Chapter 224: Chapter 209: Your Elders? (Second Update)
Wen Wan finished paying her tuition fees, greeted the teacher, and followed the other female students to look inside the lecture hall.
When choosing a seat, she didnât rush forward, wanting to wait for others to select first and then pick from what was left.
A beautiful young lady chose a seat in the front row.
Earlier, when meeting the teacher, Wen Wan had heard her introduce herself; her name was Lin Xiaoyue.
Lin Xiaoyue saw that Wen Wan hadnât moved for a while and occupied the seat next to her, telling passing students that the seat was taken.
Afterward, she looked at Wen Wan and waved her over.
Wen Wan walked over.
Lin Xiaoyue raised an eyebrow at her, "Why didnât you choose?"
Wen Wan smiled lightly, "Anywhere is the same."
Lin Xiaoyue laughed, "If anywhere is the same, why not sit next to me? The front row seats are better."
With that, she pointed to the empty seat she had managed to secure.
Wen Wan glanced at it, feeling a bit hesitant.
"Whatâs the matter? Not daring to sit? Afraid Iâll do something to trick you at the seat?"
Wen Wan shook her head and said no.
Impatient with Wen Wanâs hesitation, Lin Xiaoyue stood up, grabbed Wen Wanâs arm, and pulled her toward the empty seat.
Wen Wan felt uncomfortable sitting in the snatched seat, her brows slightly furrowed.
"Sit tight, I have something to ask you."
Lin Xiaoyue leaned on the desk with both hands to prevent her from running away, taking on a very domineering pose, looked at her with a half-smiling gaze, "Earlier, when meeting the teacher, how old did you say you were?"
Wen Wanâs heart skipped a beat, wondering to herself how even Auntie Xie couldnât quite figure it out, yet upon arriving at Hongwen Academy, a girl saw through her directly.
"Fifteen, just came of age." Despite her inner apprehension, Wen Wan remained calm on the surface.
"Oh? Really?" Lin Xiaoyue drawled, then asked her, "Which house are you from, I havenât heard of a prominent Wen family in the Capital?"
If one wasnât from a household with a requisite official rank, they wouldnât receive a quota to enter Hongwen Academy.
Wen Wan didnât look at Lin Xiaoyue, and recited the explanation her husband had devised: "Iâm just living at a relativeâs house temporarily."
Before Wen Wan finished speaking, Lin Xiaoyue interrupted, "Your relatives donât have daughters, so the quota was vacant, and you benefited from it?"
Wen Wan nodded.
Lin Xiaoyue pondered for a good while after hearing this.
Seeing her reaction, Wen Wan couldnât help but reflect on whether sheâd exposed a flaw that Lin Xiaoyue noticed, fearing she might be publicly unmasked.
Unexpectedly, after a while, Lin Xiaoyue suddenly looked up and said to her: "Coincidentally, Iâm the same."
Wen Wan: "..."
Was it fashionable these days to be fostered in someone elseâs home and get in through connections?
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It was evening.
Wen Wan emerged from Hongwen Academy and immediately saw Song Wei waiting not far away. He was standing next to a carriage, coincidentally running into fellow students from Imperial College, engaging them in conversation.
The manâs handsome and upright figure was elongated by the sunset; Wen Wan unconsciously fixed her gaze at the spot on the silhouette where his face was, vaguely seeing his lips move as he spoke, at a calm and unhurried pace.
In front of outsiders, he usually didnât say much.
While lost in thought, Lin Xiaoyue suddenly approached, glancing along her line of sight and lengthily uttering an indicative "Oh", wearing an expression of "I know everything", raising her delicate eyebrows high as she side-eyed Wen Wan, "Your family?"
Wen Wanâs face flushed, and before she could explain, Lin Xiaoyue suddenly leaned in and whispered mysteriously, "Heâs personally here to pick you up, wouldnât happen to be your ..."
Her half-obscured words made Wen Wan feel intensely tense within.
After all, having done something guilty, she feared being seen through at a glance by others.
Being naturally introverted, Wen Wan was afraid of making a fool of herself in public.
Lin Xiaoyue saw her face full of unease and couldnât help but chuckle, finishing her thought, "Couldnât be an elder, right?"
Wen Wan swallowed her saliva, quietly heaving a sigh of relief.
Lin Xiaoyue went on: "If itâs an elder here to pick you up, then whatâs making you nervous?"
"I am not..." Wen Wan lowered her head as she walked, not looking at her.
After walking some distance, Wen Wan raised her head and noticed someone staring toward Lin Xiaoyue from another direction. She glanced over and saw a tall man with sword-like brows and starry eyes, handsome beyond compare. Compared to Song Weiâs elegant maturity, the man possessed a sharp heroic aura.
Unsure if it was an illusion, Wen Wan felt that when the manâs gaze landed on Lin Xiaoyue, there was a softness in his eyes that did not match his surrounding aura.
She couldnât help but look at the girl beside her.
Lin Xiaoyue dodged Wen Wanâs gaze, straightened her chest and said, "Whatâs strange, your family has elders coming to pick you, ours canât?"
Wen Wan: "...I didnât say they couldnât."
Lin Xiaoyueâs face seemed to redden a bit, lifting her skirt as she trotted forward a few steps, tossing a remark back, "Canât be bothered with you!"
Wen Wan watched as Lin Xiaoyue hurriedly climbed into the carriage, as if understanding something, her lips gently curved.
"What are you looking at?" A warm and familiar voice rang beside her ear.
