I Want Her to See Only Me - Chapter 24

Xia Xiuyin and Xia Yu are the type of students who don’t bring their homework home.

So, their after-school routine remains unchanged.

Typically, they would choose to engage in an hour of handicrafts after dinner.

Xia Xiuyin purchased several series of LEGO, including Technic, Architecture, and others, ranging from a few hundred to thousands of pieces.

Xia Yu has been coveting the two classic five-digit numbers that Xia Xiuyin keeps in her room, but her sister says she needs to clear the previous difficulty levels first.

Xia Xiuyin told Xia Yu that she would have the living room next to the large terrace on the fourth floor cleaned out to make space for the street view series.

Xia Yu thus worked even harder.

“Sister, why are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles considered action figures, but regular robots are not?” Xia Yu occasionally raises such questions.

“This is a coded language,” Xia Xiuyin explained briefly.

There were still some conventions that Xia Xiuyin couldn’t explain, and Xia Yu, being sensible, did not press for answers.

Some things just can’t be explained. Xia Yu thought, just like how she likes her sister.

Summer comes twice a week with phone calls, just hitting Xia Xiuyin’s tolerance threshold.

He and his wife were both inarticulate, and after a few phone calls, the conversation turned into a repetition of the previous one.

Sometimes, Xia Man feels it’s too much, but Xia Yu always obediently agrees, as if not blaming.

They breathed a sigh of relief, and the more they thought about it, the more they wondered how there could be a child so well-behaved and considerate.

“I’m not picky about food… I really like carrots and greens.”

“Sister prepared a water bottle for me with lemon slices, and I drink a lot of it every day at school.”

They seemed to praise Xia Yu several times, and the girl shyly blinked her eyes.

“Mm! The classmate are all very cute! The teacher is also very good!”

———–

“Okay, goodbye Uncle and Auntie~”

Xia Yu hung up the phone, exhaling softly.

Xia Xiuyin looked up from her notebook and directly met Xia Yu’s gaze, causing the latter to blush from neck to ears. Slowly, like a small snail, Xia Yu inched over to the cushion and sat down in front of Xia Xiuyin.

If you don’t know what to say, sister, tell them to make fewer calls?

Xia Xiuyin doesn’t dislike the Xia Man couple; they are honest and sensible, and they genuinely treat Xia Yu well..

However, seeing Xia Yu slightly troubled by this, she found herself developing a better impression of them.

Xia Yu blushed and shook her head.

“Uncle and Auntie will be sad… And, I need to keep reminding them——”

I am living a happy life with my sister.

The following sentence was spoken so softly it was almost inaudible.

Xia Xiuyin’s fingers paused on the keyboard, and she rubbed her fingertips.

After a long while, when she became aware, she smiled to herself.

The third-grade curriculum is taught carefully and slowly.

Xia Yu’s learning progress far exceeds the pace of the teacher’s lectures, which causes her to uncontrollably drift off in class, thinking about her sister… and things related to her sister.

Sometimes, the teacher would purposefully tap on the blackboard, and she would feel ashamed and focus her attention on the class, but more often, she would immerse herself in another world in her mind.

Teacher Zhang received feedback from several teachers in succession, and under the circumstances, he had no choice but to dial a series of numbers from the home-school contact book.

“Hello, may I ask if this is Xia Yu’s parent?”

————–

At the beginning of the semester, the academic atmosphere among the freshmen has not yet had a chance to become tense.

Jiang He teaches math, and the students in his class generally show respect by listening attentively.

Xia Xiuyin’s peripheral vision caught sight of the mock exam papers on the corner of the desk, as she mentally worked through the process.

Abruptly, a slight vibration came from the inner compartment of the backpack, and Xia Xiuyin raised her hand just before Jiang He turned his gaze towards her.

Just assuming she was in a hurry to use the restroom, Jiang He nodded, and Xia Xiuyin left the classroom from the back door.

