Feng Qi Shi said urgently, "Don't let her come, it's too embarrassing."
"What's embarrassing about it," the young man said, picking up Feng Qi Shi's cup and taking a sip of water.
"Just don't come, that's right, why are you asking so many questions?" Feng Qi Shi said, closing his eyes.
The young man looked at Feng Qi Shi's face, put down the cup, and said, "Your family matters are really messy, but speaking of which, is your mom always like this?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Feng Qi Shi said with his eyes closed.
The young man raised his eyebrows: "Okay, if you don't want to say it, then you admit it. But your dad is famously henpecked. Judging by how your dad dragged your mom away just now," he said, "your dad sides with your mom eighty percent of the time."
"I know, he'll definitely come back later and say I'm not sensible, and that it was nothing, but I jumped and everything came out," Feng Qi Shi said calmly.
"Then, in that case, I really should stay here a while longer," the young man said, picking up Feng Qi Shi's cup again.
"Be careful not to get implicated," Feng Qi Shi said, his eyes still closed.
"I'm not afraid. Ever since you were little, your dad has been like that. I remember once you were sick, and you went out with your mom. Your mom had an umbrella, but you didn't, and then you caught a cold, right?"
"Mhm," Feng Qi Shi replied lazily.
"I stayed at your house that day. Your dad gave your mom the cold shoulder on the first day. On the second day, he started telling you why you went out without an umbrella. He sided with your mom again on everything," the young man took a sip of water. "I still vividly remember what your dad looked like."
"I'm used to it. If my leg were okay, I'd leave now."
"Your surgery has a pretty long recovery time, so the possibility of you walking is probably not high," the young man glanced at Feng Qi Shi's leg and said.
"Yeah," Feng Qi Shi replied helplessly and opened his eyes.
"How are you going to take the college entrance exam?" the young man asked with concern.
"How else? I'll go with crutches," Feng Qi Shi thought to himself, though he knew he was going to leave, he didn't want to tell the young man the details so as not to seem abrupt, and just gave a perfunctory answer.
"Poor thing."
"Speaking of which, why aren't you going to school?" Feng Qi Shi glanced at the cup the young man had put down.
"I dropped out, I'm not going anymore," the young man said casually.
"Are you crazy? You're almost graduating from high school, and you're dropping out now. What will you do in the future?"
"I'm not like you. You can get good grades without studying, unlike me. I learn everything, and the exams feel good, but my grades," the young man smiled bitterly, "are just not good. So I might as well drop out, to avoid taking up someone else's college admission quota."
"You're the same age as me, aren't you, cousin?" Feng Qi Shi said.
The young man nodded: "We are the same age, but we have completely different experiences. So, in a few days, I'll have my mom help me with the dropout procedures. Even if I don't do it, it doesn't matter if I get kicked out."
"Then do you still want your graduation certificate?" Feng Qi Shi asked.
"Graduation certificate," the young man took a deep breath. "You're right, what about my graduation certificate?"
"If you ask me, you should still take the exam. No matter how much you score, at least you'll have a choice then. But if you don't take it," Feng Qi Shi said with a cold smile, "you'll have nothing. These past few years of hard study will be wasted, and your mother's efforts will be in vain. Remember, it was hard enough for you to get to your senior year of high school. If you give up, I'll feel it's a pity for you."
The young man fell silent.
Seeing that the young man wasn't speaking, Feng Qi Shi closed his eyes.
The young man looked down at his fingers for a while and said, "You have a point. Can you analyze this for me?" He looked up at Feng Qi Shi. "Open your eyes."
Feng Qi Shi obediently opened his eyes and looked at him.
"You know, I can learn, and I can fill out all the questions on the exam papers, but why can't I get good grades?"
"I've also seen you study. You're a task-oriented person. You can finish the tasks given to you by the school in minutes. But when it comes to arranging your own study time, reviewing, and previewing, you..." Feng Qi Shi spread his hands, "come up with all sorts of excuses, like I have a stomachache, I'll do it later. Over time, you forget everything you've learned. Of course, you'll still remember some things, and you'll feel good about reviewing, but when you start doing problems, well, it's over."
"Aren't you talking about me!" the young man said with self-satisfaction.
Feng Qi Shi snorted: "Studying is not a task. You need to constantly improve your understanding of what you don't know, and you can't be self-satisfied. To put it bluntly, you have the potential to study, but I can only say that your laziness has ruined you."
"I feel sleepy as soon as I open a book."
"See, this is the inertia you've accumulated over the years," Feng Qi Shi pointed at the young man.
"Can I still study now?"
"From what I know of you, you have a foundation. Your grades in your first and second years of high school weren't too bad. It's just that you need to work hard recently, read more, do more exercises, find the problems you got wrong, practice more, and memorize more. I guess..." Feng Qi Shi thought for a moment, "you can barely get into an undergraduate program."
"I can still get into an undergraduate program?" the young man exclaimed, pointing at himself excitedly.
"Yes, that depends on your own effort," Feng Qi Shi nodded.
"I'll work hard," the young man said, suddenly standing up.
Feng Qi Shi looked at the young man in confusion and asked, "What are you doing?"
The young man grinned sheepishly: "Studying." With that, he turned and walked to the sofa to pick up Feng Qi Shi's schoolbag.
Feng Qi Shi said helplessly: "No, I'm still sick."
"It's precisely because you're sick that you can tutor me," the young man said, holding the schoolbag and sitting down on a stool.
"This is my schoolbag," Feng Qi Shi pointed to the schoolbag.
"I know. Anyway, our textbooks are the same. Tutor me!" With that, the young man took out Feng Qi Shi's schoolbag himself.
Feng Qi Shi was speechless at the young man's words matching his actions. "The anesthetic has just worn off, my brain isn't clear. Look at the problems yourself, don't bother me."
"Okay." As the young man nodded, Feng Yan happened to walk into the ward and saw him: "Cousin! You're here!"
Hearing this, the young man looked up at Feng Yan, who was holding breakfast, and said, "Hello, Elder Brother."
"What are you doing?" Feng Yan frowned, walked over, and looked down at the young man, asking, "Aren't you going to school?"
"I'll go tomorrow. It's just that..." the young man smiled, "I missed my third cousin today."
Feng Qi Shi glanced at the young man and said, "Don't say you miss me, I don't miss you at all."
Hearing Feng Qi Shi's words, the young man chuckled and reached out to pat his arm, saying, "Third cousin, you're such a hypocrite. You just called me earlier, and now you're saying this. You're naughty." As he spoke, his gaze flickered.