My wife is a witch princess

Chapter 69 I don't want to face reality.

The steam in the bathroom hadn't dissipated yet when Xia Li returned to the bedroom wrapped in a bath towel.

She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, her mind replaying Song Che's words over and over again.

As she thought about it, she realized something was wrong.

Song Che tells her to be "Xia Li" first, to love herself first. But what about himself? Shouldn't he also be "Song Che" first?

But he always seems to forget that.

He always acted petty and kept muttering about how stupid Xia Li was, saying she was troublesome.

Xia Li knew perfectly well that he had no intention of making her pay back the money or kicking her out.

He didn't really dislike her because she was a big problem.

Instead, they provided her with shelter, three meals a day, and patiently taught her everything about this unfamiliar world.

Even knowing that she had lost her magic and become a helpless, clueless, and easily bullied former witch, he never harbored any wicked thoughts.

This is strange.

Xia Li didn't understand.

A witch without magic is like a beast without claws; in Hit's rules, she is the easiest target to manipulate, exploit, and even bully.

But Song Che didn't lie to her or take advantage of her. He would always say things like, "Because I like you, I don't want to lie to you," which only confused her more.

Xia Li tried to follow the clue of "liking" to think further, but every time her thoughts just touched the boundary, it was like hitting a layer of impenetrable fog, and her mind became blurry.

She could understand the logic behind that feeling called "like," but she couldn't discern its true nature.

She has already tried her best.

With a silent sigh, Xia Li reached for the thick book Song Che had given her from the bedside table and decided to read it again.

……

In the other bedroom, Song Che was also awake.

He silently counted down the days until his parents returned, feeling increasingly worried. Time travel, witches, another world… how was he supposed to tell his parents about this absurd plot? If he said he picked up a prince from a magical world on the street, they'd probably think he was hallucinating due to too much academic pressure and send him straight to a mental health clinic.

The more practical issue is academic performance.

After a month of exams, his pitiful scores couldn't be hidden. He could almost picture the disappointed look in his mother's eyes when she saw the report card.

He knew he would have to face these things sooner or later, but he just couldn't think of a way to have the best of both worlds.

He would worry about this for a while every night before going to bed.

Honestly admitting fault probably won't help; a bad attitude can't fill the gap in grades. Let's take it one step at a time. The most important thing right now is to get Mom to accept Xia Li's existence. As for the rest… things will work themselves out.

……

Monday morning, I got up, washed up, went out, and it was another round of exams.

Senior year of high school seems endless; exam papers are the very backdrop of life. Song Che took the exam paper, calmed himself, and began to analyze the questions. Those once unfamiliar knowledge points, after nearly a month of intensive study, were finally no longer completely daunting.

The pen tip scratched across the paper, making a soft, rustling sound.

The power of knowledge seemed to have returned a little, not much, but enough to make him no longer a blank slate.

He knew that was far from enough.

But now he genuinely wants to study hard, get into a good university, and have a decent future. In this future, there are his aging parents who are still working hard, Bruce who is always waiting for him to come home, the loud and boisterous Momoka, and... that silver-haired girl from another world who is trying her best to clumsily learn how to be a person.

He even began to envision things in detail.

When I make money in the future, I will definitely buy a super powerful air conditioner, which I can set to the lowest setting in the summer and the highest setting in the winter!

Get Bruce a luxurious cat bed with a little roof; let Mom eat ribs every day, which she actually loves but always says she "doesn't like"; secretly give Dad a huge sum of "never-ending" private money; decorate a real little room for Tao Xiang so she doesn't have to sleep on the sofa or curl up in a corner like a cat anymore; and take Xia Li to experience all the new and interesting things in this world...

Thinking about these things seemed to lessen my fatigue, and I felt more motivated to write.

...Hmm, if my physics teacher calls me useless again, I'll just let it go in one ear and out the other, and I definitely won't get angry!

...Well, the Chinese teacher is still the nicest to talk to, but I always have to eat the weird food she makes.

After finishing the exam, I went home and studied for two days.

When the results came out, there was indeed progress.

His combined science score finally climbed to 120—biology and chemistry were barely passing, while physics remained a dismal 20-something. Physics really requires talent and long-term accumulation; it can't be rushed. Song Che estimated that to improve his physics, he would need to work hard for at least another three or four months.

I wonder if Xia Li will learn chemistry and biology quickly, since they seem to have something in common with potion making.

On his way home, Song Che's steps were lighter than usual. Pushing open the door, he always saw familiar scenes.

