"I never expected she’d be this late coming back,"
Shen Jianhua also felt a pang of regret. He didn’t ask earlier because he heard Siyu had been attending tutoring sessions for half a month now, and it had always been safe. He never anticipated she would return so late.
"If anything happens to Siyu, I won’t let you off the hook,"
Zhou Lanfang was anxious and took out her frustration on Shen Jianhua.
Facing his wife’s irrational behavior, Shen Jianhua was at a loss for words, but he knew that she was acting this way because she was worried about Zhou Siyu, so he didn’t lose his temper with her.
Seeing Shen Mianmian come back from the toilet outside, he quickly asked, "Mianmian, do you know where Siyu’s classmate lives?"
Before Shen Mianmian could finish speaking, a burst of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door. Shen Jianhua and Zhou Lanfang rushed out to see Zhou Siyu pushing her bicycle up to the front of the house.
Seeing her return, Zhou Lanfang and Shen Jianhua sighed with relief and lost interest in paying any more attention to Shen Mianmian.
"Siyu, why are you only getting back now? Look how sweaty and hot you are. Are you hungry? Go wash your face and eat," Zhou Lanfang took Zhou Siyu’s backpack off her shoulders, quickly parked her bicycle, and pulled her to the washbasin, urging her to wash her hands and eat.
"The exams are coming up, so my classmate’s uncle tutored us a bit longer. We have one more session tomorrow, and then we won’t need to go anymore," explained Zhou Siyu with a flicker in her eyes, justifying her late return.
Zhou Lanfang didn’t suspect a thing and passed the chopsticks to Zhou Siyu, hurrying her to eat quickly.
Now that she was back, Shen Jianhua felt at ease, but hearing that she would be tutored again late into the night, he immediately said, "Which classmate? Tomorrow let your aunt accompany you. We’re not comfortable with you coming back alone so late."
"Exactly, exactly," Zhou Lanfang nodded repeatedly, "I’ll accompany you tomorrow. Don’t worry, I won’t go in and disturb your study; I’ll just wait outside for you."
"That’s not a good idea!" Zhou Siyu looked troubled. "Others might say I’m putting on airs, having someone pick me up and drop me off for tutoring."
"It’s for safety," Zhou Lanfang insisted on waiting for Zhou Siyu. "If it really can’t be helped, I’ll wait at the village entrance." After all, she wasn’t studying and it didn’t matter where she waited.
Seeing she couldn’t refuse any longer without raising her uncle and auntie’s suspicions,
Zhou Siyu thought for a moment and then said, "Then wait for me at the school gate! The place where I attend tutoring is near the school."
"Okay," Zhou Lanfang agreed, continuously stuffing more food into Zhou Siyu’s bowl, "eat more, you must be starving after studying so long, right?"
"Auntie, I’m too tired from studying today, I’m not very hungry." Zhou Siyu had eaten a lot of chicken at Song Zhengguo’s home and wasn’t really hungry. Feeling somewhat uneasy, she had no appetite and started to put the food Zhou Lanfang had served her back into the dishes. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
"Siyu, are you feeling unwell? You haven’t eaten since noon, how can you not be hungry?"
Zhou Lanfang sensed something was off. Usually, her niece would come back from school like a starving tiger, able to eat a lot. It was the first time she was putting the food back into the dishes.
"I’m just too hot, I don’t have much of an appetite," Zhou Siyu said, her tone slightly irritable. She knew she shouldn’t show her irritation in front of Shen Jianhua, but she felt very agitated inside.
"Maybe the heat is getting to you. Have some porridge first, then go take a bath," suggested Shen Jianhua. Working outdoors often made him lose his appetite from the heat, and he thought Zhou Siyu must be experiencing the same thing without giving it further