“Hello… yes, I am Xia Yu’s parent.” Xia Xiuyin lowered her voice in the corridor and turned into the restroom.

Mr. Zhang found it strange that Xia Yu’s mother sounded so young, but since Xia Xiuyin’s voice was low, he couldn’t quite make it out for a moment. “I would like to discuss Xia Yu’s situation with you.”

“She is well-behaved and sensible, endearing to others, but her attention easily wanders, and she can’t focus on the teacher’s lessons.”

Xia Xiuyin could guess why Xia Yu couldn’t concentrate; it was because she had been teaching too fast at home.

She stood in the compartment, her gaze resting on the hook, pondering for a moment. “Well-behaved and sensible, likable” and “easily distracted” formed the conditions of a contrast.

At this age, children are indeed in an active phase..

Xia Yu doesn’t move around much. Xia Xiuyin thinks this is because she loves reading, so the child often stays at home with a book in hand.

She had previously asked Liu Zhi to arrange for a tennis court to be built in the backyard of the villa, so that she and the children could practice for a while every day.

It’s said that a new horse ranch has opened near the villa area, next to the golf course. If Xia Yu is willing, she can choose a small horse for her to raise.

“Hello?” After performing a monologue for a while, Teacher Zhang couldn’t help but confirm the presence of the other person.

“I understand, I’m sorry…” Xia Xiuyin’s attitude was sincere.

Mr. Zhang coughed slightly uncomfortably, “Parents are the most important part of a child’s education. I hope you can communicate with your child, stimulate her interest in the classroom, and help her adapt to school life as soon as possible.”

“Excuse me, did Xia Yu disrupt the classroom discipline?”

“What?” Teacher Zhang was caught off guard by an unexpected question and didn’t react for a moment.

“That’s not it… Xia Yu she…”

“So, it’s just spacing out… is that right?” Xia Yu’s parent’s voice was gentle and composed, yet it made Teacher Zhang feel an unintentional sense of pressure.

“Yes.”

Xia Xiuyin quirked the corners of her lips: “I was wondering if you could do me a favor, is that okay?”

Teacher Zhang, who has been transformed from being proactive to being passive: “……I’m listening.”

The next day.

Xia Yu found that all her teachers, including those of the natural sciences, seemed to have agreed to no longer react harshly or sigh with disapproval when she was not paying attention.

Just that, when class ends, they all pretend to casually say to her:

“Xia Yu, please summarize today’s class in about a hundred words”

The math teacher wrote down the problem numbers from the book for her.

Since it was a conversation with Xia Yu during the kids’ recess playtime without others knowing, the other classmates were unaware of the situation.

Xia Yu reviewed the notes on the blackboard, combined them with the content in the textbook, the knowledge sorted by her sister, and her own understanding, and finally handed each teacher a short essay of nearly three hundred words.

The math teacher pushed up his glasses when he received detailed solutions for each question.

The English teacher stroked his chin as he read through the simple dialogue composed by Xia Yu using all the learned vocabulary.

“This child doesn’t seem like one who doesn’t listen in class.” They provided feedback to Teacher Zhang again.

Teacher Zhang was somewhat dumbfounded.

Xia Xiuyin naturally doesn’t care whether Xia Yu pays attention in class or not; even if she sleeps through the entire class, it’s not a problem, as her sister will help her catch up.

But she needed Xia Yu to be able to engage in positive interactions with the teachers.

Xia Yu is introverted and shy, seldom taking the initiative to communicate with others, especially with teachers and elders.

Even so, those teachers couldn’t have a single negative impression of Xia Yu.

Xia Xiuyin wants everyone to like Xia Yu, and wants Xia Yu to like her.

“Ayu, did anything happen at school today?” Xia Xiuyin asked while blow-drying her hair.

Xia Yu sat obediently like a little rabbit, her fluffy pajamas even featuring a short little tail.

Surrounded by the scent of citrus, she thought for a moment and said in a childish voice, “Today, every teacher talked to me.”

