Is It Too Late to Leave the Chat Group?

Book 1: Chapter 8: Mock Exams, the Bane of My Existence

Erm…! How do I deal with this? Chen Heng had never encountered such a situation before.

“It’s fine now, Elder Brother. Let’s eat!” After Sirin cried for a while, she gradually regained control of her emotions without needing Chen Heng to console her.

“Phew! Alright. Let’s eat!” Chen Heng heaved a sigh of relief.

“Sirin, you don’t know how to use chopsticks, right?” Chen Heng noticed that Sirin found chopsticks awkward to use. Then, he recalled that Sirin was not from China, so she probably did not know how to use chopsticks.

“Come, I’ll teach you. First, you hold the chopsticks like this.”

Ding dong! Ding dong! While Chen Heng taught Sirin how to use chopsticks, the doorbell rang.

“Sirin, continue eating first. I’ll go see who it is.” Chen Heng walked to the door and used the peephole to check who rang the doorbell.

“Oh! It’s Qingtong. Come in quickly!” Chen Heng opened the door and invited Mo Qingtong in.

“It smells delicious. Where did you order from this time?” Mo Qingtong asked about food the moment she entered. This gave Chen Heng three seconds of heartache.

“What do you mean ordered? I made this! I cooked dinner for Sirin today. You know Sirin, right?” Chen Heng tried asking about Sirin. The customer service had only mentioned a temporary legal identity in this world but did not explain what precisely that covered.

“Sirin? Isn’t that the young girl your parents adopted and fostered in Siberia? Did she return today? Wait, that’s not right. The more important thing is you can cook?” Mo Qingtong turned an extremely suspicious gaze on Chen Heng.

[Author Note: The effect of the legal identity was to make all suspicious matters appear reasonable. Under normal circumstances, how could someone adopt a child, then send that child to another country to be fostered?]

How excellent! She knows it even better than I do. I did not even know that Sirin is Siberian.

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“Isn’t it because Sirin was returning? I trained in cooking over the past few days just for this. Want to try?”

“Alright, I’ll give it a try.” Mo Qingtong was eager to try. After all, Chen Heng said he had been practicing for a few days, so it should not be terrible. She could use this excuse to avoid eating at home today. (〃'▽'〃) Mum’s cooking is not that terrible; it just tastes strange.

Chen Heng brought Mo Qingtong to the dining table. Sirin had been sitting there waiting for him to return; she had not started eating yet.

“So, this is Sirin? How cute!” I forgot. Mo Qingtong has a weakness for cute things.

“Hey! What’s up with Sirin’s clothes?” Mo Qingtong suddenly pulled Chen Heng aside and pointed at Sirin.

I forgot that Sirin is still wearing the hospital gown from Babylon Labs. That’s the name, right?

“Those are the pajamas that Sirin wears in Siberia. When I went to pick her up, her clothes got dirty. I washed them, but they are not dry yet. Furthermore, Sirin just returned, and those are all she’s got, so she can only wear her pajamas.”

“Yeah? Those pajamas don’t look very nice. Remember to bring Sirin shopping for clothes tomorrow. You can call me to come along.” Probably due to the temporary legal identity, Mo Qingtong did not feel overly suspicious, and this matter quickly passed.

“This is our neighbor, also a childhood friend of mine, Mo Qingtong.” Chen Heng pulled Mo Qingtong to the seat beside his, worrying that Sirin would be scared. The dining table in Chen Heng’s house was rectangular. Chen Heng sat at the host’s seat with Sirin to his left and Mo Qingtong to his right.

[TL Note: In traditional Chinese culture, the host seat is the seat at the head of the table, which faces the door. The seat at the foot would be for the youngest or least important person. Then, the rest of the people would sit in the order of their seniority or importance along the two long sides, with the more important or senior closer to the host. This system also works with circular tables, where the seat directly facing the door is the host seat, and the seat directly across (the seat with the back facing the door) is the seat for the most junior or least important person.]

“Elder Sister Qingtong.” Sirin softly greeted Mo Qingtong.

(^o^)/ “Good! Good! Tomorrow is the weekend. Elder Sister will bring you out to have fun. You just arrived in Vast Sea City. If there is anything you are not used to, just tell Elder Sister!”

“Alright. Let’s eat. Give my cooking a try. Sirin is about to die of hunger.”

“Let me give it a try. Oh! It’s pretty tasty! Wait up. Let me call home first.” Mo Qingtong took out her cell phone to make a call. It looked like she intended to eat here. She probably did not call earlier in case the food did not taste good, giving her a chance to go home and eat instead.

