"Where’s Lawyer Zhao?"
Ruan Hongzhuang parked the car, came looking, and found it odd to see Shen Siyuan alone. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹·𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲·𝗻𝗲𝘁
"Left? So quickly, what did he want from you?" Ruan Hongzhuang asked curiously.
There was no need to hide it, and since Zhao Dezhu was somewhat her person, Shen Siyuan gave her a brief rundown of the situation.
Ruan Hongzhuang, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but feel emotional.
"Even the best relationship can’t withstand the test of time. Will you treat me this way in the future?"
Women’s thought processes really are different from men’s. Is that the focus here?
Upon returning home, Ruan Hongzhuang entered the house first, looked around, and asked with some confusion, "Is no one at home today?"
"Dou Dou? Duoduo? Xiao Yue..."
She called out in the house, but receiving no reply, she gave up.
Now, she was more intimate with the three little ones than Shen Siyuan. The first thing she would do on coming home was to look for the three kids, acting as if she were the Banner Master herself.
Dou Dou must have gone to see a friend.
Naturally, Dou Dou’s friend was Sun Meiqi. Ever since they got back in touch, Dou Dou would almost visit her every day.
And Duoduo would naturally stay home to accompany her parents, shopping, strolling in the park, hiking, flying kites, etc. It seemed like Lin Jianming and his wife wanted to do all the things they always wanted to one by one.
Duoduo wasn’t like Dou Dou, having to hide a bit when going out with her parents, fearing they might run into someone familiar, unable to explain.
No one remembers Duoduo anymore, and there aren’t many in Bin Hai who remember Lin Jianming and his wife either, so they could appear in public without any worry, just being cautious with how they address each other.
As for Xiao Yue, Shen Siyuan really wasn’t sure, and he hadn’t asked.
After all, Xiao Yue was sensible and not young anymore, having her own thoughts and ideas, Shen Siyuan generally didn’t interfere too much.
After all, although the three kids are his Fan Souls, they are not thoughtless marionettes.
At this moment, Xiao Yue was following a woman from a distance.
She recognized the woman ahead as a teacher from her previous school, though not from her class, so while Xiao Yue knew her, the teacher probably didn’t recognize Xiao Yue.
The teacher appeared to be in her thirties, wearing glasses, and quite beautiful, but Xiao Yue didn’t know why she had died.
In Xiao Yue’s last memory of her, it was a meeting on a sunny afternoon playground.
The teacher held a badminton racket, sweat slightly at her temples, smiling as brightly as the afternoon sun.
Even though Xiao Yue was a girl, she was momentarily mesmerized seeing her at that time.
But now, she looked rather haggard and sad, sitting alone on a park bench, staring blankly at the lake.
Xiao Yue wanted to go up to her but hesitated.
Although teachers played a significant part in Xiao Yue’s short life, not all were kind or noble.
At least, her last teacher before she ended her life was far from good.
Two-faced, unwilling to take responsibility, always trying to smooth things over, making big issues small and brushing off small ones, like a chameleon.
Many of Xiao Yue’s grievances at school stemmed from not being treated fairly, coupled with family reasons, which eventually led her to end her own life.
If she had encountered a responsible and good teacher, she wouldn’t have chosen to end her life.
Thus, she didn’t have a very good impression of teachers. Instead, she felt a faint fear because of that identity.
As she hesitated, the teacher, coming to her senses, caught a glimpse of Xiao Yue.
Her expression first showed surprise, then a look of understanding.
She was firstly shocked to see Yin Xingyue again, then realizing she too had died and become a ghost, it seemed only natural to meet her.
When Xiao Yue saw the teacher looking her way, she thought about it and turned to leave.
But at that moment, the teacher called out to her.
The teacher rose and walked towards Xiao Yue.
Hearing this, Xiao Yue was a bit surprised, so she did not leave but rather chose to stand still.
"Teacher Zhao," Xiao Yue called out.
"It really is you, it seems I didn’t recognize you wrongly." Teacher Zhao revealed a smile.
Teacher Zhao’s name is Zhao Xuerong, and she was the language arts teacher in the class next to Xiao Yue’s, young and beautiful with a good demeanor, very popular among the students in the school.
"Teacher Zhao, you know me?" Xiao Yue was a bit puzzled.
Zhao Xuerong looked at Xiao Yue, her expression a bit complex.
Xiao Yue looked at her puzzledly, not understanding why she needed to apologize.
Zhao Xuerong opened her mouth, but ultimately didn’t explain.
She simply said, "It would have been nice if you were my student."
Back in school, Xiao Yue was nearly invisible in class, and since she wasn’t in her class, naturally she wouldn’t pay attention to her, not even knowing such a person existed.
But as the events of Xiao Yue’s suicide unfolded, many things were revealed, though many were kept quiet outside school, someone like Zhao Xuerong, being a teacher, couldn’t possibly be unaware.
Of course, what she knew were also some of the things that Yin Xingyue experienced at school.
It was then that she came to know there was a student like Yin Xingyue in the school.
"Teacher Zhao, why are you here?" Yin Xingyue curiously asked.
"Because... because I have nowhere else to go, I can only be here." Zhao Xuerong said with a smile.
But her smile seemed a bit forced.
"Why don’t you go home? The classmates... the classmates said..."
"What did they say?" Zhao Xuerong was curious.
"They said your husband is very handsome, loves you very much, often picks you up from school, and even brings you roses." Xiao Yue said.
"Is that so... everyone says that, huh..."
Zhao Xuerong laughed, seemingly very happy, yet Xiao Yue always felt her smile was a bit off.
"Teacher Zhao, are you sick?" Xiao Yue continued curiously asking.
Zhao Xuerong shook her head, then suddenly realized and quickly answered, "Yes."
But Xiao Yue wasn’t a fool and could see the insincerity in her words.
However, she didn’t press further.
Zhao Xuerong seemed to realize herself her reaction was too forced, and coupled with her own death, she never found anyone whom she could confide, and could only wander alone.
In this moment, meeting Xiao Yue who was an "acquaintance", she actually felt quite happy.
So she started, "Let’s not talk about this. Could you accompany Teacher Zhao for a walk, to have a chat?"
Xiao Yue thought for a moment, and in the end nodded in agreement.
"Yin Xingyue, you... ah..."
Zhao Xuerong looked at Xiao Yue’s young age, the prime of her life, and couldn’t help feeling regretful.
As a teacher, she instinctively wanted to preach, but quickly realized whatever said now, it was already too late.
"Have you always been alone ? Have you made any new friends?"
Zhao Xuerong tried to find a topic, but as she turned to look at Xiao Yue’s expression, her spirit immediately sank.
"Alright, I know it’s not easy."
She had learned about Yin Xingyue, knew that this young girl was rather introverted, and hadn’t been gone long enough to likely make new friends.
So Zhao Xuerong thought about changing the subject, but what else to talk about?
Studies? We’re dead, no point in that.
Lessons on how to be a human? We’re dead, can’t even be human, what’s the point of learning those lessons.
Talk about life? Or rather, ghost life?
Talk about the future? What future do ghosts have? What kind of posture should one adopt to have a good reincarnation?
After thinking for a while, she still couldn’t find a topic, resulting in the atmosphere turning a bit awkward.
At that moment, suddenly a gust of Yin Wind fell from the sky, heading straight for Xiao Yue’s back.
"Ha ha~, Sister Xiao Yue, I caught you."