In the courtyard, the room connected to the kitchen was converted into a small canteen. I heard that the chef was a retired member of the cooking squad of a certain army. He was a good cook and the canteen was always full every day.
After Yan Jue finished his meal, he found Pan Wencheng in the crowd, took his plate and sat down opposite him. He filled himself half full before talking about the game.
"Director Pan, I've earned enough points."
Everyone who could be seen at the courtyard knew about this matter, so Yan Jue had no qualms and said directly while eating at the table, "But I think it's a bit wasteful to use all the points to buy books. What if Noel finds that the introduction to sound waves doesn't work after reading it? Then those intermediate and advanced professional books that follow will be of no use to him, and he may not be interested in them anymore."
"I think we should just buy him a simple book and give it to him. After he finishes reading it, we can decide whether to buy anything else. Anyway, he has enough points, so we can buy it for him if he wants it. Besides that, I want to buy something else."
Pan Wencheng put down his chopsticks, looked at him curiously and asked, "What do you want to buy?"
Yan Jue said slowly, "I was thinking, since Noel's power is related to singing, could I buy something related to it, like an amplifier, a musical instrument, or use his voice as a sound source to create a music software. In short, anything related to singing, I want to try."
"Of course." Pan Wencheng agreed without hesitation. "This is all for Noel's own good. We have no reason to refuse. But for the rest, we should wait until we know why Noel can't sing before we can buy it, right? What if Noel can't speak..."
They used voice commands, while Noel always used text bubbles. Although it wasn't necessarily that he couldn't speak, before knowing the truth, Pan Wencheng had to prepare for the worst.
He could see how much Yan Jue cared about Noel, and he wanted Yan Jue to be mentally prepared in case the final result was not good.
"Yeah. I'll try to ask him tomorrow when I give him the book."
Yan Jue miraculously understood Pan Wencheng's concern for him and smiled slightly: "No matter what the result is, I will accept it with pleasure."
"That's good." Pan Wencheng nodded. "Let's eat. You've worked hard this afternoon. Have a good rest tonight."
This was the first time that Yan Jue received praise for his "hard work" after playing games for an entire afternoon. His face turned red, and he lowered his head to eat without saying a word.
At night, Yan Jue had nightmares all night long.
The next day, he woke up with dark circles under his eyes, still a bit dazed. His mind was filled with the image of Nuo Er, crying heartbrokenly after finishing a book, and no amount of comforting could stop her. Shivering in the hot weather, Yan Jue shook his head to banish the chaotic dream from his mind, then got up and washed.
Although he was thinking about him, he did not go to see Noel immediately.
As a kindergarten student, how could Noel possibly wake up and go to bed on time every day from 6 am to 9 pm? If I went too early and Noel was still in bed, the consequence of knocking on the door would be a chubby little fish full of irritability, and the length of the irritation would depend on the quality of his sleep.
Therefore, Yan Jue waited until the safe time of around ten o'clock in the morning before he could no longer wait to enter the game.
Noel was basking in the sun on his favorite little rubber duck inflatable mattress in the swimming pool. The cold, dim seabed was obviously more suitable for mermaids, and it suited their preferences, but he just liked the feeling of the warm, yet non-irritating, sunlight on his body.
Alas, he is indeed a freak.
Lazily turning over to let the sun shine on his back, Noel lazily reached out and scooped up some water from the pool and splashed it over himself. Sunbathing was pleasant, but the only drawback was that it dried out too quickly, requiring constant hydration.
"Noel——"
Suddenly, a gentle and joyful voice sounded. Noel quickly turned over and entered the water. He came to the edge of the swimming pool, raised his head slightly, and looked up into the air.
"teacher."
Noel smiled brightly and greeted cheerfully, "Good morning, teacher. I don't have classes today, so could you play games with me? I also want to hear the story of the black cat and the seven men fighting the female goblin! Is that okay?"
Off-screen, Yan Jue was surprised by Noel's liveliness and the intimacy of her attitude towards him.
In the past, when Noel interacted with him, he was always indifferent, maintaining the courtesy and respect that a student should have for a teacher. Only occasionally when he encountered something he liked or played games, would he reveal some of the recklessness and innocence of a child.
Today is different.
Is this the benefit of having a favorability rating over 80? Noel didn't even hesitate to ask for anything, feeling completely confident and relaxed.
Yan Jue was still immersed in the joy of his son being willing to be close to him and act coquettishly towards him. He kept stroking Noel's head and didn't notice that Pan Wencheng, who was sitting opposite him, had a very troubled expression.
"Little Lord."
Pan Wencheng couldn't help but call back Yan Jue's attention and said with difficulty: "What Nuoer just said, the story of seven men fighting a female demon..."
That doesn't sound like a serious story at all!
How can you tell this to a child? Not even while playing games.
Yan Jue froze: "..."
