After Dreaming That the Top Student in My Grade Was My Wife - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Spring Stamen Returns to the Nest

The next day, during the early self-study session, while the homeroom teacher (who also taught Chinese) sat at the podium grading assignments, a teacher from the School Youth League Committee came by once again to borrow manpower.

On Tao Shuran’s desk, the Chinese textbook was spread open, hiding the activity plan she and Jiang Hanqi had finalized together yesterday. Although she appeared to be seriously reciting ancient prose, she was actually organizing her words in her mind.

Sitting in the second row, she could faintly make out bits of their conversation—words about “trees” and “manpower.” Seeing the homeroom teacher stroke his chin in thought and the Youth League teacher scan the classroom, she calmly picked up her exercise book and went to the podium to ask a question.

This procedure had also been planned with Jiang Hanqi yesterday. Jiang Hanqi had specifically picked a difficult problem suitable for the current curriculum to give her a reason to be there.

Thus, during the minute the homeroom teacher spent thinking, Tao Shuran naturally looked up and gave the Youth League teacher a sweet smile: “Good morning, Teacher Zhang.”

“Ah, morning.” The Youth League teacher thought that since she was there to seek opinions anyway, asking a student wasn’t a bad idea. So, with the homeroom teacher sandwiched between them, they began discussing the Arbor Day activity.

Teacher Zhang briefly explained the situation: not only did the real estate developer choose to pay the penalty to use the original green space for property development, but also, due to repeated transport across three different locations, the soil balls wrapping the roots of the two hundred saplings were damaged.

Nearly half of the roots had varying degrees of rot, which would likely severely compromise the greening results. The Youth League Committee’s idea was to lease land in the neighboring province and change the mandatory freshman planting activity into a seminar format, using a voluntary, first-come-first-served registration to minimize losses and ensure the quality of the activity.

“Hmm, that could work…” Tao Shuran assumed a contemplative look, then looked up and said, “Teacher Zhang, the tree-planting activity is a tradition of No. 5. It originally held a beautiful vision for all students upon entering the school. Would limiting the number of participants deviate from the original intent of the activity?”

Seeing the Youth League teacher nod with a look of dissatisfaction, Tao Shuran continued: “Teacher, I have a small suggestion. Didn’t the school just dig up a new plot of land behind the lab building? It was intended for greening anyway; we could fully utilize it. We don’t have enough trees, but we still have flower beds. We could use the first week for publicity, linking it closely to Arbor Day while also popularizing Chinese gardens and integrating it with aesthetic education.

Regarding the quantity, we could reduce the number of plants by having multiple students co-adopt a single plant. Working together would deepen friendships and cultivate collaboration skills. The nameplates could be standardized as wooden hanging tags unobtrusive and consistent in style. After counting the numbers, we could consult a designer to set the planting spots. Students would only need to plant in the pre-marked spots, ensuring the beauty of the garden.”

Hearing this, the Youth League teacher and the homeroom teacher exchanged a look, finding themselves quite satisfied with this plan.

Seeing their expressions, Tao Shuran gave another sweet smile, appearing a bit shy, as if what she had just said was merely a passing thought: “Actually, I haven’t thought it through in detail; many parts might be unreasonable. Teacher Zhang, how about this: I’ll list these ideas on paper during the break and show you the feasibility then?”

Before the Youth League teacher could respond, the homeroom teacher waved a hand: “Forget the break, go do it now.”

Don’t be fooled by how quiet Tao Shuran had been last semester; her mind was indeed sharp. Now that she had grown a bit, she was clearly opening up. Though her grades hadn’t been great last semester, she had made huge progress this term. Considering her parents, she certainly had a bright future.

The homeroom teacher sat back in his chair with a smile and introduced her to Teacher Zhang: “Tao Shuran, a very smart little girl, obedient and cute. You definitely know her mother, Director Tao.”

The Youth League teacher suddenly understood: “Director Tao’s daughter, no wonder.”

Sitting back at her seat, Tao Shuran lowered her head, pretending not to hear. Her right hand, holding the pen, went a bit stiff.

She lightly bit her lower lip. For the first time in many days, she turned back to look at Jiang Hanqi, and subsequently met Jiang Hanqi’s gaze.

Because of the distance, she couldn’t see Jiang Hanqi’s eyes clearly, but she knew she was smiling slightly.

Tao Shuran turned back, her gaze falling on that stack of paper.

