Chapter 43

【PS: Thanks to reader 291 for the tip~ Don't worry, this chapter isn't a hiatus announcement, so please don't misunderstand~~】

"How did you come here?" Tong Yan敏锐地 felt a gaze on him from the window and looked up to see Song Rao's delicate face. As expected, she had come to find him, so he hurriedly ran out to greet her.

"I was waiting for you in the office, but I waited for a long time and you didn't show up, so I had to come myself," Song Rao said half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"Didn't you already go into the office? Why are you still looking for me with this key?"

"How did you know? Did you go up there just now?" Song Rao blushed, hoping he hadn't overheard the conversation between her and her father, which would be very awkward.

Tong Yan nodded, "Yeah, but when I saw Old Song, I immediately left."

Seeing his reaction to her father, Song Rao felt a bit more at ease. "He's already gone. I came down to tell you. If you still want to use the computer, I can enter the password for you."

"Wait a moment." Tong Yan ran back to the classroom, rummaging through his pencil case. The few classmates still in the room watched him and Song Rao outside with odd expressions, while only the class president, Cheng Xianru, remained unperturbed, focusing on her math problems.

"Here, take this." Tong Yan held out a key to Song Rao.

"What's this?"

"It's the key to your father's office," Tong Yan said proudly. "You always worry that I'll get the password and stop helping you open the door, right? So, I had a key made for you. Then you can give me the password, and we'll both have the key and the password, which will save a lot of trouble."

Tong Yan had the key made this morning. He had planned it out: he needed the password to work independently from Song Rao. Now that the short story was finished, if Song Rao continued to be around him, his secret of writing a long web novel would be exposed. He felt it was still necessary to keep this secret.

A long web novel was different from a short story; it required a lot of energy, especially for a high school student. In anyone's eyes, this wasn't wise. After spending time with Song Rao, they had developed some friendship. If she didn't understand or support him and refused to enter the password for him, he wouldn't be able to use the office computer anymore.

So, Tong Yan had a key made to exchange for Song Rao's password, even if it meant risking Old Song's discovery.

Looking at the key in Tong Yan's hand, Song Rao didn't take it. Not only did she not take it, but she was also a bit angry. "So, I'm just a bother to you? I even covered for you with my dad just now, hmpf!"

With that, Song Rao turned and walked away.

Tong Yan, a bit slow on the uptake, hurried after her. "That's not what I meant. How could you be a bother? I just don't want to keep troubling you. I'm the one who's a bother."

Hearing this, Song Rao chuckled. "Right, you're a huge bother!"

Seeing Song Rao laugh, Tong Yan breathed a sigh of relief. "You said you covered for me. How did you do that?"

Song Rao told him the truth. "My dad asked me why you've been going to his office with me these past few days. I told him it was our secret and wouldn't tell him. If he asks you, you should say the same."

"He's your dad. You can say that, but can I act cute in front of him? That would just get me a beating!" Tong Yan muttered, feeling speechless.

"Then just tell him the truth. I don't think he'll blame you."

That would be even worse. "Let me think about it."

Song Rao huffed. "Think about it. I'm going up." Although the afternoon classes hadn't started yet, their playful banter in the corridor outside the second-year classroom had already attracted some students' attention. Song Rao didn't want to stay any longer.

"Don't you want the key?" Tong Yan still wanted to give her the key.

Song Rao turned to look at him. "No, I don't mind the trouble. Also, my birthday is December 9th. You'd better remember it for life."

With that, Song Rao walked away, leaving Tong Yan completely surprised that she had suddenly given him the password. It was a pleasant surprise, but looking at the time, it was already past one, and class would start soon. He decided to go later in the evening.

Unfortunately, Tong Yan didn't go that evening either. Although Old Song didn't have classes that night, he appeared in the office, which was unlike him. Sensing the risk, Tong Yan had no choice but to return to his self-study session.

That night, Song Xiancheng invited the young math teacher, Hong Ruide, to his office and asked him how to check the operation records of a computer.

Hong Ruide, being young and familiar with computers, knew a lot, but checking operation records was a bit challenging. "Mr. Song, I can help you check the web browsing history at most."

"That's fine. Can you check it for me?"

Hong Ruide skillfully opened the web browser and found the browsing history. "Mr. Song, have you been online these past two days?"

"Yes, I even read the news yesterday."

"Have you cleaned your computer recently? I mean, cleared the trash or browsing history?"

Song Xiancheng thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, I don't know how to do that. I just use the internet and type a few words."

"Strange, it shows no web browsing history here. Has someone deleted it?" Hong Ruide speculated.

"Oh, thank you, Hong."

"You're welcome, Mr. Song."

After seeing Hong off, Song Xiancheng sat in his chair, tapping the desk. He was almost certain that his daughter and Tong Yan's so-called secret was related to his computer. The worst scenario he could imagine was the two of them browsing inappropriate websites, but that seemed unlikely. They weren't that close, so why would they do that together? If they did, their relationship must be more than just friends.

What exactly were they doing in that room? Song Xiancheng was suspicious and wished he could bring Tong Yan in for interrogation, using pepper spray and tiger stools!

Tong Yan had no idea that his respected teacher, Mr. Song, had already listed him as the top suspect. He was currently mourning his first missed update.

Yixiao Jimuduochou was a college student whose greatest hobby was reading novels. On his起点 bookshelf, there was a novel called "The Little Soldier's History" that he followed every day. Unlike most readers of the book, he had encountered "The Little Soldier's History" first and only later learned about "The Little Soldier's Legend," which made "The Little Soldier's History" hold a higher place in his heart.

Previously, the book was updated quickly and consistently, but two weeks ago, it changed to one update per day. He could tolerate that, as there was still something to read every day. However, three days ago, even the daily update was reduced to 2000 words, which was not enough. The worst part was today; the usual noon update had not come by 10 PM. Was Dian Xiaoer going to miss an update today?

Yixiao Jimuduochou noticed that there were no more complaints in the book review section, showing how unpopular Dian Xiaoer had become recently. However, he wasn't one to accept things passively. Dian Xiaoer's behavior needed to be criticized, so he posted a thread: "Dian Xiaoer, how could you break my heart!"

The sensational title worked. Some readers browsing the book review section saw the post and thought the author had hurt someone's feelings, so they clicked in to ask for details. But upon reading the post, they realized it was about the readers' dissatisfaction with the author's updates. They left comments, criticizing Dian Xiaoer, and the post became the most popular in the "The Little Soldier's History" book review section.

Yixiao Jimuduochou was surprised by the number of "The Little Soldier's History" readers his post had attracted. It seemed that people still cared about the book, but Dian Xiaoer's recent updates were lackluster, and he had little interaction with the readers, leading to their silence.

Returning to the reading page of "The Little Soldier's History," Yixiao Jimuduochou was pleasantly surprised to see that Dian Xiaoer had updated. But when he saw the content, he was immediately disappointed. Damn! It was a "Hiatus Explanation"!

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