Online Romance with an Iceberg Professor Backfired - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: Reporting
“Then I’ll be going now.”
Ji Pei sat on the sofa and chatted with Jiang Xianhan for a while. She raised her wrist to check the time. It was nearly 8 PM, and Jiang Xianhan was injured and needed rest.
Ji Fan, one hand clutching her stomach and the other steadying herself on the door frame, stumbled out of the bathroom.
“What’s wrong with you? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Ji Fan shook her head. “No need, Sister. I ate too much spicy food and two ice cream cones.”
Ji Pei saw Ji Fan approaching. She was about to pat the back of her head but stopped herself in time.
“Let’s see if you dare to eat alone again. You couldn’t even get one for me or Professor Jiang.”
Ji Fan drooped her head, like a Samoyed that had been scolded. “I’m sorry, Sister.”
Before leaving, Ji Pei took out her phone, opened a food delivery app, and ordered a steamed egg dish for Jiang Xianhan. Most take-out food nowadays was pre-prepared, and even steamed egg was no exception.
Ji Pei had just placed the order but canceled it immediately. She felt Jiang Xianhan wasn’t the type of person to eat such things. If the take-out wasn’t clean and caused her an upset stomach, it would only make matters worse. Ji Pei had eaten take-out steamed egg once before; it was salty and fishy, not good at all.
What should she do now? Ji Pei pondered deeply, and suddenly an idea struck her.
Arriving at the garage, Ji Fan still tried to drive, but she was met with a sharp glare from Ji Pei.
“Aren’t you having a stomach ache? I’ll take you to the hospital to get checked out and some medicine.”
“No, no, no!”
Ji Fan sat obediently in the back seat and shook her head. “Let’s hurry home. I hate going to the hospital the most.”
Ji Pei smiled faintly. “Then why didn’t you say a word when we accompanied Professor Jiang to the hospital today?”
“That’s different, okay?”
Ji Fan muttered, “If you hadn’t been so careless, how would Professor Jiang have sprained her ankle? Do you think she can still teach?”
Ji Pei didn’t know. “Someone as determined as Professor Jiang will go to class even if she has to use a wheelchair.”
“How do you know, Sister?”
Ji Pei stepped on the gas. “I’m guessing.”
Actually, Ji Pei wanted Ji Fan to practice driving more, but it was rush hour now. Although the two addresses were only a few kilometers apart, Ji Pei was stuck in traffic for over twenty minutes before getting home.
Returning home, they opened the door to find Ye Wenzhu sitting on the sofa, happily playing with the dog. Seeing the Ji Pei sisters enter, the smile on her face instantly vanished. Her face was stern, as if she were ready to demand answers.
“You two are finally back! All you care about is going out to dinner with your new lover and forgetting about me, your loyal Ye Baochuan!”
Ji Pei headed straight for the kitchen. Ye Wenzhu started to follow but was pulled back by Ji Fan’s arm.
“Sister Wenzhu, my sister is going to cook for Professor Jiang. Don’t disturb her.”
Ye Wenzhu looked surprised, her gaze hovering over the empty space behind Ji Fan. “Professor Jiang? Where is she? Didn’t you two go out for dinner?”
“We had just entered the restaurant, but my sister accidentally fell and landed right on Professor Jiang. She sprained her ankle and can’t move.”
Ye Wenzhu rubbed her chin. “Then you definitely owe her an apology. After all, broken bones take a hundred days to heal. How did something like this happen just going out for a meal?”
Ji Fan speculated, “Maybe my sister and Professor Jiang are astrologically incompatible?”
Ye Wenzhu nodded decisively. “I think so too. Look, when she took your place in class, Jiang Xianhan caught her. Now, going out to eat, Jiang Xianhan sprained her ankle. They really might be mutually exclusive in the zodiac.”
In the kitchen, Ji Pei quickly whisked eggs and steamed them. She also found time to make a fragrant bowl of chicken soup with shredded meat noodles.
Ji Fan, drawn by the scent, floated over, leaning against the kitchen door, surprised. “Sister, are you really going to take food to Professor Jiang?”
Ye Wenzhu stood nearby, sulking. “See? This is five years of friendship. It’s less important than a woman she’s known for two days.”
Ji Pei carefully placed the steamed egg and soup noodles into food containers. She walked up to Ye Wenzhu and pinched her ear.