Wen Wan snapped back to reality, noticing the other students had almost all left, with only herself still standing still without moving.
She shook her head, "Nothing."
Then she looked past Song Wei, didnât see those people from earlier, and asked him, "Did those people leave?"
Song Wei nodded, "A few classmates, just chatting casually."
Wen Wan was small and had to look up to see the manâs face clearly.
Remembering Lin Xiaoyue asking if the one picking her up was an elder, she suddenly felt a bit guilty, quickly shifted her gaze back, bowed her head, and walked forward, getting on the carriage quickly.
Song Wei followed her up, and the carriage started off.
Seeing her being shy and not speaking, he asked, "Did something wrong?"
Wen Wan mumbled: "Can you not come to pick me up in the future? I... Iâm not a child and should learn to be independent."
Song Weiâs eyes held a smile, agreeing with her, "Itâs just the first day; I was worried you might not adapt. If you donât like it, I wonât come in the future."
Wen Wan was afraid heâd get angry and explained, "I just thought youâve been busy for days and finally get a day off to rest at home. With Uncle Lin picking me up, Iâll be fine."
Song Wei roughly guessed what the little girl was feeling embarrassed about and decided not to tease her further, "How was the first day at school?"
Hearing him change the subject, Wen Wan relaxed her tense fingers, "Perhaps due to Hongwen Academyâs strict rules, once inside, everyone is equal, so the students arenât as difficult to get along with as I initially thought."
"Thatâs good." Song Wei said, "Study well, make a few friends if possible; itâll be beneficial for you in the future."
Wen Wan nodded and said she understood.
This obedient, disciplined interaction increasingly seemed like a parent educating a child.
Wen Wan again thought of Lin Xiaoyueâs words, her small face blushing.
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The carriage stopped outside the Song Mansion.
Wen Wan stepped into the courtyard and was amazed to find that the flowers, which had been blooming vibrantly when she left, now appeared pecked by chickens, leaving just a few lonely petals hanging on the branches.
Even though the courtyard had been tidied up, it wasnât hard to imagine the disaster scene it must have been.
She couldnât help but turn to the man.
"Aside from Jinbao, no one else could have done this." Song Wei said offhandedly.
Wen Wan frowned and reminded him, "Father-in-law tends to each plant himself, getting up before dawn every day to water them."
She wanted to remind her husband to find an opportunity to discipline that mischievous little brat who dismantles the house for no reason.
Unexpectedly, he paused and said, "Iâve already bought several new pots for Father and placed them at Auntieâs house next door so he can take care of them there in the future."
Wen Wan: "..."
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Before leaving, Wen Wan didnât want to see her troublesome son, and upon entering, hearing that in one afternoon he had ruined Father-in-lawâs flowers further dissuaded her from wanting to see him, fearing she might not resist hitting him a couple of times.
As it turned out, she didnât want to see the chubby rascal, and the chubby rascal didnât want to see the woman who had abandoned him for a whole day either.
Mother and son sat back to back, one on the baby bed hugging his feet, the other on the stool hugging her arms, sulking with each other.
Eventually, it was the mother who softened first and went over to coax the little one.
The little guy snorted twice, moved his butt aside, refusing to be hugged.
Wen Wan glared at him, "This morning, when you bit me, I didnât hit you; how dare you act up now?"
The little guy snorted again, still refusing to be hugged.
Since tough measures werenât working, Wen Wan resorted to a soft approach, saying baby, you canât treat mom like this, I had such a hard time carrying you, and nearly had a difficult labor when giving birth to you!
Jinbao didnât understand, anyway, he just knew this woman rambled on beside his ear, so he reluctantly took it as her admitting fault, moved his little butt back, and temporarily allowed her to hug.
Wen Wan looked down at the little guy in her arms, wondering how, being so tiny, he learned nothing else but how to hold grudges? Who taught him?
Song Yuanbao came in from outside, looking at Wen Wan, eyes dodging, clearly feeling guilty.
Wen Wan asked him, "Yuanbao, didnât you go next door to teach your cousins to read today?"
Song Yuanbao lowered his head and said he went and had just come back.
Wen Wan noticed he seemed off, "Whatâs wrong?"
Song Yuanbao took a deep breath and said softly, "Today grandma asked me to watch Jinbao, I fell asleep accidentally, and as a result, Jinbao climbed out of bed and ruined all grandpaâs flowers."
Wen Wan was more concerned about Father-in-lawâs reaction, "What did your grandpa say?"
Yuanbao said truthfully, "Grandpa said Jinbao clearly has an eye for beauty, choosing only the prettiest flowers to pick, and said he picked well."
Eye for beauty?
Wen Wan looked down at the restless son in her arms, touching and poking everything, "..."
"Mom, Iâm sorry." In this matter, Song Yuanbao felt very guilty.
Although nobodyâgrandma, grandpa, dad or momâblamed him, he just felt the whole responsibility was his.
Wen Wan said, "Itâs not your fault; Jinbao is mischievous, donât blame yourself. Even if I turn around briefly to grab him an outfit, he can crawl into the study and turn my calligraphy into shreds. Youâre still a child; how can you watch him?"
Seeing he was still blaming himself, Wen Wan said, "If you really feel sorry, just help Grandpa water the flowers next door more often, and restore the losses quickly."
Song Yuanbaoâs mood seemed to improve a bit, nodded earnestly, "Okay."
The little guy in her arms, hearing mom speak, also mimicked her, picked up a toy and handed it to Wen Wan, saying, "flower... flower..."