Chapter 3: He was very surprised by the sudden commotion at home...
Xing Ze paused.
Mu Tingyu said, "I called you for a long time before you heard me. Next time I need something, I'll just contact you via WeChat. It'll be more convenient."
Her voice had a slightly nasal quality, making it sound soft.
Xing Ze was silent for a few seconds, then unusually explained, "I didn't hear it because I was wearing headphones."
Mu Tingyu said "Oh," and then asked, "Can I add it?"
Xing Ze took out his phone and showed his WeChat QR code.
After scanning and adding the message, Mu Tingyu looked up and said, "Thank you! Sorry to bother you!"
After saying that, she grabbed a hairdryer, slipped on her slippers, and went into the bathroom. Soon after, the buzzing sound of the hairdryer could be heard.
Xing Ze stood at the top of the stairs, feeling very uncomfortable with the sudden noise in his home.
He glanced at his phone; there was a new friend request.
Clicking on it reveals a profile picture of a cartoon kitten with its head tilted to one side, named "Bu Ting" (meaning "Doesn't Listen"), which looks quite childlike.
He lowered his eyes and pointed his finger in agreement.
When Mu Tingyu came out after drying her hair, she found that her friend request had been accepted.
She clicked in and changed the nickname, then casually checked out her Moments.
There was nothing inside, which is very much in line with his personality.
She went into the room, locked the door, took a ceramic cup out of her suitcase, hung it on the doorknob, and then pushed a chair to the door to block it.
With a "ding," a message popped up on her phone.
She looked and saw that it was sent by Shaoyue.
[Ah Yue: Have you arrived yet? Do you have a place to stay?]
She typed a reply.
[Ignoring: We're here, there's some here.]
[He wouldn't listen: This place is beautiful.]
[Ah Yue: Really? Take care of yourself.]
It looked like Shaoyue had just come out of the lab, and Mu Tingyu sent a [cat patting head] emoji.
[Don't listen: Don't worry, Yuebao.]
[A-Yue: I'm not worried. Your two years of freestyle fighting training weren't for nothing. But you still need to be careful in unfamiliar territory.]
[Not listening: Okay.]
[Ignoring: [The kitten is well-behaved.]
[A-Yue: I'll come and keep you company after I finish this phase of my experiments.]
[Ignoring: Hehe, okay!]
She lay down on the bed, ignoring the bunch of red dots in the chat list, and picked up Xiaoping's chat box to reply: "Sorry, Sister Xiaoping, I didn't have my phone with me this afternoon, so I didn't answer your call."
It's getting a bit late, Xiaoping is probably asleep, and she hasn't replied.
Mu Tingyu typed a string of words, then suddenly stopped, hesitated for a while, deleted the text, and opened Xing Ze's chat window.
[Ignoring: Sorry to bother you, are you free tomorrow?]
They replied after a while.
[X: What?]
[Ignoring: I want to go to school tomorrow, but I don't know the way. Could you please take me there?]
[X: Where's Xiao Ping?]
Mu Tingyu tapped her phone screen and replied.
[I don't listen: Sister Xiaoping seems very busy, it's too much trouble for her to come all this way again.]
Xing Ze leaned against the headboard, looking at the messages on his phone, and fell silent.
Is it enough to bother him?
He intended to send a "too busy" message, but his finger swiped and, as if possessed, clicked into her Moments.
She updates her WeChat Moments very frequently, filled with location photos and landscape pictures of various cities, suggesting she travels all over the world.
Occasionally, the photos will also include some text, such as "How did I gain weight again?", "I'm doomed if my parents find out I'm eating junk food at 2 a.m.", and "Plums are so delicious", which are not very informative.
It's obvious that this pampered young girl, who has never experienced hardship, suddenly had the idea to experience life.
He didn't think Mu Tingyu could control that group of kids who went up mountains and down to the sea every day.
