Jingzhe stole i i away while the grandparents were still ironing out the details on who got swimming duties, ballet, cooking, foreign languages, horse riding and all other activities. Judge Gong was right, they had all forgotten about the parents.
The grandparents were monopolizing Mingzhu!!
He and i i left Mingzhu with the Empress Mother who whisked her off to the royal castle without the parents noticing and then, they were off to a date.
Determined to rebrand himself and prove he was not a scaredy cat, Jingzhe took i i to another amusent park. But they did not rush to enjoy the thrill of the rides just yet. Instead, they sat down in a restaurant that was floating on water and enjoyed dinner and ice cream.
i i was enjoying her third serving of ice cream now and watching geese swimming in the water. An amusent park employee was trying to convince so children that the geese were performing.
"Why does everyone feel like they have the right to lie to children?" She turned her head and asked Jingzhe.
He took one glimpse of the scene she was referring to and looked back at her. "So, will our mothers be friends or not?"
i i licked the spoon, making small suckling noises after. "It’s hard to say. My mother loves getting her way all the ti."
"So does mine." He mumbled.
"I think we should just let them sort it out between themselves." She suggested. "The relationship between us is very new and we need to enjoy it for a while before welcoming our excess drama inside."
Jingzhe nodded slowly and then he chuckled. "Baby V. Everybody. I never thought that I would hear sothing like this in my life. Noble families are very creative in the way you handle things."
A waitress walked by them, smiling and looking to see if there was sothing else they wanted. Jingzhe shook his head and she left but she did not go far.
i i responded to his last statent."That’s because children born in noble families have more packed schedules than ordinary ones. When I was young, I used to learn chess from my great grandfather on the Jun side. Horse riding from my uncle in the An family, singing from my grandpa Chi who is not a great singer by the way." She laughed as she recalled those singing sessions which left them both in stitches. "He did teach how to shear a sheep, milk a cow and farm."
"What else?" He asked curiously. Everything about her, he wanted to learn.
Wind stirred around them and so of i i’s hair that was not firmly held back in a bun floated to her face. She did not push it back.
Her eyes were lit up as she continued to break down who in the family had taught her what. The smile on her face was tender and luminous as she singled out so of the ridiculous lessons she took. She was loving the opportunity to unveil so of her mories long cherished.
Jingzhe’s eyes lingered on her. He did not an to, but he could not help himself. Her words were rushing past his ears, he could hardly hear them. She laughed, softly, radiantly and hie felt an ache in his chest.
The doors and windows in his heart which were open only for her widened even more. Soday, he wanted her to talk about him with such joy and warmth. He wanted her to rember him as sothing beautiful.
The waitress returned and she placed two cups of coffee on the table, forcing him to break out of his stupor.
"Complintary coffee on the house." She said.
Jingzhe nodded, he did not even look at her as he was listening to i i. She had not noticed his montary lapse of attention and she was narrating her childhood stories rivetingly.
"It was a sitcom my childhood, Uncle Zimo he also had a class that he taught and Mingzhe. He taught us lessons on how to win argunts by quoting empty or imaginary proverbs."
Jingzhe took a sip of the coffee and he burned his tongue.
"He said when soone uses logic and you are losing, just say sothing that makes no sense but be confident when you are doing it. Sothing like, "Like the rooster that danced in the rain, you too shall dance."
Jingzhe exploded in laughter.
i i’s eyes lit up even more and she laughed as well. "See, it makes no sense that it makes you stop mid argunt and you just laugh or frown as you try to figure out what it ans."
Jingzhe could not believe that the legendary gar Chi Zimo, millionaire with his own ga company was that kind of man. "He taught you how to bullshit!"
i i nodded. "You know how I shoved a candy bar into Tang Yue’s mouth?"
He nodded.
i i leaned in and said softly, "He taught that. Uncle Zimo says if you cannot argue, find a way to shut the opponent up and make sure that you disgust them so they think twice about confronting you face to face again. That was not the best lesson to teach a five year old."
She would not share how she had used that knowledge as a child. It would only embarrass her.
But, she had more stories to tell. "Oh, and there were Uncle Chi Rui’s lessons on the art of silent screaming. He would demonstrate and grade us on how believable our expressions were. Mouth wide open, eyes bulging and a silent howl. I had no idea why I needed to learn that until I beca an adult and then I found myself doing it at least once a day."
Jingzhe shook his head. The pri minister probably did that a few tis a day with all the politics he dealt with.
She took a sip of water and giggled as she put the glass down carefully. "Yeah, my childhood was a full schedule of real and nonsensical lessons which my relatives labeled masterclasses. I have a feeling that it is going to be the sa for Mingzhu." i i groaned. "I hope that she does not take grandma Chi’s lessons on detecting liar’s using truth juice"
"Huh!" Jingzhe frowned. "What is truth juice and how does it work?"
i i had been hopeful that he would ask and so she answered with great joy. "Whenever we got up to mischief and nobody was filling to fess up to it. She would blend so juice a mix of beetroot, vinegar, lemon, ginger and chilli."
Jingzhe could feel the sting in his throat at the description alone.
"A nervous person will drink all that juice under questioning and not react. But that is what gives away the dishonesty. Grandma says, truth is bitter and so is truth juice." i i added.
"That was a trick." Jingzhe imdiately found loophole.
Reviews
All reviews (0)