School was over. Jiang Shengyan said goodbye to Lin Mengke and headed home, carrying her school uniform.
When Jiang Shengyan pushed open the front door, a rich aroma of tomatoes and beef brisket washed over her. She gently sniffed the air and heard the sound of a spatula clanking against a pan in the kitchen.
"Dad, Mom, I'm home," she called out toward the kitchen while changing her shoes.
"Yanyan is back!" Mother Shen, Sheng Yue, poked her head out of the kitchen, her face dusted with a bit of flour. Seeing the clothes in her hands, she asked, "What's that?"
"These are the school uniforms we picked up today. The head teacher said we have to wear them starting next Monday, so I'll put mine in the washing machine first," Jiang Shengyan replied.
"Hurry up then, dinner will be ready in a minute." With that, she went back into the kitchen.
Jiang Shengyan carried the bag containing the school uniform toward the balcony. Passing the kitchen, she saw her father, Jiang Mingyu, wearing an apron and stir-frying at the stove, the contents sizzling loudly as oil splattered everywhere.
She put the school uniform into the washing machine, poured in an appropriate amount of detergent, and pressed the start button.
Carrying her schoolbag back to her room, she casually tidied it up, taking out the textbooks and workbooks handed out today and placing them on her desk.
"Dinner's ready!"
Jiang Shengyan walked over to the dining table, where three dishes and one soup were already laid out: sweet and sour pork, stir-fried fresh vegetables, braised pork ribs, and her favorite seaweed and egg drop soup.
"How was your first day of school?" Mother placed a rib in her bowl. "Are you adjusting to the new class?"
Jiang Shengyan nibbled on her food, swallowed, and then spoke. "I got assigned to Class 3. The head teacher had me become the class monitor."
"Being monitor is great," her father said with a smile. "You've been sensible since you were little; you'll definitely do a good job."
"How is your new deskmate? Is she easy to get along with?" Mother Jiang asked.
"My deskmate is a girl." Jiang Shengyan paused. "Her name is Lin Mengke. She's... pretty lively."
Speaking of Lin Mengke, she recalled how the short-haired, round-faced girl had chattered away at her all afternoon.
Lin Mengke had a very sweet smile and always liked to gesture wildly with her hands when she talked, infectious enough that even Jiang Shengyan, usually cool and aloof on the surface, couldn't help but be drawn in by her enthusiasm.
"Yanyan?" Mother's voice pulled her back to reality. "What are you daydreaming about?"
"It's nothing." Jiang Shengyan lowered her head and shoveled another mouthful of rice. "I just think the new classmates are all pretty easy to get along with."
"Except for that guy who disrupted my inner peace," she muttered inwardly.
After finishing her meal, Jiang Shengyan proactively cleared away the bowls and chopsticks.
Back in her room, she turned on her desk lamp and took the test papers handed out today out of her schoolbag. Her favorite succulent plant sat on the desk, looking extra cute under the warm yellow light.
She flipped open a test paper, but hesitated to put pen to paper. In her mind, that lean, lazy figure and those starlight-shining eyes resurfaced once more.
She pulled out her phone, scrolled to Shen Jingyan's contact info, and secretly complained to herself that he was an absolute demon—how could any guy look so bewitching? She casually changed his nickname to "Disturber of My Inner Peace."
Putting her phone away, Jiang Shengyan shook her head, forcing herself to concentrate. Her pen tip scratched a few messy lines onto the draft paper; she took a deep breath and began solving the problems seriously.
***
Meanwhile, at the Shen Family.
When Shen Jingyan pushed open his front door, he saw his old man trapping his mom in the crook of the sofa, murmuring something low against her ear. Gu Wan blushed and pushed him away, but Shen Linchuan pinned her wrist and gently pressed a kiss to her forehead.
"Tsk, should I excuse myself?" Shen Jingyan leaned against the entryway lazily.
Gu Wan instantly sprang up from the sofa, straightening her somewhat disheveled hair. "You brat, aren't you going to come in already? What kind of show are you watching?"
