CH 68

The more she dwelled on it, the more it saddened Miaomiao.

Mom praised me for my obedience and integrity. But I repaid her praises with lies, and dad discovered my lies.

She couldn’t wait to race to the school’s infirmary to get a shot so that her consternation would finally be washed away.

Miaomiao couldn’t eat her lunch at noon. Noticing her worries and concerns and her lack of appetite, Zhou Yuan heaved a sigh.

Is there anything I can do?

Seeing the teacher focusing her attention elsewhere, he quickly took the leftover food from her bowl and placed them into his.

Miaomiao looked at him in astonishment. When Zhou Yuan slowly started eating, Miaomiao whispered, “Thank you, Zhouzhou.”

Zhou Yuan: “…”

When the teacher left the classroom, Miaomiao got up from her heat and walked over to Jingjing’s side. She grabbed Jingjing’s hand and said, “Jingjing. I want to get the vaccine…”

As she spoke, her tone was tinged with sadness and her nose turned sour.

Her declaration stunned Jingjing for a moment, so she replied, “You’re pretty brave to risk being discovered. If they found out that you lied, just say that you’re young and therefore can’t tell whether or not you have a cold. Surely no harm will come to you.”

Zhou Yuan: “…” Why didn’t she ask me to accompany her?

Miaomiao also knew that Jingjing didn’t get her vaccine either, so the two of them could go together.

Since Jingjing refused to go with her, she was forced to go alone. Miaomiao was unsure of what to say.

Miaomiao began walking towards the door. Jingjing sat in her seat for a while. As she was unable to suppress her feelings of loyalty, which stirred within her heart, she stood up and chased after Miaomiao.

“Miaomiao, wait for me!”

Noticing that Jingjing had also traversed out, a feeling of delight enveloped Miaomiao. She felt much happier now since she wanted to rectify her lie, which caused her discomfort.

The two children ran over to the infirmary, holding each other’s hands. They saw Father Hua inside, who had just returned after going outside for a bit.

Father Hua called his daughter, “Miaomiao.”

Miaomiao hummed and stopped with Jingjing in front of him. Father Hua also picked Miaomiao up from school; therefore, Jingjing also knew him.

“Miaomiao’s dad, are you a doctor in our school?” Jingjing was very surprised.

Father Hua nodded. “Yes, yes. Come in,” he said as he pushed open the door of the infirmary.

For a while, Miaomiao kept her down as she mulled over what to say.

Jingjing appeared to be much calmer. Originally, she was a very vivacious and outgoing child. Jingjing was very exuberant and cheerful, and thus she modestly sat down on the chair, “Miaomiao’s father. We’re acquaintances, right?”

Seeing his daughter’s friend, Father Hua smiled and asked, “So?” 

At this moment, he looked at Miaomiao and understood that her personality change probably had something to do with this child.

“Since I have such a good relationship with your daughter, let’s talk about vaccines this time, shall we?” Jingjing said.

“Your name is Jingjing, correct? I heard from the teacher that you have a serious cold and fever. Should I give you two doses of an anti-fever medication? I won’t charge you anything since you’re good friends with my daughter.” Father Hua said with a smile.

Suddenly, Jingjing’s small face grew sad, “…”

Finally, Miaomiao raised her head without crying. Even though she had practiced her words several times within her mind, she still felt a certain sense of nervosity when speaking with her father. “Dad, I don’t have a cold…Could I get the vaccine?” she whispered.

Father Hua nodded and replied, “Of course. I think your teacher was mistaken today.”

Miaomiao’s voice became quieter since the teacher didn’t say anything wrong. She merely repeated what she said.

Miaomiao felt she had to confess, “I lied in the morning…I lied to the teacher that I had a cold.”

Father Hua was surprised. Although he already surmised that she had lied and initially wanted her to confess, he later decided that it wasn’t a big deal. After all, children lied all the time since they feared having a needle puncture their skin.

Father Hua squatted down, “Are you afraid of needles?”

Miaomiao confessed her error; therefore, she was no longer fraught with guilt. She nodded in reply.

“Don’t be afraid. Dad’s injection doesn’t hurt at all.”

Father Hua then entered a small room within the infirmary, Miaomiao looked at Jingjing, who was next to her. She asked, “Jingjing, do you want a vaccine as well?”

After pondering for a while, Jingjing answered, “Miaomiao, I’ll also get the vaccine, but we’ll both sit at the same table this afternoon.”

