Chapter 30
Jiang Siyi didn’t go back to school.
The villa complex was near the city center. It was eight o’clock, and the streets were crowded with people under their umbrellas. She walked aimlessly, wanting to find a place to sit and clear her head. She checked her pockets, but only found a few coins.
The rain wasn’t heavy, but it was chilling. Her clothes were damp in several places.
She wandered for a while, then stopped by the roadside. The pedestrian crossing light turned green, and the people beside her hurried across, several bumping into her.
Jiang Siyi stumbled, watching their retreating figures, and unconsciously started walking.
She blended into the crowd, pretending she wasn’t alone.
Reaching the other side of the street, the crowd dispersed. Jiang Siyi watched in a daze as an umbrella went left, two scooters went right…
Tears welled up in her eyes and trickled down her eyelashes.
Drip—
Landing on the muddy ground.
She didn’t know where to go.
It felt like that rainy night all over again.
Jiang Siyi wiped a bench with her sleeve and sat down, staying there for a long time, so long that the city lights changed colors hundreds of times, before she finally snapped back to reality.
Standing up, she decided to go back to school.
Xu Yuan, her teammate for so many years, covering for her was a piece of cake.
Jiang Siyi returned to school ten minutes before the end of evening self-study.
She squatted by the back door and signaled to her “comrade.” Xu Yuan quickly understood and found an excuse to lure the PE teacher away.
Five minutes later, when she returned to the classroom, Jiang Siyi was already sitting at her desk, quietly doing her homework.
On the way back to the dormitory, Xu Yuan asked, “Why are you soaked after just going out for a while?”
Jiang Siyi forced a smile. “It rained, and I didn’t have an umbrella.”
“Wasn’t it just a drizzle?”
“It suddenly started pouring when I was coming back.”
Xu Yuan was even more surprised. “And your girlfriend didn’t even walk you back? Or give you an umbrella?”
Jiang Siyi accidentally stepped in another puddle.
Her voice was flat, almost a mumble. “There were no umbrellas at home. She probably… lent it to someone.”
The next day, she asked Fu Jing for permission to stay in the dormitory to study over the weekend. The teacher readily agreed, even praising her, “Good, your attitude is getting much better.”
Then she offered her a chocolate bar.
Jiang Siyi didn’t take it, smiling. “Sister Bao, I’m cutting down on sugar.”
Fu Jing was a little surprised, but put the chocolate back in her drawer. “Okay, then hurry back to class, it’s almost time.”
Jiang Siyi nodded and quietly left the office.
Fu Jing stared at her retreating figure, stunned, suddenly feeling that something was different.
Jiang Siyi didn’t go home for three weeks straight.
During this time, Shen Shiwu came to the school several times, wanting to see her, but was always rejected. Sometimes the excuse was too much homework, sometimes it was that the classroom was too far from the school gate.
In short, she refused to see her.
Whether it was because she didn’t want to see her, or because she genuinely couldn’t, Shen Shiwu desperately wanted an answer. So today, she didn’t wait at the school gate, but went straight to the classroom building.
Not many students stayed at school over the weekend, and the building was quiet.
She easily found the classroom and saw her girlfriend, whom she hadn’t seen in over half a month, diligently working on her homework.
Her pen never stopped moving.
Shen Shiwu watched from the doorway, as if trying to make up for lost time.
After a long while, Jiang Siyi finally put down her pen. She glanced at the clock on the wall, took a short break, then took a cup of instant noodles from her desk and headed out.
Shen Shiwu didn’t hide, standing there, wanting to see the girl’s reaction.
Her eyes were tired from studying, and she squinted, holding the noodles, not noticing anyone outside the classroom.
Until she opened the door and bumped into someone.
Thud— the noodles fell to the floor.
Jiang Siyi quickly bent down to pick them up, but the cup rolled away, heading towards the water dispenser. Shen Shiwu reacted quickly, easily catching it with her long legs.
She looked at the girl, who was frozen in place, and finally sighed. “I’ll take you out to eat.”
It was the same Thai restaurant.
Jiang Siyi had been eating instant noodles for days, and her stomach was protesting loudly. She discreetly held her stomach, trying to silence it.
Inside the private room, the dishes were served, and Shen Shiwu said softly, “Eat.”
She couldn’t be mad at food.
Especially when it was paid for with Shen Shiwu’s money.
Jiang Siyi stopped overthinking and started eating quickly.
“Why are you eating so fast? Do you not want to see me that much?” Shen Shiwu had been suppressing her anger all this time, but it still leaked into her tone.
Jiang Siyi paused, her chopsticks hovering over her food, but didn’t reply.
“Seems like I was right.” Shen Shiwu’s eyes were dark, her expression unreadable. “All those excuses about being busy with schoolwork, you just didn’t want to see me, right?”
Remembering that night, braving the rain and climbing over the wall to see Shen Shiwu, only to find her with someone else, Jiang Siyi suddenly felt the food turn bitter in her mouth.
Her throat tightened with emotion, and it took her a while to recover.
Shen Shiwu, seeing her like this, couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh. She looked away and said softly, “Eat first.”
In the past, Jiang Siyi never confided in anyone, no matter how wronged she felt, and no one listened to her anyway.
But now, gripping her chopsticks, she felt a surge of emotions.
She asked, “What have you been doing while I wasn’t home?”
