Open World 20
Xie Xi felt ashamed after hearing the words. He cried and screamed at a man who he only knew for one day. It was also his teacher…
How could he be so stupid?! It was just a cold but the heat made his brain silly! Xie Xi was annoyed to death and hoped it was a dream!
In fact, last night wasn’t exactly as Jiang Xie said. Xie Xi didn’t cry but he cried silently. He closed his eyes and silently shed tears.
That appearance was so painful that Jiang Xie only looked once and never wanted to see it again.
What type of life had this half-child lived?
The tears that flowed down were like hot magma, making an indelible mark on Jiang Xie’s heart. He didn’t want Xie Xi to cry or recall those hard memories. Thus, Jiang Xie said these words to help him unload some of the strong determination and also to be closer to him.
“Come on, drink some porridge to supplement your strength.” Jiang Xie gently stirred the porridge with a spoon and waited for the temperature to cool before sending it to Xie Xi’s mouth.
Xie Xi still doubted life and couldn’t understand what this person said.
“Ah…” Jiang Xie really treated him as a child. He brought the spoon to Xie Xi’s mouth and had him open his mouth.
Xie Xi’s spirit returned and he stared at Jiang Xie with an open mouth, very speechless.
Jiang Xie blinked, not embarra.s.sed at all. “It seems that you have really woken up.”
How could Xie Xi let Jiang Xie feed him? He saw the porridge which had obviously been cooking for a while and his heart was hot. He took the bowl and said, “I’ll do it myself.”
Jiang Xie didn’t tease him and handed him the bowl. “Eat it, the temperature is just right and it’s going to become cold.”
Xie Xi bowed his head and stared at the porridge. “Thank you.”
“Why so polite?” Being serious for one second was probably the limit for Jiang Xie. He added, “A teacher for one day is a father for life. It is natural for an old father to take care of the children.”
Xie Xi, “………………”
Sure enough, this teacher wasn’t normal!
“Quickly eat the porridge.” The old father said earnestly, “I have been boiling it for two hours. Don’t waste it.”
Xie Xi’s heart was warm again. He was confused while burning up and must’ve said a lot of things to Jiang… this person’s mouth was shameless but he was a good man.
Xie Xi nodded as he scooped up a spoonful of porridge and placed it in his mouth…
He almost spat it out!
Jiang Xie was very confident. “Is it good? I put in sea cuc.u.mber, abalone and lobster. The nutrition is absolutely enough and the taste shouldn’t be much worse.”
Xie Xi stared at the bowl of expensive seafood porridge and couldn’t hold back, “Teacher, have you tasted it?”
“I couldn’t estimate the weight and didn’t cook that much. That’s why I didn’t try it.” The child needed a big meal and he was afraid there wasn’t enough.
Xie Xi’s lips curved as he asked, “How many spoonfuls of salt did you put in?”
“A spoonful, the recipe… cough, I mean, you have a cold and it is better to have a lighter meal.”
Xie Xi didn’t miss the word ‘recipe.’ This person looked up a recipe to make the porridge. Did he check the recipe and put in half a pound of salt?
Jiang Xie saw his expression and asked, “Is the porridge salty?”
He picked up the spoon that Xie Xi had used, tasted it and rushed to the sink to vomit. This saltiness was enough to kill people!
Jiang Xie returned and gracefully collapsed. “Don’t eat it. I’ll call for takeaway.”
It was the first time he cooked but he countered such a thing, Teacher Jiang felt very humiliated.
Xie Xi couldn’t help smiling and asked, “Teacher, how big is your spoon?”
Jiang Xie pointed to the spoon in Xie Xi’s bowl. “The same as that one.”
The spoon in Xie Xi’s hand was big enough to hold an egg. This big spoonful of salt, um…
He laughed loudly. “The recipe isn’t good. It didn’t tell you how big a spoon to use.”
Jiang Xie, “…”
It might be humiliating but he felt it was worth it to see the child laughing comfortably.
This seemed to be the first time he saw Xie Xi laugh. They didn’t know each other for a long time but Jiang Xie was certain that this child must rarely laugh.
Xie Xi felt that his body was much better. A fever was deadly but once it burned out, it was easy to recover.
He got out of bed and said, “Don’t call for takeaway. It would be wasteful to pour out such good porridge.” The thought of not being able to eat sea cuc.u.mber, abalone and lobster simply pained Xie Xi.
