novelraw Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Chapter 13
And during the six months leading up to graduation, there was something Liu Wenjie never mentioned, though he had indeed noticed it: little Xia Ying would, from time to time—during recess or free activity—go to look after that tree. Sometimes she would water it, sometimes loosen the soil, and occasionally even sprinkle something like fertilizer into the dirt and observe its condition. That's right, it was the one Liu Wenjie had casually pointed at half a year ago and declared dead.
Needless to say, a dead tree is a dead tree—how could it possibly bloom?
There was only one month left until graduation.
[By this point I hope readers will bookmark our domain Taiwan Novel Network → 𝐭𝐰𝐤𝐚𝐧.𝐜𝐨𝐦]
Today was another free-activity period, only the classes weren't combined, so there was no mischievous little tsundere loli to stir things up. Liu Wenjie could laze comfortably beneath a tree and review his stats for the past half-year.
[Your current stats are:]
[Intelligence: 11]
[Stamina: 12]
[Art: 8]
[Charm: 12]
Compared to half a year ago, this was a huge improvement; keep in mind that every time he activated the system, the rewards didn't always include points. Gathering this many points wasn't easy—far harder than he'd expected. Reluctant as he was to admit it, most of them had come from that girl Xu Feifei; he'd even harvested less wool from Xia Ying than from her.
Just as he was thinking this, Liu Wenjie spotted a little girl in a white dress slowly walking alone toward the withered tree. After checking the tree's condition, her face fell slightly, but she quickly shook it off. Pressing her palms together, she seemed to be praying.
Liu Wenjie grinned, intrigued, and got up to walk over. As he drew near he heard little Xia Ying murmuring, "Tree-sama, I hope you'll bloom soon."
Liu Wenjie looked at her as if she were a fool. "What are you doing?"
His question made Xia Ying jump. The moment she realized Liu Wenjie had appeared beside her, she took half a step back, so nervous she couldn't speak: "W-Wenjie gege."
"I've noticed you're sometimes really similar to Xu Feifei from Class Three."
"Ah?" Little Xia Ying didn't understand. "How could we be alike?"
"It's that same attitude of not listening even when you're told—you're both stubborn to a fault."
"Stubborn?" She didn't know what the word meant.
Liu Wenjie glanced at the tree's condition—it was practically wind-dried beef, crisp enough to snap. "Let me ask you: what exactly are you doing?"
"I... Grandpa said that if something is really hard to accomplish, praying might make it come true, so I'm praying."
"And why are you praying?"
"Because I want it to bloom."
Liu Wenjie had known it would come to this. He sighed. "Didn't I say before that I was just talking nonsense? Actually, I've seen you circling this tree more than once. Graduation is almost here—do something else, okay? Even finding a place to rest would be better. I'd feel guilty if one sentence from me wasted so much of your time."
Little Xia Ying clasped her hands, head bowed, and insisted, "It's not a waste. I want to make you happy."
Liu Wenjie shot her a puzzled look. "Do you think I'm unhappy every day?"
Xia Ying paused before replying, "I want to make you even happier."
"You really—won't listen no matter what, will you?"
Xia Ying didn't dare say anything else and only managed a soft, "No..."
Liu Wenjie knew words were useless; graduation was almost here—let her be. After all, childhood could be precious, yet most of the time it was indeed wasted on meaningless things.
When Liu Wenjie turned to leave, Xia Ying stared after him, then suddenly summoned her courage and called out, "Wenjie gege..."
"Mm?" Liu Wenjie stopped and looked back. "What is it?"
Xia Ying clasped her hands to her chest—another form of prayer. With her wide, innocent eyes fixed on Liu Wenjie, she spoke in a soft, pleading voice, "If this tree blooms, can we go to the same elementary school? I want to attend the same elementary school as Wenjie gege."
Liu Wenjie stared at the little fool in surprise.
After a few seconds, he realized that for such an obvious affection-boosting question, the system hadn't even popped up. Did that mean the system also believed the tree couldn't bloom, so there was no need to reject her?
Liu Wenjie walked back to Xia Ying and casually tapped her on the head. Xia Ying yelped in pain and reflexively closed her eyes and shrank her neck.
Liu Wenjie explained in despair, "Let me give you a fun fact: our Small Town only has one elementary school, so whether you like it or not, not just us two, but all the other classmates from the kindergarten will be going to the same elementary school, dummy!"
With that, Liu Wenjie really left this time.
Xia Ying rubbed her head, a bit happy after hearing that. She hadn't expected things to be like this.
Time flew; the final month passed even faster than imagined—truly in the blink of an eye.
On kindergarten graduation day, all the children happily took a group photo together.
The female teacher from the kindergarten suddenly suggested, "How about we take a picture together with Class One and Class Three?"
The teacher from Class Three eagerly agreed, "Yes, yes, I've been thinking the same! Hehe~"
The two female teachers exchanged knowing smiles and put the plan into action immediately.
"Come, come! Children from Class One, come stand with the children from Class Three. Let's take a picture together. Liu Wenjie, you're tall; stand next to Xu Feifei."
Liu Wenjie: "???"
Xu Feifei: "!!!"
[Before, it had only been a feeling, but at graduation you sense the teachers aren't even pretending anymore. Faced with their amused attitude, what do you choose?]
[Option 1: Obedient good student. Reply: Got it, teacher! I'll stand with Xu Feifei right away. Reward: Teacher's conspiratorial smile.]
[Option 2: Stubborn neutral student. Reply: I'll just stand here. If she wants to come over, fine; if not, forget it. Reward: Mom's making boiled prawns tonight.]
[Option 3: Bad student. Reply: I protest! I don't want to stand with her! Reward: +1 Charm]
With one glance, Liu Wenjie knew exactly what to pick.
Option three, decisively.
"Protest! I don't want to stand with her—"
The kindergarten female teacher cut him off: "Protest overruled! Today graduation rules, and what the teacher says goes. Xu Feifei, quickly stand next to Liu Wenjie! Everyone else, stay where you are."
What?
This was the teacher's authority? It could even override the system's choices.
[Co... congratulations to the host for gaining +1 Charm.]
Well, at least there was a reward... fine, he'd make do.
Hearing the teacher, Xu Feifei's face flushed shyly, but she still gave a cold snort, as if she were reluctantly taking her place beside Liu Wenjie.
She muttered, "It's not like I wanted to stand with you—it's what the teacher said."
"Understood," he replied.
The kindergarten female teacher beamed. "Very good, very good. Now everyone smile and say 'cheese'!"
"Cheese!" the children of both classes chorused.
The photo was taken.
In it was Xu Feifei's face—clearly tsundere yet smiling—Liu Wenjie's speechless expression, and, on one side of the line, little Xia Ying sneakily watching someone.
After school, Liu Wenjie unexpectedly learned something else: the homeroom teacher was actually Xu Feifei's real aunt.
He saw Xu Feifei at the school gate with arms crossed, speaking in that proud tone: "Auntie, why did you make me stand with him? The graduation photo won't look good now."
The female teacher covered her mouth, happily patting Xu Feifei's head. "Bear with it, bear with it—it's all Auntie's fault~"
Xu Feifei couldn't hide the joy in her eyes. "Forget it, it's not Auntie's fault. We really are about the same height. When the photos are ready, Auntie, give me one."
"Don't worry, everyone will get one."
Witnessing this scene, Liu Wenjie concluded that the world was indeed full of plots, hidden deeper than he'd ever imagined.
That same evening, after graduation, little Xia Ying hurried to knock on Liu Wenjie's door, saying the tree would bloom that night.