CH 72

Like an older sister, Jingjing explained her mission to Miaomiao once more.

Miaomiao had figured out what she had to do this time. All she had to do was find out what Zhou Yuan liked without telling him that they were going to buy him a gift.

“Then, I should just ask him what he likes?” Miaomiao asked Jingjing.

“Of course not. You can’t be that direct; he’ll find out our plan then.” Jingjing said.

“Then, what should I do?”

Jingjing pondered for a while. Since she didn’t know the solution to this dilemma, she completely handed it over to Miaomiao, “Look at him carefully when you speak with him. You two have a very good relationship; therefore, you’ll definitely be able to figure it out.”

Zhou Yuan waited patiently in the classroom for a long time before the three children finally returned.

Upon their return, they tried to avoid eye contact with him, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhou Yuan: “…”

Miaomiao particularly wanted to avoid eye contact with him. At first glance, she seemed to have returned to a state resembling the one when they had first met. It was as if she wanted to say something, but she was unsure of how to say it.

Zhou Yuan found her demeanor a bit bizarre, so he asked her, “Miaomiao, do you have anything you want to tell me?”

Zhou Yuan opined that Miaomiao was unwilling to let him go. After all, their relationship was very good.

Miaomiao relied on others quite readily, and she naturally depended heavily on that guidance her deskmate provided. However, she felt slightly timorous since she was too embarrassed to ask him about his likes and dislikes.

Zhou Yuan frowned.

What should I tell Miaomiao if she told me not to leave and to remain at the same table with her?

Zhou Yuan still couldn’t bear hurting the child’s heart.

Zhou Yuan regretted speaking to Miaomiao just now.

Miaomiao whispered, “I just don’t know how to answer this…”

Then, she took out her workbook and showed Zhou Yuan the last question.

Zhou Yuan then realized that his departure from school signified that nobody would be there to expound the lessons to Miaomiao.

A slight feeling of entanglement began stirring in Zhou Yuan’s heart. Although it was too late to attend his classes on the weekends, he felt that he should spend more time studying.

Zhou Yuan affirmed his decision once again, and then he told Miaomiao how to answer the question.

There were still many clamorous classmates in their classroom who were causing a din. Many children played outside on the playground, and Zhou Yuan silently watched them from the window.

He sat in a daze for a while after explicating the question.

It seems like it wasn’t that long ago when I started first grade in elementary school, and it feels like it was just yesterday when I transferred here from kindergarten.

It feels like it was just yesterday when Miaomiao walked into our classroom, with her head down, carrying her schoolbag, and sat down next to me.

Time certainly flew by, but it seemed to be moving far too slow for Zhou Yuan. Zhou Yuan’s heart was still touched by their parting.

Miaomiao was still thinking about what Zhou Yuan liked the most.

Because she wasn’t allowed to ask him directly, she just kept slipping comments into her conversations with him to wrest a response such as “I like flowers.”

Miaomiao decided that she absolutely adored flowers after going to the flower shop yesterday. Flowers were so lovely, and she also had the surname Hua, which caused her to revere them even more.

Miaomiao kept mentioning the beauty of the flowers from the flower shop that she visited yesterday, and then she casually asked, “I like flowers the most. What about you, Zhouzhou?”

Miaomiao lacked experience with her speech, so she spoke in a very roundabout manner. Zhou Yuan was still contemplating his departure when Miaomiao asked him what he liked the most.

What do I like the most?

For a while, Zhou Yuan could not picture anything he liked. He didn’t like the same things that children liked. Additionally, he found that he had little fondness for the things that adults liked. He probably only liked books and obtaining knowledge.

Children like Miaomiao would probably find it difficult to understand this kind of answer, so he decided to answer with something that most other little boys liked. But he realized that he didn’t even know what other little boys liked.

Therefore, Zhou Yuan just casually replied, “I like flowers, too.” Same as Miaomiao.

Upon hearing his answer, Miaomiao was ecstatic. It was no surprise that everyone liked flowers. They were very beautiful, after all. 

At noon, she clandestinely met up with Jingjing and Deng Feng, and she reported his answer to them.

Afterward, Jingjing uttered, “We’ll buy all sorts of flowers for him.”

