Let's Do Some Questions - Chapter 3

After leaving school, Song Man headed straight for Starbucks.

She had skipped an evening self-study session, so she definitely couldn’t go home at this time.

The early autumn night still carried a hint of coolness. She put on her mask and walked into Starbucks.

It was quiet here, and the bitter aroma of coffee in the air was comforting. After ordering her drink, she found a seat, took out her phone, and casually scrolled through some news.

Only after getting her drink and returning to her seat did Song Man open the Question Bank app, ready to tackle some problems.

Some questions had answers that were obvious at a glance. Song Man selected the option in her mind without blinking, the light reflecting off the screen making her appear somewhat cold and unapproachable at that moment.

Only when she encountered some difficult problems would Song Man pause to think, analyzing the steps in her mind and deriving the answer.

To outsiders, she seemed to be just staring blankly at her phone.

Song Man wrote down the process on the screen’s scratchpad, occasionally taking a sip of her hot drink, and studied in Starbucks for forty minutes.

It wasn’t until her phone alarm rang that she exited the Question Bank app, took her drink, and walked towards the door.

A cold gust of wind came from the entrance. Song Man finished the last sip of her drink, threw it into the trash can by the door, and hailed a taxi home.

Swiping her card to enter the complex, then swiping again to enter the apartment building, and finally swiping to enter the elevator, the security measures here were safe to the point of being cumbersome.

Song Man pushed open the front door and saw someone on the sofa wearing a face mask.

“Dad.”

Song Man called out, catching the attention of the man on the sofa.

“Manman’s home from school. You didn’t go out fighting today, did you?”

Xu Qinglang looked Song Man up and down, confirmed there was nothing unusual, and beckoned her over.

Song Man shook her head and sat down next to Xu Qinglang.

Song Man was already used to her dad wearing face masks.

“That’s good. Why do girls always go out fighting? Studying properly is the right path. Did you listen carefully in class today?”

Song Man hummed in agreement.

“That’s good. It seems changing schools had an effect. What kind of atmosphere was that previous school? Your grades were so good before, and then they became like that. It’s a good thing you went to No. 1 High. Qingcheng No. 1 High has the highest college admission rate. Don’t let Dad’s efforts be in vain.”

Song Man was already tired of hearing these words. She had long since learned to let them go in one ear and out the other, nodding perfunctorily.

Xu Qinglang was still rambling about something, while Song Man’s mind had already drifted off.

“You’re still like this.”

Xu Qinglang tapped Song Man’s forehead, looking at his daughter with some helplessness.

“If you’re like this… in the future…”

“What’s wrong with being like this? Anyway, I’m not going to study, so just let me play. The family can afford to support me, and isn’t there Sister? Sister spoils me so much, she’ll definitely support me too.”

Song Man grabbed Xu Qinglang’s hand and said with a playful grin.

“I’m going to take a shower, bye-bye.”

Song Man waved, but Xu Qinglang pulled her back to feed her a piece of fruit. She chewed it while saying indistinctly.

Song Man bounded up the stairs and saw Song Qinglan standing in the hallway. She smiled at her.

“Sister, good evening.”

Song Qinglan was wearing pajamas, her hair loosely draped on both sides, with willow-leaf eyebrows and crescent eyes, looking gentle and relaxed.

“Went out fighting again?”

“Don’t you dare talk nonsense. How could I? You already reported me, what else could I do?”

Song Man shook her head, looking obedient.

“If you changed, the sun would rise from the west. Don’t think I don’t know you still went. You’re quite something.”

“Ahem, keep it low-key, low-key.”

Song Man’s face was full of smiles, suppressing the coldness in her heart.

“Remember to put in a good word for me with Mom and Dad, okay? Tell them not to keep forcing me to study. They know what I’m like, but they still insist on trying to fix me.”

Song Man snorted, looking like a slacker.

“Little Dad is doing it for your own good.”

“You say that too. Aren’t you on my side anymore? Never mind, I’m going to shower.”

Song Man waved, looking quite unhappy, and opened her bedroom door.

The moment the door closed, the expression on Song Man’s face changed.

She ruffled her hair. Why was it so annoying?

She threw herself onto the bed, spaced out for a while, then picked up the photo frame by the bed and let out a long sigh.

There were four people in the photo: her, her mom, her dad, and Song Qinglan.

Song Qinglan was her sister, but not her biological sister.

Song Qinglan was the child of her mom, Ms. Song’s, first husband, but that man died of cancer. Xu Qinglang was Ms. Song’s second husband.

Although not biological, Song Man had treated Song Qinglan as her real sister since childhood.

They also got along like normal sisters, and Song Qinglan even indulged her greatly.

Recently, Song Qinglan had been acting strangely. Before, she never cared about her fighting or drinking, even seemingly encouraging it, but a few days ago, she actually reported her going to fight to their parents, causing her to be strictly monitored.

And Song Qinglan knew about what she did this afternoon already. She didn’t know which of her informants told her.

Song Man was a bit annoyed, her eyebrows tightly furrowed.

She put the photo frame back and sighed again.

Troublesome.

It wasn’t a big deal that her sister wasn’t biological. Fortunately, her dad was her real dad, and her mom was her real mom.

As for why Song Man’s surname was Song and not her dad’s Xu, it was, of course, because her dad married into the family.

Their family structure was quite different from others, even somewhat reversed.