Miaomiao found this odd, “Why?”

“I don’t want to speak with Deng Feng.”

Miaomiao looked at her. Jingjing once said that she would never be friends with Deng Feng again, but it didn’t take long before Deng Feng and Jingjing became friends again.

Jingjing continued, “He scolded me!”

Miaomiao felt that getting the vaccine was a good idea. If she got it in the first place, then she wouldn’t have had to lie about it. However, something still nagged Miaomiao. She worried that her dad might give Jingjing two shots of medicine if Jingjing was still insistent about her cold and refusal to get the vaccine.

Therefore, Miaomiao decided with care, “Okay, we’ll sit at the same table this afternoon.”

“Miaomiao’s father. I don’t have a cold. I also lied about my cold. I want to get my vaccine!” Jingjing shouted.

When the two children returned to their classroom, Zhou Yuan was nowhere to be seen and was probably in the washroom.

“Come on, Miaomiao is going to sit here,” Jingjing announced to Deng Feng.

“I…I…” Deng Feng looked confused and stammered a response.

“Hurry up. Take your schoolbag and move to the front!” Jingjing bawled.

“I…I…hate…,” Deng Feng stuttered.

“I know you still hate me. I’m so mad at you!”

Jingjing patted the table and bellowed, “Quickly get up and leave with your schoolbag!”

Deng Feng was anxious, “You…you…listen…”

Jingjing then placed Deng Feng’s schoolbag on Miaomiao’s table and said, “I will not listen.”

Miaomiao has already packed her belongings into her schoolbag.

She suddenly felt embarrassed, but since she had already acquiesced to Jingjing’s demand, she said with a whisper, “My seat is perfect since I’m seated next to Zhouzhou.”

Miaomiao felt it would be better to sit at the same table with Zhouzhou.

Deng Feng didn’t say anything to Miaomiao, but stubbornly told Jingjing, “I did…no…not…deliberately.”

Jingjing didn’t care, “I’m going to sit with Miaomiao anyway.”

Deng didn’t want to sit in Miaomiao’s seat.

Miaomiao sat with Jingjing, and Jingjing carefully positioned their stools next to each other, side by side.

Zhou Yuan saw this scene when he returned. For a moment, he was taken aback.

Why did she change her seat?

Zhou Yuan returned to his seat, and when he turned around, he saw the two little girls huddled together. They whispered into each other’s ears from time to time, and he didn’t have a clue about what they were talking about.

Zhou Yuan: “…”

Jingjing cooed her complaints to Miaomiao. She whispered her grievances about why she didn’t want to sit with Deng Feng. When Jingjing had lied about her cold, Deng Feng said that lying about her cold would cause her nose to grow longer in the future; then, everyone would call her a liar.

This caused Jingjing to become very upset.

Miaomiao was still very young; therefore, she wasn’t able to comment on such things.

At this point, the teacher had entered the classroom, and it was time for everybody to take a nap.

Jingjing took a nap while holding Miaomiao’s head.

Zhou Yuan turned around and witnessed this scene.

Zhou Yuan brought his cell phone. He opened Teacher Li’s WeChat account on his cell phone.

He realized the petulance of his actions.

Should I report this to the teacher right now?

He started to imagine this scene. He was acting like the children who petulantly complained to the teacher, “Teacher. Jingjing made Miaomiao and Deng Feng switch seats!”

Zhou Yuan: “…” The image that he imagined shattered his impassivity.

He quickly exited the WeChat application.

When he slept on the table, he saw Deng Feng weeping right next to him while his head laid on the table.

Zhou Yuan: “…”

Then, he suddenly realized that reporting this sort of behavior wasn’t considered to be childish. The person who sat next to him was forced to change his seat. This resulted in his incessant weeping; Zhou Yuan considered his behavior to be childlike.

Zhou Yuan turned back to Jingjing; it was obvious that she was already asleep.

Zhou Yuan poked his new tablemate who cried next to him with a book and whispered, “Can you cry with the person behind you after our naptime is over?”

If he cried, it would be wasteful since the person who was supposed to witness his woeful weeping was already asleep.

Deng Feng cooed back, “I…I…I’m not crying…”

Zhou Yuan: “…” No, no, little ancestor. I hope you cry at the end of your nap so that you can change your seat again.

Since he was a child, Deng Feng was still unable to comprehend the boss’s thinking and brain circuit.

