Chapter 15

When Qiao Zhenzhen finished speaking, the classroom seemed to freeze; only when the bell rang did everything snap back to life.
She had no interest in their whispers and simply sat beside Chi Shen. As soon as the homeroom teacher stepped in, the class fell completely silent.
“I heard the racket from the hallway, didn’t you hear the bell? You’re in your final year and still slacking off. What do you think you’re doing?” the teacher scolded as he swept his gaze across the room. Seeing Qiao Zhenzhen in the back row, he frowned. “Qiao Zhenzhen, what are you doing sitting there?”
“Teacher, I want Chi Shen to help tutor me, so I switched seats,” Qiao Zhenzhen answered politely.
“You don’t need to sit right next to him to get tutoring, do you?” the teacher warned, throwing her a look. Because the Qiao family had shares in the school, he didn’t press the matter.
Qiao Zhenzhen breathed a little easier and solemnly watched the teacher at the front, but her fingers prodded Chi Shen under the desk.
Chi Shen: “…”
“Still avoiding me?” she asked quietly.
His eyelashes fluttered.
“If you keep avoiding me, I’ll” she thought a moment about how to punish him, “I’ll stuff myself to death.”
Chi Shen: “…”
“You know I tend to get stomachaches when I overeat,” she said as delicately as she could.
Chi Shen was silent for a beat, then turned to her, “Eat in moderation.”
Qiao Zhenzhen laughed, but the teacher shot her a warning glance and she immediately composed herself. Chi Shen noticed the faint lift at the corner of her mouth and, as he looked down, his own lips betrayed a private smile.
The day passed in a blink.
After evening study, they walked out together. Chi Shen still wasn’t used to walking side by side with her, so Qiao Zhenzhen patiently slowed her pace to give him time to adjust. A walk that usually took five minutes stretched to ten.
They reached the school gate and found her family car. Qiao Zhenzhen looked at Chi Shen. “I’m heading home.”
He watched her in silence.
“You should say goodbye,” she admonished seriously.
His lips moved and, in a hoarse voice, he said, “…Goodbye.”
[Affection +10, current 40]
Satisfied, Qiao Zhenzhen climbed into the car and pressed her face to the window, waving until the bend in the road cut off their line of sight. The smile vanished in an instant and she quietly instructed the driver, “Turn around. Follow him.”
Even though she’d caused a scene earlier that day and the couple probably wouldn’t bother him, she wasn’t comfortable not seeing him go inside.
The black luxury car followed at a respectful distance along an unfamiliar route. Zhao Lianqiao, riding by on her electric bike, caught sight of it; a flicker of jealousy crossed her eyes and she quietly tailed them.
Qiao Zhenzhen followed Chi Shen all the way into the food street and watched him lower his head and go inside. The bald man who had been busy all day muttered something weary and didn’t pay him any more mind, and only then did she finally relax.
In a corner, Zhao Lianqiao snorted and rode straight home.
When she opened the door she immediately heard a man’s laughter and a trace of disgust flashed across her face.
“Lianqiao’s back?” Zhao Ying peered out. “Come in quick, look who’s here.”
“Mom,” Zhao Lianqiao said, smiling in an instant, “no need to say it, I know. Uncle Qiao’s here!”
“You’ve got sharp ears,” Qiao Jian chuckled and waved.
Zhao Lianqiao ran over happily. “Uncle, you haven’t been here in so long, I missed you.”
"I was missing you too. Didn't you get out of school sometime after nine? Why are you only back now?" Qiao Jian asked, concern in his voice.
Zhao Lianqiao rolled her eyes and hinted, "Our place is far from school. I can't mooch a ride off Zhenzhen anymore, so I have to take the electric scooter, it's just a bit slower."
"Lianqiao's a sensible kid. I don't have time to drive her, so she rides by herself," Zhao Ying sighed. "It's all right for now, but soon it'll get colder, riding will be miserable."
Qiao Jian nodded. "If it's really too much, she could board at school to save the back-and-forth."
…Why not have Qiao Zhenzhen board? Seeing no sign that Qiao Jian planned to hire a driver, Zhao Lianqiao suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and offered a perfunctory smile.
"Better not, you're not around much and I'd be lonely on my own," Zhao Ying quickly smoothed things over gently.
Qiao Jian smiled. "You're right, but that would be hard on Lianqiao."
"It's what I should do," Zhao Lianqiao answered dutifully.
Qiao Jian watched her obedient manner and remembered the barb Zhenzhen had thrown at him that morning, letting out a sigh. "If only Zhenzhen were even half as sensible as Lianqiao."
Zhao Ying paused, casting an insinuating look at Zhao Lianqiao.
Zhao Lianqiao instantly adopted an innocent expression. "How can you say that, Uncle? I think Zhenzhen's quite sensible."
"Sensible about what? She quarreled with you for no reason and cut you off, she speaks rudely to me on a whim, and yesterday she even brought home some shady boy," Qiao Jian snapped, growing angry at the memory. "And Qin Jing too, always off to parties and messing around. What has she taught her daughter?"
"A shady boy?" A lightbulb went off in Zhao Lianqiao's head. "Do you mean Chi Shen?"
