Chapter 34: Water Drips Through Stone

After He Yulin and Liu Jiaoyue left, Yang Tianxing leaned outside the office and smoked a cigarette in silence, then adjusted his expression and returned to Sun Nan's office.

"Hello, Secretary Sun. I am Yang Tianxing, the monitor of Public Management Class 2 in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. The student who was just here is my classmate; she didn't understand the situation and spoke out of turn in her haste. Please don't take it to heart."

Yang Tianxing said sincerely.

Upon hearing this, Sun Nan looked up with some surprise and gave a light "Mm" as a response.

This was because Yang Tianxing had not addressed him as "Teacher Sun," but as "Secretary Sun."

Usually, students who came to handle business, including He Yulin just now, all called him "Teacher Sun, Teacher Sun." In truth, Sun Nan wished he could paste the title "Deputy Secretary of the Youth League Committee" onto his own big head.

Furthermore, Yang Tianxing had identified himself as a class monitor; in this day and age, a university class monitor still held some weight, acting as a counselor's little assistant and spokesperson. Finally, Yang Tianxing had tactfully taken all the responsibility upon himself, so this opening greeting was considered a pass.

Regarding the matter of the financial aid for impoverished students, the applicant had to align their stance with the school's. He Yulin had stood in the wrong position, causing the matter to veer off track.

After the greeting, Yang Tianxing did not bring up the financial aid for impoverished students directly like He Yulin had, nor did he try to make small talk. Sun Nan clearly wasn't looking at him properly, and talking to oneself was quite awkward.

Seeing that the newspaper rack in the office was a mess, Yang Tianxing simply walked over and started tidying it up.

Sun Nan noticed Yang Tianxing's actions. He stopped his pen and frowned; he was very clear about Yang Tianxing's motive—it was nothing more than for the financial aid for impoverished students.

However, this method was somewhat novel; it wasn't like the others who just cried or made a scene, showing no semblance of being a university student.

After finishing with the newspaper rack, Yang Tianxing saw that the floor was a bit dirty and, without a word, picked up a broom and began to sweep.

"Alright, alright, we have a cleaning lady here," Sun Nan couldn't help but stop him.

"It's fine, Secretary Sun. I'm not tired; I'm just helping out while I'm at it."

Yang Tianxing turned his head and revealed an honest, simple smile.

Sun Nan rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that he hadn't asked if he was tired, but if he wanted to do it, then let him; in any case, he still had to follow procedure here.

After Yang Tianxing finished sweeping and mopping, it was time for lunch. Sun Nan stood up: "Student, I'm going to eat now."

"Oh, alright."

Yang Tianxing walked out of the office nimbly. After Sun Nan closed the door, he didn't say another word and walked toward the cafeteria on his own.

When work resumed in the afternoon, Sun Nan arrived at the office, and before his seat was even warm, Yang Tianxing walked in right on time.

"Good afternoon, Secretary Sun."

Yang Tianxing was holding a bag in his hand and greeted him with a cheerful smile.

"Why are you here again? Don't you have classes?" Sun Nan asked.

"We don't have classes this afternoon."

Yang Tianxing replied; of course, only Yang Tianxing knew whether there were actually classes or not.

Sun Nan didn't want Yang Tianxing to keep staying here, so he said: "That's enough. You already cleaned my office this morning. If you don't have classes, go back to your dormitory."

Yang Tianxing shook his head: "I only cleaned the floor this morning; I haven't wiped the cabinets yet."

As he spoke, he took a towel out of his bag and, without waiting for Sun Nan's permission, pounced on the filing cabinet and started wiping it.

Sun Nan looked at Yang Tianxing, thinking, I'll just leave it be; let's see how long you can keep this up.

Yang Tianxing had strong practical skills, which had a lot to do with Old Yang's deliberate cultivation. He wiped the cabinets very carefully and rhythmically; sometimes Sun Nan would even stop his work to watch.

Of course, watching was just watching; he still didn't speak, just took a sip of water.

Yang Tianxing didn't need anyone to attend to him at all. When he felt tired, he would take a large ceramic teacup out of his bag, get some hot water from the water room, and sit on the sofa to drink and rest.

Sun Nan thought, good fellow, his equipment is quite complete; it seems he is prepared to fight a war of attrition.

Yang Tianxing spent the whole afternoon here. Some students who came to handle business were quite curious, but Yang Tianxing didn't care and even took the initiative to help Sun Nan compile the students' personal information.

When it was time to get off work at 5:30 PM, Sun Nan said very seriously to Yang Tianxing: "You don't need to come back tomorrow. My floor is cleaned, and the cabinets are wiped; there are no blind spots left."

"There are still blind spots."

Yang Tianxing gave a shy smile: "I only wiped the outside of the cabinets this afternoon; the inside hasn't been cleaned yet."

Sun Nan was speechless; he even suspected that Yang Tianxing had intentionally left the inside of the cabinets uncleaned.

The next morning, Yang Tianxing continued to say he had no classes. He arrived at the Youth League Committee office right on time, greeted Sun Nan, and began cleaning the filing cabinets.

Sun Nan's work was very tedious, and the files in the cabinet were a mess, with files from different times mixed together. Yang Tianxing saw a document from this May titled "Opinions of the Finance Institute on Supporting Entrepreneurship Among University Students."

May of each year should be when fourth-year students are about to graduate; it seemed this document was aimed at them. Yang Tianxing really wanted to read it carefully, but he was worried it would be against the rules. After thinking for a moment, he asked: "Secretary Sun, should these files be organized by date or by type?"

"Organize them by date," Sun Nan said.

"Alright."

With these words, Yang Tianxing could read the files quietly without any issues; if discovered, he could explain that he was looking for the dates on the documents. He also took this opportunity to read through all the public documents of the Finance Institute from the past two years.

In fact, these documents were originally posted on the school bulletin board, but what university student would look at that stuff? They ended up missing many opportunities, as some documents were clearly beneficial to the school's students, but unfortunately, no one applied.

The atmosphere in the Youth League Committee office was a bit strange. Sun Nan was writing materials, and Yang Tianxing was organizing files. The two didn't say a word. Some teachers passing by even joked: "Old Sun, is this a little secretary you found?"

Sun Nan could only laugh along, but the next morning when he went to eat, Sun Nan asked seriously: "What is your name?"

"Secretary Sun, my name is Yang Tianxing, Public Management Class 2, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences."

Sun Nan gave an "Mm," but he didn't tell Yang Tianxing not to come in the afternoon; he probably knew he couldn't persuade him otherwise.

In the afternoon, Yang Tianxing appeared in the office on time again. In the room, there was only the sound of "rustling" writing and the friction of organizing file papers. When Sun Nan was resting, he asked: "Little Yang, do you smoke?"

"I smoke one occasionally," Yang Tianxing said.

Sun Nan tossed him a cigarette and warned: "Be careful not to set the files on fire."

After Yang Tianxing helped Sun Nan light his cigarette, the two of them puffed away in the office.

While smoking, Sun Nan suddenly asked: "Is that Liu Jiaoyue's family really that poor?"

"It is indeed true. Her parents passed away early, and she grew up with her elderly grandmother. The old lady has no ability to earn money and is in poor health. Liu Jiaoyue can only save as much as she can on living expenses, eating only rice without dishes every day, at most drinking some free soup; her monthly living expenses don't exceed 50 yuan."

Sun Nan nodded without speaking. Strangely enough, what He Yulin said was sincere and moving, even moving herself to tears, yet it hadn't moved Sun Nan at all. However, during this casual chat while smoking, Sun Nan actually believed what Yang Tianxing said.