Chapter 36: Sister Huan
When Gu Qinghuan returned to class, she looked so dejected it was as if a dark cloud was hanging over her head.
Qin Yue hadn’t gone with them to find Su Lin, so seeing Gu Qinghuan like this, he had no idea what had happened.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
Gu Qinghuan, like a vengeful ghost from a horror film, grabbed Qin Yue’s wrist and stared at him intensely.
“Are we sworn sister or not?”
Qin Yue pointed at his own neck. “What do you see here?”
Gu Qinghuan, of course, wasn’t going to answer “Adam’s apple.”
“You have the heart of a sworn sister, ready to share joy and hardship.”
Jiang Chuchu nearly laughed herself breathless — until Gu Qinghuan’s other hand caught her, cutting her laughter short.
“Xin Bao signed us up for a tutoring class,” Gu Qinghuan said gloomily.
Qin Yue immediately jumped up to run, but Gu Qinghuan held on for dear life.
“Your scores are worse than mine! Don’t even think about running! This is the top scorer in the high school entrance exam teaching us!”
When Jiang Chuchu heard it was Yu Xin arranging tutoring, she knew she couldn’t escape. Resigned to a “if I’m going down, we all go down” mindset, she grabbed Qin Yue’s shirt and threatened, “If you dare run, I’ll have my brother tell your brother!”
Qin Yue deflated. “School’s only been in session a few days…”
Yu Xin looked a bit flustered. “Um, if you guys don’t want to go, it’s not like you have to…”
“We’re going!” Qin Yue shouted immediately, as if heading for the gallows. “Why wouldn’t we? Free tutoring — we’d be fools not to take advantage!”
Yu Xin was offering this in good faith and hadn’t done anything wrong. For students, studying was always a top priority; if their families found out, they’d surely approve — unless they were like Qin Yue’s older brother, who had grown up wild and still managed to be a top student.
Qin Yue knew his own academic ability well. After the first monthly exam, his family would probably hire him a tutor anyway. Studying with friends at school was far better than being stuck alone with a private tutor.
Gu Qinghuan released him — fine, with company she wasn’t so nervous anymore.
Yu Xin also relaxed and explained the arrangement with Su Lin in detail. “It’s not starting right away. She has to be with her family member for surgery first, and then there’ll be a recovery period when she still needs to be around as a caregiver.
“When that’s done, it should be right before the monthly exam. She’ll base the tutoring on the results of that exam. I’m the main one receiving tutoring — you guys can skip if you want, or just come to her with tough questions.”
Hearing that, Qin Yue felt much more at ease. “Alright, that sounds pretty good.”
But then he turned suspiciously to Gu Qinghuan. “If that’s the arrangement, why did you act like it was the end of the world?”
Gu Qinghuan sat back down and recited with a straight face, “The Chinese temperament always prefers reconciliation and compromise. For example, if you say this room is too dark and must have a window here, everyone will certainly object. But if you propose removing the roof entirely, they will compromise and agree to a window.”
Qin Yue hadn’t read that passage before, but the tone felt oddly familiar. As he tried to recall where it was from, Jiang Chuchu pinched Gu Qinghuan’s cheek. “That was Mr. Xun’s line. You trying to be ‘Sister Huan’ now instead of ‘Brother Xun’?”
Only then did Qin Yue realize who she was quoting, and he was about to tease her when Jiang Chuchu gave him a sharp glance. “You didn’t even recognize that?”
Infuriated, Qin Yue turned to complain to Qin Min. A few minutes later, Qin Min sent him a screenshot:
[Just ordered you a complete set of The Works of Lu Xun. Remember to pick up the delivery.]
Qin Yue deflated again. Maybe this brother wasn’t worth having after all.
—
That noon, Xia He came to find Gu Qinghuan just as she was picking up her takeaway order.
Seeing Xia He, Gu Qinghuan took a cup of four-season milk tea from the bag and handed it over. “Here, for you!”
Xia He’s eyes curved like crescent moons. “Same as yours?”
“Mm-hmm. You said anything was fine, so I picked my favorite for you.” Gu Qinghuan replied.
Because she was picking up food, she hadn’t gone to the cafeteria with Jiang Chuchu and the others, so she decided to have lunch with Xia He instead.
Xia He pulled her toward the second floor of the cafeteria, arguing logically, “You said last time that next time I’d be treating you!”
This time, Gu Qinghuan didn’t refuse, just held the menu and asked which dishes were good. In the end, she and Xia He ordered the same set meal.
When they had just finished eating, and Xia He was racking his brain for an excuse to spend more time with her, Jiang Chuchu called.
“The human dog beds have arrived. Can we put them in your office now?”
“They’re all here already?” Gu Qinghuan wasn’t sure. “I’ll go check and call you back.”
“Okay, but if the packages are big, the security office won’t let them sit too long,” Jiang Chuchu said. “If they can’t stay there, tell me and I’ll have someone put them in my lounge first.”
After hanging up, Xia He leaned closer. “You have an office in the student council now?”
“Mm. Decided on it last Saturday,” Gu Qinghuan said. “Want to come see it?”
Since he asked, she figured she should be polite and invite him.
“Of course!” Xia He agreed immediately. “I want to see it!”
Gu Qinghuan didn’t think much of it and brought Xia He along.
When they arrived at her office door, Gu Qinghuan was stunned. She had expected piles of construction materials and a mess everywhere, but instead, it was already done!
Not only were all her previous requests met, but the tiles had been replaced with brand-new ones, gleaming under the light.
Standing behind her, Xia He nodded inwardly — this was exactly like Bai Hanshan, efficient as ever.
Once her surprise passed, Gu Qinghuan decisively called Jiang Chuchu. “The renovations are done! You can bring them over!”
“Alright, meet us at the student council entrance,” Jiang Chuchu said.
Gu Qinghuan waited in front of the building until she saw Qin Yue and Song Yi pushing a cart loaded with three large delivery boxes.
Song Yi was pushing, Qin Yue was steadying the load, and Jiang Chuchu… was supervising.
“What floor is your office on?” Jiang Chuchu asked, pretending not to see Xia He.
Every time she saw Xia He acting like a little brother to Gu Qinghuan, her worldview cracked a bit more.
“First floor. Just push them straight in,” Gu Qinghuan said, mentally praising herself — choosing a first-floor office had been foresight indeed.
Since the office was already clean, dragging the dusty boxes inside would just make a mess again, so Jiang Chuchu had them unpacked outside and then carried in one by one by Qin Yue and Song Yi.
Three “human dog beds” — one pink, one light green, and one pale blue — were placed together, looking bright and lively.
The dust covers were left on for now, since more furniture would still be added, and they could keep the beds clean until they were officially in use.
Jiang Chuchu snapped a photo, posted it in their small group chat, and tagged Yu Xin to pick a color.
[Xin Bao, which one do you want?]
Yu Xin replied quickly: [Can I have the pink one?]
[Of course,] Jiang Chuchu answered.
Then she turned to Gu Qinghuan. “You don’t mind me asking Xin Bao first, right?”
“What’s there to mind? Whichever one I want to lie in, it’s not like you’d stop me, right?” Gu Qinghuan said with absolute confidence.
Jiang Chuchu gave her cheek another pinch — this girl really had a way with words.
“Then I’ll take the blue one, and you take the green,” Jiang Chuchu decided.
Gu Qinghuan had no objections. They all looked good to her anyway.
