What a twist! The loser heroine!

This guy really doesn't care.

Wen Shui's eye twitched slightly.

Salted Lemon continued, "Academic performance is one thing, but I'm a little worried about other things."

"other things?"

"Hmm." She nodded. "Lately, I've been feeling restless during training. I even got a lecture from the coach because I wasn't in good form, hehe."

"Really... then you'll need to adjust your mindset." Wen Shui said softly, "But why did you ask me for advice? I'm not a psychologist, and—"

He paused, then continued, "Besides, Ayano-san is probably more suitable for you to confide in, right?"

"Hmm, I'd like to too, but Mitsuki says he's currently preparing for his midterms, and I don't want to bother him."

【But I'm also preparing for exams! Is it really okay to bother me?】

Wen Shui sighed: "Then tell me about it? About Shao Yan's troubles."

The salted lemon turned its head to look at the warm water, then suddenly spoke.

"Did Wen Shui and Himegami go to see the movie on Saturday?"

"Cough cough cough!" Wen Shui coughed.

"H-how did you know?"

"When the show ended, I paid a little attention to the audience."

Shao Shio said with a smile, "After all, it was my favorite anime when I was a kid. I wanted to see who else shared my hobby, and that's how I saw you and Himegami, and... Asagumo-kun."

Wen Shuihe's eyes widened slightly in an instant.

Wait a minute, if Shao Shio spotted Asahi in the movie theater, doesn't that mean...?

He immediately turned to look at the burning salt.

The usually lively and cheerful sporty girl had a gloomy look on her face at this moment.

She said softly, "Maybe this is why I'm not feeling well."

I can't help you adjust your mindset for something like this...

Wen Shui walked down the street, quietly gazing at the sky dyed red by the sunset, and gently inhaling the fragrance of flowers in the air.

What's wrong with me lately? Girls are coming to me one after another for relationship advice.

Am I an expert in this field? When did I pass the qualification exam? Where is my expert certificate?

Wen Shui pondered for a moment, then said, "In that case, I have a method that I don't know if it will work."

Shao Yan immediately perked up: "Really? Tell me about it."

"Why don't we just go out and have some fun with Ayano-san like before?"

"Uh, but I said before that Mitsuki is preparing for exams." Yau-Yo was a little dumbfounded.

Wen Shui shrugged: "Although I'm not very clear about Ayano's situation, I'm also preparing for my midterms."

"This is my first major exam in Shilu, and my father has been waiting for the results." Wen Shui scratched his head. "To be honest, I've been under some pressure lately."

"Since Ayano is in the special college entrance exam class, there must be a lot of people competing with him, so the pressure must be considerable."

He turned to look at Yashio: "Yashio-kun, you're under pressure in sports, and Ayano-kun, you're under pressure in academics. In that case, going out and having fun this weekend should be good for both of you, right?"

"The method of balancing work and rest works for both studying and exercising."

As Wen Shui said this, she silently apologized to Asahi Chihaya in her heart. Since she had already helped Yashio, it would be too inconsiderate of her to help Asahi as well.

Besides, as for Asahi... there's probably no chance, right? These childhood friends have even watched movies together. Even if Ayano is a blockhead, he should be able to tell that something's wrong, right?

Furthermore, Yashio spotted Asahi at the movie theater. Judging from her current demeanor, she should be able to discern Asahi's feelings. As for what that lucky guy Ayano is really thinking, Numizu doesn't care.

"Could I really be a childhood friend type...?"

As he muttered to himself, Shao Yan had already taken out his phone.

"Ah, I've already messaged Mitsuki. I hope he's free this weekend."

"Huh?! So fast!"

Wen Shui was amazed by the high efficiency of the Yangjiao sports students.

"Because Wen Shui's method is correct."

She seemed to have put her mind at ease, and her smile returned.

"By the way, what did Wen Shui think of the movie 'Miss Rabbit' that aired on Saturday?"

"I think it's good. Everyone will like a family-friendly storyline."

Wen Shui recalled the plot and then gave a standard compliment.

"Yes, I like it too..." She pursed her lips and said softly, "I also want to be like Miss Rabbit..."

[Are you aiming for the championship? If he gets into good form, probably no one in Toyohashi can rival him.]

Thinking of this, Wen Shui smiled and encouraged, "You'll definitely succeed, Shao Yan."

"Huh?! Really? Really?!" Shao Yan became inexplicably excited, and she patted Wen Shui's shoulder with a grin: "Haha, it was definitely the right thing to say to Wen Shui!"

[Does Ah Wen refer to me?]

Wen Shui was taken aback when she was suddenly called by a nickname.

In a good mood, Shao Shio and Wen Shui discussed for a while, and she seemed to want to know where to ask Ayano out.

However, since Wen Shui and Yan had little experience going out with others, they naturally didn't have a standard answer and had to let the two of them discuss it themselves.

As we chatted, we arrived at a crossroads.

Boiling salt and warming water are not the same thing, she waved goodbye.

When the green light came on, Wen Shui went to the bus stop alone.

For some reason, he slowed down and put his backpack down on a seat on the platform.

Yoshiki said she had something to do at school and would be home late.

Kazuhiko Onamizu felt the fragrant breeze as he quietly waited for the bus.

