Chapter 205 if-two little guesses 6
He Wu was on vacation. Rather than working ineffectively, she decided to relax for a few days. Normally, she was busy with work, so Tong Yinxu did most of the housework. It was a rare occasion for her to be home, and cleaning the room while listening to music felt nice.
She pushed open Tong Zhongyuan's door and saw that his room was neat, clean and bright. This was unlike most boys of his age, who were particularly organized. She was about to close the door and leave, but stopped and turned back. Her son was very cunning, and they had been competing with each other for the past few years. Was he trying to confuse her by keeping his room so clean? Perhaps he had hidden something shady and was afraid she would find it, so he deliberately created the illusion that the room didn't need to be cleaned. Adolescent boys are full of energy, so it's better not to get into bad habits.
Speaking of which, the more she thought about it these past few days, the more strange it felt. Tong Zhongyuan had always known he was going to England, but suddenly doing this didn't seem like some irrational impulse, but more like he had a concern. At his age, what else could he be concerned about? It was just a girl.
With that thought in mind, she put down the rag and went to his bedside table and desk to search. She searched for a long time, even under the bed and mattress, sweating profusely, but she found nothing unusual, at least not what she had imagined. Her gaze drifted to his computer. This kid was very cunning, and if there was anything, it was probably stored there. Never mind, let him be. Just keep hitting him slowly and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble.
Although she didn't find anything to alert her, she did find something peculiar. In the drawer of his desk was a stack of blank papers, all stamped with a single seal: "Tranquility Leads to Far-Reaching Aspirations."
She searched for a long time before finding the seal in the deepest part of the drawer. It wasn't well-carved, nowhere near as neat as those bought from outside, but the unadorned craftsmanship held a certain spirit. Could it be that someone had carved it for him? If so, the woman who had given him the seal was quite kind. She had the patience to polish a piece of stone, and the four words she had given were quite fitting. She must be... a girl, right?
She rubbed her temples and thought, "He's only 17, how could he possibly be that young?" She put his things back where they were and left his room.
In the evening, Tong Zhongyuan returned home from school, said hello to He Wu in the living room, and entered his room. He put down his schoolbag and glanced at his desk. The next second, he rushed to the desk and opened the drawer. Everything was as usual, but he knew it had been moved. He clipped a hair at the drawer entrance every morning when he left, so if the drawer was opened, the hair would float away. He reached into the deepest part of the drawer and felt the engraved seal, and breathed a sigh of relief.
He Wu saw Tong Zhongyuan come out again shortly after entering the room. He looked at her meaningfully and ran to the entrance to put on his shoes.
She felt a little guilty: "Where are you going?"
"Buy something." He replied casually, closed the door and went out.
When she was sleeping at night, she seemed to hear a rustling sound in the next room, and she pushed Tong Yinxu.
"Did you hear that noise next door?"
Tong Yinxu turned over and said drowsily, "Your son goes to bed late, don't worry about him, just go to sleep."
The next day, He Wu discovered that Tong Zhongyuan had locked all the openable drawers and cabinets in his room.
She was stunned for a minute and walked out.
After that day, the mother and son tacitly pretended nothing had happened.
Summer vacation arrived as expected. After entering high school, summer vacation was just a symbolic break from competition. Those who mastered the summer vacation were the ones who mastered their grades. But for Qin Yizhang, this was not the case.
For the past few months, my father had taken my grandfather to numerous medical appointments, despite numerous traditional Chinese medicine treatments, and his condition had only grown increasingly hazy. A few days ago, my aunt mysteriously claimed someone had recommended a private hospital with miraculous results for treating Alzheimer's disease. Doubtful, Qin Yunjie took the person there to register. After a few brief words, my grandfather was admitted to the hospital that same day.
Qin Yunjie returned to grab some things and then went to stay with his mother. The next day, my mother's husband, my uncle, fell while coming downstairs, and the doctor said he needed to stay in bed. Qin Yunjie had to take care of my grandfather alone. For the past two weeks, he'd been at work during the day and at the hospital at night, and the only time he came home was to take a shower.
Qin Yizhang was worried, but luckily it was summer vacation with plenty of time, so she would stew soup or fry some dishes every now and then and send them to the hospital. Zhang Li asked her to go shopping, but she didn't have the time, and besides, she had no money. Qin Yunjie spent a lot of money on his grandfather's illness, and his salary was not high. He would give her money for groceries every month, but he didn't remember other things, such as money for study materials and clothes. When Han Wenying was alive, she was the one who balanced these expenses, and he had no idea. All she could do was spend the money on necessary things. She knew that if she asked, her father would not refuse to give her money, but for some reason, she didn't want to ask.
Besides Zhang Li, she had several close classmates, and one person, Tong Zhongyuan, had also asked her out. On the last day of summer vacation, he asked her what she was planning to do. She honestly told him her grandfather was in the hospital, and she had to take care of some household chores. He was silent for a moment, then asked, "What can I do?"