Bruce wagged his tail and rushed over immediately, while Xia Li stood quietly a little behind.

Unlike when Tao Xiang was at home, she wouldn't rush up to her and sweetly say, "Brother Song Che, welcome home!"

Xia Li would simply use her blue eyes to carefully examine him from head to toe, making sure he was unharmed, before calmly uttering four words: "You're back."

Then, before he could even change his shoes, she would turn around and go to the kitchen, bringing out a bowl of hot porridge to warm him up.

Song Che had reminded her many times that the porridge could be cooked when he came back to prepare the stir-fries, as it would taste better that way. But Xia Li always stubbornly shook her head, saying that he should drink the porridge as soon as possible, because it was cold outside and drinking hot porridge would make him less likely to get sick.

Getting sick costs money.

...That's strange, it wasn't her money that was spent.

Song Che swallowed those words each time, then accepted the bowl of porridge, which might have been a little mushy. His heart... warmed slightly by this clumsy act of care.

Sometimes when he had nothing to do in the evenings, Song Che would take Xia Li to visit Aunt Lan downstairs.

Song Che regarded He Lan as a second mother. This was not only because Aunt Lan was kind to him, but also because of her own kindness and the life-saving grace she had shown him during the flood. He had little to repay her for, so he could only visit her often and keep her company.

Every time she visited, Aunt Lan would affectionately hold Xia Li's hand, looking her over and over, then patting her head with a nostalgic look in her eyes, repeatedly saying, "You've grown so tall, that's wonderful..."

Aunt Lan's memory is deteriorating more and more noticeably. Song Che wasn't sure if she was simply forgetting Xia Li's appearance each time, or if Xia Li was actually growing taller quietly.

Every time Xia Li's head was touched, her body would pause almost imperceptibly. She would instinctively want to dodge, but she was afraid of hurting her aunt's feelings, so she could only purse her lips, turn her head slightly, and endure it.

That look of barely holding back, a little aggrieved and a little helpless, always seemed inexplicably cute to Song Che, making him want to laugh.

……

Time slipped by quietly amidst exams, bowls of hot porridge, and visits to neighbors.

Following the recipes and Song Che's instructions, Xia Li painstakingly but determinedly expanded her repertoire of human survival skills. Song Che, meanwhile, continued to relentlessly work on his grades, while also worrying about how to get past his mother.

He figured he needed to win over his mother's favor first, so that she might be able to plead his case for him.

Despite his mother's gentle and kind demeanor and ever-present smile, Song Che knew all too well the power hidden beneath that gentleness.

According to his father's tearful account, his mother, in her excitement while making him a loving pork rib soup, accidentally broke two of his ribs. Moreover, his father exaggeratedly claimed that over the years, he had sacrificed two to three hundred ribs for that soup. The veracity of this number remains to be verified, but the image of his mother as someone not to be trifled with is deeply ingrained in Song Che's mind.

While doing his practice problems, Song Che absentmindedly thought: I wonder how many ribs I'll have to break this time to appease my mom.

Lately, my mom's mood has been noticeably lower in the weekly Wednesday phone calls she makes, her words filled with undisguised worry and hesitation.

Song Che could sense that his mother was starting to misunderstand him, which made him feel even worse.

……

Song Che had no idea that, on the other end of the phone, hundreds of kilometers away in a waiting room, Zhang Shushu was frowning as she looked at the date that had been specially marked on her phone's calendar.

His face showed no joy at the prospect of returning home; instead, it was filled with deep, unyielding worry.

"This child's grades have dropped so drastically..." She looked at the grade chart the teacher had sent her privately once more, her heart tightening. "Although it seems like he's slowly climbing back up recently... When I ask him on the phone, he always says it's nothing, it's nothing, he downplays it all. And suddenly he has a 'girlfriend,' and now he has a 'sister'... Jian Guo, I'm really afraid he's under too much pressure and will go astray. This boy is in his adolescence, full of youthful vigor, he doesn't know what responsibility is yet. What if... what if he does something wrong, what will happen?"

Song Jianguo put his arm around his wife's shoulder and patted her on the shoulder: "Xiao Che isn't a reckless child, we have to trust him. Maybe he's just hit a roadblock in his studies. If we go back suddenly, we can see the actual situation with our own eyes, which is better than letting our imaginations run wild over the phone."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about, which is why I need to go back and check on him." Zhang Shushu sighed. "I've decided that when I get back, I won't act too happy. I'll pretend to be really angry and worried about his grades, and see how he reacts, and also see... what's going on with that girl."

