Fastening her seatbelt, Sang Xiao sat up straight, entering silent mode.
Kuang Qingshang didn’t say much, driving quietly.
Sang Xiao took out her phone and frantically typed, complaining to Bian Yan about the ridiculous thing that had just happened to her. Thinking it over, it was both absurd and yet reasonable. She didn’t know how she would face Teacher Kang tomorrow, mainly because she would feel embarrassed for him.
Bian Yan was probably busy and didn’t reply to her immediately.
Kuang Qingshang saw Sang Xiao constantly looking at her phone, seemingly afraid that if she had a moment of downtime, Kuang Qingshang would strike up a conversation. Kuang Qingshang was tactful and remained silent. The two drove home without a word.
Sang Xiao hurried back to her room, but stopped abruptly before heading upstairs as she remembered something. She took out a dark green watch box from her bag.
“For you,” Sang Xiao handed it to Kuang Qingshang.
Kuang Qingshang accepted it hesitantly, looking at Sang Xiao but not opening it immediately, probably fearing it would be as absurd as a ‘Good Child Award.’
Sang Xiao, afraid of misunderstanding, said, “Thank you for the necklace you gave me; I really like it.”
“I saw this when I was shopping, and I felt it really suited you.” Sang Xiao copied her, even using the exact same reason.
Kuang Qingshang’s lips curved slightly upward. Her fingertips caressed the watch box, and her eyes looked toward Sang Xiao’s chest, but she didn’t see the necklace.
Sang Xiao knew exactly what she was looking at, but still had a feeling that her gaze was improper. She puffed out her chest and said, “I put the necklace you gave me away.”
It was mainly because the weather had gotten colder.
Kuang Qingshang said, “Jewelry is meant to be worn.”
Sang Xiao simply said, “Oh,” and made no comment.
Kuang Qingshang thought for a moment, afraid she might misunderstand, and said, “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it.”
She added, “I’m very easy to talk to.”
Sang Xiao: “…”
Sang Xiao went upstairs to her room. Bian Yan, now free, called her, shocked by the incident. But having seen a lot, she felt such people were common. “You should have less contact with people like that in the future. They don’t understand you at all, but in their minds, you already have all sorts of labels. They claim to be doing it for your own good, but only they know what they are really thinking.”
Sensing a strange tone in her voice, Sang Xiao asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Are you in a bad mood?”
“A guy has been pursuing me recently. I clearly told him I wasn’t interested, but he’s still pestering me. Honestly, it’s annoying. It reminds me of some bad things.”
Sang Xiao worried, “Why are there people like that? You need to be careful.”
“He’s a rich second-generation guy, similar standing to your ex-fiancé. None of these people are any good. I don’t know how I got involved with him.” Bian Yan couldn’t help but swear a dirty word at the guy.
“Don’t get angry.” Sang Xiao wanted to ask more, but Bian Yan stopped her. “Let’s not talk about that. Tell me about your business. Did you give her the watch?”
“I did. By the way, Kuang Qingshang has been a little clingy this time. It feels weird. She drove me in the morning, picked me up at night, and even said she wanted to spend more time with me. Fortunately, I turned her down.”
What Sang Xiao found most strange was that Kuang Qingshang actually agreed, being unexpectedly easy to talk to.
Bian Yan was now equally hostile toward all rich second-generation types and completely irrational: “Is she a pervert? Everything is understandable then. Sang Xiao, you have to protect yourself. Don’t be so naive that you get devoured without even realizing it.”
Remembering that they were legally married wives, she added, “In short, don’t let yourself be bullied.”
“I know,” Sang Xiao agreed.
When Sang Xiao went downstairs for dinner, she noticed Kuang Qingshang seemed down, but she didn’t think much of it. After all, it was usually impossible to discern Kuang Qingshang’s emotions, and in any case, it certainly wasn’t her fault.
Kuang Qingshang suddenly spoke, “Thank you, I really like your gift.”
Sang Xiao: “Mhm, I’m glad you like it.”
