Daniel was taken aback by her question, then suddenly realized, this seat number three, isn't it Ellie?
William had just come up from downstairs and glanced at the two of them, asking, "What are you guys discussing?"
Ellie shook her head, "Nothing."
Daniel spoke up, "It's just about William. Weren't you going to the first exam room to find Ellie? Some people are saying that William has taken a liking to someone in the first exam room, and they mentioned it was the third one. The third one isn't Ellie, is it?"
William: "…"
Ellie chimed in, "He just felt a bit uneasy during the exam, so he came to find me because I've been tutoring him lately. Everyone has misunderstood."
Daniel's face lit up with realization, and he said, "So that's how it is."
Gossip was right under his nose, and he didn't even know it.
But he couldn't believe that William suddenly started studying without Ellie being the reason.
William put away his exam papers into the drawer and said to Ellie, "I didn't consider that when I went to find you, and I'm sorry for causing you any trouble."
Ellie replied, "It's okay, it's all baseless anyway."
William smiled, "That's true."
His gaze kept falling on Ellie, but was it possible that those rumors weren't false after all?
...
On the third day, after the last exam, everyone started heading back to their classes to pack up their things.
Ellie was just about to move her desk when she heard someone behind her say, "Let me do it, take a break, Little Teacher."
Hearing the voice, Ellie knew it was William; he seemed to have rushed up, a bit out of breath, his hair slightly disheveled. She softly said, "Okay."
William pushed her desk in, then pushed his own desk in as well. Seeing Ellie carrying a chair, he took it from her and said, "Let me do that."
Ellie went out to carry their books, but he took them from her again.
After packing up everything, Ellie had just sat down when Adrian and Theodore came over with their math exam papers.
Adrian asked Ellie, "Ellie, what did you choose for the last multiple-choice question in math? Theodore and I have different answers. She chose a, I chose b, and we've been arguing about it for a while."
Daniel looked at the two of them, their faces flushed, indeed looking like they had been arguing for a long time.
"I remember I chose c," Ellie took out her own math exam paper to show them, and indeed she had chosen c.
Theodore said, "Damn, we both chose wrong after arguing for so long."
Ellie said, "Right, it's c."
"Why is that?" Theodore looked at the question, thinking his problem-solving approach was correct.
Adrian also thought his approach was correct.
Theodore first explained his approach to Ellie, then said, "Ellie, my solution to this question was smooth, and I don't think there was any issue."
Ellie didn't interrupt him at all, only speaking up at the end, "Your auxiliary line is incorrect." She pointed out Theodore's issue in a few sentences.
Theodore realized, "So my approach was wrong from the start."
Adrian drew a line with his finger and asked, "Draw it here?"
Ellie shook her head and said, "It can be drawn in these three positions." She held the exam paper and explained the problem to the two of them. Adrian and Theodore crowded in front of Ellie to listen to her explanation.
Ellie's thinking was clear, and her voice was soft and gentle.
William, seeing the three heads huddled together, felt uneasy.
His Little Teacher was also explaining problems to others.
And they were so close, so close to her.
But they could discuss problems together, while he couldn't.
After Ellie finished explaining, both of them had a moment of realization.
Adrian said, "Thank you, Ellie."
Theodore also said, "Thank you, Ellie."
At first, Ellie felt a bit awkward hearing this title, but after being called it many times, she got used to it. She replied, "You're welcome."
The two then checked Ellie's math exam paper for other multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.
Adrian said, "I'm screwed, I misread the second question, wrote the wrong answer for the last question, and I didn't solve one and got another wrong."
Hearing this, Daniel said, "Don't say that. Your multiple-choice questions are almost the same as my total score. If you're screwed, then how am I supposed to survive?"
Adrian gave him a "hehe" smile.
After comparing their answers, Theodore and Adrian left.
Daniel looked at Ellie's paper and saw the good news was that he got the last multiple-choice question right, the bad news was that with this question, he only got four right.
Hao Ming, seeing his worried expression, said, "What's up? Did you fall asleep during the exam? What's got you so worried?"
"I only got four right on the multiple-choice questions."
"How do you know?"
Daniel said, "I checked Ellie's paper. Can you check yours?"
After comparing, Daniel was even more depressed. He said, "What the hell, Hao Ming, are we bros or not? Did you secretly study behind my back? How did you get so many right?"
Hao Ming looked at his own paper and said, "I didn't."
William watched as Ellie's paper was passed around.
He felt even more displeased.
Other students who wanted to borrow Ellie's paper to check answers saw William's gloomy expression and went back.
Damn it.
Did someone provoke this plague god?
A pair of soft, fair hands reached in front of William, and Ellie said, "Let me take a look at your paper."
William looked at her outstretched hand and almost put his own hand in hers.
He hesitated to take out his neat stack of exam papers and placed them on Ellie's desk, saying, "There might be many mistakes."
Ellie smiled at him and said, "It's okay."
William felt nervous as he watched her look at his paper. Seeing no change in Ellie's expression, he let out a breath.
Ellie showed him the math paper, pointing to the third question and saying, "Didn't we just discuss this type of question in the video call a few days ago?"
William looked at the question and remembered that he had been a bit distracted during the video call a few days ago and didn't quite understand it.
Seeing him silent, Ellie thought he didn't understand that day and was too shy to ask again, so she said, "It's okay, if there are questions you don't understand, you can ask me as many times as you need until you get it, okay?"
William, listening to her soft voice, felt guilty and said, "I know, Little Teacher."
After he finished speaking, he asked, "But if I ask you many, many times, won't you find it annoying?"
"No," Ellie said, then added, "As long as you understand in the end, that's all that matters."
"Then will you think I'm not smart?"
Ellie paused and said, "If it's a question I've explained several times and you still don't get it, I won't think you're stupid. I'll just think you're not paying attention."
"I will pay attention, Little Teacher."