Chapter Sixteen: Three Minutes to Extract All His Information!

The three-party parent meeting ended abruptly, with Song Jing taking the brunt of it, leaving the school administration in a bind—afraid to offend the Song family on one hand, and wary of upsetting the Lin family on the other.

Tang Wange paid no mind to such social intricacies; all she knew was that her mood was exceptionally good!

Stepping out of the office, she hummed a tune all the way back to her classroom, only to find that the math teacher had already taken over the self-study period.

Her good mood instantly halved...

Through the window in the door, she could see the math teacher standing on the podium, passionately delivering the lesson.

The students in the front rows were focused intently,

while the ones in the back appeared listless.

A few mischievous students leaned on the windowsill, gazing at the slowly falling snow outside.

Snow...

It was snowing?

Tang Wange’s hand, which had been resting on the doorknob, suddenly retracted.

She crouched down and stepped back a few paces, then without looking back, silently changed direction and tiptoed toward the window at the end of the corridor.

Leaning on the sill, slightly rising on her toes, she gazed distantly at the large, fluffy snowflakes drifting through the night, and at the solitary, slender figure walking in the snow.

Snowflakes gently brushed his temple, tenderly settling on his shoulder.

Foolish Zhao He!

She had just told him to wait outside for her—he wouldn’t still be standing stupidly by the school gate, would he?

In such heavy snow, wouldn’t he be cold?

No, no...

Tang Wange, you’re the foolish one! Zhao He isn’t human; how could he feel cold?

Thinking this, she shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel these unnecessary thoughts.

“Why are you here alone? Why haven’t you returned to class yet?”

A clear, youthful voice suddenly came from behind.

Tang Wange was startled; she instinctively turned around and tried to block the gaze of the newcomer, who was looking out the window.

“Lin Chao? What a coincidence, you haven’t returned to class either?”

She smiled awkwardly and pointed toward the sky, “I saw it snowing so heavily outside and wanted to take a look. This should be... the first snowfall of the year, right?”

“Indeed.”

Lin Chao followed her finger and looked outside, then after a moment asked, “Tang Wange, have you heard of the superstition about the first snow?”

[Couples who see the first snow together will be happily united forever.]

An old cliché from Korean dramas—how could she not know?

“The first snow has a superstition? I haven’t heard that before.”

Tang Wange kept a smile on her face but felt her heart pounding with nervousness!

Before Lin Chao could say more, she stepped aside and quickly moved away. “By the way, Lin Chao, I want to sincerely thank you for what happened today. If you ever need my help, just say so! Well... I should get back to class now. If I stay out too long, the teacher will scold me!”

“All right.”

He responded softly.

Lowering her head, she quickened her pace and brushed past him.

Just before opening the classroom door,

she suddenly heard him call her name:

“Tang Wange, on the night of the first snow, ghosts appear. Make sure to go home early after school.”

What was that?

Tang Wange truly thought she had imagined it.

She frowned and walked into the classroom, puzzled.

As the door slowly closed, only Lin Chao remained standing alone by the window at the corridor’s end.

His downcast eyes were cold yet precise, fixed on the iron gate a hundred meters away.

Outside the gate, Zhao He seemed to sense something and looked up.

But when he glanced around in confusion, all he saw was an empty windowsill.

Tang Wange couldn’t focus on what the math teacher had taught at all.

She held her pen, but the draft paper before her was completely blank.

Her deskmate, Ling Fei, noticed her distracted state and grew worried.

Tang Wange used to be like a learning machine, afraid to miss a single word the teacher said; to her, studying seemed the only important thing in life.

But now...

When had Tang Wange started to change?

“Wange, you said before that your family had ghost problems—did you manage to solve them?”

“Yes! It’s resolved! The shaman’s talisman works well!”

She couldn’t tell Ling Fei about Zhao He, nor could she do anything else.

After a long and agonizing wait, the much-anticipated dismissal bell finally rang!

Tang Wange had packed her bag early and was the first to rush out of the teaching building!

Seeing the figure waiting at the school gate drawing nearer, her running pace gradually slowed. She adjusted her ragged breathing and feigned calm as she stood before Zhao He.

“You’ve been waiting here all this time? Why haven’t you gone home? Aren’t you skilled in magic and able to travel freely?”

Noticing the snowflakes settled on Zhao He’s clothes, she puffed up her cheeks and gently scolded him, then raised her hand to brush the snow off his shoulder.

She then thought to clear the snow from his hair, only to realize he was so tall she had to stand on tiptoe just to barely touch the strands on his forehead!

Behind them, classmates came out one after another, casting curious glances.

This made Tang Wange even more awkward, causing her to withdraw her hand.

The tall, handsome man before her suddenly bent down!

He grabbed her wrist as she tried to pull away and, ignoring everything else, placed her hand on his hair!

The icy snow instantly melted in the burning warmth of his palm.

“You asked me to wait here for you, so I won’t leave.”

Her heart thudded wildly at his seemingly casual words!

The world seemed to fall silent in that moment; in her eyes, there was only Zhao He!

It was such a warm feeling—to have someone waiting to go home with her!

“Isn’t that Tang Wange from Class Three? Who’s that handsome guy in front of her?”

“I heard he’s her cousin!”

“Ah? The bookworm has such an amazing older cousin? Girls, hurry up! I want all the information about that man!”

The girls’ excited teasing brought Tang Wange back to reality.

She suddenly withdrew her hand and instinctively put some distance between herself and Zhao He.

Yes, Tang Wange had always been the black sheep in her family’s eyes, a loner and study machine in her classmates’ eyes—how could she deserve such a wonderful "brother"?

Besides, humans and ghosts are worlds apart.

How could he stay by her side forever?

She shouldn’t have harbored such greedy desires, craving things that never ought to belong to her...

These tangled thoughts almost swallowed her whole!

Until a warm cup of taro milk tea was thrust into her arms.

Her eyes twitched as she looked up at Zhao He.

“Did you buy this?”

“No, a woman gave it to me.”

Zhao He casually took her schoolbag and slung it over his shoulder. “She said it was buy one get one free. She couldn’t finish hers, so she gave me this cup.”

“Ah??”

Tang Wange hesitated for a moment, then examined the milk tea carefully. Sure enough, she discovered a row of phone numbers printed on the cup sleeve!

This guy was clearly being hit on!

“Wange, I’m hungry.”

“You really weren’t a hungry ghost before?”

“Well, it’s not impossible.”

He actually considered it seriously!

“...Let’s go. I’ll take you to eat that barbecue you’ve been craving!” Tang Wange sighed helplessly, brushing away the gloom. She slurped the milk tea and strode ahead briskly.

It must be said—

Zhao He really could eat!

That meal alone cost her half a month’s worth of food money!

“I’ve got less than five hundred yuan left in my pocket. How am I supposed to live the next few months…”

Tang Wange was utterly overwhelmed!

With the college entrance exam looming, she still had to find time for part-time work, supporting herself and one ridiculously hungry ghost!

She opened her bag zipper in despair,

and looked at Zhao He, who was lying on the books with his belly sticking out, sound asleep.

Maybe... she should let him perform on the street—some ghostly magic act! That should earn a good sum!

Her plan seemed quite clever.

Then, as she looked up, she suddenly sensed something was wrong!

This street had been bustling just moments ago... why had it suddenly fallen deathly silent?