"I’m in ninth grade now! I won’t have spare ti to co ask you for money every month! So can you start paying child support annually now?"
"What? Paying annually?! No way!" Ju Zhen imdiately objected, "The agreent clearly states it’s monthly! Do you think I have money to just sit in the bank without earning any interest? Why should I give you a whole year’s worth at once?"
Zhen Yu didn’t even glance at her, just kept staring into her father’s eyes, waiting to see how he would respond.
In truth, neither Zhen Yu nor Mrs. Zhen cared much for the two hundred yuan a month in child support anymore.
They kept chasing after Zhen Hailong for it only because they felt it was Mr. Zhen’s duty to fulfil, why should they not claim what was theirs?
Of course, it might also be that deep down they were unwilling to let go, perhaps harboring other hidden, unconscious emotions.
Maybe they felt that as long as there was still a connection, the family bond hadn’t completely broken...
Mr. Zhen, amidst Ju Zhen’s chatter, suddenly swung his arm violently, flinging her several steps away, and roared, "Shut your damn mouth!"
Ju Zhen was dumbfounded.
Since she got together with Zhen Hailong, she had never seen him lose his temper with her like this; she was unable to accept it, just standing there in shock.
"Fine! We’ll do as you say!" Mr. Zhen, after freeing his hand, pulled out a stack of money from his pocket, "Here’s one thousand yuan, six hundred is for the last three months of the year, and four hundred for your brother to go to high school!"
Zhen Yu pursed her lips, nodded and accepted the money, "Take care of yourself, I’m leaving now."
After Zhen Yu left, the hardware store was suddenly filled with tension. But all of this was now irrelevant to Zhen Yu; she was no longer the ek little girl who had to beg for a living from her stepmother in her previous life!
Zhen Yu straightened her back and walked purposefully back to Shoe City under the afterglow of the setting sun, and then closed the store with her mother and Li Li.
On the way ho, she told her mother about Mr. Zhen agreeing to pay child support annually.
"At least he still has a bit of conscience," sighed Mrs. Zhen, "He’s not being heartless now; when the ti cos for him to be taken care of in his old age, just fulfil your filial duties accordingly!"
"Right." Zhen Yu thought the sa.
Mrs. Zhen continued, "It looks like the rumors of him winning the lottery must be true, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so generous today!"
"Right." Zhen Yu thought the sa.
"Do you think, since he’s about to close the shop and wasn’t there, carrying so much money on him, he might be going to see his sisters?"
"Right." Zhen Yu thought the sa.
"All you know is ’right’! Can’t you talk more with ? You don’t seem to be short of words when serving custors! Why do you act like this with ?! Like a tight-lipped gourd, can’t get a peep out of you."
Zhen Yu sighed helplessly, "Mom! That’s being forced to do business! In front of you, I just don’t want to pretend."
"What do you an by being forced to do business?" Mrs. Zhen asked, not quite understanding.
"It ans having to say more than necessary and put on an act just to make a sale," Zhen Yu bluntly explained.
"Well, you can do so business for , too! Every day! With your brother not ho, it’s like I’m all alone here, without anyone to even chat with!"
Zhen Yu pulled a wry smile and gave her mother an awkward but polite ’professional smile’, her sense of helplessness was huge! So huge...
——
Monday, during the long break.
After the flag-raising ceremony, as soon as the dismissal was announced, Fu Yu pulled a male classmate, who he usually got along with well at school, to a corner of the playground.
He chose this classmate because lately, Fu Yu had often overheard Liu Ting gossiping about so irrefutably juicy stories between him and his female deskmate!
Clearly, this was soone with experience! No mistake asking him for advice.
"What’s going on? Why the secrecy..." The boy looked at Fu Yu with his crafty eyes and couldn’t help but beco curious.
Fu Yu glanced around, made sure there were hardly any people left, then rubbed his hands together and said, "Well, you know..."
"Hey! Just spit it out if you have sothing to say! Why are you stamring?!" The boy urged him on.
Fu Yu steeled his heart and just asked directly, "Are you dating your deskmate?"
"!" The boy was startled and imdiately covered Fu Yu’s mouth with his hand, looking around to make sure no one was listening before letting go, "Are you trying to kill ?! If the teacher hears this, we’re screwed!"
"Is it true or not?" Fu Yu didn’t care about that and kept pushing.
"Shh! No, it’s not. Why are you asking this?" The boy felt uncertain and couldn’t help but counter-question.
Fu Yu, puzzled, said: "It’s not?"
"It is!"
"So is it or is it not?"
"Shh! Whether it is or not, what’s it to you?!" The boy was getting annoyed.
Fu Yu scratched his head awkwardly and whispered, "How did you chase her?"
The boy took a mont to realize and then understood, "You’re asking for advice? Who do you like in our class? Huh?" Saying so, the boy waggishly nudged Fu Yu with his shoulder.
Fu Yu didn’t want to say, and just kept straight on asking the boy for an answer, "Just tell how you chased her!"
"Cut it! If you’re not going to say it, forget it!" The boy first scoffed at Fu Yu, then proudly said: "I wrote her love letters! I’d slip one into her book every day! Kept writing! Kept on writing! I wrote for over a month before she agreed to be with !"
"Love letters." Fu Yu took note and said to the boy, "Let’s go back!"
The boy was really enthusiastic and said, "Hey, Fu Yu, are you sure you can do it? If you can’t, I can help you write them..."
"No need!"
——
The following week was a complete repeat of the last.
Fu Yu kept sticking to Zhen Yu after school every evening as always, and just like always, except for discussing howork, Zhen Yu paid him no attention at all.
Everyone had gotten used to it by now, except Bai Xue, who was still tirelessly fighting with Fu Yu over the seats, while the others completely ignored Fu Yu’s desperate antics.
On Friday evening, after Fu Yu finished his howork, he finally asked the question that he’d been holding in for a week, "Why didn’t anyone tell we weren’t studying last weekend? Are we not studying this weekend either?"
Zhen Yu and Han Mingyue exchanged looks before both turning their gaze to Bai Xue.
Bai Xue rolled her eyes, "...Can’t you study at ho if you don’t co to Xiao Yu’s house? Just admit you want to have fun, stop making excuses! It’s not just this weekend, from now on we need to self-study at ho! Study or don’t, up to you!"
Upon hearing this, Fu Yu beca anxious and stood up with a ’swoosh’, "No way! I can’t self-study at ho!"
He couldn’t see Zhen Yu during the day, and at night he had to keep doing howork; once he finished, he had to leave!
He was counting on the weekend to get closer to Zhen Yu, and now they’re telling him he has to self-study at ho in the future?!
He refuses! How can that be okay? That absolutely won’t do!
Bai Xue slamd the table and stood up too, "Are you less intelligent than the rest of us or what? I can self-study! Why can’t you?!"
This stinky cousin, always contradicting him!
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