Jiang Mianmian thought of their trio and asked with concern, "By the way, Zhong Yuan, did Tian Wei skip grades with you?"
When Tian Wei was mentioned, Zhong Yuan couldn’t hold back a laugh, "She hasn’t finished learning yet. When I told her I was going to skip a grade, she almost died of anger. She said she wouldn’t play with us anymore and swore that this semester she must study hard to catch up with us."
Upon hearing Zhong Yuan’s recount, Jiang Mianmian could almost picture Tian Wei’s expression as she spoke, and she laughed along, "Let’s go see her after the next class ends. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her, and I kind of miss her."
"Sure, she’ll be very happy to see you," Zhong Yuan agreed.
When the second class ended, the two went to see Tian Wei in Class 2-2.
Tian Wei was indeed excited and ran out when she saw them.
"Jiang Mianmian, Zhong Yuan, you both have some conscience, remembering to come see me," Tian Wei said, somewhat resentfully.
"It was Jiang Mianmian who wanted to come see you, Tian Wei. You have to study hard this year, or else when Jiang Mianmian and I go to high school, you’ll still have another year of junior high to go," Zhong Yuan earnestly encouraged his little buddy.
Seeing him mention exactly what she didn’t want to hear, Tian Wei pouted, pretended to be unhappy and shook her fist in front of him, speaking defiantly, "Hmph, little Yuan, don’t be too proud yet. I will catch up with you both sooner or later."
Zhong Yuan smiled at her determination, nodded, and accepted her challenge, "Okay, Tian Wei, then let’s see the real deal at the middle school entrance exam, of course, if you can take it with us."
"I definitely will, you just wait," Tian Wei said confidently.
"Tian Wei, I believe in you, you can do it, go for it," Jiang Mianmian patted Tian Wei’s shoulder, cheering her on.
"Yeah," Tian Wei nodded vigorously.
The three of them chatted at the entrance of Class 2-2 for a while until the bell rang, and Jiang Mianmian and Zhong Yuan hurried back to their own class.
The first day of school passed quickly, and after the school bell rang, Jiang Mianmian packed up her things, said goodbye to Zhong Yuan, and walked out.
Zhong Yuan would walk home with Tian Wei every day after school; their families were not only relatives but also neighbors.
Jiang Mianmian didn’t want to squeeze with the other students, so she carried her little backpack and strolled out leisurely.
But Zhiwen and Zhiwu, who had just started first grade, seemed to reflexively grab their backpacks and dash out at the sound of the school bell, along with two other little boys.
These two little boys sat in front of Zhiwen and Zhiwu, and the four of them hit it off right away. Each time class ended, they huddled together to chat. After a day, their friendship had already become ’deep.’
They ran all the way to the entrance of the academic building. When Zhiwen and Zhiwu suddenly stopped, the two little boys also stopped and asked in confusion, "Zhiwen, Zhiwu, why aren’t we going anymore?"
"You two go on ahead, we have to wait for our sister to go home together," Zhiwen explained.
If it were before, they would never have waited for Jiang Mianmian.
However, this time, when they came to town, their parents had repeatedly warned them not to run off as soon as school let out. They must wait for their sister and walk home together. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel·fire·net
They were also tasked with leading their sister to school, looking after her, protecting her, and if anyone bullied her, they had to stand up for her, offer her support.
That’s why they were so conscientiously waiting at the entrance of the academic building for Jiang Mianmian; otherwise, they would have run off long ago.