CH 55

With the exception of Zhou Yuan, the other children in their class truly believed that Miaomiao was taken away by bad people during her youth. The list of believers included Jingjing and Miaomiao herself.

Therefore, everyone displayed a serious and sober demeanor towards this matter. The children thought that Miaomiao was quite strong and that the bad people were truly dangerous. Most children didn’t know how to comfort victims of violence and abuse.

They received bruises and would bleed when they bumped into objects. They would feel so much pain just from shedding a little blood. But Miaomiao shed a lot of blood…

They looked at Miaomiao with admiration in their eyes.

The sun was becoming brighter outside, so everyone moved to sit in the shadow underneath the podium.

Miaomiao told everyone about her past, and all the children hearkened to her words attentively.

Zhou Yuan sat next to her. He couldn’t help but hold her hand as he listened to Miaomiao talk about her grisly past. As he stared into her eyes, he said in a sober tone, “Miaomiao, you’re amazing.”

The other children agreed with his assessment. Despite the bad people inflicting so much harm on her, Miaomiao was fine now.

Miaomiao peered at her scar once more, and she realized that it no longer looked so hideous.

While they played and discussed the past, time passed quickly, and soon class reached its conclusion. The bell sounded.

Immediately, everyone stood up and went to the canteen to buy some snacks and water.

After exercising, running, and talking about her past, Miaomiao’s throat was parched, so she hurried over to the corner to get a water bottle.

But when she arrived, she found that her water bottle was gone.

Miaomiao looked around, but found no trace of the bottle.

When they saw her running around in panic, Jingjing and Zhou Yuan asked, “Where’s your water bottle?”

Miaomiao’s water bottle had a cherry blossom pink color with cat ears, which made it easy to spot on the verdant grass.

The kids searched around again but still found no vestige of this water bottle.

Miaomiao was a little worried, “How did it disappear?”

Jingjing said, “Could it have been stolen?”

Miaomiao frowned, “Will I ever find it?”

Zhou Yuan also joined in their search, but he couldn’t find Miaomiao’s water bottle.

“I…I…buy you…water bottle…” Deng Feng stammered.

Producing ten yuan from his bottle, he headed over to the canteen to purchase four bottles of water. Also, he bought some spicy strips. While holding the water bottles and spicy strips, he was afraid that the snacks would slip from his grasp; therefore, he walked very carefully.

Deng Feng always enjoyed spicy snacks.

After handing the water to everyone, Deng Feng tore open the package of spicy strips, and a spicy scent immediately wafted into his nose. Then, he said, “Eat…eat this!”

Noticing the spicy strips, Jingjing gulped down her saliva and said, “My mother said this is junk food.”

Miaomiao knew this as well since Mother Hua told her not to consume such food.

Deng Feng ate one despite their reproaches, and then he offered everyone a piece while commenting, “It’s delicious!”

Jingjing took a bite after processing his words.

It’s spicy…and delicious.

Miaomiao’s thoughts still circled around the missing water bottle while she held the mineral water bottle with one hand and a spicy strip in the other.

Her mother bought that water bottle for her a long time ago. Miaomiao was sad.

I can’t believe I lost it…I should’ve just hung it around my neck…

In fact, if the P.E. teacher hadn’t told her that the water bottle was too heavy to carry during exercise when he noticed it around her neck for the first time, she would have just hung it around her neck in class.

“Miaomiao, it’s really delicious! Try it!” Jingjing said.

Miaomiao carefully took a bite of what her mother deemed to be junk food.

So spicy and hot…

Zhou Yuan took one look at the junk food and had a headache. It wasn’t good to waste food, but it was worse if he ate it.

Luckily for Zhou Yuan, he didn’t have to eat it. Zhou Yuan calmly said to Deng Feng as he peered at the spicy strip in his hand, “I can’t eat spicy food for a few days.”

“I…eat!” As Deng Feng spoke, his eyes gleamed.

This problem has been taken care of.

Zhou Yuan then eyed Miaomiao nibbling on the spicy strip. She looked like a kitten.

