Chapter 52 Adoption: 2

After sending the message, she thought that since she was going to adopt Liu Chengxu, it didn't matter what the future held. Right now, she really couldn't ignore Liu Chengxu. What she needed to do was to calm down, not think about the future, and not complain about her decision in the future.

On her night shift, Su Zhiluo realized another mistake: she had forgotten to leave food for Liu Chengxu. She borrowed Chang Ruyin's phone to call and ask Liu Chengxu to cook rice himself in the rice cooker. Liu Chengxu was still asleep, and his voice was muffled, but he hummed twice to indicate that he understood.

Chang Ruyin was completely baffled, looking at her with a puzzled expression, "Are you two very close?"

Su Zhiluo knew that if she didn't say something, she would seem like a saint, so she said, "When I went to her house, she was quite welcoming to me."

"Tch." Chang Ruyin didn't believe it.

She took out her phone. "Here, take this and use it. Post whatever you want."

Su Zhi finished work at eight o'clock and got home around nine. She bought cold medicine at the pharmacy and went straight to the bedroom when she got home. Liu Chengxu was sleeping on the straw mat on the floor. She touched Liu Chengxu's forehead and found it was hot. She prepared the cold medicine, patted Liu Chengxu's shoulder, and fed her the medicine when she woke up.

"Did you have meal?"

Liu Chengxu didn't return; he was still half asleep.

Su Zhiluo thought of carrying her to the bed, but at only 1.65 meters tall, Su Zhiluo couldn't move her. Su Zhiluo put the cup down and looked into the trash can, where there were only two cookie bags.

She went to the kitchen and opened the rice cooker. It wasn't that Liu Chengxu didn't know how to cook; it was that she didn't know how at all. She put the rice in and didn't know to add water, so the rice burned at the bottom and was still raw.

She scooped out the rice, boiled water again, cooked a bowl of noodles, and brought it to the bedroom. She woke Liu Chengxu up, who was still half asleep. Su Zhilu fed her several mouthfuls, saying, "Open your mouth and eat some, or you won't have any energy."

Liu Chengxu obediently ate two bites, muttering nonsense that Su Zhiluo couldn't understand.

After eating, she went back to sleep.

Su Zhiluo lay in bed, feeling quite uneasy. She hadn't slept well all night. She checked Liu Chengxu's temperature several times, then went to the kitchen to get a damp handkerchief and put it on Liu's forehead, massaging her temples.

Liu Chengxu realized that someone was taking care of her. She said, "I'm so scared, so scared, don't eat me, there's a ghost."

"Please don't abandon me, I haven't eaten much." Liu Chengxu was delirious with fever, but he vaguely knew that she was Su Zhiluo.

Su Zhiluo hugged her and said, "It's okay, I'll take care of you, you can stay with me from now on."

Liu Chengxu hugged her waist.

Su Zhiluo tucked her hair behind her ear and gently pinched it. "Don't be afraid, Liu Chengxu, Su Zhiluo is here. I'll take care of you. Don't be afraid. You're home now, you're not alone anymore. Liu Chengxu, don't be afraid..."

Liu Chengxu sobbed repeatedly, and Su Zhiluo sighed. Normal people would feel cold and damp in a cemetery, but she had spent the night there.

Liu Chengxu must have been terrified.

As night fell, Su Zhiluo's eyes reddened, and she couldn't hold back her tears. She knew it; how could they ignore her? She went and got another handkerchief. Any later, and Liu Chengxu would have died of a high fever.

It was the coldest autumn day. Su Zhiluo knew she was doing something that everyone would say was foolish. She thought, "So what if I'm foolish? Everyone has to do a few foolish things."

Liu Chengxu's school uniform pants had two holes in the knees, clearly from a fall while running. Su Zhiluo rolled up her pant legs, revealing a thick scab on Liu Chengxu's knee. Liu Chengxu had probably been beaten; his legs and arms were covered in bruises.

Su Zhiluo found some safflower oil and applied it to her, then got the needle and thread and sewed up her pants. Su Zhiluo hadn't slept well all night, taking care of her.

