Sister, can I be a maid too?

The classroom was silent except for the patter of rain outside the window.

Hearing these words, Jiang Yubai below remained unmoved, and even prepared to sneak one last meat bun.

To be honest, he could clearly feel that the difficulty of the initial assessment test at the start of the semester was significantly higher, clearly intended to give them a tough start.

The decline in scores was expected.

Seemingly feeling that he had given enough pointers, Teacher Zhang paused on the podium, his tone softening:

"As I have emphasized before, at the beginning of this semester, we will rearrange the seating based on the results of the opening exam and each person's strengths and weaknesses in each subject. The goal is to allow students with complementary strengths to sit together, encourage each other, and improve together."

As she spoke, she raised another list that she had prepared beforehand, her gaze sweeping over the students below the stage, each with a different expression:

"Everyone, please pack your things. We'll use the morning reading session to rearrange the seats."

"Now, students whose names I call, please move to your new seats in turn."

Teacher Zhang adjusted his glasses, looked at the list, and clearly read out the first group of names:

"The first one is Lin Tingwan—"

The classroom fell silent for a moment, and many people subconsciously pricked up their ears.

"—And Jiang Yubai."

wow——

Almost the instant she finished speaking, the eyes of the entire class, filled with surprise, curiosity, or mischief, all turned to a corner at the back of the classroom.

Where their eyes met, Jiang Yubai looked up with a bewildered expression, a half-eaten meat bun still dangling from his mouth.

ha?

Chapter 6 What exactly do you want to do?

"Eat, eat, eat! All you ever do is eat!"

"Can't I eat on my way to school? Can't I eat at home? How many times have I caught you in the classroom now?"

"Jiang Yubai, is this how you set a good example as the class representative?"

Jiang Yubai stood obediently in his seat, head down, in a standard "obediently accepting scolding" posture.

However, the half-eaten bun was still stuck in his mouth, making him look a bit comical.

Seeing his expression, Zhang Shufen was immediately furious and scolded him impatiently:

"Still holding that in your mouth! Hurry up and get rid of that steamed bun! Stop dawdling and wasting everyone's time!"

Finally receiving the instruction, Jiang Yubai nodded contentedly, stuffed the bun into his mouth in a few bites, and mumbled:

"Teacher Zhang, where are you moving to?"

He was fearless, since he was his homeroom teacher's favorite math class representative.

Zhang Shufen urged, "Of course it's the first row. Zhao Yun, move to the side first and make room for him."

Zhao Yun pursed her lips and nodded somewhat reluctantly.

The classmates weren't surprised by this.

As everyone knows, Lin Tingwan's hearing is not very good. Even if you stand in front of her and speak, she often seems not to hear you.

So no matter how the class seating was rotated, her position almost never changed; she always firmly occupied the seat in the center of the first row.

Jiang Yubai quickly gathered the dictionaries and textbooks piled up against the wall and put them back on the table, then swept the water cup, pencil case, and other odds and ends into his schoolbag.

"Brother Jiang, take care..." Li Yang said with deep affection, "When you get to the front lines, you must remember your brother who stayed behind."

"Get lost, it's not like we're going abroad. Don't forget lunch." Jiang Yubai rolled her eyes at him.

After saying that, he used both hands to lift the slightly worn desk and walked unsteadily toward the front of the classroom.

"Next up, Meng Ze, Xiao Chengyun—"

On the podium, Zhang Shufen was still calling out names in groups, while Jiang Yubai hugged the desk and put his desk next to Lin Tingwan's.

With no wall to lean against, the thick dictionaries had nowhere to go, so they were temporarily placed on the corner of the desk.

After putting away the water cup and other odds and ends, Jiang Yubai clapped his hands, looked around, and finally his gaze fell on his new deskmate.

Her back was straight, her profile was fair and beautiful, her high ponytail swayed gently, a few strands of hair brushed past her ears, and a faint fragrance could be smelled.

The sounds of desks being moved and students talking all around Lin Tingwan seemed completely undisturbed.

She lowered her head slightly, her gaze quietly fixed on the open book, as if everything around her was irrelevant.

Jiang Yubai calmly withdrew his gaze, touched his chin, and still felt a little awkward.

Before today, the class had always followed the rule of separating boys and girls, so this was the first time Jiang Yubai had a female deskmate.

What's more... he had just met this female classmate yesterday.

