Chapter Twenty-Two
How can you just dismiss it like that?
Zhou Mo felt pain just listening to it. How could a family member burn their own child to death? How could someone claiming to be family restrict a child's growth?
She grew up surrounded by love, only occasionally sensing some malice, but most of the time, her parents shielded her from it, paving a wide and smooth path for her.
Therefore, Zhou Mo couldn't imagine how a person could be so despicable.
How can a person be so peaceful?
"Yu Xi, do you want to go to school?"
Zhou Mo's question was asked with great caution.
Yu Xi didn't reply; his gaze returned to the clock. "Don't you want to hear more about my story with Qi Kai and the others?"
"If you want to talk, I'll listen; if you don't want to talk, I won't listen." Zhou Mo pinched the rabbit's ears and wiped away the tears on her cheeks. She knew where her strengths lay, and she also knew that obedient children always won others' favor.
In the past, Yu Xi was good at arguing, but she couldn't come up with any beautiful words to comfort her.
So she wanted to go along with Yu Xi and make him happy.
Why? Because they are already family.
"So obedient, sir, head of the household."
Every time Yu Xi said "head of the family," his tone was light and casual, as if he were joking, but his expression was always very serious, so Zhou Mo didn't feel offended at all.
"I'll give you some special privileges so you won't accuse me of being a dictator."
Yu Xi curled the corners of her lips. "You've been friends with Qi Xiao for so long, you probably know a bit about their family, right? When I met Qi Kai, I was still a bit confused. Not long after, the old man rescued me and beat me up. At that time, Qi Kai stood up for me and said, 'We're friends.'"
Friend, Yu Xi didn't quite understand what it meant at that time, but for the first time, his empty heart felt filled. He thought that this must be a very important treasure, so he should cherish it.
He knows too little, so he doesn't understand that the tighter you hold something in your palm, the easier it is to lose it.
Excessive possession quickly aroused Qi Kai's impatience.
The young man's mood was uncertain, and he didn't believe that a casual remark he made could become a sacred principle for others. Thus, disagreements arose.
Qi Kai has more friends, more family, and more support.
Yu Xi had nothing but the injuries he sustained from being beaten by the old man while trying to see Qi Kai, and the old man's sarcastic remarks echoing in his mind.
He shouldn't have understood those words.
But at the moment he lost his friend, he seemed to gain wisdom and suddenly understood.
He stopped going out and started staying in the yard, but the old man seemed to have changed and started urging him to go out for a walk.
Humans are truly strange creatures. Yu Xi wandered aimlessly through the streets and saw the dog locked in the cage again. It was on its last breath, lying there barely breathing, and you could only hear the mournful howl emanating from its very bones if you got close.
Yu Xi thought it was crying for help, but he had nothing, not even a dog.
"are you hungry?"
Yu Xi returned home and took out the steamed buns she had hidden for a long time to feed the dog. The dog ate them, and then the dog died.
The dog is dead.
This was the first time he had faced death and understood its meaning.
Just like his missing front teeth that he couldn't get back in, the first teacher who gave him that 'dog-like' self-awareness also left.
He stared silently at the dog's body, his mind blank. No one had taught him how to give a eulogy, nor had anyone told him that he could wish the dog a better next life at this moment.
An old beggar, about the same age as his maternal grandfather, wandered over and stared at the dog's corpse with an expression on his face. Yu Xi immediately realized what was happening and stood protectively in front of the dog.
The beggar looked at Yu Xi with disdain, "What? You want a piece too?"
"It's dead."
"It's just a dog dying, it's not a person, why are you making such a fuss?"
Yu Xi made his move for the first time, and Qi Kai's sister, Qi Xiao, witnessed it. He looked at Qi Xiao, at her terrified expression, and stood there, with the dog's corpse behind him and the blood-soaked beggar in front of him. He looked for a while, then looked away.
A fallen front tooth should be buried in the soil so that a new front tooth can grow in faster.
You should put past friends behind you so that you can pretend to forget the pain of the past.
"Your front teeth are very straight."
Upon hearing this, Yu Xi licked his front teeth, then realized that the action was a bit silly. He looked at Zhou Mo and found that the girl had been possessed by the pajama bunny; her eyes and nose were red.
"Thank you for the compliment."
"Yu Xi, you are truly amazing. You are the most incredible person I have ever met." Zhou Mo praised her sincerely. She couldn't imagine how she would cope if such a childhood had happened to her. Even though her parents gave her boundless love and courage, she still couldn't reconcile with life and was still afraid of the future she was taking step by step towards.
Yu Xi reached out and touched Zhou Mo's head. Instead of a fluffy texture, his palm touched smooth hair. It was rare for Zhou Mo to show such an obedient side to him. He knew this was a limited-time perk, so he didn't hold back and ruffled Zhou Mo's hair before withdrawing his hand.
"Get some rest, you senior high school student."
Yu Xi got up and went back to her room. Zhou Mo watched the door close little by little, and could clearly see the darkness inside swallowing up Yu Xi's figure. She sat cross-legged on the sofa, looking melancholy.
Yu Xi still did not answer her question.
They all knew very well that the issue of going to school was just a pretext for the future.
