Secret Lover Who Stealthily Fell in Love with My Older Sister - Chapter 83

Chapter 83: With the family’s return, the holiday…

With the family’s return, the holidays were also over. Qiao Xi hadn’t started school yet, but her sisters had to go to work. The most idle people in the house became her and her two mothers. Jiang Yunyi did not expose her relationship with Shen Ya in front of the family, but after dinner that evening, the family deliberately sent her away and were discussing something she couldn’t figure out.

Qiao Xi was curious and tried every means to eavesdrop, but her family knew her too well and, under their strict guard, she failed to find a loophole.

Alone and confined to her room, Qiao Xi felt a bit wronged. This feeling of being kept in the dark by her family was uncomfortable. She figured the matter must be related to her. Having already showered, she lay on the bed like a starfish, staring at the ceiling and pondering for a long time but couldn’t figure out the answer.

Qiao Xi turned over, hugged the quilt, and took a deep breath, burying her face in the fabric. Shen Ya’s scent still lingered on the quilt, which brought back memories of being held by her last night.

The soft touch, the warm body temperature, and… the ambiguous kisses. Just thinking about it made her heart race. She wondered how else Shen Ya would win her over in the future.

Oh, right, she also had to find time to go to ‘Blank’ without telling Shen Ya. After all, she needed to learn more about the circle Shen Ya liked, lest she spoil things later.

Qiao Xi blushed and opened her phone. She found Shen Ya’s chat, typed a line of text, but then thought she might be too proactive and it didn’t align with her “still angry” status. Her eyes darted around, and she came up with a good idea.

She deleted all the words, then double-tapped Shen Ya’s profile picture. A line of text instantly appeared at the bottom of the chat box: [Hehe, patted Teacher Shen.]

She quickly added a sentence: [Accidentally pressed the wrong button.]

As soon as she pressed send, her heart grew nervous. Would Shen Ya reply to her message? And when would she reply?

The next moment, her phone vibrated. Qiao Xi immediately sat up and held her phone. Just as she thought, Shen Ya replied quickly. It seemed the other person had been holding her phone. But then again, since Shen Ya had her phone, why didn’t she message her first?

[Teacher Shen: Mm, but if you don’t open the chat box, you can’t double-tap my profile picture.]

Qiao Xi’s eyes widened instantly. Teacher Shen knew?!

No, Teacher Shen shouldn’t expose her directly. Shouldn’t she pretend not to know and ask what she was doing? This was too awkward now. How should she reply?

[Teacher Shen: What are you doing? Have you eaten?]

Huh?

Did Teacher Shen install a monitor in her mind? How did she guess her thoughts so quickly?

Qiao Xi replied: [My moms came back this afternoon, so we ate dinner out. But when we got home, the whole family sent me away to hold a small meeting downstairs. I tried to secretly listen, but my sisters saw through me, so I’m just lying in my room now.]

[Teacher Shen: Did your mother perhaps find out about us?]

Seeing this, Qiao Xi’s heart tightened. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Maybe her moms found out when Shen Ya went to Zhoucheng?

But the more she thought about it, the more she felt it was wrong. If her moms had found out or suspected something, they would have asked her immediately. And when Sister Yun came over in the afternoon, she didn’t seem to know about her and Shen Ya’s relationship.

Wait a minute, was she falling into Shen Ya’s language trap again: [What is Teacher Shen talking about? What things do the two of us have?]

[Teacher Shen: Mm.]

Seeing just that one word, Qiao Xi felt a little regretful. Would saying that be too mean? Shen Ya would be sad too. Qiao Xi scratched her head, her heart softening. She quickly soothed her: [I mean, my moms are definitely not talking about us. I feel like this must be a very important matter that they don’t want me to know about.]

[Teacher Shen: Since that’s the case, then don’t worry about it for now. Once your family finishes discussing, they’ll probably tell you the reason.]

That’s all she could do for now. Rather than thinking about what her moms and sisters were discussing, she was more concerned about her and Shen Ya. She quickly adjusted her mood and asked: [What is Teacher Shen doing?]

Shen Ya’s expression was serious. In front of her was a laptop and a notebook with not a single word written in it. The leader at the front was still droning on with pointless talk, while she was hiding her phone under the table, messaging Qiao Xi.

[Teacher Shen: In a meeting.]

A meeting this late? But then again, Qiao Xi sent a mischievous emoji and replied: [I didn’t think our dedicated and diligent Teacher Shen would also secretly chat during a meeting.]

Shen Ya’s ear tips felt warm. Luckily, she was far enough away that Qiao Xi wouldn’t notice. She simply replied: [Mm.]

A thought flashed through Qiao Xi’s mind. She lay back down on the bed, moved to the side where Shen Ya had slept last night, holding the quilt with one hand and lifting her phone with the other to take a picture of herself.

