After evening self-study ended, in order to bring those two clowns together, Jiang Xia "coincidentally" ran into Lin Yanwan at the entrance of the building.

Whenever the two of them were together, Shen Ying and Wang Ming would always find an excuse to slip away. As for whether they would keep in touch after they left, that was anyone's guess.

The two followed the crowd out of the school, intending to say goodbye and go home, when a taxi parked on the side of the road suddenly honked its horn.

Jiang Wende rolled down the car window and quietly observed the two for a while. They came out of the school gate side by side without saying a word. If they were dating, it didn't seem like it at all. Were they still in the budding stage of mutual attraction? Or had the young couple had a fight?

No, I'll have to ask him properly later.

"Jiang Xia, here, here."

Looking in the direction of the sound, Jiang Xia immediately spotted his father.

"Dad, what brings you here?"

"Just got off work, happened to be nearby, so I stopped by to take a look. Get in the car."

He paused for a moment, then recalled that in his previous life, when he was in high school, Jiang Wende would often walk him home, just like he does now.

Jiang Xia looked back at his wife. She stood there all alone, as if she had been excluded, even though they should have been a family.

"Uncle's here to pick you up, so I'll head back now." Lin Yanwan forced a smile, but felt a sudden pang of disappointment in her heart.

Jiang Wende glanced in the rearview mirror. The girl's smile seemed a bit fake, and wasn't it a bit too dangerous for her to go home alone so late at night?

"What are you standing there for, you brat? Hurry up and tell your classmate to get in the car."

Jiang Xia smiled at her: "Did you hear that? Dad is going to take you home."

Hearing this, Jiang Wende felt something was off. It was as if he was saying that he was also the little girl's father. Shouldn't a normal person add "I" before "father"?

"Huh?!"

Lin Yanwan blinked, her mood suddenly improving.

"Thank you, Dad!" she blurted out.

Jiang Wende: "?"

Jiang Xia: "??"

The air suddenly went quiet. Lin Yanwan immediately realized what was happening, her face flushed instantly, and she quickly explained, "No, I meant thank you, Uncle."

Her face was burning red, and she felt like ants were crawling all over her body. She was completely ruined and felt like she would never be able to face anyone again.

Jiang Wende's eyes were complicated. Although he knew it was a slip of the tongue, he could say it so smoothly. He must have practiced a lot in private.

So, these two kids have actually been secretly dating for a long time, and have even reached the point of discussing marriage?

Jiang Xia's eyelids twitched. "You're so useless, wife. My dad was just being polite, and you've already confessed? You're really pushing him into a fire pit."

He opened the car door, sat in the passenger seat, and casually turned the tide with a single sentence, breaking the awkward atmosphere—a double win.

"Dad, didn't you say the car door was broken?"

Jiang Wende's breath hitched. This brat actually still remembered this?

I should have kept the car doors locked and made him obediently sit in the back with his girlfriend.

"It was fixed this afternoon," he casually made up an excuse.

Jiang Xia couldn't help but purse her lips; this excuse was obviously fake.

After fastening his seatbelt, he casually glanced in the rearview mirror. Lin Yanwan was shyly shrinking behind him with her head down, as if trying to hide herself.

It was so embarrassing. The thought of possibly running into Jiang's father many more times in the future made me want to crawl into a hole.

Jiang Wende said, "Miss, is this the East Garden of Jinxiu Huacheng?"

Jiang Xia said, "Yes."

Jiang Wende glared at him: "I didn't ask you."

"Yes, East Garden," Lin Yanwan replied softly, her face flushed.

They drove in silence, and the taxi soon stopped at Jinxiu Huacheng East Garden. Lin Yanwan said "Thank you, Uncle" and got out of the car as if she were running away.

Watching her hurried departure, Jiang Xia laughed inwardly. It was only because his phone was confiscated that he would have ridiculed her on QQ.

Finally, only the father and son remained in the car. The air was incredibly quiet. Jiang Xia clenched his fists, guessing that his father's gaze was about to fall.

"Tell me honestly, what's your relationship with that girl?" Jiang Wende turned into a lane with fewer traffic lights and drove slowly in first gear.

"Classmate," Jiang Xia insisted.

Jiang Wende slammed on the brakes, glaring at him: "Other girls are calling me Dad, and you call me classmate? Do you think you can fool your old man with such an obvious lie?"

"You can't fool your son with a lie like the car door was broken and then fixed," Jiang Xia muttered.

Jiang Wende paused, thinking, "He really is his own son; even his way of criticizing people is the same."

The car restarted, and his tone softened considerably.

"Was this the girl you took home last night?"

"Um."

"What's your name?"

"Lin Yanwan".

Which class are you in?

Class 1.

"How are your grades?"

"First in age."

"Tsk, aren't they classmates? They're in five classes apart, with rankings worlds apart, and they still go to and from school together?"

Jiang Xia: "..."

"Dad, just say what you want to say, don't be sarcastic and mean to me."

Jiang Wende straightened his posture and coughed twice: "You two are dating, right?"

"No." Jiang Xia firmly denied this.

"I'm not even dating, yet this girl calls me 'Dad'? And she calls me so affectionately. I think it's more than just dating. I bet she's already planning to meet my parents right after the college entrance exam."

Jiang Wende then changed the subject: "I just don't understand. That girl is beautiful, polite, and has good grades. Why would she choose you?"

Jiang Xia was immediately displeased after hearing this. What did he mean by "just happened to fall for him"?

Doesn't that just prove that he was the most outstanding man in Lin Yanwan's life?

"Dad, just get to the point. Personal attacks are illegal. Besides, what I look like is related to you. I'm half my mom and half yours."

"Hey...you little rascal..."

Jiang Wende let out two heavy breaths: "Hurry up, don't be a toothpaste tube, answering one question at a time. If you don't want your mother to know about this, then tell me the whole truth."

Jiang Xia felt very wronged: "I already said, we're classmates and good friends."

"You really haven't been in a relationship?" Jiang Wende still didn't believe it.

"No."

"No other girl calls me 'Dad'? Why don't you call her 'Mom'?"

"..."

Jiang Xia was speechless; he had indeed shouted that before.

The two went around in circles, unable to get past this hurdle, mainly because Jiang Xia couldn't provide a reasonable explanation. Therefore, Jiang Wende remained convinced that the relationship between the two children was unusual.

“Son, I’m not trying to criticize you, but you’re an adult now and you should understand some things. At this stage, feelings of affection are only temporary. Others who are first in their class can get into Tsinghua or Peking University, but can you? Long-distance relationships are the hardest. You might break up in the first year.”

"Instead of supporting someone else's wife, you should work hard now and go to university to find someone you can spend your life with."

Don't you think so?