Chapter Twelve
"What do you want to buy?" Zhou Mo naturally took over the conversation.
Zhang Xing stood still, his gaze following Zhou Mo, who had casually placed her schoolbag on a rattan chair beside her. These two children always gave off a 'difficult' feeling, but as an elder, he couldn't really say anything.
"Buy some fruit, he looks like he's almost dried up." Zhang Xinglin added, "I gave him the money."
Zhou Mo nodded, mentally considering the papers she hadn't finished and the subjects she needed to review, and then made a decision, "I'll go with you."
Yu Xi: "I thought you would stop him from enslaving me."
Zhang Xing slammed the kettle down. "There are no slaves in the new China! Go read some books."
Yu Xi didn't even spare Zhang Xing a glance. He stared straight at Zhou Mo, and Zhou Mo could even see a hint of pleading in his eyes. If she didn't know Yu Xi, Zhou Mo probably would have given in.
"It's not enough for me to be familiar with the prices at the market; you need to be too."
Yu Xi's eyes widened, as if he were accusing Zhou Mo of not being on his side.
Zhou Mo followed his example, not even giving him a glance, and grabbed the drawstring of his hoodie as she walked out.
"Hey, you, Zhou Mo, let go!"
"Suckling~" Zhou Mo not only didn't let go as instructed, but instead walked backwards, holding the rope with one hand and beckoning to Yu Xi with the other, like teasing a dog.
The two had already left the courtyard, but Zhang Xing, who was still inside, could still hear their laughter and banter. The sounds faded into the distance as they walked away, but his settled thoughts drew ever closer to him.
Perhaps it's good for the two kids to stay together; that way, he'll have a reason to take care of Zhou Mo.
He could tell that Zhou Mo didn't want to have anything to do with him, and he also knew that Zhou Mo was a very principled child. From the moment he heard that she refused her aunt's offer to adopt her, he knew that this child was different from others.
However, Zhou Mo's uniqueness is different from Yu Xi's uniqueness.
Zhou Mo is a child 'restrained' by love, while Yu Xi is a child 'exiled' by love.
Zhang Xing sighed, "Oh well, I guess this is what the class monitor meant by fate."
Thinking of the class monitor, Zhang Xing recalled that upsetting incident. He hesitated whether to tell Zhou Mo, even if he suppressed it now, people would probably gossip about it later.
Perhaps he shouldn't have underestimated Zhou Mo.
I'll tell her when she gets back.
Zhou Mo used to come to the market with her family to buy groceries. She would follow behind her mother, picking out the vegetables she liked and discussing recipes with her. Sometimes her father would come along when he wasn't busy, and the three of them would discuss what to have for dinner. Her father would make soup, her mother would stir-fry the vegetables, and she would help set the rice cooker. A meal was a testament to the combined culinary skills of the three of them.
As Zhou Mo pondered, her mind wandered far away. The past days were so wonderful; just thinking about even a little bit of them caused memories to multiply endlessly, filling her entire brain and leaving her no time to think about anything else.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her by the back of her collar, and she stopped abruptly. Startled, Zhou Mo stared blankly at the telephone pole in front of her. Yu Xi's voice came from behind her, "Watch where you're going."
“There used to be no telephone poles here,” Zhou Mo murmured to herself, looking at the objects she didn’t remember.
"If the old one is broken, a new one must be erected."
Zhou Mo: "Oh."
"oh."
Zhou Mo glanced at Yu Xi, "Don't mimic me."
"Don't mimic me."
"Yu Xi, I'm so bored."
"Zhou Mo, I'm so bored."
Yu Xi always pulls a different trick just when Zhou Mo thinks she knows him well. Yu Xi seems to really enjoy catching her off guard.
Zhou Mo lowered her eyes, thinking that she couldn't say that, perhaps Yu Xi was just that kind of person.
What kind of fruit would you like to eat?
"Except for Apple."
See, Yu Xi can distinguish between joking and serious matters.
He did it on purpose; he owed it.
Yu Xi is a cheeky little dog.
"sugar cane?"
"Eating sugarcane this season, is it a matter of who's drier, me or him?"
Zhou Mo glanced at Yu Xi, who shrugged. "Then besides apples and sugarcane."
Finally, Zhou Mo bought a bag of pears, a few star fruits, and a packet of walnut kernels.
Yu Xi carried the things, of course.
"Are walnuts considered fruit?"
"Walnuts stewed with pears will soothe your brain and throat."
Who eats like this?
Zhou Mo stopped, looked up and met Yu Xi's gaze, then gave a very fake smile, "This is how we'll eat from now on."
After she finished speaking, she stopped looking at Yu Xi's expression and walked away on her own. This time, she remembered the location of the telephone pole and walked around it without looking to the side.
Yu Xi stood there, watching Zhou Mo's retreating figure, her eyes deep and unfathomable. "Our...home?"
"When there are many people, it feels like home."
Zhang Xing glanced left at Zhou Mo, who was writing her test paper, and right at Yu Xi, who was holding a pear and staring blankly. He sat in the middle, feeling restless and anxious.
What's going on?
I went out to buy some fruit, and they didn't even have to pay for it. Why is the atmosphere so tense when I came back?
Did you have a fight?
It doesn't look like it.
No, what's it like when these two argue? I...I...can't imagine.
