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

The area in front of Jiangcheng No. 1 Middle School after school is like two separate worlds.

On one side was a pick-up and drop-off area filled with luxury cars, with Maybachs and Bentleys lined up in long queues, their windows tightly closed, shutting out the noise from outside.

On the other side was a noisy bus stop and food street, where students crowded around fried food stalls, laughing and talking loudly, and the air was filled with the aroma of cumin and chili powder.

Su Qinghe sat in the back seat of the black Maybach, looking at the crowd outside through the one-way glass.

The figure carrying a black backpack was mingling in the crowd, holding two freshly bought grilled sausages in his hand, and casually strolled into the dilapidated alley leading to "Happiness Community".

He is a loner, always alone, like a wolf separated from its pack.

The car window slowly rolled up, shutting out that lively, everyday figure.

The Maybach started smoothly and headed towards the affluent area in the east of the city.

……

The Su family villa.

The enormous crystal chandelier cast a cold, white light, making the living room look magnificent, yet also eerily empty.

My parents are both busy with business abroad, and only our housekeeper, Aunt Zhang, lives in our huge villa.

"Miss, dinner is ready. It's a low-fat meal planned by a nutritionist."

"I'm not hungry, just leave it."

Su Qinghe changed his shoes and went straight up to the second floor.

The room was as exquisite and clean as ever.

She sat at her desk and took out the perfect score physics test paper from her bag.

She got full marks on the last challenging question, but her solution took up most of a page. It was solved using the most standard calculus, and while correct, it wasn't elegant; in fact, it could be described as clumsy.

She pushed the test paper aside in frustration and took out her phone.

The screen lights up.

A new chat window has appeared at the top of the WeChat list.

The profile picture is a deathly black.

The nickname consists of only one cold, hard letter: X.

Su Qinghe stared at the black avatar for a long time.

The boy's face kept appearing in my mind uncontrollably.

In her memory, Xie Wang was just a blurry shadow—always sleeping in the last row, always wearing a dirty school uniform.

But today in Class 1, when the sunlight shone on him, and he lazily leaned back in his chair, fiddling with that pen…

Su Qinghe had to admit that his previous observations were not careful enough.

Xie Wang has excellent bone structure.

His nose was high and sharp, his brow bones were deep, and his thin lips always had a half-smile, giving him an innate air of cold roguishness. Especially his eyes; when he wasn't sleeping, the corners of his eyes would slightly upturn, as black as an abyss, yet astonishingly bright.

"She's...quite attractive."

Su Qinghe had this thought out of nowhere.

She reached out and tapped the completely black profile picture, looking at the Moments section:

"Friends are only visible for the last three days".

Blank.

This person, like his profile picture, is mysterious, dark, and refuses to be spied on.

Despite being in a quagmire, he can still easily fix top-level competition code; despite being a scoundrel, he has such clean and slender hands.

Su Qinghe tossed his phone onto the table, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling.

Thank you for your vain advice.

X.

How many secrets are you hiding?

……

Meanwhile, in Xingfu Community.

Xie Wang was sitting cross-legged on the only broken chair, with a half-eaten sausage dangling from his mouth.

The main lights were off in the room; only the dim blue light from the computer screen illuminated his face.

He glanced at his schoolbag.

That ten thousand yuan is still hidden in the interlayer, like a hot potato.

He wasn't used to owing favors, especially to a rich young lady like Su Qinghe.

"Tsk."

Xie Wang swallowed the last bite of the grilled sausage, wiped his hands, and picked up his phone.

He clicked on the rabbit avatar that was eating a carrot.

Enter your payment password.

Transfer to Y: ¥10000.00

X: [We're even.]

Only two words.

There were no pleasantries, no explanations, and he was as cold and hard as a stone.

At this moment, at the Su family villa.

Su Qinghe heard his phone vibrate.

She picked it up, glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow.

Su Qinghe's finger hovered on the screen for a second.

Then, without hesitation, I clicked "Refund".

[Y has refunded the transfer]

Y: [No need.]

Y: [Hush money, don't cause me any trouble.]

In the attic of Xingfu Community, Xie Wang looked at the money that had been returned, and then at the words "hush money".

He twitched the corner of his mouth and let out a very short breath.

This young lady acts so haughty even when giving money.

However, since she insisted on giving it to him, he couldn't be bothered with any pretense of pushing or pulling.

