Chapter 87: Footprints Outside the Window
"You’re truly the greatest, Brother Mo! I love you!" Zhao Yuanyuan exclaimed happily, blowing a kiss to Chen Mo.
Her gesture, however, sparked Huang Mao’s ambition.
He rarely felt jealous or envious of Zhao Yuanyuan and Chen Mo’s interactions.
Instead, he used their interactions to get a glimpse into what Zhao Yuanyuan valued, admired, and liked.
He could effortlessly gather all of Zhao Yuanyuan’s likes and dislikes just by observing the two of them.
It was mainly because Zhao Yuanyuan and Chen Mo were basically like real siblings close in age. They would joke around and tease each other, but they were also completely open with one another.
She could tell Chen Mo—this big brother who was better than any biological one—anything without hesitation, be it her wants, her likes, or whatever was on her mind.
This gave Huang Mao plenty of opportunities to gather information easily.
This time, for example, he could tell from Zhao Yuanyuan’s tone that she genuinely wished someone could help her with tutoring.
’If that’s the case, then why can’t I be that person?’
’My grades aren’t great right now,’ Huang Mao thought, ’but as long as I’m willing to work hard, with my intelligence, it shouldn’t be hard to raise my math score in a short amount of time.’
’No, not just math. I want to improve my other subjects too.’
’That way, in the future, whenever Little Yueyue wants to study any subject, I can be the one to personally teach her.’
Chen Mo had already noticed the change in Huang Mao’s expression.
Whenever that guy decided to get serious about something, his expression would grow much more solemn, losing its usual carefree, slacker attitude.
Chen Mo smiled to himself. ’It’s not a bad thing to light a fire under this guy.’
After handing back the tests, the math teacher began to seriously go over the problems that students missed most often, as well as the high-value questions that, while not missed by many, were still important.
He was helping the students shore up their weaknesses as much as possible.
Time flew by while the teacher was explaining the problems.
It felt like he hadn’t finished explaining everything before the bell rang, signaling the end of class.
The morning’s schedule was packed with core subjects. For students who wanted to do well on their college entrance exams, paying full, undivided attention during these classes was a must.
Although Chen Mo had the foundation from the previous timeline to fall back on, he still listened attentively in class this time around.
It was mainly for reinforcement.
After all, it had been a long time since his college entrance exams.
When the morning classes ended, many students cast envious glances as Chen Mo and Su Yuqing left the campus side by side.
The boys imagined themselves in Chen Mo’s place, and the girls imagined themselves in Su Yuqing’s.
They, too, longed to enjoy the feeling of being in a relationship, especially at an age so full of youthful, innocent ideas about love.
Or even live with the person they loved most.
Of course, that last part was something they could only fantasize about.
After all, their parents were still at home.
To live together at their age, a number of specific conditions would have to be met.
Back at home, Chen Mo and Su Yuqing both subconsciously glanced across at Wang Lulu’s aunt’s house.
"Don’t hold it against her. People her age just love to gossip," Chen Mo said consolingly when he saw Su Yuqing looking over as well.
"I won’t. I’m just worried it will cause problems for you," Su Yuqing replied. She wasn’t too concerned for herself, aside from feeling a bit bashful. She was just afraid that if word got out about her and Chen Mo, it would negatively affect him.
Chen Mo shook his head and smiled. "What kind of effect could it have on me? It’s not like I’m dating other girls."
With that casual remark, Chen Mo walked into the house, leaving Su Yuqing standing there, stunned, watching him go.
"What are you doing just standing there? Aren’t you coming in?" Chen Mo asked, giving Su Yuqing a puzzled look.
Su Yuqing finally snapped out of it, entered the house, and shut the door.
The moment the door closed, a brilliant smile spread across her face as she looked back at it.
"It’s not like I’m dating other girls."
That one sentence held so much meaning.
As Su Yuqing replayed the words in her mind, she felt her mood inexplicably lighten and brighten.
So much so that she ended up eating an extra half-bowl of rice at lunch.
Chen Mo was a little surprised, wondering if her growing appetite was because she was still developing.
After all, the area of her chest beneath her collarbones, hidden by her school uniform, was quite impressive.
While Su Yuqing was still eating, Chen Mo, having finished his own meal, went outside. He walked around to the window of Su Yuqing’s guest room, scouting for a good spot to install a security camera to better ensure her safety.
His house had cameras in the front and back, but none on the side where the guest room was located.
As he was looking, Chen Mo’s pupils suddenly contracted. He had spotted unfamiliar footprints in front of Su Yuqing’s window.
Chen Mo’s house wasn’t a detached home; it was a corner unit in a row of townhouses.
So, it was perfectly normal for people to pass by his house frequently.
And it was normal for there to be footprints.
But what made these prints seem abnormal to Chen Mo was that they were facing directly toward the inside of Su Yuqing’s guest room.
This meant someone had stood before the window and peered inside.
This was what set off alarm bells in Chen Mo’s mind.
’Was it just a curious passerby, or did someone deliberately stop to pry?’
Various possibilities flashed through Chen Mo’s mind. He decided not to dwell on them. Now that he’d found something amiss, installing a camera was the immediate priority.
He immediately pulled out his phone and placed an order as he walked back.
When he got back inside, Su Yuqing had already finished lunch and was in the kitchen washing the dishes.
Chen Mo watched Su Yuqing’s busy figure for a moment, then glanced toward her guest room.
He began to think about how to phrase things.
Because until the camera arrived, he didn’t dare let Su Yuqing continue staying in the guest room.
He knew very well how much noise and trouble a criminal could cause by forcibly breaking through the security bars and forcing their way inside.
But he couldn’t take that gamble. He couldn’t bet against even the slightest chance of Su Yuqing being harmed.
So, until he could be sure he could monitor the area outside Su Yuqing’s window at all times, he decided that she shouldn’t sleep in the guest room for the next few days.
But to suddenly make such a request, he needed to come up with a reasonable excuse.
’I can’t just tell her that I’ve time-traveled, that someone hurt her in the last timeline, and that even though I saved her this time, the rules of timeline convergence mean she could still be harmed by that same person down the line.’
Chen Mo scratched his head and started wracking his brain for a good reason to get Su Yuqing to temporarily stop sleeping in the guest room and, instead, sleep somewhere closer to him.