For so reason, Zhang San could sense a shrewdness in the girl from her ntion of "Pupulu", as if there was sothing they had in common.
But then he looked at the delicate-looking little girl in front of him and thought he might be overthinking it.
It wasn’t just him; Xu Lin felt the sa way.
The little girl in front of them had a mind that wasn’t as simple as her appearance suggested – there was depth to her.
"Is it okay to co and pay the school fees when school starts?" Zhen Yu asked Xu Lin.
"Of course," Xu Lin nodded.
"Then we should get going. If we don’t leave now, we really won’t catch the bus back ho!"
"Alright."
"Zhen Yan! Ti to go!" Mrs. Zhen didn’t want to fork out the money right away, so she was anxious and called out to her daughter, asking why she would choose this place if it was a thousand more. Then she loudly called her son to leave.
"Got it!" Zhen Yan called back, exchanged a few more words with his new friends, and then ca over to bid farewell to his newly acquainted master.
Xu Lin only saw them to the door, but Zhang San accompanied the three of them downstairs.
As soon as he reached downstairs, he was like a cat on hot bricks, "Well, I’ve got sparring sessions waiting for ! I have to go now!"
Upon hearing this, Zhen Yu suddenly thanked him with a stern face.
Zhang San was so surprised he didn’t know what to do, "No need! No need to thank ! From now on, we’re all part of the sa circle! I can barely count as your brother’s master!"
When Zhen Yan heard this, he cheerfully said, "Master Zhang, have a safe journey."
"Ah ah ah! Safe travels, safe travels..." Called "Master," Zhang San felt light-headed and floated away with delight.
——
Mrs. Zhen checked her watch. "We really need to hurry!"
After saying this, she picked up her suitcase and started walking, asking her daughter as they went, "Do you really think his services are worth the extra thousand?"
Zhen Yu answered with one word, "Worth it!"
Mrs. Zhen took a deep breath, looked at her daughter who was once again talking less now that they weren’t facing outsiders, and accepted it.
As they were about to reach the street corner, Zhen Yu pulled her mother and pointed to a bookstore by the road, "Mom! Let’s buy a set of books before we go."
"Ah?" Mrs. Zhen rembered the books her son had been talking about and urged, "Hurry up, both of you! It’s been a busy day! It’s all because of that rascal Zhen Yan!"
"Hehehe!" Zhen Yan laughed and grabbed his sister’s hand, heading towards the bookstore.
Buying Jin Yong’s Complete Works was quick – the bookstore had fixed prices, so they paid, grabbed the books, and left.
To make sure they wouldn’t be late for the bus, the three of them found a bus heading in the general direction of the long-distance bus station to hop on first, planning to get off when the route started changing and then hailing a cab directly to the station.
This was Zhen Yu’s idea, based on her experiences from a past life. It not only saved ti waiting for the direct bus but also saved so taxi fare.
Qi City was not small, but due to its limited economic level, the long-distance bus station wasn’t very formal, servicing only buses from subordinate counties and towns commuting to and from Qi City.
Zhen Yu went to buy the tickets, while Mrs. Zhen and Zhen Yan carried the suitcases and books to go and save seats on the bus waiting for her.
When Zhen Yu boarded the bus with the three tickets, because it was close to departure ti, the seats were almost all taken. Fortunately, her brother had used the books to save her a spot.
Seeing his sister board the bus, Zhen Yan picked up the books and stood up to let his sister into the inside seat.
Perhaps because it was the weekend, the bus was quite crowded. When it was ti to leave, four or five plastic stools had been placed down the aisle and all were occupied.
Once Zhen Yu sat down, she closed her eyes – she had motion sickness. In no ti, she fell asleep to the sway of the bus.
——
When the car was about to arrive at the station, Zhen Yu was woken up, and upon opening her eyes, she saw the fiery red sunset outside the window.
The early sumr evening brought a bit of coolness, and Mrs. Zhen, worried that her daughter might catch a cold, woke her up to freshen up ahead of ti.
"Are you two hungry? Shall we eat out before we head ho?" Mrs. Zhen was also tired from a whole day’s work and felt too lazy to cook.
"Sure!" Zhen Yan, the boy nearly a teenager, couldn’t stand being hungry and was already ravenous. Hearing that they would go to eat imdiately after getting off, he was more than happy.
Zhen Yu had no objections, so the three of them went straight to a snack bar by the road after leaving the station.
"What would you three like to order? We have stir-fried dishes, rice, noodles, dumplings, everything!"
Mrs. Zhen flipped through the nu and looked up, "How about dumplings?"
"Great! Great! I want the celery ones!" Zhen Yan imdiately agreed.
Zhen Yu nodded as well, " too."
Mrs. Zhen thought about her son’s current appetite and muttered to herself, "One plate is half a catty, right? Would three plates be enough?"
The waiter suggested upon hearing this, "Get four plates! If you can’t finish them, we can pack them up for you."
"Then fine, four plates of celery dumplings!" Mrs. Zhen, thinking that taking leftovers ho would avoid waste, quickly made a decision.
"Alright! Please wait a mont." The waiter promptly turned and shouted toward the direction of the kitchen, "Four plates of celery dumplings!"
"Got it!" A man’s voice ca from behind the door curtain.
——
While waiting for the al, Zhen Yan beca fidgety, moving the Jin Yong’s Complete Works from the chair beside him to the table, intending to pick one out to read.
Zhen Yu reached out to stop him, "Unwrap it at ho."
"Why?" Zhen Yan was dissatisfied.
"Do you know how to tie them back up? The books will get scattered or damaged," Zhen Yu challenged him.
Zhen Yan sheepishly put his hands down and mumbled, "No, I can’t."
Not reading the content is one thing, but admiring the covers is good enough. Zhen Yan was fascinated, thinking the set of books was perfect in every way!
He was pondering which book to start with that night when Zhen Yu suddenly hit him with a sucker punch.
"Bring your alarm clock tonight before you go to sleep!"
Zhen Yan almost jumped off his chair, "No! How am I supposed to read this set of books then?"
"I’ll adjust the timing for you," Zhen Yu already had a plan and imdiately offered a solution.
"How much?" Zhen Yan quickly asked.
"Stick to the school schedule, from eight in the morning to five in the evening." Without waiting for Zhen Yan to reply, Zhen Yu added, "You can get up early, but no staying up late, or I’ll confiscate them!"
"..." Zhen Yan didn’t even have ti to bargain and his plans to stay up late reading were suddenly gone with the wind.
Mrs. Zhen quietly watched her children spar, smiling to herself.
Actually, right after the divorce, she had really been afraid that the children would beco rebellious because of their parent’s split, just like on TV, right?
But none of what she had imagined ever ca to pass. Her son and daughter were filial, sensible, and harmonious—far better than before the divorce!
In the past year, Mrs. Zhen was grateful countless tis that she hadn’t clung to Zhen Hailong but had decisively divorced him. Without the divorce, where would this wonderful son and daughter co from? Without the divorce, how could she have this free life now? Busy as it may be, exhausted as it may be, no more caught between her family and her husband, no more frightened over money matters!
Thinking about how, after following her daughter’s advice to switch to selling shoes, she earned more in one year than she had in three years selling hardware, she sotis really doubted whether her daughter was a prophet or had received so divine guidance.
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