Chapter 41
After lunch, Zhou Li took out an extra key from her bag. She placed it on the table, pressed the key with her finger, and slid it toward Bei Xia, who was sitting opposite her. She smiled and said to Bei Xia, "This is the key to my house. Welcome home."
Besha's eyes flickered, she lowered her eyes and tried hard to see the shape of the key clearly.
Zhou Li took out the keychain from her bag, shook it at Bei Xia and said, "Here, one for each of us."
Zhou Li pushed it over again, took out her own keys, and replaced them on a new keychain. She had specially chosen the keychain when she passed by a boutique. There were two little figures hanging on it. Bei Xia's figure was blue, and Zhou Li's figure was pink.
Although Zhou Li is much older than Beixia, and her clothes are either brown or gray every day, which makes her look formal and cool, her favorite color is actually pink or candy color, otherwise she would not decorate Beixia's house in pink. There is actually a little princess living in Zhou Li's heart.
Zhou Li fiddled with the little man on the keychain and smiled with satisfaction.
Besha also squeezed the key into the keychain, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Zhou Li said, welcome home, back to their home.
Zhou Li took out her cell phone and said to Bei Xia, "Smile."
Picking up the keychain, Zhou Li turned the phone towards Bei Xia. He smiled brightly, and Bei Xia's mouth was stiff as they took their first photo together.
Zhou Li originally wanted to send this photo to Bei Xia, but suddenly she remembered that Bei Xia didn't have a mobile phone. She thought about what she had seen online, that it was not good for college entrance examination candidates to have mobile phones, as it would affect their studies. She wanted to print out the photo and put one on each of their beds.
Zhou Li sent Bei Xia to school, waved goodbye, and drove away.
Bei Xia watched Zhou Liyuan leave before entering the school. When she sat down in the classroom, she took out a notebook from her schoolbag under the desk.
The notebook looks very old. Bexia has already used half of it. A lot of things are recorded in it. It can be regarded as Bexia's diary and account book. She developed this habit since she was in the first year of high school. The notebook was a gift from her mother.
When she was in the first year of high school, Beixia spent money lavishly. In order to cultivate her good habits, her mother gave her a month's pocket money at one time and handed her a notebook. In addition to school fees, food expenses were deducted from this money. Only then did Beixia develop this habit.
She cherished this notebook very much. Even though the cover was torn, she was reluctant to replace it. Instead, she used tape to stick it together and continued to record, as if this could continue the agreement between her and her mother.
The classroom was very quiet. The students who stayed at noon did not go home. After eating in the cafeteria, they lay on the table for a nap. Today, the sky that had been snowing for two days suddenly cleared up. There was bright sunshine outside the window, and the light reflected from the white snow was a little dazzling. In the silence, Beixia wrote the first line.
【Mom, I have a home now. 】
Bei Xia carefully wrote down every penny of the money Zhou Li gave her and the money she spent on him.
My deskmate Wu Huimin was sleeping on the table. I turned my face towards the aisle in a daze and looked at Bei Xia. I saw the smile blooming on her lips, which was as fleeting as a flower.
Wu Huimin woke up after rubbing her eyes. She saw the clock on the classroom wall indicating that the English listening session would start in half an hour. She stretched and sat lazily on the stool. Gradually, more and more people came into the class and came in and out from the back door. Every time the door was opened, a gust of cold wind blew in through her collar. Beixia shrank her neck, closed the notebook, put it in her schoolbag, took out the dark red striped scarf that Zhou Li gave her from the hole in the desk, put it on, and then took out the physics test paper to do the questions.
Wu Huimin was in a daze with a blank expression.
At this time, Cui Lin and her friends came in from the back door. She glanced at Zhou Li angrily, and seeing that she was working on a test paper, she deliberately laughed at the top of her voice, "Wow! We are ranked last and you are actually studying hard? How come you are working hard now? I am afraid it is too late. Someone like you probably won't even be able to get into university. If I were her, I would have dropped out long ago. It would be a waste of time if I had gone to school!"
Cui Lin and her friends laughed at the top of their lungs, very loudly and noisily.
Beixia paused, and Cui Lin waited for her to put down her pen and argue with her, so that she could teach her a lesson! Unexpectedly, Beixia didn't move at all. Her eyes swept over the next question and wrote the answer on the paper. She had paused to think.