Liu Chengxu's fever subsided successfully, and she woke up relatively early. After getting up, she staggered out of the bedroom. Su Zhiluo was washing clothes with her back to her and said, "There are noodles on the table. Eat them yourself, and then go to school."

Liu Chengxu had no appetite. "I don't want to eat noodles."

Su Zhiluo said, "This is all. If you don't eat it, it will be gone."

Liu Chengxu felt so wronged that he died.

Her head was spinning, and Su Zhiluo's words were icy cold. She felt terrible and couldn't help but wipe away her tears.

Liu Chengxu replied, "People laughed at me when I went to school."

Su Zhiluo said, "If you don't study, what will you do in the future? Pick up scraps."

Liu Chengxu felt even worse.

She ate with her head down.

Su Zhiluo rubbed her clothes and said, "...You'll starve to death if you don't eat. You haven't been to school for several days."

Liu Chengxu felt very wronged and silently shed tears. She felt uncomfortable all over and kept looking at Su Zhiluo, her tears burning hot.

After finishing her meal, it was still dark. She was a little scared and wanted Su Zhiluo to see her off, but she was too embarrassed to ask and ran downstairs in a flash.

Su Zhiluo froze, then got up, grabbed the cold medicine from the table, and rushed downstairs. Liu Chengxu ran very fast.

Su Zhiluo didn't sleep well at all last night; her heart was pounding with pain. She chased after her to the outside of the alley, called out to her, handed her some cold medicine, and asked, "How are you eating at school?"

Liu Chengxu, holding the medicine, was somewhat surprised. She replied truthfully, "I used it to top up my school meal card."

"Do you have any money left?"

Liu Chengxu shook his head.

How much do you pay per month?

"Pay it yourself, it's due this month."

"Then you can top up your own account." Su Zhiluo breathed a sigh of relief. "How are you coming home tonight? What time does get out of class end?"

Liu Chengxu got off work earlier than her, so he could come over from his classmate's house. Su Zhilu gave her her key, but her pride prevented her from saying she had no money.

Su Zhiluo handed her the phone, "Call me if you're not feeling well, I'll come pick you up..."

Before she could finish speaking, Liu Chengxu ran off, and she thought to herself as she ran.

She planned to leave this place and go far away, but she intended to give Su Zhi a large sum of money before running away again.

Su Zhiluo thought that the 500 yuan was enough for her to top up her meal card, and didn't think about anything else. It wasn't until three days later, when she changed the sheets, that she realized Liu Chengxu had put the 500 yuan under her pillow.

These past few days, she's been using the last few dollars in her card to buy steamed buns because she's so hungry. When she gets home from school in the evening, Su Zhiluo cooks rice for her so she can eat more.

After finding the money, Su Zhiluo felt guilty for a long time.

However, she was too embarrassed to ask, so she slipped the money into Liu Chengxu's bag and wrote a note for him: "Top up your meal card."

She felt that she hadn't done a very good job in taking care of Liu Chengxu, even though she had agreed to do so.

She went to find Liu Chengxu again. Liu Chengxu was doing his homework on the balcony. Su Zhiluo glanced at him while hanging up the laundry and asked, "Why are you copying the text?"

Liu Chengxu didn't say anything and continued copying.

Su Zhiluo quickly realized that her parents had left in a hurry and hadn't taken her with them. She had left her textbooks at home and had to copy them herself.

This child is very concerned about his image; at this age, he has a very high sense of self-esteem.

She said, "I just got paid a few days ago."

Liu Chengxu looked up at her, and Su Zhiluo handed her three hundred yuan. "Can this cover your food expenses for a month?"

Liu Chengxu's eyes immediately reddened, but Su Zhiluo didn't expose her. She said, "Take it, I'll give it to you every month from now on. If I forget, just tell me." This way, Liu Chengxu could come and ask for it after finishing her meal without having to save money. Children her age are still growing, so she wouldn't feel guilty if she came to ask for it after finishing her meal.

