Chapter 102

After returning to the Song Family, Song Pianxian had transferred her students from the educational institution to other teachers and resigned from her job.

As for the part-time job tutoring Nie Xingzhou, Song Pianxian continued to do it on weekends before formally starting her job at the company. She told Liu Ying that she wasn’t used to having no work to do.

Liu Ying didn’t oppose it much either. With Nie Xingzhou’s status there, tutoring her was considered building a relationship between the families.

But before going to bed, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad. The daughters of other families were all playing around, enjoying exhibitions one day and fashion shows the next, flying around the world. Even if they took on side jobs, they all chose directions they liked.

But her daughter had been shaped by life into someone who couldn’t get used to not working.

Liu Ying shared these thoughts with Song Sen. Song Sen comforted her as usual and then said:

“Don’t spoil your daughter. There’s more waiting for her in the future. Enduring hardships from a young age will prepare her for the future. It’s a good thing.”

Liu Ying felt relieved after hearing this.

Regardless, Liu Ying’s long-standing ailment was finally resolved in a miraculous way, and there was no longer any shadow hanging over her. With the help of a doctor, Liu Ying’s dependence on medication to sleep greatly decreased.

And Song Pianxian was much stronger in all aspects than they had imagined.

She seamlessly integrated into this environment like a natural member of the Song Family. Whether it was the complex family relationships, the luxurious lifestyle, the appropriate social etiquette, her appearance, or her manner of speaking, everything about her was impeccable.

Due to the complete acceptance by her relatives and Song Pianxian’s own superior conditions, the highly anticipated return of the Song Family’s daughter ended smoothly under the scrutiny of the public.

However, the impact of this event was far-reaching. Aside from other aspects, just one point was significant: Song Pianxian was accustomed to life in China, and with Song Fei still attending school there, Liu Ying was the first to stay behind to accompany the children.

Song Sen intended to give Song Pianxian some practice and had been looking for suitable project plans to carry out in the domestic environment. However, the progress of everything depended on Song Pianxian’s thoughts.

At present, Song Sen had tasked Song Pianxian with dealing with the Xi Heng family.

As Song Sen was busy, and the Song Family’s headquarters were still overseas, he couldn’t personally guide his daughter. Therefore, he assigned his capable assistant, Fang Yuan, to Song Pianxian.

Assistants like Fang Yuan, who had been trained by Song Sen for a long time, were capable of taking charge when they were sent out. They could even serve as company general managers.

She could have been transferred and appointed as the general manager of a subsidiary, but when Song Sen mentioned this to her, she chose without hesitation to work under Miss, helping her adapt to the new social and business circles.

This was a gamble concerning her career, but after a brief interaction with Song Pianxian, Fang Yuan felt that her chances of winning were not small.

Just looking at the relationship between her young miss and Nie Lingbo, it was extraordinary.

If her young miss was a promising young sapling, then Nie Lingbo was already a towering and deeply rooted tree. Fang Yuan deeply believed that even if her young miss couldn’t forge her own path, she could absorb enough nutrients under Nie Lingbo’s guidance, and then grow independently.

Because of her confidence in Nie Lingbo, Fang Yuan eagerly went to suggest to the boss that Miss should spend more time learning from Nie Lingbo.

Song Sen also thought it was a good idea. After all, his daughter was close to this cousin, and it would be convenient for her to communicate with peers. So, with a wave of his hand, he agreed.

In the end, Song Pianxian spent two or three days a week staying at the Nie Family’s house, partly teaching Nie Xingzhou and partly being taught by Nie Lingbo.

Nie Lingbo’s study was always off-limits to outsiders. Nie Xingzhou never dared to enter without permission. Even if she did enter, she couldn’t drink juice or cola because her aunt liked to keep things clean.

But what happened after the young teacher arrived? Nie Xingzhou watched helplessly as her aunt allowed the young teacher to use the study freely, even having afternoon tea there. Nie Xingzhou looked on in bewilderment.

