Chapter 179: Chapter 179

Shen You’an returned from the ancestral grave in complete silence.

"An’an, do you think my husband is handsome?"

Zhang Xiaoyu squatted beside Shen You’an, clutching a pile of cards and stickers featuring the same teenage boy.

Various bizarre, cringe-worthy outfits—there was hardly any trace of handsomeness, more of a resemblance to frightful characters.

Kids these days sure have peculiar tastes.

"Isn’t he handsome? Let me tell you, he’s incredible at dancing and singing. He’s only sixteen this year but already the lead singer of the national boy band V-Team. Ah, my darling husband."

Zhang Xiaoyu kissed the photo of the boy with an infatuated expression.

The scene was simply unbearable to watch.

"Oh, by the way, a new talent show premieres on Fruit TV tonight! My husband will be there as a guest mentor. I’m so thrilled—I get to see him tonight..."

Aunt Guihua came out of the kitchen and couldn’t help but scold when she heard Zhang Xiaoyu’s words: "A young girl like you, constantly shouting about husbands—aren’t you ashamed? Huh? You even spent all your pocket money on these useless things! Let me warn you, if you fail your next exam, not only will there be no pocket money, I’ll burn all these things in one go. You’re driving me crazy!"

Aunt Guihua got more and more heated as she ranted, grabbing a broom leaning against the wall to hit Zhang Xiaoyu.

"An’an, save your little aunt!" Zhang Xiaoyu hid behind Shen You’an, poking her head out cautiously.

Not wanting to hit Shen You’an, Aunt Guihua tossed the broom aside.

Pointing at Zhang Xiaoyu, she said, "Since An’an is here, I won’t hit you now. But once she heads back to the city, just watch how I deal with you."

After speaking, her expression changed into a pleasant smile when facing Shen You’an—her transformation was utterly astonishing.

"An’an, about the thing you promised me last night—does that still stand?"

Shen You’an nodded. "Don’t worry, Aunt Guihua."

"Good, good. I’ll go cook now; you kids have fun."

When Aunt Guihua left, Zhang Xiaoyu gazed at Shen You’an with suspicion.

"What did you promise my mom?"

"To tutor you in your studies."

Dragging a long face, Zhang Xiaoyu complained, "Why are you so annoying?"

Without a word, Shen You’an grabbed her braids. "Let’s go—you won’t get another chance ."

Moving reluctantly, Zhang Xiaoyu pulled out her school bag. Shen You’an snatched it away and started pulling out books one at a time.

He soon started laughing.

Novels, art books, lyric books...

Her textbooks were pristine, her notes nonexistent, but there were plenty of doodles, including one where she added a motorcycle to a famous ancient poet.

Shen You’an couldn’t help but laugh. "Turns out, you have talent for drawing."

Zhang Xiaoyu raised her eyebrows proudly. "Of course! Don’t you know who I am?"

At the very bottom of the bag, Shen You’an unearthed a test paper. Zhang Xiaoyu’s expression shifted, and she tried to snatch it back—too late.

A vibrant score stood out on the math test: 22.

"Twenty-two points, Zhang Xiaoyu, were you rolling dice to answer these questions?"

Her eyes lit up. "How did you know?"

Shen You’an stared at her innocent, pure eyes and suddenly found himself speechless.

"Getting some of the answers right by sheer guessing—you do have a bit of luck on your side."

Zhang Xiaoyu became even more smug.

Shen You’an grabbed a pen, wrote a question in a blank notebook, and slid it in front of her.

Zhang Xiaoyu bit her pen, deep in thought.

"How do you solve it again?"

Shen You’an rubbed his forehead in dismay.

How could a middle schooler not know how to solve a quadratic equation?

Her foundation was so weak—it needed rebuilding entirely.

"Xiao Yu..." A timid voice sounded from the door.

Both Shen You’an and Zhang Xiaoyu looked up.

A girl dressed in a white dress stood hesitantly at the doorway, her hair styled into braids. Her face sprinkled with freckles, her big dark eyes resembled those of a shy and clueless fawn.

Hugging some books to her chest, the girl lingered nervously at the entrance.

"Feifei? What are you doing here?" Zhang Xiaoyu stood up.

The girl’s gaze landed on Shen You’an, her eyes widening, and she froze completely.

Zhang Xiaoyu walked over, draped her arm over the girl’s shoulder, and waved her hand in front of her. "Snap out of it! I knew it would be —when I ran into her this morning, I also froze."

The girl blushed and lowered her head. "My mom heard that Sister An’an had come back and told me to seek her help with studying."

"Sister An’an." Gathering courage, the girl stepped up to Shen You’an.

"My name is Zhang Feifei. I’m in the same class as Xiao Yu. I hope I’m not bothering you. If you’re busy, I can leave."

Zhang Feifei sighed in relief and carefully took a seat.

"What would you like to ask me?"

Staring down timidly, Zhang Feifei whispered, "My math foundation is really poor, so I hope Sister An’an can help me improve."

"Alright. Do you have any recent test papers? Let me take a look."

Nodding vigorously, Zhang Feifei pulled a neatly folded test paper from her textbook and handed it to Shen You’an.

