My wife is a witch princess

Chapter 34 The Hypocritical Prince

Song Che put down his phone, held up his index finger, and said, "I remember now. Simply put, the sun is too bright, blocking the starlight. In addition, the atmosphere scatters the sunlight, making the stars even harder to see."

"I thought the stars only appeared at night, but it turns out they're always there."

"I thought so when I was little too, but then I realized we're standing on a star." Song Che said with a smile. "You said there's a sun and a moon here, and Hit also has a sun and a moon. Could it be that the sun and moon we see are the same one?"

"I don't understand. If I can go back, I can look into it," Xia Li replied.

That's a pity. Without great fortune, he probably won't be able to go back in this lifetime.

Song Che: "I don't understand either, but it feels like the same sun and moon... It's a strange feeling that the sun and moon in different worlds are so similar."

Xia Li didn't understand this feeling. She kept staring at Song Che's phone. "How many gold coins is that thing in your hand?"

"A used phone...you can buy one for two or three hundred." Song Che put down his backpack and fed Bruce the cat. "You want one?"

"Yes, it's like the magic mirror; you can ask questions. I need this."

"After we finish eating, let's go shopping." Song Che carried the noodles to the kitchen. "You don't need gold coins to buy things here, only WeChat and cash. I feel like your gold coin is worth six or seven thousand, enough to buy a new phone."

"The old ones are fine." Xia Li wanted to spend money sparingly. At least, she wanted to spend until she understood how to make a living in this world before considering becoming self-reliant. "I'll give you noodles this time. I learned how to make them yesterday."

……

Xia Li was indeed not lying. Apart from the fact that her body would tense up due to stress when lighting the gas, that she added a little too much water, and that she cooked the noodles for too long, the rest of the steps were basically correct.

She scooped up a spoonful of soup, tasted it, and looked at Song Che: "...It seems to have no flavor."

Song Che sprinkled some salt in: "Try it again."

"...It's getting interesting!"

Xia Li focused on eating her noodles, while Song Che took a sip of noodle soup, opened his phone, and pondered about studying at home.

This is troublesome...

If a student's weekly test score drops, the homeroom teacher will definitely call their parents. Not studying hard is a major taboo for high school students. Especially with the older generation's belief that studying is the key to success, Song Che felt that even if his parents usually indulged him… agreeing to let him study at home and even date… it was still unlikely.

Song Che blamed himself for always being able to read Xia Li's emotions. That morning at the library, when Xia Li wrote down the sentence, "[Can we go to the library together every day?]", he thought of the scene from his first time-travel experience, when he was alone in a goblin's lair, and the silver-haired witch had once offered him shelter. He wanted to respond to Xia Li's expectation.

But now... I'm caught in a dilemma. I can only bite the bullet and ask my mom, or lie to her. As for my dad, that's easier to say. He's always supported me bringing a girl home. Apparently, my mom was one of those girls he brought home when she was young and naive.

Song Che made a voice call to his mother, and she answered almost instantly.

Beep beep—

"Feed Mom, what's Dad doing?"

"Sleeping like a log, snoring like a ton of bricks." My mother's chuckling voice came from the other end of the phone. "What's wrong, son?"

"Mom, I want to talk to you about something." Song Che's voice was a little hesitant. He couldn't come up with a perfect reason that would make his mother agree readily, so he simply told the truth, "I want to apply to study at home during my senior year of high school. I need your permission and to talk to the teacher."

Song Che originally wanted to lie to his mother, saying that he was under too much pressure in his senior year of high school and didn't want to go to school, but that would make his parents worry. After thinking for a long time, he finally told the truth.

There was silence for a few seconds on the other end of the phone.

Song Che also fell silent, having mentally prepared himself for rejection.

"Okay, Mom will talk to your teacher later." Mom's voice was gentle. After a pause, she asked, "Dabao, is someone bullying you at school? Is there anything on your mind that you want to tell Mom...?"

His mother started nagging again, and Song Che listened quietly.

"No, it's just that I think I might be more efficient at home."

"That's good. By the way, your Aunt Lan went back earlier than us and will be staying with you temporarily. Okay, I'll hang up now, I'll contact the teacher right away."

Beep beep—

The call has ended.

"All done. From now on, she'll study at home." Song Che put down his phone and began planning the next step. Learning needs to be done step by step; he'll study high school textbooks, while Xia Li will learn modern common sense. He'll buy her a phone and send her straight to Bilibili University for further studies.

