Even though I managed to share the umbrella, Xiaoxi’s umbrella was way too small. The whole way back, I was basically holding it for her, and only half my body barely fit underneath. Xiaoxi, seeing how helpless I looked, was clearly very pleased.

Do little sisters nowadays all get their fun from watching their big brothers suffer? So anime really is just lying to otaku.

By the time we got home, half my body was soaked. I headed straight to the bathroom for a shower. As soon as Xiaoxi got home, she dove into her room to rush through her homework. She had to work until midnight every day before she could sleep. Third year of junior high really was brutal.

Thunder rumbled, and the rain poured down like strings of beads snapping and spilling from the sky. The darkness outside made it feel like the heavens were about to collapse. A sudden gust of wind hit, and the rain turned into countless whips, lashing fiercely against the window glass. It was super inconvenient going out in weather like this, but the cool air after the rain was something to look forward to. They say every autumn rain brings another layer of chill—if it could hurry up and cool down this stifling heat, that’d be perfect.

In contrast to the storm outside, the house was quiet and still.

After towel‑drying my hair, I went into the kitchen and rinsed the rice, then put it into the rice cooker. I took all kinds of ingredients from the fridge—mostly meat, if I was being honest. I worked two pans at once, left and right going together. About half an hour later, the table was packed: sweet and sour ribs, hot‑and‑sour pork slices, plus a plate of gu lu rou and a pot of tomato egg soup. I looked at the results, feeling pretty satisfied. I carried the rice cooker over to the table and set out bowls and chopsticks, then went to Xiaoxi’s room to call her out to eat.

“Come on, eat, eat!” I scooped her a bowl of rice and handed it over.

Xiaoxi took it. “You really kept your word!”

“As if I’d lie to you. Without meat, how am I supposed to keep this little tigress alive? And you’d better finish everything!”

“Mission will be completed!” At the sight of the meat, Xiaoxi didn’t care what I called her anymore. She just bowed her head and dug in. I couldn’t help worrying a little that someday she’d get lured away by someone waving meat in front of her.

It didn’t take long before most of the dishes on the table were gone, and the majority had clearly gone into Xiaoxi’s stomach.

After dinner, Xiaoxi wanted to help me clean up the table. I waved her off and told her to hurry and take a shower, then get back to her room and do her homework. I could handle things here.

Watching her walk back to her room like nothing had happened, you’d never guess she’d just eaten that much. I rubbed my own stuffed belly.

“Can’t afford to raise you! Can’t afford to raise you!” I forced myself to stand up and quickly cleared everything from the table.

Back in my room, I pulled out my own pile of homework from my bag. Where did I get the nerve to pity Xiaoxi? We were both miserable in our own ways.

When the clock finally hit 11:30, I managed to finish all my homework. I stretched, checked the time, then went to the kitchen to make a cup of milk. I knocked on Xiaoxi’s door.

“Come in!” Xiaoxi called from inside.

I pushed the door open and set the milk on her desk. “Drink the milk in a bit, and go to sleep as soon as you’re done. Don’t sneak your phone, okay? If you need anything, call me.”

“Got it, got it, now hurry up and get out!” Xiaoxi looked impatient, all her attention on the homework in front of her. Seeing the mountain of workbooks piled high on her desk, I didn’t bother her anymore. I walked out and gently pulled the door shut.

Inside the room, once she saw I’d left, Xiaoxi picked up the cup with both hands, blew on it, took a small sip, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

The next morning, I woke up and, sure enough, the air felt fresh and cool, with a light breeze drifting in. I came into the classroom from the back door and saw Fang Yiyi already at her seat, reading. I walked to my desk and tried to shove my backpack into the drawer. It didn’t go in—something was already inside. I figured it was a book I’d forgotten, so I reached in to feel around… and pulled out an umbrella. It was the one I’d lent Fang Yiyi yesterday, neatly folded.

I looked up at Fang Yiyi’s back and understood instantly. I slipped the umbrella into my bag and started on morning reading. While I was reading, Zhou Qi trudged in through the back door and collapsed onto his seat, lying face‑down on the desk.

“Why do you show up every day looking like a dead dog?” I set my book down and teased him.

