures for you.

625 points is enough to ride on Lao Mo's head and pull his hair.

"But I probably won't have to this time. Next time, I'll take you to my house to play." When she talked about her hometown, Xia Xinyu became cheerful and confident. "The scenery there is beautiful. I guarantee you'll want to stay for a few more days."

"A place with beautiful scenery that hasn't been fenced off and charged for… is indeed worth a visit."

"So when are you going to invite me to your house?"

Xia Xinyu felt that this was reciprocity, even if it was just empty words. But Chen Yuan didn't bring it up, which was really a bit of a straight man.

Faced with her question, Chen Yuan didn't answer.

So Xia Xinyu waved her hand. "I was just kidding, no need to be so serious… Eek, why are you taking out your phone?"

"Calling my dad to buy groceries."

"Okay! Thanks for the invitation, I appreciate the thought!" Hurriedly pressing down on the phone, Xia Xinyu hung up Chen Yuan's call, completely startled. "You're too proactive."

Compared to Chen Yuan, my own sincerity paled in comparison.

This person… is he teasing me?

He certainly is teasing you.

But if you didn't stop me, I would really dare to play it big.

But the prerequisite is to explain to the head of the Chen family, Chen's mother—I'm really not in a relationship, and my grades didn't drop because of a relationship!

It's Zhou Yu's fault. That bastard is a bad kid, taking me to play Mahjong Soul every day!

"Then, really good night."

As if she had forgotten the embarrassing things that happened today, Xia Xinyu once again became that quiet and generous girl, taking the initiative to say good night to me.

"Good night, sweet dreams."

Chen Yuan smiled slightly and nodded. After watching Xia Xinyu close the door, he returned to his room.

It was already a bit late today, and he should have gone to bed, but after all, Xinyu and his clothes were still being washed, and he had to hang them up later, so he lay on the bed, scrolling through his phone, waiting for the washing machine to finish.

Unknowingly, he clicked on a ticket booking app (waiting for the 12306, Feizhu, and Ctrip operations departments to bid), searching for train tickets from Xia Hai to Shao Xiang.

"There aren't any direct ones…"

I need to transfer.

If I take the green-skinned train (old, slow train), it's 13 hours. I need to transfer at Tan Xiang and then take the bullet train.

And the most suitable green-skinned train departs at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday and arrives at 8:00 a.m. the next day… The burial will already be over by then.

But there's a faster way, which is the high-speed rail, which only takes four hours to Tan Xiang.

Then take a thirty-minute bullet train, and I should make it.

But the latest high-speed rail is at 4:58 p.m.

Damn, it takes thirty minutes to get from Yi Zhong to the station, and I have to enter the station fifteen minutes before departure!

No matter what, there's no perfect solution.

And this should also be what Xia Xinyu said, that what is important to me is even more important to her.

She knows that as long as I act impulsively, I will lose this opportunity to get ten extra points.

And the direct reason for this is her.

How could someone who doesn't even want to burden her relatives want me to sacrifice for her?

"A rare good girl, hard to find even with a lantern."

"I've never even seen someone like this before."

"But she's so strong, does she even need anyone else to do anything…"

With his hands crossed behind his head, he looked up at the light above him, not knowing how to treat such a girl.

Perhaps, if I had met her earlier, it wouldn't be like this.

Because Chen Yuan vaguely felt that she was trying too hard.

In order to prove that she could stay in Xia Hai, she wanted to be stronger than everyone else, wanting to not depend on anyone.

Perhaps, she had even made a small vow: even if Mom and Dad are gone, she can still walk alone.

If I had met Xia Xinyu earlier, perhaps I could have known her original side, her more authentic side, the side that might rely on me…

Ding—

The washing machine finished.

Chen Yuan got out of bed, put on his flip-flops, walked to the bathroom, took out the clothes, put them in a clean basin, then took a stack of hangers, walked to the balcony next to the bathroom, opened the curtains, and hung the clothes on the clothesline on the anti-theft rack.

"When did she wash and hang up my socks…"

Looking at the soft socks clipped on the hanger, which even fluttered in the wind, Chen Yuan turned his head again and looked at the dry socks next to him that looked like darts: "Yeah, these were washed by me."

Chen Yuan took out Xia Xinyu's short sleeves and school uniform sweatpants first and hung them up.

The school uniform of a 1.6-meter girl is really small, looking like children's clothes compared to mine.

My clothes and Xia Xinyu's clothes were hung on the same rope, and the moonlight shone into the room through the gaps.

Looking up at the bright moon above, Chen Yuan had a feeling he was going to have insomnia.

Suddenly, a call came.

Chen Jianye.

The third-in-command of the Chen family, the deputy head of the family without executive power, and not yet a member of the family committee.

"What's up, son, why are you calling me?" he asked happily on the other end.

"I dialed the wrong number, I wanted to call my mom."

"What could you only say to your mom?"

The other end of the phone suddenly became tough, but Chen Yuan sighed and said, "Don't mess around, give the phone to my mom, you can't make the decisions."

"I've never heard of a Southeastern man not being in charge at home!"

"You can't even decide on a bottle of Mengzhilan, forget it, Old Chen, don't try to be strong, give the phone to my mom, hurry up."

"It's not that your dad didn't want to open it, I just wanted to drink some Niulanshan that day!"

Old Chen got anxious, and said quite seriously, "If you don't tell me about this today, don't ask me for anything ever again."

"Can you solve it if I tell you?"

"Say it! As long as you say it, I'll solve it for you today…"

"We're watching TV, Chen Jianye, keep your voice down!"

"Tell me quickly, I must solve it for you today…" Lowering his voice, Old Chen said seriously.

His old man's hospitality was hard to refuse, so Chen Yuan had no choice but to say:

"Okay, drop some gold coins then."