After Dreaming That the Top Student in My Grade Was My Wife - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Fitting for the Home and Family

“…So, that concludes the summary for the first half of the semester. Parents, please refer to…”

When Tao Shuran was startled awake, these words happened to ring in her ears.

A brightly lit night, individual separated desks, a blackboard, a podium, storage lockers—all the familiar configurations.

Clearly, she was now in a classroom she had never visited before.

Taking a look around, she saw that an adult with a solemn face sat in every seat, while a teacher sat at the podium. Everyone was listening intently to the speech coming from the speakers.

She understood immediately: this was Rui Rui’s parent-teacher conference, and she had actually fallen asleep during it!

Tao Shuran sat up straight with a bit of embarrassment. Fortunately, she had only leaned her head for a small nap just now, which clearly hadn’t attracted the attention of those around her. As soon as she raised her eyes, she shared a friendly look with the homeroom teacher on the podium. The teacher’s gentle and kind gaze made Tao Shuran instantly feel the change in her status.

The voice over the broadcast continued. Seeing the other parents listening seriously, Tao Shuran only dared to sneakily pull out her phone under the desk, her furtive little movements no different from those of a high school student.

Unlocking the screen, she saw no messages from Jiang Hanqi, nor from Rui Rui. How could this mother and daughter pair leave her in such a boring environment with such peace of mind? Tao Shuran pouted and clicked on Jiang Hanqi’s chat box: “…”

At this time, Jiang Hanqi was still in her company office—the top floor office of a high-end office building. Only a small lamp was lit. When Jiang Hanqi was alone, she was still more accustomed to dim and quiet environments.

The phone screen lit up; her wife had sent a string of ellipses.

Her wife doted on their daughter to an extreme degree. Not to mention her studies and daily life, she also personally attended the twice-yearly parent-teacher conferences, arriving at the classroom on time to exchange information with the teachers. However, a dull meeting is a dull meeting; listening through the whole thing was indeed hard work.

Jiang Hanqi raised her eyebrows and replied quickly: “Is the principal giving the same speech from last year again?”

“Baby must be very bored.”

“I’m calling Xiao Wu now.”

“Baby, please endure a bit longer.”

Tao Shuran had just sent the ellipses and didn’t know what to say to Jiang Hanqi yet when a series of messages flooded in.

One minute later, a short-haired woman dressed capably appeared at the classroom door. She nodded slightly to the homeroom teacher. The teacher was surprised at first, then walked out with a smile.

Although the Jiang family had shown signs of decline years ago, in recent years, due to the drastic reforms of the new generation, they had become quite prestigious in Shanghai again. Before the Jiang family’s only daughter entered primary school, she had inspected the various classes and sought out the homeroom teacher to exchange educational philosophies. Not to mention her generosity, the child was lively, cute, and had excellent grades; thus, the homeroom teacher’s attitude was both polite and warm.

Rescued from the room, Tao Shuran walked out of the classroom carrying her bag, only to be grabbed in a hug by her precious daughter who was waiting at the door. Tao Shuran leaned down and made a “shhh” gesture to her, then led her downstairs together.

Although it was only the second time seeing Rui Rui in a dream, Tao Shuran was already able to successfully slip into the role of a mother the moment she saw her.

The three walked together to the parking lot. After Xiao Wu opened the car door for the mother and daughter and invited them in, she sat in the driver’s seat and started the car. According to the boss’s instructions, she sent the two directly to a restaurant where a reservation had been made.

As the car door closed, Rui Rui spoke up in her milky voice: “Mommy Darling, are you feeling unwell? You never used to leave Rui Rui’s parent-teacher conferences early.”

“Miss, it’s because the Boss wanted to see the Madam sooner,” Xiao Wu’s steady voice came from the front, and it was unclear if this was something Jiang Hanqi had made up or if Xiao Wu was improvising.

“What?” Rui Rui sat up higher, loosening the constraint of the seatbelt on her, her whole body seemingly glued to Tao Shuran. “Jiang Jiang is competing with me for a person again! The teacher hadn’t even praised Rui Rui in front of Mommy Darling yet!”

Tao Shuran couldn’t help but smile, rubbing Rui Rui’s little head and saying with a laugh: “Mommy knows you’re super amazing, no need to hear the homeroom teacher say it.”

Rui Rui’s expression suddenly turned serious as she raised her head and shook it: “One must listen more to the evaluations of others, to let Mommy Darling know that Rui Rui is also someone capable of protecting you.”

