She Adopted Me After My Biological Mother Passed Away - Chapter 5

“Morning, bad student.”

Shi Shuxue remained silent for a moment, steeling herself before speaking up. “Actually… my phone was confiscated by the teacher.”

Chi Yeyu blinked, waiting for her to continue.

“Our school bans electronic devices. If you’re caught, they take it away, and only a parent is allowed to go and retrieve it.”

Chi Yeyu hadn’t expected the well-behaved looking Shi Shuxue to be such a rebel not only did she fail to bring her homework home, but she even smuggled contraband into school.

Finding this quite amusing, Chi Yeyu teased her with a couple of jokes, leaving the girl both embarrassed and indignant.

For a second, Shi Shuxue regretted telling her. However, after Chi Yeyu finished joking, she immediately asked, “What time?”

“What?” Shi Shuxue asked.

“Didn’t you confess because you wanted me to go to school with you? When is your teacher free?” Chi Yeyu asked matter of factly.

“…Tomorrow or the day after is fine. She’s on duty at the school this weekend,” Shi Shuxue said.

As a top-tier key high school in the city, the administration was very strict about academics. Although they nominally had a two day weekend, local students were still required to attend self-study sessions at school, with teachers supervising on a rotating basis.

“That’s perfect. I don’t have much going on this weekend. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning at nine, OK?”

Shi Shuxue nodded.

The decision felt fine the moment she agreed to it, but once the lights were out, the darkness amplified the conversation in her mind, was it really a good idea to let Chi Yeyu go to school to get her phone?

The digital clock by the bed read 00:41. Shi Shuxue buried her face in the pillow, her fingers unconsciously clutching the corner of the quilt into deep wrinkles.

She couldn’t sleep.

Too much had happened yesterday. Scenes replayed in her mind in a loop: bumping into that cool, distant stranger under the streetlamp, going home with her, and that long-lost, bustling dinner.

Chi Yeyu alone had managed to bring the house to life.

Judging by her outfit, one would think she was the kind of cool, untouchable adult. But her haughty exterior lasted only a second before she switched back to her childish and goofy self.

A person like that must be a good person, Shi Shuxue thought. She could feel the kindness hidden beneath Chi Yeyu’s nonchalance, like the warmth of early spring snow soaking into the soil.

But why was she being so nice to her? Was it because of Shi Xianyu?

What exactly had Shi Xianyu done to make Chi Yeyu come all this way to clean up a former bandmate’s mess?

Tossing and turning until midnight, Shi Shuxue finally sat up with a messy “bird’s nest” of hair. She walked barefoot to her desk, unzipped a compartment, and took out the letter.

She couldn’t take it anymore; she had to see what Shi Xianyu had written to her.

She turned on the desk lamp. The warm white light hit the scratched wooden desk. Shi Shuxue didn’t look for scissors, she tore the envelope open with her bare hands. Inside, there was no folded handwritten letter, only a single Polaroid photo.

She squinted her dark eyes to look. There were three people in the photo. In the center was a young Shi Xianyu, holding the hands of two children. The child on the left looked about ten years old, her face set in a defiant pout, using a drumstick to poke the head of the child on the right.

Chi Yeyu?

Shi Shuxue quickly recognized the restless teenager. And the little girl on the right, clutching her head with teary eyes… was that her?

Shi Shuxue was speechless.

Where was the “warmth of early spring snow”? All she saw was a teenager bullying a preschooler while the only adult present was too busy smiling brightly at the camera, striking the perfect pose.

She flipped the photo over and found a line of ugly handwriting, it was Shi Xianyu’s.

It read: I’m going to turn into a butterfly and fly away~ from now on, let your Little Sister Chi take care of you! (Heart)

Just looking at those words, Shi Shuxue could almost feel the frivolous expression on that woman’s face as she wrote them. She was probably grinning, completely free of any moral burden for abandoning her own daughter.

What kind of expectations did she have for such an irresponsible adult?

Shi Shuxue put the photo down expressionlessly and turned off the lamp, determined to sleep until dawn.

Forget it. Neither of these two wicked adults deserved her staying up all night.

The moment the lamp went out, the room plunged into darkness. Shi Shuxue pulled the blanket over her head, but the image of the Polaroid wouldn’t leave her mind. Chi Yeyu’s arrogant look with the drumstick, Shi Xianyu’s heartless smile, and her own stupid, teary-eyed younger self.

Little Sister Chi… huh?

“Childish,” she muttered into the air under the covers, rolled over, and poked her head out.

A pot of sunflowers sat on the windowsill. Most of its petals had been damaged by the rain, but during the day, it still strained toward the window. Years ago, her grandmother used to teach her about flowers there, saying this kind was the most stubborn even if a branch broke, a new bud would push up from the roots.

At the time, Shi Shuxue thought the flower was just like Shi Xianyu: so stubborn that ten oxen couldn’t pull her back. Her grandmother said that after graduating from college, Shi Xianyu insisted on forming a band, even choosing to break off her father-daughter relationship with her grandfather to pursue her dream.

But at 33, Shi Xianyu said she was turning into a butterfly and flying away. She was a liar. She didn’t fly away, she fell straight from the rooftop of an abandoned building and crashed into the wilderness.

