Zhaodi stayed outside until late at night, and nobody came out to look for her. Mosquitoes buzzed incessantly around her, leaving her body covered with large red welts.
After considering her options, she realized she had nowhere else to go. With resentment weighing heavily in her heart, she returned home. She quickly washed up with water from the well in the yard and then silently slipped back into her room to lie down on the bed.
Zhao Xiaojuan, who had been fighting off sleep, finally relaxed: It was good that she had come back.
"Lazy pig, get up and come eat," Su Wanyu called out, carrying steaming pork buns and porridge from the kitchen to Jiang Mianmian, who had just walked out of the room.
"Mom, where’s dad?" Jiang Mianmian, who had just woken up, was still a bit drowsy.
"Don’t you see what time it is? Your dad went to work a long time ago. Li Lan and Wang Li will be arriving soon if you don’t hurry."
Jiang Mianmian looked up and saw that it was already past eight o’clock; she had indeed slept for quite a while.
She stuck out her tongue and quickly sat down to eat the big pork buns.
Li Lan arrived with her books in hand just after Mianmian had finished her meal.
"Lan Jie, you’re here. Haven’t you finished your homework yet?" Mianmian asked curiously, noting the homework Li Lan was holding.
Li Lan was one of those hardworking, studious kids. School was about to start in about a week, so logically, she should have finished her homework by now.
"I’ve done most of it, but there are some difficult problems I can’t solve, so I saved them hoping you’d explain them to me when you got back," Li Lan explained.
"Alright, which ones can’t you do? I’ll explain them to you."
The two sat at the dining table. Li Lan circled the problems she couldn’t solve, and Mianmian explained them one by one.
Just as Mianmian had explained three problems, Wang Li rushed in energetically. Seeing Su Wanyu wasn’t in the room, he nudged Mianmian’s arm and whispered, "Mianmian, have you finished your summer homework?"
Mianmian blinked, "I finished it, yeah."
"You’re amazing. Since you’ve finished your homework and you’ve got nothing else to do, help a brother out and write mine for me. I haven’t started yet," Wang Li pleaded, shaking his untouched homework that looked like a new book.
Without a second thought, Mianmian refused, "No way, do your own homework. There’s enough time if you start now."
She would have been too lazy to do her own homework if not for feeling a "heavy responsibility."
"Ah, Mianmian, please. I’m begging you, just help me this once. It’s an emergency, I beg you. There are so many problems I can’t do. I definitely won’t finish if I do it myself. Don’t worry, I won’t let you help me for nothing. If you complete these two subjects for me, I’ll lend you my comics and share my snacks from home. When school starts, if anyone bullies you, just tell me, and I’ll beat them up for you. I’ll have your back in school, making sure no one dares to mess with you. How about it?" Wang Li clasped his hands together in plea after plea to Mianmian.
"I said no, and I mean no. Start with what you can do. If there’s anything you don’t know, you can ask me," Mianmian staunchly refused Wang Li’s ’unreasonable’ request.
Seeing that Mianmian wouldn’t budge, Wang Li could only sigh in resignation and started slowly working on his homework, calculating and writing bit by bit.
It didn’t take long for him to start frowning, scratching his head, and tugging at his ear in frustration. Mianmian found it rather amusing but didn’t bother with him and went back to her room to get the Walkman Yu Rou had given her.