Since it's a home visit, we should definitely talk about things that parents and teachers should discuss.
"Teacher Sheng, my sister is at school. Is she causing you trouble?" Chai Qianning started the conversation.
"Not really. Shuqing is quite smart, and her grades are usually among the top in the class. It's just that she's a bit lazy, which is what I wanted to tell you today."
Sheng Muxi took a sip of tea and continued, "Although the monthly exam is not as important as the midterm or final exam, it is still an exam. Shu Qing also confessed to me that she slept in the dormitory in the afternoon and did not go to the exam because when she woke up, there were less than ten minutes left before the exam started. She felt that she would not have enough time to get to the exam room, so she simply did not go to the exam."
"Everyone makes mistakes, that's fine. Oversleeping is an uncontrollable factor. But Shuqing didn't even think about trying to make up for her mistake, which is a problem with her attitude."
"Moreover, judging from Shuqing's usual test-taking speed, even if she enters the exam room ten minutes late, she can still finish the test paper and will not miss the exam."
After Sheng Muxi finished speaking, Chai Qianning nodded: "Yes, this is indeed very wrong. I will have a good talk with her. Thank you for coming all this way, Teacher Sheng."
After their conversation, Sheng Muxi was about to head back, and Chai Qianning saw her to the door.
Before leaving, Sheng Muxi suddenly turned back and asked her, "I heard from your sister that you are not in good health. No wonder I rarely see you go out. What is wrong with your health? I know some traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. Maybe they can help you."
Chai Qianning wanted to say that she might not be in a good mental state right now.
But she just joked, "Lazy person."
This answer was very clever. She neither lied nor helped Chai Shuqing lie, but she was able to make the other party believe that she was just teasing her because she didn't want to reveal her privacy.
Judging from Sheng Muxi's expression, she truly believed that Sheng Muxi was ill.
But she didn't explain; after all, she was genuinely lazy. If there was anything wrong with her, it was that she didn't like to explain things to people.
Chapter 8 Reciprocity
After Sheng Muxi left, Chai Qianning closed the door and sat back on the sofa. She looked at Chai Shuqing's room door and tapped her fingers lightly on the table a few times.
The door to Chai Shuqing's room suddenly opened a crack, then gradually opened wider, and a head timidly peeked out from inside.
"Sis, Teacher Sheng left so soon?"
Do you want her to stay a little longer?
"Of course not."
Chai Qianning gently patted the empty seat on the sofa next to her: "Come over, let's talk."
Chai Shuqing reluctantly moved over little by little and finally sat down next to Chai Qianning.
Just as Chai Qianning turned her head to say something, Chai Shuqing jumped up and immediately raised her hands in a "surrender" gesture: "Sister, I was wrong, I admit my mistake, okay? Don't hit me."
Upon hearing this, Chai Qianning raised her hand and pinched her cheek: "When have I ever hit you?"
“When I was little, you would threaten to hit me whenever I misbehaved.”
"Then I didn't really hit him."
"But in my young mind, I already assumed that you hit me."
"Fine, then bring your ass over here so I can spank you."
Chai Shuqing subconsciously touched her pants: "It's no use, you can't scare me now."
Chai Qianning glanced at her a few times, picked up the teacup and held it in the air. Her hand was no longer trembling, which showed that what happened in front of Sheng Muxi just now was just an accident.
After holding it for a while, her hands got a little weak. Sure enough, after not exercising for so long, suddenly doing some physical work took a lot of effort.
She reached out her other hand, squeezed her wrist, took a few sips of tea, put down the cup, and began to speak to Chai Shuqing in a parental tone: "Why didn't you take the exam?"
Chai Shuqing scratched her head: "I'm too sleepy."
"Is this your reason for not taking the exam?"
"Hmm..." Chai Shuqing raised her eyes and, seeing that the other person's expression was not quite right, quickly changed her words, saying, "When people are too sleepy, the things they do are not something their brains can control."
“Just say you’re lazy. Don’t do this again, you hear me?” Chai Qianning added, afraid that her words would go in one ear and out the other, “If you make this mistake again, I won’t help you anymore. Just wait for the teacher to call your mother over herself. Then we’ll see how your mother punishes you.”
Chai Shuqing nodded: "It won't happen again next time." Her attitude in admitting her mistake was very good.
Chai Qianning then recalled another major "crime" of hers. Although Sheng Muxi had already misunderstood to some extent, Chai Shuqing's lies undoubtedly exacerbated Sheng Muxi's misunderstanding of her. Although this misunderstanding, to a certain extent, was not necessarily a bad thing for her.
"It is wrong to lie to your teacher in order to avoid admitting your mistakes."
Chai Shuqing nodded.
"It's not just about teachers, it's about everyone else too."
Chai Shuqing continued to nod like a chick pecking at rice.
Chai Shuqing bit her knuckles, her dark eyes darting around, as if she had thought of something, and boldly spoke up: "But, sister, didn't you lie to your teachers when you were in school?"
Chai Qianning: "..."
Chai Shuqing: "You also lied to your parents."
Chai Qianning: "..."
Chai Shuqing: "I also missed the exam because I overslept."
Chai Qianning: "..."
Chai Shuqing: "You even asked me to help you cover it up."
Chai Qianning: "..."
“The environment has a subtle, profound and lasting influence on people. So, the mistake I made in my moment of confusion, while not entirely due to your influence, is at least a little bit.” After saying this, Chai Shuqing, with a strong survival instinct, moved closer to the sofa.
