Chapter 15 Let's Study Together During the Bitter Summer
The next day, Shen Qingli still went home.
At her grandparents' house, Shen's parents arrived early in the morning. They looked at Shen Qingli with somewhat embarrassed expressions.
Shen Qingli's grandparents scolded her and wanted to say something harsher, but seeing her silently and obediently accepting the scolding, they suddenly couldn't bear to say anything more.
“Xiaoli, be a good girl and go home with your mom and dad. Don’t do this again, okay? Your mom and dad didn’t mean it. They know they were wrong. The money has been found. They misunderstood you.” Grandpa Shen acted as a peacemaker, advising her.
Hearing this, Shen Qingli looked up at her parents. Since this incident, they had never apologized to her.
She didn't know if making her parents apologize was such a terrible thing. All she knew was that she was the one who had been slandered yesterday, and in their eyes, she had always been a bad child with a bad nature.
They wouldn't doubt Shen Qingyun, whom they had raised since childhood, but they would doubt their second daughter, who had been abandoned in the countryside for many years.
Thinking of this, she felt a tightness in her chest. The emotions that had calmed down a bit yesterday at Xia Lin's house were now growing wildly in her chest. She wanted to say something loudly, but when she looked at her grandparents' hopeful yet cautious eyes, they were comforting her with their eyes and silently pleading with her.
Seeing this, she bit her lip hard and swallowed the words that were about to come out. At that moment, she felt like she had eaten a bowl of undercooked rice; swallowing it didn't work, and spitting it out seemed impossible.
She lowered her eyelids sadly and, under the silent gaze of everyone in front of her, reluctantly walked to the side of her parents.
Shen Qingli didn't even know if it was just her imagination, but she felt a sense of oppression as soon as she stepped next to them. She was going back to that home she didn't like at all, and she was going to continue living the same old life.
Everyone will pretend that nothing happened last night, and her tears and suffering on that rainy night will become a trivial matter to them.
She couldn't help but wonder, if being misunderstood happens once, will it happen countless times in the future?
When Shen's parents saw her compromise under the pressure of her grandparents' gazes, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They felt that she was a sensible child who wouldn't dwell on yesterday's events and make things difficult for them as parents. Thinking of this, their gazes towards her softened considerably.
But Shen Qingli was unaware of their inner thoughts. She simply felt that she did not have the right to be angry and throw a tantrum at her parents. She thought that if she did not want to go back, the couple would probably be happy to leave her behind.
Although at this moment she was actually hoping they would leave her in the countryside and never take her back, it was clear that her grandparents would not agree.
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Forced to leave her home, just before getting into the car, Grandma Shen seemed to suddenly remember something and came out to stop her.
"Wait a minute. Xiaoli stayed at Xia Lin's house yesterday. I'm sorry to have troubled her and Xia Qing. I'll take some things and go with Xiaoli to thank them before you leave."
"Oh right, I almost forgot about that. Why don't you stay for lunch before you leave?" Grandma Shen's words reminded Grandpa Shen, who seemed to have suddenly remembered it and echoed her sentiment.
Upon hearing this, Chen's mother hesitated for a moment. She glanced at her daughter, who was standing motionless beside her, sighed helplessly, and agreed, "Alright, then I'll call Xiaoyun and ask her to heat up some food from home."
......
After a while, Grandma Shen specially picked some fresh, ripe fruit from the field, washed it, put it on a plate, and then knocked on Xia Lin's door with Shen Qingli.
"They're here."
Hearing the knock, Xia Lin opened the door and was surprised to see Shen Qingli and her grandmother. "Grandma Qingli, what brings you here?"
"Xia, thank you so much for what happened to Xiaoli yesterday. These are fruits we grow ourselves, guaranteed to be natural and clean. I took some for you and Xiaqing to try."
As soon as she finished speaking, Grandma Shen shoved the plate in her hand into Xia Lin's arms.
"Hey, hey, hey, no need to be so polite. We're all neighbors, it's nothing." Seeing how enthusiastic Grandma Chen was, Xia Lin was a little overwhelmed. She quickly turned around and called out to Xia Qing, "Xia Qing, Grandma Qingli and the others are here. Can you bring out a clean bowl?"
"OK."
Xia Qing's voice came from inside the house. Shen Qingli immediately heard footsteps. She looked up and saw him wearing pajamas, looking sleepy, and walking to the door with something in his hand.
Upon seeing her, he blinked, subconsciously smoothed his hair, and then politely greeted Grandma Chen, "Hello, Grandma Chen."
After he finished speaking, he nodded to Shen Qingli, who noticed and forced a smile in return.
"Hey Xiaqing, I haven't seen you for several days, and you seem to have grown taller again."
Charlene put the fruit in her bowl into her own, casually asking as she did so, "Kids grow so fast at this age. I noticed Qingli has lost a bit of weight since she came back. This is a crucial stage for growth, she can't skip meals just to lose weight. By the way, is Qingli staying here for a while this time?"