Taking a peaceful nap was impossible for Zhou Yuan.

After taking a nap, Deng Feng ceased crying and seemed to have adjusted. Not only did he stop crying, but even started to converse with Zhou Yuan.

Jingjing and Miaomiao went outside to wash their faces.

When they returned, Miaomiao couldn’t help but stare at Zhou Yuan since he hadn’t spoken to her after changing seats.

Miaomiao returned to her seat. Zhou Yuan was sitting in front of her. She took out some candy from her schoolbag, which her father had bestowed upon her during her time in the infirmary. 

Despite her hesitation, Miaomiao poked Zhou Yuan from the back with her hand, “Zhouzhou.”

“What’s wrong?” Zhou Yuan asked. 

Didn’t you desire to sit at the same table as Jingjing? Are you going to change your seat again?

Miaomiao handed the candy to Zhou Yuan, “Zhouzhou, here’s some candy for you.”

Zhou Yuan: “…are you going to tell me why you changed places? You didn’t say anything to me, after all.”

“Jingjing said that she would get the vaccine, but she would only get it if I switched places with Deng Feng.” Miaomiao whispered.

Zhou Yuan: “…” It would have been better if you had not explained.

Zhou Yuan believed that he was Miaomiao’s best friend. After all, she sat at the same table with him since day one. In fact, during her early days at their school, she was so afraid that she didn’t even dare speak with Jingjing. Jingjing even cried with terror after seeing her scars.

Zhou Yuan was stunned. He had never experienced anything like this before.

Is this jealousy?

Zhou Yuan couldn’t believe that he was expressing such an emotion, such an unreasonable emotion.

But as a big man, as a warrior, after wrestling with the idea for three seconds, he smiled and said to Jingjing, “Jingjing. During our naptime just now, Deng Feng cried the entire time.”

Her gaze drifted to the person in front of her, and she exclaimed, “He’s such a crybaby!”

For a moment, Deng Feng was stunned. He then dropped the book. In an instant, he blushed crimson, and his eyes grew red as he roared, “Yes! Yes! I…I…In the future…no more…”

One of the boys in the back couldn’t suppress his laughter since Deng Feng was acting so tough now, but he still stammered while displaying his toughness, so he placed his hands on his stomach and laughed, “Hahahahahahaha….”

All of a sudden, Jingjing’s violent temper flared up, and she took the book and tried to wallop the boy on the head.

She was quickly pulled back by Miaomiao, “Jingjing. Jingjing. Don’t fight.”

Miaomiao was weak and barely had any strength, so she could only stop her first blow, but she couldn’t the second.

In the end, a report was made to the teacher. One of their classmates informed the teacher about their scuffle already.

The teacher witnessed this scene when she came in.

Zhou Yuan was trying to protect Miaomiao from being implicated, but in the end, Zhou Yuan, Miaomiao, Deng Feng, Jingjing, and the boy were all called to the office.

With a stern face, the teacher asked, “Who threw the book?”

“Me!” Jingjing and Deng Feng replied in unison!

For the very first time, Miaomiao saw the strict Teacher Li. She usually smiled, but her severe expression slightly frightened Miaomiao. Miaomiao furtively clutched Zhou Yuan’s hand.

Zhou Yuan: “…”

The children had a brief tussle, and a teacher with sufficient experience quickly resolved this problem.

Before returning to their classroom, Zhou Yuan clutched Miaomiao’s hand and told Jingjing, “Change the seats back; otherwise, the headteacher will feel disrespected.”

As soon as they returned to their classroom, Zhou Yuan moved Miaomiao’s things back to their original location.

Miaomiao was very happy when she returned to her seat. She still preferred sitting at the same table as Zhou Yuan, although he didn’t speak a lot like Jingjing.

Still, Miaomiao liked Zhou Yuan very much.

During their afternoon class, Miaomiao answered questions much more frequently.

After class, Miaomiao couldn’t suppress her desire to speak with Zhou Yuan, “Zhouzhou, we’ll always sit at the same table from now on.”

Zhou Yuan: “…” Who changed their seat without informing me about it?

Then, as he was about to nod while peering into her big, expectant eyes, he suddenly realized that he might not attend elementary school next semester.

For a moment, Zhou Yuan was stunned and didn’t utter a single word.

Miaomiao didn’t say that to wrest a promise or a response from him. She simply wanted to express her wish to sit at the same table as Zhou Yuan.