Chai Qianning's eyelashes fluttered a few times, she winked at her, and gently reached out and placed her hand on her hair: "Be good, forget the past."
She drew out the last syllable, her eyes conveying a mixture of amusement, gentleness, and inscrutable meaning: "Why do you always learn bad things and not good ones?"
Chai Shuqing blinked her eyes. Her older sister had a very good temper and almost never got angry with her. Even if she did something really bad when she was little, she would never scold or hit her. At most, she would just tease her with words. She always had a gentle and smiling look on her face.
But there was a hint of mockery in that smile, and she might say something sarcastic the next second. For example, right now, Chai Qianning was someone who knew how to seize someone's weakness and manipulate them.
Chai Qianning's gaze swept around a few times before she looked up at the ceiling. Chai Shuqing immediately understood: Teacher Sheng lived upstairs.
She tapped her head with her finger: "Beep, this memory segment is temporarily deleted."
"What did you just say? You're learning bad things instead of good ones? Who are you talking about?"
The two sisters chatted for a while, then Chai Qianning got up and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Knowing that Chai Shuqing was coming here, she went to buy ingredients in the morning and made pork rib soup for her.
After doing her homework for a while, Chai Shuqing came out of her room, sniffed, and smelled the rich aroma coming from the kitchen. She thought for a moment and called out to the person in the kitchen, "Sister."
"what?"
"As payment for your help today, I will reluctantly give you half of my New Year's money next year."
What would I do with your New Year's money?
"Then why did you always trick me out of my New Year's money?" Chai Shuqing muttered softly, "You took advantage of the fact that I was young and didn't understand the concept of money back then."
In the kitchen, Chai Qianning was stirring the pork rib soup with a ladle. When she heard this, she chuckled. After adding salt and seasonings, she scooped out a spoonful to taste the saltiness.
Just as she put the spoon to her lips, she heard Chai Shuqing's voice from the living room: "Well, you've grown up, you don't even care about my New Year's money anymore."
.
Chai Qianning brought the food to the table, and Chai Shuqing was already seated in her chair, waiting to eat.
Chai Shuqing praised her cooking skills and then immersed herself in the meal.
Chai Qianning didn't eat much for dinner; tonight's lavish dinner was mostly prepared for Chai Shuqing.
After drinking half a bowl of soup and eating half a bowl of rice, she really didn't have much of an appetite. Looking at Chai Shuqing, who was eating heartily across from her, she said, "You eat slowly. I'll go upstairs and bring some to your teacher, Ms. Sheng."
Chai Shuqing was engrossed in her meal, her cheeks bulging, when she looked up and saw Chai Qianning coming out of the kitchen, carrying a thermos.
The thermos was sent by Sheng Muxi last time. Chai Qianning washed it and hadn't returned it yet. Now that she had just made some pork rib soup, she put it in the thermos and sent it to him.
"Sister, what's in that bag you're carrying?"
Pork rib soup.
Chai Qianning looked at the row of shoes on the shoe cabinet, then glanced at her pajamas, and made a decision.
Forget it, it's just delivering soup, why dress so formally? Being casual is more like being a real neighbor.
So she changed into a pair of slippers and prepared to go out. Chai Shuqing peeked at her and asked, "Are you going to bribe Teacher Sheng?"
"Bribery?" Upon hearing these two words, Chai Qianning smiled and said, "Yes, to bribe Teacher Sheng."
"I don't think I've made any serious mistakes..." Chai Shuqing muttered to herself, holding her chopsticks, completely baffled.
Before leaving, Chai Qianning took the keys and turned back to tell Chai Shuqing, "Don't go out at night, and don't open the door for anyone. I brought the keys, and I'll call you if anything happens."
"Okay, sister, you're just going to deliver some soup, why are you making it sound like you're going outside?" Chai Shuqing muttered, the last part of her sentence was cut off, and Chai Qianning didn't hear what she said.
"After you finish eating, put the bowl there and wait for me to come back and clean it up. Then go to your room to do your homework and stay home obediently."
Chai Qianning picked up the thermos, closed the door, and walked towards the elevator.
She noticed that Sheng Muxi rarely went out on weekends, especially at night, so she figured that Sheng Muxi was probably at home at this time.
I rang the doorbell, and the person inside opened the door immediately. Sheng Muxi had already taken a shower and was wearing a silk white nightgown. The living room was filled with light and shadow, as if a movie was playing.
"Teacher Sheng."
When Sheng Muxi heard Chai Qianning call her "teacher" in private, she was a little taken aback. Her gaze then fell on the thermos in Chai Qianning's hand.
"I made some pork rib soup and brought it for you to try. I'll also return this thermos to you while I'm at it."
"Please come in and sit down."
Chai Qianning, not wanting to be impolite, changed her shoes and went into the living room, only to find the screen frozen on a gloomy scene, indicating that the other person had just been watching a movie.
Sheng Muxi brought two pairs of bowls and chopsticks from the kitchen and scooped out a bowl for her. Chai Qianning's eyelashes trembled, and she looked up and said, "I've already eaten."
"Drink more, you're so thin."
"Try it." Chai Qianning didn't drink it because she was already full.
After Sheng Muxi finished his bowl, seeing that Chai Qianning still hadn't moved, he picked up the bowl in front of her, seemingly intending to feed her.
"I drank a lot at dinner."
"How many?"