Don't Hit Me, I'll Behave

Time: Sunday afternoon, 3:30 PM.

Location: Hu Yuying's home.

Staring at the chat window on her phone screen, Hu Yuying hovered her finger over it, then moved it away.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at the mirror in front of her: "Hu Yuying, you need to learn to be thick-skinned. Even if you get rejected, it’s no big deal."

"Besides, Long Aotian said I could message him when he’s free!"

"Come on! You can do it!"

Summoning her courage, she quickly typed on her phone: "Long Aotian, what time are you heading to school? Can we go together?"

After sending the message, Hu Yuying felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body.

She lay on the bed, her fair face contrasting sharply with the jet-black hair cascading behind her, creating a delicate, almost ethereal beauty.

Ding-dong~

The unique notification sound for her special contact chimed.

Hu Yuying froze for a moment, then took two deep breaths and picked up her phone.

Seeing Long Aotian’s reply, her eyes curved into little crescents, and she quickly typed back: "Okay, I’ll wait for you when I get there."

After sending the message, she sprang up, changed out of her casual clothes into her school uniform, gathered her books and practice exercises in the living room, slung her bag over her shoulder, and headed out the door.

There were two routes Hu Yuying could take to school. One was to go west through the alley, passing by the market and the rental buildings. Long Aotian lived in one of those rental buildings, so this route was convenient for them to walk together.

The other route was the one she usually took, heading east through the alley. This path passed by a railroad crossing and had many small lanes, making it a bit shorter but taking her in the opposite direction of Long Aotian.

After turning off his phone, Long Aotian also changed into his school uniform and waited about ten minutes before heading downstairs.

He stood in the shade of a signboard at the entrance of the rental building, waiting.

"Long Aotian."

The voice carried a hint of joy.

Long Aotian turned around and saw Hu Yuying waving energetically at him from a short distance away.

"Let’s go."

"Okay." Hu Yuying, as usual, followed behind Long Aotian like a little tail.

Suddenly, Long Aotian stopped in his tracks. Hu Yuying, who was following closely, couldn’t react in time and bumped her head into his back.

"Sorry, Long Aotian, I didn’t see you stop," Hu Yuying immediately apologized.

Long Aotian looked at her with amusement. "Why are you always walking behind me?"

Hu Yuying hesitated, then took a step to the right. "Is it okay if I walk here?"

"No."

Seeing her about to move to the left, Long Aotian grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side. "Walk here."

The two figures, one tall and one short, cast a striking contrast under the glow of the setting sun, exuding an indescribable charm.

Hu Yuying looked puzzled. "But Long Aotian, I’ve seen other followers always walking behind their 'big brother.'"

"It’s fine. I’m more democratic," Long Aotian said casually. Deep down, he never really thought of Hu Yuying as a follower.

He hadn’t expected her to take it so seriously.

"Long Aotian, you’re so nice."

Seeing the pure admiration in Hu Yuying’s eyes, Long Aotian felt compelled to give her a little lecture.

He stopped and turned to face her seriously.

Hu Yuying, who had been walking beside him, quickly took two steps back to align herself with him and looked up at him.

"There are many good people in the world, but there are also plenty of bad ones. You can’t assume someone is good just because they show you a little kindness, understand?"

At school, it might be fine, but once you step into society, bad people can exploit the kindness of good-hearted individuals and do terrible things.

Hu Yuying, with her innocent appearance, would be an easy target. If she didn’t learn to be a bit more cautious, she could end up losing everything.

"Okay, okay."

"Even though I don’t like to think the worst of people, it’s important to stay vigilant. Got it?"

"Okay, okay."

Looking at her pure, innocent face, Long Aotian suddenly felt like a father warning his daughter not to be swayed by some troublemaker.

"And stop saying 'okay, okay' all the time. If you have any doubts, learn to say no, understand?"

Hu Yuying nodded, then said, "Okay, okay."

"Good."

They continued walking toward school.

"Your thick-skinned mission for today isn’t over yet. Are you ready?"

"I’m ready."

"Good. Just follow my lead."

"Okay, okay."

"Stop saying 'okay, okay.'"

"Okay, okay."

"Do you want me to hit you?"

"Don’t hit me. I’ll listen."

Once they arrived at the classroom, Long Aotian glanced at the group of girls at the front discussing math formulas. He nudged Hu Yuying with his shoulder. "Your first thick-skinned task today is to join those girls in their discussion."

"Math and science are your strengths. You need to learn to showcase your abilities in front of others."

Hu Yuying looked up at the group of girls discussing math formulas.

She instinctively felt nervous about approaching so many people at once.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to; it was just her nature. When faced with a crowd, she would get anxious and struggle to speak clearly.

Plus, the girls were already deep in discussion, and she wasn’t sure how to join in.

"Don’t be scared, or I’ll hit you!"

"Go on!"

Under the threat of Long Aotian’s fist, Hu Yuying picked up her notebook and took a few hesitant steps toward the group of girls.

Every time she looked back, Long Aotian pretended to raise his fist, and Hu Yuying had no choice but to keep moving forward.

Finally, she reached the group. Her hands clenched unconsciously, and she felt awkward, unsure of how to start.

She glanced back at Long Aotian, who gave her an encouraging thumbs-up.

Seeing his support, Hu Yuying mustered her courage. "Um..."

As soon as she spoke, the girls turned to look at her, their expressions puzzled.

Being the center of so many eyes made Hu Yuying even more nervous, and she instinctively wanted to lower her head.

"Is something wrong?" one of the girls asked.

Hearing this, Hu Yuying forced herself not to look down. She had to learn to be thick-skinned.

"Can I... join you in discussing the math problem?"

"Of course!" the girls replied with smiles. "Take a look at this problem. Do you think there’s a simpler way to solve it?"

Hu Yuying was surprised. Back at her old school, she had always been excluded.

But here, her new classmates not only didn’t reject her but even invited her in.

She nodded with a smile and joined their discussion.

"Wow, Hu Yuying, your approach to this problem is really clear."

"Yeah, this simplified method could save a lot of time on similar problems."

"Hu Yuying, you must be really good at math, right?"

Faced with their genuine smiles and questions, Hu Yuying’s nervousness gradually faded, and she began to engage in the conversation.

Though most of the time she was answering their questions, it was still a big improvement from before.

On her way back to her seat, Long Aotian gave her a thumbs-up for her performance.

Hu Yuying just smiled shyly...

Maybe talking to people wasn’t as hard as she had thought...