CH 34

He actually was sitting in his closet, which was large enough for a person to sit comfortably inside. 

The reason for this sitting arrangement was simple. If his mother found out that he was contacting his friends to assist them with their homework, she would incessantly nag him again.

Also, if his father discovered this, he would never shut his mouth about it. He would keep bringing up the word “wife”, which would give Zhou Yuan a massive headache. 

Since he knew that adults had this intrinsic habit of teasing people, he personally wouldn’t care about it. But Miaomiao was still very young and sensitive; therefore, she definitely would feel uncomfortable. 

Since Jingjing already questioned him about his sitting arrangement, Zhou Yuan replied, “Don’t speak too loudly, alright?”

Miaomiao peered at the screen with solemnity, and then she whispered, “Okay. Is it okay to use this volume level to talk to you?”

After noticing how seriously she cooperated, Zhou Yuan found her cute and nodded his head, “Yes, that’s fine.”

After that, Zhou Yuan placed the tablet sideways on a table and adjusted the screen. Then, he took out the homework sheets and examined the questions.

He couldn’t understand why they had to ask children such trivial questions, but he still instructed the three of them, “Start by answering the first question. If you don’t understand, ask me.”

Miaomiao nodded, then lowered her head and began working diligently on her homework. The top of her little head could be seen on the screen.

When Zhou Yuan saw this, he felt like rubbing her head.

Zhou Yuan coughed and then took out a book placed next to him. He began to read it. After some time, he looked up and saw Miaomiao still working on her homework with diligence.

Zhou Yuan found this kind of strange.

Does she understand all the questions?

Of course, there were several questions, which confused Miaomiao.

When she looked up to clear up her doubts, she saw Zhou Yuan reading a book. She didn’t want to disturb his reading; therefore, she left the questions that bewildered her blank and skipped ahead to the questions, which she could answer.

Miaomiao was well-behaved, whereas Jingjing and Deng Feng were the complete opposite. They kept conversing with each other. Jingjing announced, “My mother said that if I finished my homework, then she’ll take me to Disney World for my summer vacation.”

Zhou Yuan chided Jingjing, “Finish your homework first. You’re not allowed to talk.”

Miaomiao engrossed herself in her homework so much that she didn’t even raise her head.

During this time, Mother Zhou called Zhou Yuan and said, “Zhouzhou, it’s time to eat.”

Zhou Yuan told Miaomiao, “I’m going to eat first. I’ll be back later, and then I’ll check your homework.”

Miaomiao’s heart pounded rapidly. She still left a lot of questions blank on her homework sheet.

Would Zhouzhou judge me to be stupid when he checks my homework later?

After swiftly finishing his dinner, Zhou Yuan retired back to his room.

When he peered at the screen, he noticed that Deng Feng and Jingjing had already left for dinner, whereas Miaomiao was still engrossed in her homework.

“Miaomiao?”

As Miaomiao raised her head, Zhou Yuan asked, “Are you having any difficulties with the questions?”

Since this video call was specifically set up for her, why doesn’t she ask any questions?

Miaomiao hummed in response and then began to speak, “I don’t understand this question…”

Zhou Yuan stared at the question. Although it was simple, Zhou didn’t laugh at her, mock her, or call her stupid. Instead, he asked, “Look at the question above. What’s the difference between the two?”

Mother Hua came to check up on them from time to time. When she heard Zhou Yuan’s cute and solemn voice, she thought that he was an angel in the form of a child.

Mother Hua considered sending Zhou Yuan an invitation to visit her home.

At that moment, her phone rang. 

She looked at the caller ID. Seeing that it was her mother, she quickly retired to her bedroom.

“We’ll come visit you.” Miaomiao’s grandmother didn’t say anything else. 

Mother Hua’s mom didn’t give her any advice on how to approach her divorce. After all, she had never personally experienced anything like that; therefore, she offered no suggestion or advice.

“Mom?” Mother Hua was surprised. Back then, when she had asked the two elders to visit her, they would turn her down.

“Well, we will stay there for a few days, so if you have to work overtime, someone will be there to take care of Miaomiao.”

The day eventually surrendered to the evening, and Mother Hua was checking Miaomiao’s homework. She discovered that she had finished her homework correctly. She felt happy and relieved. Then, she explained to Miaomiao that grandma and great-grandma would be staying with them for a few days.

She nodded her head and understood what she said. She knew that grandma was mother’s mother and great-grandma was mother’s grandma.

When I’m sad, I want to be with my mom. Now that my mom is sad, she definitely wants to be with her mom.

A tinge of concern crept into Mother Hua’s heart as she worried that Miaomiao would be afraid of staying with strangers. After all, the two elders only conversed with her on video calls.

If Miaomiao feared them, then there would be two problems. Firstly, it would have an adverse effect on her physical and mental health, and secondly, it would leave the two elders heartbroken.

To help her feel more comfortable around them, Mother Hua started telling Miaomiao some of her childhood stories while she rubbed some scar removal cream onto her marred skin. 

“Your grandma has an orchard. Does Miaomiao know what an orchard is? It’s a place with a lot of trees, and they have apples and pears. People pluck fruits from those trees so that you could eat them. Your grandma has a lot of trees like that.”

Suddenly, Mother Hua stopped talking, and she started falling into a sullen mood.  

She recalled the first time she met Father Hua.

Whenever the apples ripened, people would often come to steal them. Therefore, she had to guard the orchard to catch these thieves in the act.

One night, she caught a young boy stealing some apples. Enswathed in the shadows of the night, she strode towards him. When he saw her approaching him, both anger and humiliation engulfed him. Then, she stopped. 

They stood under a blanket of stars, which embroidered the night sky. Under the light of the argent moon, the boy’s eyes looked very beautiful. For a transitory moment, she was mesmerized by them, but she quickly returned to her senses.    

She remembered that thieves like him kept taking the apples, which forced her to guard the orchard for such a long time. Of course, her heart was seething with anger; therefore, she threatened to take him to his house and request payment for the apples from his parents.

The young boy replied, “My family will kill me.” 

Her heart probably softened due to his handsomeness…

“Mom?” 

Upon hearing Miaomiao’s voice, Mother Hua returned to her senses. With a wistful smile, she said, “Let’s go to grandma’s orchard to play during the summer.”  

She didn’t say anything else.   

Miaomiao clung to her mother and slept obediently. After they had moved her, Mother Hua had always fallen asleep in the same bed as her.  

Mom didn’t have to go to bed late tonight. It’s because I didn’t ask her to help me with my homework. 

Miaomiao also thought, ‘I should treat Zhou Yuan better tomorrow since he helped me with my homework.’

The rising sun welcomed the morning, and Miaomiao decided to go to school early. As soon as she stepped inside the classroom, she saw Zhou Yuan already sitting in his seat. 

Recently, Miaomiao became even closer to Zhou Yuan because they went to the hot springs together. They also did their homework together through a video call.

As she ensconced herself in her chair, she saw Zhou Yuan working on his homework. She quietly inserted a straw into a yogurt bottle and gave it to him… 

Zhou Yuan took a sip. 

Back then, she would bring two bottles of yogurt, one for her and one for Zhou Yuan. But she wanted to save money now; therefore, she only bought one bottle.