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

As soon as Old Li left, the literature and art committee member quickly walked onto the podium.

The literature and art committee member is a cheerful girl named Qiao Yue.

"Everyone! Everyone! Look at me and follow my lead!" Qiao Yue patted the blackboard, trying to quell the noise below.

"Did you all hear what Lao Li said? Our class has to put on a performance this year. As the last gala for our senior year, we have to make it something decent."

The students below started discussing it animatedly.

"Let's put on a short play! Let Shen Hao play Snow White!" someone suggested loudly, which drew a burst of laughter.

Shen Hao rolled his eyes: "Get lost, I look like a prince, don't I?"

"How about we do some otaku dances? The kind where all the boys in the class wear skirts?" another boy teased with a wicked grin, drawing boos from the classroom.

Qiao Yue tapped the table in exasperation: "Be serious! We want something that can be kept as a souvenir, preferably something the whole class can participate in."

At this moment, Xu You, who had been discussing with Lin Lu, gently tugged at Lin Lu's sleeve. Lin Lu understood immediately, raised her hand, and shouted, "Let's sing a duet! Let's sing 'The Wind Rises,' this song is especially suitable for us seniors."

This suggestion was met with applause from everyone.

"This is good!"

"Yes, yes, if this song is sung well, the whole audience will definitely be moved to tears."

Everyone agreed, and Qiao Yue nodded and wrote it down, but her brows furrowed slightly, as if she had thought of something.

"A chorus alone is too monotonous," Qiao Yue muttered to herself. Then she jumped off the podium and went straight to Xie Wang's desk.

Xie Wang was looking down at Su Qinghe's workbook when he saw Qiao Yue approaching. "Is there something you need?"

Qiao Yue clasped her hands together, adopting a pleading posture, and said in a low voice, "Wang Shen, Su Shen is the best pianist in the whole class."

"I was thinking, if Su Shen could provide live piano accompaniment during our duet, the quality would instantly skyrocket. What do you think?"

Xie Wang remained silent.

"Isn't Su Shen resting at home right now? We can't just call and bother her. Could you pass on a message for me? Ask if Su Shen would be willing to do some work?"

Qiao Yue chuckled, "Everyone knows that Su Shen listens to you the most."

Xie Wang twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself that it was because she spoiled him.

But then he thought about it, and if it were "The Wind Rises," if she were sitting in front of that grand piano... that scene, he actually wanted to see it more than anyone else.

"Okay, I'll ask around for you," Xie Wang agreed, "but the decision is hers."

"Understood! You gods! You are the saviors of our class!" Qiao Yue slipped away contentedly.

[20:15 PM · Downstairs at the apartment building]

After evening self-study, Xie Wang braved the cold wind and walked back to his apartment building alone.

Just as I reached the entrance of the building, I saw Su Jiade's Maybach slowly pull up to the side of the road.

The car door opened.

The first to come down was Lin Wanyi, who was wearing a dark gray trench coat.

Immediately afterwards, Su Qinghe, wrapped in that thick white down jacket, emerged like a soft, sticky rice ball.

"Auntie, Qinghe."

Xie Wang stopped and walked over naturally. His gaze first swept over Su Qinghe's face, and seeing that her complexion was much rosier, he then looked at Lin Wanyi with relief.

"What were the results of the follow-up examination? What did the doctor say?"

"The recovery is going well; all indicators are back to normal."

Lin Wanyi looked at the young man in front of her:

"As long as I don't catch a cold again, I can go back to school in a couple of days."

Xie Wang smiled and took the bag of medicine from Su Qinghe's hand:

"That's good, but Auntie..."

He glanced at the Maybach and asked, somewhat puzzled:

"Since you went to the hospital, why didn't you go back to the villa to stay?"

Hearing this, Lin Wanyi glanced at her daughter beside her:

"Yes, I also want to go back to the villa and sleep on my custom-made mattress. But I can't—"

She deliberately dragged out the last syllable, her tone carrying a hint of helpless mockery:

"Our little princess said that the villa is too big and feels empty, and insisted that the pillows here are soft and she can sleep soundly."

Upon hearing this, Su Qinghe's ears turned bright red instantly. She buried her face in her scarf and protested softly:

"Mom, I meant this place is close to the school."

"Come on."

Lin Wanyi mercilessly exposed her.

【22:30 · Room 1602】

Back home, after feeding the rice ball that had been calling for him at the door for ages, Xie Wang washed his face and sat down at his desk.

He turned on his computer and looked at the [Tianqi Quantitative Trading System V4.0] on the desktop.

Xie Wang took a deep breath and opened the software.

The funds have already arrived in my overseas account, which I just opened yesterday.

Today is a trading day for US stocks, and also the first day of the official launch of this system.

System initialization complete...

[Strategy Model: High-Frequency Alpha Arbitrage]

Risk exposure: Low to medium

[Capital Pool: $3,000,000.00]

With a soft beep, densely packed candlestick charts and data streams began to appear on the screen.

This level of quantification system does not require human intervention.

It can accurately capture every arbitrage opportunity amidst millisecond-level market fluctuations.

……

After doing all this, Xie Wang leaned back in his chair and picked up his phone.

I remember the way Qiao Yue begged me in class today.

[X: Are you asleep? Auntie was here earlier, so I didn't dare say much.]

[X: I have something important to discuss.]

The neighbor replied instantly.

[Y: Not yet, I'm organizing the questions I got wrong. What's the important thing?]

Xie Wang tapped the screen lightly:

[X: The program for our class's New Year's Eve party has been decided: the whole class will sing "The Wind Rises."]

[X: Qiao Yue specifically sought me out today, wanting to invite our academic genius Su to come out of retirement and be the piano accompanist. She said that only your piano skills can hold your own in the whole class.]

after awhile.

Su Qinghe replied with a short line of text.

Y: I don't like crowded places, and I don't want to stand out.

Xie Wang looked at the words and his heart sank slightly.

That's true. She's naturally a quiet person, and it's definitely a bit difficult for her to be in such a public setting where the whole school is watching.

Just as I was about to reply, "If you don't want to go, that's fine," another new message popped up on the screen.

Y: But if you want to hear it... then I can go.

Y: But I have one condition.

Xie Wang raised an eyebrow: [What are the conditions? A promise of marriage?]

Y: Dream on.

Y: The condition is—you have to come with me.

Xie Wang looked at the screen:

[X: I can't play the piano, Ms. Su.]

[X: What if I stand there and everyone looks at me but not at me?]

Su Qinghe replied quickly, clearly indicating that it was premeditated:

[Y: Xie Wang, you go be the lead singer.]

Xie Wang was taken aback.

Should we send him to sing?

[X: Huh?]

[X: Teacher Su, this joke is too much! I've never seriously sung a song in my life, I'm tone-deaf.]

He was only half telling the truth.

Although he usually has a pleasant voice, he has never sung in public, let alone in front of the whole school.

The rice ball that had been circling around his feet somehow jumped onto his lap.

It opened its eyes wide, looked up at Xie Wang, and seemed to sense its owner's hesitation, suddenly letting out a sweet, coquettish cry:

"Meow--!"

It was as if they were saying, "Granted!"

Xie Wang looked down at the traitorous little thing and laughed in anger.

He pressed the voice button, casually ruffled the cat's head, recorded the meow, and sent it to Su Qinghe:

"Listen to this, there's someone here who just loves to watch the drama unfold."

The voice message was sent two seconds later.

Su Qinghe's message popped up immediately:

[Y: I heard that! Even the rice ball voted in favor, meowing loudly to show its strong support.]

[Y: The score is now two to one; the protest is invalid.]