Green Tea Top Student Falls in Love with Me - Chapter 4

Shi Wangui disliked Wen Youren, but no matter how much she despised her, she still had to ride home in the same car and eat at the same dinner table.

As school was about to end, Shi Wangui had considered walking home instead. It wasn’t too far just a ten-minute walk. However, Shi Qin had previously instructed Uncle Wang to pick her up after school, mainly to avoid gossip that he was neglecting his biological daughter after remarrying.

“Hey, let me make this clear, this is my home. I’m only letting you stay here temporarily,” Shi Wangui threatened Wen Youren as she packed her bag.

“Not interested. How childish,” Wen Youren replied flatly.

Shi Wangui felt deflated. Whenever she was around Wen Youren, her combativeness seemed to plummet, almost to zero. In all her years, no one had ever called her “childish,” but since meeting Wen Youren, she had heard it so often in just a few days that her ears were practically calloused.

Uncle Wang was already waiting at the school gate. To keep her distance from Wen Youren, Shi Wangui immediately took the passenger seat, a spot she usually avoided because she found it bothersome. Wen Youren, however, said nothing and silently sat in the back.

Throughout the ride, Uncle Wang tried to make conversation. He had picked up each girl separately before, and while the atmosphere wasn’t exactly warm, it was never as tense as this. The mood now felt like a heavy, sinking cold front, threatening to erupt into a storm at any moment.

When they arrived home, Shi Wangui intended to head straight to her room but found Shi Qin and Wen Yiyue sitting on the sofa, as if deliberately waiting for them. Wen Yiyue had long shed her initial fake smile, her eyes now brimming with undisguised disdain.

“Wait a moment,” Shi Qin called out. “Your mother and I have something to say.”

Shi Wangui continued walking she had no desire to stay, and besides, she didn’t have a mother.

“Shi Wangui!” Shi Qin roared as she kept moving.

Her foot had already landed on the first step when she heard his furious shout. Reluctantly, she stopped. After all, when under someone else’s roof, sometimes you have to bow your head. And when she thought about it, it was only two more years.

“Don’t lose your temper like that,” Wen Yiyue interjected. “What if you scare the children?”

“Look at her attitude. I don’t know how I ended up with a daughter like this,” Shi Qin retorted.

“I never asked you to have me,” Shi Wangui shot back.

Shi Qin was so enraged he started to rise, but Wen Yiyue held him back. After taking a moment to calm down, he said, “Starting next week, both of you will board at school. Come home every two weeks. You’re in high school now, it’ll be more convenient.”

“Whatever,” Wen Youren agreed as soon as Shi Qin finished speaking. She didn’t want to live here either; this wasn’t her home, and there was no point forcing it.

“Fine by me too,” Shi Wangui said. She knew exactly what Shi Qin meant they were in the way. But boarding at school was better than staying here, where she sometimes had to feign flattery to appease him.

Shi Qin was not a good father. To “correct” Shi Wangui’s temper, he would occasionally cut off her allowance, leaving her with only breakfast at home and forcing her to go hungry the rest of the day.

Her aunt had once secretly given her money, but when Shi Qin found out, it caused a huge family conflict. Her uncle didn’t want to offend Shi Qin, and in the end, Shi Wangui refused the money to avoid making things difficult for her aunt. Still, her aunt bought her new clothes every year. Shi Wangui loved her aunt dearly and never wanted to cause her any trouble.

At night, the bedroom was especially quiet. Shi Wangui lay silently on the bed, gazing at the moon outside the window. The moon wasn’t full. They say a full moon symbolizes reunion, but perhaps she would never see the day of reunion in her lifetime.

But the moon isn’t full every day, so days of reunion aren’t constant either. Life moves forward, and there’s no need to pause for the fleeting moments of a full moon.

“So annoying. Why do people have to live?” Shi Wangui muttered to herself.

