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 didn’t 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 hadn’t 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 didn’t 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.
"What’s the matter? Not daring to sit? Afraid I’ll do something to trick you at the seat?"
Wen Wan shook her head and said no.
Impatient with Wen Wan’s hesitation, Lin Xiaoyue stood up, grabbed Wen Wan’s 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 Wan’s heart skipped a beat, wondering to herself how even Auntie Xie couldn’t 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 haven’t heard of a prominent Wen family in the Capital?"
If one wasn’t from a household with a requisite official rank, they wouldn’t receive a quota to enter Hongwen Academy.
Wen Wan didn’t look at Lin Xiaoyue, and recited the explanation her husband had devised: "I’m just living at a relative’s house temporarily."
Before Wen Wan finished speaking, Lin Xiaoyue interrupted, "Your relatives don’t 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 couldn’t help but reflect on whether she’d 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, I’m the same."
Wen Wan: "..."
Was it fashionable these days to be fostered in someone else’s home and get in through connections?
——
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 man’s 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 didn’t 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 Wan’s face flushed, and before she could explain, Lin Xiaoyue suddenly leaned in and whispered mysteriously, "He’s personally here to pick you up, wouldn’t 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 couldn’t help but chuckle, finishing her thought, "Couldn’t be an elder, right?"
Wen Wan swallowed her saliva, quietly heaving a sigh of relief.
Lin Xiaoyue went on: "If it’s an elder here to pick you up, then what’s 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 Wei’s elegant maturity, the man possessed a sharp heroic aura.
Unsure if it was an illusion, Wen Wan felt that when the man’s gaze landed on Lin Xiaoyue, there was a softness in his eyes that did not match his surrounding aura.
She couldn’t help but look at the girl beside her.
Lin Xiaoyue dodged Wen Wan’s gaze, straightened her chest and said, "What’s strange, your family has elders coming to pick you, ours can’t?"
Wen Wan: "...I didn’t say they couldn’t."
Lin Xiaoyue’s face seemed to redden a bit, lifting her skirt as she trotted forward a few steps, tossing a remark back, "Can’t 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, didn’t 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 man’s 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... I’m not a child and should learn to be independent."
Song Wei’s eyes held a smile, agreeing with her, "It’s just the first day; I was worried you might not adapt. If you don’t like it, I won’t come in the future."
Wen Wan was afraid he’d get angry and explained, "I just thought you’ve been busy for days and finally get a day off to rest at home. With Uncle Lin picking me up, I’ll 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 Academy’s strict rules, once inside, everyone is equal, so the students aren’t as difficult to get along with as I initially thought."
"That’s good." Song Wei said, "Study well, make a few friends if possible; it’ll 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 Xiaoyue’s words, her small face blushing.
——
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 wasn’t hard to imagine the disaster scene it must have been.
She couldn’t 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, "I’ve already bought several new pots for Father and placed them at Auntie’s house next door so he can take care of them there in the future."
Wen Wan: "..."
——
Before leaving, Wen Wan didn’t want to see her troublesome son, and upon entering, hearing that in one afternoon he had ruined Father-in-law’s 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 didn’t want to see the chubby rascal, and the chubby rascal didn’t 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 didn’t hit you; how dare you act up now?"
The little guy snorted again, still refusing to be hugged.
Since tough measures weren’t working, Wen Wan resorted to a soft approach, saying baby, you can’t treat mom like this, I had such a hard time carrying you, and nearly had a difficult labor when giving birth to you!
Jinbao didn’t 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, didn’t 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, "What’s 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 grandpa’s flowers."
Wen Wan was more concerned about Father-in-law’s 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, I’m sorry." In this matter, Song Yuanbao felt very guilty.
Although nobody—grandma, grandpa, dad or mom—blamed him, he just felt the whole responsibility was his.
Wen Wan said, "It’s not your fault; Jinbao is mischievous, don’t 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. You’re 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 Yuanbao’s 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..."