A maternal resolve flashed in her eyes. "Then, we'll give him a birthday surprise. This child, from childhood to adulthood, we've been so busy that we've never really celebrated his birthday properly. This time, we'll come back early to give him a proper celebration, so he can be happy and relax a bit."

"Okay, whatever you say. You've always been good at playing the good cop or the bad cop."

Song Jianguo smiled and nodded, expressing his support without any principles.

"But I'm still worried." Zhang Shushu's brows remained furrowed as she added anxiously, "I don't even know what kind of person this girl is. You know our Song Che, he seems clever, but he's actually very honest and kind-hearted. What if he gets his feelings betrayed? This child values ​​relationships the most; if he gets deceived even once, wouldn't he be devastated?"

Song Jianguo, taking a more relaxed approach, tried to comfort him: "Boys and girls both have to go through this stage on their path to adulthood. Sometimes stumbling and hitting a wall isn't necessarily a bad thing. If it really happens... then it's his own fate and tribulation. Once he's gone through it, he'll understand people and things better in the future."

Instead of being comforted, Zhang Shushu became even more worried after hearing this.

Song Jianguo said nothing more and just stayed with her silently.

After so many years of marriage, he knew his wife too well—she couldn't be at ease unless she took care of every aspect of their son's life. Only when she got home and saw Song Che in person would her anxious heart finally settle down.

"No, I have to test this girl properly." Zhang Shushu suddenly sat up straight, her eyes sharpening. "She has to be a decent girl from a normal family, and her heart must be upright. How much longer until the train arrives?"

"There's still an hour left. Why don't you take a nap? Didn't you sleep well again last night?"

"I can't sleep." Zhang Shushu shook her head, her mind already racing, considering various test plans.

She knew Song Che best; he had been so sensible since he was little that it was heartbreaking. Knowing that his family's financial situation was average, he focused all his energy on his studies and never had any thoughts of early romance. At most, he was just a little mischievous by nature, like most boys.

Now, she's suddenly infatuated with a girl, and her grades are even dropping. She wants to see if this girl is just incredibly beautiful or if she really has some extraordinary qualities that make her son so interested.

"Jianguo, what should I ask this girl? Asking her directly seems too abrupt," she turned to her husband for help.

"Just a casual chat," Song Jianguo said simply. "Go back and cook something nice, send your son away, and you can talk to the girl alone, right?"

"We can't just chat like that!" Zhang Shushu immediately objected. "I have to... be a bit stern! At least I have to keep a straight face at the beginning and see what this girl is after in our Song Che, whether she genuinely likes him or has ulterior motives."

Song Jianguo was amused by his wife's logic: "Why don't you ask our son what he sees in that girl? With Song Che's impulsive personality and our family's conditions, to be honest, if he can actually find a girlfriend, I'd really admire that girl's taste."

"You're talking like it's not your son!" Zhang Shushu glared at him reproachfully. "Our son is so good! That girl must have some ulterior motive!"

Song Jianguo laughed even harder: "Of course there must be some ulterior motive. Just like when I was with you back then, wasn't that also 'plotting something'?"

"What do you want from me?" Zhang Shushu asked irritably.

"I like you because you're a good person, honest, kind-hearted, and devoted to me." Song Jianguo replied matter-of-factly, with a hint of playful banter typical of an old married couple.

"Go away, you old rascal, let's talk about serious matters!" Zhang Shushu's face flushed slightly as she steered the conversation back on track. "Tell me, what if I... deliberately said some bad things about Song Che, like criticizing his poor grades, lack of ambition, and family poverty, and saw how that girl reacted? How about that? Wouldn't that reveal something?"

"Do you think your son has no flaws?" Song Jianguo teased deliberately.

"Seriously, is this method even feasible?" Zhang Shushu pressed.

"I don't know." Song Jianguo's smile faded. He thought for a moment, "The idea is quite unique... but don't actually scare the girl away. What if she's a good girl and you scare her away? Won't my son blame you?"

"I know what I'm doing." Zhang Shushu already had a plan in mind: "If she's a bad girl, I'll kick her out; if she's a good girl, I'll let them be together."

Song Jianguo sat leisurely to the side, but couldn't hold back when he heard "[Let them be together]".

—It's like they're trying to kill someone.

……

Song Che felt his eyelids twitching. Who the hell was talking bad about him so early in the morning!

Did Xia Li scold herself?

dong dong dong-

Song Che opened the door, and behind it stood a face full of smiles.