After a full day of classes, Li Bin was called to the office when it was time for school to end.
As the sunset outside the window, Li Bin looked at his teacher's serious face and felt a bit nervous.
"Why did you want to see me?"
Li Bin had always been passively afraid of teachers since he was young, and it was still the same now, even though he had been with his homeroom teacher for a long time.
His teacher was also a very strict person, and Li Bin thought he hadn't done anything wrong recently. He attended classes properly and did his homework seriously.
"Li Bin, you've shown some changes lately."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't be nervous. I mean your recent performance has been good, and your attitude has improved."
"Thank you for the compliment, teacher."
"Keep up the good work and maintain this attitude. You're in your second year of high school now, and there's still more than a year to go. If you keep working hard..."
"I used to think you might just make it to a second-tier university or a vocational college, but now you have a real shot at getting into a top-tier university."
"I'll keep working hard." Hearing this, Li Bin felt acknowledged for the first time.
"Alright, there's nothing else. I just wanted to praise you and remind you to keep it up!"
"Got it, teacher."
"Okay, you can go now."
After leaving the office, Li Bin took a deep breath and clenched his fist.
"So this is what it feels like to be praised by a teacher? I have to tell Mom and Dad about this. Let's see if they still think I'm not doing anything right!"
Carrying his backpack, Li Bin walked out of the school. He didn't ride his bike today, so he had to walk home, but fortunately, it wasn't too far.
"Li Bin! Didn't you ride your bike today?"
"Oh, Yu Ju? No, I didn't ride today. I decided to walk for a bit of exercise."
Seeing the girl in front of him, Li Bin remembered that she was Yu Ju from the class next door.
She was quite pretty, not as stunning as some beauties, but she had a delicate and charming look. However, he had heard that she already had a boyfriend.
"How about you come with me to a place? I can give you a ride. My electric scooter is parked at the small supermarket across the street."
Yu Ju gave him a playful look, and Li Bin was momentarily stunned, his face turning red. He awkwardly scratched his head.
"What are you doing?"
"Just asking for a favor, pretty please?"
If Xu Lin were here, he would have told her to get lost. But Li Bin was swayed by her sweet voice and nodded.
"Okay, but don't take too long. I have something to do."
"It won't take long, thank you."
Saying this, she grabbed his hand, making Li Bin even more nervous. She then smiled and walked towards the other side of the street.
Following her, Li Bin helped retrieve the electric scooter. Many students who knew Yu Ju and him started teasing them, making Li Bin feel a bit embarrassed.
But being mistaken for her boyfriend made Li Bin secretly happy, and he suddenly felt like he understood Xu Lin's feelings a bit.
"Let's go."
"Alright."
Li Bin nodded and sat on the back seat, causing the scooter to sink slightly. Yu Ju frowned slightly but then smiled and turned her head.
"Hold on tight. If you feel unsteady, you can hold my waist."
"No need, it's fine."
And so they rode westward, then turned north.
Yu Ju remained silent the entire way until they reached Xianfeng Road and stopped in front of a supermarket.
After parking the scooter, Yu Ju led Li Bin inside, but it didn't feel like a girlfriend taking her boyfriend along; it felt more like she was leading a bodyguard.
Entering the mall, Yu Ju took Li Bin straight up the escalator, finally stopping on the third floor.
Looking around at the women's clothing stores, Li Bin was a bit puzzled. Why did she bring him here?
"Let's go, it should be this way."
She walked quickly and finally arrived at the entrance of a shoe store. Li Bin looked inside.
He saw a boy dressed in somewhat non-mainstream dark clothes and a girl with dyed blonde hair picking out shoes.
Yu Ju immediately widened her eyes, grabbed his wrist, and walked inside.
"Zhang Yufei! Why didn't you answer my calls?!"
"What calls? I didn't have my phone with me."
The boy looked up, glanced at Yu Ju, and then continued looking at the shoes. The blonde girl also gave them a disdainful look.
"Zhang Yufei, am I your girlfriend or not!?"
