Returning to Parents' Seventeen
Chapter 30 My Dad Really Has It Tough

Chapter 30: Chapter 30 My Dad Really Has It Tough

As soon as her words fell, Xu Chuning’s body stiffened, and she slowly turned her head to look at the person coming, quickly breathing a sigh of relief, "...Xitong, what are you doing here?"

Deng Xitong stared wide-eyed at her, "I was about to ask you the same, what are you doing standing here alone? Aren’t you afraid of running into those thugs?"

The thugs Deng Xitong referred to were a group of good-for-nothings who often lingered around the school, always extorting money from students.

Xu Chuning was too poor, so she wasn’t a target for those people. Hence, she had never encountered them.

But she knew, many students at the school had run into them, teachers had reported to the police, but those people were as slippery as eels, hard to catch.

Some were caught, locked up for a while, and then were released and continued their actions.

Hearing what Deng Xitong said, Xu Chuning was stunned for a moment, met her bright pair of eyes, and hesitantly bit her lower lip, silently relieved, "No, I was just about to leave."

Deng Xitong apparently hadn’t seen Shen Yubai, otherwise, her reaction wouldn’t be like this.

Realizing this, Xu Chuning relaxed quite a bit, "Why are you also taking this alley?"

"I saw it’s almost time for class." Deng Xitong said, "I am worried about being late."

Xu Chuning: "Ah?"

Deng Xitong: "Didn’t you check the time?"

Xu Chuning really hadn’t noticed the time, but after Deng Xitong mentioned it, the two exchanged glances and quickly started running.

When they reached the classroom door, the class bell had just rung.

Xu Chuning and Deng Xitong entered the classroom one after the other, sat down in their seats, and inexplicably looked at each other and laughed, "I’m dead tired."

Deng Xitong said.

Xu Chuning curved her lips, "Drink some water and take it easy."

Deng Xitong made a humming sound.

The two didn’t mention the incident in the alley again, Xu Chuning put down her backpack, took some textbooks out of the backpack, and then stuffed the mobile phone Shen Yubai had given her into the backpack.

Time in the morning passed quickly, Xu Chuning always studied hard in class, whether it was language, math, history, or political education, she listened very attentively.

At lunchtime, it was still in a group of three.

After eating in the cafeteria, Deng Xitong said she wanted to go to the store to buy something, and the two accompanied her.

"Do you want to buy anything?" Xu Chuning asked Shen Sinian.

Shen Sinian glanced inside and shook his head, "No."

His mom didn’t have any money; he couldn’t spend her money.

Seemingly seeing what he was thinking, Xu Chuning smiled, "Shen Sinian, don’t underestimate me."

Shen Sinian: "...I didn’t."

He denied.

Xu Chuning gave him a sideways glance and stepped into the store.

The store had quite a few snacks, from ten cents, twenty cents, to fifty cents a piece, they had everything.

Xu Chuning looked around, recalled what the boys in her class loved to eat and drink, and found her mind was blank.

She seemed to have never paid attention to the preferences of the boys in her class.

Deng Xitong came around from the other side, "What are you thinking?"

Xu Chuning looked up at her, "What do boys generally like?"

Deng Xitong: "?"

Surprised, she uttered, then realized, "Are you buying something for Shen Sinian?"

Xu Chuning nodded.

Deng Xitong stared at her profile, unable to help but ask, "Why are you so good to Shen Sinian?"

She couldn’t help but ask, "Are you two... dating?"

"..." Xu Chuning was speechless, picked up a box of mints from the shelf, "Do you think we look like a couple?"

Deng Xitong very honestly, "No."

It was precisely because they didn’t seem so, that she found it strange.

"Then you two are just friends?" Deng Xitong asked.

Xu Chuning turned her head, staring straight at her, "You wouldn’t happen to like Shen Sinian, would you?"

Being asked so directly, Deng Xitong choked, "How could I."

Xu Chuning: "Really not?"

