After Becoming the Love-Brained Female Lead’s Best Friend - Chapter 5

Ye Wanyin used her lunch break to finish the study guide she had been working on, then took a short nap.

When the bell rang from the speaker in the top right corner of the classroom, the students covered their ears and continued to sleep, presenting row after row of “as long as the teacher isn’t here, I’m not getting up” back-of-the-heads. Ye Wanyin sat in her seat, clearing her mind for a moment, then stretched her arms and went out for a walk.

When she returned, the teacher for the next period was already sitting at the podium. Since the bell hadn’t rung yet, he didn’t call the students to wake up, allowing the colorful heads to shine below while he wrote the day’s lesson on the blackboard.

Ye Wanyin glanced at the board and opened the corresponding textbook. At the same time, she pulled two new notebooks from a plastic bag she’d bought at the campus store and began organizing the morning’s homework assignments in them.

Once class started, Fang Shu—predictably—hadn’t returned. Ye Wanyin looked at the empty chair beside her, wondering where she had run off to run wild this time.

Thinking about her lack of mission progress, Ye Wanyin sighed softly. Just as she was bracing herself to pay attention to the lecture, she realized that everyone around her was still asleep.

Ye Wanyin: “…?”

Didn’t the bell just ring? Did I hear it wrong?

“In this lesson, we will discuss Unit Four…”

Ye Wanyin watched in a daze as the teacher droned on hypnotically, seemingly talking only to himself, while the students below remained dead to the world. It slowly dawned on her that unlike the public high school in the East Campus, this was a private high school. The student body was a mixed bag, and the quality of the teaching staff was inconsistent—the better teachers had all been cherry-picked by the elite classes.

The two teachers Ye Wanyin had met that morning were actually considered quite responsible; they knew the students’ level, crushed the knowledge points into fine dust to teach them, and assigned homework that wasn’t too difficult. Basically, if you listened even a little, you could do it.

However, this style wasn’t without flaws. The explanations were so granular that they barely covered any ground in one period. The efficiency was too low to keep up with the exam schedule; unless a student followed along for three to five years, it was hard to see results in their grades.

But for the students in this class, they clearly preferred this “hands-off” approach. Except for a few who managed to prop themselves up to listen, others either hadn’t woken up or were whispering to those around them.

The two boys behind Ye Wanyin were whispering while lying low on their desks. They were the ones who weren’t quite as bold; during the morning’s Chinese and Math classes, they only dared to pass notes. Now that this teacher wasn’t policing them, they were clearly letting loose.

Ye Wanyin heard the boy behind her say, “Did you see the group message?”

“Haven’t checked.”

“Fang Shu got cornered by Ge Qin on the big sports field!”

“What’s so strange about that? Aren’t they dating?”

“??? Your info is way out of date! They broke up last week!”

“Damn, you should’ve told me sooner so I could get in line.”

“No chance. Didn’t you see her flirting with you-know-who this morning?”

…

At first, Ye Wanyin didn’t think much of it. She just looked with slight annoyance at the boy sitting by the window on the far left. How could I forget? If her boyfriend is here, how is she going to go out and “date” alone?

It wasn’t until the next period was half over and Fang Shu still hadn’t appeared that she started to panic.

Wait, was there a scene in the original novel about Fang Shu being cornered by an ex?

In her memory, at least in the early chapters, there wasn’t. Fang Shu treated dating like a relay race—the moment one ended, she switched to the next. She never saw an ex come back for more.

Just as Ye Wanyin was hesitating over whether to pretend to go to the bathroom to search for her, the classroom door suddenly opened.

“Reporting.”

The English teacher glanced over her glasses, said nothing, and waved her in.

The moment Fang Shu sat down, Ye Wanyin couldn’t help but pass her a note.

(Are you okay?)

(Met an idiot.)

Seeing more than one ink blot on the crumpled paper, Ye Wanyin felt a surge of excitement. But when she read the words, she fell silent again.

Ye Wanyin recalled what she’d overheard and felt this was a good opportunity to bridge the gap in their relationship. She wrote another line: (Was it your ex-boyfriend bothering you?)

Just as the note was placed on Fang Shu’s desk, someone threw a piece of candy that landed on the floor. It was a hard candy with a large note taped to it. The writing wasn’t small; Ye Wanyin saw it immediately.

(Fang Shu, heard your ex cornered you?)

Fang Shu glanced at it and didn’t intend to respond, but the boy behind her poked her with a pencil case to relay the message: “Fang Shu, the people over there are calling you.”

Fang Shu looked up and saw two boys and two girls in the back rows on the far left staring at her with sparkling eyes, urging her on. Seeing her stay still, they even silently mouthed the question several times.

Fang Shu: “…”

Eventually, Fang Shu wrote a reply. She paused to think about how to throw it back, but the people behind her solved the problem: “We’ll pass it for you.”

Without thinking much, Fang Shu handed the note back.