The atmosphere suddenly became dull. Even if someone was being bullied, there had to be support. Bei Xia was obviously too lazy to pay attention to Cui Lin and simply ignored her. Cui Lin's face turned blue with anger and she cursed. The English listening test was about to start and the head teacher would be here, so she had to go back to her seat and sit down in disappointment.
Wu Huimin witnessed the whole process and couldn't help laughing.
Although she didn't understand why Cui Lin disliked Bei Xia and wanted to cause trouble for her, Wu Huimin was still secretly happy every time she saw Bei Xia's attitude.
She turned to Bei Xia and asked, "Have you ever offended Cui Lin before? Why does she hate you so much?"
Bei Xia shook his head, and Wu Huimin became even more puzzled.
Cui Lin is a good student, has good interpersonal relationships, and is generous. She is always surrounded by a circle of people, both boys and girls, who flatter her. Logically, she has nothing to do with classmates like them who are not good at studying, but she always takes the initiative to cause trouble for Beixia, and Beixia basically ignores her.
Beixia finished half of the physics test paper. When it was time for the English listening test, she took out the test paper. The head teacher Xu Chuntian also came to the classroom on time to see if there was anyone who was absent from lunch. She walked around the classroom, walked over to Beixia, glanced at her, and turned back.
The twenty-minute English listening test went by very quickly. Afterward, the English class representative checked his answers with his classmates. Beixia also used a red pen to mark the test paper. Xu Chuntian then came out the back door. She walked up behind Beixia, coughed, and lowered her voice, saying, "Beixia, come out with me."
Bei Xia put down his pen, stood up and went out with Xu Chuntian.
Except for her deskmate Wu Huimin who noticed that she was a little worried about Bei Xia, most of the students in the class were checking their answers to the listening comprehension questions.
The corridor was also quiet. At this time, students from all classes were in the classroom, preparing for the first class of the afternoon. Xu Chuntian smiled at Zhou Li and asked, "Have you told your parents when you got home?"
Bei Xia whispered, "I said it."
"What do your parents say?" Xu Chuntian asked.
Bexia: “Nothing.”
The first class in the afternoon was physics. The physics teacher had already arrived. When he saw Xu Chuntian at the entrance of the corridor, he greeted her: "Teacher Xu?"
Seeing that the physics teacher had arrived, Xu Chuntian thought that Beixia's side should be settled, and the smile on his face became much more sincere. "Go into class and study hard. The teacher has high hopes for you." He nodded to the physics teacher again.
Bexia returned to the classroom and sat down, and the physics teacher entered the classroom at the same time.
Monitor: "Class!"
Classmates: "Hello, teacher!"
The physics teacher nodded and said, "Sit down, take out the test paper from yesterday, and we'll continue."
As Wu Huimin took the test paper, she whispered, "Why did the teacher call you out again? Hasn't the Cui Lin incident been resolved yet?"
Besha nodded and shook his head.
The physics teacher was holding the test paper and walking down while explaining the questions. When he was almost next to them, Wu Huimin had to shut up and pretend to listen carefully. But Bei Xia listened with great interest. It felt good to start studying again and working hard to improve herself.
Zhou Li had nothing to do in the afternoon, so she went to a printing shop to print photos on photo paper, then went to a boutique to pick out two suitable photo frames. When she got home, she put the photos in the frames, one in Beixia's room and the other on her own bedside, trying to create a home feeling for Beixia.
After putting it away, Zhou Li admired it for a while, then turned on the computer and thought about what to write in the first article of her column. It would be best if it could address the pain points of current parents so that it would have explosive value.
Although the first article will definitely not bring much traffic, a good beginning can also bring good atmosphere.
Zhou Li was very optimistic and acted immediately. He made himself a cup of hot coffee and walked around the room with the cup in his hand, searching for some information online from time to time and deciding on the topic of his first article.
Once the theme is decided, the content will be much easier.
Zhou Li had just typed the first line when his cell phone suddenly rang. It was a call from an unfamiliar number.
Zhou Li picked up the phone, thinking it was from the TV station.