They are children of the sea. Their parents either go out to work or are busy with farm work. They are not old enough to work, but at the same time, they are exceptionally lively and active. They can only hang out with the beach and reefs in groups every day, and no one can control them.
Xing Ze didn't know how old Mu Tingyu was, but he felt that she was no different from a recent graduate. Her eyes still held a longing and curiosity for the world. How could someone who had truly been through the hardships of life have such a look?
Remembering her smiling face when she was misunderstood, Xing Ze chuckled slightly.
Or is it a people-pleasing personality?
He went back to the chat window, frowned, and typed "a few points".
The other end replied instantly.
[I won't listen: After lunch, is that okay?]
Her words seemed to carry a sound, and Xing Ze naturally pictured her bright eyes in his mind.
"...Tsk."
After a while, Mu Tingyu's phone rang.
[X: Okay.]
.
Mu Tingyu slept until she naturally woke up and stretched comfortably.
Sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains. She got up, pulled the curtains open, and the room was instantly brightened.
What a beautiful day!
She excitedly changed her clothes, moved the odds and ends by the door, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
As she came out, she keenly smelled the fragrance wafting up from downstairs.
She went back to her room, put her phone in her pocket, and went downstairs.
Xing Ze was standing in front of the stove, cooking.
As Mu Tingyu walked to the door, he heard him say without turning his head, "Get the bowls and chopsticks."
She remembered the boastful words she had made last night, such as "I'll be your assistant," and touched her nose guiltily before quickly grabbing a bowl and placing it in front of him.
Waking up at mealtime would tarnish her image as a hardworking person. She secretly resolved to set an alarm clock for tomorrow.
She peeked into the pot and saw rice cake soup bubbling away.
She recognized the vegetable this time; it was Chinese cabbage.
She pointed to the dark brown, cone-shaped object in the soup and asked, "What is this?"
Xing Ze turned off the stove: "Dried ribbonfish."
Another one I've never tried before!
This time, Xing Ze didn't need to carry the bowl. She excitedly held her own portion and sat down. After Xing Ze sat down as well, she used her chopsticks to pick up the dried ribbonfish and stuffed the whole thing into her mouth.
“Ugh…salty…” Mu Tingyu frowned.
Xing Ze calmly poured her a glass of warm water: "It's pickled. Rice cakes have no flavor, so we'll eat it with it."
Mu Tingyu spat the half-eaten dried ribbonfish into the bowl and drank a whole glass of water.
After listening to Xing Ze's words, she ate rice cakes and nibbled on dried ribbonfish, finally tasting its flavor this time.
The rice cakes were chewy and cooked to perfection, the pork was still crispy, and the soup, though light in color, was very flavorful.
"Delicious."
She spat out the fish bones, not forgetting to praise Xing Ze's cooking skills.
Xing Ze glanced at her indifferently and said nothing.
After the meal, Mu Tingyu sat on a small stool by the door and played with the puppy for a while.
After washing the dishes, Xing Ze poured some milk for the puppy and called out, "Xiao Yu, come here."
The puppy came running over.
Mu Tingyu was startled: "It, it's called Xiaoyu?"
Perhaps her tone was too strange, Xing Ze glanced at her and said, "Found it on a rainy day."
Mu Tingyu then realized that it was "Xiaoyu" instead of "Xiaoyu".
She bent down and stroked the puppy's fluffy head, but the puppy was wagging its tail and drinking milk, ignoring her.
"Xiaoyu." Mu Tingyu tried calling out, but still felt something was off, and couldn't help but laugh.
Hearing its name, the puppy lifted its head from the bowl and smeared milk all over Mu Tingyu's hand with its mouth.
Mu Tingyu exclaimed "Oh dear!" and stood up to go inside to find some napkins.
When she came out again, she saw Xing Ze standing at the door with a bicycle, holding the handlebars and looking at her.
Mu Tingyu was taken aback when he asked, "Can you ride a bicycle?"
"Yes, I will." She nodded.
Xing Ze gestured for her to take the handlebars, then turned and headed towards the back door.
