CH 44

Miaomiao finished all of her homework, but Zhouzhou still didn’t call back yet.

When Mother Hua stepped into the study to check on her, she saw Miaomiao lying facedown on her desk. When Mother Hua went to Miaomiao’s side to carry her to the bedroom, she was surprised to see Miaomiao looking ardently at the tablet.

Usually, Miaomiao would be sleepy during the time, but now she appeared to be wide awake.

Mother Hua asked, “What’s the matter?”

Taking her mother’s hand, Miaomiao replied, “Zhouzhou didn’t call me today.”

Mother Hua picked up the tablet and discovered that Zhou Yuan had sent a message on WeChat, which Miaomiao didn’t see.

Zhou Yuan: “Miaomiao, I have something to do today, so I can’t do my homework with you.”

Mother Hua informed Miaomiao of Zhou Yuan’s message. Mother Hua thought that Miaomiao would feel forlorn, so she comforted her, “Zhouzhou was probably busy today, but he won’t be busy tomorrow. You can see him when you go to school tomorrow.”

Miaomiao wasn’t crestfallen or upset. She had been staring at the tablet and waited for Zhouzhou to give her a reply, but she thought that Zhouzhou was also busy shopping for vegetables.

Since she was under the assumption that Zhouzhou had also gone outside to shop for groceries, she was waiting for a reply from him. But since he didn’t reply yet, she began to conjecture that perhaps he didn’t go out shopping at all. She feared that a kidnapper had taken Zhouzhou away.

Zhouzhou is so smart and talented. Many people will surely like him. A few might even like him enough to kidnap him.

Panic began to engulf her as she thought about this. Since Miaomiao found out about Zhouzhou’s message, she heaved a sigh of relief and hugged her mother.

Mother Hua bathed her and rubbed the cream that palliated the scars on her skin. They used up almost all of their medicine, and Mother Hua was considering buying some more.

Once again, Miaomiao became as fragrant as a strawberry. She could not resist smelling herself.

She exuded a faint, sweet smell that was redolent of fruit.

This smell of fruit makes me feel comfortable.

Miaomiao’s act of smelling herself made Mother Hua laugh.

Then, she picked her up and put her into the quilt. Mother Hua was by her side and asked, “Dad was working overtime. Do you want to meet him?”

This was considered normal since Father Hua had to work every day in the past, which made it difficult for Father Hua and Mother Hua to spend time together.

Mother Hua wasn’t sure what the word ‘father’ meant to Miaomiao, so she asked about it today.

Miaomiao was a little nervous, so she squeezed her mother’s pajamas. She knew her mother wasn’t telling the truth. She knew that her father wasn’t working overtime, but he couldn’t live with them.

She lowered her head and whispered, “Does Mom miss Dad?”

Mother Hua wasn’t expecting Miaomiao to ask her a question in return. Caressing Miaomiao’s head, she began falling into her thoughts. It had been more than 20 years since she first knew him, and it had been more than 10 years since she had fallen in love with him.

The weight of time was enough to cause somebody to regard the other person like air, which was very important but was also easily ignored.

Mother Hua had no idea what to say when she processed Miaomiao’s words. After some time, she slowly said, “A little bit.”

Miaomiao hugged her mother. She felt so sad for her. Throughout this hard time, she tried to ignore this matter, but in reality, she kept it hidden somewhere in her heart.

Mom and dad are like this because of me. It’s all my fault.

Miaomiao was sad and despondent. She didn’t know what to say.

Looking at her, Mother Hua sighed.

The Hua family was scheming. They wanted them to divorce and have Father Hua marry someone else and have a child later on.

Mother Hua recalled the scornful looks on the faces of the Hua family members. She felt that she should get divorced so that she could rid herself of all of these people, but now Father Hua didn’t want to go through with it, so everything became very complicated.

Miaomiao grasped Mother Hua’s hand. She actually missed her father.

If dad is here, then mom doesn’t have to work as hard. She would be much happier.

Slowly, Miaomiao drifted off to sleep.

When she arrived at school the next day, she discovered that Zhou Yuan hadn’t arrived yet.

Usually, Zhou Yuan arrived earlier than Miaomiao, but he didn’t today.

Miaomiao placed the yogurt bottle on Zhou Yuan’s desk.

Then, she noticed Jingjing and Deng Feng entering the classroom. Other students also began to arrive one by one, but Zhou Yuan still did not arrive.

Miaomiao turned her head and looked at Jingjing with a look of concern. She looked as if she wanted to ask her why Zhouzhou didn’t come.

Jingjing didn’t know why Zhou Yuan was absent today.

Jingjing said, “Maybe, he just got up late.”

Jingjing knew many things and told Miaomiao, “The teacher probably knows why Zhou Yuan didn’t come to school. When I was sick, I had to contact the teacher to let her know that I couldn’t come to school.”

After clenching the corner of her dress, Miaomiao departed from the classroom and went to the teacher’s office. She hesitated for a while and stood before the door. She kept vacillating between her decisions. On one hand, she wanted to enter, but on the other, her shyness besieged her, which caused her to become fixed at the door. In the end, her curiosity to find out what happened to Zhou Yuan overtook her shyness, and she entered the office. 

The only time she came to the office was when her mother brought her here to enroll.

Miaomiao remembered what her mother did at that time, so she knocked on the door.

“Come in”, the teacher said from inside.

There were several teachers talking loudly and laughing in the office. As a result, Miaomiao’s legs became a little tremulous.

Despite that, she continued to walk. Teacher Li was surprised to find out that it was Miaomiao who was coming up to her. The teacher asked softly, “Is there anything wrong with Miaomiao?”

Miaomiao practiced what she wanted to say, then she whispered, “Zhou Yuan, why didn’t the teacher come to school today…”

She realized that she had made a mistake after she finished talking. A soft, incarnadine red tinged her cheeks due to the embarrassment.

Teacher Li understood what she was trying to ask. She held back her laughter as she declared, “Student Zhou Yuan asked for a leave today. He got an allergic reaction to mango, which was rather serious. He’s resting at home today.”

Miaomiao was incognizant of what allergic reactions were, but just coming to ask about Zhou Yuan’s absence caused Miaomiao to exhaust all of her energy.  

Even though she didn’t understand what mango allergies were, she understood that it was something serious. When Miaomiao walked back, she lapsed into a state of confusion.

Serious, how serious is it? It must be painful. 

An expression of sadness adorned Miaomiao’s face when she returned to the classroom. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Jingjing quickly asked, “What’s the matter? Is he sick? Is it serious?”

Deng Feng also leaned over anxiously. He awaited an answer from Miaomiao.

Miaomiao was still very tense. When she heard her two friends ask these questions, she couldn’t suppress her tears and cried, “It’s very serious.”

Before, she had overheard people say that she was injured severely, and she imagined that Zhou Yuan was in a similar situation.

Miaomiao couldn’t hold back her tears and thought about how much Zhou Yuan would have to suffer.

The more she thought about it, the more her sadness assailed her.