[My parents are going to work overtime again. These foreigners really don't even want to adjust to the time difference.]

In a daze, the bus had already stopped in front of me, and the doors slowly opened.

He stood up, paused slightly, and suddenly felt a push from behind.

"What are you standing here for? Heave-ho!"

He was pushed into the car.

Wen Shui turned her head and saw Himegami Karen withdrawing her hands with a smile on her face.

"Has Xiao Ju already gone back?"

Upon hearing this, Princess Hime gave Onami a deep look, then nodded: "Of course. Has Shio gone back already?"

"Oh, why do you ask that?"

"Evened out."

"What the heck is going on..."

~Fifty-second defeat~ Asagumo Chihaya

Tuesday, May 13th, cloudy

I glanced at my watch; it was 3:30 PM. The day's classes, including the daily class meeting, were all over.

With her schoolbag slung over her shoulder, Wen Shui strolled along the school corridor in the afternoon.

Today is the day I go to my tutoring class.

With the midterm exams approaching at the end of the month, and last week's tutoring class being canceled due to the typhoon, today's tutoring class will be extended significantly.

He lowered his head and informed the family's Line group that he would be returning home late.

After seeing that Yoshiki said he would save food for her, Wenshui smiled contentedly and put her phone back in her pocket.

Despite the midterm exams being approaching, there was no tense atmosphere in the school building. Everyone walked together as usual, and the shouts of the track and field team seemed to echo from the playground.

Wen Shuihe focused his attention, listening to the conversations of the others as he walked towards the door leading out of the school building.

Next to the notice board, two boys were chatting while looking at the latest news posted by the student council.

"By the way, how's your revision going?" "Don't even mention it, I just can't get anything into my chemistry class lately." "Really? That won't look good on your report card." "Whatever, grades from the first year of high school don't really matter anyway."

Everyone seems quite relaxed.

Wen Shui chuckled inwardly and continued walking forward.

Several girls dressed in a very flamboyant manner were walking towards her, and Wen Shui quickly leaned against the wall to avoid them.

The girl in the lead started the conversation in a somewhat affected tone.

"I heard that after the midterm exams, we're going on a school trip with the seniors!" "Really?! We freshmen get a school trip too?! Long live Ishiro!"

"Don't listen to Xiao Nai's nonsense. Only the senior students' trips are called school trips. Ours is just a hike at best, and we only have one day." "What about the location? Has the location been decided?" "Who knows? If you want to know, go ask the school committee."

[Huh? Shi Lu's school trip has been moved to the end of May? I saw in the college admissions handbook that it was in October?]

But then again, hiking seems pretty good too.

Where will they go? They said they only have one day, so the destination probably won't be too far away; they'll likely choose a place around Toyohashi.

Just as Wen Shui was lost in thought, she had already arrived at the door of the special college entrance class classroom.

As soon as you get near the top class, the atmosphere changes instantly. Most of the students in the corridor are discussing the key points and difficult points raised by the teacher in class today, and the way they are discussing the answers to the questions is just like a scene from the senior year of high school.

Of course, the midterm exams were also a topic of discussion, but judging from how relaxed these students looked, getting high scores would be a piece of cake for them.

[Ayano and Asagumo are in this class. They've been working hard since their first year of high school to get into university. They're really diligent.]

Wen Shui looked curiously into the classroom of the special college entrance exam preparation class.

The classroom lights were on due to the weather.

The blackboard was covered with densely packed problem-solving formulas. Two students wearing glasses were correcting each other's problem-solving approaches on the blackboard, while the student on duty next to them held a blackboard eraser with a helpless expression.

Even after school has ended, many students linger in the classroom reviewing their textbooks and notes.

However, even in such a class that is so focused on improvement, there will be outliers.

"what?"

Standing in the corridor, Wen Shui couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.

In the window seat, Asahi Chihaya, with her hair parted in the middle, was frowning and looking nervously at her phone.

[Strange, there's a tutoring class today, why hasn't Chaoyun left yet?]

A girl who looked like a classmate sat down in front of her, as if trying to strike up a conversation, but Chaoyun just smiled and responded, her attention still entirely focused on her phone.

Too far away, Wen Shui couldn't hear their conversation. Although he wanted to remind Chao Yun, he hesitated because of the unfamiliar class and serious atmosphere.

Just as Wen Shui was trying to find a way to get Asahi Chihaya's attention so as to remind her to go to her tutoring class, the girl in the class happened to be saying goodbye to Asahi with a smile. When Asahi looked up to respond, she accidentally met Wen Shui's gaze.

Both of them were stunned at the same time.

Then Wen Shui raised her hand, pointed to her watch, and gave Chao Yun a meaningful look.

She seemed to only then remember about the tutoring class, and quickly put the books that were spread out on the desk back into her schoolbag.

[Chaoyun seems a bit out of sorts...]

Wen Shui stood quietly at the entrance of the preparatory class, waiting.

◇

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Wen Shui."

Having already packed her schoolbag, Asahi Chihaya left the classroom of the preparatory class with an apologetic smile and stood next to the warm water.

"Let's go then, it won't be good if we're late."

"Hmm..." Chaoyun's complexion still didn't look too good.