Returning to Parents' Seventeen
Chapter 54 Playground

Chapter 54: Chapter 54 Playground

Seeing Shen Yubai’s actions, a group of nearby students widened their eyes in disbelief.

Why is Shen Yubai sitting next to Xu Chuning? Are they close?

On the other hand, Xu Zhiyan, who rarely visited the cafeteria, was about to go find Shen Yubai but stopped in her tracks when she saw this scene, slightly frowning.

Standing next to her, her classmate and good friend Tang Ruqing was even more shocked, "Zhixian... What does Shen Yubai mean by this? Who is the girl next to him?"

Xu Zhiyan pursed her lips slightly and looked down, "I don’t know."

She turned her head towards her friend and forced a smile, "She must be a classmate from the same grade."

Students from the international class rarely paid attention to those from the regular class, even if that person was the top student of the grade.

Seeing Xu Zhiyan’s pale expression, Tang Ruqing frowned and felt indignant, "Is Shen Yubai doing this on purpose? It’s rare for you to come to the cafeteria, yet he sits with another girl."

"Ruqing," Xu Zhiyan raised her hand to hold back her friend, who was about to impulsively walk over, "It’s fine, they might have something to discuss."

Tang Ruqing: "But—"

"Let’s find a place to sit first," noticing that their classmates had turned their attention towards them, Xu Zhiyan did not want to be laughed at, "We can talk about it later."

Xu Zhiyan insisted, leaving Tang Ruqing with no choice. She looked disapprovingly towards Xu Chuning, "I don’t know where this shabby girl popped out from."

Xu Zhiyan didn’t respond.

"..."

On Xu Chuning’s side, since Shen Yubai sat down, many people had turned to look at them, but she couldn’t pay attention or care about it.

Besides being a little surprised initially, she ate quietly like usual.

While eating, Shen Yubai suddenly turned his head to look at her, "Is that all you’re eating?"

Xu Chuning glanced at her plate, "Any problem?"

Shen Yubai: "..."

He slightly narrowed his eyes, looking at her fair little face, and hesitated before saying, "Is that nutritious enough?"

"?"

Hearing Shen Yubai’s words, Xu Chuning felt baffled, "Do I look malnourished?"

"Yes," Shen Yubai stared at her.

Xu Chuning choked up a bit, looking across at Shen Sinian, "Really?"

Shen Sinian: "..."

Frankly, he wasn’t keen on joining his parents’ conversation.

Moreover, his dad was really bad at expressing himself, wasn’t he? If he cared about his mom, couldn’t he just be more direct and clear? Saying indirectly that she was malnourished was not something any girl would want to hear.

Grumbling to himself internally, Shen Sinian glanced at Shen Yubai’s plate, then Xu Chuning’s, and without much hesitation, he took a drumstick from Shen Yubai’s plate and put it in Xu Chuning’s bowl, "Since he said you eat too little, we won’t be polite about it."

Shen Sinian stated, "Ningning, eat his drumstick."

Xu Chuning: "..."

The people sitting nearby: "..."

Can it really be operated like this?

Yu Gaoyi knew that Shen Sinian and Shen Yubai had a good relationship, but from this particular action, he felt that their relationship wasn’t just simply good.

Since Shen Yubai enrolled, Shen Sinian must be the first classmate to take food from his plate, right?

Compared to Yu Gaoyi’s shock, Deng Xitong was relatively calm, as this wasn’t the first time she saw Shen Sinian doing this kind of thing.

Thinking about it, she also helped Shen Sinian persuade Xu Chuning, "Since Shen Sinian has already served you the food, just eat it."

Xu Chuning: "I’m not hungry today."

If she were hungry, she wouldn’t have taken such a small portion.

Shen Yubai raised an eyebrow, "Not feeling well?"

"No," Xu Chuning returned his drumstick to him, "You guys eat."

The weather turned hotter, and it naturally affected Xu Chuning’s appetite.

Regarding the chicken leg incident, it was over just like that.