Noticing Xia Yu’s subtle happiness, Xia Xiuyin’s eyes curved slightly.

Oh?

What did they say to A Yu?

“They… said…” Xia Yu suddenly realized that those teachers might be subtly hinting that she should pay more attention in class, causing her face to flush and her voice to become indistinct.

If I tell this to my sister, she will definitely know that she wasn’t paying attention in class.

Hmm?

“The teacher said… to summarize the content of the class…” Xia Yu nervously twisted her fingers.

What she was grateful for was that her sister didn’t question the reasons.

“Would A Yu feel troubled?” Xia Xiuyin’s voice, filtered through the gentle hum of the hairdryer, sounded hazy and soft.

Xia Yu gently shook her head: “Later, the teachers all praised me…”

She said bashfully, “I’m so happy.”

Xia Xiuyin’s eyes were filled with laughter.

“Then, Ayu must continue to strive in the future as well.”

“Hmm!” Xia Yu’s eyes were sparkling.

Although Xia Xiuyin had already informed Xia Yu earlier that the school required students in the first year of high school to start participating in evening self-study, Xia Yu still looked dispirited as she sat alone in the car returning to the villa.

Liu Zhi, while waiting for the red light, turned back to look at the child with drooping eyes and comforted him, saying, “Good boy, go back and have your meal, read a book, and your sister will be back soon.”

He knows that children like to read books.

But he didn’t know, Xia Yu enjoyed reading by Xia Xiuyin’s side.

Although she had already heard her sister mention it, Xia Yu couldn’t help but ask again, “What time is my sister coming home?”

Around nine o’clock.

At this moment, I was already about to go to sleep. Xia Yu seemed as if she would burst into tears if she spoke any more, her voice sounding extremely aggrieved, and she hung her head low.

I can’t see my sister.

Liu Zhi awkwardly comforted for a while, but when the green light came on, he couldn’t afford to be distracted anymore.

The girl sadly rested her chin on the car window ledge.

Auntie Chen’s dinner was prepared very lavishly, but Xia Yu just couldn’t seem to muster any enthusiasm.

“Oh dear, my little one, just eat a bit more, won’t you?”

Xia Yu always eats with great relish, probably because he was once severely starved, so he savors everything with gusto.

Even if you accidentally get your tongue spicy from ginger, you’ll still puff out some air, chew, and swallow it down.

A simple fish soup with rice can also be enjoyed in a small bowl.

So, upon suddenly seeing Xia Yu eat just two bites and then look dispirited, Auntie Chen felt extremely distressed.

“Hmm…” Xia Yu poked at the pan-fried golden pomfret in the bowl with a small spoon.

Aunt Chen sighed, took out the thermos bucket, and carefully filled it with various dishes, one small plate at a time.

This is the dinner prepared for my sister.

Uncle Liu will be sent to the school later.

Xia Yu’s eyes sneakily glanced.

“Auntie Chen, my sister likes to eat eggplant…” she said sweetly.

“Hey, great!” Auntie Chen added some garlic eggplant strips.

Around Xia Xiuyin, Xia Yu chattered and murmured for a few minutes.

Auntie Chen closed the thermos flask and noticed Xia Yu’s face had brightened up a bit, her mood improving as well.

“Auntie Chen, may I give this to Uncle Liu?” she asked expectantly, extending her hand.

“Good girl, can you carry it?” Xia Yu’s arms and legs are too thin.

“I’ll give it a try.”

Auntie Chen handed her the thermos with a worried expression.

Xia Yu took a breath and managed to hold it steadily.

Aunt Chen had a servant follow behind Xia Yu to protect her as she carefully descended the steps, walked along the pebble-strewn path, and approached Liu Zhi.

Liu Zhi took the thermos flask, praised Xia Yu a couple of times, and when he turned around again, Xia Yu had already climbed into the front passenger seat and went straight to the child seat.

