"Welcome back. How's school today?" Katherine asked as she and Meiya helped take off their backpack.
"Pretty good. We just finished our midterm exam today." Sophia replied as they all headed towards the dining table.
"Oh really? How well did you guys do on your exam?" Katherine curiously asked.
As the six of them sat down, Mary and Sophia looked jealously at Alex, which made the other two look at him as well.
"Um, we did pretty well," Alex nervously replied, wiping away an invisible sweat on his forehead.
"Really? How well, exactly?"
Seeing Alex not replying and both Sophia and Mary staying silent, Katherine turned her attention to Luqing.
"What did they get?"
"Sophia got top 5, Mary got 11th place, and Alex got 1st place," Luqing replied without any hesitation.
"Wait, what? Alex, you got first place?" Katherine exclaimed, her voice sounding a little surprised as she looked back at Alex.
"Yeah... I did." Alex quietly replied, not wanting to bring more attention to himself.
"That's amazing, Alex——Um, Sophia, you did well, too. And Mary, you didn't do bad either.
I'm proud of you all, okay? I'm just happy to hear you guys getting good grades."
Katherine quickly shifted her excitement from Alex over to the other two after noticing their frowns.
"Hmph! Stupid Alex... Always have to get all the attention."
Sophia rolled her eyes, murmuring grumpily as she looked down at the table before her.
At the same time, Alex's and Mary's faces both blushed red.
Alex could feel Katherine's bias toward him over Sophia, but at this point, there was nothing he could do.
Meanwhile, Mary was a little embarrassed, having Katherine be proud of her despite nowhere near the other two.
"Ahem, let's all eat now."
Meiya intervened, trying to relieve some of Katherine's pressure from her mistake of comparing them.
---
When the next day arrived, the sour mood disappeared as Sophia happily ate the breakfast that Alex had cooked.
Everyone seemingly ignored what happened yesterday as the three of them ate their breakfast before heading to school with Luqing.
As the morning classes with Miss Amy and the lunch break quickly went by, it was time for P.E. class.
This time, Alex performed back to his usual self, being right behind Camille as everyone had expected.
With the Friday class finally over, the three of them were a little surprised when the school principal forced Luqing to stay behind.
But they didn't ask why, heading to the mediation room with Sophia's other four friends.
---
All three of the kids, along with Luqing, looked toward them with curiosity as they waited for them to announce it.
"Luqing and I are finally moving out. We found a nearby house that we can afford to rent." Experience tales at m v|l e'-novelhall.net
As soon as Meiya finished talking, the table fell into dead silence until Mary raised her question.
"Wait, why? Is it because of the room? I don't mind you guys sleeping in my room at all."
"I don't mind having Mary sleep in my room with me either," Sophia added.
Meiya shook her head as she looked over to Luqing before turning her attention back to the three kids.
"It's not about room. Luqing and I can't just share a room forever. We still want our privacy and everything.
Besides, it isn't polite for us to stay in your guy's house for this long. We should have moved out a long time ago."
Seeing Meiya looking determined to move and Luqing seemingly to support it, both of the girls admit defeat.
However, Alex wasn't done yet, as he could notice Luqing's face seemingly a little unhappy to be separated.
Not to mention, he had gotten used to living with them and seeing them leave, which left him in a sour mood.
"But how about my training? And can I cook breakfast for you guys if you guys leave?"
Meiya and Katherine both let out a chuckle before looking at each other's faces and turning back to Alex.
"You silly. You can still visit us on the weekend for the training. We're just moving to the house on the right.
And for the breakfast... If you don't mind, it would be great if you could deliver it to Luqing and me."
As soon as Meiya answered, all three of the kids let out a sigh of relief, knowing they were still close.
"Ahem, actually, I also have another announcement."
Katherine's words seemed to have caught Meiya off guard as she looked over at her with confusion.
"I had been granted permission from the school to buy up the houses on the left and the houses on the right."
"Huh?"
The announcement shocked everyone, as none of them ever expected this to be the outcome in the end.
"Anyway, happy to meet you, my tenant... Oh, and I'm planning to merge all three of the houses into a big mansion instead."
As Katherine reached for a handshake, Meiya finally realized why it was so easy for her to find a place to rent out of nowhere.
"You really are a sly fox..." Meiya murmured as she accepted the handshake.
"How could I leave my bodyguard away from me and my children? Besides, I'm sure Luqing is more than happy to stay with them."
"Well, let's see if someone can keep on affording the salary raise that I'm going to need."
As the two stared at each other as if they were trying to one-up each other, neither side seemed to let go until Luqing suddenly spoke up.
"Um, the school principal gave me my teacher housing yesterday——"
"You're not going there."
Both Meiya and Katherine turned towards her at the same time, rejecting the idea before she could finish speaking.