After Being Taken by the Eldest Young Lady - Chapter 6

The sudden “door-panel-biting-incident” startled Fang Yize, causing her to spring back. She stood there for three seconds, frozen in a mix of surprise and delight, until the doorbell rang again, finally reminding her to open the door.

There was a full-length mirror right in the entryway. She smoothed her hair and straightened her clothes. She was wearing a very thin blouse paired with black shorts—an outfit that wouldn’t look out of place even if she were going out shopping.

After confirming she looked presentable, she finally opened the security door.

Jiang Xule was holding a delivery box, a smile originally hanging on her face, but it collapsed the instant she saw Fang Yize.

Jiang Xule took a step back to check the house number; it was indeed 702.

She sighed inwardly as if resigning to fate and asked, “Meet the Rainbow?”

‘Meet the Rainbow’ was Fang Yize’s delivery name.

Fang Yize nodded, having forgotten how to speak, simply staring intently at Jiang Xule’s face.

“Sign your name here,” Jiang Xule said, handing over a pen.

After taking the pen, Fang Yize stepped forward to stand beside her. This was the closest they had been since they met. Jiang Xule frowned slightly; looking sideways, she could only see the top of the other woman’s head.

She could smell a very faint scent of peach.

Once that scent drifted into Jiang Xule’s nostrils, she subconsciously took a step back. Her own scent wasn’t pleasant; she remembered the child from the previous household bluntly saying she smelled like his father—very stinky.

He was clearly referring to the smell of tobacco.

Fang Yize returned the pen with a smile.

Her handwriting was bold and unrestrained, a stark contrast to her delicate face.

But the writing truly matched the person—it was beautiful.

After handing over the package, Jiang Xule left without looking back. Fang Yize stood there staring at her retreating figure for a long time.

It was truly a noon filled with surprises.

Jiang Xule’s plan to start a street stall had failed. She ended up eating all the potatoes she had bought herself, and the vending cart was listed on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace) that very day.

There were too many street vendors; she couldn’t even earn back her costs for the day. Working herself to the bone for a few bucks wasn’t worth it. It might be fine as a hobby for retirees, but if she wanted to support herself and save for a house, she’d have to go back to being a corporate “ox and horse” (drudge).

Jiang Xule had worked at a delivery station before. Today, she was filling in because a courier had a family emergency. The pay was twenty yuan more than her previous part-time rate.

SF Express deliveries were usually frozen food, expensive electronics, or large items. However, there were specialized people for the large items; Jiang Xule only handled the small parcels.

Being a courier meant freezing wind hitting your face in the winter and sweltering heat in the summer. It was heavy labor for low pay. Back then, Jiang Xule had quit the industry after suffering heatstroke several times during deliveries.

It wasn’t until seven in the evening that she finally finished delivering the entire van’s worth of packages.

“Hard work. Come, have a lunch box.” Lin Fang, who handled pickups and shipments at the station, opened the lid of a meal for Jiang Xule.

Jiang Xule washed her hands at the faucet by the door and sat down eagerly to eat. There was a reason she had grown so tall; she had possessed a great appetite since she was a child.

“Thanks.”

“I should be the one thanking you. If you hadn’t been willing to come, I would’ve had to go out there myself.”

“By the way, how are you free this time? I remember you were working at that buffet restaurant over on Willow Street?”

Jiang Xule chewed her rice quickly and replied after swallowing, “For certain reasons, I’m not working there anymore.”

Lin Fang’s relationship with Jiang Xule wasn’t close enough to pry. Since she chose a vague answer, it meant she didn’t want to expand on the topic, so Lin Fang tactfully stopped asking.

The meal wasn’t particularly delicious—the flavor was a bit bland—but after a long day’s work and given it was free, Jiang Xule ate with great satisfaction.

She was a substitute, and the pay was settled daily; the experience wasn’t bad.

On her way home after dinner, she passed by that restaurant behind Willow Street as usual, and she couldn’t help but glance inside.

But this time, she didn’t see the manager who had worked there for four years. Instead, she saw a stranger wearing the manager’s uniform.

She lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment. Unable to figure it out, she didn’t linger. She hurried home to shower and sleep; she had to do it all again tomorrow.

The Monday flag-raising ceremony at Yuegang No. 1 Middle School was canceled because of a torrential downpour. Yesterday had been cloudless and sunny, but in the blink of an eye, the sky had turned gloomy.

Just like a certain teacher from No. 2 Middle School—unpredictable.

Fang Yize went to check on her class, only to find the English teacher standing on the podium in a towering rage. Even Fang Yize was startled, only daring to look through the glass window.

The two of them had just eaten breakfast together in the school cafeteria this morning, but now the other woman’s face was dark and her lips pale with anger.

As for the reason for the outburst, Fang Yize didn’t have the heart to investigate.

Fang Yize leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, looking out at the rainy scenery from the balcony. It was a misty blur where nothing could be seen clearly, except for the green of the leaves.

The environment at Yuegang No. 1 Middle School was quite good—plenty of greenery, advanced teaching equipment, and clean cafeteria food. Besides academic classes, art classes weren’t neglected either. The principal loved music, so a gala was held for every holiday worth celebrating.