Shen Shiwu paused, then replied truthfully, “Working.”
Jiang Siyi nodded, her lips moving slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words.
Shen Shiwu, seeing her hesitation, asked, “What’s wrong?”
When the girl looked up again, her eyes were glistening with tears. She fought back her emotions and finally managed to speak. “That Wednesday night… I came to find you.”
Shen Shiwu finally understood the reason for her unusual behavior.
“I saw you with someone else, and… and Auntie Shen.” Her chopsticks clattered to the table, knocking over a bowl of soup, but Jiang Siyi didn’t seem to notice, continuing in a disjointed manner, “You went inside together.”
She should have insisted that Yang Yu leave earlier that night.
Shen Shiwu felt a pang of regret. She took a tissue and walked over to Jiang Siyi, explaining, “My mom came back for something that day, and she ran into Yang Yu at the airport, so she offered her a ride.”
“My mom is a law expert, and Yang Yu said she had some questions to discuss with her, so they went inside to chat for a bit, and then…”
“You took her home,” the girl finished her sentence.
“Of course not,” Shen Shiwu wiped away the tears from the corner of her eye. “I had the driver take her.”
But you promised me you wouldn’t talk to her, not even a single word.
Jiang Siyi swallowed the bitterness, feeling pathetic, and didn’t say anything.
After a long while, she leaned against Shen Shiwu.
The woman, sensing her movement, pulled her into a hug.
Amidst the soft whispers of comfort, Jiang Siyi felt numb. She inhaled the familiar scent, her heart in turmoil.
Shen Shiwu, I think I’m sick.
She thought.
***
In the following days, Jiang Siyi devoted herself to her studies.
Since she had applied to stay in the dormitory over the weekend, she should stick to it. Shen Shiwu didn’t object, often bringing her snacks and fruits or taking her out to eat.
On the day of the college entrance exam, Shen Yun, dressed in a red cheongsam, waited outside the exam hall with Shen Shiwu.
“Finally letting me see Xiao Si on the last day, Shen Shiwu, what are you up to?” Shen Yun asked, her voice sharp.
Afraid of reminding Jiang Siyi of that incident, Shen Shiwu had refused to let her mother come and pick her up these past few days.
“Are you afraid that Xiao Si will ignore you if she sees me?” Shen Yun waved a fan and continued chattering, “Let me tell you, Xiao Si definitely likes me more than you.”
Hearing this, Shen Shiwu finally reacted.
She looked at her mother intently, then chuckled, a hint of mockery in her voice.
Shen Yun: “…”
When the first student rushed out of the exam hall, the media and parents swarmed them. Shen Yun, wanting to join the excitement, squeezed into the crowd.
Shen Shiwu ignored her mother and kept her eyes fixed on the exit, afraid of missing Jiang Siyi.
Finally, the girl emerged, carrying her exam materials. Because of her striking appearance, she was stopped by a reporter for an interview.
“Hello, student, what do you think of the difficulty of this year’s college entrance exam?”
Jiang Siyi blinked. “Moderate, not too difficult.”
“Do you have a target university?”
“Well… maybe Qinan University.”
“Okay, thank you. We wish you all the best in getting into your dream university!”
After answering, Jiang Siyi turned to leave, but her wrist was caught a few seconds later. Shen Shiwu shielded her from the sun, smiling gently. “Congratulations on finishing the exam, Xiao Jiang.”
Her hair shimmered in the sunlight.
Jiang Siyi was stunned for a few seconds, then finally smiled, her first genuine smile in a long time.
At the same moment, Shen Yun rushed over and pulled her into a hug.
“Xiao Si, you’re done? Let’s go, I’ll take you out to eat. What do you want?”
Jiang Siyi looked at her, remembering her indiscriminate enthusiasm, and lowered her eyes. “Anything is fine, Auntie.”
“How about Western food, or Japanese?”
“Mm, I’m not picky.”
Shen Yun was about to praise Jiang Siyi for being so well-behaved when a familiar female voice called out, “Auntie Shen!”
Yang Yu ran over, her hair slightly disheveled. After catching her breath, she smoothed her hair. “Auntie, what a coincidence, we meet again.”
Shen Yun smiled. “Xiao Yu, it is a coincidence. Are you here to pick up your child too?”
“No, I was just passing by.” She waved her hand, glancing at Shen Shiwu from the corner of her eye.
Shen Yun had long since noticed Yang Yu’s interest in her daughter. She was open-minded and didn’t mind same-sex relationships, so she wanted to give them a chance to be alone.
“Xiao Yu, haven’t eaten yet? A new Western restaurant just opened in the north of the city, the food is authentic. Why don’t you and Shiwu go try it?”
Yang Yu’s cheeks flushed slightly.
She couldn’t hide her smile. “Sure.”
“But I don’t know if Miss Shen has time…”
“No.” Shen Shiwu’s expression was dark, like the sky before a storm.
She frowned and said to Shen Yun, “You go have Western food with her.”
“I’ll take Xiao Si home.”
Before even Jiang Siyi could react, Shen Shiwu had grabbed her wrist and was leading her away.
The crowd was noisy and chaotic.
Amidst the clamor, Jiang Siyi heard Shen Shiwu’s soft voice, “Sorry, I put you in an awkward position again.”
“So,” Shen Shiwu patted her head, “Xiao Si, when are we going public?”
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