Chapter 583: Chapter 583: Reliving Your School Days

You’re kidding, suspecting some sort of improper relationship between them.

She turned to look at Xie Qingci, their eyes met, and her expression was indescribable.

Xie Qingci seemed quite interested and playfully exaggerated his voice, calling her again: "Sister——"

"Act normal. Give me back the scarf, and stand further away from me!"

She pushed his arm, but unfortunately, without his cooperation, she couldn’t budge him. She could only glance at him sideways, speaking sarcastically: "If people misunderstand again, your whole family will be spat on by others."

He remained indifferent. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"If we really were siblings—"

Yu Xia glanced at him again: "So, if we were real siblings, you could still act this way?"

Xie Qingci said nonchalantly: "You don’t think I’m a morally upright progressive youth, do you? If I really like someone, even if they were family, I’d still want to win them over."

"..." Sure enough, he’s quite perverse. She looked at him with a complex gaze, "Luckily your parents only had you, otherwise, you’d have had your legs broken."

"No, it should be said that luckily I like someone from someone else’s family. Come on, dear sister, we’re here."

The fresh food supermarket wasn’t crowded. Xie Qingci stood in the seafood section picking shrimp, while Yu Xia fiddled with a net, playing with the small fish nearby.

The fish pretended to be dead, flipping belly-up and floating, but after being scooped a couple of times, it energetically wiggled its tail and swam away.

Xie Qingci glanced at her, then looked down at the fish in the pool and asked: "Do you want to eat this? I’m afraid steamed won’t taste good, you don’t like braised, and we probably don’t have sour pickles for sour soup at home."

"No, I’m just playing with it."

She quickly put down the net and went to look at the shrimp he had chosen.

"Handling these shrimp is really troublesome."

"I’m not letting you do it," he continued scooping shrimp.

That’s what he said, but she wasn’t just referring to the preparation before cooking.

"I mean, even while eating, it’s quite troublesome. I want a neat and tidy dining experience, and I don’t want your parents to know you’re peeling shrimp for me all the time at home."

Only then did he stand up straight, leisurely giving her a glance: "Then I’ll make some shrimp meat for you? Will that suffice, young lady?"

"What young..."

At this moment, a lowered voice intervened nearby—"Xie Qingci?"

Xie Qingci turned his head and saw Zuo Ling, who had just entered the seafood section, wearing a pullover hoodie with the jacket casually open and holding a bottle of soy sauce, looking like a typical image of someone sent to buy soy sauce by their mom.

He pulled down his mask: "It’s me. When did you get back?"

"Came back as soon as school holidays started, it’s been over half a month," Zuo Ling replied absentmindedly, his gaze uncontrollably falling on the person next to him, smoothly transitioning the topic, "Is this your girlfriend?"

He originally wanted to ask "Is this Yu Xia, the big star?" but felt awkward saying such a thing in front of someone who was already an established star years older. Just from the aura, he felt the cautious sense of a freshman facing a senior.

Xie Qingci nodded, and Yu Xia also lowered her mask, smiling at him in greeting.

"Hi, I’m Yu Xia."

"Hi, hi, I’m Zuo Ling, Xie Qingci’s classmate and friend."

She smiled and pulled her scarf higher, trying to present herself as a dignified and graceful sister, quietly listening to Xie Qingci speak to him.

"Your family hasn’t had dinner yet either?"

Zuo Ling conveniently stood next to him, grabbing a net to scoop shrimp, speaking cheerfully, and giving a favorable impression.

"Yeah, a bunch of kids came to the house, demanding to eat tomato shrimp, so my mom drove me out to get some. What about you guys, is this—meeting the parents?"

"Yes," Xie Qingci replied with a pleasant tone, "My mom said we don’t have enough dishes and asked us to pick a couple more that she likes."

Zuo Ling: ... What a thick atmosphere of sweetness.

It felt like they weren’t even on the same wavelength, one being a student disdained by his mother, the other seeming to flaunt an early marriage with public displays of affection as a life winner.

By this time, Xie Qingci had chosen the shrimp and asked Yu Xia: "Anything else you want to eat?"

She thought for a moment: "I don’t have any cravings for tonight, but I want to eat a hand-grabbed pancake tomorrow morning."

Zuo Ling was already listening eagerly and upon hearing this, he leaned over and enthusiastically suggested: "A hand-grabbed pancake? There’s a great little place just a street away that makes them really well. Back then, Xie Qingci and I practically ate there every day. You should ask him to take you over tomorrow morning."

Yu Xia blinked: "Sounds good. Should we go tomorrow?"

Xie Qingci thought of something and smiled, then nodded thoughtfully: "Alright."

After Zuo Ling swiftly scooped up shrimp, they walked together to other sections. The supermarket was quite large, and strolling around could lead to discovering unexpected items worth trying.

Zuo Ling was a smooth talker, making conversation pleasant, and after a few minutes, any awkwardness was gone.

For instance, he was now casually recounting snippets of Xie Qingci’s past through small items in the supermarket.

"This condiment is pretty good. We attended the main campus for middle and high school, and occasionally the cafeteria food wasn’t appetizing. We’d use this with our meals. Though Xie Qingci was never picky, he was easy to please, even when occasionally getting a bad breakfast choice, he would eat with an indifferent face."

Yu Xia took a bottle of the condiment from the shelf.

"Bring this home and reminisce about your high school days."

Xie Qingci merely raised a brow without speaking.

Passing by the snack section, Zuo Ling pointed to a bag of Japanese biscuits: "He used to quite like these. He doesn’t like sweets or sour foods, but can handle sea salt or salted egg yolk flavors.

Boys, growing up can’t survive on three meals a day, so everyone buys snacks, and his drawer was full of these salty ones."

There were also gifts from girls, those sweet and fragrant treats, which he’d not even glance at and place on the desk for the teacher, earning praise for being considerate.

But that sort of thing wasn’t appropriate to mention now.

Yu Xia grabbed a few bags of the sea salt flavored biscuits and asked softly: "Are these enough?"

"It’s not like I’m a kid anymore. That’s enough, we can buy more later."

Zuo Ling fell a step behind, making funny faces at Xie Qingci.

Xie Qingci patted his shoulder.

Girls have a very kind habit, which is to overflow with maternal instincts in relationships, fostering sympathy and affection.

So Zuo Ling had once said, if Xie Qingci were to date, the other party might fall deeply in love because not only was he handsome, smart, from a good family, and capable, he also had a somewhat pitiful and lonely adolescence.

The trope of the talented yet tragically beautiful is popular everywhere, especially when they show vulnerability and confusion voluntarily.

Clearly, Xie Qingci isn’t the proud son of a wealthy family who can’t let go of his dignity; if he acts pitiful, it’s definitely a killer tactic.

——

ps:

Mom of Zuo Ling: No wonder you haven’t found a girlfriend yet after all this time, it’s my fault for not giving you a tragic childhood and adolescence.

Zuo Ling: ... Mostly for not giving me a charming face