Although it wasn’t a gift Sang Xiao had proactively bought, she was still happy to know that Kuang Qingshang liked the present she had given her.
As they ate, Sang Xiao’s phone rang. She answered, her expression serious, “Hello.”
Kuang Qingshang paused and silently began to pay attention to the content of the call.
“Teacher Sang.”
A childish voice came from the other end of the line.
It was ChengCheng. Sang Xiao had seen that the call was from Su Xiao and thought something had happened to ChengCheng. She asked, “ChengCheng, what’s up?”
Her tone of voice was different than usual; when talking to a child, the tone inevitably became more childish. Sang Xiao felt embarrassed after speaking, as Kuang Qingshang was right there.
She seemed to smile. When Sang Xiao looked up closely, she found that Kuang Qingshang’s expression was unchanged.
“Mom went to take a shower. I’m playing with Mom’s phone and wanted to chat with Teacher Sang.”
“Children shouldn’t secretly play with adult phones.”
“I know Mom’s password. Do you want to know it, Teacher Sang? I can tell you.”
Sang Xiao: “…”
Thank you, but she didn’t want to know.
ChengCheng prattled on with Sang Xiao over the phone. A child’s speaking speed is slow. Sang Xiao turned on the speakerphone. It was Cheng Cheng’s first time calling someone herself with her mother’s phone, and she wouldn’t stop talking. Sang Xiao wanted to hang up, but was afraid ChengCheng would delete things on the phone without telling her mother, so she just waited.
After a while, a gentle female voice suddenly took over, apologizing profusely: “Teacher Sang, I’m so sorry to bother you.”
Sang Xiao: “It’s fine, ChengCheng is very well-behaved.”
After hanging up, she noticed a subtle change in Kuang Qingshang’s expression.
Sang Xiao thought for a moment and explained, “As you heard, it was a student’s parent calling.”
Kuang Qingshang replied expressionlessly, “Mhm.”
The next day, as Sang Xiao was debating how to face Teacher Kang, he didn’t show up at all. Sang Xiao hadn’t expected him to be so thin-skinned.
Teacher Kang took leave, and a new teacher took over the class. Sang Xiao didn’t mind. She felt much better after Kuang Qingshang stopped picking her up. She was eagerly counting the days until Kuang Qingshang left for the competition. Kuang Qingshang was indeed getting busier as the competition approached, spending every day in the gym or sports arena.
The weather was getting colder. The children were bundled up tightly. Sang Xiao held Cheng Cheng’s hand and explained Cheng Cheng’s home situation to the new Teacher Yan. Su Xiao hadn’t been late in a long time; recently, she had been arriving almost exactly on time.
Sang Xiao asked and learned that the company wasn’t as busy recently. Su Xiao wanted to invite Sang Xiao out to dinner, the reason being that she had bothered her to look after ChengCheng so much.
Sang Xiao realized once again how double-standard she was. She had been very decisive in refusing Teacher Kang, but when it came to the gentle and beautiful older sister, she simply couldn’t refuse. The three of them went to a nearby restaurant for dinner, chatting mostly about topics related to ChengCheng.
She wondered if it was her imagination, but Sang Xiao felt as if someone was watching her. She thought it was unlikely and continued eating.
“Wow, that older sister is so tall,” ChengCheng suddenly said.
Sang Xiao couldn’t stand the word ‘tall’ now, because every time she heard it, she thought of Kuang Qingshang.
Sang Xiao turned her head, and it was indeed Kuang Qingshang, though she was just passing by.
Kuang Qingshang seemed to see her too. After a brief glance through the restaurant’s glass door, Kuang Qingshang immediately turned and left.
Sang Xiao was a little distracted. She finished dinner quickly and left. When she got home, she saw a guest: a tall person, just like Kuang Qingshang.
Sang Xiao was surprised, and the guest was even more surprised.
Zhuang Zhe turned and stared at Kuang Qingshang, giving a crazy suggestive look: You call this ‘a bit shorter than you’?
