Chapter 146
**t/n: XX’s mother calls Pei An’an a “tuo you ping,” which means ‘children from a previous marriage,’ but it is also a derogatory phrase to use because (from what I gathered) it implies that the child is a burden/useless
Liu Yuan was irked by the phrase “child from a previous marriage” and the ends of her eyes faintly reddened. But the woman didn’t seem to have noticed the change and continued to say, “Did the surgery for that child of yours from your past marriage succeed? If it didn’t succeed, then you probably need money, right? Do you want Xinglin to go around everywhere groveling and begging because of her?”
The woman wasn’t able to finish her words because Liu Yuan stepped forward and gave her a resounding slap. The woman looked at her incredulously, “You hit me? You actually dare to hit me?!”
She made a move to return the gesture and Su Qiuge realized that the situation was rapidly going downhill. She was about to urge the customer next to her watching the scene, to go forward with her and stop it when someone walked in from beside her. They directly grabbed the woman’s raised wrist from behind her.
The woman let out a sound of pain and turned her head to look behind her. When she saw who it was, the fierce expression on her face faded by half. She merely muttered, “Xinglin, you…...why are you here?”
Xie Xinglin lowered his eyes and expressionlessly stared at her. His face was gloomy, “Zhao Xuening, I warned you not to come again.”
He directly called the woman by her name, indicating that his mood was already incredibly displeased.
Zhao Xuening was in pain from Xie Xinglin’s hold on her wrist. She originally wanted to say something, but in the end, she only said, “Xinglin, you let Mom go first, this is all a misunderstanding... Mom…”
Xie Xinglin didn’t listen to her explanation. He gripped her hand and pulled her out of the shop. Then he mercilessly shook her off.
Zhao Xuening was thrown by him and stumbled a few meters away. Xie Xinglin looked at her condescendingly and indifferently said, “Zhao Xuening, this is the last time.”
Zhao Xuening retreated a few steps, raised her eyes, and frowned at Xie Xinglin. It was naturally very embarrassing to be driven out of the shop in front of so many people, but she didn’t seem affected as she sorted out her clothes and returned to her original calm appearance in the next second.
“Xinglin, you aren’t sensible, but mother understands you. When you are older, you will know that everything Mom did is for your own good.”
Xie Xinglin stared down at the woman’s leaving back. The hands on his side clenched before it finally loosened.
Su Qiuge felt that his mood wasn’t very stable at this time. She kept quiet and pretended that she didn’t see anything. She turned around and left.
She always felt that even though Xie Xinglin appeared unaffected, having been brought up in superior living conditions when he was young and as someone who was inherently proud and wilful, he most certainly did not want others to know about these matters.
When they arrived at school the next day, Su Qiuge clearly felt that his mood was somewhat low.
He was very good at disguising himself, and in front of different people, he always revealed a different image. It made it very difficult for people to perceive his true emotions behind that mask sometimes.
Su Qiuge didn’t dare to ask him any questions. He spent the whole day answering questions without raising his head, as if he was some type of tireless machine. He didn’t speak either, and the only movement was when he occasionally would stop to take a few sips of water.
When Su Qiuge was organizing her notes after class, she saw out of the corner of her eyes the way he expressionlessly finished his English homework and then began to work on mathematics. The speed was terrifyingly fast and the tip of the pen rubbed along the paper. His handwriting had a type of cold wildness to it and it appeared a bit illegible when the person was in a bad mood.
It just so happened that there was evening self-study today. When Su Qiuge returned from the cafeteria, she discovered that Xie Xinglin was still doing assignments. Before she went to eat, he was also in this posture, with his elbows on his desk and one palm pressed behind his ear. He held the pen in his other hand and would casually make a few scribbles before selecting the answer after figuring out the solution.
If it hadn’t been for the tip of his nose that would occasionally move, she would have thought he was a statue.
Su Qiuge took out her mobile phone and saw some s on the public food accounts she followed.
Some bold ideas suddenly appeared in her mind.
She thought about it and was still somewhat hesitant.
At this moment, the warning bell for the evening self-study rang and students slowly entered the classroom, ready to start studying.
The fragrance of osmanthus flowers permeated throughout the classroom and all the noise gradually dissipated into nothingness.
The breathing sound of Xie Xinglin, who was beside her, was very quiet and soft. There was only the sound of the pen touching the paper.
For a moment, Su Qiuge even had the illusion that the person answering questions next to her would be like the evening wind that faded away into the night. It was as if the soul would be taken away, only leaving behind a delicate shell of a body.
The idea resurfaced in her mind again and this time, she didn’t care about what the consequences would be, she planned to just follow her emotions.
She leaned over and asked, “Seatmate, do you want to go out to play?”
The pen that was originally rubbing against the assignment paper faintly paused and a smudge of dark ink appeared on the paper. The boy moved his palm a little ways away from the back of his head, revealing his clear and distinct side profile.
Su Qiuge saw that he had a reaction, and leaned over and said, “There’ll be special activities at the food street tonight, it’ll be a very lively night market. Do you want to go?”
Xie Xinglin’s eyelashes faintly trembled, but he didn’t respond. Su Qiuge continued, “In any case, you’ve finished your homework for the weekend and relaxing a bit will help you study better later.”
Xie Xinglin shot a glance at her, then slowly withdrew his gaze.
He indifferently said, “Su Qiuge, this is evening self-study and Director Xu will be patrolling. Don’t forget what happened when you were late last time. If you were to skip this, do you know what the consequences will be?”
Although his mouth said this, he did not move to pick up his pen. The girl beside him did not respond after hearing his rejection in disguise, it seems that she’s given up.