After the meal, Shen Yubai stopped Shen Sinian and said he had something to ask him.

Shen Sinian responded with an "Oh," and after a pause, asked, "Ningning, will you accompany me?"

Xu Chuning originally wanted to refuse, but upon seeing Shen Sinian’s pitiful eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to say no.

After a few seconds of silence, Xu Chuning nodded, "Where to?"

Shen Yubai: "The playground?"

The playground was spacious, a good place for a chat.

Xu Chuning had no objections.

The trio headed for the playground, Yu Gaoyi was curious about what they wanted to discuss, but before he had the chance to ask, he was dragged away by Ban Shu, "Don’t mind them."

He looked towards Deng Xitong, asking for her opinion, "Deng, want some ice cream? My treat."

Deng Xitong’s eyes lit up, "Sure, I want the expensive one."

Yu Gaoyi: "Pick whatever you want."

The three headed to the snack bar, Yu Gaoyi’s attention diverted by the ice cream, no longer curious about the situation of the trio.

At the playground, due to the hot weather, there were not many students around at noon.

Shen Yubai and the others walked to the playground and specifically chose a solitary tree to talk under.

The three stood facing each other. Shen Sinian probably knew what Shen Yubai wanted to talk about. Facing the stares from the two, he took the initiative to admit his mistake, "The math test was my fault."

Xu Chuning: "...Don’t do this next time."

Shen Sinian: "Mhm."

He looked up at Shen Yubai, feeling somewhat nervous. Although the two were the same age and not much different in height, facing Shen Yubai still made Shen Sinian uncontrollably nervous.

In his heart, the image of Shen Yubai as a father figure always existed.

"Are you not going to say something?" he tentatively asked Shen Yubai.

Shen Yubai glanced at Xu Chuning, then shifted his gaze onto him, "I’m not here to lecture you."

Shen Sinian: "Ah?"

Shen Yubai: "I think what you did was quite right."

He knew about the incident of Shen Sinian scoring zero on his math test. Lai Yongliang and Mou Xue had been called to the headteacher’s office. The headteacher probably learned from the principal that Shen Sinian was transferred by the Shen Family to the school. Although not fully aware of the specifics of Shen Sinian’s relationship with the Shen Family, having the Shen Family’s endorsement and his impressive performance in other subjects for the monthly exam was enough to draw the headteacher’s attention.

Naturally, he inquired Mou Xue about Shen Sinian’s usual performance and questioned Lai Yongliang about why Shen Sinian scored zero on the test.

Lai Yongliang said he wasn’t sure, perhaps Shen Sinian did not know how to do it?

Hearing this, the headteacher scoffed; a person who could score full marks on other subjects couldn’t possibly leave a math paper blank. Since Shen Sinian was not absent from the exam, he must have intentionally left the paper blank.

As for why he might do that intentionally, it was suspected to be related to Lai Yongliang, the math teacher.

Before calling the two teachers to the office, the headteacher had inquired about Lai Yongliang’s usual attitude towards Shen Sinian in class. Since Shen Sinian often chatted with Xu Chuning, the status-conscious Lai Yongliang naturally categorized Shen Sinian with the poor like Xu Chuning, thus treating Shen Sinian poorly in class as well.

...

Of course, the other students didn’t know about these events, and Shen Yubai only knew because the principal had called him.

"Ah?" Shen Sinian paused, doubting his ears, "What?"

Shen Yubai: "Your class’s math teacher..."

He speculated, "Should be replaced."

Xu Chuning was surprised, "Are you sure?"

Shen Yubai nodded.

Xu Chuning, looking intently at him, asked, "Did you do something?"

Shen Yubai lowered his lashes, "No, it’s not me. Lai Yongliang has always been problematic as a teacher. The principal didn’t act before because he thought you all had gotten used to his teaching style after over a year, but now it seems that cutting losses in time is a good plan."

Xu Chuning fell silent, hesitating, "But is this really okay for us to do?"

Shen Yubai glanced at her, his tone quite displeased, "When he treated you differently, did you think what he did was right?"