"Hello, are you Ms. Zhou Li? I'm from the Education Bureau. We received your report and we take it very seriously. Could you please tell me what it contains? Our Education Bureau is determined to put an end to all bullying in schools!"
Zhou Li didn't expect the Education Bureau to be so quick. She sent the letter in the morning and received a response in the afternoon.
Zhou Li explained Bei Xia's life story in detail, including her situation on campus. She spoke seriously, "In this matter, her homeroom teacher, Xu Chuntian, completely failed to fulfill her role as a teacher. She allowed this incident to happen and even favored the other party. As victims, we don't ask for much. We simply want them to give our child a sincere apology in front of the whole class and clear our name. But the school has done nothing. Teacher Xu even contacted our child privately, using misleading language to force us to accept their private apology. Yet, I haven't seen the other parent do anything. Is this what a teacher should do? I'm very skeptical of Teacher Xu's character!"
"We understand what happened and your request. We will verify this matter and give you a response after verification."
Zhou Li was very satisfied with the attitude of the Education Bureau. She hung up the phone and looked at the first sentence typed on the computer, and her inspiration flowed even more.
In the evening, Zhou Li did not go to pick up Bei Xia, but prepared a surprise for Bei Xia.
Bei Xia was a little disappointed when she didn't see Zhou Li's car after leaving the school gate. Then she thought that it was impossible for her to pick her up every day. After all, Zhou Li also had his own things to do.
Beixia walked towards home. Zhou Li's residence was not far from the school. At Beixia's pace, it took her about half an hour to reach the downstairs of the community. Standing downstairs, Beixia saw the lights on upstairs. Her heart trembled. In this city, there was finally a light that was on for her.
Going upstairs, the voice-controlled light came on. As Beixia went upstairs, she arrived at the door of her house and took out the key with trembling hands. She had lived with her uncle for two years, and her uncle had never thought of giving Beixia a key. Her aunt was even more wary of her like a thief, afraid that if she gave her the key, she would move out of the house.
The door opened and the aroma wafted into the room. Although Zhou Li couldn't cook, simple hot pot was easy to make. She bought some vegetables and meat, plugged in the electric cooker, and poured in the hot pot base. She could still do this.
"Bei Xia, you're back?" Zhou Li was washing vegetables in the kitchen when she heard the door open. She walked out and smiled at Bei Xia, "Go wash your hands quickly. We're going to have hot pot!"
Bei Xia nodded, went back to the room, put down her schoolbag, and was about to go to the bathroom to wash her hands when her eyes were suddenly attracted by the photo frame on the table. She reached out and picked up the photo frame. In the photo, she was smiling shyly behind Zhou Li, and was a little evasive when facing the camera. Zhou Li smiled widely, revealing a row of delicate teeth. She picked up a key chain with one hand that was similar to the one in Bei Xia's hand but of a different color, and her eyes were curved like crescent moons.
Bei Xia touched Zhou Li's eyebrows and eyes, then looked at herself. For the first time, she discovered the difference between the two of them. In this photo, she was timid and looked like a student, but Zhou Li was completely different. She was as bright as the sun in July. If she raised her head and her eyes touched the sky, she would close her eyes involuntarily.
Bei Xia touched Zhou Li's face in the photo again and liked it very much.
Zhou Li called out from outside the door, "Bexia, come over here once you've washed your hands."
Bei Xia put down the photo frame and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Zhou Li was already sitting at the dining table, waving at her: "Come here! I didn't eat dinner because I was waiting for you to come back!"
Bei Xia felt a little guilty, and it showed on her face. Zhou Li could see it at a glance. She deliberately said, "Oh, I forgot to get the drink. Can you go to the kitchen and get it for me?"
When Bei Xia took out the drink and walked over to Zhou Li to put it down, he was pinched and rubbed on the face. Zhou Li smiled and said, "I didn't want to eat. Don't take everything on yourself. I said the wrong thing just now. I should have waited for you because I was not hungry after work."
She patted Besha's head and joked, "You really have the temperament of a little old lady, always worrying."
Bei Xia was pushed to the seat by her and sat down. Zhou Li cheered, "Let's eat!"
Zhou Li is a typical meat lover, while Beixia doesn’t have any special liking for food. Maybe she did in the past, but since her family changes, Beixia no longer has the right to choose her food, so she accepts it no matter what is good or bad.