"I was just afraid of interrupting your nostalgia tour of youth." Shen Jingyan slung his schoolbag over one shoulder, a roguish smile hanging on his lips. "Dad, your flirting skills haven't changed in twenty years."
Shen Linchuan raised an eyebrow. "What, want to learn?"
"Forget it, your son here is self-taught." Shen Jingyan waved a hand and turned to walk upstairs. "Call me for dinner."
"Brat, with skin that thick, I wonder who you take after?" Father Shen laughed in exasperation.
"Some people have no self-awareness whatsoever," Mother Shen shot him a look, then turned to check if dinner was ready in the kitchen.
"...Fine," Shen Linchuan thought.
Back in his room, Shen Jingyan tossed his schoolbag onto the bed and sank into a lazy sofa.
Outside the window, the setting sun was just right, its orange-red light spilling in through the sheer curtains, casting fractured light and shadow across his sharply defined profile.
He fished out his phone, opened WeChat, and saw that the "Grade 1 Key Class" group chat already had 99+ messages. Idly scrolling through them, he suddenly thought of a certain sharp-tongued girl.
Jiang Shengyan.
He had merely offered a friendly greeting, only to be met with a cold shoulder and a biting retort. Shen Jingyan curved his lips in an amused, roguishly playful smile.
At the time, Shen Jingyan had been somewhat stunned. Growing up, most people were left speechless by his own retorts; very few had ever shut him down like that. By the time he recovered, she had already walked away.
Pushing the thought aside, he stood up, sat down at his desk, and opened his math workbook, preparing to do some homework.
"Knock, knock—"
"Come in."
Gu Wan pushed the door open, carrying a plate of freshly cut fruit. "Doing homework?"
"Yeah." Shen Jingyan didn't even raise his head.
"First day of school today, how was it?"
"Not bad."
Gu Wan placed the fruit beside the desk. "Dinner's still a few minutes away. Eat some fruit to tide you over."
Shen Jingyan twirled his pen and curled his lips into a smile. "Great! Mom, you don't need to fuss, or Dad's going to accuse me of taking up your time again."
"You brat, showing no respect," Gu Wan looked at her son with a touch of embarrassment.
"Did you meet any cute girls at the new school?" Gu Wan had always been nosy about her son's romantic life. Ever since he was little, girls had constantly handed love letters to her son.
Even though Shen Jingyan acted like he didn't care about anything, he always ignored those girls. Gu Wan was very curious about what kind of girl her son actually liked.
"Mommy, being too nosy is bad. Go find Dad and see if any girls are hanging around him." Shen Jingyan started shooing her away, lowering his head to continue writing. His mommy asked the exact same questions every day.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Careful your dad doesn't smack you later."
Gu Wan gently patted him, turned around, and pulled the door shut behind her as she left.
Shen Jingyan put down his pen, picked up his phone, and tapped on Jiang Shengyan's chat window. He looked at her profile picture: a white Ragdoll cat, just like herself—looking cold, aloof, and distant.
Shen Jingyan stared at the phone screen, his slender fingers hovering in mid-air, hesitating to come down.
His finger suddenly slipped, accidentally double-tapping.
"I patted 'Jiang Shengyan' and called her Dad."
Shen Jingyan: "......"
Shen Jingyan was once again—and then again—left speechless, and this couldn't even be unsent. The other person's status bar already showed "Typing...".
Shen Jingyan dropped his phone face down onto the desk and rubbed his temples. He hadn't expected that a girl who looked so well-behaved and aloof would possess this kind of talent.
The phone vibrated.
Jiang Shengyan: "?"
A simple question mark. His slender fingers lazily tapped across the keyboard: "Slipped."
After sending it, he still felt unsatisfied and added: "Dad?"
Jiang Shengyan stared at the chat box, feeling awkward for the umpteenth time, and quickly changed her "pat" setting.
Pretending she hadn't seen his reply, she went right back to doing her homework and didn't answer him again.