Afternoon came, and Father Hua came to pick Miaomiao up from school. “Dad, shall we go to the flower shop?” Miaomiao asked Father Hua as she held out two ten yuan bills in her hand.

“Why do you want to go to the flower shop?”

“Zhou Yuan is going to study at another school. He likes flowers the most, so I want to send him some flowers.” Miaomiao replied.

Miaomiao was no longer afraid of her father. She opined that a father who doesn’t hurt his child during her inoculation is a good father.

Father Hua nodded, “We’ll buy him some flowers then.”

Father Hua clutched Miaomiao’s hand, and they strolled toward the flower shop. 

He asked her as they sauntered down the street, “Zhou Yuan is going to be attending another school. Do you feel reluctant to let him go?”

Miaomiao flashed him a smile, “Yes, but Zhouzhou will be very happy, so I am also very happy.”

Her response surprised Father Hua. He believed that Miaomiao would certainly be sad due to this event.

Miaomiao was aware that Zhou Yuan had no desire to attend elementary school and didn’t like listening to the teacher’s lectures.

They reached the flower shop, and when they entered it, various different kinds of flowers greeted them. Although Miaomiao was nescient of most flower names, she adored them anyway.

She wanted to select the best-looking ones for Zhou Yuan.

A florist sister asked Miaomiao what kind of flowers she wanted, and Miaomiao replied, “We want to get the best ones.”

“All of the flowers in our shop are beautiful,” the florist sister replied, “it just depends on your tastes.”

Miaomiao scrutinized the flowers again and finally picked two sunflowers. Miaomiao knew about this type of flower from Deng Feng’s joke book. A drawing of a large yellow flower just like this one was drawn on it.

“Sunflowers face the sun during the day. What do they do at night?”

“Bow their heads and eat melon seeds.”

Miaomiao only understood this joke after Zhou Yuan’s explanation. He explained to her that sunflowers produced a lot of melon seeds when they grew up.

Therefore, Miaomiao bought two sunflowers, which cost exactly twenty yuan. Miaomiao was particularly happy because she had exactly twenty yuan on her.

They haven’t moved yet since they had to deal with all of the pertinent procedures. It was also inconvenient since Mother Hua still found it difficult to walk. They could not move until her legs fully convalesced. So, they were still living in their rental house.

Zhou Yuan was already packing up his belongings. During the weekends, his parents could pick him up to have lunch together, but there wasn’t much time during the rest of the week.

Father Zhou taught at an engineering school, which was quite a distance away from the university he wanted to attend. It may be too late for him to get to school after class ended.

Father Zhou rented a house next to the school where Zhou Yuan would transfer to so that when he got up during the morning, he could walk Zhou Yuan to the classroom, and then he could drive back to the school where he taught.

Zhou Yuan found no problem with this arrangement.

Because he needed to pack things up in order to move into that new house, Zhou Yuan couldn’t find the time to attend his remaining elementary school classes for the next two days.

Mother Zhou told him that he wouldn’t have to go to elementary school in the future. She had already informed the headteacher, who asked him whether or not he wanted to go to school tomorrow to bid the children farewell.

Zhou Yuan looked at the elementary school textbook he put aside, and then he glanced at the university textbook he had purchased.

This was the life he wanted. There were no more crying children, no more useless exercises between classes, and no more simple, unsophisticated homework problems that he could finish with his eyes closed.

He had been yearning for his opportunity for a while now.

Zhou Yuan shook his head, “I’m not going.”

Mother Zhou nodded, “That’s okay. Check if there is anything else you forgot to bring. You’ll come back here during the weekends.”

Zhou Yuan nodded. 

The next morning, Zhou Yuan awoke at 6:30. This was a habit of his. Thin beams of aurulent light coming from the morning sun were streaming into his room through the gaps in his curtains, which tinged his room with a lambent sheen of gold.      

He was about to get up, but then he realized that there was no need to go to school today. The headteacher would most likely explain his absence to the children, who were formerly his classmates, on his behalf. 

Zhou Yuan’s thoughts drifted to the empty seat next to Miaomiao, and that she would probably have a new tablemate.

Due to Miaomiao’s good character traits, her new tablemate definitely wouldn’t bully her regardless if the new tablemate was a boy or a girl.

Miaomiao was the kind of child whose obedient and understanding personality attracted people’s attention.

Zhou Yuan sat down and mused over everything quietly.