Zhou Li asked, "You had my secret dipping sauce last time. Do you want to try it again today?"
Beixia nodded, Zhou Li put the meat into the pot first, and went to the kitchen to prepare the dipping sauce. She was as happy as a child, humming a song. The TV in the living room was also playing, and the surroundings were bustling. Beixia lowered her head, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
Zhou Li put the dipping sauce in front of Bei Xia, and she said contentedly, "Eat it." She began to take the meat out of the pot and ate it heartily. Bei Xia, who was not hungry originally, also had her appetite whetted by Zhou Li, and the two chatted and laughed while eating the hot pot.
Zhou Li said happily, "I submitted a letter of complaint this morning, and the Education Bureau responded this afternoon, Beixia." Zhou Li's expression suddenly turned serious, "Is that Cui something at school no longer giving you trouble?"
Bei Xia shook her head. Zhou Li observed her expression carefully, but was still a little worried. She was worried that Bei Xia's silent personality would make her easy to be bullied, so she hid things from her.
Bei Xia twitched the corner of his mouth slightly: "Have you forgotten? I slapped her twice too. If we really fight, I won't admit defeat."
Zhou Li was stunned for a moment, then she giggled and said, "You really are..."
A barking dog doesn't bite? Pah! Her child is not a dog!
Zhou Li gave a thumbs-up and praised, "Well done! This is how you should fight back when someone bullies you!"
Bei Xia once again felt that Zhou Li was different from other adults. It had never been heard of students fighting while parents applauded from behind. Even if they were pretending, they had to pretend to be moral role models.
Beixia's eyes curved again, and she suddenly felt very fortunate that on that snowy day, when she was about to give up on herself, she agreed to Zhou Li's request to go home. For her, it was just another self-exile, but that time she saw the light.
The winter nights were too long, but laughter could be heard from Zhou Li's house from time to time. The ice in Bei Xia's heart was gradually melted by the boiling hot pot. The wind blew, and she would no longer feel cold.
A dark red striped scarf was draped over the schoolbag, and the photo frame on the table was placed on the bedside table with great care by its owner. After eating hot pot, Beixia still had some homework to finish. The kitchen was filled with the clanging symphony of sounds, and Zhou Li was muttering to himself in embarrassment. Faced with this pile of pots and pans, Zhou Li was really not very good at doing housework, but now he could only bite the bullet and do it.
Beixia wanted to say that she came, but before she could open her mouth, Zhou Li stuffed an orange into her hand and sent her back to study.
Zhou Li washed and rinsed while Bei Xia quietly did his homework.
After a while, Zhou Li finished cleaning the kitchen and sat down on the sofa with a grin on his face.
Eating is a pleasure, but washing dishes is a nightmare.
Leaning on the sofa, Zhou Li's eyes were aimlessly wandering, and accidentally fell on the black bag on the coffee table. Then she remembered that she had prepared a surprise for Bei Xia but had not yet given it to him.
With a devilish smile on her face, Zhou Li picked up the heavy black plastic bag and knocked on Bei Xia's door. "Bei Xia, I have something for you. Can you come in?"
"Yeah." Bei Xia looked up and saw Zhou Li push the door open, carrying a bag of things with difficulty in one hand. She slammed the plastic bag onto Bei Xia's desk, opened it, and said proudly, "I bought this from various libraries. I guarantee it has the most comprehensive science questions."
Bei Xia's eyes fixed on the pile of exercises, and he couldn't help but dazed for a moment before looking at Zhou Li. Zhou Li patted the pile of exercises and said to Bei Xia, "Science requires more practice, right? Keep up the good work! If there's anything you don't understand, I'll find a teacher to tutor you!"
It costs money again...
Bei Xia frowned. Zhou Li had probably spent quite a bit of money on this pile of exercises. How much more would it cost to find a teacher?
She said to Zhou Li, "No need."
"You're welcome." Zhou Li waved his hand, looking particularly generous.
Bei Xia was helpless: "These questions are useful to me. I can do them, so there is no need to look for the teacher. If I don't understand something, I will ask the teacher at school."
