7. Be kind

◎A Kind and Soft Little Bread◎

"I'm fine, it's just that my eyes are a little sensitive, but it'll be fine in a bit. Let's get back to business, right? You should have found out about the funding criteria through the application process, right?"

"University students receive 800 yuan per month, calculated on a five-month semester basis. That is, 4,000 yuan per semester and 8,000 yuan per academic year. This money is for your daily expenses in university, including food and household supplies."

"If there are no problems with your application, you should receive your first grant in early September. The payment will be made to the account you provided, so please keep an eye out for it. If you have any questions, you can contact the email address you used to submit your application. This email address is directly managed by the grant provider."

Wei Mingxue looked at Xu Huaihuai, who was trying his best to suppress his emotions, and said, "At first, I thought you were liars."

"Being vigilant isn't a bad thing. Why don't you realize that now?"

"What kind of liar sheds tears for someone else?"

"Maybe I'm just a crybaby?"

"Tears are precious, and not everyone can be generous with their tears. My mother now won't shed a tear for me."

The two chatted quietly for a while longer before Xu Huaihuai prepared to say goodbye.

"I'll go out by myself, you stay here, bye."

"Goodbye, Teacher Xu."

Xu Huaihuai closed the door and left, leaving only a lingering fragrance in the room.

Wei Mingxue folded the note that Xu Huaihuai had slipped under the door into the shape of a flying bird.

The sign read, "Could you let this young lady come in and find some peace and quiet?"

She made a checkmark and then drew a heart after the checkmark.

A strange city dweller with 100% water content.

But perhaps I'll get a good night's sleep tonight.

Xu Huaihuai came out of Wei Mingxue's bedroom and found Wei Ziyao still laughing and shouting while playing with Lin Xu's phone, while Lin Xu himself calmly drank plain water. Kapibala Mata.

He Yulan kept complaining to Director Zhao, from the difficulties of being a stepmother to who in the village couldn't have a son and whose husband was having an affair.

"Stop drinking." Xu Huaihuai confiscated Lin Kapibala Xu's cup, then snatched Lin Xu's phone from Wei Ziyao's hand. Wei Ziyao was engrossed in his game and was suddenly interrupted by someone taking his phone. He immediately stood up on the sofa to grab it back: "Give it back!"

"Is it yours? I'll give it back to you." Xu Huaihuai's voice wasn't loud, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear clearly.

Wei Ziyao tried to pounce on Xu Huaihuai to reach for her phone, but Lin Xu grabbed him and pinned him to the sofa, leaving him helpless like a little chick.

He pouted, his body forced to obey, but his mouth began to summon his mother, wailing, "Mom—"

"You said you and..." He Yulan quickly came over to hug her son, but when she realized that Lin Xu was really intimidating when he stood up, she changed the subject of her reprimand, "Teacher Xu, why are you arguing with a little kid? He's only five years old! Did Yao Yao hurt you?"

"Ms. He, five years old is not five months old."

"you……"

"Mommy, I want my phone!" Wei Ziyao twisted and turned against He Yulan, who could barely hold him. "You silly child! Then you can play with Mommy's..."

"I don't want your crappy phone!"

He Yulan choked up.

Director Zhao advised from the side, "Yulan, I know you love your child, but children really shouldn't be exposed to mobile phones all the time. You know he's only five years old. If he plays on his phone all day long, it's not good for his eyes, let alone anything else."

Xu Huaihuai put Lin Xu's phone back in his pocket, and the two of them watched the whole process of the unruly child throwing a tantrum.

He Yulan looked embarrassed. It took her a lot of effort to coax the crying Yao Yao to play with building blocks.

"Ms. He, we apologize for disturbing you today. We'll head back now." Xu Huaihuai didn't want to stay any longer; she couldn't imagine how Wei Mingxue spent her days like this.