The girl poked her small head out from the back seat, her slender white fingers gripping the dark driver’s seat backrest, and the two little buns at the back of her head trembled with her movements.

She pleaded softly, her eyes beautifully distinct in black and white, making one’s heart soften.

“Uncle Liu… can you take me to see my sister?”

She thought for a moment, then said, “Please, I beg you…”

Please, I beg you.

Liu Zhi remained silent for a while, eventually surrendering.

He sat in the car and fastened his seatbelt.

“You kid, Uncle Liu is really afraid of you now.”

Xia Yu’s eyes lit up with joy, exclaiming, “Uncle Liu is the best!”

Liu Zhi shook his head helplessly.

This is the second month that Xia Yu and Liu Zhi have been delivering dinner to Xia Xiuyin.

Liu Zhiyi carefully unwrapped the layers of the thermos bucket, and upon lifting his gaze, he saw Xia Yu unable to contain her excitement as she trotted quickly to the entrance of the student canteen. In just a few seconds, she led a slender, tall girl back.

Over the past few months, Xia Yu has grown nearly ten centimeters. Standing next to Xia Xiuyin, who is one meter sixty-eight, she still appears quite petite. Especially with a bit more flesh on her face, she looks increasingly like a cute, pink, and white little dumpling.

“Sister, I peeled all the lychees today!”

“I made desserts with Aunt Chen, froze them in the fridge, and after dinner, sister can took them to eat in the classroom.”

—–

Even if it’s just one day apart, the little one remains overly enthusiastic, as if trying to pour out all the words they usually share with Xia Xiuyin within this brief forty-minute span.

“Thank you, Yu…” Xia Xiuyin sat down and gently brushed Xia Yu’s bangs with her fingertips, where the scar was almost faded to invisibility.

The child’s eyes, dampened by joy, softened even more, and their slightly moist lips pressed together as they focused intently on their sister, feeling her touch.

Perhaps it was because she felt that her sister needed to eat undisturbed, or perhaps her sister’s affection made her feel shy again in a slow, dull way.

Xia Yu calmed down, her two lotus-white elbows resting on the dining table, her fingers slightly curled, supporting her chin, her gaze fixed on Xia Xiuyin.

At first glance, it appears as if the girl is innocently cradling her cheeks, awaiting a gentle touch.

Xia Xiuyin thought this way and acted accordingly.

Before the child became dizzy, she took a wet wipe and wiped Xia Yu’s elbow, then folded it simply and placed it on the tabletop.

The table surface is not clean, A Yu should not put her hands directly on it.

As Xia Yu marveled at the polished tabletop, she leaned closer to the child, her warm breath brushing against Xia Yu’s ear.

Intimate, whispering posture.

“Does A’Yu know… some classmates said…”

“The cleaning lady will use a mop to clean the dining table.”

Xia Yu’s small mouth opened slightly, then looked around in confusion, noticing that many classmates had their hands on the table.

But she still nodded trustingly, slowly withdrawing her hand to her side.

Xia Yu glanced down at her white socks embroidered with a small animal, and she gently shook her leg.

“What’s wrong?” Xia Xiuyin followed her gaze and her eyes also landed on the small tuft of fur with speckled colors.

A little kitten.

Xia Xiuyin curved her eyebrows and eyes.

Xia Yu’s fingers tugged at her sister’s clothing, and upon noticing her sister’s attention returning to her face, she softly, softly meowed, “Meow~.”

Both delicate and coquettish.

Xia Xiuyin’s chopsticks rested against the stainless steel lunchbox.

Then, before the sister could react, Xia Yu became embarrassed and, pretending nothing was wrong, hummed a little nasal sound, saying, “Sister, hurry up and eat.”

Xia Xiuyin freed a hand to pinch Xia Yu’s cheeks.

“Little kitten, can you meow one more time for sister to hear?”

“Little rascal, you’re quite naughty.”

Xia Xiuyin refused to let Xia Yu accompany her to eat, initially just staring intently at her, but now she has started to bully her.

