Chapter 23: Home Tutoring
Chapter 23: Home Tutoring
This week, due to recuperation from illness, Fang Yuenian has been living too comfortably, and for the first time ever, she has felt a sense of emptiness and anxiety.
He arrived home close to noon. Grandma Fang was busy simmering a large pot of pork rib soup. His mother-in-law and aunt had arrived early with several bags of various sizes. There was also a very plump old hen tied with a rope lying at the back door.
His mother-in-law was extremely worried and kept wiping away tears. His aunt was initially trying to comfort her, but after a while, seeing Fang Yuenian's head wrapped up tightly, she herself choked up with fear. The women of the family wiped away their tears and rambled on about what had happened. Finally, Fang Yuenian couldn't bear to listen anymore and stood up, saying with a wry smile, "I'm perfectly fine. I can run and jump all the time."
My aunt scolded, "You still want to run and jump? Stay home and rest for the next few days, don't do anything!"
My mother-in-law said, "Niannian... This morning, your aunt and I went to the temple to pray for peace and blessings. We also got some incense rice, which your mother will cook for you. May the Bodhisattva protect you. Don't go out these few days, and don't read books, it's bad for your brain."
Aunt: "Yes, yes, no reading or watching TV, just take good care of yourself."
Wang Jing had just finished unpacking the things sent by her parents' home, and put several of Fang Yuenian's favorite foods into his room. When she came out, she saw her mother and sister-in-law surrounding her son. She quickly said, "He's fine! Sister-in-law, look at all the milk you bought, he can't drink it all. You can leave it for Liangliang."
Auntie sighed, "His head is still not clear, why give him anything to drink! Save it for Niannian to drink slowly, he needs to nourish himself properly. Jingjing, don't be in such a hurry, let me tell you, I went to Master Li's house in our village this morning to ask for some eggs from his chickens. He said there weren't many these days, and I should rest for a couple of days before going to get them. You don't raise chickens, these eggs are usually good, I'll bring them over, you can crack two for Niannian to eat every day."
Wang Jing said, "Oh my, I don't know how much food there is... These eggs must be expensive, right?"
Fang Yuenian's mother-in-law was still holding her hand, reminding her, "Wear more clothes, it's easy to catch a cold in February, April, and August..."
Fang Yuenian's head was buzzing, and she thought to herself, "I still want to go to school."
In the late afternoon, his mother-in-law and aunt reluctantly went home. Fang Yuenian had been talked to for two long hours and felt very tired. He went back to his room and lay down, saying he wanted to sleep. But as soon as he lay down, he felt energetic again, so he took out the English test paper from last night and carefully looked at the answers.
Wang Jing assumed he was asleep, and after a while, she quietly pushed the door open and went in. When she saw him sitting on the bed studying, she was taken aback.
Fang Yue Nian looked up: "Hmm?"
Wang Jing hurried in and closed the door. "Why are you reading? Didn't you say you were going to take a nap?"
"Oh, I didn't read the book, I just looked at the test paper." Fang Yuenian wasn't used to this tone of "you're such a good student," so she quickly replied.
"Stop watching for now. If you're sleepy, take a nap. What do you want to eat? Your aunt bought you a lot of your favorite things."
The food was piled up in the corner. Wang Jing went over and rummaged through it, then remembered something. She went to the bedside and pulled out a plastic bag from under the bed. Inside was a tightly wrapped cardboard box.
"Niannian, do you want to eat honey crystal cake? Mom remembers that you like to eat it."
Fang Yuenian immediately sat up straight: "Auntie bought this too? Isn't this only sold in town?"
Wang Jing took out the cardboard box, her eyes lowered, and said in a low voice, "It wasn't bought by your aunt."
Fang Yuenian didn't pay much attention to his mother's expression at first and blurted out, "Who bought it? Grandma?" Wang Jing coughed, "Keep your voice down." He then asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Wang Jing pursed her lips. "...It was sent by Cheng Bing's mother. She made it herself last night and said you seemed to like it."
Fang Yuenian was stunned.
When he realized what was happening, he instinctively lowered his voice and said, "But Grandma..."
“She doesn’t know, I didn’t want her to see it,” Wang Jing said with a stern face. “If she really sees it, just say it was bought by your aunt.”
Grandma Fang forced Fang Yuenian to drink a large bowl of soup she had personally simmered at noon. She was very satisfied because she was tired from chopping bones and simmering the soup, and was now sleeping.
Fang Yuenian was filled with mixed emotions. After a long while, she couldn't help but ask, "Mom, did you talk to Sister Jun?"
It would have been better if she hadn't asked. But the question brought tears to Wang Jing's eyes, and they welled up with tears.
Fang Yuenian quickly said, "Alright, alright, I won't talk about it anymore."
Wang Jing shed a few tears, wiped them away, handed the box in her hand to Fang Yuenian, and whispered, "Let's not talk about this anymore. You eat it. Cheng Bing's mother always makes delicious food."
