Chapter 10
Smiling tiger.
What a smiling tiger.
At eight o’clock in the evening, Jiang Siyi had poked eight holes in her worksheet and drawn countless stick figures. She peeked at the person behind her and found that Shen Shiwu was still sitting on the edge of her bed, not having left.
She could still make up something for the humanities subjects, but for math, Jiang Siyi just wanted to sleep.
During the day, Wu Ying had given her a formula sheet, telling her to use it if she couldn’t memorize them. And our obedient little Jiang had indeed done so.
Except she had been staring at the same problem for half an hour, not knowing which formula to apply.
Shen Shiwu, finally finished with her work, looked up. Seeing the girl seemingly hard at work, she was about to praise her, but when she stood up, she saw the masterpiece.
Half the worksheet was filled with doodles, but not a single problem was solved.
Oh, wait, there was a “Solution” written down.
“Didn’t even guess on the multiple-choice questions?” She sat down on Wu Ying’s chair, picked up a pen, and tapped the table.
Hearing this, Jiang Siyi quickly filled in a “C.”
“…”
“Mm, very obedient, deserves praise.”
“You’re the obedient one.”
Jiang Siyi, rebellious for years, tried to regain some face, the words slipping out subconsciously.
“The drawings are good too. You’re talented. You could be an artist.” The woman continued.
Looking at the stick figures, even Jiang Siyi wanted to laugh, but Shen Shiwu could praise her so calmly.
“Aren’t you being sarcastic?”
“Do you think so?”
Jiang Siyi looked at her for a moment, then averted her gaze. “Well… not really.”
Shen Shiwu folded the worksheet and put it aside, then softly called, “Xiao Si.”
Jiang Siyi, hearing her nickname, felt a shiver run down her spine.
“What do you want to do in the future?”
Want…
Want to be a writer.
But Jiang Siyi wouldn’t say it out loud.
Because for a failing student, such a dream seemed ridiculous.
She smacked her lips and mumbled, “I don’t know.”
That night, Jiang Siyi tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Finally, she got up, opened her drawer, took out the notebook hidden at the bottom, scanned the text, checked it several times, and sent it to the email address.
Lying back in bed, after a long time, she finally fell asleep and had a dream.
She dreamt that years later, she had become a writer and even won an award. But when she wanted to show off to Shen Shiwu, she couldn’t find her anywhere…
She called out the woman’s name several times in her dream.
But the only response was the thunderous applause from the audience and countless media reports.
Seemingly a good dream, but upon closer inspection, it felt more like a nightmare.
So she woke up early, even before her alarm went off.
Having slept late and woken up early, her vision swam as she got out of bed, almost losing her balance.
Fortunately, she felt more awake after washing up. Seeing it was only past five, she quietly opened the door.
Shen Shiwu was still asleep. She went downstairs with her backpack, and a few minutes later, the housekeeper arrived to prepare breakfast.
“Miss Jiang, why are you up so early today?”
“Auntie, you can call me Xiao Si.” She leaned against the wall, cracking walnuts. “I slept early last night.”
Not only was the housekeeper surprised, but even Shen Shiwu, when she came downstairs, was momentarily stunned.
“Up so early?” She walked over and straightened the girl’s haphazardly tied ponytail.
“Yeah, I used my brain too much yesterday and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.” Jiang Siyi popped a walnut into her mouth.
Shen Shiwu was wearing glasses today. Although her beautiful eyes were hidden behind the lenses, Jiang Siyi could still see her own reflection in them.
She leaned down. “Our little Jiang worked hard.”
Jiang Siyi stood there for a few seconds, then quickly went to eat breakfast.
Since she was now a day student, Shen Shiwu had assigned her driver to pick up and drop off Jiang Siyi.
When the girl went outside, the driver was already there.
The driver was in her thirties, her long hair tied in a neat low ponytail, with a friendly smile. Seeing Jiang Siyi, she respectfully greeted, “Boss.”
Shen Shiwu nodded and said to the girl beside her, “This is Auntie Wang. She’ll be responsible for driving you to and from school every day.”
Even after getting into the car, Jiang Siyi was still wondering.
She even arranged a driver for me. Just how much money did her mother leave them? Wouldn’t it be all spent in a few days?
School started at 7:20 am, and day students had to arrive before then to avoid being marked as late.
Her home wasn’t too far from school, a fifteen-minute drive.
With plenty of time to spare, while waiting at a red light, Jiang Siyi, unable to stay still, started chatting with Auntie Wang.
“Auntie, is your company usually busy?”
“Yes, very busy, especially the boss. She has several meetings a day.”
“Oh…”
Jiang Siyi hugged her backpack and continued asking, “What’s your monthly salary?”
Auntie Wang chuckled. “Why do you ask?”
The girl shifted in her seat. “I want to be a driver in the future.”
After a moment of silence, Auntie Wang finally replied, “Tens of thousands a month.”
Jiang Siyi counted on her fingers.
That would be… per year…
No, she had to stop Shen Shiwu from spending money like water.
