Chapter 36 : Big Kid Who Bullies Little Children (1/2)

Sang Miao opened the door and let them in:

“…You guys came together after school?”

Besides that, she couldn’t think of any other reason why the three would appear here simultaneously.

She took the takeout bag from Jiang Jingxun’s hand and casually placed it on a table.

Seeing Meng Xici and Ji Zhuoran each holding a cup of coffee,

She figured they must’ve come from the shop together.

Sang Miao simply assumed they had a good relationship and went to visit the shop after school.

Meng Xici was a little confused by the situation in front of him.

When he had just come in, he saw the logo of Snowfield Tech and figured it was probably a company.

But looking at the interior, with signs of some parts still vacant, it didn’t look like a place in normal operation.

He couldn’t tell if she was working here or… what exactly.

Sang Miao noticed he was a bit dazed, waved her right hand in front of him, and curled her lips into a smile:

“You knew I was here, so you all came together?”

“Mm…” Meng Xici glanced at the pile of packages on the floor and asked uncertainly,

“Were you… Working just now?”

Sang Miao spoke in a teasing tone:

“Oh, this place? We haven’t even started yet.”

Just as she finished, Shen Xingxia came down from upstairs.

He hadn’t been up there for more than two minutes before he noticed that somehow,

three more people had appeared in the room.

He slowed his steps and let his gaze sweep across the group.

He recognized Jiang Jingxun and guessed he had probably come to deliver food.

The other two were wearing the same school uniform, so they looked like classmates.

Shen Xingxia saw the brown paper takeout bag on the table and said to Jiang Jingxun in a familiar tone:

“Sister Lingxi asked you to deliver food, huh? The shop’s not busy right now?”

Jiang Jingxun replied, “Yeah, not too busy.”

Meng Xici and Ji Zhuoran also looked at the man who had suddenly appeared.

Sang Miao felt it was necessary to introduce Shen Xingxia’s identity:

“This is my colleague. He’s helping out with organizing things.”

Shen Xingxia looked over.

Her introduction seemed aimed more at the other two boys, especially the one standing in front.

Did they not seem to be just Jiang Jingxun’s classmates?

Shen Xingxia curled his lips slightly, greeting them casually with a lazy smile:

“Hi there, are you two classmates?”

Sang Miao looked up at the ceiling.

Speaking of relationships, Meng Xici was technically her stepson, but was she going to say that…

She and Meng Xici were on pretty good terms recently

at the very least, they could be considered friends.

Calling him her stepson sounded a bit distant,

but she definitely couldn’t say he was her son either.

Forget it, no need to explain everything so clearly.

Meng Xici didn’t say anything.

Ji Zhuoran, who hadn’t spoken since they arrived,

figured it was time to chime in and awkwardly laughed: “Uh, yeah…”

Shen Xingxia acted as if he understood and was about to change the topic when Meng Xici pressed his lips together.

Then, as if making some kind of decision, he suddenly said, “I’m her… son.”

Sang Miao’s eyes widened: Huh…?

Ji Zhuoran: Whoa…

Did he just hear what he thought he heard?!

Oddly enough, Meng Xici was the calmest of them all.

He looked at Sang Miao, as if he hadn’t just said something shocking: “Are you sorting things? I’ll help.”

After speaking, he glanced at the packages on the floor:

“Where are these going?”

His tone was so natural that Sang Miao instinctively responded to the second part of his question first: “Oh, they need to go to the third floor.”

“Auntie, I’ll help too,”

Ji Zhuoran quickly followed up with enthusiasm.

Anyway, there was no car, and he wasn’t going home yet, helping out wasn’t a big deal.

To Ji Zhuoran right now, helping her was the same as helping Meng Xici.

Jiang Jingxun didn’t say anything either

he just silently picked up a box and followed them upstairs.

Sang Miao turned to look at the stairs, puzzled,

watching the three of them calmly carrying things up to the third floor…

Weren’t they just here for a visit?

How did they all end up working?

Shen Xingxia recalled the first time they met,

when Lingxi said she was the parent of one of his classmates.

He hadn’t expected the situation to turn out like this.

He suppressed the slight complexity in his emotions,

smiled faintly, and teased Sang Miao: “So he really is your son? Pretty well-behaved, huh.”

Sang Miao choked on her words, glared at him with little conviction,

then quickly picked up something herself and followed up.

“Put them in this room first,” Sang Miao said as she walked quickly up to the third floor, directing the boys.

Meng Xici set his stuff down and glanced around the layout of the room it looked like an office.

The French-style grid windows covered most of the wall, letting in lots of light.

Looking out, you could see the garden in front of the house clearly, and everything downstairs was in full view.

Since this place wasn’t a company already in operation,

and judging by the way the two of them acted,

Meng Xici could more or less guess that this room was probably her office.

“You guys aren’t going home?”

Sang Miao asked as she set something down.

Meng Xici casually replied, “I don’t have anything to do.

I can help you finish tidying up before heading back.”

He wasn’t planning to say much and didn’t mention going home with her either.

