Chapter 6: Wen Mubai’s English Notes

Jiang Wuyang took out her homework for the day and began to write.

Even if she no longer had any interest in the liberal arts, she still had to keep up with Chinese, mathematics, and English. She decided to start with English, her strongest subject. She took out an English practice paper and turned on her desk lamp. Propping her head up, she felt utterly bored; these questions were like child's play to her, and she could spot the answers at a glance.

In her past life, in order to assist Jiang Yiran as much as possible, she had forced herself to pass the CET-6 and achieve a TOEFL score of 105. Looking back now, it seemed it hadn't been entirely without its benefits.

Within five minutes, Jiang Wuyang had finished two reading comprehension passages. Just as she was about to start the third, she heard the sound of the doorknob turning. Jiang Wuyang stopped her pen, frowned, and looked toward the door.

Wen Mubai appeared in the doorway. He wore his backpack and a school uniform that had been washed until it looked faded. His features were indifferent, his stature tall, and he carried himself like the cool, impoverished senior student one might find in a movie. Only Jiang Wuyang knew just how malicious his true nature was.

Wen Mubai walked in with practiced ease. Just as he was about to set down his bag, he heard Jiang Wuyang’s lazy voice.

"Did your mother never teach you to knock before entering and wait for the owner's permission?"

Jiang Wuyang’s tone was devoid of any anger; it was flat, as if she were simply reasoning with someone who lacked manners. Because of this, Wen Mubai felt even more awkward. In the past, she had always walked over enthusiastically to pull him to the chair beside her. It was he who had told her to just open the door and come in, all to avoid physical contact with her. Now, hearing her say this, it felt as though he were the one in the wrong.

A hint of irritation flickered across his eyes. "I’ll pay attention next time, satisfied?"

Jiang Wuyang said nothing and turned her attention back to the paper, casually filling in two more answers.

Wen Mubai frowned at her nonchalant attitude. He reached out, snatched the paper from her, and scolded, "What are you doing? You can't just scribble randomly even if you don't know the answers! Do you have any idea how much of a waste of resources that is?"

Jiang Wuyang lazily lifted her eyelids. "Give it back."

"You are wasting it. Don't be impatient; I will teach you slowly."

Jiang Wuyang’s patience reached its limit. "Teach me? With what? Are you going to teach me with that notebook of yours filled with basic English words and phrases? Why don't I just go buy a vocabulary book instead? Am I that short on cash?"

Wen Mubai froze for a moment, and a rare flash of guilt crossed his clear eyes. He had not expected that Wen Ruchu would actually look through his notes. Given her temperament, he had assumed that after he finished tutoring her, she would never again open anything related to English.

"That is because... because your foundation is too poor! What is the point of explaining grammar to you when you’re still at this level? You wouldn’t understand it at all!" The more he spoke, the more righteous he felt, and his voice grew louder.

The commotion attracted the attention of those downstairs. Jiang Yiran walked up with Ruan An'an. Seeing the two of them in a standoff, Jiang Yiran frowned with dissatisfaction. "Jiang Wuyang, what are you making a scene about now? Mubai is the best at English in the entire school. He is tutoring you—what more could you possibly be dissatisfied with?"

"That’s right, Sister Yangyang. I’m quite envious that Brother Mubai is able to tutor you," Ruan An'an added, standing behind Jiang Yiran, looking timid and innocent.

Jiang Wuyang sat in her chair, rolled her eyes, and curled her lips into a beautiful smile. She tossed the notebook from her desk to Ruan An'an.

"Little Sister An'an, since you are so envious, I will忍痛割爱 (bear the pain of parting with it) and give this to you." Her tone was full of feigned heartache, as if she were truly reluctant to let it go. "This is an English notebook personally transcribed by Senior Mubai. You must make good use of it for your studies."

Wen Mubai knew this was all a facade! Just moments ago, she had been looking at it with nothing but disdain! The veins on his forehead throbbed. How could she do this? Even if it were just words and phrases, it was the result of the time and energy he had spent selecting the material best suited for her current level! How could she just give it away so casually? A strange, stifling, and uncomfortable feeling welled up inside him.

To make matters worse, Jiang Wuyang added, "Is that alright, Senior Mubai? After all, An'an is like a younger sister to us; taking care of her is the least we can do."

A surge of anger rose in Wen Mubai, nowhere to vent. He gritted his teeth and said, "Of course, that is fine."

Ruan An'an received the notebook as if it were a precious treasure. This was the English notebook of the top student in the grade! She couldn't wait to flip it open and take a look. She fell silent, and her uplifted smile froze. Did Wen Mubai take them for fools? Why on earth would he hand-copy such messy, basic things when a standard English dictionary would solve any problem? It was no wonder Jiang Wuyang didn't want it; she didn't want it either. She desperately wanted to throw it away, but she couldn't.

Jiang Wuyang noticed Ruan An'an’s expression and chuckled inwardly. "What is it, An'an? Why that look? Don’t you like it?"

Ruan An'an immediately snapped back to reality. "No, no, no! I treasure anything from Senior Mubai too much to ever dislike it." As she said this, she hugged the notebook to her chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

Seeing Ruan An'an’s attitude, Wen Mubai felt much better. As expected, only Ruan An'an truly knew how to appreciate value. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he walked back toward Jiang Wuyang and sat in the chair beside her.

"Come, let me analyze your paper for you." He spread the paper Jiang Wuyang had been working on across the desk, picked up a pen, and focused on the first reading comprehension question.

He looked at Jiang Wuyang's answers: they were all correct! Wen Mubai frowned. He moved on to the next reading passage: also completely correct! He quickly flipped the paper to the two blanks she had filled in just moments ago. He had watched her fill those in randomly after he entered. There was no way those could be right, yet upon closer inspection, they were also perfectly correct.

Wen Mubai slammed the paper onto the table. "Jiang Wuyang! Even if you don't know how to do the questions, you shouldn't be cheating! The answers you copy will never be your own. What is the point of doing this?!"

Wen Mubai’s tone was harsh. Seeing Jiang Wuyang being yelled at, Jiang Yiran felt uneasy; after all, she was his own sister. He walked over and patted Jiang Wuyang’s head, then said to Wen Mubai, "Lower your voice, you’re scaring my sister. You must be mistaken; my sister wouldn't cheat."

Ruan An'an, watching from the side, felt the alarm bells ringing in her head. She immediately walked over as well. "What is wrong, Sister Wuyang?"

Her eyes darted over the test paper, feigning surprise. "Oh my, Sister Wuyang, you’ve already finished so much of today’s paper? It was only just handed out today! You are truly amazing!"

Jiang Yiran’s heart sank upon hearing this. If the paper had only been handed out today, how could she have finished it so quickly? Could it be that Jiang Wuyang had truly resorted to the low-class tactic of cheating?

Jiang Wuyang didn't say a word. She simply took the paper back and, in under ten minutes, finished filling in all the remaining blanks, including two more reading passages and a cloze test.