What if they really did use up all the inheritance!
So, after arriving at school, she wanted to discreetly take out her phone and send a message, but she couldn’t find it.
Ah, she almost forgot.
Her beloved phone had met its glorious end this morning—
Confiscated by Shen Shiwu.
Jiang Siyi zipped up her backpack resignedly, sneered, and turned to walk towards the classroom.
Before leaving home, Shen Shiwu had told her to pay attention in class and write down anything she didn’t understand so she could ask her later. The girl propped her chin up and yawned forty times during the first class.
Finally, it was lunchtime. Xu Yuan dragged Jiang Siyi to the cafeteria, arriving just in time to be among the first in line.
“You’re a day student too! Great, now we can take the bus together after school.”
“Probably not. Shen… my sister, she arranged for someone to pick me up.”
She didn’t mention it was a private driver, as she didn’t want to seem like she was showing off.
Xu Yuan’s excitement deflated, then she smiled again. “That’s okay too. I don’t have to worry about finding you a lunch buddy anymore.”
There was still some time before the lunch break ended.
It wasn’t too hot today, so they decided to take a stroll around the school before heading back to class.
“Did you know, the class president of the next class seems to have a crush on Yang Yi’s friend.”
That’s a tongue twister.
After a few seconds of processing, Jiang Siyi asked, “Who’s Yang Yi?”
Xu Yuan looked at her exasperatedly. “The junior who confessed to you!”
Ever since the love letter incident, Xu Yuan would occasionally bring up Yang Yi, but Jiang Siyi was either daydreaming or about to daydream.
She responded with an “Oh,” then asked, “Who’s the class president of the next class?”
Xu Yuan smiled and told her the name. Jiang Siyi nodded, but it was clear she couldn’t match the name to a face.
Remembering Shen Shiwu’s words about no puppy love, Jiang Siyi blurted out, “As good students, we can’t date right now.”
“Pfft, you, a good student? Who was the genius who climbed over the wall to buy spicy hotpot during evening self-study last semester?”
Jiang Siyi clicked her tongue. “And you dare say you didn’t eat any?”
“…Just a little bit.”
As they chatted, they unknowingly arrived at the dormitory building. Their luggage was still inside, and they planned to take it home this weekend.
Looking at the students rushing into the dormitory after lunch, Xu Yuan sighed, “They’re definitely rushing to use the phone.”
The dormitory had wall-mounted phones, but there were only six per floor, so they often had to wait in line. Boarding students had to queue up just to call their parents, and they were only allowed five minutes.
Phone…
Oh right, even if she couldn’t send messages without her phone, she could still call Shen Shiwu.
“Why are you smiling? Are you possessed?” Xu Yuan was puzzled.
Jiang Siyi quickly suppressed her grin. “You’re the one possessed.”
The phones weren’t just in the dormitories; there were several in the classroom building as well.
So, during the second break in the afternoon, Jiang Siyi scanned the classroom, saw that everyone was asleep, and slipped out.
She went downstairs and chose the most secluded phone, hopefully inserting her phone card, only to realize that she hadn’t saved Shen Shiwu’s number on it.
The phone cards were universal, usable from elementary school through high school.
Back then, she had only saved her mother’s number on it, and after her mother passed away, the contact list had been empty.
She stared at the blank space.
Lost in thought for a long time.
When class started, she dragged herself back to the classroom. Xu Yuan, just waking up, saw her coming in and asked why she hadn’t taken her to the bathroom.
Jiang Siyi replied casually, “Seeing how sleepy you were, I was afraid you’d fall asleep in the bathroom.”
“…Get out!”
As soon as school ended, she saw Auntie Wang. Opening the car door, she found Shen Shiwu sitting in the back seat.
Remembering Auntie Wang’s words about her boss being busy, Jiang Siyi was surprised.
“Why are you here too?”
“I wanted to pick you up from school after finishing work. How was it? Did you pay attention in class?”
Jiang Siyi replied without missing a beat, “Of course.”
After lying, she asked, “How much inheritance did my mom leave you?”
“Afraid we’ll embezzle it?”
“No, I’m afraid it’ll run out.”
Afraid it’ll run out.
And you won’t take care of me anymore.
Shen Shiwu tapped her head. “I told you before, don’t overthink.”
Then she asked, “What are you holding in your hand?”
Jiang Siyi stuffed the phone card into her uniform pocket. “Nothing.”
“Lying to me already? When Xiao Si grows up, are you going to abandon me and run away?”
Jiang Siyi thought, Am I crazy? Where would I go with no money? Am I supposed to sleep on the streets…?
After muttering to herself, she took out the card and showed it to Shen Shiwu. “See, it’s just a card.”
“A phone card?”
“Yeah.”
Shen Shiwu nodded and then asked slowly, “Who are you trying to call?”
Her voice was always soft and gentle, like a gentle breeze.
But it always left Jiang Siyi flustered.
After an internal debate, she finally mumbled, her voice low,
“You.”
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