“…Jiang Hanqi taught you that?” What does “also” mean? What on earth is this?

“Hmph,” Rui Rui tilted her head and thought for a bit before answering, “Rui Rui doesn’t need anyone to teach her. Don’t look at Rui Rui being smaller than Mommy; sooner or later, I will take the relay baton from Mommy’s hand.”

“…Jiang Hanqi, your daughter is cursing you with premature aging.”

During the rest of the car ride, the mother and daughter argued over this boring and meaningless topic the whole way. Tao Shuran imitated Rui Rui’s way of speaking word-by-word like reading a textbook, and the two collapsed into laughter together.

The car stopped in front of the main entrance of a private kitchen. When Jiang Hanqi opened the car door, this was the harmonious scene she saw. The interior car lights in the back row remained on. As the door opened, the warm evening breeze of early autumn swirled in. Tao Shuran looked up at her and heard her say:

“I’ve come to take the big kid and the little kid to eat something delicious.”

The Chinese private kitchen had an elegant environment. The entrance featured a small courtyard with rockeries, a small pond, and fallen blossoms by the water. Tao Shuran walked in the middle, holding Rui Rui with one hand and Jiang Hanqi with the other. Hearing Jiang Hanqi mention which of her favorite dishes she had ordered, a sense of hunger immediately set in, and her walking pace couldn’t help but quicken.

However, quite regrettably, she ultimately didn’t get to eat the meal.

Tao Shuran rubbed her eyes and looked at the Jiang Hanqi who had woken her up, feeling both sleepy and hungry: “Are we there already?”

The first daylight of Youth Day was about to sink below the horizon. At this moment, they were on the bus returning to the hotel.

Jiang Hanqi let her lean on her. Outside the window, colorful clouds were swirling. Under the orange-toned sky, Tao Shuran’s face was also faintly red.

She gazed at her and spoke softly: “Weren’t you just muttering about wanting to come back to eat and rest? Or we can go back to the room to sleep for a bit first, and I’ll pack something from downstairs to bring up for you.”

The driver was already urging them to get off. Tao Shuran hurried to stand up, wanting to take her bag and get off. Jiang Hanqi, standing on the outside, raised her arm and took both their bags down, slinging her own over one shoulder and carrying Tao Shuran’s bag in her hand.

Tao Shuran felt the plan Jiang Hanqi suggested was extremely tempting, but sleeping now might cause her to wake up in the middle of the night and disrupt her routine. Moreover, her accommodation for the night was arranged in the same room as Jiang Hanqi. If she had to listen to Jiang Hanqi’s steady breathing in the middle of the night while letting her imagination run wild, what then!

Thus, she shook her head firmly and dragged her aching feet toward the hotel lobby, trying hard to make her walking posture look normal.

The afternoon camping march activity was designed by Jiang Hanqi, and the content was quite rich. Every student was given a small booklet; completing an activity earned a stamp.

Tao Shuran felt it was deeply meaningful and had boasted to Jiang Hanqi on the way there in the morning that she would definitely fill the booklet. After Jiang Hanqi dismissed this as a zero-percent possibility, the two of them collaborated to barely finish half.

Although the high-difficulty tasks like shooting and rock climbing were left to Jiang Hanqi, Tao Shuran’s physical strength was almost exhausted after finishing a weighted run. She then struggled through two more items before collapsing onto Jiang Hanqi, feeling only the soreness in her legs and that her shoes were rubbing her feet. The matter of the booklet had long been tossed to the back of her mind.

Jiang Hanqi didn’t know Tao Shuran’s little thoughts. Seeing the girl’s brow slightly furrowed and her appearing aggrieved yet acting as if nothing were wrong, she sighed softly: “The opening of the party will have a long stretch of nonsense. Dinner won’t start for about an hour. I’ll order a small bowl of noodles to be sent up to the room for you. Have a quick shower afterward to relax.”

“Isn’t the first segment of the opening a sharing of experience by the big bosses?” Tao Shuran turned her head, considering the feasibility of Jiang Hanqi’s new suggestion.

“Mm, no need to listen.” Jiang Hanqi glanced at Tao Shuran, then casually looked away as if to say, Is listening to the experience sharing of the district’s number one not enough?

Tao Shuran saw through the meaning in Jiang Hanqi’s eyes and burst out laughing. She asked seriously: “Will the freshman district number one go on stage to share?”

“No,” Jiang Hanqi shook her head and replied solemnly, “That person is very difficult to deal with. She said she can only share with one person.”

