She Adopted Me After My Biological Mother Passed Away - Chapter 22

“How are you going to introduce me to your family?” Xue asked.

“No need, you eat,” Shi Shuxue said. “Was it because of something you did?”

“What did I do? I peeled a crab without even getting my hands dirty.” Chi Yeyu sounded quite proud, as if she had understood the question.

Shi Shuxue frowned. “I’m not asking about that. I’m asking, what price did you pay to clear up the public outcry?”

“Look at you, ‘price’ sounds so heavy. It’s not like that. I just made a phone call home.” Chi Yeyu swung her long legs under the table and arched an eyebrow playfully. “Sorry to disappoint you, but your guardian is a useless adult who still has to rely on family power at her age.”

Her words were such an exaggeration that Yu Xiu, who was three years older than her, remarked, “Cut the crap. You’ve only been graduated a few years. Think before you speak, maybe consider other people’s feelings?”

Chi Yeyu rolled her eyes. “Who cares about you?”

Shi Shuxue asked, “Is your family very powerful? Then why didn’t you call them sooner?”

Chi Yeyu clutched her chest and let out a long, theatrical sigh, acting as if she were in a stage play.

“Her family is incredibly rich, incredibly influential. Unfortunately, the eldest miss didn’t want to be a canary in a cage,” Yu Xiu interjected, seeing that Chi Yeyu was in a performing mood but didn’t actually want to explain. “Her house is like a castle, with more maids and servants than our entire band combined. Her mother is a famous pianist who raised her to be a refined lady from a young age. Instead, she picked up the drums in high school, rebellious and wild. Her mother thought her drumming looked like someone banging a bowl while begging on the street and absolutely loathed it. So, this one just went off to start her own business, moved out the moment she graduated, terrified she’d benefit from the family name.”

Chi Yeyu lamented, “You see? I really am a playgirl with no money and no talent.”

Yu Xiu laughed, feeling like she was “versailles-ing” bragging under the guise of complaining.

At the mention of money, Shi Shuxue’s heart skipped a beat. Chi Yeyu had only been in business for a few years, both the company and the person were incredibly young. If she hadn’t relied on family subsidies at all, how could she have easily produced a million dollars in one go?

Yet Chi Yeyu had done exactly that. To gain legal guardianship of her, she had sent a massive sum to Zhao Qingyuan months ago, never breathing a word about the sacrifice she had made.

Chi Yeyu was… far too good to her.

Shi Shuxue took small bites of the crab meat Chi Yeyu had peeled for her. She repeatedly glanced at the woman beside her, her thoughts racing, yet she remained silent.

Thinking that the girl had taken her joke seriously, Chi Yeyu hurried to say, “Don’t look at me with such a serious expression. I’m actually not that poor. I’m quite wealthy, more than enough to put you through university or send you abroad. If you don’t want to work in the future, it’s fine to just lounge around at home for the rest of your life. Ah, and of course, not just at home. I can afford to support you traveling the world, too.”

Yu Xiu listened, dumbfounded. For the first time in her life, she felt envious of a high schooler. She felt like signing up to be Chi Yeyu’s daughter herself.

Shi Shuxue gazed at Chi Yeyu. The crab leg in her hand accidentally slipped back into the bowl. After a long pause, she said coldly, “Don’t treat me like a useless person.”

“I wouldn’t dare. I know you’re the most excellent one,” Chi Yeyu said with smiling eyes. “Yu Xiu, guess what she scored on her last math test?”

“What’s the max score for high school math now, a hundred?”

“Wrong, it’s one hundred and fifty,” Chi Yeyu corrected.

Seeing how well-behaved Shi Shuxue looked, the kind of quiet, refined student teachers adore. Yu Xiu made a bold guess: “Did she get a 130?”

“Hahaha, much more than 130. She got a perfect score,” Chi Yeyu bragged with immense pride.

Yu Xiu was surprised. “Whoa, that’s truly impressive. You’re a dark horse, Shuxue.”

