She Adopted Me After My Biological Mother Passed Away - Chapter 23.1

Tiangua said gloomily, “My first kiss was with my mom.”

“My first kiss was with my dog,” Yu Xiu added. “And I didn’t even kiss her on the lips. Was it necessary to treat me like that? I’m going to sue you for elder abuse.”

Chi Yeyu chuckled, “Old and disrespectful.”

“If my spirit were any more fragile, I’d break off our friendship,” Yu Xiu said, sipping the warm Banlangen and leaning on the table. She then turned to Shi Shuxue. “That bag is quite cute.”

Shi Shuxue had just brought it down this morning with a single book inside. “Is it cute?”

“That little cat hanging on it? So adorable. Did you get it at a handmade shop?” Yu Xiu smiled. She wasn’t usually into cute things, but cats were different, she couldn’t help but look twice.

Shi Shuxue pointed to the woman sitting nearby with her head down, playing with her phone. “She gave it to me.”

“She gave it to you? No way she made it herself, right?” Yu Xiu was shocked.

Chi Yeyu looked up, eyes twinkling. “Impressive, isn’t it?”

“Impressive, in a sense,” Yu Xiu replied ambiguously.

Li Lingling was stunned. “Chi Yeyu, you can actually do such detailed work?”

“There’s nothing I can’t do,” Chi Yeyu claimed.

Yu Xiu commented, “Her nose is practically touching the sky.”

Chi Yeyu ignored them and sat down next to Shi Shuxue to bother her, sucking on a milkshake. She stared at Shi Shuxue’s slightly puffed-out cheeks and took a hard-boiled egg from the table to peel it for her.

It wasn’t that she liked serving people, but rather that her hands couldn’t stay still. She always had to be doing something, if there were a piece of paper nearby, she’d fold it into eighteen different shapes.

After peeling the egg, she fed it to Shi Shuxue. Shi Shuxue took a small bite of the tip. Chi Yeyu asked her, “Is it good?”

What else was there to say? It just tasted like a normal egg.

Shi Shuxue told the truth: “It’s not good.”

“Then don’t eat it,” Chi Yeyu said, stuffing the rest of the egg into her own mouth in one go.

After breakfast, Chi Yeyu was preparing to drive Shi Shuxue to school. She casually picked up her phone, glanced at the messages in a group chat, and said happily, “Classes are suspended due to the heavy snow. Your class group sent a notice, you don’t have to go to school today.”

Shi Shuxue, who had already reached the foyer, walked back to Chi Yeyu’s side. “Really?”

“Would I lie to you? See for yourself.” Chi Yeyu showed her the phone screen and said, “Put your backpack away, no classes today! They’re practicing downstairs. You’ve learned quite a bit lately, do you want to go down and play with them?”

“The notice clearly says ‘classes suspended, learning continues.’ I have to attend online classes,” Shi Shuxue noted, her eyes fixed on the screen.

Chi Yeyu said, “I can leave the online class running for you. Don’t tell me you don’t want to go play?” After saying this, she even mockingly imitated Shi Shuxue’s voice, shouting, “Present!”

The imitation was so poor that Shi Shuxue ignored the latter part and only answered the former: “I want to play.”

Chi Yeyu announced, “Then Student Chi Yeyu shall attend class on behalf of Student Shi Shuxue!”

The three band members were very surprised to learn that Shi Shuxue was learning the drums from Chi Yeyu. Li Lingling even blurted out, “You’re learning drums from her?? Can she even teach? You’d be better off learning bass from me.”

If Chi Yeyu had been there to hear that, she would have certainly raised her eyebrows and demanded to know who she thought she was looking down on. However, she was currently upstairs handling work while simultaneously monitoring the online class for Shi Shuxue.

Shi Shuxue said, “Perhaps I just don’t have much musical talent.”

“How is it going? Can you play any songs yet?” Yu Xiu asked.

Shi Shuxue was silent for a moment before naming a song, adding, “I only know two or three. The one I play best is a nursery rhyme.”

Yu Xiu laughed.

Tiangua said softly, “It’s not your fault. Chi Yeyu simply doesn’t know how to teach. She tried to teach me before. With her teaching style, it’s impressive you’ve learned this much.”

Shi Shuxue wasn’t particularly depressed about her lack of instrumental skill. She had rarely encountered setbacks in her studies growing up. If she couldn’t master the drums quickly, it meant Chi Yeyu would have to spend more effort on her this way, Chi Yeyu wouldn’t develop the illusion that “Shi Xianyu’s daughter must be a musical prodigy just like her mother.”

But she still appreciated Tiangua’s comfort and nodded: “Yeah, it’s fine. I don’t necessarily have to be great at it.”

Li Lingling ruffled her hair and said brightly, “That’s the right attitude. Want to try a set with us? Just play as much as you can.”

Yu Xiu slung her guitar over her shoulder and plucked the intro chords to Don’t Cry. As the melody emerged, Tiangua immediately adjusted the keyboard’s tone. Li Lingling tied back her hair, hitched up her bass strap, and tilted her chin toward Shi Shuxue: “Let’s go.”

