Hao Ren s.h.i.+vered at this announcement made by Luo Ying, the Cla.s.s Advisor; the cheerfulness he had before was gone.

"Puppy love? Zhao Yanzi? Why did she connect these words?" he thought.

Luo Ying called out a few more names, and a few parents showed a surprised, confused, and nervous look. The rest of the parents was relieved when they didn't hear their kids' names, and they said goodbye to Luo Ying before leaving one after another.

In the end, there were only six to seven parents left in the cla.s.sroom, looking at each other in embarra.s.sment.

"Please come with me outside," Luo Ying said as she waved at Hao Ren and led the way.

Hao Ren was very nervous; he felt like he was still in high school and got called out by the Cla.s.s Advisor for a special talk outside. However, he was doing it for Zhao Yanzi this time.

Luo Ying closed the door behind them when they were in the corridor, and she turned to Hao Ren and said, "I should be saying this to her parents, but I'll let you deliver the message since they didn't have time to come here."

Hao Ren nodded while maintaining a serious look on his face.

"You know it's a fairly common thing for mid-schoolers to experience puppy love, and parents are becoming less conservative on this issue than before. However, as their Cla.s.s Advisor, I still don't think it's a good idea to date when they are this young in school," Luo Ying said.

"I know, I know," Hao Ren nodded and asked immediately, "Is she dating a boy from cla.s.s?"

"Not a guy; there are several!" Luo Ying answered seriously.

"Several?" Even though Hao Ren was prepared, the answer still astonished him; his mouth gaped wide open, a fist could fit through there.

"Yes, several," Luo Ying nodded and continued, "There are guys giving love letters to her all the time, and they range from Seventh Grade to Ninth Grade. Even some of the guys from our High School Department sent her love letters too. We really need to address the importance of this issue."

"Love letters?" Hao Ren was stupefied before he relaxed again.

Hao Ren thought, "What kind of Cla.s.s Advisor is she? I was scared to death just because you didn't finish your sentences."

"Zhao Yanzi is the most popular student in our LingZhao Middle School. She is the fastest runner, and many boys have a crush on her. She receives several love letters daily, and some of the boys even show up in her cla.s.s to look for her. It's a terrible influence!" Luo Ying kept talking with a stern face.

Hao Ren felt a bit jealous when he learned about how popular Zhao Yanzi was at school. He thought about the guys who tried to pursue her from all grades and all cla.s.ses and asked hesitantly, "But did she...do anything with those guys?"

The Cla.s.s Advisor answered with her arms crossed, "Not yet, but you have to keep in mind how fast girls' minds change. Especially at this age, it's hard to keep on rejecting if there is a cute boy after her. Plus, Zhao Yanzi is an outgoing and playful girl..."

Hao Ren's heart sank as Luo Ying kept talking; he was as worried about this situation as her parents if they had known about this.

Zhao Yanzi was lively, pretty, and excellent at sports in school, and all these made her a popular girl.

"Even the high-schoolers are after her. No wonder her grades were always bad; there are too many distractions," Hao Ren thought.

"Therefore, you have to let her parents keep an eye on their daughter. Her grades are finally picking up, and they can't let this kind of thing get in the way of her studies," Luo Ying continued.

"Ms. Luo, can I ask one more thing? How did Zhao Yanzi deal with all those love letters?" Hao Ren asked as his heartbeat sped up.

"She was pretty straightforward with them; she always throws them directly into the garbage can without even reading them," Luo Ying answered.

"But some of the guys won't give up. They would come to our cla.s.s during the breaks or find her on the sports field during her PE cla.s.s. The high-schoolers would even go straight to ask her out in person, and there isn't much that, we, as teachers in the Middle School Department, could do. Their high school teachers are the only ones who could discipline them after all," Luo Ying continued.

Hao Ren got more and more mad at how annoying those guys were.

"They wouldn't let go even though Zhao Yanzi had shown that she wasn't interested in them at all. Do they really think that no one could discipline them since they are in high school already? Do they really believe that they can make pretty girls in middle school go on dates with them just because they are from wealthy families?" Hao Ren thought.

Then, Hao Ren thought back to the topics that were discussed during dinner at Zhao Yanzi's home, and he realized that she must have never mentioned these things to her parents; she probably didn't want them to worry.

"That's all that I wanted to say. I still need to speak with other parents individually, and I shouldn't keep them waiting. To conclude, I'm glad about Zhao Yanzi's improvement in her grades, but we still need to watch out for her romantic life. Guys in this age are immature, and they are mostly just fooling around pursuing girls. Although Zhao Yanzi is not the most well-behaved student in the cla.s.s, we still need to make sure that she doesn't get bullied by the boys, right?" Luo Ren added.

"Um...I see," Hao Ren nodded seriously.

He was still worried about her even though he didn't really see her as his girlfriend. Hao Ren wasn't happy to find that the boys at her school were hara.s.sing her.

Luo Ying nodded to him and walked back into the cla.s.sroom; she called out another parent.

It was already dark outside when Hao Ren walked downstairs.

He reached the school's front gate along the quiet path and got on the last bus for that day. It would take him straight to his home by the beach.

Hao Ren gave Zhao Hongyu a call on the way back to tell her about Zhao Yanzi's midterm results.

He knew that Zhao Hongyu must have been waiting for his call. Sure enough, she was thrilled after learning about her grades. She invited Hao Ren over the next day for dinner after making sure that she heard the grades and ranks right; she wanted to thank Hao Ren for his patience and thorough tutoring over a nice meal.

Hao Ren could overhear Zhao Yanzi's voice through the phone; she was saying things like "It's all my own hard work!" and "It has nothing to do with him!"

It seemed like Zhao Yanzi was waiting for this phone call since she was worried about her exam results as well. Her grades had improved by a large degree this time, so she might act sn.o.bbishly when he goes over.

However, Hao Ren had decided not to let Zhao Hongyu know about the love letters after some consideration. It wasn't Zhao Hongyu he was worried about but Zhao Yanzi's Third Uncle. If he were to find out about it, he would probably blow the school down impulsively. Therefore, Hao Ren kept this information from her parents.

He breathed out in relief after hanging up the phone.

He looked up at the dark sky and thought to himself, "Should I teach those persistent boys a lesson when I get the chance?"