Chapter 27 - Her Dream

‘What is he talking about?

She is only in the second year of junior high school, and there are still four and a half years left when she graduates.

She had planned to make up an excuse to go out with her friends and go over there to find him.

But when he said that, she didn't even have a chance to come up with an excuse.’

Ashley was a little frustrated. "Isn't that a threat?"

"Threat?" Jacob tilted his head. "You could say that."

"...”

"isn't that what you said, kiddo?" He pushed the exercise book in front of her and returned what she had said before. "It's better to study hard."

"...”

The matter has not yet come to an end.

Ashley confessed to her "online love" on her own initiative and asked her parents very seriously whether she could take advantage of this winter vacation to find her "online love partner" in that city.

She seemed to respect them very much.

But she was so righteous, which made her parents even angrier.

For them, Ashley's idea was hundreds of times more unusual than the things she used to do to "fight with classmates", "not listen in class" and "break classroom discipline".

It also had a great impact on them.

Although Ashley has promised them that she will no longer contact this "online lover", Tim still asked Liam to change the password of his computer at home and confiscated her mobile phone.

And let Liam keep an eye on her and didn't let her go out at random.

So before the arrival of the New year, Ashley's life was like living in prison.

Apart from his family, she could only see Jacob, who came to ‘visit her’ every two days.

Jacob did not mention her online love anymore.

When doing business, he was always so serious that he wouldn't mention anything else to her.

It was not until his spare time that he occasionally said a few words to tease her.

Fearing that she would show up again, Ashley would no longer take the initiative to ask him about his affairs as she did in the past.

All she knew was that Jacob had many jobs every day, but he didn’t seem to be as busy as he used to be.

Sometimes after the class, and then there was nothing else to do, he would stay in Liam's room.

Except for tutoring, Ashley would hardly go in and disturb them.

Sometimes, Grace would ask her to go in and deliver some fruit and snacks so that Ashley could see many other looks of Jacob.

Occasionally he was smoking, but at the moment he saw her, he would put out the cigarette butts, then smiled at her and said to her, "Little Ashley. Cover your nose and get out quickly. "

Occasionally he was playing games or sleeping, but he can instantly detect the movement of the door opening, and then carelessly raise his eyes.

Seeing her put a plate of fruit on the table, he looked sleepy but didn't forget to tease her, "What's the matter with you, kiddo?"

"You always blush when you see me."

An ever-changing man.

Most of the time he was cynical and unformal, but careful and gentle to the extreme.

It was a man she met at a very inappropriate age, and she felt that no matter what age she was, she would definitely fall in love with him.

It was a treasure she met when she was a teenager and didn't want anyone to find it.

The day before New Year's Eve, Ashley finished her last tutorial in her winter vacation.

Thinking that she would not see him again for a while, she packed her things slowly, listening to his instructions.

"Listen carefully in class in the future, if you have some problems, you can come to the teacher, or ask your brother, or you can ask me."

Jacob thought, "You can take a picture of the content you don’t understand and send it to brother, and brother will get back to you when I see it."

Ashley nodded.

Jacob, "Is there an examination at the beginning of school?"

Ashley, "Yes."

"Tell brother the results after the exam."

Jacob said, "If you can get good grades, that will be great. Brother will so proud of you."

"Oh."

"All right, go and play by yourself."

Ashley picked up her things, and when she got to the door, she couldn't help looking back and plucked up the courage to call him, "Brother."

Jacob looked up, "What's wrong?"

Ashley hesitated and said, "Would you like to have dinner at my house tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Jacob raised his eyebrows, "Maybe next time."

Ashley looked at him and said slowly.

"Brother stayed at school for the 50 dollar red envelope handed out by the school for the New year."

Jacob said with a chuckle, "If I come here, isn't it in vain that I have persisted for so long?"

Silent for a few seconds, Ashley didn't know what to say, so she nodded and went back to her room.

Ashley put her things on the desk, opened the drawer and rummaged through it, and found a red envelope she received last year.

The money in it has been taken out and it was empty.

New year hasn't come yet, and Ashley didn’t have any money.

Thinking of this, she looked back at the piggy bank she had placed on the nightstand.

This piggy bank had only a small opening on the top. If you want to get the money, you have to smash it all.

But Ashley also felt that it was strange to give him such a red envelope.

She thought about it for a long time and finally stuffed only one candy into it.

Then she drew a piece of star paper and wrote five words on it one stroke at a time.

Happy New year, Brother Jacob.

It was folded into stars and stuffed into the red packet.

After doing this series of things, Ashley quietly opened the door.

She blinked and crept into Liam's room.

Glimpsing the schoolbag that Jacob put on the desk, Ashley unzipped it and didn't look inside, just carefully stuffed the red packet into it.

‘Although it does look a little shabby, in that case, if he stays here this year, he will receive two red envelopes.’

That night, after the New year's Eve dinner, Tim returned Ashley's mobile phone to her.

The family sat in the living room watching the Spring Festival Gala. Ashley was not very interested, so she turned on her mobile phone and took a look.

In a pile of mass text messages, she found a message from Jacob.

‘I wish Little Ashley happiness every day and be admitted to an ideal high school and university.

Happy New Year.

Also, thank you, Little Ashley, for the red envelope.’

Ashley pondered for a long time and wanted to ask him whether the New year's Eve dinner at school was delicious, whether there were many people in his school, and if he felt a little lonely, she wanted to ask him if he still wanted to come here for the Spring Festival.

But she didn't ask anything.

Ashley exhaled, deleted all the words, and re-typed them.

‘Thank you, brother. Happy New year.’

The winter vacation ended only a few days after the Spring Festival.

