CH 73

When Miaomiao returned home, she was still clutching the sunflowers in her hands. Her parents already knew that her smart little tablemate didn’t show up at school today.

Miaomiao didn’t know what to do with them since the flowers were supposed to be given to Zhou Yuan.

But anyways, children’s thoughts came and went quickly. The next day, Jingjing and a few other children secretly sowed some vegetable seedlings in their school’s flower bed with Miaomiao.

Because they didn’t know where else to plant them.

Miaomiao didn’t think about Zhou Yuan’s departure anymore since she had been busy watering the seedlings every day. She believed that the seedlings would begin sprouting up quickly.

She had no idea where Father Zhou bought the vegetable seeds. Miaomiao was in sixth grade now, and she had indeed grown taller since her time in first grade. But compared to her, no cabbages had grown from the seeds. 

There was no mention of Zhou Yuan in Miaomiao’s life since Zhou Yuan and his family had moved out before they moved into that community.

He seemed to have strayed away from Miaomiao’s tiny world. He appeared and left in the blink of an eye. But a lot of other memories slowly filled Miaomiao’s mind. She remembered the first time she wrote an essay and then read it out loud. She recalled when her classmates went outside during an excursion to climb the mountains during the spring. They all went outside to pick wild fruits so that they could eat them together. The fruits’ juices darkened their mouths, and then they pretended that the fruits had poisoned them…

She made more and more happy memories, and slowly she had relegated the image of her little tablemate who wore a mask to the deepest parts of her memory.

And Miaomiao made more and more friends. She looked beautiful and had baby fat, which made her look cute. She smiled sweetly. She always hearkened to the words of others with solemnity, which made everyone like her regardless if they were a boy or a girl.

When she was in the first year of middle school, she was voted as the monitor of their class. 

Mother Hua always saw one of two love letters in her schoolbag when she unpacked it. When Miaomiao was in the third grade of elementary school, her phone watch broke, and she never used the phone that her mother bought for her that much.

Many of the love letters written by little boys were funny, but Mother Hua wasn’t worried about her daughter. Although Miaomiao was young, she still thought for herself.

When Miaomiao was in her second year of high school, her grandmother passed away.

She still recalled her passing. When Miaomiao woke up in the morning, she went to call her grandmother, but she found that she was sleeping soundly with her eyes closed, and she never woke up.

Miaomiao encountered this type of loss for the second time. The first time was when her great-grandmother died. This happened when she was in second grade. At the time, she didn’t understand anything, but she understood now. She now knew that she would never see her grandmother again.

On the day of her grandmother’s cremation, Miaomiao wept for a long time and clung to her mother. When she went to school the next day, her face was swollen.

On the day after her cremation, Miaomiao wasn’t able to go back to school on time, and her mother and father were very busy with family matters.

So, Miaomiao took a taxi to go to school by herself, but the taxi driver dropped her off on the side of the road that was situated opposite to the school.

Miaomiao heard the sound of a motorcycle as soon as she stepped out of the taxi. Before she even made two strides, a black shadow passed by her, followed by a vigorous tug. Miaomiao leaned forward due to this force, and someone had stolen her schoolbag.

Because she cried a lot, her eyes became swollen, and she found it difficult to open them, so she could only see a black figure who sat on top of the motorcycle galloping away.

Miaomiao tried to catch up with the motorcycle, but the driver was already too far away.

Her mobile phone, wallet, and homework were all in her schoolbag. 

But most importantly…the charm that her grandmother had bequeathed her was also in the schoolbag.

Miaomiao’s heart was in a mess. She didn’t have any money on her, so she raced to the school’s security room. 

“Uncle. Could I borrow your phone? I just got robbed.”

The security guard knew her. Every time he opened the door, she would thank him.

While offering solace to her, he handed her his mobile phone, “What’s inside the bag? There is surveillance outside.”

Miaomiao knew that. So, she borrowed the phone and called the police. Her hand shook as she made the call. The police station was nearby, so a police officer came quickly, picked her up, and drove her to the police station to record her statement.

They needed time to complete their investigation. The police asked her teacher to come pick her up and drive her back to school. If there were any new developments, the class teacher would be notified because that person also stole Miaomiao’s mobile phone.

The headteacher took Miaomiao back to her school. Her whole body was slumping with fatigue.

Grandma passed away, and the charms that she bequeathed to me are gone. Grandma went to the temple to get them.

Miaomiao didn’t have time to wipe her tears when her new classmate walked into the classroom with the teacher.

Her face was swollen because she had cried too much, and there was a faint ache in her eyes.

The person came next to her, sat down, and slept on the table.

Miaomiao turned her head away from him and bursted into tears. She couldn’t see what the person next to her looked like. She only knew that he was very tall. If none of this had happened, Miaomiao would have welcomed her new classmate with open arms, but now she was too doleful to do that.

Two classes had come and gone, and Miaomiao’s eyes improved a little, so she could see the person next to her with more clarity.

He wore a black coat, and his temperament was nothing like that of a high school student’s, but he was really handsome. It was Miaomiao’s first time meeting such a handsome boy with arched eyebrows and beautiful eyes. He looked like a man from a comic. But the boy hasn’t said a single word since he sat down. This was completely different from the other students in her class.

But he possessed some really bad habits, and he didn’t like studying at all. His books were neatly stacked, but he never attended class. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but he looked morose.

Miaomiao herself was in a bad mood, so she didn’t speak.

Miaomiao stayed by her table after her class concluded. She didn’t eat. She donned a short-sleeved shirt, and she dressed like other girls of her age, which revealed her white, flawless arms. Although she still had scars on her body, they were barely noticeable by the time she was in junior high school.

“Let’s go. Let’s go to lunch,” Jingjing came over and called her. Jingjing and Miaomiao were no longer in the same class.   

Miaomiao hadn’t informed Jingjing about her grandmother, so Jingjing was shocked when she caught a glimpse of Miaomiao’s swollen face, “What’s wrong with your face? Is it because of an allergy?”

Miaomiao’s tablemate was probably going to eat outside. It was already noon, and the sun was shining very brightly outside. Her new tablemate then slipped out of his coat.  

Miaomiao was talking with Jingjing when she suddenly caught a glimpse of the bracelet that her tablemate wore. A silvery-white bracelet adorned his right wrist.

But this wasn’t the main point. Miaomiao also had the exact same bracelet, although she never wore it since it was too big, so she instead kept it in her wallet, which was tucked in her bag, which was stolen.

Miaomiao peered at her new classmate once more. He donned a black coat; he had a tall figure, but most importantly, he donned the exact same silvery bracelet.     

Miaomiao’s hands trembled, but she tried to calm down and uttered, “Classmate. Could I see your bracelet?”

The boy gave her one look and spat out a single word, “No.”

Traces of hostility and pugnacity could be seen in his eyes.

Miaomiao could tell that he was very angry! When she saw the same amount of wear and tear on the bracelet, she became extremely ireful as well.