Moreover, if she were to reveal that Liu Chengxu had no money these past few days, she would definitely feel even worse, so it's better to just pretend she doesn't know.

"That's enough." Liu Chengxu held the money, her nose stinging. She glanced at Su Zhiluo, the sunlight shining on Su Zhiluo's shoulder. She still had the same feeling as before. Su Zhiluo didn't look any more like an adult than her. The light made her cheeks look very soft.

Su Zhiluo said, "Do you want me to buy you a bicycle so you can ride it to school?"

“The school has a school bus,” Liu Chengxu replied. “I can get off at the subway station and run back by myself.”

Su Zhiluo was clearly very thin, but at that moment, she felt that Su Zhiluo was very reliable, the most reliable person she had ever met.

Su Zhiluo has a day off on Saturday.

She bought noodles, carrots, and lean meat, made the dough, filled it with carrot and lean meat, and wrapped more than twenty pancakes. While she was making them, she called Liu Chengxu over to wash and chop the vegetables. After she prepared the filling, she started wrapping the pancakes.

The first one I fried was given to Liu Chengxu.

It was a little hot, so she wrapped it in a tissue to eat. Su Zhiluo glanced at her and said, "What a waste."

Liu Chengxu is very clean. She wipes everything with a tissue after doing it. She said, "I will save on this later."

Su Zhiluo hummed in agreement. "You should still use tissues at school. We have newspapers at home; you can wrap the pancake in them on your way to school so it won't get too hot."

Liu Chengxu hummed in agreement again.

Su Zhiluo made another pancake and said, "You can see how to make it. You can fry it yourself when you go to school. If it's frozen solid, you don't need to add oil. Fry three or four kinds on each side, and you can eat it."

Liu Chengxu said, "I can eat steamed buns in the morning, they're cheap."

"It's not nutritious," Su Zhiluo said.

Liu Chengxu took a bite, and she used to really hate eating carrots, but this one tasted surprisingly delicious.

She cut off a piece with a kitchen knife and brought it to Su Zhiluo's mouth. Su Zhiluo said, "Do you want to eat a steamed bun?"

Liu Chengxu nodded.

Su Zhiluo then made some more dough into buns and steamed them. She said, "Go and chop some onions and chili peppers for me, and don't forget to prepare the garlic."

The steamed buns were pungent and spicy, and her eyes were red and watering. She even wanted to say that she wouldn't eat them anymore.

Su Zhiluo waited for her to finish chopping and then stir-fried it into a sauce. She then steamed buns with the sauce, and Liu Chengxu ate the buns with it, finding it incredibly delicious. It was even better than the ones sold at school. Su Zhiluo then made her a simple egg drop soup as well.

After finishing all this, Su Zhiluo started eating steamed buns. Leaning against the kitchen counter, her back ached, she asked, "Do I have homework to do later?"

Liu Chengxu shook his head.

Su Zhiluo instructed her: "Later, put the sauce in the canning jar, and put the rest in the freezer. Remember to let them cool down before you start using them."

"Um."

Su Zhilu ate another steamed bun and drank some of the egg drop soup in the pot.

Then I went to lie down in the bedroom.

She's very tired from work, so she usually catches up on sleep on Saturdays.

In the afternoon, Su Zhilu woke up and made plans to go shopping with Chang Ruyin.

Su Zhiluo bought two sets of clothes for Liu Chengxu. She picked and chose, but Liu Chengxu was a quiet person and didn't know how to bargain. Chang Ruyin helped her negotiate with the shopkeeper, and Su Zhiluo got two sets.

"Was it bought for Liu Chengxu?"

Su Zhiluo specifically chose books with a good fit so that they wouldn't look cheap. Afterwards, Su Zhiluo went to several bookstores, but none of them sold textbooks. Finally, she bought a few textbooks at Xinhua Bookstore.

The analysis of the texts and questions inside is almost the same as the textbook. I spent over a hundred yuan to buy all of Liu Chengxu's books.