Life was too bitter. Ever since her mother passed away, Shi Wangui hadn’t had a decent life. Sometimes she even suspected that her father had killed her mother, but she had no evidence, and her father didn’t seem particularly keen on raising her either.

Oh well, at least she didn’t have to worry about tuition fees. If she ran out of living expenses, she could earn some by beating people up a few more times. Eating less could help her lose weight, and breakfast was still relatively abundant anyway.

Shi Wangui kept deluding herself like this. Life was already hard enough, if she couldn’t even find a way to cope, there would be no point in living. She was like a hamster on a wheel, hiding away with just a few kernels of corn.

She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but when she woke up again, it was already afternoon. Perhaps the emotional strain from the past few days had exhausted her. By the time she went downstairs, there was no one left at home.

Out of habit, she went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was filled entirely with face masks, bird’s nest soup, and other things, all belonging to that woman. The cook had already left; she only came during mealtimes to prepare food and went home the rest of the day.

Shi Wangui had no choice. There was nothing to eat in the fridge, but there was a bowl of rice and some eggs. Maybe she could try making fried rice.

Shi Wangui didn’t know how to cook, so she opened her phone to search for a tutorial.

Step 1: Heat the pan and add oil.

Shi Wangui poured a little oil into the pan. She had seen others cook before once the oil was heated, you just poured in the rice.

But how could she tell when the oil was hot enough? Shi Wangui didn’t know. Just then, Sun Yi posted on her social media feed. Shi Wangui clicked through the photos one by one. There were quite a few, and she got a bit absorbed in them.

After a while, Shi Wangui thought it was about time. As the saying goes, “Newborn calves aren’t afraid of tigers.” She dumped the rice directly into the pan, and flames instantly shot up.

Shi Wangui froze. The next second, she let out a sudden scream. Then she saw an arm in a black jacket reach over, cover the pan with a lid, and turn off the stove.

“What are you doing? If you want to kill yourself, let me know first so I can leave,” Wen Youren scolded.

She had just come downstairs, planning to go out, when she heard noises from the kitchen. Curious, she went to take a look and saw Shi Wangui pour rice into the pan, causing flames to flare up. The worst part was that this person didn’t even try to put out the fire, she just stood there, frozen and motionless.

Shi Wangui calmed herself down a bit and looked at the charred rice. Stubbornly, she said, “I was just trying to cook.”

“Do you even know how to cook?”

“…”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then why didn’t you order takeout or go out to eat?” Wen Youren scolded, growing increasingly angry. This kind of recklessness was a disrespect for life. “Or were you trying to kill yourself on purpose?”

“None of your business,” Shi Wangui retorted, a wave of bitterness rising in her heart. She hadn’t meant for this to happen, but she refused to back down. “What I do has nothing to do with you.”

Shi Wangui didn’t feel like eating anymore. She turned and went back to her room. She was already unhappy in this home, and now there was one more person making her feel that way.

She lay down on the bed, took out her phone, and replied to the message Sun Yi had just sent:

[Shi Wangui: Looks good.]

Sun Yi replied promptly:

[Seventh Year: Of course. Why did it take you so long to reply?]

[Shi Wangui: It’s nothing. By the way, I’ll be moving into the dormitory soon.]

*Ding ling ling ling, * Sun Yi didn’t reply with a message but called directly.

Shi Wangui answered weakly, “Hello.”

“You’re moving into the dorm? Not many students live on campus, and the environment isn’t great either. Four people crammed together. No one in our class lives in the dorms, so you’ll have to share with students from other classes.”

Shi Wangui closed her eyes, resting them. Of course, she knew all that. But at least at school, she could live freely as long as she wasn’t assigned to the same dorm as Wen Youren.

“It’s fine. It’s better than being at home.”

“Alright then. Do you want to hang out tomorrow?”

“No, I’ll rest for a couple of days. I’ve been a bit tired lately.”

“Okay then. Get some rest. See you on Monday.”

