Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

Xie Wang was startled awake.

The moment he opened his eyes, a yellow rabbit face loomed right in front of him—it was Usachi, the one Su Qinghe had insisted on giving him the night before.

"……Depend on."

Xie Wang pressed his wildly beating heart and slapped the rabbit that looked like Lu Wen to the foot of the bed.

……

[7:15 AM · Classroom of Senior 3 (1)]

Before morning reading even started, the classroom was filled with the aroma of jianbing guozi (a type of Chinese crepe).

Xie Wang, carrying his schoolbag on one shoulder, had just stepped into the back door of the classroom when he sensed that something was off about the atmosphere.

Shen Hao was sticking out his big butt, leaning over his desk with a lewd grin on his face, holding the steamed buns Xu You had brought. When he saw Xie Wang come in, he immediately gave an exaggerated whistle:

"Hey! Wang Ge! You're having a lucky streak with ladies!"

Xie Wang frowned and walked over: "What's wrong with you so early in the morning?"

"See for yourself!"

Shen Hao turned to the side and pointed to Xie Wang's desk.

On top of that pile of test papers and textbooks lay a letter.

"A love letter!" Shen Hao winked and spoke so loudly that the whole class could hear him. "Tsk tsk tsk, people still write this kind of thing these days. Wang Ge, your charm is as strong as ever."

Several boys around them chimed in, "Open it and see! Who gave it to you?"

Before Xie Wang could speak, the sound of a chair being pulled out came from the front.

Su Qinghe saw it.

She wore her hair in a high ponytail today, put down her schoolbag, and her gaze lingered on the letter.

She turned her head and gave Xie Wang a look that was neither a smile nor a frown:

"Thank you, Wang. You're doing well."

Xie Wang felt a chill run down his spine.

This is clearly a life-or-death question.

"Stop messing around." Xie Wang, with his strong survival instinct, reached out to throw the letter into the trash can. "Whoever slipped this in as a prank, I won't even look at it."

"Don't throw it away!"

Shen Hao, quick as a flash, snatched it away. "It's a kind gesture, you should at least check who it is. What if it's some junior who has a crush on you?"

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Shen Hao tore open the envelope with a "rip".

A folded piece of letter paper fell out.

Shen Hao cleared his throat, preparing to read this "declaration of love" aloud with great emotion:

"Ahem! To Xie Wang from Class 1, Grade 12: I've been watching you for a long time..."

The whole class perked up their ears.

Shen Hao continued reading, but as he read, his expression gradually changed from lewd to bewildered, and finally to bursting into laughter.

"...I've been following you for a long time. I heard you're Senior Su Qinghe's boyfriend? I don't believe it! Senior Su is perfect. Someone like you, who's only good-looking, doesn't deserve her at all!"

"I challenge you! Tonight after school, one-on-one on the basketball court! The loser stays away from Senior Su! -- Zhao Zixuan, Class 5, Grade 11."

"Pfft—hahahahahaha!"

Shen Hao laughed so hard he almost choked, slamming his fist on the table and laughing wildly:

"A challenge?! So this is a challenge?! And it's from a high school junior? Is he trying to steal Goddess Su?"

The whole class burst into laughter.

Xie Wang silently took the paper, looked at the childish and cringeworthy handwriting, and his lips twitched.

He turned his head, pushed the letter in front of Su Qinghe, and said with a look that said, "What do you think we should do about this?"

"Teacher Su, why do you want me to fight your unfortunate romantic entanglements?"

Su Qinghe was also stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting the plot to take this turn.

She looked at the letter, then at Xie Wang's helpless expression, and couldn't help but smile.

She stretched out her slender fingers, took the red pen, and wrote a line on the back of the "challenge letter":

[Focus on your studies, read less shonen manga, and besides, he doesn't need to prove anything.]

After she finished writing, she handed the paper to Shen Hao:

"Please, Sports Committee, return it to me."

"Alright! I'm going to crush my junior's dream right now!" Shen Hao happily grabbed the letter and ran off.

A brief interlude during morning reading ended amidst laughter.

However, Xie Wang keenly noticed that throughout this entire farce, there was one person who remained silent.

Lin Lu.

As the leader of the class's biggest atmosphere-maker, Lin Lu was, as usual, the one laughing the loudest at this moment.

But today, she was unusually quiet.

She sat in the front row, holding a pen in her hand, with a math test paper spread out in front of her.

Even when Shen Hao was laughing so loudly just now, she didn't turn around even once.

"Qinghe".

Xie Wang gently poked Su Qinghe's arm with the cap of his pen, tilted his chin towards Lin Lu, and lowered his voice:

"Look at Lin Lu."