When Zhou Qi heard me, it was like he’d found a place to vent. He turned his head toward me and started complaining. “The track team is full of lunatics! They make us run fifteen laps for no reason! And that’s not even counting the other physical training. By the time I go home, my whole body’s jelly. I swear I’m gonna GG at this rate!”

He’d signed up for the 100, 400, and 3000 meters for the sports meet, so he had to train with the track team every day. I just hadn’t expected it to be that intense. A thousand meters was already my limit—gotta prep for the high school entrance exam and all. The level of training he was talking about was something I couldn’t even imagine.

But even though Zhou Qi looked full of complaints, he still showed up every single day. Otherwise he wouldn’t be in this half‑dead state all the time.

Compared to Zhou Qi’s physical torture, I was stuck in a double mental torture courtesy of Jiang Chen and Xia Tong every day. I never knew what those two would pull next. All I could do was take it one step at a time, reacting as things came.

At noon, most of the students at Yinghua ate in the cafeteria. It wasn’t just because the school subsidized it and the food was cheap and decent. More importantly, Yinghua’s schedule was tight, and we only had one hour at midday. By the time you finished eating and sat in the classroom for a bit, it was already time for afternoon classes. Only a few students who lived nearby chose to go home.

The afternoon was back‑to‑back physics and biology. By the end, I felt like my soul had left my body.

When the dismissal bell rang, I was just about to pack my bag and go home to end this painful day when Fang Yiyi hurriedly called out to me. “Ye Xi, wait a second!”

She walked over and handed me a stack of printed papers. “These are the sports meet participants the student council asked for yesterday. I need to give one copy to Mr. Wang right now. Could you take this copy to the student council for me?”

Before I could even open my mouth, Fang Yiyi ran off in a rush. Hey! Don’t just run off like that! Can’t we switch jobs?

I looked down at the list in my hands and felt a wave of helplessness. The last thing I wanted right now was to go to the student council alone. If it were just Jiang Chen, it’d be fine. I was scared Xia Tong would be there.

I packed my bag, took the list, and went to look for Jiang Chen. Please, dear heavens, don’t let Xia Tong be there.

But before I could find out whether she was there or not, I ran into someone I didn’t like.

On the stairs of the Xingzhi Building, Fang Xuan stepped in front of me, and the air instantly got tense.

“What exactly is your relationship with Xia Tong?” It was probably the first time Fang Xuan had run into me alone, so he didn’t have to worry about his image or about Xia Tong seeing him.

Just because you’re standing a few steps above me doesn’t make you superior. I ignored his annoying look.

“What’s it to you?” I really hated that bossy tone of his.

Fang Xuan clearly had no intention of letting it go. He stretched his arm out and blocked my way. “Xia Tong is destined to be with me. You’re not good enough for her. From now on, stay away from her.”

I pushed his arm aside and met his gaze head‑on. “I’ll throw your words right back at you. Don’t buzz around like some fly. If you’ve got time to talk, go do something useful. I’ve got stuff to hand in.” I raised the list in my hand. “If you’re that interested, you can come with me. I don’t have time to waste on you.”

I didn’t bother looking at his ugly expression again and turned to leave.

Watching my back, Fang Xuan snorted. “Hmph, doesn’t know his place.”

“Come in,” a voice called from inside after I knocked.

I pushed the door open and saw Jiang Chen busy comparing the different class lists. She looked up and was a little surprised to see me.

“How come it’s you?”

“The mighty class monitor had something to do.” I shrugged. Seeing that Xia Tong wasn’t there, I relaxed a lot. At least there wouldn’t be anyone throwing herself on me. Every time, that girl looked like she wanted to bury my arm in her chest. Moving or not moving was both awkward.

“Fang Xuan just left. You two didn’t run into each other?” Jiang Chen asked with a smile, completely different from how I’d remembered her. But I’d already gotten used to it. Every girl I knew could switch faces faster than the last.

“Thanks to your blessing, we did meet. Even had a warm and friendly conversation,” I said dryly.

Jiang Chen, however, looked pretty amused, like she was watching a comedy. “Then you’d better be careful. He’s way more obsessed with Xia Tong than you are, and you’ve got zero sense of crisis. If someone steals her away, you’ll be the one crying. With a girl like Xia Tong, why won’t you just accept her already?” She stared at my face, watching for my reaction.