"Yu Ju, why are you making a scene here?"
"Who is she?" Yu Ju pointed at the blonde girl. Zhang Yufei also pursed his lips.
"She's my sister. So, what's with you bringing a big dumb guy over here? Did you find this thing?"
"You brought a girl out, why can't I bring a guy... Wait? She's your sister?"
"My sister, Zhang Qiong."
"Brother, how did you find such an unreasonable girl~ tsk!"
Hearing this, Yu Ju's previously raging emotions instantly calmed down a bit...
"I thought you were cheating..."
"Yu Ju, where did you get that idea from, seriously!?"
"Uh... sorry, don't be mad!"
Yu Ju said, moving closer with a face full of apology, then she took out her wallet.
"Sister, pick whatever you want. As your sister, I should buy you a pair of shoes."
"Really?" The blonde girl's face instantly turned from disdain to a smile.
Li Bin was left standing there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. But he understood that he had been brought along as a tool...
"I'm leaving."
He said, but Yu Ju didn't pay any attention to him. A surge of anger rose in Li Bin's heart, but he held it back and turned to leave.
"Hey, hey, brother, you came all the way here as a bodyguard, I can't just let you leave. How about we have a meal together?"
"Don't mind him, I don't know him well. I just asked him for a favor, and he came running like a fool~"
Yu Ju said, which made Li Bin even angrier. He glared at her.
Seeing Li Bin's expression, Yu Ju rolled her eyes at him. "What are you glaring at? Get lost, you're not needed anymore."
"Yu Ju, you!"
"What about me... you..."
"Sister, stop talking. Let me talk to him." Zhang Qiong interrupted Yu Ju and walked over to Li Bin.
"Hey there, I can't let you be a tool for nothing. By the looks of it, you don't have a girlfriend, right? Let me give you my number."
"I don't want it."
Li Bin said and started walking outside again, but she grabbed his hand. He was afraid of pulling her down, so he stopped immediately.
"Let me write it down." She said, taking a pen out of her pocket and starting to write on his clothes.
"What are you doing?"
"Let me write it~"
Seeing her pout, Li Bin softened again and extended his hand. "Write it here."
"Okay."
She quickly wrote, but instead of writing a number, she wrote two characters: "憨逼" (idiot).
"You!"
Li Bin anger exploded in an instant, raising his arm, but the other person showed no sign of fear.
"Hit me then! Do you dare?"
"Did I provoke you? What are you doing?"
"It's just fun!" Zhang Qiong put away her pen and sneered mockingly.
Several store clerks around couldn't bear to watch anymore, but none of them stepped forward.
But at this moment, a crisp slap resounded through the store with a loud snap!
Zhang Qiong felt the burning pain on her cheek and was stunned.
She looked ahead and saw it wasn't Li Bin who had hit her, but a girl, a very beautiful girl.
With eyes full of disdain, as if looking at an insect, the girl said contemptuously, "Is it alright if I hit you? You little bitch!"
"You dare touch my sister!"
Zhang Yufei also rushed forward, but the next second, Li Bin blocked the beautiful woman, his eyes blazing as he looked at the three of them.
"Try taking one more step, I dare you."
...
A few minutes later, at the bus stop outside the mall, a boy in a school uniform and a girl in a yellow dress were sitting together, looking somewhat odd.
After a few seconds, Li Bin spoke, "Thank you, Miss Qin."
"So you know my surname?"
"Xu Lin told me."
Li Bin said softly, not daring to look at Qin Tiantian beside him.
Qin Tiantian smiled too. This big boy~ but he looked pretty handsome just now when he stood in front of me.
"But why did you help me?"
"I just couldn't stand it."
"I see," Li Bin nodded.
"Don't be so honest next time. The bus is here, it's my bus, I'm leaving."
"Okay, thank you."
"Don't mention it!"
Qin Tiantian got on the bus, glanced back at him, her smiling face etched in Li Bin's mind under the light.
"Sigh~ When will I have a girlfriend like that... Forget it, time to go home!"