In fact, Fang Yuenian ate the honey cake made by Cheng Qiuyan. It was soft, sticky, sweet and delicious, just as good as the ones sold in stores.
But the thought of Aunt Qiuyan personally delivering the things to her mother still left Fang Yuenian with mixed feelings, and she couldn't calm down for a long time.
This mood persisted into the evening. After the family had dinner, whether intentionally or not, Grandma Fang went back to her room early to watch TV and did not fuss over Fang Yuenian.
Soon, Cheng Bing arrived.
Fang Yuenian had visited the Cheng family a few times when he was very young, but he stopped going there casually as he grew older, only lingering at the wharf and the carpenter's shop. However, this was Cheng Bing's first visit to Fang Yuenian's house in a strict sense. As soon as they entered the house, Wang Jing hurriedly led him into Fang Yuenian's room to avoid running into Fang Wu and Old Madam Fang.
Since Cheng Bing was there to tutor Fang Yuenian, Wang Jing made thorough preparations. She took apart Fang Yuenian's sick snacks and piled them up into a large tea and fruit dish. She also brought out several cans of milk, which were originally placed on Fang Yuenian's desk, but then she thought they were in the way, so she moved a stool over to put them there instead.
Cheng Bing entered the room and saw Fang Yuenian practically slacking off among the snacks, and her brows twitched involuntarily.
Wang Jingyou was still worried that it wasn't enough, so she said, "Just tell me what you want, we have everything we need at home."
Fang Yuenian couldn't stand it anymore. "We don't want anything, Mom. You go ahead and do your work. We need to study." Only then did she ask the person to leave.
The two then began their first serious tutoring session, which went smoothly. Cheng Bing made extra notes during the day and brought them all back to Fang Yuenian to see. Fang Yuenian had already declared that she wanted to take the entrance exam for the top high school, so she listened very attentively. Her bad habit of always looking for opportunities to digress when Cheng Bing was explaining a problem had now been completely changed.
However, explaining the topic was always a bit boring, and Fang Yuenian was injured, so after about an hour, Cheng Bing took the initiative to say that she wanted to rest for a while.
Fang Yuenian quickly and attentively opened a can of Want Want milk and handed it over, saying, "Here, have some, your throat is burning."
Cheng Bing declined, and brought his own water.
Fang Yuenian didn't force him. She took a sip of her drink, then thought for a moment and decided that this was a golden opportunity. She raised her chin at Cheng Bing, cleared her throat, and said, "Hey, I remember Grandpa Cheng saying that we were carried out of the delivery room one after the other, so it's really hard to say who was older, right?"
Cheng Bing noticed something on his face. "Hmm."
"In that case, maybe I'm older than you. If I work hard and get into the top high school, will you call me 'brother' then?"
Cheng Bing's gaze fell on his slightly provocative face, and she actually smiled and said, "Okay."
"real?"
“No problem at all. If you can get into university,” Cheng Bing said without hesitation, “I’ll call your name without any problem.”
Fang Yuenian was overjoyed and extremely pleased with herself.
After a moment of joy, he picked up the box of honey cakes from the side, opened it, and proudly said, "Look, Aunt Qiuyan made this for me."
Cheng Bing wasn't surprised at all. "Yes, I already ate at home."
Fang Yuenian chuckled twice, "You're benefiting from my fame."
Joking aside, Fang Yuenian was genuinely worried. He asked Cheng Bing, "You still have to prepare for the entrance exam for the direct admission class. Are you sure you can manage? Your teacher will definitely have something to say, worried that it will interfere with your studies."
Cheng Bing was in a good mood and said softly, "The entrance exam for the direct-entry class has no scope or focus, so there's nothing to specifically study. Just memorize some classical poems. You can rest at home for a week at most, so even if you fall behind, you can catch up."
Fang Yuenian immediately said, "Of course you won't regress. I just feel that you're running around like this, only able to attend one tutoring session in the evening. You have too little time to study and you're very tired."
Cheng Bing said, "It's enough for me to learn everything I can."
Fang could only smile and clap quietly, "Wow, the first place is amazing!"
When they left, Wang Jing saw them to the door and tried to put a lot of food in Cheng Bing's bag, but Cheng Bing refused, saying that she already had enough.
Wang Jing never knew how to treat him, and could only repeat, "Thank you so much, you've gone to so much trouble... It's dark there, please be careful."
Cheng Bing agreed and drove home via the U-shaped road.
For the next week, he left early and returned late, with Lin Guohui picking him up and dropping him off on his motorcycle. Fortunately, Lin Guohui was used to getting up early and was also busy at the furniture factory anyway, so he took a slightly longer route to get his son there without finding it troublesome. Moreover, this way, Cheng Qiuyan could prepare breakfast and dinner for Cheng Bing every day, which was much more considerate than the school cafeteria. The whole family felt that this was not a difficult matter.
Fang Yuenian's head wound had its dressing changed twice, and the stitches were removed on Saturday, finally bringing her relief. Although she was forced to shave her head, she felt it was somewhat a sign of determination, and therefore took great pride in it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
