Zhou Yishen gazed at Zhou Yinian. From the constant shifts in his facial expressions, it was easy to see that he was completely fobbing him off with perfunctory responses.
Zhou Yishen smiled faintly and did not press further, as he was long accustomed to Zhou Yinian’s perfunctoriness.
The people in the Zhou family had always fobbed him off. They explicitly told him he was an adopted son, yet refused to tell him where his parents were, stubbornly claiming that his parents were no longer alive.
They simply wanted to make him feel guilty so he would willingly be a beast of burden for the Zhou family.
During those years in the Zhou family, he could barely be said to have survived.
And to survive meant repaying the Zhou family’s kindness in raising him, otherwise he would be considered ungrateful and an unfilial ingrate.
Ruan Qiu had already returned with the food. Seeing that Zhou Yinian was also there, her face darkened. Ignoring Zhou Yinian, she smiled at Zhou Yishen and said, “Let’s eat.”
Ruan Qiu had noticed spare ribs and braised pork belly in the cafeteria, so she bought a bit extra to help build up Zhou Yishen’s strength.
Not that she couldn’t make braised pork belly or spare ribs herself, but she had to admit that the ones made by the cafeteria simply tasted better than what she could whip up.
“Sister-in-law, you bought so many good things. Are we not going to live within our means anymore?” Zhou Yinian looked at the food Ruan Qiu brought over, grinding his teeth in frustration.
The family’s financial situation wasn’t good, and the living expenses provided by their parents weren’t much. On top of that, he still needed to save some money and food coupons to buy things for Ruanruan, saving wherever he could. Yet Ruan Qiu dared to live a life of extravagant feasting.
True to form, this woman was still just as wasteful.
Ruan Qiu rolled her eyes. “You really are something. I didn’t even spend your money, so what are you being so sarcastic about? Besides, your older brother is injured, so I’m getting him some nutritious food to recover. What’s wrong with that?”
Zhou Yinian choked on his words, turning his head to glare at Ruan Qiu.
This woman had lived with him for three years in her past life, and she had never once been gentle. Although she took good care of him, she had never been this attentive.
Yet now, she was treating Zhou Yishen unthinkingly well. Could it be that she had also been reborn like him and was deliberately trying to provoke him?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
“Brother, this braised pork belly is too greasy. Why don’t you leave it for me as my dinner?” Zhou Yinian stared at those few pieces of pork belly, his mouth practically watering.
After all, it had been a long time since he dared to indulge in such a lavish meal.
Ruan Qiu gave Zhou Yinian a sideways glance, divided the braised pork belly into two portions, gave one to Zhou Yishen, and kept the other for herself.
“Eat up. It won’t taste good if it gets cold.”
“Sister-in-law, isn’t this a bit inappropriate?” Zhou Yinian couldn’t stand watching any longer.
Ruan Qiu felt utterly speechless. Had this man’s brain short-circuited or something?
“Zhou Yinian, if you’re finished eating, hurry back to class and stop being an eyesore here.”
“Sister-in-law, my brother is sick and needs nourishment, but you aren’t sick. What right do you have to eat the exact same food as my brother?” Zhou Yinian said with righteous indignation.
Ruan Qiu put down her chopsticks, raised her head, and fixed a cold, sharp gaze on Zhou Yinian’s eyes.
“I married your older brother, and we are a family. Why can’t I eat the same food as him? Or are you still harboring bourgeois thoughts deep down, clinging to notions of male chauvinism?”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Zhou Yinian was rebuked so thoroughly by Ruan Qiu that he couldn’t find a retort, making him increasingly suspicious that Ruan Qiu might really have been reborn.
If that were true, Zhou Yinian would have to worry about retaliation from this woman.
No, he absolutely could not let such a thing happen!
“Sister-in-law, you’re a woman of the new era. You can’t just rely entirely on my brother to support you. Since you’re here to take care of my brother, you should let him eat more while you eat less.”
Ruan Qiu tilted her head to look at Zhou Yinian. “So according to you, by marrying your older brother, I don’t even get to eat?”