During the evening self-study break, Xia Xiuyin sent a short message to Liu Zhi.

“Uncle Liu, is A Yu still waiting?”

Soon there was a response.

“She in the car reading books”

Xia Xiuyin’s fingers subconsciously rubbed against the surface of the mock exam paper.

Xia Yu’s ability to coax has become increasingly potent, persuading Liu Zhi to bring her a foldable small table in the car, which is convenient for her to study.

Unconsciously, she seemed to have reached an agreement with someone, after delivering a meal to Xia Xiuyin, she obediently left the school with Liu Zhi, but refused to let Liu Zhi take her home.

Xia Xiuyin once asked Liu Zhi to take the child to a nearby café to sit for a while. After going a few times, Xia Yu became unwilling and tugged at Liu Zhi’s trouser leg, saying, “Uncle Liu, let’s go to the car…”

The quietest corner of the coffee shop was still filled with factors that made her uneasy; she wanted to sit where her sister had sat, reading a book amidst her sister’s lingering presence.

Xia Yu has a phone watch on her wrist, and she has never taken the initiative to call Xia Xiuyin, fearing that it might disturb her sister’s studies.

Sometimes Xia Xiuyin would call her, and she would reluctantly tell Xia Xiuyin not to worry about her.

Xia Xiuyin is always left speechless by Xia Yu’s childish remarks.

“What the heck? Did you just cheat?” Xia Xiuyin’s side, two boys childishly drew vertical lines on their exercise books, they had been honing their skills in the game of Gomoku for nearly three hours, enjoying it immensely.

One of them was incredulously clutching the book, staring at the crossed-out and captured chess piece.

Xia Xiuyin glanced casually out the window, where the night was extremely dark, heavy and starless, almost as if it was about to crush the school building.

The lights in the classrooms of three grades and the corridor illuminated a patch of open ground. She saw a squirrel, taking a few light leaps, come face to face with her. Its black bean-like eyes instantly froze, and it clutched its paws tightly around its belongings, looking dazed.

Looks… soft, adorable, harmless.

Xia Xiuyin tilted her head, recalling the few times she returned to her car after evening self-study and glimpsed the child sleeping soundly wrapped in a blanket through the car window.

She struggled to open her eyes amidst the bustling sounds of school dismissal, her long eyelashes trembling lightly like butterfly wings, prompting Xia Xiuyin to recall the sensation of those lashes lightly brushing against her palm.

Slight, continuous itchiness..

Xia Xiuyin snapped back to attention with the sound of the bell, clenching the itchiness in her palm.

The slight discomfort seeped into her blood, flowed through her body, and was pumped by her heart to supply her brain.

Xia Xiuyin was tormented by this itch.

She let go of her hand.

“Clack” a water-based pen dropped onto the desk.

The sound is barely perceptible, yet it truly exists.

Xia Xiuyin gently pushed aside the stool and walked out of the classroom.

Xia Yu is attempting to read a travelogue without any phonetic annotations, and whenever she encounters unfamiliar words, she instinctively touches the dictionary placed beside her.

But her sister told her that she could try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by considering the context.

“It’s okay even if you guess wrong.” That’s what sister said.

The slightly narrow eyes softened, the inner corners became distinct, and the smile seeped into the brown eyes, slightly spreading… This is the smiling sister.

Xia Yu shook her head, trying to force herself not to let her attention wander again.

Suddenly, there was a gentle tap on the car window.

Knock knock

Xia Yu looked up with confusion, and as soon as he saw clearly, his breath hitched and his heartbeat slowed by half a beat

Sister slightly leaned forward, her delicate face coming closer, appearing even more porcelain-white and delicate under the light.

Xia Yu’s gaze fell on Xia Xiuyin’s lips, soft and moist like petals opening and closing, with the car’s interior light casting a faint sheen of water over them.

Sister’s fingertips pressed against the car window, slowly sketching out a little cat.