Shi Shuxue sat behind the drum kit where Chi Yeyu usually sat. She gripped the sticks, waited for Li Lingling’s bass to hit the root note, and then stepped on the kick drum. Her beats were reserved at first, so Li Lingling adjusted her playing to leave her plenty of space to blend in.

Once they hit the chorus, Shi Shuxue gradually let go of her inhibitions, her beats echoing Li Lingling’s bass. Occasionally looking up, she saw Li Lingling swinging her leg while playing, which helped her relax. The drumbeats began to flow as smoothly as spring snow turning into water.

When the song ended, Yu Xiu put down her guitar and praised her with raised eyebrows: “That was actually pretty good.”

“Way better than when I play,” Tiangua added.

Li Lingling’s eyes suddenly lit up. She nimbly took off her bass and held it out to Shi Shuxue: “Want to try the bass?”

“I’ve never studied this,” Shi Shuxue said.

“I’ll teach you. You can try it out first. It’s always right to try a few different things, how else will you know what suits you best?”

Li Lingling tucked her bass into the girl’s arms and pointed to the frets on the fingerboard: “Imagine the moment the kick drum hits you press down here with your fingertips.”

Shi Shuxue hesitantly took the instrument, pressed her finger against a fret, and tried plucking a string. Li Lingling guided her fingers to move, switching to a G root note and connecting the steps. It was as if her fingers were being pulled by the melody, a natural glissando flowed out during the transition.

Li Lingling patted her shoulder in amazement. “What do you mean ‘no talent’? Stop learning drums from Chi Yeyu. Her method is purely based on ‘vibes,’ which doesn’t suit you at all. I’ll teach you bass, and you’ll be able to play a whole song with us in no time!”

Holding the instrument which was heavier than she had imagined. Shi Shuxue looked at the burning enthusiasm in Li Lingling’s eyes, then glanced at the smiling Tiangua and Yu Xiu. A ripple of emotion appeared on her usually calm face. A faint pink tint spread to her ears as she said, “But won’t this take up a lot of your time?”

“Not at all. I’ve finished my credits; I’m a senior and have plenty of free time.” Although Li Lingling argued with Chi Yeyu constantly, her actual temperament wasn’t that bad. She found Shi Shuxue to be well-behaved and obedient, and she genuinely enjoyed teaching such a child.

Shi Shuxue didn’t agree immediately. She looked down and plucked a bass string, the low resonance dissipating in the air. She asked, “Can Chi Yeyu play bass too?”

“Yeah, of course she can, but she doesn’t play as well as I do.”

Yu Xiu interjected: “If you want Chi Yeyu to teach you, that’s fine too. She knows enough to teach you the basics without any problem.”

Since it was just a hobby, Shi Shuxue didn’t need to master specialized techniques, being able to play a few favorite songs was enough.

Li Lingling said, “She can teach you, sure. I can’t come every day, so when I’m not here, you can have her guide you.”

At noon, Chi Yeyu finished her work and finally had some free time to wander downstairs. She figured her quiet little kid might have been livened up a bit by Li Lingling and the others. After all, Li Lingling had studied drums for a while, so she’d be decent enough as a free practice partner.

To her surprise, as soon as she stepped into the rehearsal room, she saw Shi Shuxue and Li Lingling huddled together shoulder to shoulder. Her child, who usually disliked being close to people, was actually holding Li Lingling’s prized bass. Li Lingling was leaning in so close she was practically guiding the girl’s hands on the strings.

Normally, if Chi Yeyu got that close, Shi Shuxue would keep a stiff face and push her away, or even get annoyed. How did Li Lingling get on her good side so quickly? Chi Yeyu stared at the pigtails on Li Lingling’s head and let out a half-amused, half-annoyed “tsk.”

“I say, Li Lingling, I’m the one teaching her drums. How can you just swoop in and hijack my student?”

Hearing the voice, Shi Shuxue looked up. Chi Yeyu was leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed, a nonchalant smile on her lips. She was wearing lazy loungewear on the bottom but had a navy blue blazer draped over her top.

“You’re just in time! let me tell you, Shuxue is a natural-born bassist. Playing drums with you is a total waste of talent.” Li Lingling didn’t even turn her head, shaking it triumphantly.

Chi Yeyu narrowed her eyes and noticed that Shi Shuxue’s ears were actually slightly red, which made her feel inexplicably uneasy.

Her lips curled into a sudden, theatrical burst of laughter. She walked over calmly and stopped in front of Shi Shuxue, leaning down to search her face as if trying to see the truth.

“You like the bass better?”

Shi Shuxue pushed her face away, and her features, which had briefly been animated, returned to their usual calm state: “Yes.”

Li Lingling stood with her hands on her hips, gloating. She reached out to pat Chi Yeyu’s shoulder, but Chi Yeyu ignored her, staring unblinkingly at Shi Shuxue as she asked seriously, “Is there anything I can’t teach?”

“You think you can teach with your mediocre skills?” Li Lingling questioned.

