Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 417 - 417 412 Sense of Proportion (Third Update)

Chapter 417: Chapter 412: Sense of Proportion (Third Update) Chapter 417: Chapter 412: Sense of Proportion (Third Update) To say Xie Yanhai doesn’t have Li Yun in his heart would certainly be impossible.

Although their relationship started through an introduction and they got married thereafter, it was because he took a liking to her at first sight, and over the years, as love turned into daily domesticity, they became inseparable family members.

He believed that it was precisely because he had feelings for Li Yun that when she doubted him like everyone else, he got very angry.

On this point, Jiang Yan found it very incomprehensible, “You’re still angry? What right do you have to be angry? From the beginning to the end, the one who got hurt the most in this affair is Aunt. That girl might have your comfort, but what did Aunt get? Criticism and quarrels? Or disappointment and disillusionment?”

Xie Yanhai’s face stiffened, his expression was sheepish, yet he forcefully tried to explain, “I didn’t intend to comfort that girl, I only appreciated her talent and wanted her to stay after graduation. You don’t know how many teachers our school is lacking…”

Jiang Yan didn’t let him finish, interrupting, “No matter how many teachers you lack, isn’t that the responsibility of the principal and the education bureau? You shouldn’t need to worry about it, right? I remember you said before, you just want to be a conscientious teacher, have no interest in power, and wouldn’t want to be an official even if you had the chance. What now? You’ve become the dean of education and now you’re interested in power?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t want to be the dean either, the principal forced it on me.”

Having said that, he added, “I really have no thoughts about that girl, she calls me ‘master,’ she’s very capable, and she can endure hardship, so I did my best to mentor her. Her family’s circumstances are not great; she doesn’t even have a cell phone, but I only lent it to her twice…”

Only lent it twice, and one of those times she just happened to answer Aunt’s call.

Speaking of it, Xie Yanhai also found it too coincidental.

“Uncle, I’m not making any judgments about your disciple, let’s stick to the facts,” Jiang Yan said, tapping his fingers on the table, “A college student about to graduate, a person in their twenties, doesn’t know a cell phone is personal property? Can she just answer the phone as she pleases? Is she too comfortable around others or just thoughtless, assuming answering a call is no big deal?

If this is usually her way of doing things, then I understand why there are rumors about you two, because you lack a sense of propriety in your interactions!”

Jiang Yan emphasized the last three words heavily, as they were particularly important.

Xie Yanhai frowned, but this time he didn’t offer any more explanations for his disciple. After pondering for a long while, he eventually sighed and asked, “Does Jiajia think the same as you?”

He knew that Li Yun had received a call from Jiajia the night before last, but he wasn’t clear about what they specifically talked about. Just that since yesterday, Li Yun stopped cooking for him.

Not only that, but his laundry that should have been washed yesterday is still soaking in the basin, as if she might let it rot there without caring.

He hadn’t thought much of it at first, but now, hearing Jiang Yan say this, a bad premonition suddenly surged in his heart—this girl was probably siding with her Aunt!

Jiang Yan laughed with schadenfreude, “Before coming here, Jiajia bought almost an entire trunk’s worth of stuff for Aunt, including cosmetics, clothes, shoes, bags, and she even bought a gold necklace, less than twenty thousand, seems like eighteen thousand…”

“Hiss…”

Xie Yanhai couldn’t help but inhale sharply, “Is this girl made of money? How can she spend like that… What did she buy for me?”

“It seems there’s nothing for your use. Apart from Aunt’s stuff, there’s just two tracksuits and two pairs of shoes for Xie Lin, nothing else.”

Xie Yanhai was dumbfounded, “She didn’t buy anything for me?”

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, you’ve upset someone, she’s gone to all this effort to console, and she should still buy something for you?

How could that be? That’s not her style.

“This girl… Alright, Aunt hasn’t doted on her in vain.”

Xie Yanhai shook his head and smirked, not angry but rather feeling an odd taste in his mouth, and somewhat jealous, feeling like his place in Jiajia’s heart had dropped.

Jiang Yan and Xie Yanhai stayed in the library for nearly half an hour. Around five o’clock, Jiang Yan went to Xie Lin’s classroom to pick him up and they both headed back home.

Xie Yanhai was still deep in thought on the road, ruminating over the fact that in one month, Li Meiying and their cohort’s internship would be over, and since he had already taught everything he needed to in the past three months, there really was no need for excessive contact anymore.

But the tricky part was, she was an intern under him, with her desk right beside his. Unless they were in class, they faced each other at arm’s length, making it quite difficult to avoid contact.

Xie Yanhai was fraught with a headache.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Jiang Yan and thought to himself that this rascal had plenty of cunning ideas. Perhaps he should ask him for advice?

To Jiang Yan, this seemed like an easy situation.

“Why don’t you just take a leave of absence and not go at all?”

“Take a leave?” Xie Yanhai glared, “Why would I take leave for no good reason? For an entire month?”

“Isn’t she following you as an intern to teach your current class?”

Xie Yanhai nodded, “That’s right.”

“If someone is able to replace you in teaching and they’re quite capable, what do you have to worry about? Just leave it to her. When the internship is nearly over, you can come back, give a summary, seal the deal, and wouldn’t that be enough?”

That’s easier said than done, but…

“What’s the reason for my leave?”

“Broke a bone, scalded your foot, busted your leg—just make something up.”

He wasn’t wrong; the kid was indeed full of mischief. A simple leave request would end up with him battered and life-threateningly mangled, but aside from that, he had no other good ideas!

Sigh…

If it doesn’t work, he’d just draw straws at home to decide.

As he neared home, he spotted two cars parked in front of his house from a distance.

Xie Lin wondered, “The Audi is what my sister and my brother drove here, but whose Mercedes is that other one? Dad, have you seen it before? Do you know who came to our house?”

Being too far away to see the license plate clearly, Xie Yanhai was certain he hadn’t seen this model of Mercedes before; even the wealthy Shi Family in Yunzhou didn’t have this type of car.

Full of questions, he arrived home and immediately bumped into Xie Jingying, who was pushing her bicycle out, with an unfamiliar middle-aged man trailing behind her attempting to keep her from leaving, “Elder sister, why don’t you wait until Yanhai gets back…”

He didn’t finish his sentence before seeing three people enter through the main gate. Xie Yanfen raised his eyes to the man in the center—Xie Yanhai—pausing briefly in surprise before exclaiming joyfully, “You must be Yanhai, right?”

Xie Yanhai looked at the man in confusion, then turned his head to look at Xie Jingying, who spoke with an indifferent expression, “This is Xie Yanfen, he claims to be the son of our second uncle. He has something to discuss with you, and… whatever decision you make is fine by me. I’ll support it. But I’m busy at home and won’t go to other places.”

Her words were abrupt, leaving Xie Yanhai completely baffled.

At that moment, Li Yun walked out of the kitchen. She had just finished putting away the vegetables Xie Jingying had brought, and without so much as a glance at Xie Yanhai, she escorted Xie Jingying to the gate, reminding her to be careful on the road and only returning to the yard once she saw her off.

Meanwhile, Xie Yanhai had taken Xie Yanfen to the living room where, after a brief conversation, he began to understand what was happening.

Xie Yanfen had just arrived at their house when Xie Jingying came over to bring vegetables. Li Yun introduced her as their eldest sister. Xie Yanfen assumed she was the biological daughter of their uncle, and so he called her elder sister too, even inviting her to visit Haishi, saying that they had just returned from abroad and had temporarily settled their company and residence there.