"Lin Tingwan?" Jiang Yubai called out tentatively.

The girl sitting to the side seemed not to hear at all; she didn't respond, nor did she even change her sitting posture.

Jiang Yu's face showed no surprise—or rather, this was the most normal reaction.

Regardless of whether it's a boy or a girl, or for what reason they approach her to talk, Lin Tingwan always remains silent.

Even when given unavoidable instructions, the girl would simply nod or shake her head and then offer no further response.

After this happened repeatedly, her classmates could only attribute it to her well-known hearing problems.

So over time, no one would deliberately talk to her anymore.

"Alright, everyone quiet down."

Seeing that everyone had changed seats, Zhang Shufen patted the podium:

"Take some time to organize your thoughts. Morning self-study will proceed as usual. No whispering or talking. Get into study mode as soon as possible."

After giving a few more instructions, she looked around to make sure everything was alright, then picked up her lesson plan and teacup before turning and leaving the classroom.

As soon as the homeroom teacher left, the classroom was filled with low whispers again.

Most students were tidying up their desks and organizing their books, taking the opportunity to whisper a few words to their new deskmates.

Jiang Yubai glanced at his new seat—the desk was almost touching the podium, so the view was naturally wide open, but the teacher was unlikely to notice this dark spot under the light, making it an excellent place to do something sneaky.

If his former deskmate Li Yang were sitting next to him, he would be ecstatic.

Given that guy's personality, he could probably pass a note to me or draw a chessboard on a textbook to play Gomoku and still have a whole class period to pass by with great interest.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yubai's gaze unconsciously drifted towards his new deskmate.

Despite her personality, Lin Tingwan's popularity in the grade remained consistently high, and almost everyone knew her name.

Aside from her well-known special circumstances, her greatest credit probably goes to her impeccable appearance.

It has to be said that good-looking people always have privileges.

If you have an ordinary face and don't talk to anyone, you'll most likely be seen as a withdrawn freak.

But if paired with such a face, that same silence and aloofness are transformed into a unique and unconventional temperament.

Jiang Yubai glanced at Lin Tingwan out of the corner of his eye.

It's beautiful, pleasing to the eye...

But... we're not brothers!

With a deskmate like this, who is he supposed to play Go with during self-study time?

You can't just stare at someone for an entire class and consider it a way to kill time, can you?

As his thoughts drifted, Jiang Yubai suddenly remembered a strange detail.

Wait a minute, Lin Tingwan's Chinese textbook... why is it still on this page?

Even if the after-class discussion questions are thought-provoking, is it really necessary to stare at the same page for more than ten minutes?

Jiang Yubai frowned, his gaze moving up from the textbook and landing directly on the girl's delicate face.

Yes, still the same focus, the same posture—except for staring at that page without moving for about ten minutes, everything seemed normal.

He thought for a moment, then casually pulled a brand new notebook from the drawer, wrote "Hello Lin Tingwan!" and handed it over.

The draft paper silently slipped through the gap between the two desks and quietly came to rest on the side that belonged to Lin Tingwan.

Jiang Yubai clearly saw that Lin Tingwan's gaze moved very quickly, lingered on the draft paper for a moment, and then quickly moved back to the textbook, returning to its still posture.

Jiang Yu was disappointed.

This guy... seems to be avoiding me.

He mentally exclaimed "Whoa!", pulled back the draft notebook, quickly wrote down another line, and pushed it forward again.

Lin Tingwan's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly, but her gaze was drawn back to the open pages of paper once more.

"Has your sister managed to pay her rent yet?"

The moment Lin Tingwan saw the words, her shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly.

She took a deep breath, finally reached for the notebook, quickly scribbled a few lines, and almost pushed it back with some force.

Jiang Yubai took it and saw six large characters on the page.

"What exactly do you want?"

Chapter 7 This 'Lin Tingwan', could she be...?

Jiang Yubai was taken aback when he saw the handwriting on the draft paper, which was clearly imbued with emotion.

No, why does it seem like I'm a bit too angry?

His lips twitched slightly, and he casually tossed the draft aside, too lazy to reply.

Originally, I just thought that since we were now deskmates, it would be good to find an excuse to talk.

But Lin Tingwan's reaction was exactly the same as her sister's earlier reaction, as if he was about to use some kind of leverage against them.

What else is there for him to talk about? Reading.