Reborn in the 80s: Divorced and Spoiled by the Military Man - Chapter 145

Chapter 145: On Purpose, or Just on the Way?

Shen Subai pinched the spot between his brows. “Handle your own business with your brother yourself.”

Only after saying that did he turn to Xie Yunshu. “Classes officially started today?”

He hadn’t even known school started for her today, and yet she’d actually thought Captain Shen had come all this way just to pick her up after class!

Xie Yunshu’s cheeks flushed faintly, though it was too dark to tell. “Captain Shen, what a coincidence.”

Beside them, Ji Siyuan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Xie Yunshu, you know Captain Shen too? You’re from the Project Department, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before!”

Ji Siyuan. Project Department…

Xie Yunshu remembered now. Pengcheng’s biggest investor-the manager who had discussed contracting the canteen with her that day seemed to be named Ji Si’an.

She pressed her lips together and was just about to say she was the one selling meals at the canteen when Shen Subai’s calm voice sounded first. “She’s the owner of the Project Department canteen.”

“So my deskmate is a boss!” Ji Siyuan said in sudden realization. Then he gave a roguish grin. “In that case, I’ll have to eat at the canteen every day from now on and build up some classmate camaraderie with my deskmate.”

Xie Yunshu shot this southern flirt a sideways look and said nothing more. Instead, she turned to Shen Subai. “Captain Shen, I’ll be going, then.”

Shen Subai slipped his hands into the pockets of his down jacket. “It’s on my way. Let’s go together.”

On his way again?

Xie Yunshu was puzzled. “Aren’t you here to see him?”

Ji Siyuan also let out an “Huh?” “Captain Shen, what did you need me for?”

Shen Subai’s expression paused for the briefest moment, but he quickly replied with composure, “Your brother was worried you hadn’t come to class. I happened to be passing by, so I came to check.”

Xie Yunshu sighed inwardly. Did this count as Captain Shen having a hundred things to manage every day? He had to handle safety matters, had to handle canteen matters, and now he even had to worry about the investor’s little brother going to school. No wonder he was so busy she never even saw him at mealtimes.

Ji Siyuan was speechless. “I’m not a child.”

Xie Yunshu exposed him without mercy. “But you slept through class the whole time.”

Ji Siyuan suddenly leaned a little closer to her. “Beautiful Boss Xie, why are you tattling on me?”

He had that particular mischievous air of a young man. Though he seemed a bit unreliable, he wasn’t exactly unlikeable.

Xie Yunshu gave a cold snort. “When you were asleep, you took up more than half the desk and got in the way of my studying.”

Paying tuition only to sleep at school-someone like Xie Yunshu, who was starving for knowledge, truly couldn’t bear to watch that.

Ji Siyuan shrugged. “Then I’ll suffer a bit tomorrow and not sleep. Happy?”

Xie Yunshu gave him a fake smile. “Do whatever you want.”

The two of them chatted with natural ease. Although Xie Yunshu didn’t give Ji Siyuan a pleasant expression, they nevertheless seemed much more familiar with each other. At the very least, her attitude was more natural than when she faced him, someone she had known for a long time.

Hadn’t they only met today?

Without a word, Shen Subai took a step forward, cutting off the exchange between them. “Yunshu, regarding the matter from last time, I think we need to discuss it further. Shall we talk while we walk, or will you come to my office tomorrow?”

For a moment, Xie Yunshu couldn’t remember what matter he meant, but her first thought was that it must be work-related, so she immediately nodded. “Captain Shen, since we’re going the same way anyway, let’s talk while we walk!”

Shen Subai’s gaze swept over Ji Siyuan, and he smiled faintly. “We’re not going the same way as you.”

Ji Siyuan’s mind didn’t quite catch up. Hadn’t Captain Shen said he was on his way here to see him? How was it suddenly not the same way now?

Since it was already rather late, there were few people on the road, and the two of them didn’t ride their bicycles very fast.