Shen Ya, still in the conference room, received Qiao Xi’s selfie. She immediately opened the photo. Qiao Xi was still wearing her pajamas from last night. She was holding the quilt, half her face covered, her eyes hinting at shyness, but a closer look revealed mischievous thoughts hidden in her pupils.

Her pajamas were neatly worn, showing only her arm, but Shen Ya was reminded of the feeling of holding Qiao Xi last night. Although she didn’t want to overthink it, Qiao Xi sending a photo of herself lying in bed while knowing Shen Ya was in a meeting, was she trying to tell her something?

Shen Ya was unsure, so she opened Zhou Ziqian’s chat box. After only a brief thought, she asked: [I have a friend whose crush sent her a photo of herself lying in bed at this hour. What does this mean?]

Zhou Ziqian always found gossip quickly, and Shen Ya wasn’t worried that she wouldn’t reply.

Sure enough, within two minutes, she received Zhou Ziqian’s reply: [Little sister Xiao Xi sent you a bed selfie?! Your pursuit of a wife hasn’t even begun and it’s already over? Not bad, Boss Shen. I didn’t see that coming. So capable, truly my star student.]

[She sent you a photo, which means she’s trying to seduce you. She wants you to hurry up and make love to her.]

What in the world was that? Shen Ya was exasperated and replied: [That’s not the case. She hasn’t accepted me yet.]

[Zhou Ziqian: Oh!! I get it. Little sister Xiao Xi is also subtly manipulative, playing hard to get. Tsk tsk tsk. You young couples are so good at this game. What are you waiting for, Boss Shen? She’s clearly implying you should sleep together, and you’re here asking me?]

Shen Ya instinctively felt that Qiao Xi didn’t mean that. After all, she was innocent and would even flee in embarrassment after a kiss, so how could she have such a bold and unrestrained thought?

After consulting her “strategist” and failing to get a reliable answer, Shen Ya decided to send an answer that was guaranteed not to be wrong: [Very cute.]

What the heck? She waited so long for a reply, and it was only two words?

Qiao Xi was displeased: [Just cute?]

Shen Ya only thought for a few seconds. Her expression grew colder, but her fingertips typed out a few more words on the screen: [I also want to kiss you.]

Even across the screen, Qiao Xi was so embarrassed she dove under the quilt. Teacher Shen was in a meeting, right? How could she say such inappropriate things in such a formal setting? Qiao Xi rolled over, kicking the quilt with her legs. She rolled a couple of times while clutching the quilt, still unable to figure out how to reply to Shen Ya.

The boring meeting ended while Shen Ya was waiting for Qiao Xi’s message. She closed her laptop, stacked the notebook on top, and picked them up. Her phone was still in her pants pocket. She chatted casually with colleagues, but her mind was still focused on her phone.

Returning to her office to put things away, she eagerly took out her phone to check. Qiao Xi still hadn’t replied. She couldn’t help but worry that her previous words had been too suggestive, making Qiao Xi unhappy.

“Little Shen, not leaving yet?”

Shen Ya looked up: “I’m leaving now.”

“We have a unit dinner gathering tomorrow at noon. Remember to reply in the group chat to say what you want to eat.” The colleague reminded her again.

Shen Ya blinked at her phone: “Dinner gathering tomorrow at noon?”

Her colleague laughed: “I knew you weren’t listening just now. Tomorrow is the first day back to work after the New Year, and it’s customary to eat out for lunch.”

“Right, I completely forgot.” Shen Ya tapped her head. Oh no, she had already promised to pick up Qiao Xi tomorrow noon. What should she do now? “I have something to do tomorrow noon. Can I not go?”

Her colleague patted her shoulder: “Little Shen, the leaders will all be there tomorrow. It would be too conspicuous if you didn’t go.”

“Okay, I understand. Thank you, Sister Wang.”

Shen Ya finished tidying up her things and grabbed her bag to leave the office. It looked like she would have to stand Qiao Xi up for lunch tomorrow. She absolutely had to pick up Qiao Xi in the evening, but how should she explain it to Qiao Xi?

Sitting in the car with the heater on, Shen Ya didn’t rush to leave. The previous message was like a stone sinking into the sea. To gauge Qiao Xi’s current mood, she had to send another message: [Fallen asleep?]

[Little Rascal: No.]

[Then do you want to talk on the phone?]

[Little Rascal: Is Teacher Shen’s meeting over?]

[Mm.]

[Little Rascal: Humph, Teacher Shen is the one who wants to call me, right?]

Reading this, Shen Ya could imagine the triumphant expression on Qiao Xi’s face. In a familiar place, she could let down all her guard. Even if she laughed out loud, she wouldn’t have to worry about being discovered by others. Qiao Xi’s cuteness made her almost want to steal her away from her house right now.

