Chapter 574

Jia He Lian Xiao also hurriedly stood up, and said in a shy, small voice:

"H-hello, Jiu Jing-teacher..."

Jiu Jing Ziyuan was not surprised that Natsume Ruri was a junior high student, but when her gaze swept over Jia He Lian Xiao's slender figure that had already taken shape, another imperceptible pause flashed in her eyes.

She just felt that the students nowadays are really well-developed...

After a moment of silence, she nodded slightly:

"Hello."

Natsume Chikage signaled:

"Teacher, please sit down."

Jiu Jing Ziyuan nodded gently and sat down on the edge of the tatami.

Her gaze was immediately attracted by the drawing drafts spread out on the low table and a novel titled "The Devotion of Suspect X."

She raised her eyebrows slightly, feeling that the book title was a bit special, and the book looked quite new.

In her impression, this book didn't seem to have appeared on the bookstore's new book list recently.

However, she didn't delve into it at the moment, just took two boxes of exquisite snacks from the paper bag she brought and handed them to the two girls.

"I brought some snacks, if you don't mind, please help yourself."

"Thank you, Jiu Jing-teacher."

The two thanked her and took them.

Jiu Jing Ziyuan looked at those drawing drafts and the drawing board beside them, and asked:

"Are these drawings drawn by yourselves?"

Natsume Ruri and Jia He Lian Xiao both nodded somewhat embarrassedly:

"Yes... Lian Xiao-chan and I are trying to draw manga, thinking that if we can successfully submit it and earn some manuscript fees... maybe we can subsidize the household expenses a little."

Jiu Jing Ziyuan fell into a brief silence again when she heard this.

At this time, Natsume Chikage brought a cup of warm water and placed it gently in front of Jiu Jing Ziyuan.

Jiu Jing Ziyuan nodded in acknowledgment, picked up the cup, and took a shallow sip.

Natsume Chikage sat down beside his sister and cut to the chase:

"Jiu Jing-teacher, the main purpose of your special visit for a home visit is...?"

Jiu Jing Ziyuan put down the water cup, her gaze stayed on Natsume Chikage and his sister who needed care beside him for a moment, before she spoke slowly:

"It's not anything particularly complicated."

"It's just that your current situation is more special than other students in the class. As a homeroom teacher, I have the responsibility and obligation to understand your family environment on the spot."

"I checked the relevant information before and saw that your guardian is... Natsume Chunhui, right?"

"Where is she now?"

Jia He Lian Xiao, who was on the side, heard this name and opened her mouth in a low voice, somewhat confused:

"Natsume Chunhui? Is there such a..."

Before she finished speaking, she was gently covered by Natsume Ruri beside her.

Natsume Ruri signaled her with her eyes not to continue.

Jia He Lian Xiao blinked, although she didn't quite understand the situation, she immediately understood Ruri's meaning and closed her mouth obediently.

Natsume Chikage explained with a calm expression:

"She... has work to be busy with, needs to go on a long-term business trip, and won't be back for a short time."

Jiu Jing Ziyuan naturally didn't miss the subtle little movements between the two girls.

But she didn't care, or rather, she already knew something before she came.

"Natsume-kun, you don't need to hide it from me. I know some of the basic situations of your family."

"This Ms. Natsume Chunhui belongs to the main family of your Natsume family. And the Natsume main family is also a small and famous family in Japan."

"However, the main family doesn't seem to accept you siblings. So even if Ms. Natsume Chunhui is your guardian in name, she hasn't actually provided support for your upbringing, am I right?"

Natsume Chikage saw that the other party had already grasped the actual situation, so he no longer tried to cover it up and admitted indifferently:

"Since you already know, teacher, why do you still specifically ask?"

Jiu Jing Ziyuan still maintained that cold and gorgeous expression and explained:

"Regardless, you are my student."

"I need to personally confirm the most real situation from your own mouths, this is my job."

"If the previous question was offensive, I apologize. I didn't mean to pry into privacy or make you embarrassed."

Natsume Chikage pursued:

"Then, Jiu Jing-teacher, what is the ultimate purpose of you collecting this information?"

Jiu Jing Ziyuan didn't answer immediately, but continued to ask:

"You answer a few questions for me first, and then I will tell you the reason."

"What is your hourly wage for working part-time at the coffee shop now?"

Natsume Chikage told the truth:

"800 yen."

Jiu Jing Ziyuan frowned imperceptibly.

In a metropolis like Tokyo, this hourly wage is indeed not high for a high school student who needs to independently raise his sister.

But she knew that the salary for part-time jobs for students of this age is generally like this.

When she was a student, her salary was even lower.

It's just that at that time, she didn't have such a heavy family burden as Natsume Chikage...

Jiu Jing Ziyuan continued to ask:

"Before your father passed away, did he leave some savings for you siblings?"

Natsume Ruri shook her head gently, her voice carrying a sensible tone that didn't match her age:

"No... Dad was already bankrupt at that time. Things in the house that could be sold were basically sold to pay off debts."

"Now all the expenses of the family are basically earned by brother working part-time."

"It's just that basically how much he earns, he spends how much, and he can't save any money..."

Jiu Jing Ziyuan fell into silence again, and this silence lasted even longer.

Even Jia He Lian Xiao, who was listening quietly, couldn't help but lower her eyes, her hands on her knees tightening slightly.

Through these Q&A, Jiu Jing Ziyuan clearly realized that the actual situation of the Natsume family was much more difficult than she had expected.

This also explained why Natsume Chikage, who possessed such outstanding external conditions, clearly rejected even excellent girls like Yue Dao Lin, and avoided the feelings of other girls.

Under this survival pressure, he really didn't have extra heart and time to consider emotional problems.

Even, he might be struggling quite a bit just to guarantee basic study time.

She remembered that Natsume Chikage's original grades were not ideal, and in this situation, it would probably be even more difficult.

Jiu Jing Ziyuan looked up, her expression becoming extremely serious, she looked at Natsume Chikage and said clearly:

"I understand your family situation."

"Judging from the current situation, you are very likely unable to afford the tuition for the second semester and face the risk of dropping out or transferring."

"Regarding this, I have considered applying for a poverty subsidy from the school... but unfortunately, because your guardian in name has a wealthy economic condition, you don't meet the hard application qualifications."

"So..."

She paused, her tone calm but carrying unquestionable concern.

"I plan to pay for your subsequent tuition in my personal name. You can pay me back slowly after you step into society and work in the future. No interest is needed."

"But as a condition of exchange, I hope that during this period, you can reduce your part-time job time as much as possible and focus more energy on your studies."

"In addition, I think you can also seriously reconsider whether to join the invitation of the baseball club advisor teacher before."

Jia He Lian Xiao's eyes lit up when she heard this, she looked at Natsume Chikage and said in a small but sincere voice:

"Natsume-brother... I think, this might be a way."

Natsume Ruri also nodded repeatedly.

In her view, borrowing money from this homeroom teacher is far better than accepting help from Auntie Mei Xue.

After all, Auntie Mei Xue is ultimately a person of the Kondo family.

With the cold and snobbish personality of Kondo Yaosuke, if he knew that Auntie Mei Xue was privately helping their siblings, it would probably cause unnecessary family disputes.

In contrast, Jiu Jing-teacher is brother's homeroom teacher, and being able to teach in this private prestigious school, her income should be quite considerable.

Even if she subsidizes brother's tuition, it should be within her bearing range.