Zhou Li blinked: "That's fine." She scratched her head again, "Then finish your homework and go to bed early. I'll take you to school tomorrow..."
"No need." Bei Xia looked down at her unfinished chemistry test paper. She said in a low voice, "I can go to school by myself. You don't have to send me to school every day."
Zhou Li obviously couldn't get up in the morning, and she was yawning on the way to school. She got up early, and Bei Xia didn't want to disrupt Zhou Li's schedule because of herself.
"Then I'll come to you for lunch tomorrow at noon."
"I can eat in the school cafeteria, also in the afternoon." Bei Xia refused again, not wanting Zhou Li to spend too much money because he was too tired and had to eat out at a high cost.
Zhou Li suddenly felt a little depressed. It felt like his child had suddenly grown up and he had to let go and be independent.
"Then I'll give you some more money." Zhou Li always wanted to give Bei Xia something.
Bei Xia's eyes sparkled, and she reminded him, "You just gave me some pocket money, and I haven't touched it yet."
"Is that so..." Zhou Li frowned, thinking about what else she needed to say. After she had said everything she needed to say, she opened the door and went out, saying to the system with a rather frustrated heart, "My son's rebellion breaks my heart!"
system:……
Who doesn’t want to raise a child after just receiving a task?
Zhou Li just complained to the system casually. She took a shower and sat on the bed. She turned on her computer and found that the TV station had sent her an email.
[Hello, Zhou Li, congratulations on being accepted by our company. Please report to the TV station at 9:00 tomorrow.]
Yeah? So fast?
The vacation was coming to an end. Zhou Li stretched. It was still early, not yet her usual bedtime. She opened the article she had written in the afternoon and read it carefully several times. She revised it a few times, and after confirming that it was correct, she chose to publish her first article at midnight.
After publishing, Zhou Li closed the computer, threw it on the bedside table, rolled up the quilt and went to sleep.
The cold wind was howling outside the house. Beixia glanced at the time and found that it was already past twelve o'clock. Today had passed and it was tomorrow. She listened quietly to the wind outside the window for a while, then put down her pen and went to the bathroom to wash up. When she went out, she slowed down and listened carefully to the movement in Zhou Li's bedroom. There was no sound, probably because he was asleep. Beixia's movements became quieter. She was worried that the sound of water washing her face would disturb Zhou Li, so she turned the faucet to a small level, collected water with her hands to wash her face, then closed the door like a thief and went to bed.
Bei Xia got up as usual in the morning. She went to the bathroom, but when she came out she found Zhou Li's bedroom door open. She turned to look at the living room, where Zhou Li was yawning and putting breakfast on the table. She said to Bei Xia, "I won't take you there. Watch out for cars on the way to school."
Beixia looked at the steaming food on the table. She didn't know when Zhou Li woke up. She nodded. Zhou Li, wearing a coat, brushed past her and went back to the bedroom to take a nap.
By the time Zhou Li's cell phone alarm rang, Bei Xia had already disappeared. She glanced at her phone, put it aside, and opened the curtains. It was dawn. It was another sunny day today. It looked like the snow on the street would melt. Zhou Li hummed a song while matching clothes in the closet.
At school, just as Bei Xia finished morning self-study, two men carrying briefcases arrived at the school's security office. After they revealed their identities, the security guard hurriedly called the Dean of Studies: "Dean! Someone from the Education Bureau is here!"
The dean of studies hurriedly put down what he was doing and went to receive the guests.
The Education Bureau representative was polite but firm. They didn't go to the office. Instead, they stood at the school gate and said, "We've received a letter of complaint from a parent, saying that the school's ethos is lax and the teachers' moral integrity is poor! There's even an incident of bullying on campus! We're here to investigate!"
After hearing this, the Dean of Studies was sweating profusely. He opened his eyes wide, waved his hands, and said, "Impossible! There's no way this is happening!"
The people from the Education Bureau were also very firm: "We'll find out after we investigate! Please cooperate with us!"
Zhou Li: How can a child rebel when he is still young? I feel lost.
Bei Xia: Zhou Li, I am not a child
Zhou Li: Call me sister! And those who say they are not children are actually children!
Author: I want to eat hot pot too! I want to eat tripe, pig throat, and shrimp balls!!!
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