"I'm not Director Pan, so let me explain. This is simply a problem with Noel's retelling!" Yan Jue quickly explained his innocence: "I told him about the Calabash Brothers. You know the Calabash Brothers? The one with seven flowers on a vine."
A question mark slowly appeared in Pan Wencheng's head: "Huluwa?"
It seems that maybe what Noel said is not wrong?
Yan Jue was embarrassed. "I tried to tell him fairy tales before, but he thought they were too childish and didn't want to listen. If I told him too much, his favorability would be reduced. So I found some cartoons with plots to tell him. The two he mentioned were Black Cat Sheriff and Calabash Brothers. They weren't anything fancy."
He admitted that he told Noel about Black Cat Sheriff at the beginning just out of mischievousness, but Calabash Brothers was also his childhood, and he was very serious about it and couldn't wrongly accuse him.
Pan Wencheng and Yan Jue looked at each other and gave an awkward smile, then lowered their heads at the same time, each looking at their own screen as if nothing had happened.
Yan Jue went to the mall and bought the basic science book on sound waves that he had set his eyes on before. He returned to Nuoer and said carefully, "Nuoer, wait a minute before playing games. Do you remember what the teacher said yesterday about finding a book for you?"
Noel was stunned, his smile frozen on his face: "Teacher, have you found it?"
"Yes." Yan Jue said slowly in his softest voice, "The teacher has found a lot, but I want Nuoer to help you first see if you can understand the most basic one and whether it is useful to you. If you are useful, the teacher will give you the rest."
Noel was still stunned.
He wasn't surprised by the teacher's speed in finding the book; it was he who had backed off. Even if he knew the principles of singing, what good would that do? Mermaids' powers could only be activated through singing. Could there be a being who could unleash their powers without him having to speak? Besides cultivating immortality, it seemed there was no other way.
There is a high probability that one will be disappointed after watching it, but he is not afraid of disappointment. After all, since he knew that he could not sing, he has already faced the reality. He just does not want to experience the feeling of having a hole in his heart again.
However, he didn't want to disappoint the teacher, as the teacher had found it specially for him.
"...Thank you, teacher. Give it to me, I'll take a look."
A few seconds after he finished speaking, a red gift box appeared out of thin air by the swimming pool, right in front of Noel, within his reach.
Noel looked at the familiar gift box but did not open it immediately. He wanted to put it away for the time being and look at it again in the evening.
He is not a coward, he just wants to take it seriously.
Yan Jue saw Nuoer staring blankly at the gift box on the screen without reacting. He probably guessed what the other person was thinking and encouraged him, "Nuoer, open it and take a look, okay?"
Noel hesitated: "Teacher..."
"If you really don't want to read it, that's fine. The teacher probably knows the content of the book. Noel, you can tell me about your own situation and let the teacher decide whether it will be useful to you, okay?"
The difference between the timid Noel and his usual quirky self was too obvious, and Yan Jue's heart softened. Before Noel could make a decision, he changed his mind. It was a good opportunity to ask about Noel's health.
"Even if this book is useless, the teacher will try every possible way and do his best to find a way to make you stronger!"
Yan Jue clenched his fist and said solemnly: "Noel, are you willing to trust the teacher for once?"
Noel looked up, his brows tightly furrowed, his fingers twisted together and pinched, his chubby face tense and his eyes full of confusion.
After a while, Noel raised his eyes again. A word "OK" appeared in the bubble frame above his head, which was two circles larger than usual, as if his determination could be seen through the change in font size.
Yan Jue smiled, did not urge him, and waited quietly for Noel's reply after he had calmed down.
Pan Wencheng couldn't help feeling nervous and was also looking at the screen, hoping to get more information about Atlantis and the mermaid race from Noel.
"The textbook says that the mermaid race's power is innate and can only be stimulated through singing. The more beautiful and melodious the singing and the mermaid's voice, the greater the power that is stimulated."
"The mermaid's song can be used to confuse or charm all races except the mermaids, disturbing their minds and making them unable to resist. This power is ineffective between people of the same race."
“I, I…”
Noel repeated the word "I" several times, but nothing substantial followed.
Yan Jue waited patiently and tapped Noel's head again as a silent comfort and encouragement.
Feeling the warm touch on his head, Noel's eyes reddened. He used all his strength to close his eyes and loudly shout out his flaws: "But I am destined to be a useless fish, because I was born tone-deaf and there is no way I can sing beautifully!"
After yelling, Noel still closed his eyes, waiting for the verdict.
Teacher, will you dislike him just because he is a disabled fish?
Outside the screen that Noel couldn't see, Yan Jue looked at the two rows of words in the bubble box, which were larger and more eye-catching than any previous font size, with a subtle expression.
Being tone-deaf is indeed miserable for a race that equates singing with strength, but why does he have the illusion that he is feeding Wangwang with all his worries?
Yan Jue quickly reflected on himself, cursed himself inwardly, adjusted his attitude, and went to comfort the poor little mermaid.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