“Your eyes are for seeing, not just breathing. See those two bowls of noodles? They’re for you and Ji Fan.”
Ye Wenzhu’s smile instantly became flattering. “Oh, my heart of gold! You know I have a sharp tongue. Be careful on the road.”
Ji Pei picked up her phone, checked the time, and sent a message to Jiang Xianhan.
Ji Pei: “Professor Jiang, are you asleep?”
Ji Pei: “Don’t sleep yet.”
Jiang Xianhan had finished showering and was wiping the dripping ends of her hair with a towel. Seeing her phone flash repeatedly, she picked it up and saw Ji Pei’s messages. She didn’t bother to dry her hair and started typing on her phone.
Demon Jiang: “Not yet.”
Ji Pei finally breathed a sigh of relief when Jiang Xianhan replied instantly. She packed the steamed egg and meat-shredded noodles into a bag, grabbed her keys, and left.
The drive there was smooth, and Ji Pei reached the villa in ten minutes. She opened the door. Jiang Xianhan was sitting on the sofa, arranging a vase of flowers. Their eyes met precisely.
“Professor Jiang.”
Ji Pei unconsciously softened her voice, placing the bag in her hand on the table in front of the professor. She unzipped the bag, revealing an insulated pouch and two cute, round ceramic food containers shaped like Mickey Mouse, one large and one small.
Ji Pei arranged the two containers on the table and brought out a new pair of chopsticks and a spoon.
“Professor Jiang, I made this: steamed egg and chicken soup noodles.”
Ji Pei’s light-red lips were slightly pursed. “No chili. You should be able to eat it.”
Jiang Xianhan sat there, staring at the two containers for a long time. She looked up at Ji Pei’s eyes and curved her lips into a smile.
“Thank you.”
“It was my fault. You were fine when you came here.” Ji Pei finished, rattling the keys in her hand. “Professor Jiang, please eat. I’ll go now. If you need anything, just message me. I’m always available.”
She left the house but didn’t leave the premises. Instead, she sat on the swing in the backyard, took out her phone, and opened the app.
What kind of day is today? Why is everything going wrong? Even drinking cold water makes me choke. And Jiang Xianhan suffered innocently because of me.
Ji Pei thought she should genuinely consult a fortune teller to see if she and Jiang Xianhan were truly astrologically incompatible.
The app’s icon had changed. It used to be a pink heart; now, the heart had turned into a red lip print, looking much more mature. But when Ji Pei clicked on it, a maintenance announcement popped up. The notice stated that the system had a bug and was undergoing maintenance, and some basic functions were temporarily unavailable.
Ji Pei clicked on Winter Sun’s avatar and found that the distance between her and the other person had disappeared. This must be the real-time distance function being temporarily disabled.
She swung back and forth on the swing, the soles of her shoes rubbing against the fallen maple leaves, creating a sound.
Seasonal Wind: “Wifey, I was wrong.”
Seasonal Wind: “I wasn’t paying attention to the road and caused my friend to fall and sprain her ankle.”
Seasonal Wind: “I took her to the hospital. The doctor said it will take at least one or two months to heal.”
Seasonal Wind: “Her home is too far, so I let her stay at my old house.”
She typed word by word, feeling it was too slow. She wanted to call Winter Sun, but found that the voice chat function was also temporarily unavailable.
“The other party is typing…”
Winter Sun: “How are you? Are you injured?”
Seasonal Wind: “I’m fine. She served as my cushion. Otherwise, I would have a bloody head now.”
Ji Pei looked at the warm light coming through the villa window and continued typing.
Seasonal Wind: “I cooked for her. The take-out food is too dirty now.”
Winter Sun: “What delicious food did you make?”
Seasonal Wind: “Steamed egg and a bowl of chicken soup noodles.”
Ji Pei stared at Winter Sun’s avatar, a faint smile appearing in her eyes. She bent down and picked up a maple leaf, examining the veins and textures under the light, filled with a sense of solitude.
Seasonal Wind: “I really want to see you. When we meet, I’ll cook for you too, okay? I can cook many delicious things. You name it, I can make it.”
Winter Sun took a long time to type. Ji Pei stared at the “is typing…” for almost a minute.
Winter Sun: “Okay.”