Chapter 74: Postgraduate Study Ruined (7)
7
At night, Father Xia drove Zhu Qingchen to the teachers' apartment building.
"Teacher, take care. Thank you so much for taking our Xiao Shu out for dinner."
As Father Xia said this, he also wanted to get him some fruit, which he must have bought on the way.
Zhu Qingchen waved his hand quickly and picked up the sour plum soup in his hand: "No, this is enough. Thank you, and thank you to Xia Shu's mother for making sour plum soup for us."
"You're welcome. Our whole family is very happy that you can take care of Xiao Shu. Thank you very much."
It was obvious that Father Xia was really grateful and he said "thank you" dozens of times along the way.
Zhu Qingchen exchanged a few words with him, said goodbye, and went back upstairs.
In the car, Father Xia looked back at Xia Shu and said, "Do you want to go home with Dad? Or go back to the dormitory?"
Xia Shu said sullenly, "I want to go home with my dad."
Father Xia started the car: "Not working tomorrow?"
Xia Shu said: "Take a day off and stay at home with Xiao Chi."
Father Xia looked back at him and drove the car at a low speed on the campus.
Today is Saturday. Many students went out to play and have just come back. I am walking on the road laughing, holding the little gadget L I bought on the road, reminiscing about the happiness of the day.
"Xiao Shu, if you like to have dinner together or hang out with your classmates, you can go out and play. You don't have to stay at home all the time."
"No." Xia Shu shook her head, "I like staying at home with Xiao Chi."
Father Xia sighed and said nothing more.
If possible, he still hopes that Xia Shu can go out and play more like other college students.
We returned home in silence.
In order to pay for Xia Chi's medical treatment, the family sold their house and now lives in a residential building in the old city.
This house was left to them by their grandfather before he passed away.
Father Xia parked his car downstairs. A few familiar elderly people were sitting downstairs enjoying the cool air. When they saw Xia Shu getting out of the car, they waved their palm-leaf fans and greeted him, "Xiao Shu is back?"
Xia Shu nodded politely: "Well, let's go home."
The residential building is old, with iron sliding doors and iron railings that are already rusty, and a stale smell fills the corridor.
The Xia family's house was on the third floor, and Xia Shu went upstairs with her father.
An ordinary two-bedroom, one-living room apartment seems a bit crowded for a family of four.
Father Xia took out the key and opened the door.
Although the Xia family's home is crowded, it is not shabby. The wallpaper with small florals, the warm yellow lights, and the sound of the TV coming from the living room all make this home look extremely cozy.
Mother Xia was watching TV in the living room while waiting for them to come home.
Xia Chi's room door was wide open. He was in his room, listening to TV and drawing on his second-hand digital tablet.
Father Xia shouted, "We are back!"
us?
Xia Chi and Xia's mother reacted immediately and rushed out from the living room and the room.
"Xiao Shu is back too?"
"elder brother!"
They thought Xia Shu went back to the dormitory after eating outside, but they didn't expect Xia Shu to come back.
Seeing Xia Shu's appearance, both of them were stunned for a moment, but they quickly reacted.
Mother Xia turned and walked into the kitchen, asking casually, "Are you full after eating outside? Do you want to eat something more? How about you, Old Xia? Do you want to have some midnight snack?"
"No, I'm not hungry."
"Yes, I want to eat noodles."
The two brothers' voices rang out at the same time.
Mother Xia turned around and looked at him helplessly: "You didn't go out, what did you eat for supper?"
Xia Chi looked innocent: "Mom, I'm hungry from painting."
Mother Xia cooked a big pot of noodles, and the family of four had a simple meal in front of the coffee table in the living room.
Xia Chi asked excitedly: "Brother, what delicious food is there in this super high-end restaurant?"
In fact, Xia Shu himself didn't care much about what he ate, but he couldn't stand Xia Chi pestering him to tell him, so he could only try his best to recall and then tell Xia Chi.
The family ate noodles and watched the TV series that were broadcast today.
Ten o'clock at night.
After taking a shower, Xia Shu walked into the room in her pajamas.