“Hello! Mum, I’m at Heng’s place. Sirin came home today. That’s right, that Siberian girl Uncle Chen adopted. Chen Heng cooked and wanted me to eat with them. He’s not letting me say no. Oh! Alright! Got it!”

“You— You used me as an excuse?” Chen Heng said after Mo Qingtong hung up.

“It’s not like you have never eaten my mother’s cooking before.”

“Aunty’s cooking is not terrible. It’s just that it tastes strange. Never mind. Let’s eat.”

“Alright, alright, alright!”

“Sirin too. Eat more.”

“Alright.”

During dinner, Chen Heng taught Sirin how to use chopsticks while he picked out some food and placed it in her bowl. He even helped her to peel some prawns. Sirin occasionally picked out some food for Chen Heng, too, feeling embarrassed as she did so. The brother-sister pair enjoyed themselves, apparently forgetting someone was watching at the side.

“What are you doing? Qingtong, why are you staring at me?” After eating, Chen Heng noticed Mo Qingtong staring hard at him.

“Nothing. At. All. Humph!” Mo Qingtong sharply turned her head away and stopped looking at Chen Heng.

“Huh?”

“Go rest first. I’ll do the dishes.” Chen Heng hated doing the dishes. However, he was too embarrassed to get Sirin to do them. It would also be impossible for Mo Qingtong to wash them, which left only him. This was good; it allowed Sirin and Mo Qingtong to interact.

After doing the dishes, Chen Heng saw Mo Qingtong and Sirin chatting happily. Rather, Mo Qingtong was chatting happily one-sidedly, asking all the questions.

“By the way, Qingtong, why are you here?”

“Oh! That’s right! Homework. You already played truant in the afternoon. Are you not planning to do your homework, either? The college entrance exams are coming soon.” Mo Qingtong took out ten or so mock exams from her bag and handed them to Chen Heng.

“…”

“Alright. Since I have already delivered the homework, it is time for me to leave. I still have some things to do at home.”

“Alright. Goodbye.”

After sending off Mo Qingtong, Chen Heng stared at the ten-odd mock exams in a daze.

He Who Knows Fate: Does anyone here do homework for others? 1 point per mock exam, 12th-grade standard. There are 12 papers.

17-Year-Old Sob! Sob! Sob!: ???

Umaru-chan: ???

Queen of Rhodes Island: ???

Magus of Flowers: ???

Queen of Ice and Snow: Is that appropriate?

He Who Knows Fate: Is it inappropriate? Mock exams are the bane of my existence.

17-Year-Old Sob! Sob! Sob!: It’s inappropriate.

Efreet: It’s inappropriate.

Blank Never Loses: It’s inappropriate.

Umaru-chan: Honestly speaking, I’m tempted. However, I might not be able to do it.

Iron Fist Teacher: @He Who Knows Fate, you should do your own homework.

He Who Knows Fate: Of course. I was just joking. After all, points are quite valuable. I just wanted to lighten the atmosphere.

He Who Knows Fate: @17-Year-Old Sob! Sob! Sob!, since you changed your name already, why are you still emphasizing 17 years old?

Queen of Ice and Snow: I know! I found her when I was checking out the games section. Yakumo Yukari, an old lady who likes to pretend to be young. A youkai sage of Gensokyo, true age unknown, at least several thousand years. However, she likes to claim she is 17 years old.

[TL Note: Yakumo Yukari was mentioned in a TL Note in Book 01 Chapter 05. The author seems to have assumed back in Chapter 05 that the readers have figured out who the 17-Year-Old Youkai Sage is. For those who have not, she is Touhou Project’s Yakumo Yukari. Here is her profile: /wiki/Yukari_Yakumo. Ignore the arrangement of her names in the profile; this is the correct arrangement according to the Japanese. The profile’s arrangement is different because they rearranged it to fit the usual Western naming convention with the family name at the end.]

Youkai Sage: Skadi—CBA, an old lady. @Queen of Ice and Snow

[TL Note: CBA is slang for Scáthach-Skadi in Fate/Grand Order. The C stands for caster, and the BA is taken from the Japanese slang “Baba,” which means old lady insultingly. Together, it means old caster. Here is Skadi’s profile: /wiki/Sc%C3%A1thach-Skadi.]

Queen of Ice and Snow: Haha!

Youkai Sage: Haha!

Magus of Flowers: …