“Teacher Xu, wait a minute, I have something to tell you.” He Yulan pulled Xu Huaihuai to the balcony. “Teacher Xu, as you can see, our family’s situation is just so-so. The whole family relies on Lao Wei’s meager wages from working in town to make a living.”

“Yaoyao can’t go to summer camps or special training camps like kids in big cities during holidays. All he can do is play on his phone, watch TV, and build with blocks. His block set was bought for him by his dad last year for his birthday, and it’s all old.”

"Ms. He, please speak frankly."

“Oh, Ms. Xu, I knew you were a reasonable person. So I’ll be frank. You’re planning to sponsor Mingxue, eight thousand a year, right? Our Yaoyao is Mingxue’s younger brother. What his sister has, his brother should have too, right? Otherwise, it’s not fair to the children, is it? I’ve already calculated it. Yaoyao will start elementary school next year, and this money will be just right…”

"Unfair? Ms. He, are you saying that Wei Ziyao is short of 8,000 yuan for elementary school next year and you're asking us for it? Elementary school is compulsory education, does the tuition cost 8,000 yuan?"

"What are you saying, Ms. Xu? You don't have children, do you? Yaoyao is a boy, and he's bound to do great things in the future. There's a saying that education should start from a young age, so he should definitely go to a good international school."

“You give Yaoyao the same 8,000 yuan a year as his sister. If you add another 2,000 yuan, and we grit our teeth and contribute another 5,000 yuan, Yaoyao can go to an international school. Yaoyao will thank you when he grows up. Anyway, 10,000 yuan is not much to you. I have checked, and the bag you are carrying, Teacher Xu, costs tens of thousands of yuan.”

That's impressive.

The abacus beads were even hitting his face.

Xu Huaihuai laughed in exasperation.

"Ms. He, listen carefully. First, the High Mountain Project is intended for female students. If your son's penis is cut off, it would barely meet the gender requirement. Second, your son wasn't born because I made your husband deprive him of his genitals. Don't shift your responsibility onto someone else's wallet; not a single penny of this money will go to your Yaozu. Third, if you want fairness, remember to serve your son leftovers next time. Fourth, I strongly agree with the saying that education should begin from a young age, because the person in front of me is clearly a product of a lack of early education. As a result, you only verbally reprimand your son but never correct his behavior. I truly feel sorry for your son; he's been ruined by his own mother at such an young age when he doesn't understand anything. Fifth, I don't need your son's gratitude, and I have no obligation to help Yaozu."

Xu Huaihuai spoke so fluently that He Yulan didn't even understand a few sentences, but the first two sentences alone were enough to make her blush. How could she not be angry to be spoken to like that by a young man?

Just because I call you "teacher" doesn't mean you really think you're a teacher. You're just a city person with a few bucks.

She completely forgot how much she had longed for the city people's dirty money. In her anger, she glared and raised her hand to hit someone.

Slapping, pulling hair, scratching faces—these are often the deadliest moves women make in a fight.

Unfortunately, Xu Huaihuai was not only taller than her but also reacted faster. She braced herself against the balcony door with one hand and grabbed He Yulan's arm with the other, slamming her against the door. "What, trying to bully city people?"

The commotion left the people inside speechless.

He Yulan's attempt to slap the other woman failed, and realizing she couldn't escape the attack, her momentum instantly vanished. Her face filled with terror; the other woman's beautiful face now appeared nothing short of a demon to her. She desperately shrank to one side, shouting, "What are you doing? What do you want? I'm calling for help!"

There were two very nervous people in the living room who couldn't get involved.

Lin Xu tried to help, but Xu Huaihuai glared at him and stopped him.

Zhao Yingxiu tried to mediate, but Lin Xu blocked her way.

Only He Yulan and Xu Huaihuai were on the small balcony.

Xu Huaihuai had the upper hand in every sense of the word.

Unexpectedly, He Yulan was filled with remorse for her greed. She had been so blinded by greed that she had dragged Xu Huaihuai onto the balcony to talk. Now she had angered her, and this incredibly strong woman would definitely not let her off the hook.