Ji Zhuoran and Jiang…

Since that was the case, Sang Miao didn’t insist.

“Alright, then help me with these books.”

After finishing moving the items,

Shen Xingxia also helped check and test the computer equipment for her.

The other three continued organizing things.

With more people, the work clearly became much easier.

They worked efficiently and neatly ,

and in just over an hour, the office was almost fully organized.

If she were doing this alone,

she’d probably be busy until nighttime.

“Let’s put this plant here,”

Sang Miao said as she watched Meng Xici move the large potted plant in front of her,

then hesitated, “Ah no, wouldn’t it look better over there?”

Meng Xici: “……”

He glanced at the overall layout and looked in the direction she pointed at.

“Yeah, it looks better over there.”

Sang Miao nodded, “Right…”

Saying that, she walked over to help Meng Xici move the two-meter-tall Dracaena tree.

The large cement pot combined with the soil inside made it very heavy and kind of messy.

Meng Xici was just about to say he could carry it alone when he saw her effortlessly lift the other side.

“……”

If her hand placement wasn’t slightly off-center,

Meng Xici figured she probably could’ve lifted it by herself.

She looked so slim, yet somehow stronger than him…

He seriously wondered where all that strength came from.

After finishing up with some smaller office items,

Sang Miao announced the job was done.

In most large companies, the board director’s or CEO’s office usually includes a suite,

like a hotel room, for daily rest.

Although Sang Miao’s was just a small company,

the office space was still fairly big, and she had a room partitioned off.

It had a simple bathroom, wardrobe, and bed ,

not luxurious, but complete enough.

After moving the stuff, their hands were all a bit dirty,

so she led the three of them in to wash up.

When they came out, Ji Zhuoran flopped down on the sofa like a lord.

He had never done this much physical work in his life,

not even in his own bedroom where someone always cleaned up for him.

The coffee had long been finished, and he weakly said, “Water, I need water…”

Sang Miao laughed and tossed him a bottle of mineral water,

then handed two more to Meng Xici and Jiang Jingxun.

Meng Xici looked at how exaggerated he was acting, practically waiting to be served,

and kicked his foot. “Quit playing dead.”

Ji Zhuoran didn’t respond.

Jiang Jingxun watched quietly and gave a faint smile.

On the other side, Shen Xingxia finished checking the equipment and came over from his office.

“Everything’s fine, all the software is installed.”

Looking out at the darkening blue sky turning nearly black, Sang Miao said,

“Then… can I treat you all to dinner as payment?”

Ji Zhuoran immediately sat up, energized.

“What are we eating?”

Sang Miao wasn’t familiar with the area, so she turned the question back. “You tell me.”

Meng Xici seemed to remember something and said to Sang Miao,

“I don’t think we’ve told anyone at home we’re not going back for dinner…”

Sang Miao: “Oh, I forgot. I’ll call Auntie now.”

Meng Xici paused a moment, then added,

“I don’t know if my dad is going home to eat today.”

Sang Miao remembered that on Fridays, Meng Peisheng usually went home for dinner.

“You want to eat with him?”

Well, it made sense.

Meng Xici probably only got a night or two a week to eat with Meng Peisheng.

At this age, maybe he still wanted to be close to his dad?

Or maybe he just felt it wasn’t right not to tell his dad if they were eating out?

Meng Xici explained seriously,

“His company’s nearby. I just thought to ask.

I wasn’t saying I wanted to eat with him.”

Sang Miao thought, I get it, no need to be shy.

“Then call and ask if he’s still at the office”

she paused and looked at the other two.

“Do you mind if one more person joins for dinner?”

Shen Xingxia said he didn’t mind.

Ji Zhuoran… didn’t dare to have an opinion.

She was paying, so she had the final say.

Speaking of which, Sang Miao thought of Ling Xi.

Her son had randomly helped out all afternoon and hadn’t gone back to the shop.

So she asked Jiang Jingxun,

“Want to come eat with us?

Do you want to ask your mom if she wants to join too?”

Jiang Jingxun was slightly stunned.

“She probably hasn’t closed the shop yet.

She usually eats later.

I’ll ask.”

He made a phone call right after.

Then Sang Miao turned to Meng Xici and said,

“Then you ask your dad if he’s at the office and wants to eat with us.”

Meng Xici made the call too.

He rarely took the initiative to call his dad,

especially for everyday things like this.

On the other end, Meng Peisheng’s warm voice came through.

“Something up?”

“……” Straight to the point. Meng Xici answered, “We’re currently at…”

He gave the address of the building and asked if his dad was at the company and wanted to join them for dinner.

“There’s also my classmate and her friend.

We all happened to be helping out at their company this afternoon.”

Meng Xici didn’t clarify who “we” referred to, or who “she” was.

He remembered last time they brought cake home together,

wasn’t that from here?

If that was the case, then his dad should recognize this address.

Even without specific names, Meng Peisheng could understand everything clearly.

Though he was a bit surprised ,

not just that the two of them were now close enough to eat out together,

but also that after school today, Meng Xici was at her company.

That in itself was an interesting detail.