“No…”

Li Lingling, having finished changing her pants, happened to walk out. “What? What’s impressive? A perfect math score?!”

“That’s not easy. I remember you never got a perfect score in high school,” Tiangua said to Chi Yeyu.

Chi Yeyu wagged a finger. “Not even once. A perfect score isn’t something you get just by casually doing practice problems.”

Tiangua asked Shi Shuxue, “Little Shuxue is a genius! What do you want to study later? Any dream schools or majors?”

Shi Shuxue hadn’t thought about it before. She felt she should take the Gaokao first and then consider options based on her score. But if she had to name an ideal school, it would probably be one not too far from here ideally, one where she could return often to visit her grandmother.

“Maybe D University?” Shi Shuxue mentioned the best local university. It was nationally ranked, primarily for science and engineering, but its management and economics majors were top-tier.

“What a coincidence! There are two D University students in this private room right now,” Yu Xiu laughed, pointing at Chi Yeyu. “Her…D University Finance.” Then she pointed at Tiangua: “A direct-track PhD student, currently in her doctoral studies.”

This was unexpected for Shi Shuxue. Chi Yeyu’s English was excellent, she had heard her using it as a working language on the phone and had assumed she was a returnee from abroad.

As for Tiangua, she still had a student vibe with her round-rimmed glasses, she looked like the type of shut-in who could stay in a dorm for a month straight to finish a thesis.

“Do you want to study finance too?” Tiangua asked.

Shi Shuxue said, “I haven’t thought about that yet.”

Chi Yeyu toyed with a crab leg, saying nonchalantly, “See what interests you. Finance is exhausting. You could go abroad for further studies in the future.”

Shi Shuxue said nothing.

Chi Yeyu’s hands wouldn’t stay still, and she accidentally pricked her finger on the crab leg. The leg fell onto the white porcelain plate with a clatter.

The wound was shallow and didn’t hurt much. Chi Yeyu blinked, originally intending to mischievously act pathetic to tease Shi Shuxue, but her hand was suddenly caught by two others and gently lifted.

Shi Shuxue grabbed her finger, bringing it close to her eyes to inspect it. There was a clear, vivid red mark on the tip of the fair finger. She instinctively blew on it, and as she realized what she was doing, the tips of her ears turned a shade redder.

“Do you need a tetanus shot?” she asked Chi Yeyu.

Chi Yeyu, her hand held so carefully, hesitated. “…Do I?”

Li Lingling couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted, “Then you’d better call your family doctor right now. If you don’t hurry, the wound might actually heal on its own.”

Yu Xiu, scrolling through her phone, added, “Experts say there’s a risk of infection from seafood scratches. Saliva can disinfect it.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Chi Yeyu suddenly felt her fingertip grow moist. Her finger was enveloped by something warm and soft. Her eyes widened as she discovered Shi Shuxue had taken her wound into her mouth.

The hair on one side of Shi Shuxue’s head was tucked behind her ear, and her lashes, long as the wings of a swallowtail butterfly trembled slightly, hiding the expression in her eyes.

Chi Yeyu felt the tip of a tongue sweep across the skin of her finger like a feather. It was itchy, and so soft.

Chi Yeyu asked Yu Xiu, “Do I have to keep it in there?”

Yu Xiu shrugged. “You can put it in your own mouth if you want.”

Shi Shuxue had already released her finger. She slowly raised her head, her elegant but cool black eyes staring unblinkingly at the injury. “Does it hurt?” she asked.

Chi Yeyu hadn’t been in pain, but after that, the sensation in her finger felt magnified several times. It felt itchy and awkward. Her heart felt strange, like a molten chocolate lava cake that had been cut open, collapsing and drowning in the sticky lava.

The reason it had become like this was probably because the child she was raising had finally learned to care for her in return.

Thinking this through, Chi Yeyu felt a surge of joy. She leaned in toward Shi Shuxue with a beaming smile, pressing her forehead against the girl’s. “What should I do? It still hurts a lot. Do you want to hold it in your mouth a bit longer?”