Zhou Yuan: “…”

Whenever I see Hua Miaomiao, I’m reminded of how children are adorable.

Although they indulged in the consumption of spicy strips and the downing of mineral water, they still couldn’t change one thing; Miaomiao’s water bottle was still nowhere to be found.

Miaomiao returned to the classroom; she sat in her seat and heaved a sigh of disappointment.

What should I do now…

Miaomiao really liked the water bottle that her mother bought for her. And it could also store both hot and cold water.

Jingjing declared, “Someone must have stolen Miaomiao’s water bottle. Once we find this person, we will be able to take the water bottle back.”

Miaomiao thought this was a wondrous idea.

Their classmates were frolicking around on the playground at that time. Everyone was always playing together, so they could say with certainty that it wasn’t one of their classmates.

They weren’t the only ones who had physical education for their third class. At the time, many students were playing on the large playground.

But where do we start? How do we know who took the water bottle?

Three children engrossed themselves in their thoughts and surmises. Shortly after their return, Zhou Yuan left the classroom, so it was just Miaomiao, Jingjing, and Deng Feng.

Jingjing came up with an idea, “Miaomiao, how about we search every classroom for it during our nap time? Everyone will be asleep and nobody will know.”

“No.” Miaomiao replied, “The teacher wouldn’t let us go.”

Moreover, Jingjing’s mother told her in secret not to let Jingjing do something bad.

Miaomiao instinctively knew that it wasn’t a good idea to search every classroom while everyone else was asleep.

Jingjing rested her head on the table, “I don’t know what to do then…Wait, did you remember where you got that bottle?”

Since she was a child, Jingjing has never been short on money, “You head home today. Don’t tell your mother that you lost your water bottle. If she asks, tell her that you left it at school and forgot to bring it back. After school, I’ll buy you the exact same one.”

Jingjing assumed that Miaomiao’s nervosity about the missing water bottle was due to her fear of being scolded by her mother.

Miaomiao shook her head, “I do not remember.”

In reality, she remembered the shop, but she would not allow Jingjing to buy it. She hearkened back to the words that her mother told her, “Don’t use other people’s money.”

After musing for a while, Deng Fend said, “I will…go…tell…tell…the teacher.”

At this moment, Zhou Yuan stepped into the classroom with a sheet of paper.

Zhou Yuan placed the sheet of paper on his desk and began scribbling with a pen.

The three children surrounded him, “Zhouzhou, what are you doing?”

“I am trying to calculate which class the student is from.”

Miaomiao saw Zhou Yuan draw several circles with the class number in them.

Zhou Yuan expounded that he was in the teacher’s office and found out which classes had P.E. during the morning.

“But we can’t tell for sure who it is…”

Zhou Yuan said, “We’ll know in a bit.”

In fact, the three were more curious about how he was going to determine who it was than locating the water bottle.

But Zhou Yuan didn’t explicate his plan to them in advance.

Noon soon came. Today’s lunch was very well-prepared, perhaps due to the open class.

Miaomiao exchanged food with Zhou and ate slowly. Even though she was starving, she chewed very slowly. Her mother told her the importance of chewing each bite of food thirty time. After each bite, she counted how many times she chewed her food. After she had eaten enough, she rubbed her stomach.

After eating, everyone had to stretch a little before taking a nap at 1:20 P.M.

Zhou Yuan sauntered out of the classroom, followed by three children.

Miaomiao whispered, “Where are we going?”

They were not allowed to leave school anymore. Miaomiao knew that they had caused a lot of trouble last time. Within her notebook, Miaomiao wrote in large letters to remind her not to leave school casually.

It was different this morning since the principal accompanied them.

“Don’t fret. We’re not going outside the school, “Zhou Yuan responded.

Deng Feng and Jingjing were not actually afraid. If anything, they were a little excited.

Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief. The four children quickly made their way to another building. Zhou Yuan said to Miaomiao, “Let’s go inside together.”

Zhou Yuan opened the door to the security room. The security guards went outside for their lunch break during this time.

