After Transmigrating for the Third Time, the Real Young Master Decides to Slouch - Chapter 14

Once again, Jiang Tong felt that he did not understand his brother.

The favor his brother had asked Dai Chu for was actually to help pick clothes!

Jiang Tong scratched his head. Should he remind his brother that he should not have too much contact with Dai Chu? Otherwise, it would be very troublesome.

He glanced at the two people who had already entered a women’s clothing store, then braced himself and followed. He heard Dai Chu speaking. “I can only give you some reference opinions. The clothes I choose may not necessarily be what Teacher’s mother likes.”

Jiang Zao smiled. “The fact that you agreed is already a huge help to us. After all, the two of us are both men, so we don’t understand women’s preferences that well.”

Dai Chu thought for a moment and said, “Then can you tell me some information about her? Her figure, appearance, temperament, or preferences are all fine. I’d like to use those as a reference for choosing clothes.”

“No problem.” Jiang Zao reported Mother Jiang’s information while recalling it. “She’s forty-eight this year, one hundred sixty centimeters tall, on the thinner side…”

Jiang Tong handed his phone over. “This is a photo of my mom. You can take a look.”

Jiang Zao gave him an approving glance. He had actually also wanted to provide Dai Chu with a photo of Mother Jiang, since that would be more direct. But the phone he was using belonged to the original owner, and there were hardly any photos in it at all—though he himself did not really like taking photos either.

Dai Chu looked at the phone screen for a while, then nodded. “I roughly understand. I’ll go over there and take a look. What about you two?”

Before Jiang Zao could speak, Jiang Tong rushed to answer, “We’ll just wait here. Going over might get in your way!”

Dai Chu glanced at him but said nothing. She agreed. “Then I’ll go.”

Jiang Zao crossed his arms. Estimating that Dai Chu could not hear their conversation from this distance, he opened his mouth. “What did you want to say to me?”

Jiang Tong laughed awkwardly. “You knew I had something to say?”

Jiang Zao gave a soft snort of laughter. “Usually, you blush just from talking to a girl, but now you’re suddenly rushing to answer. If I couldn’t tell something was wrong, I’d be an idiot.”

Jiang Tong wanted to cry but had no tears. His brother really had changed. He had become super sharp-tongued!

“Say it.” Jiang Zao urged him.

Jiang Tong put away his extra thoughts and cautiously glanced at Dai Chu again. She was focused on choosing clothes and was not paying attention to this side. Jiang Tong lowered his voice and said, “Brother, having Dai Chu help pick clothes for Mom… isn’t that not too good?”

“What’s not good about a student helping her teacher with something?” Jiang Zao had no reason on his side, but his confidence was still strong.

Seeing that his brother had not gotten his meaning, Jiang Tong became a little anxious. “But she isn’t an ordinary student!”

“Mm?” Jiang Zao raised a brow.

Jiang Tong scratched his head, struggling with how to say this. In the end, under Jiang Zao’s “Just say what you have to say,” he made up his mind. His expression grew serious, and he lowered his voice. “Do you know why she ended up in Class 19?”

Jiang Zao did not speak, so he continued, “Her reputation isn’t very good. Supposedly, she’s dated a lot of people. Any man she takes a liking to, she has to get her hands on. It’s just very… that…”

By the time Jiang Tong said this, his own face had turned red first. He actually did not like gossiping about girls behind their backs either, but he had to let his brother know the danger of getting too close to Dai Chu and give him a warning. But when he observed Jiang Zao’s reaction, he discovered that the other party was only yawning with an indifferent expression. Jiang Tong became even more anxious. “Brother, are you listening to me or not?”

“I’m listening.” Jiang Zao still had that careless attitude.

Jiang Tong gritted his teeth and decided to let his brother understand the seriousness of the problem. “You don’t know this, but before, she even dated a teacher. After the matter was exposed, that teacher was dismissed by the school—I don’t want you to repeat the same mistake!”

Jiang Zao suddenly looked at him, neither speaking nor moving.

Jiang Tong felt guilty under his gaze.

“So,” only after a long while did Jiang Zao speak, “how did you know all of this?”

“Ah…” Jiang Tong froze for a moment before reacting. “I-I heard it…”

“You heard it.” Jiang Zao nodded. “Next time, don’t hear things.”

“Eh?”

Jiang Zao’s expression cooled. “If you have time to listen to gossip, you might as well do two more practice questions. That would be the most useful for your improvement.”

“No…” Jiang Tong felt extremely wronged. He had only wanted to remind his brother, yet unexpectedly, he was being scolded. Although he also admitted that listening to gossip was not good, people had to seek benefits and avoid harm. He was only preparing to avoid risks. What was wrong with that?

Seeing that Jiang Tong’s eyes were turning red, Jiang Zao’s heart softened a little. He secretly sighed and said, “Tongtong, caring about one person is not a reason to hurt another.”

Jiang Tong sniffled hard and nodded. “I’m sorry, Brother. I was wrong. I shouldn’t casually say bad things about other people.”

Jiang Zao reached out and rubbed his head. “There’s one more thing you were wrong about.”

“What?” Jiang Tong did not understand.

The hand on his head used more force and messed up his hair. Jiang Zao’s tone was arrogant. “You can choose not to trust her, but you can’t choose not to trust me.”

Jiang Tong fell silent.

“Your answer?” Jiang Zao asked.

Jiang Tong took a step back, freeing himself from Jiang Zao’s hand. The boy’s emotions had risen and fallen sharply, but when he lifted his head, his smiling face had already returned. Jiang Tong nodded hard. “I was wrong, Brother. From now on, I’ll absolutely trust you one hundred percent!”

