Secret Lover Who Stealthily Fell in Love with My Older Sister - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Secret Agent

Though only one night had passed, the temperature dropped again. Today, it was actually raining and sleeting. Qiao Xi was afraid her two sisters wouldn’t let her go out in this weather, so she had to leave the house before they woke up.

Shen Ya had arranged to meet her at the complex entrance at 10 AM, but she left home early. It was not even 9:30 AM when she arrived at Shen Ya’s complex. Shen Ya was indeed not outside. Qiao Xi was glad she arrived quickly, otherwise, she would have made the other woman wait in this terrible weather.

Shen Ya looked at the gloomy view outside her window. She opened her phone, pulled up Qiao Xi’s chat box, and sent a message: 【The weather is bad today. Don’t come over.】

Just as she pressed send, the doorbell rang.

Shen Ya gripped her phone and hurried to the door. She didn’t recall ordering anything. Who could it be so early in the morning?

Ordinarily, for safety, she would ask who it was before opening the door, but today, she vaguely felt the person behind the door might be Qiao Xi. However, it was still very early before their scheduled time. Her heart was hesitant, but her hand had already pulled the door open.

“Teacher Shen! Good morning!”

Outside, Qiao Xi’s delicate face was the first thing Shen Ya saw. Qiao Xi had large eyes and a baby face, making her look younger than her peers. Qiao Xi looked somewhat dishevelled: her hair was damp from the rain and sleet, and her pants and clothes had visible watermarks. Yet, her eyes were still bright and full of spirit.

“Come in quickly.” Shen Ya stepped aside. After Qiao Xi entered, Shen Ya closed the door before taking her umbrella: “You came out in such heavy rain.”

Qiao Xi expertly opened the shoe cabinet, took out slippers, and changed into them: “I promised Teacher Shen, after all. Besides, it’s just rain. We have to go to school even if it’s pouring knives.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Shen Ya flicked her on the forehead, chiding her: “What nonsense are you talking about? Hurry up and take off your coat and go to the bathroom to dry your hair.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Qiao Xi was lively and had a charming smile, prompting Shen Ya to reflexively raise her hand and gently tap her head again.

Qiao Xi noticed that the apartment was cleaner and tidier than before. Even the items in the bathroom were sparse. Qiao Xi took out the hairdryer and dried her hair tips. Her hair was just past her shoulders, and the water droplets running down her ends had soaked her clothes.

The heating was on in Shen Ya’s home. The living room had a standing air conditioner. When Qiao Xi returned to the living room after mostly drying her hair, she found Shen Ya standing in front of the air conditioner, holding her coat to help dry it.

“Teacher Shen, let me do it.”

Qiao Xi took her coat from Shen Ya, then heard Shen Ya ask, “Have you eaten breakfast?”

She answered truthfully: “No.” Then, remembering the dumplings from last time, she added, “I’ll cook some myself. What about you, Teacher Shen?”

“I’ve eaten,” Shen Ya said. “There are only noodles left at home now.”

Noodles…

But she didn’t know how to cook noodles!

Shen Ya saw her awkwardness. She never intended for Qiao Xi to cook; just looking at her hands, she didn’t seem like someone who worked in the kitchen.

“You stay here and dry your clothes. I’ll go cook.”

“Wait for me, Teacher Shen.” Qiao Xi placed her coat back in Shen Ya’s arms, turned, and ran to the dining table to pull out a chair. She moved the chair in front of the standing air conditioner, hanging her coat over the back of the chair: “Teacher Shen, can you teach me how to cook noodles? I’m very smart. I can definitely learn by watching once. Next time, I’ll cook breakfast for you.”

Next time? Who knows when that will be? Shen Ya didn’t point this out. She thought Qiao Xi was just making excuses because she couldn’t sit still. Since she wanted to follow, let her follow.

Shen Ya gave Qiao Xi a look, and the latter obediently followed her into the kitchen.

Over the past few days, she had packed some more things, so the kitchen was mostly empty, leaving only a few condiments and one or two sets of tableware.

Shen Ya was used to teaching classes, but she had no experience teaching someone to cook noodles, nor was she someone who talked through the steps. Therefore, she could only slow down her movements for Qiao Xi to watch carefully.

The ingredients at home were only enough for one bowl of plain noodles. She brought water to a boil, added the noodles, and chopped some green onions. Shen Ya instructed Qiao Xi to add seasonings to the bowl and then let Qiao Xi taste the water to check the saltiness after adding the boiling water.

The noodles were quickly cooked and scooped out. Shen Ya pointed to the refrigerator: “Grab an egg.”

Qiao Xi opened the refrigerator and only saw a lonely egg on the right. It seemed to be the last one: “I’ll buy some more for you later, Teacher Shen.”

“No need. I’m moving soon anyway. It’s good to clear it out.” Shen Ya had been eating outside before coming home these past few days. She planned to secure an apartment in the next couple of days, so she wouldn’t be buying any more groceries here.

Qiao Xi handed the egg to Shen Ya. She stood behind Shen Ya, watching her expertly crack the egg with one hand. The egg dropped into the pot, and under Shen Ya’s skilled handling, it slowly formed a beautiful poached egg.

“It’s still raining outside. Are you still going out to view apartments today, Teacher Shen?” After Shen Ya placed the poached egg on top of the noodles, Qiao Xi went to find chopsticks for herself.

“Yes, I am.” Shen Ya put down the spatula and picked up a bottle of chili sauce from the table: “Do you need any?”

Qiao Xi shook her head while holding the bowl: “No, thank you. I can’t eat spicy food much.”

“Mm.”

Qiao Xi carried her bowl to the dining table. Shen Ya followed closely, pulling up a chair and sitting beside her. The other woman wasn’t looking at her but was on her phone, messaging someone.