Miaomiao was still a little frightened. She didn’t understand why she felt this way.

Deng Feng and Jingjing quickly sauntered in.

After Zhou Yuan turned on the computer, he pressed the mouse a few times, and then the security footage of the playground appeared on the screen…

Immediately afterwards, they all saw Miaomiao’s water bottle in the grass. They didn’t know how Zhou Yuan did it, but the images on the screen changed quickly.

Soon, they saw a girl in a red jacket strolling over. She looked around, most likely to confirm that no one was looking at her, and then she crouched down and took the water bottle.

Jingjing shouted, “That girl! She stole the bottle!”

He paused the video and took out his sheet to figure out the girl’s classroom. After calculating for some time, he circled fourth-grade class 2.

Zhou Yuan turned off the computer. The four children made their way towards fourth-grade class 2 in a majestic manner.

Miaomiao halted and asked, “But…how are we going to talk to her…”

Jingjing replied, “Well, it probably won’t be as easy as simply ordering the thief to return our belongings.”

Miaomiao was a little puzzled since she had no idea what to do.

One of the things she wrote in her notebook was, ‘I can’t steal from others. If I do, mom will be sad’.

That girl’s mother will definitely be sad and disappointed as well…

Although Miaomiao couldn’t pinpoint the reason in her heart, she felt that this matter brought her nothing but discomfort.

The girl obviously did something wrong, but Miaomiao also felt a sense of discomfort.

She was still too young and naive to understand that there were many cruel and unrelenting things, which happened in this world.

Zhou Yuan said, “Let’s first talk to her.”

Soon, the four little kids arrived at the threshold of fourth-grade class 2. Compared to the first graders, the fourth graders were substantially taller.

In the security footage, the girl donned a red coat. They soon spotted the girl sitting in the first row.

Zhou Yuan was well-known in their school, and everyone knew him to be a brilliant student in his class.

The girl seated in the first row nearest the door asked, “Who are you looking for?”

Zhou Yuan pointed at the girl.

“Wang Yan, someone is looking for you.” 

The girl soon came out.

“Why are you looking for me?” Her eyes were clearly a little shifty, and it was obvious that she was trying to hide her guilt.

When Miaomiao looked at the girl, her eyes were a little red, and she whispered, “Did you find a pink water bottle with two cat ears…my mother bought it…while I was in P.E. class…I lost it…”

Miaomiao was very anxious as she was afraid that the girl wouldn’t hand over the bottle. If she didn’t admit that she took it, then Zhou Yuan would bring her to the teacher…

The girl squeezed her fist; then, she lowered her head and whispered, “Yes, I have it. I’ll give it back to you.”

She returned to her classroom and then came out with her school bag. Then, she took out Miaomiao’s bottle from her school bag and handed it to Miaomiao.

Realizing that the girl had willingly returned her bottle, Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Yuan grabbed Jingjing’s arm to stop her from interposing.

A feeling of happiness enveloped Miaomiao as she returned to her classroom with her water bottle. The mission was a success. The girl didn’t deny nor refuse, and she got her precious bottle back.

After filling up her water bottle, Miaomiao returned to her seat and immediately embraced Zhou Yuan.

If Zhou Yuan wasn’t so smart; then, they wouldn’t have been able to find the water bottle, then everyone would’ve condemned the girl for being a. It’s a very, very sad thing.

Zhou Yuan didn’t avoid her embrace; instead, he rubbed Miaomiao’s head.

Miaomiao really has an incomparably pure heart.

In reality, he never spoke about this incident to the teacher. What if he had been mistaken? What if the girl had grabbed the bottle impulsively and then realized her error? Everyone at school would know about this if he reported this to the teacher, which would tarnish her records and at such a young age at that.

He was also surprised that Miaomiao handled it very well.

Jingjing and Deng Feng, who believed that they had completed an important mission with them, also wanted to join in the hugging.

Zhou Yuan hurriedly avoided them. The two of them had eaten two packets of spicy strips today, and his last act of kindness was to stay in the same room with them.