Chapter 14
Song Wenman did not understand what had just happened. She stood rooted on the spot and only returned to her senses after some time. Suddenly, she turned to look at Xue Xi.
1
Xixi is only a high schooler and does not have much money with her, so it is impossible for her to have bought such expensive tea leaves.
So these are actually… bought by Xue Sheng?
All these years, whenever there were important events in the family, Xue Sheng would always buy expensive gifts in advance for her to give as gifts. He did so to uphold Ye Li’s dignity and elevate the Ye family’s status.
1
That happened too many times in the past, so Song Wenman naturally thought that Xue Sheng had bought it and got Xue Xi to pass it to her in order to back Ye Li up.
She quickly returned to her senses and straightened her back. Looking at Old Lady Xue, she asked, “Mhm, is this tea alright?”
“It’s alright!”
Old Master Xue nodded profusely. He held the three liang of tea and walked to the side jubilantly.
2
He ought to bring this when visiting the Gao family this weekend—it was even more upscale and he would not need to change the box at all!
6
Old Lady Xue still could not believe it. “How is it possible that you managed to buy it?!”
Song Wenman lowered her eyes as she said in an elegant yet unfathomable way, “Don’t look down on university professors. There’s a saying that goes ‘having students all over the world…’ Oh, I forgot that you might not be able to understand it. Do you need me to explain?”
3
She was actually hinting that their Ye family had connections and they should not look down on Ye Li!
1
Old Lady Xue’s face turned crimson red and she was trembling from anger.
Song Wenman had the talent of speaking in a mild and refined manner, but her words could anger others to death.
1
The old lady looked indignantly at Ye Li and scolded, “Consider yourself lucky this time. Be more careful when you’re working at home next time!”
1
Ye Li kept silent and nodded her head.
Seeing that everything had been settled, Xue Xi felt relieved.
Thinking about the mathematics assignment that Old Liu gave her, she picked up her school bag and headed upstairs while walking past everyone. Just as she was on the stairs, she paused before turning to look at Old Lady Xue and said casually, “Don’t place this tea in the tea cabinet anymore in case anyone spills it again.”
2
“…”
One single sentence was enough to pinpoint where the problem was. Ignoring the fact that Old Master Xue was now deep in thought and Old Lady Xue was suddenly anxious, she headed upstairs straight away.
1
After entering her room, she closed the door and fished out the papers from her school bag.
Old Liu said that she should avoid using knowledge outside of the syllabus to answer the questions and that the only method to do so was to use the “tactic of a sea of questions.” Hence, she needed to keep doing the questions repeatedly.
2
Once she got into her studying mode, she blocked out the commotion and the crying that were coming from downstairs.
It was only during dinner time when Ye Li came up to call her that Xue Xi turned around and replied dazedly, “Huh?”
Ye Li touched her head and said helplessly, “It’s time for dinner.”
However, she could not stop and only stood up after calculating the answer. “Oh.”
When they were heading downstairs, Ye Li said on purpose, “Old Master wants to fire Auntie Sun but Old Lady did her best to keep her and two years’ worth of her salary will be deducted. She can no longer help out in the house but can only work in the back garden.”
2
Xue Xi nodded.
It was odd to place the tea leaves that were meant as a gift in the tea cabinet where the family gets their daily tea leaves from. It must be the old lady’s tactics.
1
After Auntie Sun had been punished, the helpers at home would no longer dare to look down on Ye Li.
While they were having dinner, Xue Xi could sense the evil stares from Old Lady Xue and Xue Yao without even looking at them. However, she had always been slow to react so she did not feel anything much. She quickly finished eating and went back up to do her questions again.
3
Song Wenman wanted to ask her something but did not have the opportunity to do so.
…
The next morning, before Song Wenman went home, she asked her daughter, “Did you ask Xue Sheng where he bought the tea from?”
Ye Li shook her head. “I didn’t mention this over the phone yesterday. I’ll ask him when he comes back today.”
“Alright.”
By the time Xue Xi woke up, Song Wenman had already left.
Since she was going to her maternal grandmother’s home during the weekend, she did not care much and alighted at the provision store as usual.
Just as she was about to enter the store, she saw a girl in uniform with pink hair on the street not far away. Her hands were in her pockets as she kicked the stones on the path while she walked.
1
Qin Shuang?
Perhaps the girl sensed her stare; Qin Shuang looked up. Upon seeing Xue Xi, her eyes lit up and she waved. She wanted to run to her, but she seemed to have seen something suddenly and hurriedly hid in an alley beside the street.
Xue Xi turned her head around while feeling perplexed and saw Old Liu.
He was riding a tattered bicycle. As he stepped on the pedal, the bicycle would give out a screeching sound and wobble as though it was going to break the next second.
2
The weather was warm and he had beads of perspiration on his head. He was looking for something in the vicinity, and when he saw Xue Xi, he stretched out his leg and stopped. “Xue Xi, have you seen Qin Shuang?”
1
Xue Xi instinctively looked at the alley and remained silent.
Old Liu seemed to have understood something. He removed a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the sweat on his forehead before saying, “Aye, she skipped class the whole day yesterday and didn’t even go home the whole night. I’m worried about her safety, and if you happen to see her, just tell her to come back even if she doesn’t want to dye her hair back and stop hiding.”
1
Xue Xi replied, “…Oh.”
Old Liu’s voice was so loud, so he must have said it intentionally for Qin Shuang to hear.
“He he.” Old Liu chuckled and looked at the provision store before saying, “Since it’s still early, go buy your stuff and just don’t be late.”
2
After saying that, he cycled away.
Qin Shuang appeared from the alley only after Old Liu had vanished. Walking up to Xue Xi, she looked at Old Liu’s back. “Old Liu’s bicycle has been around for seven, eight years, and I’ve seen him wearing those clothes since I was a freshman. Our school’s salary isn’t low, but he is just being stingy. However, his family is quite sad. His wife broke her leg and can’t work, so Old Liu is the sole breadwinner.”
1
Her voice got softer as she spoke.
To a family like hers, 500 yuan was merely a meal’s worth, but for Old Liu…
Qin Shuang remained silent for a moment and seemed to be in a dilemma.
Xue Xi asked, “You really like pink?”
“Not really.”
Qin Shuang wanted to say something, but when she saw Xue Xi’s clean face, she swallowed her words. “Forget it, you won’t get it even if I say it.”
1
She then turned around to leave.
“Where are you going?” Xue Xi asked.
The girl waved with her back facing Xue Xi. She kept quiet. Only her pink hair was blowing in the wind.
Xue Xi waited until the girl was farther away before going into the provision store.
Breakfast had been prepared, and after entering, she sat down at the dining table naturally. She realized only after finishing breakfast with Xiang Huai and Canine Teeth that it had been merely three days and she was already used to it.
1
However, Xiang Huai did not raise any other request. Could it be that he had cast a spell on her to make her buy something every day?
Since I bought tea yesterday, what should I buy today?
Xue Xi gave it some thought but realized that she was not lacking anything. After all, Ye Li had been attentive and prepared everything for her.
She decided not to stop being indecisive. Placing a hundred yuan bill on the table, she casually said, “I’ll buy a box of balloons.”
22
Xiang Huai was preparing to get up but froze when he heard that.