Tong Yi was not usually one to hesitate, but he genuinely lacked experience in consoling others. For a while, he was unsure of how to proceed. He locked and unlocked his phone several times, debating whether to comfort Jiang Li, but couldn’t make up his mind. After a few minutes, he decided to call his aunt, Tong Nian, instead.
As soon as the call connected, Tong Yi heard obvious panting, “What are you doing? Are you out for a morning run? But isn’t it an odd time for that?”
Tong Nian didn’t answer his question, and Tong Yi, not particularly concerned, continued, “I have a question… Like, how should you comfort a girl when she’s upset?”
After a few seconds, Tong Nian’s voice came from the receiver, “Who are you trying to comfort?”
Tong Yi thought her voice sounded exhausted, probably from running, “Never mind who. When you’re upset, do you like people comforting you?” He asked nonchalantly.
“I’m a tough iron lady; I never need comforting. Besides, men’s comfort is usually pointless… Ah…” Suddenly, Tong Nian let out a strange sound.
“What’s happening? Sounds like someone is choking you.” Tong Yi was puzzled.
“…”
“She stepped on a pebble while running,” Feng Yang interjected.
Tong Yi responded with an “oh,” asking, “Is she hurt?”
“She’s a tough iron lady, how could she get hurt? She’s totally fine!” Feng Yang assured him.
“Feng Yang, you bastard.” Tong Nian’s voice was full of accusations.
Tong Yi: …
Stepping on a pebble and suddenly becoming whiny? That didn’t sound like his aunt at all!
This confirmed that when girls are in a bad mood, they do need some comfort.
“I won’t disturb your run anymore, hanging up now!”
After ending the call, Tong Yi took photos of the step-by-step solutions to the two questions and sent them to Jiang Li.
Several minutes passed without a reply, prompting Tong Yi to call her again. After nearly half a minute of ringing, Jiang Li finally answered, her voice a bit muffled, “Big Nephew, you better have something important to say. If you’re just going to spout nonsense, I’ll make sure my big bro gives you a good thrashing.”
“Your eldest brother’s out running with my aunt right now, he’s too busy to deal with you. But at least you have your fourth elder brother here. I sent you the solutions to those two questions,” Tong Yi said in a particularly annoying tone, like a brat asking for a good spanking.
When Jiang Li had previously insisted on being called ‘aunt,’ Tong Yi was initially annoyed, but he gradually got used to it and decided to fight fire with fire: whenever Jiang Xiao Li called him ‘big nephew,’ he would call himself ‘fourth brother.’
“Running? According to your time zone, it’s not the right time for a morning run. And don’t they have work?” Jiang Li was curious.
Tong Yi quickly replied, “They’re off today. But I bet it was your brother who dragged my aunt out for the run. She’s usually a big sloth, often sleeping in until the sun’s high in the sky.”
Jiang Li responded with an “oh,” commenting, “My eldest brother is very disciplined, something you wouldn’t understand.”
“It’s just running, what do I have to envy? And… Jiang Xiao Li, if you don’t make it to the competition class this year, there’s always next year, right? It’s not a big deal.”
Jiang Li replied with a blank expression, “Dog Nephew, you better not talk to me about the competition class or make any snide remarks, or I’ll block you!”
“…” Tong Yi couldn’t understand. He was genuinely trying to comfort her, so why did it come off as making snide remarks?
“Alright, I don’t want to chat now, hanging up,” Jiang Li said and promptly ended the call. After hanging up, she quickly finished washing up and prepared to go to bed.
However, she noticed Wang Simin looked at her with a meaningful gaze, “There’s something going on!”
“What do you mean?” Jiang Li asked, puzzled.
“That was a guy on the phone just now, wasn’t it?” Wang Simin blinked rapidly.
Jiang Li nodded, “Yes, that was my big nephew, Tong Yi. Shen Mian and Tang Rou know him.”
Wang Simin immediately turned her gaze towards Shen Mian, who spread her hands helplessly, “I do know Tong Yi, but I didn’t know he was Jiang Li’s nephew.”
Tang Rou also nodded in agreement: “When we were in junior high, Tong Yi was in our class, and he was… he was…”
“Spit it out!” Zhang Qingqing couldn’t wait any longer.