Upon hearing this, Xia Qing subconsciously glanced at Shen Qingli, who hadn't said much from the beginning, and seeing her pale face, she guessed what was going on.
Sure enough, the next second, Grandma Shen said, "We're not staying here. She's going back to the city with her parents soon."
"So fast?" Xia Lin was somewhat surprised to hear this.
"Yes, it's just a small matter. Parents and children don't hold grudges overnight, do they?" Grandma Chen smiled, clearly not taking the matter seriously.
They all dismissed the incident as a minor tantrum by Shen Qingli, completely unaware that it actually concerned her self-esteem and reputation.
Charlene didn't answer her question. She turned around awkwardly and exchanged a glance with her son beside her. Everything was understood without words.
Hearing her grandmother's words, Shen Qingli, who was already looking down, lowered her head even further.
She desperately wants to dig a hole and bury herself so she won't have to face all these things.
Xia Lin knew that she was obviously unwilling to go back. She thought for a while and called out to them before Grandma Shen pulled her away: "Hey, Grandma Qingli, didn't you ask Xia Qing if she had enrolled in any tutoring classes?"
“Yes, yes, isn’t Xiaoli a little weak in Chinese? Her grandfather and I are thinking of enrolling her in a tutoring class to help her improve.” Grandma Shen was successfully drawn into the conversation by this topic and started talking to Xia Lin.
“I’ve looked around, but the tutoring centers these days are expensive, and with so many people in a class, I don’t know how effective they are.”
"Yes... her grandfather and I were worried that we would spend money and it wouldn't be effective."
“So…” Following up on the conversation, Xia Lin made a suggestion: “Here’s what I’m thinking: Xia Qing has always done well in Chinese, but he’s a bit weak in English. It just so happens that Qing Li is good at English. I was thinking that the two children could complement each other and share their learning experiences this summer. I think it might be more useful than tutoring classes outside. What do you think?”
As soon as Xia Lin finished speaking, Shen Qingli looked up in surprise. She looked at the two people in front of her, clearly this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and even Xia Qing didn't know about it.
But Grandma Shen was clearly willing: "Is it okay? Xia Qing's grades are so good, I definitely have no objection if he tutors Xiao Li. I just don't know what the two children think."
When he heard his mother nudge him, he glanced at Xia Lin. The two of them exchanged a silent glance. He quickly understood his mother's intention, so he looked down at Shen Qingli before smiling politely at Grandma Shen and saying, "Grandma Shen, I'm fine with that. Shen Qingli was very good at English in junior high school, and I'd like to learn from her."
When Shen Qingli heard the person in front of her praising her so earnestly for the first time, she felt a little out of place.
She winked at him, somewhat surprised that he would agree.
"And what about you, Qingli?" Xia Lin called out to her, who was lost in thought.
"Oh? Me, I'm fine with that too." She understood that this sudden suggestion was made for her sake, so she pursed her lips and gave them a grateful smile.
When Grandma Shen saw that both children agreed, she beamed with joy. She pulled Xia Lin aside to thank her and said she would go home and discuss it with Grandpa Shen and the others.
Seeing this, Xia Lin said she would go with her, leaving Shen Qingli and Xia Qing standing at the door.
They stared at each other blankly for a moment, and finally, Xia Qing called her in to sit down and wait for her mother's "triumphant return".
Hearing his unusually humorous words, Shen Qingli couldn't help but chuckle. She nodded and whispered "Thank you" to him.
-
On the other side, Xia Lin also advised Grandma Chen, "Grandma Qingli, the child is all grown up now, she's not a little kid anymore. You still need to pay more attention to her mental well-being. Many things that aren't a big deal for you might be a big deal for a child her age. Besides, you two have watched her grow up since she was little, are you really willing to let her go to the city? Furthermore, once high school starts and she gets busy with her studies, Qingli will be able to come back less and less often, and you'll miss her terribly then."
"Yes... It's not that the old man is insisting, but he's worried that the child won't be close to her parents after being separated for so long, so he wants Xiaoli to spend more time with them..."
Charlene's words struck a chord with Grandma Chen. The old woman sighed and couldn't help but share many of her innermost thoughts with Charlene.
However, thanks to Xia Lin, Shen Qingli finally got the right to live in the countryside temporarily. But it seemed that in order to maintain the so-called family relationship, Grandpa Shen required her to go back to the city for seven days a month and not stay here all the time. After all, she would have to go back to live there after school started. Whether she wanted to or not, she had to get used to living in the city.
It was very troublesome, but no one could go against the demands of the head of the household, so the others had no choice but to compromise.
But this was still better than living in the city for the entire summer vacation. And so, Shen Qingli began her summer vacation of tutoring, which was like a "commuter school".
A note from the author:
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