Shi Shuxue was caught off guard by the sudden contact. Her heart hammered like an earthquake. She bit her lip, her shoes scuffing the floor several times as she stared at the shiny finger. “No. It’s disgusting.”

Chi Yeyu was stunned. “You’re disgusted by your own saliva?”

“Is that not allowed?” Shi Shuxue pulled out two tissues and wiped it. “Wrap it up quickly.”

“It hurts, hurts, hurts,” Chi Yeyu cried out.

Now even Tiangua couldn’t take it. “Stop faking it, Miss Chi. I’ve seen you get cuts that bled buckets and you didn’t even make a sound.”

“…That was different. I didn’t have the strength to scream back then,” Chi Yeyu said. “Right now, the pain is in my heart.”

“Bled buckets?” Shi Shuxue’s brow furrowed.

Chi Yeyu reached out to smooth the frown lines. “Don’t listen to Gua’s nonsense, she’s exaggerating.”

“Oh please…” Tiangua curled her lip.

After finishing their meal, they chatted idly. Outside the window, the night deepened, and at some point, fine snowflakes began to fall, accumulating into a thin layer. A slight breeze blew, and under the streetlights, flecks of snow whirled about.

“Wow, it’s snowing,” Li Lingling exclaimed.

Tiangua leaned against the window to watch. “There’s been so much snow lately. I hope it snows on Christmas, too.”

Yu Xiu, uninterested in ethereal scenery, scrolled through a dating app with one hand. “Is anyone going to spend Christmas with me?”

Li Lingling said, “I don’t celebrate Western holidays.”

Tiangua politely declined, “It’s too cold. I want to stay home and play games.”

Yu Xiu looked toward Chi Yeyu and Shi Shuxue.

“She has school,” Chi Yeyu spread her hands. “Play by yourself.”

Yu Xiu gave up with regret.

“Speaking of which, New Year’s Day is coming up.” Chi Yeyu thought for a moment and said to Shi Shuxue, “I want to take you home. Sometime around New Year’s.”

“Which home?” Shi Shuxue was startled.

“The home with my biological parents. There might be a lot of people those few days, other relatives might be there. If you mind, then never mind,” Chi Yeyu said.

Li Lingling was shocked. “You’re taking her to the Chi house? How are you going to introduce her? Aren’t you afraid of making your parents sick with anger?”

“Just a normal introduction.”

“Can any ‘normal’ introduction of yours actually be normal?” Li Lingling remembered the joke from last time. “You aren’t going to tell them she’s your daughter, are you?”

“Pretty much. I’ll just give them a heads-up.” Chi Yeyu opened a bottle of white wine and took a small sip.

The rest of the band members looked at her with expressions that were hard to describe.

She held the wine glass, her sleeve slipping down to reveal half her wrist. The blue at the tips of her hair had faded to a blue-green, and the bright lights hit the diamond in her earring, complementing her light-colored pupils that looked like high-purity gemstones.

Shi Shuxue stared at her quietly. After a moment, she said, “I don’t mind going home with you. Can I have a sip of the wine?”

Chi Yeyu’s eyes crinkled. “Wait until you’re an adult.”

Adulthood was still two years away. Shi Shuxue looked at the clear wine, thinking to herself that she had long since been led to drink by Shi Xianyu. She stood up and said, “I’m going to the bathroom.”

Outside was an exquisitely decorated Chinese-style courtyard. The fine snow of the winter night fell like crushed jade, coating the grey tiles and stone paths in a thin layer of frost.

Mist rose from the courtyard pond. A few koi, dressed in red and white, stirred the ripples of the flowing water.

Shi Shuxue didn’t actually need the bathroom; she just wanted an excuse to get some fresh air. She walked alone along the stone path to the pond, stopping after a few steps to squat down and look at the fish. Her breath rose in white plumes before dissipating.

The snow fell into the flowing pond water and melted instantly.