Tang Rou timidly glanced at Jiang Li before whispering, “He and Jiang Li were rumored to… have a thing.”
“…” Jiang Li was dumbfounded. That was ages ago. How does Tang Rou remember it so clearly?
Wang Simin got excited at the smell of gossip, “What rumor? Tell me the details, I’m really curious about Jiang Li’s type.”
Jiang Li looked confused, “Since when did you become interested in other people’s gossip?”
Wang Simin admitted frankly, “Because the way you talked to that Tong Yi was quite special!”
“Special?” Jiang Li didn’t understand.
Wang Simin nodded, “Think about it. When Qin Zheng was comforting you today, you were quite polite to him. But when it came to Tong Yi comforting you, you called him a ‘dog nephew’ and even threatened to block him.”
Jiang Li chuckled, “You call that special?”
“Isn’t it? Especially considering you don’t show any particular reaction even when dealing with a handsome guy like Qin Zheng,” Wang Simin stated confidently.
“Do you all think Qin Zheng is handsome?” Jiang Li joined in on the gossip.
Everyone in the dormitory nodded in unison, “He’s more than just a little handsome.”
“…” Okay, Jiang Li admitted he was quite handsome, otherwise he wouldn’t be the male lead of a romance novel. But she had seen many who were more handsome than Qin Zheng. Just for the start, her third uncle was definitely much more handsome than Qin Zheng, and her older brothers were a bit more handsome too. As for Tong Yi… although a bit quirky, if you just consider looks, he’s definitely more handsome than Qin Zheng!
Seeing Jiang Li out of focus, Wang Simin nudged her gently, “You think Qin Zheng is quite handsome too, right?”
Before Jiang Li could answer, Shen Mian jumped in, “I think Tong Yi is actually a bit more handsome than Qin Zheng. What do you think, Tang Rou?”
Tang Rou thought for a moment and honestly said, “If we’re just talking about looks, then Tong Yi is indeed more handsome. But Qin Zheng is a top student, and I prefer someone with academic aura.” She then looked at Jiang Li with admiration, as Jiang Li was even more of a top student than Qin Zheng.
Jiang Li quickly interjected, “Don’t look at me. I didn’t even pass the entrance test for the competition class. Please call me Mediocre Jiang Xiao Li from now on”
Pang Ju whispered, “But you were the top scorer in the entrance exams.”
Jiang Li: …
No, that’s all in the past. She should be looking towards the future now.
Shen Mian looked at Tang Rou with a shocked expression, “You don’t still think Tong Yi is a flunker, do you?”
Tang Rou looked confused.
Isn’t he?
Shen Mian asked again, “Didn’t you pay attention to our classmates’ entrance exam scores?”
Tang Rou thought for a moment and admitted, “I didn’t really pay much attention.”
Shen Mian sighed, “No wonder you didn’t know. If you had paid a little attention, you would have realized that Tong Yi’s scores for written exams were just 1 point lower than Jiang Li’s. If he’s considered a flunker, then except for Jiang Li, all students in our city would be ultra flunkers.”
Hearing this, the other girls became interested and gathered around Shen Mian to learn more about Tong Yi. The ever eloquent Shen Mian enthusiastically recounted everything about him—his reputation as a prodigy from a young age, taking a two-year hiatus from school, returning only to seemingly degenerate: sleeping through classes, getting into fights with vocational school students, consistently scoring poorly in exams, etc. Yet, during his high school entrance examination, he surprisingly performed exceptionally well, becoming the dark horse everyone talked about. His total score, however, seemed average due to skipping the physical education test.
Shen Mian concluded with a speculative statement: Tong Yi must have had some secret reasons for suddenly taking a two-year break from school and then pretending to be a poor student upon his return.
Jiang Li wasn’t too interested in their conversation. She sighed, took out a guidebook her senior brother had given her, and started studying seriously. If she didn’t pass this year, then she would try again next year. Although it was a somewhat annoying consolation, it was genuinely helpful.
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Translator’s Note:
Hello, everyone! My Son is a Reborn Villain is nearing ending, so I’ve prepared a replacement: Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt. For this week only, there will be daily updates, and then it will follow MSRV’s update schedule: Monday and Wednesday.
Enjoy~
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Running? Sure, that’s what they were doing.