Chapter 12
Who Had She Bewitched
“Oh right, I would have forgotten if you didn’t mention it. Then we’d better not go out today. Otherwise, if we’re too happy and forget to come back late, we’ll be scolded by my mother again.”
Putting the tablet to the side, Jiang Rui asked Shi Yan, “Then Xiao Yan, how are we going to kill time today? I definitely can’t stand to stay in the house all day.”
Shi Yan put down the silent black screen of her phone and asked her with a chuckle, “How did you kill time before I came?”
Seeing that Shi Yan did not hold the phone in her hand for a few minutes and that she did not open any apps during these few minutes, she casually tapped on the screen and put it down again.
Jiang Rui sighed once again. Xiao Yan’s self-control was really not something she could compare to.
“When I go to school, I go to school. When I don’t go to school and don’t have any homework to do, I either go to my brother’s office to accompany him to work, or I invite a few girls to go shopping. However, before the college entrance examination, my studies were heavier. I spent most of my time studying, so I didn’t have so much free time.
“Humans are really strange creatures. When I’m busy, I look forward to being free. It’s fine if I have a few days of free time, but if I have too much free time, I’ll get bored. I’ve been free for more than two months, and I feel like I’ve played with everything I need to play, and I don’t seem to be interested in anything. It’s fortunate that I have had you to accompany me during this half month. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to spend these few days.”
“Don’t have any hobbies?”
Jiang Rui thought for a moment and shook her head, “No. I don’t seem to have anything particularly annoying, but I also don’t have anything that I particularly like.”
She glanced at the book beside Shi Yan and said, “Unlike you, who likes reading. As long as you have books to read, you won’t feel bored even if you stay in for an entire day.”
Shi Yan smiled faintly and did not say anything.
“We’ve been outside these few days. The last time I accompanied you around the old house was at night. Why don’t I accompany you around the old house today? I heard from Xiao Zhao that before Grandma and I came back, you liked to take books to the pavilion by the lotus pond and read. After a while, I’ll accompany you there to read,” Jiang Rui suddenly suggested.
“I can read, but what about you? Won’t you feel bored?”Shi Yan asked with a smile.
“I’ll get someone to find a fishing rod. You read, and I’ll fish. I can’t stay in one place for too long, but fishing is an exception. I can stay still for a long time when I’m fishing.”
Shi Yan smiled at her. Jiang Rui felt a little guilty under her gaze.
She quickly promised, “Really, I can stay still if I’m fishing!”
Shi Yan smiled and said, “Okay, then I’ll go to the study room to find two books. Get someone to prepare the fishing equipment and send them to the pavilion first. We’ll walk around the courtyard for a while, then go there directly.”
Staring at Shi Yan’s back as she got up and went upstairs, Jiang Rui asked Xiao Zhao, who was sitting on another sofa and using her phone to study a new cooking method, “Xiao Zhao, what did Xiao Yan mean by that smile just now? Does she not believe me?”
Although Xiao Zhao was studying the new cooking method, he had heard their conversation.
Hearing this, she smiled and asked, “Miss, do you think you can stay here just because you believe that you can fish?”
“Humph! If you don’t believe that I can stay still, then I’ll stay here and show you! Today, I’ll fish for as long as Little Yan reads in the Lotus Pond Pavilion!”
*
“Little Yan, are you almost done reading your book?”
The two of them strolled around the courtyard for about an hour before they went to the pavilion. Shi Yan read while Jiang Rui fished. In less than an hour, Jiang Rui couldn’t sit still anymore.
Shi Yan shifted her gaze away from the books and looked at her in amusement.
Jiang Rui’s face immediately turned red.
She was embarrassed for overestimating herself.
“I took two books. I was only halfway through the first one,” Shi Yan said.
Shi Yan was sitting at the Stone Table in the pavilion, reading. At that time, she was holding a book, and there was another book on the Stone Table beside her.
Jiang Rui was even more embarrassed.
Just as she was thinking of an excuse to leave first, Shi Yan found an excuse for her.
Shi Yan smiled and asked, “Do you have other things to do? If you have something to do, just go and do it. You don’t have to stay here with me. I’m focused on reading, so it doesn’t matter if I’m alone.”
“Yes, yes, yes… I have other things to do. But Xiao Yan, is it okay for you to be here alone?”
“It’s okay. Before you and Grandma Jiang came back, I often came here alone to read.”
Her gaze fell on the pile of fishing equipment.
“As for your things, do you need someone to help you pack them up?”
“No, no, I can pack them up myself.”
What a joke. She did not want others to know how embarrassing it had been for her to not be able to hold on for long.
Seeing that Shi Yan was about to stand up to help, Jiang Rui quickly waved her hand and said, “Read your book, don’t worry about me. I can clean it up myself.”
She could clean it up, but Jiang Rui’s hair was scattered. Although her slightly curly hair was not as long as Shi Yan’s, it was not short either. It almost reached her waist. With her hair scattered like this, she had to pack up a lot of things to take back. In fact, it was a bit of a hindrance.
Her gaze suddenly landed on Shi Yan’s rubber band and her high ponytail. Her eyes lit up. “Xiao Yan, lend me the rubber band on your head to tie up my hair. My hair is too much of a hindrance.”
Shi Yan glanced at her.
It was indeed quite a hindrance.
She took off the rubber band and walked over to pass it to her.
However, she did not know who was mesmerized by the scene of her getting up and walking over while taking off the rubber band.
Two people happened to pass by not far away, and one of them happened to see this scene.
He stopped in his tracks, his eyes flashing with amazement.
“That is…”
The person next to him also stopped and followed his line of sight. When he saw the girl in the gazebo, he frowned slightly.
“My sister.”
“Of course I know your precious sister. I’m asking who the other girl is.”
Jiang Cheng’s brows relaxed slightly.
His gaze then turned to Shi Yan, who was beside Jiang Rui.
“She’s my grandmother’s guest.”
“Your Grandmother’s guest? Is she the girl who recently saved your grandmother’s life and was brought over by your grandmother from the countryside to live in your house?”
Shi Yan had already been in Sea City for more than half a month. Not only had she stayed in the Jiang family’s old residence, but she had also been personally receiving Jiang Rui, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, for the past half a month. It was impossible for the outside world to not hear about it.
After all, the Jiang family’s status in Sea City was extraordinary. The young master of the Jiang family, Jiang Cheng, was the most popular person in the family.
Many people were guessing the reason why Old Madame Jiang had brought an orphan girl from the countryside to stay at her home. Most of them thought that Old Madame Jiang had taken a fancy to her and intended to let her live as her granddaughter-in-law.
Therefore, many people in the outside world knew about Shi Yan’s existence, but very few people knew her name and what she looked like.
“So it’s her! Didn’t you say that she grew up in the countryside? Why don’t I look like her?”
None of the socialites he had met could compare to her looks and temperament.
Jiang Cheng glanced at him and did not reply. He simply walked towards the pavilion.
The man behind him rolled his eyes and quickly followed.
“Ah Cheng, I heard that people outside are saying that Grandma Jiang brought this girl over to your house. Is she trying to set you up with her?”
Jiang Cheng stopped in his tracks. He frowned and looked at him sharply.
“No! I don’t want to hear such things again!”
The man was not frightened by his gaze. He smiled lazily, “Fine, fine. I won’t say it. I heard it from the outside.”
Then, he whispered something behind him. Jiang Cheng did not hear it clearly, or maybe he did, but he did not care.