There seemed to be a heater in the water. Curious, she reached out to test the temperature, but the fish swam away from her hand.

A gust of cold wind blew, and she sneezed. She wondered if she had caught Chi Yeyu’s cold, even her nose felt a bit sore.

Just as she was thinking of that person, her peripheral vision caught a figure. Looking up, she saw Chi Yeyu on a small bridge not far away, waving at her before jogging over.

“Aren’t you cold coming out here?” “Why didn’t you wear your scarf when you came out?”

The two stood face to face, their words colliding.

“I’m sturdy, I’m not cold,” Chi Yeyu said as she wrapped the scarf around her, tying a beautiful knot.

Half of Shi Shuxue’s face was covered. She adjusted the fabric and exhaled a cloud of white mist. “I’m not cold either.”

Chi Yeyu used her cool fingertips to pinch her right cheek. “Clearly, your little face is frozen red.”

Shi Shuxue grabbed her hand and raised her arm to pinch Chi Yeyu’s face in return. Chi Yeyu dodged, instead pulling her into an embrace. Chi Yeyu pressed her into her chest, their clothes rustling together as she nuzzled her.

“What are you doing!” Shi Shuxue said.

Chi Yeyu buried her face in the crook of her neck, murmuring muffledly, “Actually, I’m not that sturdy. It’s pretty cold.”

“I can tell. If it’s cold, why did you come out?”

Chi Yeyu said, “To find you.”

Shi Shuxue couldn’t handle the directness. She pushed the woman’s face away and pulled her along. “Let’s go, let’s go back.”

Chi Yeyu grabbed her hand and rubbed it for warmth, much like how Tiangua had rubbed Li Lingling’s pants. She breathed onto it. “It’s so beautiful out here. Let’s play for a while before going back. I bought cold medicine.”

Shi Shuxue really wasn’t cold now; she felt a bit feverish.

“Why the long face? Are you in a bad mood? Did you catch a chill? Wait, is your period coming? Then we should definitely go back. No more playing, there’s nothing much to see anyway.”

As Chi Yeyu spoke, she let go of her hand and began pushing her shoulders to head back. Shi Shuxue remained where she was, gripping Chi Yeyu’s wrist and shaking her head.

Chi Yeyu asked with a smile, “Not going?”

Shi Shuxue whispered, “How do you plan to introduce me?”

“Ah?” Chi Yeyu paused, then realized. “You mean to my parents and the others? I’ll just say you’re my family. Anyway, I won’t have any descendants in the future, they can accept it or not.”

“You won’t have a daughter or a son in the future?” Shi Shuxue asked.

Chi Yeyu said, “Of course not. Isn’t raising you enough? Do you want to change your last name to Chi? Although Shi Xianyu might crawl out of her coffin to hit me.”

She imagined it for a moment and thought the name “Chi Shuxue” sounded wonderful. She actually kind of wanted to pull her into her own household register.

Shi Shuxue’s breath hitched. Her fingers curled uncontrollably, and her heart raced so hard she almost fearfully lowered her lashes. It was as if a hidden current had finally broken through its frozen shell. Her ears, turning red in secret, betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

The white walls seemed even more elegant against the snow. The snow piling on the black tiles mirrored the lantern light on the eaves. Water gurgled down between the stones, splashing with fine crystals that hummed with the light sound of falling snow.

They seemed to be trapped inside a crystal-clear snow globe, with the snowscape and night sky as the background. Shi Shuxue looked up at Chi Yeyu, who was taller than her. A single tear rolled down to the tip of her chin without warning. There was no sobbing, no wailing just a steady stream of quiet tears tracing down her cheeks, hitting the beige scarf and blooming into small, dark wet spots.

Chi Yeyu panicked, thinking her words had offended the girl that she had suppressed her anger until she burst into tears. She hurriedly bent down to coax her, her palms cupping the girl’s face.

“Don’t be angry. We won’t change it. It’s okay if you don’t change it… I only have you.”