Tao Shuran laughed even more happily, nodding with satisfaction. The two avoided the crowd heading to the venue and went straight upstairs through a side door.

Slipping back to the room, Tao Shuran felt the extra joy of skipping class. Just as she sprawled onto the bed, Jiang Hanqi, having finished the food order call, came over to pull her up. While signaling her to take off her coat, she said: “Quickly go use hot water to soak your feet, otherwise they will definitely hurt tomorrow.”

Tao Shuran didn’t like using bathtubs, especially hotel ones; she always felt they were dirty and was inwardly repulsed. A showerhead was better.

Pushed into the bathroom, Tao Shuran sat on the edge of the bathtub, rolled her pant legs above her knees, and looked down to start taking off her socks.

There actually were a few blisters on her feet, and one had popped. The fluid that had leaked out was stuck to her sock, and it hurt so much when she took it off that Tao Shuran let out a soft whimper.

She pouted aggrievedly. Just as she was about to casually set the sock aside, she saw Jiang Hanqi take it naturally and place it on the sink.

Ahhhh, Tao Shuran felt as if she had been hit by a critical blow. Despite repeatedly confirming in her mind that she had no fungal infections and cleaned herself seriously every day, her face turned uncontrollably bright red.

Next, she saw Jiang Hanqi take down the showerhead and start testing the water temperature. When her hand felt the temperature was about right, she directed it toward Tao Shuran’s feet and asked: “Is the temperature okay?”

The gentle voice was almost completely covered by the sound of the water. Red-faced, Tao Shuran nodded vigorously.

Thus, Jiang Hanqi sat down beside her, bending her body. Her left hand held the showerhead to control the direction of the water, and her right hand… her right hand pressed onto her foot.

Boom—Tao Shuran felt the temperature of her brain instantly become hot enough to burn.

Tao Shuran sat perfectly straight with her head held high, only daring to steal a peek downward. From this angle, Jiang Hanqi’s head was lowered and her expression was hidden; she could only feel her hand focusing on massaging her.

It’s said that feet are a very private part of the body. Ancient people had many sayings about this, such as if you see someone’s foot you have to take responsibility and marry them… No.

Back then, Ximen Qing used the excuse of crawling under the table to pick up chopsticks to squeeze Pan Jinlian’s foot… Pah, no.

Anyway, they had even slept together, why care about this… Pah pah pah!

Tao Shuran’s mind raced forward, directionless and chaotic. Her face turned crimson, and she pursed her lips, not daring to speak for fear that she would say something strange as soon as she opened her mouth.

“Does it hurt?” Jiang Hanqi’s gentle voice rang out, echoing off the smooth bathroom walls. Her hand touched the outside of the blister, and she raised her head to look at Tao Shuran. Her translucent white face was now also showing some flushing due to the steam of the hot water. Her light brown eyes looked at her, a look of heartache in her gaze.

Tao Shuran gripped the outer wall of the bathtub with both hands and replied stutteringly: “Er, no… it doesn’t hurt.” Where did it not hurt? It hurt to death, okay? Walking was simply torture!

Jiang Hanqi gave a light laugh, clearly not believing her. She lowered her head and carefully massaged the foot: “Luckily when I ordered the food just now, I asked them to bring some medicine. I’ll help you apply it in a bit.”

Red-faced, Tao Shuran nodded. Some emotions were about to overflow in her heart.

Jiang Hanqi moved the showerhead upward and began to massage her calves. Tao Shuran basically didn’t exercise; although she was quite thin, she wasn’t standing now, so her legs weren’t tense. After a period of kneading by Jiang Hanqi, the flesh on her calves relaxed.

The temperature in the bathroom gradually rose. Tao Shuran wondered if her whole body was steaming. She looked down at Jiang Hanqi.

Jiang Hanqi’s usually shoulder-length hair wasn’t tied up now, and many droplets of water from the showerhead had splashed onto it.

Tao Shuran held her breath. She realized belatedly that she had seemingly never seen such a “life-like” Jiang Hanqi before.

The Jiang Hanqi who was different from the one in others’ eyes, the gentle Jiang Hanqi—was she… only like this to her?

Did she… like her too?

Tao Shuran took a few small breaths. For some reason, courage flared in her heart, and she spoke: “Jiang Hanqi…”

Hearing her voice, Jiang Hanqi slowed her movements, raised her head, and gazed at her quietly, just as she had every day for the past few months.

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