In the exam at the beginning of the school year, Ashley reached the third, and her physics exam also got an incredible score of 90.

She photographed the score note and sent it to Jacob.

The next morning, Ashley received a reply from Jacob.

‘Little Ashley is really good. Brother will reward you in two days.’

Because of this message, Ashley looked forward to it for two days.

But when she received the reward, she found that it was not Jacob who personally gave it to her, but he asked Liam to bring it to her.

Three gifts in total.

A reward, a supplementary New year's gift, a birthday present given in advance.

A box of colored pencils, a bag of sugar, a pink rabbit puppet.

He seemed to really think of her as a sister.

For a long time later, Ashley seldom saw him again.

Ashley secretly found a photo studio.

She didn't even dare to be discovered by strangers. She specially told the boss to develop more than a dozen photos on her mobile phone, and all she wanted was the photo she secretly took during the winter vacation.

She slipped the pictures into her treasure box.

Occasionally, Ashley could hear from Liam that Jacob had finished his junior semester ahead of schedule and returned to Silver River City in April. He seemed to have found a job there.

It was nearly two thousand kilometers away from her.

She has never been so far away in her life.

Someday in May.

The English teacher assigned a composition in class, the topic is my dream.

Ashley thought for a moment, then slowly wrote a few lines on the composition paper, then quickly tore it off and stuffed it into the drawer.

In the messy drawer, the little girl's handwriting was green but clear.

My dream.

1. Admitted to Silver River University.

2. Jacob.

Because of various procedures and graduation thesis, Jacob went back to school several times midway, but also came and went in a hurry.

During this period, Ashley met him several times, but they were all in a hurry.

He didn't seem to have changed much.

He was still not very serious, and he would still tease her, the attitude was as always.

The intersection of the two throughout the year was pitifully small.

At some major festivals, Ashley would also receive text messages and gifts from Jacob.

In his spare time, he would also send text messages to ask her about her study.

It also made her feel that she had not been forgotten.

The real meeting with Jacob was in June of the next year when he went back to school to take graduation photos.

Ashley was taken there by her parents.

As soon as he got there, Ashley could see Liam, who was wearing a scholar's uniform, as well as Jacob, who she had not seen for a long time.

He stood in the sun, tall and upright, listening to John with a faint smile on his face.

Except that her hair was a little short, he didn’t have many changes.

Seeing him, Ashley was inexplicably nervous.

Holding a bouquet of flowers for Liam in her hand, she silently followed Tim and Grace and did not take the initiative to talk to him.

There were many people at the scene. In addition to the fresh graduates, there were also many relatives and friends of the graduates.

It was quite noisy around, and the voices of hundreds of people were covered.

Ashley couldn't hear what her parents were saying to Liam, and she was a little dizzy with the heat.

But her attention was always moving in the direction of Jacob, and her heart beat fast, plopping and clattering.

Soon, Ashley noticed Jacob coming, and he greeted Tim and Grace.

They talked for a long time, but she didn't quite hear them.

Before long, Jacob turned his head and looked at Ashley, and raised his eyebrows and eyes slightly. "Little Ashley.”

Ashley then raised her head, "Brother."

"Do you have a conscience?" Jacob smiled. "Since you haven't seen brother for such a long time, you don't even know to come and say hello to me."

Ashley didn't know what to say and muttered, "I thought you forgot me."

"Well, how can you say that?"

Jacob thought it was funny and incredible. "I didn't give you a present for your birthday, International Children's Day? "

Ashley looked at him." But they were handed by Liam. "

"I asked your brother to bring them to you."

Jacob wanted to say something else when he suddenly noticed her height. "Little Ashley is much taller."

Ashley was silent.

Jacob, "Then there will be no gift on the next International Children's Day."

Ashley frowned and said, "No way."

"OK, if I have money, I will buy a gift for you."

Jacob thought for a moment and then asked, "Is it time for the high school entrance examination?"

"Yeah."

"Can you be admitted to No. 1 Middle School?"

"I think so."

His classmate came to take a picture with him, Ashley walked away wisely.

The speed of taking a picture was very fast, and in a few seconds, she was called over by Jacob.

Ashley still wondered, "what are you doing?"

He pointed in the direction of the camera. "Take a picture with brother."

Ashley looked at it, and then went over and stood beside him in silence.

She looked at the distance and stopped a meter away from him.

Jacob said gloomily," Has brother annoyed you again? "

Ashley was inexplicable. "No."

"Then why are you standing so far away?"

Jacob waved to her. "Stand closer, how can you act like my enemy?"

Ashley had to move over two more steps, looking a little uncomfortable.

After taking the photo, Jacob said to the classmate who helped take the picture, "Send me the picture when you get back."

Ashley stood beside him.

After a while, she hesitated and asked, "Brother, will you never come back to this city again?"

Jacob raised his eyes and said with a smile, "Will you miss me?"

Ashley pursed her lips and nodded.

Did not seem to think that she would give him a positive answer, Jacob stupefied for a moment.

He bowed his head and noticed Ashley's expression.

Then he pulled his lips and slightly bent down to look at her. "Brother will come back to play with Little Ashley when I am free, is that okay?"

Ashley asked, "When will you be free?"

"Brother doesn't know."

Jacob pinched her face and said gently, "If I want to come back, I will tell you in advance."

In fact, Ashley did not believe what he said, thinking that it was probably just a lie told by adults to coax children.

‘But she thinks it doesn't matter.

If he doesn't come, she can go there.

As long as she wants to meet him, she will.

That's what she thinks.’

But Ashley didn't think about it at that time.

The next meeting would be the last meeting with Jacob before she reached adulthood.