She thought for a moment and said, "It seems like there's nothing I can do."
He didn't argue. She was telling the truth.
This sentence resonated throughout the summer, making him realize for the first time that so-called growth was an illusion. He wasn't yet mature enough to protect her from the wind and rain. In the adult world, they were just children. No, he was still a child, while she was forced to become an adult.
He Wu arranged a family trip to England during the summer vacation, perhaps still unwilling to give up, hoping to influence him with British culture and scenery. He asked, "If I don't go, can you give me the travel money I saved?" As a result, if Tong Yinxu hadn't intervened, he would probably have been beaten by her again after ten years.
Before getting on the plane, he made one last attempt: "Can I not go?"
He Wu looked at him expressionlessly. Eighteen years old, she had a feeling that eighteen was the time when their mother-son relationship would end. The only reason she could control him now was because he was still a minor.
Tong Zhongyuan had never looked forward to the start of school as much as he did now. However, he hadn't seen Qin Yizhang for three days. On the fourth day, he saw her in the corridor of the teaching building. His hand subconsciously reached into his trouser pocket, where he found a small gift he had brought back.
In order to buy it, he put several things together to cover it up, but He Wu still picked it out and asked him doubtfully: "Why did you buy this? Can you wear it?"
"You don't understand," he replied calmly, "This is a very important magical item in the book, along with the wand."
He Wu shook his head helplessly and put the things back.
You could call him a child, but he's no longer a child in both appearance and mind. You could call him an adult, but he still likes the same things as a child. Wands and quills—what's the point of having such things?
He had been carrying this little gift around with him for the past few days, thinking he could give it to her casually when he saw her. It wasn't anything expensive, and waiting until she got out of school to give it to her would have been too much of a pretense; it wasn't his style.
But this first encounter in four days, she still had a lingering female classmate beside her. Hadn't they already been separated into different classes? Why were they still together? They were chatting, and when she saw him, she smiled and said hello.
"How was your summer vacation?"
"It's okay." He answered casually.
"oh."
She withdrew her gaze and walked away with her classmates.
Zhang Li and Qin Yizhang walked a few meters and looked back curiously. Tong Zhongyuan was still standing there, deep in thought.
“Was he this cool when he was a kid?” she asked.
"No, he was very cute when he was little."
"Isn't it the looks and the personality that I'm talking about?"
Qin Yizhang smiled: "No matter his appearance or personality, he was very cute when he was a child."
Zhang Li was stunned for a second and shook his head: "I really can't imagine it."
The bell rang. Tong Zhongyuan returned to the classroom listlessly. Is it true that girls can't go to the bathroom without going together? They have to stay together all day. The little gift was still in his pocket. They had only exchanged three words during their meeting. It's not that he didn't want to ask about her recent situation, but what could he say? He knew she hadn't had a good summer. But he didn't know if it was an illusion, but she had changed again. She had grown taller, and... her breasts... her breasts seemed to have changed a little too.
Soon, he discovered that she had indeed changed and it was not his illusion.
In the physical education class of Class 7, the boys were doing pull-ups on the small playground.
The physical education teacher clapped his hands to encourage them: "17!"
He defied gravity, pulling himself above the horizontal bar, his field of vision widening. In the distance, from the playground, whistles blew and heavy objects thudded to the ground. It was the girls from Class 2 doing shot put exercises.
Qin Yizhang stretched her waist, leaned over, picked up the shot put, and threw it forward with a powerful force. Cheers erupted as she scored a perfect score on her first throw. She grinned and high-fived her classmates, and was about to leave when the teacher called her back.
Tong Zhongyuan slowly lowered himself and raised himself to the highest point again.
“18! Come on!”
She threw the ball again, and with that powerful push, her dress lifted, revealing a large section of her perfectly shaped waist in the sunlight. Another perfect score! She raised her hand in delight, then bounced a few times in place. Her dress followed suit.
He lowered himself and raised himself up again, his vision filled with her once more.
“19! Great!”
She spun around, her slender waist clearly visible. His eyes swept around her. The boys in their class were practicing long jump, but many of them had stopped to watch the girls throw the ball.
He knew where she had changed. Her school uniform was too small!
As soon as his grip loosened, he fell back to Earth from the clouds.
After the school bell rang, Qin Yizhang came back from the bathroom after washing his face, and Zhang Li had already packed his schoolbag.
"Leaving?"
She nodded, took out a tissue to wipe her face, put on her backpack and left the classroom with her.
"Have you heard about Wang Qinkai?"
"What happened to him?"
"I heard..." Zhang Li lowered his voice, "He confessed."
"With whom?"
As Qin Yizhang was speaking, his vision went dark, and a shadow fell in front of them. Zhang Li was startled and quickly stopped and looked up.
Tong Zhongyuan looked at Qin Yizhang expressionlessly against the light.
"Let's go home together today."