Yu Xi never thought about how to manage her future.
After feeling lost, Zhou Mo finally found a tangible goal.
She wanted Yu Xi to have a future that belonged to him, regardless of anyone else, regardless of any advantages or disadvantages, just a future that Yu Xi wanted to have.
Yu Xi leaned against the door, her arm resting on her eyes, one hand loosely clenched into a fist, looking somewhat annoyed.
He shouldn't have said so much.
That's too much to say.
After this late-night conversation, their relationship seemed unchanged. Zhou Mo's life was completely occupied by the upcoming college entrance examination, and her interactions with Qi Xiao at school turned into discussions about various subjects.
Those fantastical social dramas did not repeat themselves in her life, and those she had met a few times or even just once seemed to have disappeared from her life.
During this time, she spent her first New Year with Yu Xi.
The city, scarred by the past, was given a new look under the new snow of the New Year. Red lights flickered, and eternal flames, carrying the hopes and wishes of the living, slowly drifted into the distance.
Zhou Mo stood on the bridge watching this scene. Yu Xi put the scarf that was about to fall off her neck back on and stood beside her with his hands in his pockets.
Did you just make a wish?
"It's granted."
"What was promised?"
"Hopefully it will die a natural death this time."
This is a belated wish, and also a farewell to the past.
Zhou Mo: "Yes, it will definitely happen."
The New Year has passed, and time flies.
Yu Xi noticed that Zhou Mo had lost a lot of weight recently. Her once full face was now showing signs of hollowing out. He didn't say anything, but his actions showed something unusual.
Zhou Mo looked at the three meat dishes and zero vegetable dishes on the dining table.
Is this the end of the world?
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Yu Xi glared at her. "You've gone stupid from studying too much."
"Stewed pig's trotters, braised pork ribs, steamed sea bass. Is that all we'll eat for Chinese New Year? Or did you strike it rich?"
Yu Xi didn't say anything, but instead kept putting food on Zhou Mo's plate, her manner resembling that of feeding a pig.
After spending so much time together, Zhou Mo had a very thorough understanding of Yu Xi's strange behavior. She started with the dishes, then looked at the way Yu Xi looked at her, peeling back the layers little by little, and finally arrived at a possible answer that left her speechless.
“Yu Xi, the chubby cheeks I had before were called baby fat. Now that I’m all grown up, it’s okay to be a little thinner.”
"They've all sunken in."
"What are you saying?! I'm a young woman! This is called bone structure, this is called facial contours, I'm full of collagen, okay?!"
Zhou Mo picked up a mirror and looked at herself, but she couldn't see the depression that Yu Xi had mentioned. Only then did she feel relieved. "It must be a matter of lighting!"
Seeing how lively Zhou Mo was, Yu Xi's slight fear disappeared.
"Eat it or not, it's up to you. If you don't want to eat it, I'll eat it."
Yu Xi took the pig's trotter from Zhou Mo's bowl. Seeing this, Zhou Mo quickly returned to the table and grabbed Yu Xi's chopsticks with her own, saying, "Once it's in my bowl, it's mine."
"Didn't you say you didn't want to eat?"
"Which eye of yours saw that I didn't want to eat? Was it your left eye or your right eye?" Zhou Mo held up two fingers, clearly implying that she would expose Yu Xi's ignorance if she answered directly.
Yu Xi was amused by her, "Okay, little pig, eat pig's trotters and get some nourishment."
"Yu Xi!"
The meal was noisy and chaotic, but in the end, both of them were completely satisfied and sprawled on the sofa, rubbing their round bellies.
"That's nice," Zhou Mo muttered, then leaned her head against a sofa cushion and fell asleep.
Yu Xi got up and took a blanket to cover Zhou Mo. As he got up, he was attracted by Zhou Mo's sleeping face. Yu Xi bent his finger and gently scratched Zhou Mo's cheek.
"It's nice to be chubby."
As the days went by, Yu Xi spent less and less time absentmindedly looking at the clock, because he had to concentrate on explaining math problems to Zhou Mo.
Ever since Zhou Mo learned that Yu Xi's father was a mathematics professor, Yu Xi was forced to embark on the long road of becoming a private mathematics tutor.
In fact, Zhou Mo's math scores were not bad; in fact, they were among the best. But she was always willing to challenge herself and find some advanced questions that were not on the test papers.
Yu Xi actually had a feeling that Zhou Mo might not only be looking for these questions to improve her grades, but also because of him.
In the past, he definitely wouldn't have accepted Zhou Mo's subtle kindness.
But now, he feels very happy.
It's hard to imagine that the word "happiness" would come into his life.
"What are you thinking about? You wrote this letter wrong, no wonder you can't solve it, Yu Xi, you've messed up."
Yu Xi wrote down a formula with a blank expression, "No, it's because you're too bad."
Zhou Mo stared at it for a long time, then checked it on her phone. She let out a wail, scratching her head and cheeks, "You actually managed to fool me! I'm so annoyed!"
Yu Xi gave a haughty snort and turned to go into the kitchen.
Zhou Mo made a pinching gesture behind his back, then continued writing her test paper with a grin.
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