It was like a matriarchal world inserted into a patriarchal one.

The family heavily favored daughters over sons. The family head always married men who moved in and never married out.

But it wasn’t like all the girls in the family were like this; most still married out as usual. However, the family head couldn’t.

Men must marry in, and women must be the head of the household. This was the Song family rule.

Song Man grew up thinking dads should be beautiful at home and moms should go out to earn money. When she went to kindergarten, she was almost shocked by the outside world.

Oh my god, there were actually men who went out to earn money, and those women actually stayed home knitting sweaters.

Oh my god.

Amazing.

After that, Song Man’s worldview began to restructure.

As she grew older, Song Man understood the situation outside and at home, and also knew that Ms. Song was the current head of the Song family.

And she and Song Qinglan were Ms. Song’s only two daughters.

Song Man put away her messy thoughts and went to the bathroom to shower.

There were quite a few small injuries and bruises hidden under her clothes, some from today’s fight and some that hadn’t healed yet.

That weapon today was really awkward, like something a fool would use.

Song Man hummed a tune while showering, then applied medicine to herself on the bed. After applying the medicine, she picked up her phone and continued studying.

She was very fast, only slowing down for the longer problems towards the end.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Song Man opened the game interface, turned her phone horizontally, and called out, “Come in.”

Song Qinglan walked in with a glass of milk and placed it on Song Man’s desk.

“Always playing games, you don’t even pay attention to your eyes.”

Song Qinglan frowned and said with a tone of reproach.

“Uh-huh, got it.”

Song Man didn’t even lift her head, looking at the game screen like a severe internet addict.

“Drink the milk.”

“Put it there, I’ll drink it later.”

“It’ll just be poured away later.”

Song Qinglan looked like an old sage, stating the fact in a declarative tone.

“I really don’t like drinking it.”

Song Man put down her phone and looked at the glass of milk with a pained expression.

Actually, she liked drinking it at first, but later she got tired of it.

“Milk is good for your health, it helps you grow taller and sleep better. You’re still growing, drink it.”

Song Qinglan remained unmoved. Song Man had no choice but to pick up the glass and chug it down, then shoved the glass into Song Qinglan’s hand.

“Finished, finished. Remember to close the door on your way out, don’t disturb my gaming.”

“Go to bed early, don’t stay up late.”

“Got it.”

It truly seemed like deep sisterly affection.

The moment the door closed, Song Man immediately rushed to the bathroom and threw up all the milk she had just drunk.

The rich smell of milk made Song Man feel extremely nauseous.

It was just plain milk, Song Man knew.

The milk was fine, but the person who sent the milk might not be.

Only when the feeling in her mouth faded did Song Man feel better. She washed her face with water and returned to bed.

Picking up her phone, she finished the problem she hadn’t completed earlier. Song Man clicked submit and was surprised to find she had made a mistake in one place.

She looked at it and realized it was a trick question. Song Qinglan had knocked just as she was working on it, and her train of thought had drifted when she came back to finish it.

Song Man corrected it and started working on an English paper.

After only a few questions, the phone rang.

“Man Jie, wanna come out for skewers? My treat.”

Deng Wei’s voice rang out from the other end, with some noise in the background.

“Ailan, Xiao Mao, they’re all here, same old spot, just waiting for you.”

“Alright, I’m coming. Get some crayfish ready for me.”

“Okay, okay.”

Song Man licked her upper palate. That annoying milk taste was still there. It was time to eat some crayfish to suppress that taste.

Song Man changed into a set of long sleeves and pants, casually ruffled her short hair, grabbed her motorcycle keys, and left.

Xu Qinglang wasn’t in the living room, probably already in his room.

Good, that avoided a lecture.

Song Man went straight to the garage. There were three motorcycles parked in the garage, all Song Man’s treasures.

She rode her modified Augusta, which was cool and safe, not suitable for racing but good for daily commuting.

After leaving the complex, Song Man headed straight for the skewer place.

The temperature tonight was a bit low, and the wind seemed to pierce through one’s heart and lungs.

Chu Fengqiu held her little niece’s hand and came to the night market, stroking her niece’s little braid.

Just as she was about to wash up and go to bed, her little niece who was visiting insisted on eating BBQ, so she had to put on a coat and bring her out to buy food.

“Auntie, I want to eat small yellow fish.”

“Okay, Auntie will buy it for you.”

Chu Fengqiu ordered quite a few things, planning to pack some to take back for the adults.

While waiting, Chu Fengqiu heard a roar, getting closer and closer.

It was a beautiful heavy motorcycle, attracting everyone’s attention.

Chu Fengqiu initially thought the rider would be a young man, but when the bike stopped, she realized it was a young woman.

The young woman was tall and lifted her hand to take off her helmet.

Her clear and beautiful face entered Chu Fengqiu’s eyes, making her slightly stunned.

The helmet had messed up the young woman’s hair. She raised her hand to tidy it, and a gust of wind blew through her hair, then gently brushed over Chu Fengqiu’s palm, bringing a slightly itchy sensation.

“Auntie, what are you looking at?”

The little niece tugged at Chu Fengqiu’s hand and asked curiously, looking up.

“I’m looking at a little fairy.”

Chu Fengqiu’s eyes curved, a gentle smile on her face.

Isn’t she the little fairy who hits people with a magic wand?