Xie Wang, with a cigarette butt in his mouth, twitched his fingers and replied with only one word.

X: [Okay.]

The dialog box fell into a deathly silence.

It was as if the ten thousand yuan transaction just now was merely a routine matter between two business partners.

Xie Wang clicked on the silly-looking lop-eared rabbit avatar and zoomed in to take a closer look.

Soft, round, and easy to bully.

The Su Qinghe he knew was a completely different species from the prickly one.

"Oh."

Xie Wang scoffed inwardly.

duplicity.

But he didn't send any messages to tease her. He wasn't the type to flirt with girls for no reason; since they were even, there was no need to say anything more.

He closed the chat window, preparing to put down his phone and continue writing code.

Just then, the dialog box suddenly vibrated again.

Su Qinghe sent me a picture.

It seems like it was a slip of the hand, or perhaps someone simply couldn't resist sending it.

That was the physics problem that had been troubling her for so long.

The image was immediately followed by a line of text, written in a sharp tone, carrying the arrogance and frustration typical of top students:

Y: [The final step of integration is too cumbersome. Is there an easier way?]

Su Qinghe regretted it as soon as he sent the message.

Am I going crazy?

Why would someone ask the student who is ranked last in the entire school how to solve a physics problem?

Although he's good with computers, this is a physics competition-level problem...

She was about to back out.

"Buzz".

My phone vibrated.

Xie Wang's message came back.

It's also a picture.

The background is dim, as if it was taken casually.

The main subject of the image is a flattened red cigarette box.

On the rough gray cardboard on the back of the cigarette box, three lines of formulas were written in bold, flowing black pen.

The handwriting is messy and unrestrained, penetrating the paper with a sharpness that seems to pierce it.

Immediately following was a voice message containing only eight characters.

Xie Wang's voice was hoarse and deep, with a grainy quality from just finishing a cigarette; it sounded chillingly cold coming through the screen.

"Hard-solution is too stupid, change the frame of reference."

Su Qinghe stared at the photo of the cigarette box.

Those three lines of formula were concise, incisive, and hit the nail on the head.

The tedious steps that had troubled her for half an hour were instantly cleared up by these three lines of seemingly random formulas.

This problem-solving approach... is not just clever, it's practically genius-level intuition.

Su Qinghe's heart skipped a beat.

She held her phone, imagining what was happening on the other side:

In the dimly lit attic, the boy with deep-set eyes, a cigarette dangling from his lips, impatiently picked up a trash cigarette box and casually wrote down an answer that would amaze all the teachers in the school.

A genius hidden in a garbage dump.

Su Qinghe took a deep breath and went through his thought process on the draft paper.

pass.

Perfect.

She picked up her phone, a very faint smile playing on her lips.

That's the excitement of encountering an opponent, and also the recognition of a strong person.

Y: [The handwriting is terrible, but the thought process is acceptable.]

Y: [Thanks.]

In the attic, Xie Wang looked at the sentence "The handwriting is ugly" and scoffed.

If you think it's ugly, don't look at it.

Instead of replying "You're welcome," he simply threw his phone on the table and turned off the screen.

Turning to look at the file being deciphered on the computer.

Xie Wang had just put down his phone when the screen lit up again.

This time it's not Su Qinghe; the note says: [Fatty].

Fatty: [Brother Wang! Are you asleep?]

Fatty: [I just heard from the class next door that those bookworms in Class 1 are ignoring everyone. Is it really stifling over there?]

Fatty: [By the way, my mom's frying ribbonfish for me tomorrow. Should I save you a couple of pieces? To help you get some brainpower!]

Xie Wang looked at the fat man's words, and his originally cold and hard lips unconsciously softened a little.

My finger twitched, and I replied.

X: [I wasn't wronged. Bring more ribbonfish; one piece isn't enough.]

X: [Going to sleep.]

After sending the message, Xie Wang tossed his phone next to his pillow, put his hands behind his head, and stared at the mottled ceiling.

This messed-up life doesn't seem so bad after all...

Inside the Su family villa.

Su Qinghe stared at the silent profile picture for a minute, and after confirming that the other party really had no intention of replying, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Wang is more pleasing to the eye than I imagined.

She turned off the table lamp, leaving only a dim night light.

Lying on the soft bed, she clicked on that profile picture again.

This dark unknown finally barged into her world.

X and Y found their first intersection in tonight's system of equations.

And this is just the beginning.