The two brothers shared a room and slept on bunk beds. Xia Chi had already taken a shower and was lying on the lower bunk.
He was clearly about to fall asleep, but he was still forcing himself to stay asleep. When he heard his brother opening the door, he immediately opened his eyes.
"elder brother……"
"Yeah." Xia Shu responded, turned off the lights, and climbed onto the upper bed.
Xia Chi wrapped himself in a blanket and asked casually, "Brother, is there something wrong?"
Xia Shu lay down: "What? Why do you suddenly ask this?"
"When you came back, your eyes were red. Mom and Dad saw it and asked me to ask you."
Xia Shu’s acting skills were not good at all, and everyone in the family could tell as soon as he showed up.
He must have cried.
So just now, his mother fried him a poached egg, and Xia Chi pestered him and talked to him.
Although they didn't know what was going on, they all wanted to make him happy.
Xia Chi poked his head out from below and looked at him seriously: "Brother, did you make a fool of yourself by not having been to that restaurant? Did you mistake the hand washing water for drinking water?"
Xia Shu was helpless: "Have you watched too many TV dramas?"
"No." Xia Chi blinked, "We are all very worried about you."
"Um……"
Xia Shu thought of what Teacher Zhu had just said to him.
Don't deliberately hide things from your family. Tell them when the time is right.
It was better for him to tell them now than to meet Zhou Ziqian on the road later and be humiliated by him.
Xia Shu pursed her lips and made up her mind.
He climbed down from the upper bunk and moved to the lower bunk, squeezing together with his younger brother.
Xia Chi moved inside to make room for his brother.
The bed is a little small, and they often slept together when they were young. Now that they have grown up, they rarely sleep together.
The curtains were drawn, and moonlight faintly filtered in, shining on the bed.
Xia Shu whispered, "Xiao Chi, I want to tell you something, but you have to promise not to get too emotional and to control your emotions."
"Yeah." Xia Chi nodded and covered his chest, "Don't worry, brother."
"I..." Xia Shu said calmly, "Zhou Ziqian and I broke up."
"Ah?" Xia Chi was a little surprised, but he was far from excited. "Why? What happened?"
While Xia Shu was still organizing his words, Xia Chi had already started to adjust himself and comfort his brother.
"It doesn't matter. When people are in a relationship, they will break up eventually. And this is my first love, so how could we not break up? Besides, that guy must have done something bad to make me break up with him."
In just a moment, the way he addressed Zhou Ziqian changed from "Brother Ziqian" to "that guy."
Xia Shu smiled and said, "Because he lied to me."
Xia Chi had an expression of "I knew it" on his face.
It must be that man who is sorry to my brother!
Xia Shu continued, "I originally thought that he was a student working part-time in the cafe like me, but he lied to me. He wasn't working at all."
"His family is very rich. He probably approached me on purpose to show off to his friends."
"What?" Xia Chi suddenly sat up from the bed.
Xia Shu was startled by him and quickly patted his chest: "Xiao Chi, don't be so excited, my brother has broken up with him, it's okay."
Xia Chi slapped the bed hard: "I'm so angry! How could he lie to me?"
"It's okay." Xia Shu stroked his heart, "We've broken up. As soon as I found out he lied to me, I broke up with him right away."
"Yes, we should break up." Xia Chi argued, "No matter how rich his family is, his motives for approaching you were not pure in the first place. You must not let yourself be wronged."
"I understand." Xia Shu touched his head, "Don't be so excited."
At this time, my parents knocked on the door outside: "Xiao Shu, Xiao Chi, what are you two arguing about? What's going on?"
Xia Chi lay back on the bed obediently. Xia Shu turned around and said, "It's okay. Xiao Chi and I are chatting."
"It's so late, go to bed early."
"knew."
The two brothers lay back on the bed and lowered their voices.
Xia Shu was afraid of upsetting his brother, so he didn't say too many details about his relationship with Zhou Ziqian, nor did he say how he discovered that Zhou Ziqian had lied to him, nor did he mention the bad attitude Zhou Ziqian and his friends had towards him.