How can a fish turn into a butterfly?

She would never see Shi Xianyu’s annoying smile again. No one would ever stumble into her bedroom drunk to irritate her, and she would never hear that intentionally off-key singing again.

The next morning, Chi Yeyu arrived on time to pick up Shi Shuxue for school.

She had changed into a deep gray cashmere coat. Well-fitted trousers outlined the straight lines of her legs, and a pair of ankle boots made her look sharp and fashionable. She tucked a lock of hair behind one ear, revealing the intricate scenery of her piercings.

The industrial piercing through her ear cartilage was silver. Her inner and outer helix were adorned with two minimalist earrings, and a silver chain set with small diamonds hung from the bridge of her ear, tracing a meteor-like path in the morning light as she turned her head.

Shi Shuxue gripped and then released the door handle. With her head slightly bowed, she walked to Chi Yeyu’s car, pulled open the passenger door, and sat inside.

“Morning, bad student.” Chi Yeyu leaned into the driver’s seat with a smile. She didn’t start the car immediately, but turned to look at her, asking spiritedly, “Why so listless? Didn’t sleep well last night?”

The small diamonds on the earrings reflected light, dancing into Shi Shuxue’s irises. She said flatly, “You lied to me last night. I should have realized earlier, there are no five-star hotels around here.”

Chi Yeyu’s brand-new outfit from head to toe was proof enough that she hadn’t stayed at a hotel but had gone home.

“You figured it out! Our Little Xue is too smart,” Chi Yeyu praised her as if she were a three-year-old.

Ignoring the nonsense, Shi Shuxue asked, “How long did you sleep yesterday?”

“I don’t remember, but definitely enough. I’m not tired. Don’t worry, I’ll get you to school safely.” Chi Yeyu slowly released the clutch while lightly pressing the gas. The engine sound deepened, and the car pulled smoothly out of the alley.

The SUV sat high. Her grip on the steering wheel was loose; with a light turn of her wrist, the tires rolled over fallen leaves on the roadside with a crisp rustle.

Shi Shuxue was still wallowing in her own annoyance. She remained silent, staring blankly ahead, her eyes out of focus.

Chi Yeyu asked, “Quiet again?”

Shi Shuxue snapped out of it and replied with a question: “How far is your home from here?”

“About forty minutes if there’s no traffic. Not far.” Chi Yeyu’s eyes curved. “Why? Want to come over and play? My house is a huge villa, and I live all by myself. It’s perfect for hide and seek or ghost summoning games.”

Shi Shuxue didn’t know how anyone could link hide and seek with ghost-summoning. She declined: “You should just play by yourself.”

“Really? You have the heart to watch me play alone?” Chi Yeyu checked again, only to receive another flat refusal from Shi Shuxue.

She pouted with regret. If they weren’t heading to school, she really would have taken a detour to the villa district.

Whether she wants to play or not, once she’s at my house, it won’t be up to her.

During the long break between morning classes at W High, students poured out of their classrooms after two self-study sessions. The hallways and restrooms were filled with laughter.

“Why isn’t Shuxue here today?” In Class 11, Xu Qiaoli poked Ci Cheng, who was sitting in the front row, and asked curiously, “Monitor, did she take a leave of absence with the teacher?”

Xu Qiaoli was Shi Shuxue’s deskmate. Their school arranged seating based on monthly exam results. As the top student in their grade, Shi Shuxue usually sat in the “prime real estate,” but after her last exam performance slipped, she fell into the “mortal realm” next to Xu Qiaoli in fact, her ranking was one spot lower than Xu’s.

Xu Qiaoli had always looked up to the “Great Scholar.” She never expected to get this close to Shi Shuxue and had decided from day one to keep a close eye on her to copy her study methods.

However, Shi Shuxue spoke very little. She was like a cold, exquisite doll, her face pale and expressionless, carrying an air of unapproachable detachment. They had been deskmates for two weeks and had barely exchanged a word.

Ci Cheng looked up from her book and turned around. “Why are you asking me about Shi Shuxue?”

“You’re closer to the Little Scholar, Monitor. I thought you’d definitely know where she went,” Xu Qiaoli said.

To her surprise, this comment seemed to annoy Ci Cheng. The latter stood up abruptly, leaving Xu Qiaoli with only the back of her head and a cold remark: “Where did you get that idea?”

She walked quickly down the hall toward the office. Of course she knew where Shi Shuxue was, she had reported her for having a phone, and she had been sent home. She should be happy that she wouldn’t have to see that irritating face for a whole week.

Just as she was thinking this, the scattered students in the hallway automatically moved to the sides, clearing a path in the middle. Ci Cheng looked up and saw someone walking toward her from the other end.

The woman in front was tall with a slender build, round eyes, and upturned lips. She was humming a little tune as she walked, radiating a lighthearted energy that felt… inappropriate. And following behind this strange adult was none other than Shi Shuxue, who was supposed to be at home reflecting on her actions!

Shi Shuxue wasn’t very tall to begin with, and she looked even smaller next to the woman. She followed silently, her pale face mostly hidden, but as she passed Ci Cheng, her cool, narrow eyes flicked over indifferently, looking straight ahead.