Jiang Xie protested, “It is too salty. You can’t eat it.” It was so hard to endure the embarra.s.sment but this turned out to be a bonus point, not a point deduction.
Xie Xi told him, “I’ll cook it again and it can be eaten.”
“You are still sick.”
“It is just a little cold. It isn’t that serious.”
Jiang Xie saw Xie Xi’s feet and immediately said, “Wait, I’ll go get you some slippers.”
“No need…”
Jiang Xie had already left and soon returned with a pair of cotton slippers. “There is underfloor heating in my house but the kitchen doesn’t have it. You just had a fever and need to be careful.”
As he spoke, he naturally bent down and placed the slippers on Xie Xi’s feet. Xie Xi stared at the wide back and his heart was hot. A thank you filled his throat but he unexpectedly couldn’t release it. He only knew that thanks weren’t enough.
Xie Xi asked, “Teacher, have you eaten?”
Jiang Xie didn’t have the habit of eating breakfast but he was afraid to teach the child bad things, so he said, “I’ll eat later.”
“Then wait a while. We’ll eat together.”
Then Xie Xi left the room and became stunned. It wasn’t because of the s.p.a.cious apartment, the elegant decorations or the expensive murals. He was stunned because…
It was messy! There were piles of clothes on the leather sofa, magazines on the carpet, a few empty cans on the coffee table and there was even an ashtray on the projector!
Jiang Xie cleared his throat. “I live alone and I’m not too particular…”
Was this a matter of being particular? Xie Xi lived alone in the cheapest old building but his place wasn’t like this.
It was obvious from the bowl of porridge that this elite scholar didn’t have much life experience but Xie Xi hadn’t expected it to be so serious! He didn’t say anything and headed straight to the kitchen.
Jiang Xie didn’t follow and quietly cleaned up the living room. He could at least hide his… um… his possessions…
Xie Xi entered the kitchen and understood instantly. This kitchen was very beautiful and could be used in an advertis.e.m.e.nt but unfortunately, there were no signs of it being taken care of by its owner.
Xie Xi could imagine that since the kitchen’s birth, it had probably only produced a salty bowl of seafood porridge. Jiang Xie had probably run to the supermarket in the early morning and bought everything according to the recipe. Even the can of salt was just opened.
The spoon that was the ‘cause’ was also left in the salt can. It was funny but it also warmed up people’s heart.
Jiang Xie hadn’t slept all night. He took care of Xie Xi’s fever and then bought so many things in the early morning.
This seafood porridge couldn’t be eaten but the person’s heart was clear. He wanted Xie Xi to eat something nutritious and digestible. He couldn’t buy it at the time and simply had to cook it himself.
This was the first time Jiang Xie cooked in his life. Xie Xi felt this was highly likely to be the truth, so the messy scene became clumsy and lovely. Jiang Xie was a very good teacher, very good.
Xie Xi rolled up his sleeves and prepared to remake the seafood porridge. A bit of salt was okay. It was better to boil the porridge more so the taste would mix evenly.
Porridge was generally slow to cook but it had a faster method. The fast taste might have a relatively poorer taste but it saved time.
It didn’t take long for the real seafood porridge to emerge fresh from the pot.
Jiang Xie was quite surprised. “Child, you are very powerful.”
Xie Xi was too lazy to correct his name and said, “Eat it together. The ingredients are good and it would be a waste to throw them out.”
Jiang Xie tried a mouthful. “What is this? So delicious!”
Xie Xi blinked and teased him, “I wouldn’t say it is delicious but it is edible.”
The porridge made by Old Jiang couldn’t be eaten at all.
Jiang Xie spoke quietly, “I’m not omnipotent. It is never too old to learn.”
This person could really speak!
Xie Xi smiled. “Teacher is right.”
Then he seriously ate the porridge. Xie Xi hadn’t eaten last night and became sick. The fact that he could eat a bowl of porridge in the morning was extremely comfortable.
The two people were satiated and Jiang Xie suggested, “Leave the dishes here. I will have my housekeeper clean it up later.”
Xie Xi replied, “There are only two bowls, what’s the point?” He washed it by hand and then tidied up the kitchen.
