During their casual conversation, they had already reached Hong Jiaxin's front door.
After parking the motorcycle and entering the house, they went up to the living room on the second floor, where Luo Yang poured a glass of boiled water for Suyun.
Luo Yang and Hong Jiaxin were skipping classes, a matter that greatly concerned Suyun.
She had specifically come to find the two students to understand what was happening with them.
Suyun had high expectations for both Luo Yang and Hong Jiaxin; Hong Jiaxin was among the top students in their grade, and without incidents, she was expected to be admitted to either the best or the second-best high school in the county. However, frequent absences could lead to a different outcome.
As for Luo Yang, although he was one of the lowest achievers, Suyun believed that with hard work, he could definitely rank among the best.
Suyun had a vague understanding of what had recently occurred in their lives. After a half-hour heart-to-heart, she came to realize that the trouble Hong Jiaxin faced was far from trivial.
"How did the Japanese know there was charcoal in Hong Jiaxin's home?" Suyun asked curiously.
That was the exact question Luo Yang wanted to clarify.
Hong Jiaxin blinked her eyes, bewildered, "My parents never told me, and I really want to know what exactly is going on."
Mentioning her missing parents, Hong Jiaxin's expression darkened, her lips tightly pressed, her heart filled with indescribable melancholy, and her eyes swirling with a trace of sadness.
Luo Yang, sitting beside her, saw her sadness and gently patted her shoulder, comforting, "Don't worry, your parents will come back safely."
Suyun also advised, "Hong Jiaxin, don't panic just yet, maybe things will be resolved in a few days."
While the three were immersed in silence, Luo Yang received a call from Xu Huimin. After the call, he immediately went online on his phone to verify what she had said.
Indeed, as soon as he opened the browser, he saw a news headline that read, "National Products Must Strive for Strength: A Youth's Ambition to Forge a World-Renowned Brand," and upon clicking it, there was the photo of Luo Yang taken during the interview.
"Teacher Su, Class Monitor, look! I'm in the news!" Luo Yang showed them his phone.
Suyun took the phone and finished reading the news with Hong Jiaxin. They felt both happy and proud for him.
Last night, Xu Huimin had said she would help get Luo Yang's news featured prominently, and today she had indeed kept her promise.
Having lived for more than a decade, having his story featured on major websites for the first time indeed felt like a moment in the spotlight, and he was so thrilled he wanted to shout towards the sky and the sea.
"Luo Yang, this is the start of your career. Keep it up. From now on, I should be calling you Director Luo," Suyun encouraged.
"Teacher Su, once a teacher, always a teacher. You will always be my teacher, and I will always be your student. No matter how glorious, there's no need for you to call me Director Luo," Luo Yang earnestly replied.
"I hope that while developing your career, you also focus on cultivating your cultural knowledge. What do you think?" Suyun implied.
All that was essentially her way of telling Luo Yang to skip class less often.
After thinking it over, Luo Yang said, "Teacher Su, how about this? If the class monitor and I don't make it into the top 10 in the mid-term exam, we will definitely go to school on time and won't take leaves anymore. If we do make it into the top 10, then depending on the situation, we can skip class when necessary, how does that sound?"
You must know, Luo Yang has been a consistently poor student.
If it had been Hong Jiaxin who spoke these words, Suyun might have believed them; coming from Luo Yang, she laughed.
Suyun looked toward Hong Jiaxin and asked, "Are you willing to take this bet?"
The ever-competitive Hong Jiaxin naturally did not want to lag behind. If a student who often ranked in the bottom three like Luo Yang was talking about making the top 10, she had no reason to be timid. She nodded.
"Luo Yang, I have always had great faith in you. You are not dumb; you just don't put in the effort. You are destined for great things, and I believe in you this time. Keep it up, young man," Suyun earnestly said.
Afterward, she glanced at her watch. It was nearly 10 a.m., and she still had two classes to teach. After giving Luo Yang and Hong Jiaxin some advice, she headed back to the school first.
Hong Jiaxin, with her parents on her mind, had a sullen look as she paced back to her room and lay on her bed to rest with her eyes closed. From her tightly pursed lips, one could tell her mind was swirling with thoughts.
"Class monitor, let's go," Luo Yang called from her bedroom doorway.
He had promised Tang Guihua to help sort out her brother's trouble.
"I don't want to go anywhere. You go. Please close the door for me," Hong Jiaxin said indifferently.
If he left her alone at home, he couldn't guarantee her safety. Having promised Hong Zhong to protect his precious daughter well, Luo Yang couldn't afford to be careless.
"Class monitor, going out might make you feel better," Luo Yang persuaded.
"I want to sleep," Hong Jiaxin said, holding a stuffed doll.
Actually, she wasn't physically tired; she was just feeling mentally unwell and didn't want to move.
If there was nothing else to do, Luo Yang was willing to stay at home with her, letting her sleep as long as she liked. However, he had other matters to attend to.
Seeing her lazily lying on the bed, he walked over, sat on the edge, and gently shook her fragrant shoulder.
"Class monitor, get up," he urged.
"I want to sleep," she shifted to the other side, moving away from his reach.
So, Luo Yang climbed onto the bed too.
Hong Jiaxin turned around, both annoyed and amused, "This is my bed, you can't be here. Get down now."
The bedspread and bedding all featured Hello Kitty patterns, exuding a cute yet warmly sweet girlish vibe. There were two pink pillows on the bed.
Luo Yang lay down, resting his head on one of the pillows, and said with a smile, "Class monitor, if you won't get up, I'll sleep here too."
For Luo Yang, who possessed X-Ray Ability, even if Hong Jiaxin was fully clothed, it was as if she were lying naked on the bed. Staring at her a moment longer made it hard to pull himself away.
Her eyes were glossy and spirited, her lips fresh and lightly tinted, her skin tender and fair, and her youthful body's curves were smooth and voluptuous, embodying the epitome of youth. The room brightened because of her.
"If you don't get off, I'm going to kick you," Hong Jiaxin said coquettishly.
"Class monitor, you get to sleep but I can't rest?" Luo Yang smiled slyly.
"This is my bed!" she pouted her red lips.
"I admit it's your bed. It's big enough, can't you just let me sleep here?" Luo Yang said with a laugh.
At that, Hong Jiaxin chuckled.
She had wanted to keep a straight face, but seeing his mischievous grin, which was quite deserving of a beating, and his sincerely sunny smile made it hard for her to stay angry. She finally couldn't help but laugh.
"This is my territory. Get down," she said.
As she spoke, she bent her legs and kicked toward Luo Yang's abdomen.
Luo Yang chuckled, braced his abdomen, and countered her move. Then he quickly reached out, grabbed one of her ankles, and slid it between his legs, trapping her calf.
"Class monitor, if we're going to sleep, let's all sleep. What do you mean by envying my sleep?" Luo Yang laughed.
"You can't sleep on my bed!" she struggled to pull her leg free, but couldn't.
After a bit of struggling, she started hitting him with the stuffed doll. Luo Yang deflected and grabbed, holding onto her wrists firmly, rendering her unable to move.
"Class monitor, let's sleep," he said.