Chapter 38: Dopamine

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ten minutes later, Shen Jun returned to Academic Building No. 3 and found Wen Nian squatting beside the flowerbed by the gate, playing with a lost ant using a slender branch. Wen Nian looked really silly and reminded him of his three-year-old niece.

He crouched down. “Are you having fun?”

Wen Nian turned around and saw Shen Jun half-squatting beside him. His thin lips were pursed and slightly raised, and there were faint dimples on both sides of his cheeks.

Seeing the faint smile in Shen Jun’s eyes, Wen Nian’s face turned warm. She quickly got up and threw the branch in her hand into the trash at the side.

Shen Jun also stood up and handed over the chocolate cake he had just bought. “If you’re feeling down, have some sweet food to get that dopamine rush.”

Wen Nian was a little surprised. She didn’t expect her to receive such treatment from Shen Jun. She took the cake and smiled. “Thank you.”

Wen Nian was about to take the cake back to the classroom to eat, but when she saw Shen Jun still standing there, she looked at him in confusion.

Shen Jun raised his eyebrows and asked, “Aren’t you going to eat it now? Do you intend to feel sad for a few more minutes?”

Wen Nian felt speechless and responded, “I will eat now.”

Actually, after Shen Jun had interrupted her, she felt much better. She played with the ant for a while. However, thinking of Shen Jun’s rare kindness, Wen Nian sat down by the cement side of the flowerbed.

en Nian lowered her head and started eating with a small spoon. The sweet and soft texture melted in her mouth, and she finished the palm-sized cake in a minute.

Shen Jun had never seen a girl eat so quickly. He blinked and took a few more glances. He was a little curious if Wen Nian had swallowed it without chewing.

Wen Nian didn’t know if it was a psychological effect, but she felt much better after eating. She got up to throw away the trash, then turned around with a smile and asked, “How much is the cake?”

Shen Jun considered the meager amount of money that remained in his pocket and stated the cost of the cake he had purchased. “Ten yuan.”

Wen Nian took out the money and handed it over to Shen Jun. Suddenly, she felt a sense of closeness towards him due to their interaction. She had the urge to take this opportunity and began to think, her eyes darting around as she pondered.

As Wen Yu had to focus on preparing for the competition exams during this period of time, and the content of the textbooks became more and more difficult, Wen Nian’s revision had not been very smooth recently. The original plan was to complete the first semester of the first year of high school by the end of December this year. There were still two months left, but Wen Nian had not even completed a third of it. She was feeling really anxious.

Wen Nian seemed hesitant for a moment, but Shen Jun was not used to this and urged her, “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Wen Nian shamelessly asked, “Can you help me with my studies? It’s not really tuition. I just want to ask you questions during my free time while I’m in school. I won’t waste your effort. I’ll treat you to a meal as a thank you, but I don’t have much money, so I can only treat you to a meal in the canteen.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Jun felt a little tempted. It wasn’t because of the meal. However, when he thought about how close Wen Nian was with that boy in the canteen, he asked with a hint of meaning, “Aren’t you worried that someone might misunderstand our relationship?”

Wen Nian was momentarily taken aback. She thought that Shen Jun was concerned that their teachers might mistake their relationship for romantic involvement and report it to their parents. She quickly expressed her stance, “We’re being open about it. There’s no reason for anyone to misunderstand. Don’t worry about it too much. We have nothing to hide, and we’re not afraid of any false accusations.”

Seeing that Wen Nian didn’t mind, Shen Jun didn’t think too much about it. “Forget about eating. Do you know how to clean the house?”

Although Wen Xing and his wife doted on their child, everyone had the responsibility to do housework. Moreover, Wen Nian had done a lot of work in the prison. “Of course.”

Shen Jun coughed lightly. “Help me clean the house every week and you can ask me questions even if class is ongoing.”

Shen Jun had a monthly allowance of 2,000 yuan for his living expenses, which covered all his expenses in Hai City. While this amount was higher than what most students received, Shen Jun never bothered to check the prices of things due to his spending habits that had developed since childhood.

Shen Jun still had to hire part-timers to clean up his place every week, which cost him 200 yuan each time. As a result, almost half of his living expenses went towards this expense. This forced him to resort to eating sandwiches three times a day, and sometimes he would switch it up by having instant noodles instead.

However, the food in the canteen was less than satisfactory, and Shen Jun didn’t want to subject his taste buds to it. He came up with a suggestion. if Wen Nian helped him with the cleaning, he could save a significant amount of money and eat out every day.

Prior to coming to Hai City for his studies, Shen Jun had made an agreement with his grandfather that he would not rely on any form of assistance, such as accepting money from his uncle, Zhao Wu, who worked in the city, or having Zhao Jiao secretly transfer money to him. He was committed to keeping his promise and upholding the spirit of the agreement.

Wen Nian was poor to begin with, so she was naturally willing to pay with her stamina instead of money. With this arrangement, the two of them hit it off immediately.

After being asked high school first-year subject questions for a whole day, Shen Jun curiously asked, “Did you not attend classes in the first semester of your first year of high school?”

Wen Nian blushed. “I just never listened in class.”