Qiao Xi picked up a strand of noodles with her chopsticks, blew on it, and slowly chewed. Although it was just plain noodles, the green onions added a nice flavor, and it was quite delicious.

“Teacher Shen, is the place we’re going to later far? Should I call a car now and have the driver come to the underground parking lot?”

“No need.” Shen Ya looked up from her phone, gazing at Qiao Xi: “The agent will be driving over to pick us up. Don’t worry. I already asked her to come a bit later.”

Although she said this, Qiao Xi couldn’t feel entirely at ease accepting Shen Ya’s care. She had chosen to come herself, and she absolutely couldn’t mess up Shen Ya’s plans.

She replied, “Okay,” but visibly sped up her noodle-eating.

When she was halfway through her bowl of noodles, Shen Ya went to check if her clothes were dry yet.

At five past ten, Qiao Xi put on her coat and left the house with Shen Ya. Although it was the weekend, the weather was bad, so there weren’t many people out. There were only the two of them in the elevator. “What are your requirements for an apartment, Teacher Shen?”

“Clean, relatively safe, convenient transportation, and good value.” Shen Ya was no longer the same as she was two years ago. She now had some savings, not a huge amount, but enough to move into a better apartment.

Every time Shen Ya mentioned a point, Qiao Xi mentally gave her own apartment a checkmark. Her apartment was right next to a subway station, the complex environment was good, entry required face recognition, and the security was definitely much better than Shen Ya’s current complex.

The problem now was how to subtly market her apartment without Shen Ya finding out.

Qiao Xi asked again, “Does Teacher Shen have any distance requirements? Only looking for nearby rentals? Or is a bit further acceptable?”

“If the transportation is convenient, about twenty minutes by subway should be fine.” After speaking, she gave Qiao Xi a sideways glance: “Asking me all this—are you planning to moonlight as a real estate agent?”

Qiao Xi’s heart skipped a beat. That was close! She was almost found out. Shen Ya was too perceptive. She only asked two extra questions, and the other woman was already guessing. It seemed she needed to be more indirect.

They stepped out of the elevator. A white commercial van was parked near the exit with its hazard lights blinking. The window rolled down, and a very young-looking woman smiled and called out to Shen Ya: “Sister, over here!”

Qiao Xi found it novel to hear someone address Shen Ya this way for the first time: “She…”

“She’s one year younger than me.”

“Oh~ No wonder she calls you ‘Sister.’ Speaking of which, can I call Teacher Shen ‘Sister’ too?”

Shen Ya went silent and subconsciously quickened her pace. If Qiao Xi hadn’t come today, she would have sat in the front passenger seat, but now, she opened the back door, letting Qiao Xi get in first before following her.

“Sister, we’ll start by looking at a few apartments in this nearby complex. The location is great, vacancies are rare, and they get snapped up quickly. Let’s take a look first. If you don’t find anything you like, I’ll take you somewhere else.”

The agent was very talkative. Her mouth hadn’t stopped since they got in the car. She kept telling Shen Ya about the apartments they were about to see, and then moved on to talk about the weather. Unfortunately, Shen Ya was quite aloof with strangers. She knew this was just professional chatter, and her silence didn’t impede the agent’s presentation.

But Qiao Xi, sitting beside her, was clearly experiencing this for the first time. Shen Ya’s quietness made Qiao Xi worry that the agent would find Shen Ya difficult to deal with. So, throughout the ride, she took the initiative to chat with the agent.

Qiao Xi talked until her mouth was dry before they finally arrived at the first complex they were scheduled to see today.

The car drove directly into the underground parking lot. From the outside, this complex looked slightly better than where Shen Ya currently lived, but it was also an older neighborhood. It took nearly ten minutes to walk to the subway station, but there was a bus stop right outside the complex entrance. Qiao Xi wasn’t sure if Shen Ya considered this convenient transportation.

The elevator went up to the fifteenth floor. It turned out to be a split-level apartment. The landlord had divided the upper and lower floors, building a staircase near the entrance and installing a door at the top of the stairs.

“Sister, these are large, split-level units, so the landlord separated the upper and lower floors. See, they each have their own entrance door. Living here won’t be a problem.”

“Miss, is someone living upstairs?” Qiao Xi pointed upward and asked.

“Yes, but don’t worry, it’s also rented to a woman.”

Qiao Xi saw Shen Ya observing the apartment and couldn’t figure out her thoughts. Could Shen Ya accept these conditions?

No, no, no! Shen Ya absolutely couldn’t like this place, or her plan would be ruined before it even started. Besides, she felt this location was even worse than where Shen Ya was currently living.

“But wouldn’t this count as co-renting?” Qiao Xi voiced her concern: “Although it’s divided into two apartments, the soundproofing must be poor, right? And everyone has to enter through one large door. Even with two separate doors inside, there’s still a security risk, isn’t there?”

“That… is true. That risk can’t be ruled out.” The agent’s smile became a little awkward, and her eyes drifted to Shen Ya: “Sister, what do you think?”

What Qiao Xi said was essentially what Shen Ya was thinking. Such an apartment was unsafe and highly likely to involve her in trouble with others. Furthermore, spending that much money for only half an apartment didn’t seem worth it.

Shen Ya’s tone was flat, clearly not very satisfied: “Are all the rental apartments in this complex divided like this?”

The agent explained: “Yes, the undivided ones are rare, and they are all rented out. This is a school district property, and most tenants are large families whose parents are here to accompany their children for their studies.”

Shen Ya decided not to waste any more time. If the subsequent complexes had various problems, she would have to consider finding a hotel for the time being: “Let’s check out another complex, then.”