Back in her own small study, she couldn’t make sense of it. She tried to poke Xiang Sixi, who was writing her test paper. Xiang Sixi, though focused on the questions, skillfully blocked her actions with a pen.

“What’s wrong now?”

“What a straight guy tone.” Nie Xingzhou was quite dissatisfied, resting her head on the test paper. “Hey, why did my aunt let you use her study, but not me?”

“Because my Big Sister is very nice, and everyone likes her,” Xiang Sixi replied promptly.

“…Is that so?”

Listening to Xiang Sixi’s tone of “my Big Sister is very likable,” Nie Xingzhou felt a hint of restrained pride and satisfaction in her words, but she was almost convinced.

But soon she realized, “Are you saying that I’m not likable?”

Xiang Sixi quickly smirked, “Of course not.”

Nie Xingzhou was already feeling irritated:

“Hey Xiang Sixi, you—”

“Nie Xingzhou.” Xiang Sixi suddenly closed her pen, her tone quiet and her expression serious.

This was Xiang Sixi’s demeanor when teaching Nie Xingzhou, solemn and serious, as if she held a ruler in her hand and was ready to hit the hand of the poor-performing student Nie Xingzhou.

This triggered Nie Xingzhou’s fear of forced studying. Her confidence waned for a moment, but soon she lifted her chin and chest proudly, although her confidence was not very strong.

Nie Xingzhou deliberately mimicked Xiang Sixi’s previous tone:

“What’s wrong now?”

“What’s wrong?” Xiang Sixi smiled, nodding at the test paper in her hand.

Nie Xingzhou shook her ears and glanced discreetly, only to realize… Xiang Sixi had been looking at her own physics test paper all along.

Nie Xingzhou suddenly understood.

“Sister Xixi—”

Influenced by Nie Lingbo, Nie Xingzhou’s mother, Tian Yi, had recently started paying attention to her daughter’s grades.

Because there had been a physicist in the Tian Family, Tian Yi felt that her daughter should also have some talent. However, when she saw her daughter’s grades, Tian Yi fell silent.

After her silence, she earnestly told Xiang Sixi that Nie Xingzhou’s physics grades must improve. She even pressed her to study hard and achieve at least a passing grade. Otherwise, she would feel embarrassed to take her daughter back to her maternal home.

Xiang Sixi calmly nodded at the prospect of just passing.

Hearing that she only needed to pass, Nie Xingzhou slumped in despair onto the sofa.

Now Xiang Sixi held a formidable weapon: Nie Xingzhou’s physics test paper, which was miles away from passing. The fluffy fur on the little cat’s body instantly softened, and her paw rested on Xiang Sixi’s arm, seeking consensus with a gentle sway.

“Sister Xixi—” she dragged out the words, “you won’t show this test paper to my mom, right? Right? Right?”

Xiang Sixi picked up her usual pen, spread the paper in front of her, and handed the pen to her:

“First, redo the incorrect questions. After we discuss the mistakes, I’ll give you a new test paper to complete.”

This was an agreement. Nie Xingzhou’s round eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she eagerly took the pen:

“I’ll do it well.” As for whether it would be correct or not, only heaven knew.

In any case, Nie Xingzhou happily took the pen and started writing. She began with the wrong multiple-choice questions, unable to recall how she made such unique mistakes.

She didn’t know the correct answers, but in front of Xiang Sixi, she started with writing down formulas, pretending to have a clue was definitely not wrong.

Nie Xingzhou wrote “g=mg” seriously, then remembered, “Did I forget something?”

Xiang Sixi calmly replied, “Hurry up, we have a lunch gathering soon.”

“Oh no, I think I forgot something…” Nie Xingzhou muttered quietly.

Seeing Ms. Nie about to enter into a reminiscing mode, noises from downstairs came through the window, Tian Yi was talking to Nie Lingbo.

“If you find another excuse not to correct the test paper, I will—”

“Oops, sorry, Sister Xixi.” Nie Xingzhou quickly begged for mercy, putting down the pen and clinging to Xiang Sixi’s arm, almost rubbing against her.