Shen Ya didn’t reply. Her finger tapped the voice call button. Qiao Xi, on the other end, jumped up from the bed, holding the vibrating phone. She cleared her throat before pressing answer. The room was very quiet, seemingly with only the sound of her own heartbeat. Standing on the bed, her toes gripped the bedsheet.

Qiao Xi didn’t speak, but Shen Ya heard Qiao Xi’s faint breathing through the phone. She held the steering wheel with one hand and clipped the phone onto the holder, turning on speaker mode: “Xiao Xi.”

Hearing the gentle voice, Qiao Xi swallowed. She pretended to be firm, but when she spoke, her voice was softer than cotton candy: “What.”

“Why didn’t you reply to me just now?”

Qiao Xi rubbed her toes on the bedsheet and slowly walked to the end of the bed. Looking at the wooden floor, she replied: “Teacher Shen is cheating. I haven’t forgiven Teacher Shen yet. How can Teacher Shen say such things?”

“Mm.” Shen Ya teased her: “What kind of things?”

Qiao Xi realized that Shen Ya was becoming more and more of a rogue. She shouldn’t think Qiao Xi didn’t realize it. Shen Ya just wanted to trick her into saying those few words. She wouldn’t fall for it: “Teacher Shen is bad.”

Shen Ya chuckled. Just hearing Qiao Xi’s voice, she couldn’t help but want to reach out through the phone and grab her. She really wanted to see the proud Qiao Xi right now, preferably having her call her a bad person to her face.

Shen Ya pulled the seatbelt over and fastened it. She glanced at the screen, then spoke: “Then the very bad Teacher Shen has to first apologize to Xiao Xi. My unit has a dinner gathering tomorrow noon, so I can only pick you up in the evening.”

Qiao Xi, who was walking from the foot of the bed to the head, paused. Upon hearing the news, she was initially displeased, but she quickly shook off the negative feeling. Shen Ya had a stable job and naturally had to prioritize work. They could meet whenever they wanted, but Shen Ya’s work couldn’t have any mishaps.

“Then I’ll wait for the very bad Teacher Shen to pick me up tomorrow night.”

Shen Ya asked her: “You’re not angry, are you?”

“What are you saying, Teacher Shen? I’m an adult. I wouldn’t get angry randomly like a child.” Qiao Xi sat down, propped up a pillow behind her back, and pulled the quilt over her legs. She said: “Teacher Shen shouldn’t underestimate me.”

“Mm, I wouldn’t dare underestimate our Xiao Xi.” Hearing Qiao Xi’s words, Shen Ya no longer had any doubts. Qiao Xi was indeed mature and possessed a composure that didn’t match her age.

“Is Teacher Shen driving?”

“Mm.” Shen Ya looked straight ahead. She had driven the route from work to home countless times, but there were a lot of people in the city center, so she had to slow down occasionally. Sometimes she would even get caught in traffic and be forced to stop, so she hadn’t driven very far in all this time.

“Then Teacher Shen, drive safely.”

“I’m driving safely, but I also want to hear your voice.”

Shen Ya suddenly became so good at saying cheesy things that Qiao Xi was a little defenseless. Her face was turning redder than a watermelon. Fortunately, she wasn’t in front of Shen Ya, or she definitely wouldn’t be able to control herself. She gently tugged at the quilt with one hand, as if smoothing out the turmoil in her heart.

Their current state was no different from actually being in a relationship, but Qiao Xi still wanted Shen Ya to be more proactive. After all, she also had bad intentions, and she was so much younger than Shen Ya. It was perfectly normal to be a little unreasonable, right?

Qiao Xi smiled sweetly, but her mouth was sharp: “Teacher Shen is getting very good at sweet talk. Did you learn from someone?”

“I thought you would like it.” Shen Ya paused and said: “Then I won’t say it anymore.”

“Why won’t you say it anymore?!” Qiao Xi tightened her grip on the quilt. Was that what she meant? She was just shy, so she was teasing her! Why didn’t Shen Ya understand?

No, did Shen Ya truly not understand, or was she deliberately teasing her? Her voice sounded no different from usual. Qiao Xi couldn’t discern her emotions from Shen Ya’s tone: “Teacher Shen, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you!”

“Mm?”

The question Shen Ya squeezed out through her nose sounded more like teasing to Qiao Xi. She shouted exasperatedly at Shen Ya: “Oh, you’re awful! Teacher Shen, you’re doing this on purpose! You know what I mean, but you’re deliberately teasing me!”

“I…”

“I’ve decided not to talk to Teacher Shen tonight!” With that, Qiao Xi decisively hung up the phone.

Looking at the “call ended” on the screen, Shen Ya was stunned. She didn’t know which of her words had been wrong. Could it be that Qiao Xi didn’t dislike what she said, but was just embarrassed?

Oh no, she seemed to have misunderstood Qiao Xi’s meaning.