Su Qinghe followed his gaze.

She looked at her best friend's stiff back and frowned slightly.

Su Qinghe followed his gaze.

She looked at her best friend's stiff back and frowned slightly.

"She didn't do well on the mock exam this time," Su Qinghe said in a low voice. "Her math and combined science scores dropped drastically."

"It's not just about grades," Xie Wang said thoughtfully, twirling his pen. "Why does it look like you've just broken up with someone?"

Su Qinghe shook his head, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes:

"I don't know. She's been replying to my messages really slowly these past two days. Maybe she's under too much pressure."

"Should I ask after class?"

"Um."

Xie Wang looked at the silent figure in the front row.

The troubles of adolescence are sometimes like a challenge letter; they seem grand and dramatic, but when you open them up, they're all just childish and immature.

But sometimes, it's like that low-scoring test paper, so heavy it's suffocating.

The morning reading bell rang.

The classroom was filled with the sound of students reading aloud in unison.

The first class has ended.

Lin Lu remained in that position.

She lowered her head, staring intently at the test paper, her fingers gripping the pen tightly.

Su Qinghe sighed.

She stood up without saying a word, but walked to Lin Lu's seat and gently patted his trembling shoulder.

Just like that, it was like turning on some kind of switch.

Lin Lu suddenly turned around.

That face, which was always smiling and like a little sun, was now covered with tears.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and large tears streamed down her face, but she dared not cry out loud. She could only bite her lip tightly, suppressing her sobs in her throat.

"Qinghe..."

When she opened her mouth, her voice was broken and unrecognizable.

Su Qinghe's heart tightened. Without asking any questions, he reached out and pulled the girl, who was on the verge of breaking, into his arms.

Lin Lu seemed to have finally found someone to lean on, burying her head in Su Qinghe's lower abdomen, and the emotions she had suppressed all morning instantly burst forth.

"I don't want to study anymore... I really don't want to study anymore..."

She sobbed and cried, intermittently spitting out the stones weighing on her heart:

"Old Li talked to me yesterday... He said my mind wasn't on my studies..."

"After I got home, my mom... seemed to find out. She confiscated my phone and said she would pick me up and drop me off every day from now on..."

Su Qinghe gently patted her back, simply listening quietly.

"And Lu Wen..."

Mentioning this name made Lin Lu cry even harder:

"I finally managed to log onto WeChat on my backup phone, wanting to tell him what was on my mind and ask him to comfort me... but..."

Lin Lu raised her tear-streaked face and looked at Su Qinghe with despair:

He sent me a voice message.

"What did he say?" Su Qinghe frowned.

"He said... he said he was going to get down to business."

Lin Lu cried so hard she could hardly breathe, every word filled with grievance and panic:

He also said that we should contact each other less before the college entrance exam is over, because he didn't want to bother me or distract me...

Xie Wang, standing in the back row: "..."

Upon hearing this, his brows furrowed instantly.

Keep in touch less, don't bother me?

From a rational perspective, Lu Wen was indeed making a clean break for the sake of their future, wanting Lin Lu to calm down and focus on her studies.

but.

For a girl who has just experienced a major academic setback, been scolded by her teacher, had her phone confiscated by her parents, and is currently in a state of extreme vulnerability and self-doubt, this sentence translates to only one meaning—

I don't love you anymore. You're a burden to me. It's over between us.

"Qinghe, does he not want me anymore?"

Lin Lu clutched Su Qinghe's clothes, tears streaming down her face.

"Is it because I did poorly on the test? Is it because I'm not as smart as you guys? He thinks I'm just a burden... He wasn't like this before. He used to talk to me all day, even if I was getting my nails done..."

"fool."

Su Qinghe sighed, took out a tissue from his pocket, and gently wiped away her tears.

"If he really didn't want you anymore, he wouldn't bother."

Su Qinghe spoke calmly, trying to use reason to pull her best friend out of the emotional whirlpool:

"He thought that not contacting you was to let you focus on your studies, and that it was for your own good. He had no idea that you would overthink things, let alone that you would think it was a breakup."

"Really?" Lin Lu asked, her eyes red and choked with sobs. "But his tone was so cold..."

"real."

Su Qinghe pressed her back into her seat, pulled the math test paper out of her desk drawer, and laid it out flat:

"Alright, Little Deer, wipe away your tears. Let Xie Wang handle Lu Wen's problem."

She pointed to the derivative problem that was completely wrong:

"The best kind of relationship isn't about being constantly together, but about shining brightly while he's working hard."

Lin Lu paused for a moment, looked at the test paper, and although she was still sobbing, she finally picked up her pen.