“That’s more like it.” The corners of Jiang Zao’s lips rose slightly. It seemed he was very satisfied with this answer.

Dai Chu returned with the clothes she had chosen. She seemed to know nothing and merely said, “These are the two sets I picked out. Neither is very flashy. The fabric is comfortable and very close-fitting. This set is suitable for everyday wear and won’t interfere with doing things. This dark blue set is more solemn and can be worn on more formal occasions.”

Jiang Zao observed the two outfits according to her explanation. After looking them over, he praised her. “These really are good. Sure enough, girls are more attentive and notice many details.”

Dai Chu was very modest. “It’s nothing. I just usually look at these things more.”

Jiang Zao looked thoughtful. “Dai Chu, are you interested in fashion design?”

Dai Chu avoided his gaze and lowered her head slightly. “No.”

“Oh, I only asked casually. Don’t take it to heart,” Jiang Zao said. “Let’s keep looking.”

“Okay.”

With Dai Chu’s assistance, the shopping that followed went very smoothly.

Jiang Zao asked the shop assistant to pack up all the clothes they had chosen. The assistant, delighted by the large order, could barely close her smiling mouth. While packing, she praised them. “Three siblings came out together to buy clothes for your mom? That’s wonderful. With such filial children, your mother must be very good at raising kids.”

Jiang Zao did not explain. He smiled and accepted the bags. “It was hard for Mom to raise us. This is what we should do.”

The shop assistant praised them again for a while.

After coming out of the store, the three of them walked together. Jiang Zao suddenly turned his head and asked Dai Chu beside him, “Dai Chu, what month were you born?”

Although Dai Chu did not understand why he was asking, she still answered obediently. “March.”

Jiang Zao nodded. “Jiang Tong was born in April.” He then turned to Jiang Tong, who was carrying large and small bags like manual labor. “Then you’re the younger brother.”

Jiang Tong stared blankly at Dai Chu. “Younger brother?”

Dai Chu pressed her lips together and smiled.

Jiang Tong reacted and became extremely embarrassed. “No, no, no! We’re just classmates!”

No one paid any attention to his breakdown. Jiang Zao said to Dai Chu, “Thanks to your help today, we were able to buy suitable clothes. We’ll stop here. We should go eat dinner.”

Dai Chu understood. Her expression returned to its usual quietness. She nodded. “All right. I should go home too. Then I’ll take my leave first. I hope you enjoy your meal.”

“Dai Chu.” Jiang Zao called her to a stop.

“What is it?” Dai Chu stopped.

“You’ve helped us for so long today. If you’re not in a hurry to go home, we’d like to treat you to dinner as thanks,” Jiang Zao said.

Hearing this, Jiang Tong hurriedly nodded along. She had helped so much. Letting her leave without any gesture of thanks would be far too impolite.

Dai Chu shook her head. “There’s no need. It was only a small favor. Teacher doesn’t have to be so formal. I actually had a pretty good time shopping too, so really, there’s no need.”

Jiang Tong looked at her. It was as if he could read reluctance from her expression.

Did she actually want to eat with them? Then why did she not agree?

Jiang Tong suddenly thought of a possibility. Could it be because of the matter of her reputation? Did she actually know about those rumors too and was afraid of dragging them down?

Guilt immediately rose in Jiang Tong’s heart, and he wanted even more to make Dai Chu stay.

Jiang Zao suddenly shifted his gaze and looked farther ahead. The corners of his mouth rose slightly, and he said to Dai Chu, “I didn’t say I was treating you to a very formal grand meal. It’s only a simple dinner. You can also think of it as teachers and students strengthening their relationship. After all, with you, there will be three students.”

“Three?” Jiang Tong did not understand. He looked between himself and Dai Chu. There were only two. Where did the third one come from?

Someone walked up to them and greeted them. “Teacher, Jiang Tong… Dai Chu.”

Jiang Tong’s eyes widened. “Lu She? Why are you here?”

“Came out for a walk,” Lu She said simply.

“A walk…?” Jiang Tong looked suspicious. Was Lu She someone who liked strolling around? And at mealtime too.

Jiang Zao did not care why he had appeared. He greeted him. “Since we happened to run into each other, let’s have dinner together. My treat.”

“Okay.” Lu She agreed directly.

Jiang Zao looked at Dai Chu with a smile, waiting for her answer.

Dai Chu’s hands wrapped around the strap of her crossbody bag. Her gaze moved back and forth across the three of them. Lu She was still as unreadable as ever, Jiang Tong’s face was full of expectation, and Jiang Zao’s expression was calm, seemingly even harder to guess than Lu She’s. But Dai Chu had the feeling that he had everything under control.

Dai Chu nodded. “Okay. I’ll go too.”

Jiang Tong’s smile was brilliant. “Then it’s happily decided—eh, does this count as Teacher giving us private tutoring?”

“It’s special care for the three underachievers.” Jiang Zao took out his phone and was looking through food recommendations. Hearing this, he lazily replied.

Jiang Tong was not struck down by his words. Instead, he became even more full of confidence. “We’re not underachievers. But from now on, we’ll definitely do even better!”

“Mm. I’ll wait and see.” Jiang Zao’s tone did not sound as if he was waiting or expecting anything at all. He put away his phone. “Let’s go. There’s a good hotpot place upstairs. We’ll eat that.”

Jiang Tong cheered. “Great! I love hotpot—let’s go, Lu She. Let’s go, Dai Chu.”

Dai Chu was a step slower. When she came back to herself, she saw Jiang Tong ahead, waving at her to signal for her to hurry over. Dai Chu pressed her lips together and smiled, then quickly followed.