He just talked about it briefly. He followed Teacher Zhu to a restaurant for dinner and happened to meet Zhou Ziqian, and then he found out.
Xia Chi clenched his fists and said, "Fortunately, my brother found out early, otherwise I would have been deceived by him forever."
"Yeah." Xia Shu held his fist and asked him to let go. "Don't worry, I won't be fooled so easily."
"I thought he was a good person before." Xia Chi gritted his teeth, "Next time I see him, I will bite him to death."
Xia Shu was startled and said quickly: "Next time you see him on the road, ignore him and pretend you don't know him, okay?"
Xia Chi felt sorry for his brother, so he naturally refused and was eager to try.
Xia Shu said seriously: "Brother has already taken care of this matter. Your first task is to protect yourself and don't run around."
Xia Chi did not speak, and Xia Shu's tone became more serious: "Anyway, Zhou Ziqian doesn't know you, and he won't know you in the future. Don't pay attention to him. Do you hear me?" Xia Shu asked one last time: "Do you hear me?"
"I heard it." Xia Chi nodded helplessly, "When I recover from my illness, the first thing I will do is to beat him up."
Xia Shu smiled and patted Xia Chi's head: "When you get better, I'll go with you to beat him up."
"Yeah." Xia Chi paused and asked, "How is Teacher Zhu doing recently?"
"Teacher Zhu is very good, why are you suddenly asking about him?"
"We are good friends."
The two brothers chatted in whispers for a while, and soon Xia Chi fell asleep.
Xia Shu climbed up to the upper bunk quietly and went back to her own bed to sleep.
He lay flat on the bed and let out a long breath.
He was busy comforting his brother and taking care of his emotions. Now thinking back, it seems...
Being cheated is not so hard to accept.
Teacher Zhu is right, it’s not his fault.
The emotions that have been invested cannot be taken back, and the only thing he can do now is to stop wasting time.
Xia Shu relaxed completely and sank into the soft bed.
Xia Chi, who was in the lower bunk, waved his fist: "Get out of here, you bastard... Don't lie to my brother..."
Xia Shu turned over, reached out to the lower bunk, touched his brother's furry head, and waited until he fell asleep quietly before turning over and lying down.
He was planning in his mind how to spend tomorrow, whether to take Xiaochi out to play or stay at home and read with him, and fell asleep like this.
*
The next day, Xia's parents took out one day of their saved annual leave and stayed at home to spend time with their two sons.
At eight o'clock in the morning, a family of four was having breakfast in the living room.
Mother Xia asked: "It's rare that all of us are at home, do you want to go out and play?"
Xia Shu shook her head: "I would rather stay at home. It seems like I haven't been back for a long time."
"Okay." Mother Xia said, "Then stay home. Mom and Dad will go buy some ingredients for making dumplings later, and we'll come back and make dumplings."
"Yeah." Xia Shu nodded.
After a while, L saw that everyone in the family had finished eating, and Xia Shu also put down his bowl and chopsticks.
He whispered, "Mom and Dad, I have something I want to tell you."
"Yeah." Xia's parents looked at him seriously, "What's wrong?"
"I..." Xia Shu took a deep breath, "I started dating a year ago, but I didn't dare tell you at the time. Yesterday..."
Xia Shu told her parents everything. After a long time without any response from them, she thought they were angry, so she raised her head cautiously and looked at them.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong, I shouldn't have..."
Xia Chi hugged him tightly and said, "Brother is right, it's that scumbag who is wrong."
Mother Xia also came forward and hugged him: "Yes, it's not your fault."
Father Xia's face turned pale and he paced back and forth in the living room without saying a word. He wished he could skin Zhou Ziqian alive.
Xia Shu leaned in her mother's arms and wanted to comfort them: "Mom, I'm not sad anymore."
His tears had run dry last night, and his emotions had also run out last night.
He will not waste time on Zhou Ziqian anymore.
Mother Xia hugged him tightly, shed tears, and choked up, "But mom will be sad..."!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