Chi Yeyu looked puzzled. “Listen to you! You’re really good at belittling me, aren’t you? I played bass for quite a while before I recruited you. Are all those anti-fan comments on my Weibo Super Topic actually your alt accounts?”

Being framed for no reason, Li Lingling flew into a rage: “How could that possibly be me?! What is wrong with you?! You’re the one who’s notoriously headstrong, and you dare slander the innocent me?”

Chi Yeyu acted like a rascal: “I don’t care. Last night I dreamed that you used an alt account to curse at me, and you even switched between several accounts to do it.”

As the two of them went back and forth, on the verge of another fight, Yu Xiu and Tiangua just stood by watching the show. Shi Shuxue called for a stop: “Chi Yeyu.”

Chi Yeyu turned around.

Shi Shuxue’s gaze remained indifferent to the chaos: “I didn’t say I wouldn’t let you teach me.”

Chi Yeyu’s face immediately lit up with a grin. She took a bass off the wall and said, “Now, watch me.”

She showed off her skills in front of Li Lingling like a peacock. After finishing one song, Shi Shuxue nodded as if she understood something. After the second, Chi Yeyu raised her eyebrows at Shi Shuxue, who nodded again. By the third song, Li Lingling finally lost her patience, the veins on her forehead bulging: “It’s 12:30. Aren’t you going to eat?”

“The snow is too heavy, so I told the housekeeper not to come.” Chi Yeyu, happy from playing, perched on a designer stool with her legs dangling lazily. “The city is snowed in, just as I expected. I stocked the fridge with plenty of ingredients in advance. Let’s have hot pot, you can throw in whatever you want. Xiao Xue, do you eat spicy food?”

Shi Shuxue was staring blankly at Chi Yeyu’s fingers resting on the strings and answered reflexively, “I don’t.”

“That’s great! We have the same taste. We’ll have a clear broth pot, a tomato pot, or a pineapple sauerkraut pot,” Chi Yeyu said with a smile.

Yu Xiu calmly raised her hand: “Don’t forget me. I don’t eat spicy either. I refuse to eat the third option.”

Chi Yeyu asked, “Xiao Xue, which one do you want?”

Shi Shuxue didn’t want to try the third one either: “Tomato is fine.”

The other two were from southern regions with strong palates and could eat very spicy food. Once they sat down, they added heavy spices to one side of the split pot. As the steam rose, it was enough to make one’s eyes water.

Outside the floor to ceiling windows of the living room, goose-feather snow was falling, thick enough to nearly bury the tires of cars parked by the road. This year’s snow was fierce and the wind howled, but inside it was warm. As they ate, a thin layer of sweat appeared on Shi Shuxue’s forehead.

She took off her jacket, revealing the incredibly childish cartoon pajamas Chi Yeyu had bought for her. When Yu Xiu, sitting opposite her, accidentally made eye contact, Shi Shuxue felt embarrassed and put her chopsticks down, wanting to put the jacket back on to cover up.

But when she turned her head, she saw Chi Yeyu watching her with a very satisfied look… or rather, watching the big yellow duck on her sleeve.

In that moment, her dissatisfaction with Chi Yeyu’s taste reached its peak. Why was every one of Chi Yeyu’s outfits beautiful while she had to endure this ugly clothing? Was it because Chi Yeyu always saw herself as the adult and viewed her only as a child?

“If I have a daughter in the future, I’ll raise her like this too,” Tiangua suddenly remarked.

Yu Xiu was surprised: “You can even have a daughter in the future?”

“Don’t define an otaku’s life so easily.” Chi Yeyu fished out some tender mutton for Shi Shuxue and put it in her dipping bowl. “This kind of familial joy of raising a child is something you, Yu Xiu, will never experience.”

Shi Shuxue seemed to be burned by the mutton; her tongue poked out, and her delicate eyebrows knitted together.

Yu Xiu gave a light scoff and repeated her words: “Fa-mi-li-al joy.”

“What? Is there a problem? I’m enjoying myself,” Chi Yeyu said happily.

Yu Xiu poked Tiangua’s arm with the end of her chopsticks and whispered, “Don’t decide you want a kid just because she looks happy. Her way of raising a child is 100% going to cause problems.”

“Hey, hey, hey, I can hear you!” Chi Yeyu shouted.

Shi Shuxue took a small sip of water and pushed her plate toward her: “I can’t finish it.”

With that, she got up to go upstairs. Chi Yeyu called out to her, “You’ve only eaten this much? Do you have a poor appetite? I haven’t even cooked the beef yet.”

“It’s time for my class,” Shi Shuxue said.

Seeing that she really didn’t want to eat anymore, Chi Yeyu took the leftovers from her plate and put them into her own bowl, she didn’t mind her own kid’s leftovers. She got up, grabbed a few cans of chilled cider from the fridge, opened one, and tilted her head back to drain it in one go.

“Rule of a good guardian: don’t drink in front of the child,” Chi Yeyu said solemnly.

Yu Xiu called her out: “You clearly drank yesterday.”

“I thought about it before bed last night and decided it wasn’t appropriate. See, I’m improving, aren’t I?”