"I'm going to buy a cell phone."

"...I'll go too."

Song Che knew Xia Li was going to come along, but that's precisely why he couldn't figure out what she was thinking. Relying on others wasn't the witch's style.

A misconception that even a boy might have gradually surfaced: Could it be a witch...?

He glanced at Xia Li's indifferent expression and dismissed the idea.

First, witches lack the delicate emotions of humans. Second, witches are only obsessed with potions and magic.

He took a sip of the noodles Xia Li had cooked and casually browsed through a few part-time job groups. There were quite a few daily-paid jobs, suitable for flexible earning money from home, although the income was only enough to make ends meet.

After dinner, the two of them busied themselves in the small kitchen, one washing the dishes and the other washing the pots.

Song Che poured a few coins out of his piggy bank, preparing to take the bus to the flower and bird market, where some stalls specialize in selling second-hand mobile phones at good prices.

"Xia Li, let's go."

Song Che called out to the sink. Xia Li had been running to the sink since the meal started, several times. At first, Song Che thought that even a witch would be vain. When he went over to look, he found that she was just standing in front of the mirror, grinning at her reflection.

...like a little dog.

"When buying a phone, pick one you like."

"They're here."

Xia Li came out of the washbasin and followed Song Che downstairs. Song Che glanced at her a few times and noticed that the corners of her mouth were still slightly pursed unnaturally. In his princely aloofness, there was a strange hint of... naivety after trying hard.

Song Che walked ahead, with Xia Li following behind. She seemed to enjoy walking behind him. A series of clear footprints were left in the snow on the path, and she stepped into those footprints one by one. Song Che remembered that back in the continent of Hit, this prince never went out on snowy days.

Xia Li sat quietly on the bus stop platform.

Because she wasn't wearing a hat or school uniform, her flowing silver hair and striking appearance made it impossible for any of the students waiting for the bus to sit next to her. Song Che didn't sit either, just stood to the side. This made Xia Li feel inexplicably depressed.

This hypocritical girl hates being alone, yet is afraid of getting too close to others.

During the midday bus rush hour, the bus was crowded. Song Che tossed in two coins, looked around, and didn't find any empty seats. He grabbed the overhead handrail, gesturing for Xia Li to grab it too.

Xia Li stood next to him; her height and demeanor made her look more like Song Che's older sister. Song Che, in his school uniform, looked like a little kid being led around by his parents.

But only Song Che knew that the bus was too crowded and people were sitting too close together. Xia Li was not used to it, so her face became more and more tense and her aura became colder and colder. Song Che was afraid that she would suddenly jump up and flick him on the head.

Inside the car, many eyes were fixed on Xia Li, and once they were on her, they couldn't look away. She remembered what Song Che had taught her after school, and calmly looked back at each of them one by one.

The bus swayed along, and she stared at about half the passengers. The atmosphere became somewhat awkward, and many people awkwardly looked away.

Some people are destined to be different.

Song Che thought that Xia Li had successfully demonstrated what it meant to be unembarrassed while others were the ones who were embarrassed.

Your Highness, are you insane?

[Next stop, Shuofang Street Intersection. Passengers arriving at this stop, please prepare in advance and disembark in an orderly manner.]

The train doors opened and closed, and people got on and off. An older man apologetically squeezed onto the train, saying, "Excuse me, please squeeze in."

Upon seeing Xia Li, the bus card in his hand fell to the ground with a thud, forcing him to bend down to pick it up. This caused the surrounding passengers to complain, and the uncle repeatedly apologized.

With the doors closed, the bus was now completely full and would no longer accept any new passengers.

Song Che scanned the crowd inside the car, various labels floating in his field of vision.

Everyone's labels were pretty much the same. He was wary of people labeled as "pornsters" or "thieves," but after observing around, he found that they were all law-abiding citizens and young men who were also chefs. The driver was a veteran driver with ten years of experience, so there were no "bombs in the car," "getting married right after getting out of the car," or "long-distance girlfriends traveling thousands of miles to reunite" or any other kind of death traps.

Looking at Xia Li again, the title "Witch Princess" was still unchanging above her head. Sometimes Song Che was really scared that Xia Li would suddenly fly up and release a forbidden spell. This label was so reasonable to Xia Li that it became even more unreasonable.

This magic is completely unscientific!

The bus slowed down as it turned, causing everyone on board to lean forward. Song Che reached out and grabbed Xia Li, who was about to be thrown off.

"Your Highness, hold on tight."