Chapter 38.1

Shen Sijin wanted to leave immediately.

She sat there, saying nothing.

Che Gulai looked at her, also silent.

Tan Yao could sense that the two knew each other, but for some reason, their relationship seemed strained. To break the awkward silence, Tan Yao spoke up.

“Sister Gulai, what did you buy? That’s a lot of stuff.”

Che Gulai replied, “I just bought groceries at the supermarket. I’ll cook lunch.”

She paused, then addressed Shen Sijin in a calm, measured voice. “Stay and have lunch here, Teacher Shen.”

Shen Sijin looked down. “No need.” She made a move to leave, and Che Gulai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

” Teacher Shen.” Tan Yao called her back, saying calmly, “Please leave after you’ve eaten. My family hasn’t had a chance to ask you about my studies yet.”

It was rare for her to speak so much, and it was all for her sponsor.

Shen Sijin rarely refused a student’s request. Besides, she was here for a home visit. Che Gulai was a stranger unauthorized copyto her now, and she had decided to pretend not to know her. Leaving now would make her intentions too obvious.

Tan Yao held Shen Sijin’s shoulder and gently pressed her back onto the sofa. “Please sit, Teacher Shen. I’ll go wash some fruit for you.”

“Don’t trouble yourself,” Shen Sijin called after her, but Tan Yao was already heading to the kitchen.

Only the two of them remained in the living room.

Che Gulai took out the groceries and asked, “Does Teacher Shen have any dietary restrictions?”

“No.”

“Can you eat spicy food too?” Che Gulai wasn’t sure what Shen Sijin liked to eat. In the past, Shen Sijin hardly touched her food due to poor appetite, so Che Gulai was unaware of her dietary preferences.

Of course, it was also possible that she hadn’t cared to know.

Che Gulai thought about her indifference back then and wished she could go back and slap herself. If only she had known Shen Sijin better, she wouldn’t be in this situation—wanting to be kind to her, yet completely ignorant of what kindness she desired, forced to ask about her preferences like an unfamiliar acquaintance.

Shen Sijin hummed in acknowledgement. “I can.”

Tan Yao brought her washed fruit. When Che Gulai went to the kitchen to cook, Tan Yao followed to help.

“You can cook?” Tan Yao asked.

“Mhm.” Che Gulai was cutting meat. “Is your teacher still in the living room?”

Tan Yao glanced at Shen Sijin on the sofa. “Yes, she is.”

Che Gulai nodded, accepting the answer.

“You know Teacher Shen,” Tan Yao said in a calm, declarative tone while helping her wash vegetables.

Che Gulai hummed again.

Tan Yao said expressionlessly, “But she doesn’t seem to know you.”

Che Gulai clicked her tongue. “You can keep quiet now. Stop helping me, and go keep your Teacher Shen company.”

“Can you manage alone?” Tan Yao asked, looking at the gauze wrapped around her right hand.

“It’s fine,” Che Gulai said. “It’s a small cut. Go on.”

“Okay.”

Tan Yao took Shen Sijin to her room.

Che Gulai rarely cooked, but her skills were decent. She prepared a large table full of dishes, taking nearly an hour to do so.

Looking at the food, she thought this was probably the first time she had cooked for Shen Sijin.

“Tan Yao, bring your teacher out to eat.”

“Got it.”

The three of them sat down.

Shen Sijin deliberately chose a seat far away from Che Gulai.

Che Gulai saw this. Her eyelid twitched, but she said nothing.

Tan Yao glanced at the food on the table and frowned. “Sister Gulai, why are there so many spicy dishes?”

“What’s wrong?”

” Teacher Shen has a bad stomach. She can’t eat spicy food,” Tan Yao said. “She eats very bland food in the cafeteria.”

Che Gulai stopped drinking her water. Her expression was stunned. She subconsciously [stolen content]looked up at Shen Sijin.

Shen Sijin hadn’t told her.

She wasn’t even willing to tell her something like that.

Shen Sijin smiled faintly, her smile distant and gentle. “Your sister doesn’t know me. It’s normal that she wouldn’t know.”

Che Gulai suddenly lost her appetite. Her mood instantly soured. She said tiredly to Tan Yao, “Tan Yao, go buy some bland food from the restaurant downstairs.”

She took out her phone and transferred some money to her. “You wanted to eat the pigeon from that place, right? Buy that too.”

Tan Yao shifted her gaze back and forth between the two of them, picked up her phone, and left. “Okay.”

Only the two of them remained in the living room.

Che Gulai asked, ” Teacher Shen dislikes spicy food. Why didn’t you say so just now?”

Shen Sijin slowly drank her water, her expression placid. “It’s not important.”

“Then what is important?” Che Gulai couldn’t help but say. “You have a bad stomach. You could have easily told me your restrictions.”

In the end, her preferences were just not worth mentioning in front of me.

The corners of Shen Sijin’s lips held a polite smile, the same measured, gentle smile one gives a stranger. “Sister Tan Yao, I’m only here for a home visit. There’s no need for so much trouble.”