There’s no real need to worry about Miaomiao anymore. Her family is no longer beset by any conflicts. Her father is the school’s doctor now. He’ll definitely know what’s going on right away.

And Jingjing and Deng Feng are in the classroom with her as well, and the headteacher is her mother’s college classmate.

Zhou Yuan felt that he didn’t need to fret over Miaomiao anymore. She would be able to live a very fulfilling and happy life.

Miaomiao may be a little sad to lose her tablemate at the beginning, but with a child’s forgetful memory, she’ll forget about me soon.

Since Jingjing had a habit of creating her own little gangs, she would be friends with a lot of children when she grew up.

It’s just that I won’t be there with her.

Eventually, they would enter discussions about how they no longer had me to provide guidance to them when they wanted to make some money. And I won’t be there when they want to go out to play.

They will definitely go to the hot springs with other children and eat roasted whole lamb…

Miaomiao would definitely cling to her new tablemate when she felt that the person was the best person in the entire world, and would definitely talk and play with others…

This is normal.

Zhou Yuan was stunned.

These memories…are these the childhood memories that mom always talked about?

Then, when I grow up, what significance would these memories have for me?

Zhou Yuan remembered what Mother Zhou had told him. While he could go to university whenever he wanted,  the opposite wasn’t possible. He couldn’t just waltz into any kindergarten or elementary school whenever he felt like it. When children grew up, their mentality would change, and this process couldn’t be reversed. As they grew up, children would find it impossible to maintain a pure friendship, for children only befriended each other because they liked each other. When they grew up, they would still remember that attachment to their friends, which might either benefit or hurt them. Additionally, the burden of time would eventually weigh down on them, for they would experience many things, both good and bad.

Zhou Yuan eventually snapped out of his musings. He didn’t feel that this was the correct way to live. He always felt that his time should be spent on more valuable things and not on little kid’s things.

Miaomiao brought some sunflowers to school, but Zhou Yuan didn’t come to school.

The teacher only mentioned Zhou Yuan’s transfer after the end of their class.

After hearing this, Miaomiao put the sunflower on Zhou Yuan’s side of the table.

Miaomiao was sitting all by herself in the first row now. Bereft of her tablemate, she looked very lonesome.

When their first class concluded, Jingjing pulled Miaomiao’s stool towards her so that she could accompany her in her row. She also fetched Miaomiao’s books and schoolbag also. The three stools stood adjacent to each other. Deng Feng sat inside, Jingjing sat in the middle, and Miaomiao was sitting outside. No one sat in the front row anymore.

Miaomiao wasn’t alone anymore.

Children didn’t blame their friends when they didn’t show up for school because in the eyes of children, they had no right to choose.

Jingjing and Deng Feng inferred that Father Zhou and Mother Zhou were taking Zhou Yuan to his new school.

Therefore, Deng Feng asked Jingjing, “Then we…what are we going to do?”

Jingjing sighed in vexation, “I don’t know.”

Miaomiao looked at the vacant seat in front of her. She couldn’t speak. She lowered her head and focused on her textbook.

The young Hua Miaomiao felt the pain of parting for the first time.

However, the emotions of children were fickle, for they would come and go quickly. Jingjing recovered quickly. Not only was she fine, but she also brought Deng Feng and Miaomiao to indulge in playing on the school’s playground with their other classmates.

Everyone decided to chase each other for fun, and Miaomiao soon realized the fun of it all. So, she also frolicked a lot with the others.

In the afternoon, Miaomiao slept next to Jingjing during their naptime.

During her second class, the teacher noticed them huddled together, but she didn’t utter a single word. Miaomiao was bereft of a tablemate. It was indeed a little lonesome to sit by herself, so she decided it would be nice to sit next to Jingjing for a while.

Noon came, and they slept next to each other without uttering a word. Miaomiao was unable to sleep well since she still missed Zhou Yuan.

I don’t know if Zhouzhou has entered university yet. He must be very happy.

But Zhou Yuan was bereft of joy and happiness. He didn’t know why, even though it had been his desire to go to university and leave his so-called childhood behind. He always believed that he was just wasting his childhood with trifling matters.

However, when the car drove up to the university, he wasn’t as happy as he expected. Seeing the building going backward from the window, he felt an unspeakable loss.