Jiang Xie watched on with a strange heart. What type of circ.u.mstances did he experience for an 18 year old boy to be so skillful in housework? This child was really too painful.
Jiang Xie had cla.s.ses during the day. Before leaving, he said, “Have a good rest. I already took the day off for you.”
Xie Xi was in a rush. “I can still go!”
He couldn’t delay his cla.s.ses. The freshman course was particularly full and missing one day of cla.s.ses…
Jiang Xie told him, “Rest a.s.sured, I will take the time to give you makeup lessons. Do more with less.”
Xie Xi hesitated.
Jiang Xie spoke again, “I am already said you are sick and can’t get out of bed. If you go to cla.s.ses, won’t I be lying?”
His words made Xie Xi dismiss the idea of going to school. “Then I’ll go home and rest.”
“There is no rush. I have no one else living here and you can sleep peacefully.”
Xie Xi wanted to say something but was interrupted by Jiang Xie. “You can see that there is still half a lobster left. If you don’t eat it at noon, I can only throw it away when I get back.”
He casually talked about throwing away something that cost so much money! Xie Xi was in pain.
“Then you…” He asked Jiang Xie, “Are you coming back at noon to eat?”
Jiang Xie wanted to come back but he had an appointment with someone at noon. “It is because I can’t come back at noon that I hope you stay and eat it.”
That’s how Xie Xi was caught. Knowing Jiang Xie’s style, he had no doubt that the fate of this half lobster was the bin.
Jiang Xie left and Xie Xi took medicine again. This medicine was also bought by Jiang Xie. The price was unknown but based on the packaging, it probably wasn’t cheap.
The money couldn’t be paid back but there wasn’t a problem. Jiang Xie didn’t care about money. If Xie Xi tried to pay him back, he would probably refuse. The situation was clear when it came to money.
Xie Xi looked at the messy house, rolled up his sleeves and started to clean. He couldn’t do much but he could help Jiang Xie a little bit!
Jiang Xie came back at night and thought he saw wrongly. Was this his house?
His family is hiding a snail girl? (TL: Based on the Chinese folktale. One link: next day, Jiang Xie went to cla.s.s and wasn’t surprised to see the child sitting un.o.btrusively. He sat in one corner and listened seriously to the lecture.
Jiang Xie found him after school. “Come with me.”
This was very teacher-like. Xie Xi followed him to his office. As soon as they entered the room, the teacher’s illusion fell to the ground.
Jiang Xie’s lips curved. “Last night, I came home and thought there was a snail girl at home…um… should it be a snail boy?”
Xie Xi had cleaned his house too well. Jiang Xie said he had a housekeeper but in fact, he didn’t want outsiders in his house and preferred to do things himself.
Xie Xi was a bit used to his non-serious manner and replied, “Teacher took care of me yesterday.”
“That’s nothing.” Jiang Xie asked him seriously, “Are you going to keep working at the bar?”
Xie Xi didn’t say anything. Jiang Xie’s eyebrows twisted and he wondered, “Can’t you find another job? What about tutoring?”
“I have two tutoring jobs on the weekends.”
Jiang Xie was stunned. “It still isn’t enough?”
Xie Xi had never told this to anyone. “Just tutoring isn’t enough. I have to pay next semester’s tuition fees and there will be many practical cla.s.ses in the soph.o.m.ore year. I have to… buy a computer. The freshman course is very full and there are cla.s.ses all day. I can only go to work at night and the bar is the most suitable.”
It took a lot of courage for Xie Xi to say these things. He was accustomed to being alone and swallowing down all his sufferings. He wasn’t used to relying on anyone or talking to people.
It was useless to say it and sympathy would only make him embarra.s.sed. Xie Xi was grateful to Jiang Xie and didn’t say this to seek his help. Xie Xi simply didn’t want to deceive him or for him to misunderstand.
Jiang Xie was surprised.
Xie Xi reluctantly smiled. “Just… wait a while. It will become much better. A senior I know has a project and I will take time to help him. If it goes well, I should be able to quit working at the bar.”
Jiang Xie’s spirit returned. He was distressed but he couldn’t show it. This child’s pride was too strong and his heartache would just be a sharp injury to the child.
Jiang Xie adjusted his tone. “How about working for me?”
Xie Xi was shocked.
Jiang Xie’s lips curved as he teased, “How about being my snail boy?”