Every word and even the curve of her smile was precisely polite and distant. She was no longer the innocent girl of five years ago.

The person now was a mature adult.

She was both strange and familiar.

Looking at the table full of food, Che Gulai’s right hand strangely started to ache again. Actually, her burn was much better, but because it was still so red and ugly, Che Gulai had kept it wrapped in gauze.

She hadn’t felt the pain while cooking the entire meal, but now it inexplicably hurt again. The pain spread from her hand to her heart.

“Sister Tan Yao, I have things to do at school. If you don’t intend to discuss Tan Yao’s situation with me, then I must leave.”

Che Gulai said flatly, “But Teacher Shen, you haven’t eaten anything yet.”

“It’s fine,” Shen Sijin said, not wanting to see her. “I’ll eat something at school.”

Che Gulai gave a cold, slightly bitter laugh. “You’d rather waste time going back to school to eat than eat here?”

Shen Sijin didn’t say anything. She picked up her bag, ready to leave.

“How are Tan Yao’s studies?” Che Gulai asked suddenly.

Shen Sijin put down her bag and spoke in a professional, businesslike tone. “She’s one of the best in the class, but she’s too isolated and doesn’t socialize.”

Che Gulai looked thoughtful. “Tan Yao has been like that since she was little.”

The two of them now sounded like any normal parent and teacher, discussing the student’s situation in a formal manner.

Shen Sijin was quite worried about the child, so she asked, “What about Tan Yao’s parents?”

Che Gulai noticed that Shen Sijin seemed more concerned about a student than she was about Che Gulai herself, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. But this was her own doing. Aside from bitterness, Che Gulai couldn’t say anything.

“She was born in a remote village. Her mother ran away after giving birth. Her father brought her to the city when she was seven, abandoned her there, and ran away himself,” Che Gulai said, slowly eating the cold food. “She was adopted by an orphanage, but the kids there bullied her. She couldn’t stand it and ran away. She worked as child labor in a small restaurant, but the restaurant closed down. She had nowhere to go and wandered the streets.”

Shen Sijin was shocked by Tan Yao’s difficult past.

Che Gulai continued, “I saw her standing outside the restaurant when I was away on a business trip, her eyes fixed on the food on my table. I bought her a meal, and afterward, she followed me. I felt sorry for her and found her a good orphanage. She later said she didn’t want her parents to raise her. She just held onto my sleeve and asked me to help her. She promised to repay me double when she grew up.”

Shen Sijin didn’t say anything, partly stunned by Tan Yao’s story, and partly unable to understand how Che Gulai had become so kind-hearted.

But Che Gulai’s behavior had nothing to do with her.

“So that’s why Tan Yao is so isolated?”

“More or less,” Che Gulai took a sip of water. “She didn’t like to talk when I met her. She was always expressionless, even when speaking to me.”

Che Gulai put down her glass and frowned slightly. “Someone told me a few days ago that the child has a tendency to smoke. I’m a little worried.”

Che Gulai wasn’t lying. Tan Yao was the first child she had sponsored. Over the years, although she was only her sponsor, she had watched her grow up and had developed some affection for her.

Shen Sijin frowned. “Is that so? That’s quite serious.”

“Do you put too much pressure on her normally?” Shen Sijin asked her.

Che Gulai sighed inwardly. Only when the subject was a student would Shen Sijin stop avoiding her.

“No,” Che Gulai said calmly.

“I understand,” Shen Sijin said. “I’ll pay more attention to her from now on. You, as her semi-parent, should also take good care of her.”

“Are you leaving?” Che Gulai asked.

Shen Sijin nodded.

“Take care.”

Shen Sijin left without looking back.

Che Gulai looked at the table of food, almost untouched. She silently ate the already cold dishes, quiet and soundless.

After a long while.

Tan Yao opened the door and came in. ” Teacher Shen left.”

Che Gulai hummed.

“She ate at the restaurant downstairs,” Tan Yao said, placing the takeout food on the table. “I ate with her.”

“Did she eat enough?”

“Mhm.”

“That’s good.” Che Gulai ate a piece of the cold food.

“You wasted your time,” Tan Yao sat opposite her, throwing cold water on her efforts.

Che Gulai flexed her sore right hand. “You really don’t know how to talk.”

Tan Yao asked, “What did you do to my teacher before?”

Che Gulai leaned back in her chair, thought for a moment, and curved her lips.

“Something unforgivable, probably.”

She stood up and stroked Tan Yao’s head. “Don’t overthink things.”

Tan Yao looked confused.

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. My sponsoring you is a small thing.” Che Gulai picked up her bag and walked toward the door. “Stop smoking.”

“Just grow up well.”

Tan Yao sat in her seat, pressing her lips together tightly, her back stiffly straight.

“Oh, right.” As she reached the door, Che Gulai suddenly asked, “Do you know what your teacher likes to eat now?”