She knew that if she called out to Sister Xiu, Sister Xiu would definitely not abandon her, but her lips trembled and she couldn't utter a sound. She could only keep shaking and crying.

Xu Huaihuai let go of her hand. Was she really that scary? She had even used her hand to cushion her head so as not to make the abacus beads in her head rattle.

He simply pinned her against the door, and she was too terrified to resist.

Such a stress response clearly indicates that the person has experienced beatings, or domestic violence, more than once.

She suddenly felt powerless.

This seemingly strong but actually weak, shrewd and mean woman had suffered domestic violence and was beaten so badly that she dared not scream anymore.

The more you shout, the more excited the abuser will become.

"I'm out of tissues, how about a sanitary napkin?" Xu Huaihuai pulled a sanitary napkin out of her bag and slapped it into He Yulan's hand.

She opened the balcony door, and Lin Xu casually stepped aside. Finally no longer blocked, Zhao Yingxiu quickly approached and cautiously inquired, "Xiao Xu, I apologize for Yulan's foolish words. But could this matter not affect the sponsorship of Mingxue's child..."

"Sister Xiu, don't apologize. I already scolded her back. These are two separate things and won't affect the funding for Mingxue. Don't worry."

Zhao Yingxiu breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at He Yulan on the balcony, wanting to say something.

He Yulan had a hard card in her hand, which was brought over along with the woman's sanitary napkin. It was a business card of a lawyer from a law firm. She had heard of this lawyer; he was very good at handling divorce cases. Was it intentional or accidentally included?

She turned her head away, not looking at Zhao Yingxiu who seemed to want to say something but hesitated. "You guys go back, I won't see you off. I still need to cook when Lao Wei comes back later."

When Zhao Yuanyuan saw Xu Huaihuai tonight, she noticed the weariness in his eyes and brows; he seemed more exhausted mentally than physically. Although she and Wei Mingxue were two grades apart, they were from the same village and attended the same school, and they often chatted on QQ. Wei Mingxue had just talked to her about what happened at home today.

In the end, they both agreed that Xu Huaihuai was a kind and soft little bread roll. It would become flat if it were dehydrated.

Protecting our bread rolls is everyone's responsibility!

"How are you, Sister Xiao Huai? Are you comfortable?" Zhao Yuanyuan asked with a smile.

Xu Huaihuai lay on the rocking chair in the yard, swaying gently, feeling quite comfortable: "It's pretty comfortable."

"Sister Xiao Huai, wait for me! I'll go get some hot water; a foot soak will feel much better!"

"Hey! Don't bother..."

Zhao Yuanyuan ran away.

As Xu Huaihuai swayed, she felt a little sleepy and wanted to close her eyes for a short nap.

She had some questions she wanted to ask the comments, but the comments seemed to be frozen tonight, remaining grayed out.

"Asleep? Sister Huai?" Lin Xu placed the hot water basin down and squatted in front of the rocking chair.

"No, I'm just a little sleepy." Xu Huaihuai sat up, blinked, and noticed Lin Xu was still squatting in front of her rocking chair. "What are you doing?"

"Stretch your feet out. If the water is too hot, I'll add some cold water for you."

"It's alright. Just right." Xu Huaihuai tentatively stretched out her toes, and after confirming the water temperature was safe, she dipped her feet in. When she looked up, she found Lin Xu had dragged a stool over and was sitting next to her. "What are you doing?"

"I'll pour the water for you after you're done soaking," Lin Xu replied matter-of-factly.

"That's it?" For a moment, Xu Huaihuai felt that Lin Xu was like a comfort dog, gentle and affectionate, able to keenly perceive changes in emotions, and proactively comforting people who were feeling down.

Does it mean you think that just soaking your feet at night is too monotonous?

Lin Xu thought for a moment, "Would you like lip service?"

"Pure Prison? That's a bit too advanced. Can you explain it in simpler terms?"

"Shall we kiss?"