Zhuang Zhe was someone who had seen the world. There were many tall people in the sports circle, especially in men’s basketball, where people over two meters were everywhere. She had even seen several couples with a sixty-centimeter height difference. But she still hadn’t expected such a huge difference between Kuang Qingshang and her wife. The main reason was that when she had asked Kuang Qingshang about her partner’s height, Kuang Qingshang had said she was “a bit shorter than me.”
Zhuang Zhe had always thought she was around 170cm, never expecting her to look under 160cm.
Moreover, Sang Xiao looked very cute, small and fragile, like a porcelain doll. Zhuang Zhe felt like she could lift two people like that with one hand. In short, Sang Xiao was completely not her type.
Sang Xiao was stunned. This was the first time Kuang Qingshang had brought someone home. This was their marital home, and no outsider had ever been there before.
Sang Xiao greeted her, “Hello.”
Zhuang Zhe smiled, “Hello, I’m Kuang Qingshang’s good friend. My name is Zhuang Zhe.”
Then the conversation started awkwardly.
Sang Xiao knew nothing about basketball. This was her first time chatting with an athlete besides Kuang Qingshang, and she found that Zhuang Zhe was completely different from Kuang Qingshang. Zhuang Zhe was very enthusiastic and good at conversation, with topics focusing almost entirely on Kuang Qingshang.
“Qingshang is just like that—cold wherever she goes. Only you can tolerate her.”
Sang Xiao: “…”
The other party probably thought they had been dating freely. Sang Xiao began to feel suspicious about whether Zhuang Zhe was truly Kuang Qingshang’s good friend.
She and Bian Yan were able to talk about everything, but of course, Bian Yan was more than just a friend to her.
Seeing this, Kuang Qingshang began to see her out: “Go back soon. I have things to do.”
Zhuang Zhe giggled, “Yes, yes.”
Kuang Qingshang expressionlessly escorted Zhuang Zhe to the door. Zhuang Zhe leaned in and said, “I’m actually very curious. You’ve been with the team almost all these years, always with us. When did you secretly start dating?”
Zhuang Zhe considered herself to have a keen eye; she would definitely have noticed if someone on the team was dating.
People who are dating always make calls, video chat, and go on dates. But Kuang Qingshang was almost always immersed in the training room. Her leisure activities were also unusual and different from everyone else; Kuang Qingshang liked to read, reading all sorts of things. In short, she didn’t look like someone who had time to date.
Kuang Qingshang said, “We weren’t dating.”
Zhuang Zhe was baffled and confused: “Didn’t you get married? You specifically took leave to get married, doing it so quickly. Now you’re saying you weren’t dating? Then why were you in such a rush? Were you afraid she’d run away?”
Kuang Qingshang still nodded: “Mhm.”
Zhuang Zhe began to seriously examine Kuang Qingshang: “So why did you marry her?”
Kuang Qingshang didn’t speak. After a while, she said softly, “Because of a feeling. The first glance, I felt she was very wonderful. And it’s been a long time since I saw someone so fragile.”
This fragility was not pathological, nor could it be psychological; it was merely the first impression given by her appearance.
As if she would break if touched.
“…” Zhuang Zhe, who had always emphasized pragmatism, was dumbfounded. When she dated, she was after the other person’s physique, and they were after her energy. As for a feeling… even if she had a feeling, she wouldn’t immediately rush into marriage because of it.
Zhuang Zhe felt for the first time that there was truly something wrong with Kuang Qingshang; she was different from ordinary people.
“Is it that simple? Because of a feeling? Did you feel inexplicably drawn to her?”
Kuang Qingshang didn’t want to say more: “Mhm.”
“Then you’d better be careful. You should get your DNA checked.”
“According to the theory of genetic sexual attraction, two strangers who are inexplicably close might be relatives, which is the legendary ‘lovers eventually become sisters.'”
Zhuang Zhe cracked an inappropriate joke, then quickly slipped away while Kuang Qingshang wasn’t paying attention.
Kuang Qingshang was lost in thought: “…”