Xie Yunshu looked back at Ji Siyuan, who was still standing there dumbly. “Captain Shen, aren’t you leaving with him?”

Shen Subai’s eyes darkened slightly. “You want to be with him?”

Xie Yunshu shook her head quite honestly. “No.”

The streetlights on both sides of the road were dim, and the moonlight seemed to cast a layer of silver over the young woman beside him. Shen Subai turned his head to look at her, his gaze open and direct. “How did studying go today?”

He asked again. This time, the question was for her.

Xie Yunshu thought for a moment. “Very well.”

It really had gone very well. She had sat in that spacious, brightly lit classroom, and even though the teacher was covering material she had already read in her books, she had listened with complete focus, like a sponge that had been dry for far too long, doing its best to soak up seawater.

From the night school to the communal apartment block was about four streets away. Even by bicycle, it took twenty minutes. Haicheng had always been developing well, and at this hour, quite a few shops were still open. From a newly opened dance hall came a gentle, mellow male voice singing a Cantonese song.

Xie Yunshu could not really understand the lyrics. She only caught the final line: But Why Do I Love You So…

Shen Subai was not a talkative man. It was not until the bicycle stopped in front of the communal apartment block that he spoke again. “The professor for the architecture program at the night school is a friend of mine. If you run into any problems, you can ask him directly. I’ll be rather busy for a while. When you go home from the night school, don’t take any deserted roads, and you won’t run into danger.”

A strange illusion rose in Xie Yunshu’s mind, as if he were explaining to her why he had not appeared these past two days.

Captain Shen stood there, upright and clear as moonlight. She did not dare think too much of it, yet she could not help thinking too much all the same.

Before she knew it, she heard herself ask, “Captain Shen, will you be passing by again tomorrow?”

What she wanted to ask even more was whether Captain Shen was truly just passing by, or whether he had come specifically to pick her up.

Shen Subai’s gaze was calm. “I’ll be very busy tomorrow.”

It did not answer her question, and yet somehow it seemed to. Xie Yunshu was not especially sensitive when it came to feelings, but at this moment, she still felt her heart begin to pound. Was Captain Shen just passing by, or had he come on purpose?

But before she could figure it out, Shen Subai spoke again. “Manager Ji asked me to help find a school for his younger brother, so I came by to check on his studies. I didn’t expect you and he would be classmates.”

So Captain Shen had come specifically to see Ji Siyuan, and she was the one he had merely picked up along the way.

Xie Yunshu’s heart, which he had lifted into the air, slowly settled back down, swaying unsteadily before finally returning to its place. If Captain Shen really did mean something by it, she would not know how to face him in the future. Most likely, she would repay his kindness and then avoid him.

Matters of the heart were too troublesome. She did not want to carry that kind of burden again, not even a little.

Now that she understood it had only been a misunderstanding, Xie Yunshu let out a long breath. “Then Captain Shen, you should focus on your work. I won’t let my studies delay anything at the canteen.”

Her thoughts were clear beneath the moonlight. Shen Subai understood them perfectly, but his expression remained as calm as water. In his heart, however, that Cantonese song echoed over and over: Why Do I Love You So.

He lowered his gaze. Like a patient hunter with a thorough plan, he had already skipped past the previous topic. “Ji Siyuan is the youngest son of the Ji family. He’s not a bad person, just a little flighty. If he gets too noisy, you don’t need to pay him any attention. For my sake, just talk to him less.”

For Captain Shen’s sake, talk to Ji Siyuan less?

That sounded like a sentence with something wrong with it. Xie Yunshu silently grumbled that Captain Shen’s Chinese grades must not have been good either, but she still nodded. “All right. I’ll try not to pay attention to him.”

He was Manager Ji’s younger brother. She would not be stupid enough to offend the big boss! It was not until she had entered the communal apartment block that Xie Yunshu belatedly remembered: what work problem had Captain Shen been talking about, exactly?