It was a world away from No. 15 Middle School, where she used to attend.

As she was thinking, her phone chimed several times. It was a message from the Grade Director.

Director Shan: [Little Fang, you don’t have class right now, do you?]

Director Shan: [I have a package, SF Express. Help me go sign for it.]

Director Shan: [I’ll treat you to dinner another day, ha.]

He had promised “dinner another day” countless times but had never actually followed through. He said it was “a” package, but there were definitely more than one. Fang Yize was actually relieved he hadn’t treated her; if she ate his food, who knows how he’d boss her around in the future.

Fang Yize sighed and replied with a “Received (smile).”

SF Express… Jiang Xule! Fang Yize suddenly remembered that Jiang Xule was delivering packages yesterday. Suddenly motivated to go downstairs, she ran down quickly, grabbing an umbrella from the office on her way out.

However, the packages had already been signed for by the security guard.

“Teacher Fang, helping Director Shan with his packages again? What’s the happy occasion today?” Security Guard Chen pointed to the four or five packages piled on the table at the entrance of the guardroom.

“Can you carry them all by yourself? Want me to help you?”

Fang Yize glanced outside the school gate. Forget the delivery person—there wasn’t a soul in sight. Her excitement had been for nothing.

“Then you help me take them. I don’t have class for a while, and I’m too lazy to go up.” Fang Yize hung her umbrella to the side and sat in the guard’s seat. She added, “I’ll keep an eye on the door for you. Just take them up to Director Shan’s workstation.”

Guard Chen nodded. “Sure.”

There were plenty of chairs in the guardroom, where many teachers without classes would sit and chat. The direction Fang Yize was sitting faced a glass window looking directly outside the school.

She propped up her face, staring boredly at the raindrops sliding down the window.

The rain flowed down rapidly, coating the polished glass with a thin mist. Just as Fang Yize was about to reach out and draw a little crying face in the condensation, the window was suddenly knocked three times from the outside.

Startled, Fang Yize saw a blurry figure outside. The person was wearing a black raincoat, knocking on the window while shouting, “Uncle, there’s one more package I forgot!”

That familiar voice was definitely Jiang Xule.

Fang Yize immediately stood up and slid the window open. The rain was blown into the room by the wind, making her squint. The leave-of-absence slips on the desk were instantly soaked.

Jiang Xule gave Fang Yize a casual glance, thrust the package inside, and asked, “Are you Director Shan?”

“No, I’m signing on his behalf.”

“You teachers sure are idle, huh?”

“Not at all, I have two consecutive classes coming up,” Fang Yize said with a grin as she signed for the package.

By now, Jiang Xule was immune to suddenly running into Fang Yize. She didn’t know if it was fate or bad luck, but she no longer had such a reactive response as the first two times.

Maybe if they ran into each other a few more times, they’d fall in love.

“What do you teach?”

“Chinese,” Fang Yize replied, surprised that Jiang Xule was so friendly today as to actually initiate a question. After taking the package, she asked tentatively, “Will you be on your way then?”

Jiang Xule nodded. Before leaving, she glanced into the guardroom again and asked suspiciously, “Are you really a teacher? You’re not a security guard, are you?”

Fang Yize looked herself up and down, puzzled. “Does my outfit today look like a security guard?”

Not at all. She was wearing a black sleeveless knit top and a denim skirt. Her hair was in a side fishtail braid, and she wore two silver ear cuffs—a look that was both cool and ladylike.

Jiang Xule stared at her confused face for a few seconds. Seeing no trace of the guilt that comes with lying in her eyes, she looked away. Dropping a simple “Oh,” she drove off in her black SF Express tricycle.

This time, Fang Yize didn’t stare at her back. Instead, she quickly pulled the window shut and bent over to pick up the papers that had been blown onto the floor.

That Director Shan—what package was so important that it had to be picked up now? Couldn’t he just get it on his way out after work? She didn’t know who he took after, but he was a real nuisance.

Every time Fang Yize finished one of these chores for Director Shan, she would silently vow: This is absolutely the last time! Next time, I must find an excuse to refuse!

And yet, time after time, she did it again…

She stayed in the guardroom until the bell rang before returning to the office. She prepared the materials for her upcoming class on her desk. Just as her bottom touched the chair, two students from her class knocked and entered.

“Teacher Fang, it’s bad! Chen Xinyi and Jin Shengtan are fighting!”

“What happened? Why are they fighting all of a sudden?” Fang Yize said, immediately grabbing her teaching materials and running upstairs.

A student thoughtfully helped her carry the materials, and she didn’t refuse.

This was the first time she had heard of students in her class having an altercation since she started the job—and it was a boy and a girl fighting, no less. She moved fast, as if she wasn’t even wearing a skirt.

“Usually, Jin Shengtan gets the highest score in English, but this time Xinyi got first place. He wouldn’t accept it and insisted Xinyi cheated. He tore her test paper to shreds while trying to grab it!”

The student added, “Xinyi couldn’t stand it, so the two of them started fighting!”