Xia Yu’s breathing fluctuated gently with the rise and fall of her fingertips.

Soon, she hurriedly placed the book aside, opened the door, and timidly welcomed her illusion.

Immediately after, the apparition reached into the carriage, affectionately touching her hair.

Sister’s voice was soft as if it could drip with water, she said:

“A’Yu, let’s go home.”

Jiang He’s office is the large one for the grade, with ten math teachers, nine of whom are male, and the only female teacher has a remarkable record of coaching two students to achieve perfect scores in the college entrance exam.

Separated from his office is another mathematics office, where after every mock exam, you can see a group of mathematics teachers dutifully squatting on the ground, sorting the exam papers from different venues by class.

Jiang He’s forehead is now throbbing intensely.

He opened all the office windows in a troubled state, hoping to let the smoke in the room dissipate.

These past two days, with the female teacher on leave, those big men have become lawless, chain-smoking one cigarette after another.

Just now, the last troublemaker left in a carefree manner after the first evening self-study session.

Jiang He inadvertently glanced at his desk, cleared his throat softly, and tucked a can of cigarettes next to his computer into the bookshelf

Jiang He smokes by the jar, using a rough ceramic wide-mouth jar, a creation of his daughter two years ago. When he has nothing to do, he dismantles cigarette packs and inserts each cigarette one by one into the jar. When he smokes heavily, he can finish a jar in half a day.

“Could you reconsider, please?”

The heartfelt plea echoed in his ears, like a stone dropped into a pond—its reverberations resonated within his mind, persistent and unceasing, causing his blood pressure to rise slightly.

He leaned on the armchair and flopped into it, pressing his forehead.

Knock knock

It seemed to know that Jiang was so troubled that his intestines nearly knotted, so the other party merely knocked twice in a restrained and polite manner as a reminder.

Jiang He lay there for a while, then wiped his face and pulled himself together.

“Please come in.”

A slender, clean hand pressed against the door, gently pushing it open.

From the smooth and graceful lines of the wrist upwards, one sees the beautiful lines of the shoulder and neck, followed by the well-shaped lips.

“Hello, Teacher Jiang.”

Xia Xiuyin’s appearance is indeed… somewhat excessive.

Especially in the relatively bright light of the office, she stood gracefully, her skin fair and delicate. With just a slight lift of her brown eyes, she exuded an arresting presence.

This charm was repeatedly subdued by Xia Xiuyin’s dignified aura, and gradually reined in due to her gentle and prudent demeanor, hiding beneath the girl’s innocence, only occasionally making one’s heart race.

“Xia Xiuyin, do you know what the implications of the demands you’ve made are?” Jiang He interrogated.

After the math class, Xia Xiuyin whispered a few words to him.

Since he still had classes to teach, he suppressed his anger and asked Xia Xiuyin to come to his office after his class.

“I understand, Teacher Jiang.” Xia Xiuyin’s voice was calm and gentle.

Jiang He’s heartfelt admonitions dissipated completely under these six light words.

Long-term vacation, no longer participating in any evening self-study sessions.

Xia Xiuyin’s every word was hitting Jiang He’s taut nerves.

The evening self-study at the provincial level is not merely for students to do their homework and review, but during the sprint phase, all evening self-studies are occupied by mock exams.

These mock exam scores are an important basis for the school to cultivate top students.

Jiang He had finally managed to recruit a top scorer into his class, and he certainly wouldn’t let his student miss out on resources.

He firmly believed that talent was only a small part of success, and no one could succeed without the help of external support.

“Or… there are only two weeks left before the mid-term exam, followed by the final exam, and every exam thereafter… the college entrance exam,” Xia Xiuyin said.

Seeing Jiang He realize something and look up, she curled her lips into a smile.

“Teacher Jiang, I believe, being first always comes with privileges.”

She spoke lightly, causing Jiang He to feel a moment of disorientation.

“Okay.”