With that, Sun Yi hung up, not wanting to disturb her friend’s rest.

Shi Wangui’s stomach growled. She wasn’t sleepy anymore, but she was hungry. She sat up and opened her backpack, hoping to find some leftover snacks, but after searching through it, she couldn’t find even a single piece of candy.

Left with no choice, Shi Wangui drank a large glass of water. Drinking water seemed to fill her up she wasn’t that hungry after all, just thirsty. A little water would do.

She sprawled back on the bed, thinking about her assets. Her aunt had bought her many clothes, and she could probably sell some of the new ones for a bit of money. But that would feel like a betrayal to her aunt.

At that moment, Shi Wangui went to the wardrobe, took a key from the innermost drawer, and then went to the adjacent cabinet. Unlocking the bottom layer with the key, she revealed its contents.

Inside was a red velvet box. Opening it, she found a set of jewelry made of pure gold. When her mother was alive, she had bought her many precious gemstones, but later, her father had taken them all. Only this set, which belonged to her mother, had gone unnoticed.

It was a set her grandmother had personally made for her mother, and it was Shi Wangui’s last resort her means of supporting herself after turning eighteen. As long as Shi Qin was alive, she wouldn’t inherit any property, so for a long time to come, she would have to rely on herself.

Shi Wangui touched her stomach, then touched one of the rings. In the end, she steeled herself, locked the box back up, and put it away. That was for after she turned eighteen; she couldn’t touch it now.

After putting everything away, she returned to bed. She just had to wait a little longer for dinner, and then she could eat her fill. As Shi Wangui was lost in thought, her door was knocked a few times.

Who could it be at this hour? She had no idea. Slowly, she got up and opened the door to find Wen Youren standing there, holding a bowl of egg-fried rice.

“I made too much. Here’s a bowl for you.” Wen Youren placed the bowl directly into Shi Wangui’s hands, then turned and left without another word.

Shi Wangui had just been about to say she didn’t want to eat, but the fried rice smelled too good. Wen Youren’s cooking skills were excellent each grain of rice was distinct, coated in golden egg, and the fragrance of scallions mixed with the aroma of the rice was irresistible.

The aroma was truly irresistible. Shi Wangui unconsciously swallowed her saliva, her stomach already growling. She picked up the spoon and began devouring the food ravenously. Having been on an empty stomach for nearly twenty hours, she could have finished even the most unpalatable meal in one go, let alone something this delicious.

In no time, Shi Wangui finished eating.

Perhaps the -100 points she had given Wen Youren was a bit too harsh. Let’s make it -99 instead, she’d add one point for his cooking skills.

When Shi Wangui went downstairs to return the bowl, Wen Youren happened to be washing dishes. She didn’t want him to know she had finished the meal, but there was no hiding it.

“Th-thank you,” Shi Wangui said. She was a polite person, when it was time to tell someone to get lost, she would say it, and when it was time to express gratitude, she would do so.

“Childish,” Wen Youren replied without even looking up, simply taking the empty bowl. It was a phrase he often used with Shi Wangui because he genuinely felt it suited her, everything she did seemed childish, and even her appearance had a childish air to it.

Shi Wangui: “…”

Don’t get angry, don’t tell him to get lost, he had just made her a bowl of food. She wasn’t childish at all. She had been taking care of herself since middle school, she was an independent minor, wasn’t she?

After finishing the dishes, Wen Youren noticed Shi Wangui still standing nearby and asked indifferently, “Is there anything else?”

Shi Wangui snapped back to reality, feeling awkward. She had gotten so lost in her thoughts that she forgot to leave. In a fluster, she blurted out, “Next time, add some cilantro.”

After she spoke, the air fell silent. Shi Wangui herself fell silent too. What was she saying? Telling the girl, she currently disliked the second most to add cilantro next time???

Wen Youren clearly didn’t process it at first, but after a moment, he simply replied softly, “Okay.”

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