“Yinian!” Zhou Yishen had found the bickering between the two quite entertaining and had gotten caught up listening, but after a moment, he remembered they were in the cafeteria and promptly stopped Zhou Yinian.
“If you’re done eating, go back to class.”
“Brother, do you have any food coupons left?” Before leaving, Zhou Yinian still couldn’t resist coming back to ask Zhou Yishen for food coupons.
“Zhou Yinian, your older brother is married now. He has a family and his own life. His allowances and subsidies from now on are managed by me.” Ruan Qiu said with smug satisfaction.
Zhou Yinian clenched his fists, glared at Ruan Qiu, and then looked at Zhou Yishen.
He had never realized before that Zhou Yishen had so little backbone, actually letting himself be manipulated to this extent by a wife. It was an absolute disgrace to men!
Fuming with anger, Zhou Yinian stalked off.
Ruan Qiu finally had some peace and quiet to focus on her meal.
Zhou Yishen picked up two pieces of braised pork belly from his bowl and placed them into Ruan Qiu’s. “You eat them. I don’t really care for this dish.”
As if anyone genuinely disliked braised pork belly; he was simply trying to get her to eat a bit more.
“Thank you.”
After finishing their meal, Ruan Qiu went back to finish taking the remaining test papers.
This time, the proctoring teacher had been replaced by that same Teacher Yao.
As an English department teacher, she was utterly astonished after grading Ruan Qiu’s English test paper. This young girl’s English was exceptionally well done.
“Did you really not even graduate from elementary school?” Teacher Yao asked, staring coldly at Ruan Qiu.
“I didn’t,” Ruan Qiu replied.
The original owner indeed hadn’t graduated from elementary school, but she herself had.
“Then how did you learn your English?”
“By reading newspapers, of course,” Ruan Qiu lied casually.
Teacher Yao didn’t show much surprise and handed the chemistry test paper over to Ruan Qiu.
The remaining three test papers were completed smoothly.
Ruan Qiu pulled Zhou Yishen along to sit on the athletic field and wait for the results.
“Let’s go back first.”
“No, I want to know the results today.”
Ruan Qiu had no intention of going back only to sit on pins and needles; she wanted to get solid confirmation right then and there.
By the time afternoon classes ended, the results were still not posted.
Ruan Qiu was about to go look for the principal when Zhou Yishen stopped her. “The teachers might just be too busy and haven’t finished grading yet. I’ll come over and ask tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Ruan Qiu thought about it and decided she might as well just go back and wait.
“I told you she couldn’t do it, yet you still let her run over here to make a fool of herself.”
Zhou Yinian, walking with several classmates toward the cafeteria, saw that the married couple hadn’t left yet and walked over to sneer at them.
“The scores haven’t come out yet,” Zhou Yishen explained.
“Brother, it’s one thing for her to act crazy, but you’re following right along with the nonsense. Look at it now. The whole school knows that my older brother married a woman who didn’t even finish elementary school, yet she’s harboring wild delusions of coming here to audit classes. It’s hilarious!” Zhou Yinian said with great swagger, clearly thrilled that Ruan Qiu’s results hadn’t been released.
He had known that with Ruan Qiu’s elementary-level education, there was no way she could successfully pass with sixty points.
“You really don’t want me to get that auditing pass, do you?” Ruan Qiu asked unhurriedly.
Zhou Yinian sneered. “Sister-in-law, it’s not that I look down on you, but with your level of education, you couldn’t pass a university exam or get an auditing slot even if you lived for several lifetimes. Stop making a fool of yourself here and hurry back home!”
Ruan Qiu smiled faintly. “I am terribly sorry, but I’m afraid I might disappoint you.”
Zhou Yinian burst out laughing. “Ruan Qiu, you don’t actually think you can pass every single subject with sixty points, do you? Keep dreaming!”
He had studied so desperately, relying on the memories of two lifetimes, and he had only managed to score a little over four hundred points, which was the top score needed to enter this teachers’ college.
What on earth gave Ruan Qiu the right to make him disappointed?