Xiang Sixi was usually introverted, without friends, and couldn’t stand such a girl’s behavior.

Moreover… what did Nie Xingzhou eat to grow up like this? Clearly, they were the same age, how… Xiang Sixi quickly pulled Nie Xingzhou away and pushed her aside, standing up to keep her distance.

“Do your work properly, stop being so clingy,” she warned Nie Xingzhou.

Nie Xingzhou pouted, secretly muttering curses under her breath, but sweetly said on the surface, “Okay, Sister Xixi.”

Xiang Sixi stood up, glanced at Nie Xingzhou who was busy writing but might be secretly drawing stick figures, her ears felt hot, and her mouth was dry.

She decided to have some water.

The water brought by the upstairs auntie had already cooled down, so Xiang Sixi went downstairs to fetch it. As she descended the stairs, she could vaguely see a pair of figures on the sofa.

They were described as a pair because the figures were close together, and it seemed like upon hearing footsteps, they separated into two distinct shapes before Xiang Sixi’s eyes.

The figure closer to Xiang Sixi looked over, and she realized it was Big Sister.

“Big Sister?” She had thought it was Nie Xingzhou’s mother and Sister Lingbo.

Xiang Sixi always liked to stick close to Big Sister when she saw her. This time was no exception. Holding an empty water glass, she completely forgot she wanted to drink water and walked straight to Big Sister:

“When did you come back, Sis? I didn’t hear you.”

“Just came back with Sister Lingbo. Here, take this plate of fruit upstairs and eat it with Xingzhou.”

“Remember we have guests for lunch? Around 12:30. Control your practice time.”

“Okay.”

Xiang Sixi responded and glanced at the two fruit plates on the table—cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes, apples, mangoes, oranges, and strawberries, arranged beautifully.

One plate was already half-empty, with a fruit fork inserted into a piece.

The other plate was intact, with two fruit forks featuring animal themes that Nie Xingzhou liked. It was clearly prepared for them.

Whether it was yogurt or any other food, Big Sister always remembered to prepare a portion for them. Xiang Sixi crisply responded and picked up the fruit plate.

Song Pianxian reminded, “This orange is a bit sour. Remind Xingzhou.”

Nie Xingzhou couldn’t tolerate sourness. Just a bit of acidity could make her whole face crumple up, looking pitiful.

Xiang Sixi remembered and said, “I know.”

But in her heart, she was thinking that if she went back and found Nie Xingzhou slacking off again, she would make her eat a piece of orange as punishment, and she wasn’t allowed to cry while eating.

Xiang Sixi calculated the matter of the cold and ruthless “slacking off punishment” for Nie Xingzhou, and she even looked forward to Nie Xingzhou being sour and begging for mercy. If it weren’t for her timely control of her expression, she would have smiled.

Just as Xiang Sixi was about to say she was going upstairs, she saw Lingbo, who had been silent, pick up a silver fruit fork and insert it into a piece of orange to examine it:

“Sour?”

Her Big Sister then said gently, “You can’t tell just by looking. You don’t like sour things, do you? Don’t eat this one.”

With that, Big Sister took the fruit fork from Lingbo’s hand naturally, and Lingbo also let go decisively, as if she had reached a level of compliance.

Xiang Sixi always felt something odd about this scene, but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was strange.

Was it because Lingbo had always been dominant, and no one dared to take things from her?

In that case, her relationship with Big Sister was really good. She had never seen Lingbo so close to anyone before. Even Nie Xingzhou couldn’t enter her study, but her Big Sister could use it freely—

It seemed that Big Sister was really popular.

Xiang Sixi’s thoughts gradually drifted off as she saw Big Sister focus on peeling the orange for herself while Lingbo leaned on the sofa, seemingly unbothered. Carrying the fruit plate, she went back to find Nie Xingzhou.

As she reached the door of Nie Xingzhou’s study, Xiang Sixi suddenly remembered—

Why was there only one fruit fork on the other fruit plate?

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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu

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