A short while later, the bicycle that had been placed at the back door was also pushed out.
Mu Tingyu pointed to the bicycle under his command and asked, "Is this also your bicycle?"
"No. It belongs to the village chief."
Seeing her surprised expression, Xing Ze explained, "It's not used when it's not in use."
“Oh,” Mu Tingyu said immediately, “Thank you, Village Chief.”
She asked again, "Did you borrow it this morning?"
Xing Ze straddled his bicycle, his long legs braced on the ground, and uttered only one word: "Go."
Mu Tingyu followed behind Xing Ze, riding along a gravel road and then a dirt road, until they arrived at the school gate.
She stopped the car, tilted her head slightly, and looked at the desolate building in front of her with wide eyes.
The surrounding walls were almost completely peeling off, with several bricks missing. The iron railings, symbolizing the school gate, were covered in dark red rust. Inside, only a small, dilapidated building could be seen. Even inside the school, there were no paved roads; the ground remained a brownish-yellow dirt track.
Xing Ze stood to the side with his arms crossed, his expression indifferent.
Mu Tingyu turned her head and asked, "Can I just go in?"
Xing Ze raised an eyebrow: "Let's go in, there should be a class going on inside."
Mu Tingyu immediately bent down and crawled under the iron railing, then ran briskly towards the small building.
?
Xing Ze frowned in confusion, then gently pulled on the railing, which immediately opened with a creak.
He went inside, closed the railing, and strode towards Mu Tingyu, who was peeking out from outside the building: "Why aren't you going in?"
Mu Tingyu lowered her voice: "There's a class going on inside."
Through the blurry, yellowish glass, you can see a dozen or so children of different ages crammed inside.
The teacher was a young man, his face still showing signs of naivety, fair-skinned, and with a very friendly smile. He pointed to the cement blackboard as he lectured, on which were some simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division equations. His voice was very patient, but there were very few responses from the students.
The younger children sat on stools, tilting their heads and swinging their legs, while the older children played with beanbags and pebbles by themselves. The whole classroom was filled with a boring and dull atmosphere.
As soon as Xing Ze's tall figure stood to the side, the children in the room immediately noticed him and began to stir.
Mu Tingyu vaguely heard several phrases like "Brother Aze" and "Brother Aze is here." The children were obviously excited, but they also seemed a little afraid of Xingze, and none of them dared to come closer to the window.
The teacher inside quickly wiped the chalk dust off his hands and came out: "Brother Xing, what brings you here?"
Xing Ze gave a light "hmm," then turned his body to the side, revealing Mu Tingyu behind him: "Bring her over."
The teacher paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "Ah!" and said, "You must be the new volunteer teacher?"
Mu Tingyu smiled and waved at him: "Yes, hello, my name is Mu Tingyu."
"Hello," the teacher wiped her hands on her clothes, seemingly wanting to shake hands, but then felt it was inappropriate and froze, stammering, "My name is Zhuang Ren."
Mu Tingyu winked at him and smiled, "Don't be nervous, Teacher Zhuang, I'm not here to steal your job."
She was trying to ease the tension, but Zhuang Ren seemed even more nervous, his ears turning red: "No, no... are you here for class?"
Mu Tingyu shook her head: "I'd like to learn about the children's situation first. Um... would it be convenient for me to go in and listen in?"
"Yes, yes, that's fine." Zhuang Ren scratched his head somewhat shyly and looked at Xing Ze. "Brother Xing, then you..."
"I have other things to do," Xing Ze said calmly.
Zhuang Ren said somewhat reservedly, "Okay, Brother Xing, then take care."
Xing Ze nodded to him, then turned and left.
After watching Xing Ze's retreating figure, Zhuang Ren whispered to Mu Tingyu, "That's just Xing Ge's personality. He's like that with everyone. Don't mind him."
Mu Tingyu smiled and said, "Yes, I know."
Zhuang Ren blushed again and walked into the classroom with his head down.
A note from the author:
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