15. Paper Frog
After a whole year, when the neighborhood gossip gradually shifted to other people, Tang Sizhuo finally recovered from the shock of Xiao Tong's adultery and occasionally felt willing to spend more time in public. However, she was shy about strangers and naturally didn't dare go to crowded places. The most she would go to was the Jiangming City Library. During holidays, there would be many children there, reading or doing homework, and with the administrators watching over them, they kept things quiet.
Sun Changming was quite generous with his stepdaughter's living expenses and loved to praise her for her excellence and beauty. So Xiao Tong hired a dedicated tutor for all her subjects, with the exception of the winter break Mathematical Olympiad sprint class, which was limited in staff, so she had to attend smaller classes.
Every afternoon after class, Tang Sizhu would walk around the library with her small schoolbag. If she could find an empty seat in the corner, she would sit down and do her homework for a while. If not, the driver would be waiting downstairs to pick her up.
Xiao Tong, of course, despised the way ordinary kids would go outside with their friends to do their homework. She felt that this not only showed that their family wasn't wealthy and didn't have a comfortable, suitable learning environment, but also that Tang Sizhuo was a blusterer with no substance. However, Tang Sizhuo had just won the children's piano competition in Jiangming City, which gave her considerable face and allowed her to negotiate a large "prize" from her husband, so Xiao Tong was particularly lenient and let her go.
The library desks were large, seating eight people. Tang Sizhu only liked the innermost seat, surrounded by two walls. She would tilt the back of her chair to the left, completely enclosing herself in it. However, if someone was already sitting across from her in such a good spot, she would settle for a corner seat that was surrounded on three sides, reserving a seat for Zeng Xiasheng.
Zeng Xiasheng didn't come often; he was home helping his grandparents farm and sell vegetables. The elders didn't care whether their son did his homework or not. They'd dreamed of a life of leisurely play and not worrying about food and clothing since he was fourteen or fifteen. Now that their son was short-lived, the son had to pay for his father's debts, so naturally, the grandson had to shoulder the responsibility early. Studying and taking exams were a pastime reserved for the wealthy; it wasn't as tangible as growing vegetables or earning money. Learning a few numbers to add, subtract, multiply, and divide was enough.
After selling vegetables at the morning market, Zeng Xiasheng would rush out to pick up scraps. This also meant paying his grandmother money, so he wasn't very motivated. Too lazy to take the long bus ride to the villa area, he would just wander around the downtown shopping street, willing to pick up seven or eight yuan to pay his bill.
After all this, it was usually time for Tang Sizhuo to finish his classes. On a good day, he could take advantage of his grandmother's absence to play mahjong, run to the bathroom, wash his hair and shower, change into clean clothes, and go to the library to meet her. On a bad day, he didn't want to appear in front of her with a disheveled appearance and a foul odor.
Tang Sizhuo's seat was hard to find, and she would tuck her elbows in tightly while doing her homework, completely disappearing into the crowd. So when Zeng Xiasheng arrived at the library, he would run around, looking everywhere for people whose chairs were tilted or whose backpacks had the familiar bear pendants hanging on them.
He was two years older than Tang Sizhuo, but he started school later, only a grade higher. But that didn't matter; he couldn't do a single one of Tang Sizhuo's homework questions anyway. He had no concept of studying or homework, and he always went to school empty-handed. He couldn't even remember where the school books and homework had gone. They'd probably been torn into pieces in his schoolbag, mingling with the trash he'd picked up.
Zeng Xiasheng ran to the top floor and finally spotted Tang Sizhuo around the corner of the bookshelf. She was hunched over a math problem and didn't notice him. He walked over and sat down opposite her, noticing a few comic books between them. They were the ones Tang Sizhuo had found to help him pass the time. She was too embarrassed to put them directly on the empty seat, and even more afraid of being criticized for hogging the seat, so she had to place them ambiguously between the two seats. If someone sat across from her, she would pack up her things, get up, and find another seat.
Zeng Xiasheng found it hard to understand her concerns. The administrator wouldn't hit her; it was just a few words, so why would she let someone else take advantage of her? But as he looked over, he saw her drooping eyelashes fluttering slightly, her fingertips constantly writing and drawing, completely focused. He thought that since she was so smart and came from a family he couldn't reach, she must understand some things he couldn't.
After finishing all three comics, Tang Sizhuo still hadn't finished her homework. She had piles of homework to do every day, including winter break homework from school, as well as exercises from her tutor and math Olympiad class. She'd sit there for two hours straight. Zeng Xiasheng, bored, stepped on the backing of his chair and leaned halfway out to grab her used paper. There was a shared pencil on the table, and he took it and blackened every closing letter of Tang Sizhuo's. He then connected them again until the entire page was smeared black, then reached out to tear off another piece of paper.
He used to scribble directly on comic books, but Tang Sizhuo stopped him, saying it would be hard for others to read. Zeng Xiasheng, however, didn't take it seriously and continued to draw. But after Tang Sizhuo finished his homework, he took his stained comic book and erased each page with an eraser. This took over half an hour, and then Zeng Xiasheng stopped.
Tang Sizhu heard the noise, looked up at him, and simply pushed all the used draft papers to the middle of the table. He also generously opened the pencil case, which contained many colored markers for him to play with.
Zeng Xiasheng rubbed his fingers, which were blackened by pencil lead, and did not touch her light white, furry cat pencil case.
He took another piece of scrap paper and began folding it. Last year during Chinese New Year, my aunt finally agreed to come back. Although she argued with my grandparents almost every day, my cousin played well with him and even taught him how to fold an origami frog. His cousin's frogs were so complex that none of the other children could learn, but he did. His folds became more and more beautiful, even more intricate than his cousin's.