Shen You’an took the paper and slid the notebook toward Zhang Feifei.

"Solve this question."

Gripping her pen, Zhang Feifei began diligently tackling the problem.

Shen You’an glanced at her and then focused on the test paper, annotating it with his pen.

Seconds ticked by. Zhang Feifei finally put down her pen, "Sister An’an, I’m done."

Shen You’an replied with a brief "Hmm," glanced at her work, and spoke.

"You expanded each term and used the standard equation form, but the process is too cumbersome. Exam graders prefer concise and straightforward steps for awarding points."

Feeling a bit defeated, Zhang Feifei lowered her head. "Sister An’an, am I really dumb?"

"You’re not dumb—your methods just need refinement. Slow and steady methods do have their merits, though; they speak to reliability and diligence. That’s the hallmark of good learning habits."

Embarrassed but relieved, Zhang Feifei looked back up. "Really?"

Shen You’an smiled. "Your foundation isn’t bad; your techniques need sharpening."

"Let’s revisit this question. Look at the equation structure—let x1 be m and (2‐x) be n. The left-hand side transforms neatly into a perfect square. Now, using the factoring method, you can solve this equation..."

Guided by Shen You’an’s instructions, Zhang Feifei had an epiphany.

"I get it now! Sister An’an, you’re amazing—better than our teachers!"

Close to her, the girl’s porcelain-like face appeared luminous, her features flawless and delicate. Especially her eyes—no words could aptly describe their unparalleled beauty.

She sat there quietly, emanating grace, warmth, and a regal presence.

Seeing her not only stunned Zhang Feifei about her looks earlier, this time completely won her over due to her intellect and elegance.

"Here’s your test paper. I noticed you’ve lost points on some straightforward questions, such as..."

One taught while the other learned attentively.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoyu, left out, couldn’t hold it in any longer. An’an was meant to teach her, but Feifei had swooped in halfway, leaving Xiaoyu sidelined.

No matter how much noise Zhang Xiaoyu made, neither gave her a glance.

"I don’t care! An’an, you have to teach me!"

Shen You’an handed her a notebook. "Solve the questions I’ve written on it. If you can finish them all, we’ll talk."

He then ignored her entirely, focusing on Zhang Feifei’s lesson.

Zhang Xiaoyu frowned at the math problems in the notebook; they made her headache instantly.

Tempted to give up, she glanced at Shen You’an and Zhang Feifei. Gritting her teeth, she decided not to back down so easily.

Grabbing a pen, she racked her brain and tried her best.

Wasn’t this problem covered in class?

Slapping her forehead, she felt like her thoughts were a tangled mess.

She flipped through her textbook, searching page by page.

Luo Wan and Aunt Guihua stood outside the window, watching the scene, exchanging knowing smiles.

"An’an truly has her ways," said Aunt Guihua.

After studying for a while, Shen You’an brought out a Sudoku game for the two girls to relax.

The afternoon flew by.

The group sat in the courtyard during dinner, bathed in the soft glow of the sunset.

Zhang Xiaoyu leaned toward Shen You’an, whispering, "Feifei confided in me; she wants to get into Qingzhou High School. I laughed at her—dream on."

Shen You’an raised his brows. "Why not? Feifei is bright. I think she has a real chance."

Surprised, Zhang Xiaoyu frowned. "Are you serious?"

She rolled her eyes. "She can’t even make it into the top ten at our class, and our middle school is the worst in town. Are you kidding me?"

"Here’s my advice: Everything is possible."

She scrunched her brows. "What?"

You know my English is terrible! Oh, can’t you just speak properly?

After dinner, Shen You’an strolled along the riverbank, lined with towering poplar trees. The autumn breeze scattered leaves as the sunset illuminated the rippling water.

Earbuds tucked in, the blinking light indicated an ongoing call.

"Boss, are you vacationing? Why don’t you come help me? I’m swamped and you’re playing hooky—what kind of leader are you?"

"Hmm, shall I find someone to replace you instead?"

"Forget it. Baotan’s filming wrapped up, Actress Ru is heading northwest to shoot another scene—it’ll take a month. Baotan left the crew yesterday for the company and even asked when you’d come to Chunzhou. I didn’t dare tell her. Thankfully, her school break’s ending soon. No more headaches for me."

"And Jiang Han’s new album is scheduled for release mid-November. He’s new, no background whatsoever, so I thought about getting him on a variety show for promotion. Even good wine needs some marketing."

"No need. He doesn’t like those shows—just stick to regular promotions. Trust him; he won’t let you down."

Zhao Heng sensed something unusual.

The boss was clearly partial to Jiang Han.

As the light dimmed, the last glimmer of dusk vanished, the world descending into night.

"Boss, and that Rong—"

"An’an, there you are! I found you—come on!"

Zhang Xiaoyu dashed over, tugging Shen You’an as she exclaimed, "The show’s starting. I can finally see my husband..."

Shen You’an sighed. "Let’s pick up later then."

Zhao Heng was left speechless as the call ended.

The chatterbox in the background—who was she? How could she yell at the boss like that?

He originally wanted to mention Rong Xianning; it seemed Shen You’an paid particular attention to that guy.

Guess it’ll have to wait for another opportunity.