Qin Yizhang was startled. This wasn't the first time he'd done this. But this time was different. Zhang Li was her best friend, and they'd agreed to go eat pork tenderloin together.
"Is tomorrow okay? I have an appointment with my classmates."
Tong Zhongyuan frowned: "I have something to tell you."
Zhang Li suddenly covered his mouth and stared at Tong Zhongyuan in shock.
"What's the matter? Can I do it tomorrow..." Qin Yizhan had only said half of his sentence when Zhang Li suddenly hugged his arm.
"It suddenly occurred to me that I have something to do today and can't go back with you. You two should go home together and have a good chat."
Without waiting for her to answer, Zhang Li pushed her towards Tong Zhongyuan.
"Hey!" Qin Yizhang shouted. Zhang Li smiled and slowly waved his arms, as if he was cheering at a concert. He backed away with an auntie smile on his face.
"Let's go." Tong Zhongyuan put his hands in his pockets and raised his chin to her.
Qin Yizhang reluctantly withdrew his gaze and followed.
Another day, they walked towards the sunset, neither hurried nor slow, step by step. She wore a simple ponytail, her hair on her forehead swaying in the wind, her eyelashes like butterfly wings.
"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, tilting her head.
Three on the left, four on the right, two in the back, with students from the same school all around him. He withdrew his gaze, pinched her sleeve with three fingers and pulled it.
“This road.”
He turned into an alley and motioned for her to follow him.
Qin Yizhang was confused. She knew this alley and there was an exit at the other end, but it would be a bit of a detour.
Tong Zhongyuan walked for a while, then saw that no one was around, so he slowed down and touched the small box in his trouser pocket for the first time. Over the past few days, this gift had been kept close to his body, warmed by his body heat.
"Here you go." This time he finally took it out successfully and handed it to her.
"What is this?" Qin Yizhang asked hesitantly.
"Gift." He mumbled the word, "Take it."
Qin Yizhang's slender fingers carefully fell on his palm and picked up the gift.
"Can I open it?"
He turned his head away and looked at a damp spot on the rubble wall of the alley. "Whatever you want."
Qin Yizhang scraped the adhesive off the wrapping paper with his fingernails and unfolded it, revealing a small, delicate leather box. She looked up at him and opened the box—a golden necklace lay inside.
She was stunned. Why did he give her a necklace? Before she opened it, she thought it was a badge or something.
Tong Zhongyuan saw the surprise on her face, and this strange look made him feel inexplicably ashamed.
"Time-Turner, wear it casually," he said nonchalantly.
"Time converter?" Qin Yi Zhang didn't react and repeated it.
"It's from Harry Potter," he reached out to take the necklace and pointed at the hourglass inside the pendant, "Hermione used it to save Sirius."
Qin Yizhang remembered. So that's why he gave her a necklace. She nodded.
"It's really beautiful." She picked up the necklace and looked at its delicate little hourglass in the sunlight.
The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, her slender neck was like a piece of white porcelain, and her fluffy hair trembled in the wind. His heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably, and his mouth felt a little dry.
"You... want me to help you put it on..."
With a "click", Qin Yizhang closed the lid of the box, folded the wrapping paper, lowered his head and put it in his schoolbag.
"Thank you. I like it very much."
Tong Zhongyuan turned his head again: "I brought it with me when I was shopping."
Qin Yizhang gave him a big smile. Because she knew that such a gift was definitely not something that could be brought casually. Even if it was a time converter, it was still a necklace. A gift for such a girl might have been chosen by Aunt He for her.
Under the golden-red sunset, they walked slowly back home in the century-old alley.
The remaining distance was shortening, and he hadn't said what he wanted to say yet. He might as well say it, because if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
"Qin Yizhang, your school uniform is too small. You can buy a new one."
Qin Yizhang was a little surprised. She hadn't expected Tong Zhongyuan, who wasn't in the same class as her, to notice it. The uniform was indeed a little small, especially the pants, which were a little short.
"Well, summer is almost over. I'll buy a new one next year."
Tong Zhongyuan stopped and asked: "Why wait until next year?"
"Because I'm still growing. If I buy it now, it might be too short when I wear it next year."
"But..." He couldn't help but say, "But your clothes are too small."
After saying this, his ears immediately became hot. He lowered his head to adjust his schoolbag and said quickly, "Besides, you won't grow taller, so buy a new one now."
The atmosphere was fine just now, but when these words came out, Qin Yizhang felt a tightness in his chest.
"Who says I can't grow taller? I drink milk every day. If I grow another 3 centimeters, I'll be 1.7 meters tall."
"Listen to the point. If clothes are too small, you have to buy new ones," he argued.
"Tong Zhongyuan, why do you care so much?" she shouted in dissatisfaction.
He stood there, staring at her blankly. The sunset shone on her, revealing her graceful curves beneath her tight-fitting school uniform, and an innocent look of annoyance on her upturned face.
He suddenly realized that he could not refute this sentence.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com