That was the result of their long efforts yesterday. Although it wasn’t a particularly brilliant activity plan, yet.

“Director Tao’s daughter, no wonder.“

A single, airy sentence defined all that hard work. On what grounds?

Tao Shuran adjusted her breathing, trying to calm her heart.

“Like father, like son” is a common saying after all. People had no malice, and they were telling the truth; she was just being petty. If she told these thoughts to someone as outstanding as Jiang Hanqi, she would probably just think she was being delicate.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. The Youth League Committee used their plan exactly as written, without changing a single word. The Youth League teacher even added their contact information, saying there would be more opportunities to train their abilities in the future.

At the adoption meeting, Tao Shuran and Jiang Hanqi adopted the same tree. Both the species and the location were chosen by Jiang Hanqi.

Everything operated smoothly, but Tao Shuran couldn’t manage to be as happy as she imagined.

Was every bit of progress she hoped for really just what she was supposed to do?

Tao Shuran often thought of similar questions before falling asleep—meaningless and illogical. She let her consciousness wander until sleepiness arrived.

When she woke up again, she was startled by the ringtone of her phone.

Tao Shuran rubbed her aching temples, feeling a heavy drowsiness that was hard to shake off after a nap. It was clearly late at night when she fell asleep, so why was the surrounding environment so warm?

She fumbled for the phone on the nightstand and put it to her ear.

“Hello, Mommy Darling, you finally picked up.” On the other end of the line, a milky, childish voice came through.

Upon hearing this voice and this address, Tao Shuran was instantly jolted awake. She pulled the phone away to look at the screen; the contact name was two large characters: “Daughter.”

“Ahem, er, yes.” Tao Shuran choked slightly. She felt extremely nervous.

She truly didn’t know how to communicate with her primary-school-aged daughter using her teenage mindset!

“Sigh, Mommy Darling, you’re sleeping again,” Rui Rui let out a long, mock-solemn sigh.

 Is there a problem with sleeping at night? “Er, well, is something the matter?”

“Sister Xiao Wu has a very—important matter today and can’t come to pick me up from school. Mommy Darling, come quickly! Rui Rui has been waiting for you for so long.” The other end hummed for a bit, then emphasized, “You must come quickly.”

After hanging up, Tao Shuran felt as if she were facing a great enemy. She sat on the bed feeling despondent for a while before putting on her clothes with a do-or-die determination, grabbing her bag, and heading downstairs.

She had been worried about not knowing where Rui Rui’s school was, but as soon as she went downstairs, a neatly dressed woman appeared as if she had been waiting for a long time. She hurriedly invited her into the car parked in the courtyard.

“Ahem, er.” Sitting in the back seat, Tao Shuran began to feel nervous again. This was the first time she hadn’t seen Jiang Hanqi upon waking in a dream. Why was that? Was this person a driver? She seemed very familiar with her.

Tao Shuran cleared her throat and asked: “Is… is it to pick up Rui Rui from school?”

“Yes, Madam.” The driver didn’t look old, and her voice was crisp. She started the car, turned the steering wheel, and drove out.

Tao Shuran thought for half a second about whether this was a good idea and asked weakly: “How about you just go pick her up? I… I want to rest at home for a bit.” Anyway, you look like you know the way perfectly…

“Madam, do you feel unwell anywhere?” The driver slowed the car to a stop, looking serious. Her movements were extremely fast; in the blink of an eye, she had picked up the phone beside her as if to dial a number. “I’ll call the Boss right away.”

“No, no, no!” Tao Shuran interrupted hurriedly. “I’m fine, don’t look for Jiang Hanqi.”

“Then I’ll take you back first and contact the family doctor.” Considering the Boss was indeed a bit occupied right now, the driver scrolled down the contact list.

“No, no, no, I want to pick up Rui Rui. Let’s go, let’s go to the school. Right now, immediately, this second.” Tao Shuran wished she could just snatch the driver’s phone away. She spoke with absolute resolve, fearing that being half a second late would mean meeting even more NPCs.

The afternoon air was fresh and pleasant. The edges of the leaves on the trees lining the streets were stained with golden yellow or deep red. Tao Shuran leaned against the car window and suddenly realized that this was her favorite season—late autumn.

The moment she saw Rui Rui, it wasn’t as terrifying as Tao Shuran had imagined.

