Jiang Zhonglin seemed to remember the young girl only then and looked a bit embarrassed. He also realized that Yu Yao didn’t know her, so he introduced her, “This is Yang Mei, a student of an old friend of mine. She’s here to pick up something for her teacher.”

Then he asked Yang Mei, “Have you sent the information to your teacher?”

“Oh? Ah!” Yang Mei, realizing she had been staring at Yu Yao and forgot the main task, awkwardly pulled out her personal terminal to scan the book.

She kept her head down, not daring to look up, and felt mortified. What on earth was going on? Who was this mysterious game-playing girl? Why didn’t Professor Jiang introduce her? It was clear they knew each other. Could she really be a relative? How embarrassing, she had been so hospitable and friendly, and it turned out she was actually the mistress of the house. How embarrassing!

After the awkwardness, Yang Mei grew even more curious about Yu Yao’s identity. She listened intently to their conversation while scanning the book, her curiosity getting the better of her.

It wasn’t her fault for being so curious. Students who often interacted with Professor Jiang knew he had been living alone in that house for years with no other residents. Occasionally, when he was ill, a few students would come to take care of him, but otherwise, no one had heard of anyone else living there. Whoever could live there and even have Jiang Zhonglin wash strawberries for them must be someone very close to him!

Yang Mei’s mind was racing with guesses. When she heard Jiang Zhonglin say, “You should eat more strawberries while you’re taking a break from the game,” the girl, seemingly engrossed in the game, replied, “You have some.”

She took a sneaky glance and saw Jiang Zhonglin pick the largest and reddest strawberry from the fruit plate and hand it to the girl, who then ate it.

Why did this all seem so off to her? Yang Mei wondered, but she couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong.

“Even while playing games, you should take breaks and eat more fruit.”

“Oh, come on. Your lifestyle isn’t any healthier than mine. You’ve been sitting in the study for so long and haven’t even had a sip of water.”

Yang Mei: …

If this were a relationship between an elder and a younger person, wouldn’t the girl’s attitude towards Professor Jiang be too casual? How could she even interrupt Professor Jiang’s words?

Their conversation was brief, and Yang Mei couldn’t discern the specifics of their relationship. After receiving confirmation from her teacher, she picked up the book and said, “The teacher said it’s this one. We’ll return it after we’ve entered the data. Thank you, Professor Jiang.”

Jiang Zhonglin stood up to see her out, “No problem. Be careful on your way back.”

At the door, Yang Mei couldn’t help but sneak a glance at the girl absorbed in her game. Her curiosity was overwhelming, and she quietly asked Jiang Zhonglin, “Professor Jiang, who is this young woman who seems to be about my age?”

Jiang Zhonglin paused for a moment before answering, “She’s my wife.”

Yang Mei was stunned.

After leaving the neighborhood, she called her teacher with a bewildered expression, “Teacher! You won’t believe it! Professor Jiang just joked with me! I never knew Professor Jiang could joke around!”

Perhaps having a young companion around had made Professor Jiang more youthful in spirit, allowing him to indulge in games and even joke. Yang Mei and her teacher reflected on the importance of having family companionship for elderly people.

As for Jiang Zhonglin’s claim of having a wife, Yang Mei couldn’t believe it. Professor Jiang was a well-known, refined professor in their circle, known for his integrity. He wasn’t the type to deceive young girls or marry someone with such a large age gap. Besides, it was well known that he had been deeply devoted to his late wife and had never remarried. Suddenly having a new young wife seemed implausible.

“I wonder who this girl really is,” Yang Mei sighed, deciding to ask her senior classmates from the university. They were Professor Jiang’s students and might know more.