Chapter 6
The walk from the cafeteria to the classroom required going around the entire gymnasium.
The sun was scorching, and after a few steps, Jiang Siyi felt sweaty and uncomfortable.
She started missing the days spent lounging at Shen Shiwu’s house.
Pushing open the classroom door, she was greeted by the cool air conditioning.
Xu Yuan pounced on the air conditioner like a hungry wolf, while Jiang Siyi, more reserved, went straight to her seat and opened her water bottle.
Then, she discreetly tucked the letter into her desk.
Senior year students didn’t have a lunch break. As soon as the bell rang, the history teacher arrived on the battlefield, armed with a stack of papers.
“Come on, pass them back quickly. Hand them in after twenty minutes.”
It was all fill-in-the-blank questions. Jiang Siyi hadn’t memorized any of the material, so she could only prop her chin up and stare blankly.
Her seat was by the window, where she could see the light blue sky and the large, wind-blown clouds.
The weather is nice.
She wondered if Shen Shiwu, sitting in her high-rise office, had time to look up at the sky and enjoy the scenery.
The sound of pens scratching against paper filled the air, while she remained idle. The history teacher was grading papers from another class, not even glancing up.
So, Jiang Siyi, emboldened, took out the phone she had snuck in, wanting to send a message.
But she stared at the chat box for a long time, ultimately not sending anything.
Forget it.
“Jiang Siyi!”
Thud—
The phone hit the floor with a loud thud, attracting the attention of the entire class.
Hearing the approaching footsteps and looking at the phone lying innocently on the ground, Jiang Siyi sneered inwardly.
Heh.
Another mess.
The air conditioning in the office was blasting, and Jiang Siyi shivered slightly. The history teacher handed her and her belongings over to Fu Jing and hurried back to her class to collect the papers.
“A phone, a love letter.” The homeroom teacher put down her teacup, her expression serious. “Oh, and a blank test paper.”
Jiang Siyi listened, mentally counting how many school rules she had broken.
“You just can’t help but cause trouble on the first day back, can you?”
As the homeroom teacher, Fu Jing naturally knew about her family situation and felt sorry for her, so she usually tried to offer guidance rather than criticism.
But today was simply too much.
Bringing electronic devices and engaging in puppy love, it was outrageous!
“Call your guardian. I’ll talk to her personally.”
“…I don’t have a guardian.”
She thought Fu Jing had forgotten, but the teacher said, “What do you mean you don’t have one? Your older sister added me on WeChat.”
Fu Jing showed her the message on her phone.
The familiar profile picture appeared—
It was a picture of Shen Shiwu’s back, taken by the seaside.
“She said she’s your cousin. At first, I thought it was a scam.” She locked the screen and confirmed again, “She’s your sister, right? Not a scammer?”
Jiang Siyi couldn’t quite describe her emotions.
She nodded and hummed in affirmation.
“Okay, I’ll ask her to come over later.”
“My sister is very busy, she doesn’t have time.”
Fu Jing typed quickly. After the message was sent, she said, “Oh, come on. When she added me, she said she was always available.”
“…”
Shen Shiwu arrived quickly.
The sound of high heels clicking against the floor grew closer. The door was pushed open, and the woman who entered looked at Jiang Siyi first.
After confirming that her mood wasn’t too bad, she turned to the teacher and said, “Sorry, teacher, I’m late.”
Fu Jing was momentarily stunned when she saw her.
She hadn’t expected her to be so young.
“Not at all, not at all. Please have a seat.”
Shen Shiwu glanced at Jiang Siyi, who was still standing, and pulled over a chair, saying softly, “Sit down.”
Perhaps because standing was too tiring, Jiang Siyi obediently sat down.
“It’s these three issues. Sigh, Jiang Siyi’s guardian, you really need to discipline your younger sister.” Fu Jing sighed.
Shen Shiwu nodded. “Alright.”
Even at this point, she didn’t criticize or scold, simply responding calmly.
This surprised Jiang Siyi, who had kept her head down the entire time.
Just as they were about to leave, Shen Shiwu added, “Teacher, can I take this love letter with me?”
“Of course, here you go.”
The hallway was quiet, the classroom doors closed, no one outside.
Jiang Siyi followed behind her, thinking the woman was quite tall, providing good shade. As she was secretly observing, the woman suddenly stopped.
Not good.
Although she braked quickly, her head still bumped into the woman’s back.
A pair of hands steadied her shoulders. Jiang Siyi rubbed her forehead and heard the woman’s amused voice, “Did the teacher’s scolding make you dizzy?”
She hummed, “No, I’m used to it.”
Shen Shiwu held the letter between her fingers, dangling it in front of Jiang Siyi’s eyes.
“I’ll keep this love letter safe for you.”
“No way, give it back!”
She still had to return it to its owner.
Sunlight streamed into the hallway, the warm breeze ruffling Shen Shiwu’s long hair.
Her smile faded slightly, but remained gentle. “Jiang Siyi, no puppy love.”
“I’m not in puppy love!”
Back in the office, Fu Jing had opened the love letter and shown it to Shen Shiwu, who had only glanced at it before folding it up.
Seeing her indifferent attitude, Jiang Siyi had assumed she wouldn’t pursue it.
“But someone wants to have puppy love with you.”
Shen Shiwu straightened Jiang Siyi’s collar. When she looked down, her long eyelashes, illuminated by the sunlight, shimmered with a silver glow.