The little girl was at her most innocent and lively age. She wore two playful little pigtails and came running toward her with a hop and a skip, her small backpack swaying on her back.

“Mommy Darling! You’re finally here!” The driver opened the back door, and Rui Rui climbed into the car with her short little legs.

Tao Shuran was dazed looking at her.

She wasn’t surprised at all.

Willow-leaf eyebrows, almond eyes, a high bridge of the nose, and thin lips—her exquisite features were practically a miniature version of Jiang Hanqi. However, her eyes were large and round, with pitch-black pupils shimmering with a watery light. Her nose was rounded, her chin was delicate, and when she smiled, a shallow dimple appeared on her right cheek—she was almost identical to Tao Shuran.

The moment she saw Rui Rui, Tao Shuran had a feeling: Ah, of course, the daughter of her and Jiang Hanqi should look like this.

Tao Shuran instinctively reached out to help Rui Rui take off her backpack and placed it beside her, the series of movements being extremely natural.

Rui Rui immediately leaned toward Tao Shuran, grabbing her arm and beginning to act coquettishly: “Mommy Darling, you don’t love Rui Rui anymore. You’re so—cold to Rui Rui. You didn’t even come to the classroom door to pick me up today, wail.”

Rui Rui did a bit of fake crying, her sparkling large eyes looking incredibly aggrieved, though there wasn’t a hint of real tears.

“Miss, Madam is feeling a bit unwell today,” the driver spoke up.

Hearing this, Rui Rui blinked her big eyes and noticed that her mother’s face truly carried a look of fatigue. Oh no, should she not have called her mother so early? She immediately sat up straight and her voice lowered: “Mommy Darling, I’m sorry. Rui Rui didn’t mean to wake you up from your sleep. Use this time to sleep a bit more. You must not tell on me to Mommy later.”

Tao Shuran couldn’t help but smile: “Why do you call me Mommy Darling?”

Rui Rui shook her head and began her wordplay: “Because Rui Rui is just Mommy’s little darling, and Ranran is a darling more precious than a little darling, so you are Mommy Darling.”

“…Did Jiang Hanqi teach you that?”

Rui Rui’s little face was solemn as she nodded.

Tao Shuran felt a bit embarrassed and smoothed her bangs. She looked at the driver in the front row, who was driving seriously without looking back, hoping she was focusing on her work and hadn’t heard anything…

On the road after that, the car interior indeed became quiet. Tao Shuran was used to opening the window a crack, leaning against the backrest and staring out the window, letting the wind leaking through blow her hair into a mess.

“Rui Rui,” Tao Shuran suddenly asked, “Is Jiang Hanqi… very outstanding? Do you… do you feel a lot of pressure being her daughter?”

She turned her head to find the little girl looking at her with wide, confused eyes, clearly not understanding the meaning behind her words: “Tao Tao and Jiang Jiang are both especially, especially amazing people. Everyone knows. The other kids are so—envious of me!”

Tao Shuran thought for a bit and asked again: “What Mommy means is, er, has Jiang… has Jiang Hanqi ever told you how you should be in the future? Like, er, studying hard and getting into a good university?”

As Tao Shuran spoke, her voice began to feel dry. She felt like her question was quite senseless.

“No. Mommy has never asked Rui Rui about studies. Every time I get a perfect score, I have to be the one to tell her, huff.” Rui Rui pouted, disappointed—truly disappointed. Other kids just had to wait for praise, but she had to take the initiative to claim credit every time.

“Then, has she ever said what kind of person Rui Rui should become in the future?”

Rui Rui tilted her head and thought seriously: “For the future, she hasn’t said. But for right now, she always says she hopes Rui Rui can, hmm, can become someone who isn’t so clingy to Mommy Darling. Does Mommy Darling think so too? Mommy Darling, wail, Rui Rui doesn’t want…” The corners of her mouth dipped in a second, and a crying tone emerged.

The topic drifted again. Seeing her daughter’s expression of genuine grievance this time, a corner of Tao Shuran’s heart suddenly collapsed. She quickly pulled Rui Rui into her arms, rubbed her head, and said: “How could I? How could I? Rui Rui is very good just as she is now.”

“Sob, thank you, Mommy.” In a position Tao Shuran couldn’t see, the corner of Rui Rui’s mouth curled into a smug smile.

Sigh, when it comes to competing for favor, Jiang Jiang is indeed a bit worse than her.

Support