Then, she heard the sound of the note being unwrapped behind her.

Fang Shu: “…”

As expected, not a single one of them is sincere.

By the time the note had made a full circle, even the student furthest from Fang Shu knew the answer, yet Ye Wanyin, the closest one, was still in the dark.

Well, she wasn’t exactly in the dark. The answer was obvious; asking was just a way to get Fang Shu to say it.

“Go back by yourself tonight. I have things to do,” Fang Shu said, propping up her chin.

Ye Wanyin thought of the homework that hadn’t been touched all day. “Oh… can you come back early to do homework?”

Fang Shu glanced at her. “No.”

With that, Fang Shu leaned over her desk and caught up on some sleep.

After class, some people wanted to talk to her, but seeing her asleep, they left quietly. Some wanted to get the details from Ye Wanyin, but since Ye Wanyin hadn’t even managed to ask her question, she obviously didn’t know anything.

Perhaps because so many people were asking, Ye Wanyin became curious about the details too.

The second period in the afternoon was Physics. As soon as the bell rang, Ye Wanyin tapped Fang Shu awake. For a split second, Fang Shu looked dazed, but in the next, her eyes turned fierce. She rolled her eyes toward Ye Wanyin with an expression identical to the one she wore when slamming her bedroom door the previous two days.

Except this time, it seemed she wanted to slam a textbook rather than a door.

Fortunately, Fang Shu didn’t actually throw a book at her in front of the whole class. She just looked at the teacher on the podium, forced herself upright, and began to space out.

Rarely seeing her without her phone, Ye Wanyin weighed her curiosity against the College Entrance Exam. A second later, she decisively pulled out the two notebooks she’d prepared and carefully pushed them toward Fang Shu. “This is the homework due tomorrow.”

Fang Shu glanced at the notebooks with a vacant, indifferent gaze. Finally, she turned her head away.

Ye Wanyin used the mountain of textbooks on the desk as cover. “I can teach you the parts you don’t understand.”

Fang Shu ignored her.

Ye Wanyin smiled in her heart. It’s fine. It’s only day four.

After class, a circle of people surrounded Fang Shu. “Fang Shu, why didn’t you reply to our messages? The physics teacher is too scary; I didn’t even dare pass you a note.”

Fang Shu pulled her phone from her skirt pocket and slapped it on the desk. “There.”

The screen was shattered, and the phone wouldn’t turn on.

Someone gasped. “Did you use your phone to commit a murder?”

Fang Shu gave that person a look reserved for idiots, then said nonchalantly, “I just gave him a bit of an ‘education.'”

“Who knew he’d be such a snowflake.”

He even broke her phone. Tsk.

The crowd cheered. “Tell us, Fang Shu, how did you educate him?”

Fang Shu put the broken phone in her drawer and glanced sideways at the person who asked. “Are you expecting me to recount it word for word?”

Those who had known Fang Shu for a long time knew that while she looked like she could date anyone, she could verbally destroy a man until he wept if he actually bothered her. Therefore, while many wanted to pursue her, none dared to cross the line.

“Really can’t say?” someone asked piteously.

Fang Shu gave them a look that made it clear there was no room for negotiation. It wasn’t that she couldn’t tell them, but she was lazy. If she could summarize it, she might consider it, but telling a play-by-play was out of the question. Too much effort.

As the school day ended, Ye Wanyin predictably had made zero progress. Before leaving, she made one last small struggle. “Remember to come home early tonight.”

Fang Shu, empty-handed, walked straight out. “I’ll wait until you’re asleep before I go back.”

Ye Wanyin: “…”

Only a few people remained in the classroom. Two girls were clearly buddies; their original seats weren’t together, but since the seats around them were now empty, they moved together.

Another person was sitting in a corner doing problems, hidden behind a mountain of books. Ye Wanyin almost didn’t see her.

Their school had self-study periods, but unlike the other campus, it was voluntary and teachers didn’t supervise. Ye Wanyin was used to self-study, and she wanted to use this time to quickly go through the local textbooks to see if there were any differences.

“Hello.”

At some point, the two buddies had left. The girl who had been doing problems walked over with a study guide, wearing thick black-rimmed glasses and looking timid. “Can I ask you a question?”

Ye Wanyin nodded. “Let me see.”

It was a function problem. Since it was from an extracurricular book, it was a slight variation on the basic types the teacher taught. Ye Wanyin explained where the variation was and gave examples, not putting down her pen until the other girl fully understood. “Got it now?”

The girl hugged her book, looking at Ye Wanyin with reserved admiration. “I got it. Thank you.”

Ye Wanyin smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“How much longer will you be? Do you want to walk back together tonight?” The girl didn’t leave immediately.

Ye Wanyin asked, “Do we live close?”

The girl replied, “Part of the way. I’m renting over in the East Campus area.”

The East and West campuses were on the same road. Ye Wanyin nodded. “If you’re ready, let’s go now.”

“Okay.”