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

The second day of the Lunar New Year, early morning.

Xie Wang took a bag of freeze-dried food to the cat tree, pinched out two pieces and threw them into the bowl.

The rice ball still remembered the grudge of being abandoned at Lu's house. It had been pretending to sleep with its eyes closed, but after smelling the aroma of meat, it reluctantly jumped down to eat.

The phone on the coffee table rang twice.

Xie Wang picked up his phone and saw it was Xiao Suyu.

He had promised Su Yu that he would help him reach the King rank. This kid was obviously kept at home by his parents on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and didn't get a chance. He couldn't wait to send a voice chat request early on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Xie Wang initiated a voice call.

"Good morning, brother-in-law. My parents went to my grandma's house to pay New Year's respects, so I have a free morning today."

Su Yu's childish voice came from the speaker.

Xie Wang replied with a "Good morning".

"Pick a mage or support who can cast spells from the backline and stick with me. As long as you don't feed, we'll win."

Su Yu confidently assured that he would not hold anyone back, and then locked onto Gongsun Li.

Less than three minutes into the game, Su Yu was sent back to the fountain by the opposing mage.

"Brother-in-law, save me!"

Su Yu was shouting anxiously on the other end of the voice call.

Xie Wang glanced at the minimap and then maneuvered Jing across the river.

"Go to the mid lane to farm minions and level up. Don't leave the tower. Wait for me to come over before we fight."

"Brother-in-law, your movement was so cool! Three of them couldn't catch you, and you even managed to kill one of them."

Xie Wang casually secured a dragon and led the minion wave to directly push down the enemy's high ground defense tower.

The two won the first game in less than fifteen minutes. Su Yu's record was a dismal 0-4, but the joy of winning without lifting a finger made him completely ignore this.

A series of beeps came from the security door as the electronic lock was being entered.

Xie Wang was playing games with his headphones on, so he didn't hear it.

After the door was pushed open, Su Qinghe walked in with a smile.

Before Xie Wang could react, she quietly went over and hugged him.

"Hmm."

Xie Wang raised his head.

"Teacher Su, you're here."

"My parents went to visit relatives this morning, so I guess you're just playing video games at home."

Xie Wang's hands started groping again.

"I'm a person who keeps my promises. I promised to help him rank up, so I can't go back on my word."

Su Qinghe's cheeks flushed slightly.

"Now it's time to get down to business."

Upon hearing Su Qinghe's voice, Su Yu on the other end of the voice call immediately fell silent.

After a short while, Su Yu tentatively spoke.

"Oh, my sister's here too. Well then, brother-in-law, you should focus on your studies first. I'll come find you again this afternoon."

Su Yu quickly left the game room and hung up the voice call, afraid that if he was even a second too late, his sister would make him do his winter vacation homework.

Xie Wang looked at the now-blacked-out team interface and turned to face Su Qinghe.

"Teacher Su, why are you checking up on me so closely?"

Su Qinghe broke free.

"There are only five days left before school starts. You know Old Li's temper. He'll definitely have to do a placement test when school starts."

She leaned against the edge of the sofa, patiently explaining the dry English grammar and logic to Xie Wang.

The winter sun made the girl's hair shine. Xie Wang listened to her clear and pleasant voice, and his gaze unconsciously shifted from the test paper to her profile.

After Su Qinghe finished explaining a long and difficult sentence, he turned his head and met Xie Wang's deep and focused gaze.

Did you understand the inverted sentence structure I just explained?

Xie Wang didn't rush to answer. He moved closer and smelled the faint fragrance of citrus and cedar mixed on Su Qinghe.

"I understand. Since Teacher Su has gone to so much trouble to tutor me, I should at least give her something in return."

Su Qinghe tightened her grip on the red pen; she was all too familiar with Xie Wang's prelude to doing something malicious.

"I don't need any payment. Just redoing the questions you got wrong is the best way to repay me."

Looking at her aloof and reserved demeanor, Xie Wang felt a surge of destructive pleasure.

He picked up the red pen and threw it on the table, then placed his hands on the back of the sofa next to Su Qinghe, trapping her between himself and the sofa.

"That won't do. My rule is that I never default on personal debts."

Xie Wang lowered his head and, before Su Qinghe could refuse, placed a very light kiss on the corner of her soft lips.

The kiss wasn't deep; it was just a light brush, like a feather, yet it carried a strong sense of possessiveness and comfort.

A blush quickly spread across Su Qinghe's ears. She reached out and pushed against Xie Wang's chest, trying to create a dangerous distance between them.

"Take it easy in broad daylight, the rice ball is watching."

Xie Wang turned his head and glanced at the calico cat lying on the cat tree.

The rice ball wisely rolled over, buried its face in its paws, and pretended to be just a lifeless plush toy.

"It was asleep and didn't see anything."

Xie turned his attention back to the English reference book.

He spent an hour redoing all the wrong questions that Su Qinghe had circled, making sure that no grammatical detail was missed.

Su Qinghe carefully checked the last correction question and nodded in satisfaction.

"You've passed."

Xie Wang leaned back on the sofa and stretched, his gaze falling on the large double-door refrigerator in the kitchen.

"What do you want for lunch? There's some beef and some vegetables that the housekeeper brought over the day before yesterday. I'll cook it for you."

Su Qinghe put the test paper into his canvas bag and followed Xie Wang into the open kitchen.

The two stood side by side in front of the kitchen counter. Xie Wang was in charge of cutting meat and stir-frying vegetables, while Su Qinghe helped out by washing and chopping.

The oil sizzled in the pan, and the aroma of food quickly filled the apartment.