“So I need to talk to her and clear things up. If you confiscate the letter, how can I return it?”
“Oh, right.” She straightened up, sounding agreeable, her voice soft and gentle. “Then let’s do it now. I’ll go with you.”
“…”
Perhaps afraid of the letter getting lost or seen by others, the round-faced girl hadn’t written her name, only filling the page with words of admiration.
Jiang Siyi still didn’t know her name or which class she was in, so she had to call Xu Yuan out.
Xu Yuan, bored from class, almost laughed out loud when she came out.
But then she saw Shen Shiwu behind Jiang Siyi and respectfully greeted, “Hello, older sister.”
Shen Shiwu replied, “Hello.”
Jiang Siyi shielded her eyes with her hand and stepped between them, hissing, “Why is it so hot today?”
Just as she finished muttering, a figure moved beside her. Shen Shiwu raised her hand, blocking a large portion of the sunlight.
“Stand here, inside.”
Jiang Siyi obeyed, shifting her position, finding the heat less bothersome.
She finally remembered the task at hand.
“Which class was that junior who treated me to lunch in? What’s her name?”
Xu Yuan thought for a moment. “They’re probably all in the same class, so that would be Class 12, Grade 10.”
“I don’t know her name. She was only talking to you.”
Jiang Siyi felt the sunlight intensify again. She looked to her left, puzzled, and saw the woman’s expression unchanged, the gentleness in her eyes still present.
She could only say, “Let’s go, Class 12 is in the building opposite.”
Classes were in session. Because of the air conditioning, all the classroom doors and windows were closed, curtains drawn, not even a mosquito could get in.
Finding the classroom, Jiang Siyi paused and then told Xu Yuan to open the door. “You’re close to those juniors, you go call her out.”
“Fine, fine.” For the sake of skipping class, she readily agreed.
Soon, the round-faced girl came out, blushing.
Jiang Siyi, afraid of embarrassing her, asked the other two to wait at the stairwell.
“Senior, are you looking for me?”
The hallway was quiet. Jiang Siyi returned the letter, trying to be tactful. “I’m sorry, you’re wonderful, but I’m not interested in dating right now.”
The round-faced girl’s eyes reddened, tears welling up.
Jiang Siyi thought, Oh no, and fumbled in her pockets for tissues, but found nothing.
As tears started rolling down the girl’s face, Jiang Siyi was trying to think of something to say to salvage the situation when she heard Shen Shiwu’s voice from behind.
“Puppy love isn’t advisable. Focus on your studies for now.” She took out a tissue from her bag and offered it to the round-faced girl.
The girl, mistaking her for a teacher, panicked, and ran back into the classroom without taking the tissue.
She even forgot to take the letter back.
Jiang Siyi looked down, then smiled at Shen Shiwu. “It’s all your fault, you scared her away.”
The woman replied, “Yes, it’s all my fault.”
As she spoke, she effortlessly picked up the letter.
“Since she forgot it, I’ll keep it confiscated.”
She looked at Jiang Siyi’s expression and added, “I’ll return it to you on your eighteenth birthday.”
The girl smacked her lips. “Fine.”
Having just left that morning, she had to rush back in the afternoon to deal with her own mess. Jiang Siyi wasn’t heartless. She told Xu Yuan to go back to class and walked Shen Shiwu downstairs.
“Little girl, you should go back to class.” The woman pressed the car key.
Jiang Siyi hesitated, then spoke, “You know, you didn’t have to come.”
She had caused so much trouble before, and that good-for-nothing Li Nan had never shown up once, and nothing had happened. Eventually, even her homeroom teacher had given up.
So Shen Shiwu didn’t need to clean up her messes.
“If you’re worried about troubling me, there’s no need.” Shen Shiwu opened the car door, took a hat from the passenger seat, and placed it on the girl’s head.
“I’m taking care of you now, so I’m like your guardian. This is what I should do, understand?”
Jiang Siyi’s head was small, and the hat kept slipping off. Shen Shiwu smiled and adjusted it, then gently touched her face.
“Little Jiang, I’ve noticed you tend to overthink things.”
Her tone was softer, with a hint of helplessness.
Jiang Siyi had never been this close to anyone. She flinched backward, and the hat fell onto her face.
She heard the other woman chuckle softly.
Slightly irritated, the girl threw the hat back at her and took a few steps back before speaking, “I wasn’t overthinking. I was just worried about affecting your work.”
“What if you go bankrupt one day, lose your house and company? Are you going to ask me to take care of you then?”
She rambled on, talking nonsense.
“That’s a good idea.” Shen Shiwu readily accepted. “So, little Jiang, you should study hard. Then when older sister has nothing left, I can come and rely on you, right?”
“…”
Smart children wouldn’t argue with smooth-talking adults.
So Jiang Siyi turned to leave.
But before she could take a few steps, the other person easily caught up.
Shen Shiwu handed her the hat again and leaned down to meet her gaze. “I’ll take your phone home for now. Be good at school, eat well.”
“And, promise me.” The woman looked into her eyes.
“No more overthinking, okay?”
So close again.
Jiang Siyi’s eyes darted around, and she fidgeted with the corner of her uniform.
She nodded and hummed in agreement, then fled upstairs, clutching the hat that carried Shen Shiwu’s scent.
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