I didn’t want to talk about this with Jiang Chen. I walked up and handed her the list. “Here. Our class’s athlete list. If there’s nothing else, I’m heading out.”

“Don’t go, don’t go!” Jiang Chen stopped me. “Help me organize the lists.”

“Isn’t that your job?”

“I’m the minister. You’re my underling. Making good use of resources is part of a minister’s core skills.” She pulled a laptop out of the drawer. “Come on, come on, the sooner we finish, the sooner I can go home. You handle track, I’ll handle field.”

Can you please tell me what exactly this office doesn’t have at this point? How casual are you about this?

“Why don’t you just buy a bed and put it here? You’ve almost got everything else already,” I complained.

“Huh?” Jiang Chen looked up at me and pointed at the sofa. “That thing can fold out into a bed.”

I was wrong. I should never have tried to roast you.

I took the laptop and wondered why this girl was going further and further down the path of exploiting me. Was it because she spent too much time with Xia Tong?

I couldn’t refuse, and honestly didn’t dare to either. Besides, with more than twenty classes, it really was a lot of work if Jiang Chen had to do everything alone. Since I wasn’t in a hurry, I might as well help.

I picked up the class lists from the desk and sat on the sofa, organizing them one by one by class and event. The whole time, Jiang Chen kept bringing up Xia Tong, tossing in comments here and there. I pretended not to hear and dodged her questions, but she never got tired of it.

A bit more than forty minutes later, I rubbed my sore shoulders. I’d finally finished everything and sent the spreadsheet to the student council mailbox.

“I’m done on my end. It’s in the email now. I’m free to go, right?” I glanced at Jiang Chen, who was still working on her own spreadsheet. The number of field events and participants in high school really did outnumber track. In the end, she’d only given me a small part of the work, and she still did most of it herself.

“Mm. Take this with you.” As she spoke, Jiang Chen pulled a small bag out of the drawer.

I thought she was thanking me. “No need, no need, it was nothing.”

“What are you thinking? I asked you for help and you still want a reward?”

She wasn’t wrong, but it still didn’t sound great.

“This is something Xia Tong bought for you,” Jiang Chen said, tossing it to me.

“Huh? She bought something for me?”

“Well, not exactly for you. She said it’s a gift for your little sister, and told me to give it to you if I saw you. Aren’t you the one who told her not to talk to you at school?” Jiang Chen studied my expression, looking puzzled. “Do you know how many people dream of talking to her and get totally ignored? And somehow she ends up with someone as unreliable as you.”

“My bad then,” I replied. But what she said did jog my memory. The first time I went out with Xia Tong, when she heard I had a little sister, she did say she wanted to buy a present for Xiaoxi. I hadn’t expected her to actually go and do it.

“No need. Help me give it back to Xia Tong,” I said, putting the bag back on Jiang Chen’s desk. What’s she doing giving my sister gifts anyway? Trying to infiltrate the enemy camp?

Jiang Chen lifted her head and looked at me. So scary, so, so scary. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen that look on her face, and every time she made that face, it meant…

“When I tell you to take it, you take it. Why’re you acting like some nagging aunt? It’s not even for you, what right do you have to say you don’t want it? Xia Tong told me to give it to you. What do you mean by not taking it? I’ll give you five seconds. Grab the bag and get out of my sight!”

“Five!”

“Don’t you turn your back on me! I just helped you out!”

“Four!”

“You’re not gonna admit you owe me, huh?”

“Three!”

“Don’t think I have to listen to everything you say just because you’re the minister!”

“Two!”

“Jiang Chen, don’t push it. I hate it the most when people threaten me!”

“Oooone—” Jiang Chen’s sharp voice stretched the word out.

“I’m sorry!” A real man knows when to bend and when to stand tall. I grabbed the bag and walked out of the room without a shred of hesitation.

“Bitch.” Jiang Chen watched me rush out and laughed.

Outside the door, I stared at the bag in my hand, my head about to explode. There was no helping it; I could only bring it back to Xiaoxi. I weighed it a little. Seemed like something small. I’d just have to find a chance to thank Xia Tong in person.