He can handle the difference between fighting on missions and taking care of children, but he's completely helpless with the latter.
"These pears are really well chosen."
"Uncle Zhang, I'm doing my test paper."
"Oh, did I disturb you? I'm sorry."
Zhang Xing chuckled awkwardly twice and turned to look at Yu Xi, but Yu Xi ignored him and continued to study the patterns on the pear.
The quiet atmosphere lasted until after ten o'clock when a sudden stomach growl echoed throughout the living room. Zhang Xing, who was drowsy, didn't realize where he was for a moment. Hearing the noise, he instinctively got up and became alert.
Zhou Mo: "..." There's no need for that.
Yu Xi finally shifted her gaze from the pear to Zhou Mo, "I'm hungry."
Zhang Xing glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's only a little past ten o'clock. You ate so much for dinner, are you still hungry?"
"Hungry." Yu Xi didn't say anything more.
Zhang Xing sighed and grumbled as he walked towards the kitchen, "You cook for me but don't feed me, and now I have to cook for you when I'm hungry."
Zhou Mo looked at Yu Xi, and Yu Xi's gaze brushed against the edge of the pear's curves and met her eyes. It was just a glance, and Zhou Mo blinked. Yu Xi was still looking at the pear, as if the eye contact just now was just her imagination.
Are you hungry?
Upon hearing Zhou Mo's question, Yu Xi nodded hesitantly.
Then Yu Xi saw Zhou Mo stand up and walk towards him with a smile, "I'll add a dessert for you, stewed pear with walnuts."
Zhou Mo didn't give him a chance to refuse; she took the pear from his hand and turned to go into the kitchen.
"My pear."
"No, it's made from walnut kernels."
Yu Xi weakly retorted, "It's mine."
Zhou Mo pretended not to hear and made a point of closing the door when she went into the kitchen.
Zhang Xing, who was busy in the kitchen, heard the noise and thought it was Yu Xi, that heartless brat, coming to urge him to eat. But when he turned around, he saw Zhou Mo holding a pear. "Hungry?"
"I'm hungry, my stomach was growling just now." Zhou Mo rinsed the pear in her hand and placed it on a plate next to her.
Zhang Xing was a little unsure what Zhou Mo wanted to do. "What do you want to eat?"
"It will be all right."
Zhang Xing nodded and continued with his work, but Zhou Mo hadn't left yet.
"Is there anything else?"
"Uncle Zhang, is there something you want to tell me?"
The two voices rang out at the same time. Zhang Xing was both surprised and impressed by Zhou Mo's keen intuition. If she could get into a police academy or military academy in the future, that would be wonderful.
How did you know?
Zhou Mo looked down at the spots on the pear, but after a long time she couldn't see anything different about it. "When I entered the yard today, you saw the same expression on my face as on yours that day."
That day?
Which day?
Seeing Zhou Mo's evasive gaze, Zhang Xing immediately understood which day it was—the day they first met.
He was the one who brought her the news of her parents' deaths.
Now that things have come to this point, there's no point in hiding it anymore. He glanced at the door Zhou Mo had closed. "You don't want him to know?"
"There are things he should know."
This means that there are things Zhang Xing shouldn't know.
Zhang Xing chuckled and shook his head. Zhou Mo was truly an extraordinary child.
But he quickly put on a serious expression. "I've never told you why your father was transferred to civilian work. It was because of a leg injury, so..."
Zhou Mo listened quietly.
"During this earthquake, your father went back to check if any students had been left behind in the building. Our investigation confirmed that your father did find one student, but an accident occurred when he was about to take him out. The student escaped, but your father..."
Zhou Mo's expression remained unchanged.
Her sorrow and her tears never stopped, but they were no longer outwardly expressed.
But she still managed to blink quickly when Zhang Xing wasn't looking at her.
“Your father could have received an honor.”
“He doesn’t care about reputation when he does things.” Zhou Mo interrupted Zhang Xing before he could finish speaking, “He did this not to have others sing his praises of how great he is, he was just doing what he thought was right.”
Zhang Xing sighed, "Yes, but there are always people who don't think that way."
"No one knows what happened inside the building at that time except for that child and your father. The matter of honor had already been reported, but that child suddenly changed his story, saying that your father did not go back to save people, and that he did not die inside because of saving him."
"The child's family somehow obtained your father's medical records and learned about his leg injury. They insist that his sacrifice was due to his injury, not selflessness. The child also said many things that were detrimental to your father's reputation, but these have been suppressed. An investigation team has been set up to investigate, and the results will be made public once the investigation is complete."
"I didn't even know he had an injury on his leg."
Zhou Mo had lived with Zhou Qinian for so many years and never knew that Zhou Qinian had a leg injury. This shows that the injury had been almost healed over the years. Zhou Qinian also exercised regularly, so how could it have relapsed at that time?
Moreover, the child's logic is self-contradictory. Zhou Qinian really went into the building to evacuate the students, and many students can testify to this.
unless……
Zhou Mo looked at Zhang Xing, "What exactly did he say?"
“He said that your father went back to get evidence of taking kickbacks, and that he was not there to save people at all. He also said that when he found out, your father even wanted to kill him to cover it up.”
“He’s bullying my dad, bullying him because he can’t talk anymore.”
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