Deng Xitong glanced at her sideways, stubbornly said, "If he’s not dating you, and you don’t have that kind of intentions towards him, I guess I could like him, right?"

"...You really can’t have feelings for him," Xu Chuning said.

Deng Xitong widened her eyes: "Why?"

Xu Chuning put the lipstick candy back, feeling a bit of a headache, "I don’t know how to explain it to you for the time being."

After all, it is better the fewer people know about Shen Sinian coming from the future.

If it gets out, and people think he is some kind of oddity, wanting to capture him for research, or force him to reveal things about the future even he doesn’t know, it would be disastrous.

Hearing this, Deng Xitong’s face turned upset, "...you are being so unreasonable."

"Xitong," Xu Chuning seriously called her by her name, "I’m not that despicable. There is a reason why I said this, but I can’t tell you right now, and I hope you can understand."

Deng Xitong was rarely seen like this, momentarily flustered.

Xu Chuning looked into her eyes, "I won’t hurt you."

First of all, regardless of the age difference between Deng Xitong and Shen Sinian from the future, just the fact that Shen Sinian might one day return to the future and leave them here makes any relationship between them inappropriate.

Xu Chuning didn’t want Deng Xitong to fall into endless sadness later, so it was necessary to cut losses in time.

"Why so serious?" Deng Xitong snapped back, "I just think Shen Sinian is handsome and has a nice personality, I just have a little fondness for him."

Her feelings for Shen Sinian had not reached the stage of liking.

"That’s good," Xu Chuning sighed in relief.

Deng Xitong looked at her, "What about you? Are you sure you don’t have that kind of feelings for him?"

Xu Chuning hummed, "No."

Deng Xitong nodded, somewhat understanding, "Okay then."

"You can think of us two as relatives," Xu Chuning suddenly said.

Deng Xitong was slightly taken aback, "That’s not impossible."

Xu Chuning chuckled, "Did you pick something? If so, let’s go."

She browsed through the convenience store and eventually just picked up a bottle of carbonated drink for Shen Sinian.

Shen Sinian received it, "What’s this?"

He had never drank it before.

Looking at the bottle of the carbonated drink, Xu Chuning pondered that maybe this thing would disappear in some future year, and it was normal for him to not know about it, "It’s a drink, try it and see if you like it."

Shen Sinian: "Then I definitely like it."

Deng Xitong: "You haven’t even drunk it yet."

Shen Sinian: "Whatever Ningning buys, I like it."

Deng Xitong: "..."

She looked towards Xu Chuning, having a silent conversation with her eyes—You still say there’s nothing ambiguous between you.

Xu Chuning: "Really, there isn’t."

Shen Sinian twisted open the cap and took a sip, heard her words, "What do you mean there isn’t?"

Xu Chuning: "Nothing."

Shen Sinian: "..."

The three of them returned to the classroom from the convenience store, and Xu Chuning thought about it and still mentioned to Shen Sinian the matter of Shen Yubai giving her a phone.

After listening, Shen Sinian with a face: "I know."

Xu Chuning looked at him.

Shen Sinian whispered to her, "He originally wanted me to give it to you, but I refused, I said whoever bought it should give it."

Xu Chuning smiled at him, "Do you think you did the right thing?"

Shen Sinian: "Isn’t it?"

He was a bit bewildered.

Xu Chuning looked at the face in front of her, which wasn’t naive or sweet, but the mind behind it was quite sweet and naive, with a slight touch of helplessness, "Do you know how much a phone costs?"

Shen Sinian: "What do you mean? You want to pay him?"

Xu Chuning: "Of course."

Shen Sinian fell silent for a moment, asked softly, "He won’t be angry with you, will he?"

Xu Chuning: "Why would he be angry?"

"..."

Shen Sinian looked at her with a speechless face, and after a moment dropped a sentence, "My dad is really a bit miserable, how can you be so oblivious?"

Xu Chuning: "..."

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