"Chi Shen?" Qiao Jian frowned.
Zhao Lianqiao nodded. "He's a boy in our class, really hard to get along with, always bothering Zhenzhen. Zhenzhen and I used to be scared of him, but lately, I don't know what's come over her, she suddenly cut me off because of him... Oh, and when I came back today, I even saw Zhenzhen following him."
"...This Chi Shen you're talking about, does he have something wrong with his head?" Qiao Jian asked at once.
Zhao Lianqiao blinked in surprise. "How did you know?"
Qiao Jian's face went suddenly dark. "Has she started dating already?"
"I don't know about that," Zhao Lianqiao said with a sweet smile. "By the way, Zhenzhen moved to the back row today, so she could be his deskmate."
Qiao Jian couldn't sit still any longer. With a sour face he grabbed his car keys and left. As the door closed, Zhao Lianqiao frowned. "He only gives a little pocket money each time and none of the rest, treats the two of us like beggars."
"Who can blame him, we aren't related by blood," Zhao Ying sneered. "If I could give him a son, you'd see how generous he'd be."
Pensive, Zhao Lianqiao suddenly had an idea and hurried after him.
She reached the ground floor just as Qiao Jian was about to drive off and quickly blocked the car. "Uncle Qiao!"
"Anything else?" Qiao Jian frowned.
Zhao Lianqiao hurriedly nodded. "I just thought, if you go back and confront Zhenzhen now, she won't admit it and you might end up fighting. It would damage the father-daughter relationship."
"Then what do you suggest? I can't just pretend I didn't see it," Qiao Jian snapped.
Zhao Lianqiao laughed breezily. "It's actually simple: find a way to keep Chi Shen away from Zhenzhen, preferably forever. If they never meet, they'll naturally drift apart."
Qiao Jian paused, a thoughtful glint crossing his eyes.
Zhao Lianqiao left it at that, letting him figure out the rest.
Thus passed an otherwise uneventful night.
The next morning, Qiao Zhenzhen yawned her way downstairs, grabbed two breakfasts and headed off to school.
In a corner by the school gates, Chi Shen stood waiting.
As soon as Qiao Zhenzhen got out of the car she spotted him and greeted him with a bright smile. Chi Shen's lips curved in a faint, almost imperceptible smile, and he waved back.
"I brought soup dumplings today, they're still hot," Qiao Zhenzhen said, handing them over.
Chi Shen took them, opened the box, and ate diligently.
While he ate, Qiao Zhenzhen couldn't help pinching his arm. "I've been feeding you for so long, why haven't you fattened up?"
[Affection +30, current 70]
Qiao Zhenzhen paused, looking at him with a complex expression.
Chi Shen kept his eyes down and ate, as if the person pinching wasn't him.
After a moment of silence, Qiao Zhenzhen pinched again. "But you're pretty solid, it's all muscle."
[Affection +30, current 100]
Qiao Zhenzhen: "..."
She was silent for a moment, then withdrew her hand meaningfully. "Didn't expect that, you're kind of a quiet flirt."
Chi Shen paused, puzzled, looking up at her.
Qiao Zhenzhen lifted the corners of her mouth happily, and once he finished she went with him into the classroom.
Being desk partners with Chi Shen had been an impulsive decision, but once they sat together she realized how right it was. Not only could she watch him taking notes attentively in class, she could pinch him at any time to rack up affection points.
By evening study hall her affection score had already piled up to 170 points.
Qiao Zhenzhen had traded some for six months of extra life for him, keeping the remaining 110 points for emergencies. Although she still hadn't studied all day, she felt thoroughly satisfied.
"With the six months from last time added, that's a full year of extra life already. At this rate, living to ninety-nine doesn't seem impossible," she said confidently.
Xiao Ba was excited too. "Exactly! Host, you're the best!"
Qiao Zhenzhen smiled and hurried to pack up as soon as the bell rang. Just as she was about to leave, Chi Shen tugged at her sleeve; she looked at him, puzzled.
"...Take this home and look through it," Chi Shen said, sliding his notebook toward her.
Qiao Zhenzhen blinked; she recognized it as the notes he'd been taking all day. "Why are you giving this to me?"
"To study," Chi Shen said seriously, his voice still hoarse and rough.
Qiao Zhenzhen: "…"
She fell silent for a moment. She flipped it open and skimmed it, and it really was meant for her, under every question there were two or three hundred words of explanation.
She was touched; she took it and said, "I don't understand."
Chi Shen: "…"
After a short silence, a helpless look flashed through his dark eyes. "I'll go over it with you tomorrow."
"Mm, I'll do my best to learn." Qiao Zhenzhen lifted the corner of her mouth.
Chi Shen looked up at her; under the classroom lights her eyes curved as if holding a river of stars.
[Affection +40, Current 150]
What just happened? Qiao Zhenzhen blinked in surprise; for a long moment she couldn't find the words.
The two walked quietly out of the school. After Qiao Zhenzhen got into the car, she leaned against the window and waved at him, "See you tomorrow. Remember to wait for me at the school gate."
"…Okay." Chi Shen copied her and waved back.
But the next day Qiao Zhenzhen didn't see Chi Shen at school; she heard that he had withdrawn.