After folding it, Zeng Xiasheng placed the frog on the table and pressed its tail, and it actually jumped up. He lay on the table, playing with it back and forth, and finally let it jump over the pencil case in the middle and landed right on Tang Sizhuo's homework book.
Tang Sizhuo's pen paused for a moment. She never got annoyed by his little movements. She just gently swept it aside with her pen. After she finished writing a whole page of the paper, she would let the paper frog jump back between turning the pages.
Zeng Xiasheng had previously told her that whenever he picked up scrap worth ten yuan to sell, he'd tell his grandmother he only got seven, and the difference of three yuan was his. Tang Sizhuo suddenly grasped the idea, fully grasping it. She'd spend an extra half hour at home on a problem that normally took two hours to finish, so that after sprinting through it at the library, she could hang out with Zeng Xiasheng for a while before the driver picked her up.
Although Xiao Tong asked the driver to wait the whole time, it was really boring to sit in the car all the time. Tang Sizhuo would not run out anyway, and if she wanted to play, she would go to the library lounge, so the driver often drove to the riverside for a few laps and then drove back when he thought she was about to leave.
Tang Sizhuo had already mastered the routine. After quickly finishing his homework, he dragged Zeng Xiasheng to the rooftop. Not only was there no one there, but the view was also good, allowing him to immediately spot the car that was picking her up passing the intersection in front of the library.
The rooftop was not an open area at all, and there was a locked door. However, when Tang Sizhuo turned the door handle disappointedly and said it would be great if he could go up, Zeng Xiasheng took out two pieces of wire from his pocket and poked it a few times, and it actually opened.
The wind was a bit chilly, but fortunately it was very quiet. The two of them carefully stepped over the pipelines on the ground and walked to a corner sheltered from the wind. They spread the waste paper Tang Sizhuo had written on on the ground and sat down to chat.
Zeng Xiasheng showed her his shiny black hands, and the little girl giggled. She pulled a lightly scented wet wipe from her schoolbag and handed it to him to wipe his hands. She also had a small canvas bag containing snacks prepared by her aunt. Xiao Tong never allowed her to eat much, fearing she'd gain weight, but her aunt, feeling sorry for her child as she aged, always secretly stuffed her with plenty of fruit. Tang Sizhuo removed the milk and pineapple buns from the top, revealing a whole box of washed strawberries underneath.
She handed the milk and pineapple buns to Zeng Xiasheng, saying that it was too cold today and she didn't want to eat.
Why did she lose her appetite? Zeng Xiasheng didn't understand. She had a lot of delicious food, but she often didn't want to eat it. It didn't seem like she was trying to give him alms, but she had truly lost interest in food itself.
Grandma said it was a disease of affluence, but Zeng Xiasheng didn't want to think she was sick.
Tang Sizhuo sat on the side with his legs crossed, watching him pour all the crumbs in the bread bag into his mouth with a slightly envious look.
"I can't come next week. My dad is back and we're going to Hainan."
Zeng Xiasheng was stunned, and the bread crumbs choked into his trachea, causing him to cough violently.
"Are you going to transfer schools?"
"No, I came back when school started."
"Then what are you going to do? See a doctor?"
"No, I'm going to play."
Seeing his confused expression, Tang Sizhuo realized that he really didn't understand, so he explained, "Hainan Island is in the south, it's very warm. Dad said he would take us there for the New Year so we can play at the beach."
Zeng Xiasheng frowned and thought for a long time, but still didn't understand, "Why do we have to go to the beach to celebrate the New Year?"
Tang Sizhu was stunned by his question. He was stunned for several seconds before he hesitated and said, "Because... there is no sea here?"
"Just for fun?"
"yes."
She guessed what he meant by asking, afraid that he might think she was becoming lazy, so she immediately added, "But I still have to do my homework and practice piano. I can't just play all the time."
Zeng Xiasheng didn't say anything else. He lowered his head, holding the milk that had been chilled by the winter wind, and suddenly didn't want to drink it anymore.
Tang Sizhuo rubbed the little bear pendant on his schoolbag and comforted him softly, "I will bring you a gift. I will go to the beach to pick up shells and bring them to you. Dad said there are many beautiful shells on the beach, some of which are bigger than my hand."
As she spoke, her voice gradually faded. Shells seemed to be something girls liked, and Zeng Xiasheng probably wouldn't be interested. But she had never been to the beach, so she couldn't think of anything else.
He didn't say anything. Tang Sizhuo became a little nervous and asked cautiously, "Are you angry?"
Zeng Xiasheng shook his head.
He was looking forward to the Chinese New Year.
Tang Sizhuo had mentioned this to him several times, but Xiao Tong didn't allow her to play with fireworks, fearing she'd get burned by sparks. So, she could only watch other children from afar. Zeng Xiasheng took this to heart and made early preparations, wondering if he could find an opportunity to take her to the wasteland on the outskirts of the city and buy her all sorts of fireworks to play with.
However, it now seems that shells are far more novel than fireworks.
The two of them sat there in a dull gloom, the sweet aroma of strawberries gradually dissipating in the cold wind. Tang Sizhuo couldn't understand why he was upset, but thankfully Zeng Xiasheng wouldn't get angry for no reason like Xiao Tong did, so she wasn't afraid. She opened her mouth several times, swallowed the words back, and finally, seeing the driver's car had already passed the intersection from a distance, she scrambled to her feet.
Zeng Xiasheng also stood up and watched Tang Sizhuo run to the rooftop door.
Tang Sizhuo pushed open the door, but suddenly turned around.
"Happy New Year!"
She said loudly, and then rushed downstairs in a hurry.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
