Chapter 39 - 39 Kissing His Portrait
The next day, Wen Tian handed over the list of participants for the Go tournament to Tan Ruonian.
Tan Ruonian glanced over it, but to his surprise, he saw the name Fu Ying, his face showing a look of astonishment.
He wasn't old, around forty, his eyes weren't dim, so how come he saw the name Fu Ying?
He took off his glasses, wiped them, put them on again, and checked carefully once more.
"Mr. Tan, what are you looking at? So attentively? Did you win the lottery?"
Tan Ruonian gave an embarrassed smile: "No, nothing."
"Did that student Fu Ying from your class cause you trouble again?"
"Not at all, she's been behaving quite well recently."
"By the way, Mr. Tan, have you finished tallying up the list of participants for the Go tournament from your class? I need to submit it."
Tan Ruonian wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed over the list: "All tallied up."
"Okay, I'll submit it now."
Though Fu Ying also participated in the competition, even if she couldn't win any prize, her eagerness to sign up was commendable.
Commendable courage indeed.
...
"Wen Tian, can you help me look at this problem?"
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Fu Ying was staring at the math problem, troubled. After class, she sought out Wen Tian for help.
"Which problem?" Wen Tian looked up and took the test paper from her hand.
The whole page was blank, except for the multiple-choice questions.
Fu Ying gave an embarrassed smile: "I can't do any."
"..." Wen Tian paused, "Actually, the teacher has explained similar questions before. You just need to use the formula and do the calculations, it's very simple."
Fu Ying hesitantly asked: "What's the formula? When did the teacher explain it? I don't remember."
Wen Tian: "This..."
Fu Ying really couldn't absorb any math, her standard state during class was borderline falling asleep.
While the teacher passionately spread knowledge from the podium, she had her umbrella up against it.
Wen Tian explained the problem to her. Fu Ying listened intently, but her eyes expressed confusion.
Wen Tian explained a lot, but he wasn't sure if she understood. When the bell rang, the girl scratching her head and clutching her test paper returned to her seat.
After school, nobody came to pick her up. She didn't go home straight away but lingered at the bus stop, hoping to bump into him.
An elderly man passing by, thinking she was waiting for the bus, kindly reminded her, "Girl, the bus service has stopped, it doesn't run past 7:30 p.m."
Fu Ying didn't know how to explain, so she just responded to the old man, "Oh, thank you."
Fu Ying stayed at the bus stop a little while longer before going home.
She glanced at her elder brother's room, about to go back to her room, when suddenly Fu Yan grabbed her by the back of the neck.
"Fu Ying, who let you give my WeChat to that pervert? Damn it, he actually wants to date me."
Fu Ying shrank her neck in fear: "I asked you to help me with a problem, you insisted on dressing up all seductive and amorous, and now someone's fallen for you, is that my fault?"
Fu Yan gritted his teeth: "Looking for a spanking? Talking back, are you?"
Fu Ying: "No, it was you, big brother, who said you'd solve the problem for me. You took the money, you should at least solve the problem, right?"
"Just that little bit of money..." Fu Yan suddenly changed his mind, sneered, "Maybe I agreed to provide after-sales service, but unless you give me all your pocket money for the next half month, I won't help."
"..."
Fu Ying felt she was being extorted.
But since Fu Yan held the leverage, she dared not oppose and had to swallow the bitter pill.
Fu Ying reluctantly said: "Okay, okay."
"Do you have any money on you now?"
Fu Ying wore a pained expression: "I do, but I need it."
"Hand it over."
Fu Ying reluctantly handed over the only one yuan she had under Fu Yan's coercion: "My bus fare."
Fu Ying thought, surely the young man would disdain such a trivial sum, but to her surprise, he accepted it.
Then he cast a disdainful glance at her: "Pauper."
...
The preliminary round of the Go competition was set for next Friday. After assigning homework, Mr. Tan reminded the participating students to prepare well.
Then, Mr. Tan left with his textbooks.
There was evening self-study later on, and today it was Fu Ying's turn to be on duty.
While taking out the trash, Fu Ying deliberately moved slow. Only after self-study began did she enter the classroom.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Tan was there.
"Why did it take so long?"
Fu Ying lied without blushing: "A classmate knocked into my trash bin on the way, spilling everything. I had to clean it up, that's why I'm late."
"Be quicker next time."
"Okay."
"Go to your seat, there's a problem I need to go over with you all."
...
After school, as usual, Fu Ying sat at the bus stop across the street from the school waiting for Fu Yan.
For several days in a row, she had given all the pocket money Fu Mingchuan gave her to Fu Yan.
With her pocket money in hand, Fu Yan was in a cheerful and very contented mood.
Every evening when he picked her up to go home, his attitude towards her had also improved significantly, influenced by the money.
It had been over half a month since Fu Ying last saw Shen Liguang. Even her elder brother rarely came home, as she heard firefighters were busy with promotion assessments.
The night breeze in early summer was not yet hot, and Fu Ying raised her hand to tuck her hair behind her ear.
In the time waiting for Fu Yan, she took out her diary from her backpack and, holding a pencil, began to sketch Shen Liguang's outline on a blank page.
With her head down, the fine hair on her forehead fell and swayed gently in the evening breeze.
Though the girl looked delicate, it was clear that she was shaping into a young lady—tranquil and graceful.
With fair skin, a petite frame, and bright eyes, she lacked the statuesque elegance of a young lady but possessed the clever, sprite-like charm.
Akin to a new vista, the night bus stop didn't know when it acquired such a scene.
Always attracting the gaze of passersby.
With a background in drawing, Fu Ying was also good at sketching; soon, the stern and aloof features of Shen Liguang's face appeared on the paper.
She carefully added a mole at the corner of his eye, stared at the drawing, and inexplicably brought her face closer to kiss the lips of the figure on the page.
Realizing what she had done, Fu Ying's fair little face flushed, her clear, bright eyes filled with panic.
What had she just done?
Kissed a drawing of Shen Liguang.
With her head down, biting her lip, Fu Ying quickly stuffed her diary back into her backpack.
"Fu Ying!"
Just as Fu Ying had tucked her diary away, she heard Fu Yan's voice.
Startled, fearing that Fu Yan had witnessed her odd behavior just now, she jumped and picked up her backpack to approach him.
Upon careful inspection of Fu Yan's expression, she found he looked as usual, probably just arriving and not having seen her strange act of suddenly kissing the notebook.
Fu Yan looked up, noticing Fu Ying sizing him up, and frowned: "Little sister, I know I'm handsome, but we are siblings. It's... it's ethically wrong. Dad would be sick with anger if he knew."
Fu Ying scowled: "I think you're the one who's sick."
Fu Yan sneered: "Suddenly think your brother is very handsome?"
Fu Ying nodded insincerely: "Handsome, good-looking."
.