When Zeng Xuerou went downstairs, the conversation below had already ended, and Xiao Xian was holding half a piece of mung bean cake.
Zhang Yiyi had a whole piece of mung bean cake in her mouth, not swallowing it, whimpering as if she was holding back tears. She hadn’t cried when she fell so badly a few hours ago, but now she looked after eating a few pieces of cake, was it possible that Grandma Zeng’s cakes were especially delicious today?
"The driver has arrived at the door, we can go now," Zeng Xuerou urged with her words, seeing Grandma Zeng showing a look of loneliness, "I’ll come back on the weekend." Most students come home once a month, but as a top student like Zeng Xuerou, she inevitably had some privileges.
Upon hearing this, Grandma Zeng pulled Xiao Xian with her left hand and Zhang Yiyi with her right, "Don’t forget to bring your two good friends back. Yiyi’s foot is injured, she needs to drink more bone soup. Come over on Saturday, I’ll cook for you guys." She looked as if Xiao Xian and Yiyi were her actual granddaughters.
Zeng Xuerou couldn’t bring herself to refuse, only glanced at Xiao Xian and Zhang Yiyi with a look that clearly meant "say no if you know what’s good for you."
The two, eating their mung bean cake, seemed like they didn’t even see it and just kept nodding, leaving Zeng Xuerou so frustrated that she couldn’t even speak.
The car the Zeng Family had arranged to pick them up was a stretched Mercedes business van. If Zhang Yiyi hadn’t heard Grandma Zeng’s words earlier, she would definitely be fussing non-stop in the car right now.
After hearing those words, however, she calmed down. Xiao Xian got in the car and, out of curiosity, looked around.
Compared to the previous private car, this modified private vehicle was more spacious, with an apparent glass partition between the front and back seats that could be raised and lowered automatically if needed. The rear of the car had a built-in refrigerator filled with mineral water and energy drinks, and the back of the front seat was equipped with a small TV that could be played. The back seat could comfortably accommodate four people.
After getting in the car, Zeng Xuerou started chatting with the driver, and the two in the back took the chance to communicate with their eyes.
"Alas, it’s really sad. I always thought Zeng Xuerou was a spoiled princess raised in luxury. After listening to Grandma Zeng, I realized her background is so pitiable."
"It’s quite tragic. She witnessed her own father burn to death in a car during a racing accident,"
"I was wondering why their family had a modified Ferrari. It turns out it was from her father’s racing days. Why keep that car? Wouldn’t it bring back painful memories?"
"I don’t think so, Zeng Xuerou probably likes cars too. You saw how she drove today; she could definitely participate in a race."
"No wonder her mom doesn’t like her driving, not to mention racing."
"What are you two whispering about?" Zeng Xuerou, after asking the driver about his mother’s working situation, also noticed the small movements between the two behind her. Zeng Xuerou’s mother, due to frequent social drinking for business, often had to drink and she would get drunk and verbose especially after her husband’s passing.
During the summer break, when Zeng Xuerou returned home from a trip and the driver happened to be on leave, Mrs. Zeng picked up her daughter despite just coming from a social event, reeking of alcohol. Zeng Xuerou saw her mother was drunk and insisted on driving herself. Mrs. Zeng wouldn’t let her, and as they argued in the car, they hit Feng Xing’s car, resulting in the subsequent quarrel.
"Oh, it’s nothing. We’re just discussing whether you will really invite us to your house for a meal this weekend?" Zhang Yiyi asked with pleading eyes, feeling sympathetic towards Zeng Xuerou’s story, and feeling a sense of shared misery with her. Moreover, Grandma Zeng’s cooking is really good. The food in Sacred Heart Middle School’s cafeteria is decent, but after a few months, even a feast would become tiresome.
Having tried most of the food stalls in the school’s commercial street and lost the novelty, nothing could compare to home-cooked meals.
"I don’t know what spell you’ve cast on my grandma, since she wants you there, then just come. But don’t talk about today’s events with anyone else," Zeng Xuerou also worried that Xiao Xian and Zhang Yiyi might indiscriminately spread her story.
"We know, especially about the driving. Alright, don’t worry, even if someone gave me a hundred mung bean cakes, I wouldn’t tell," said Zhang Yiyi lively, already forgetting the pain in her leg.
When they got out of the car, Zhang Yiyi led the way, limping forward, Xiao Xian followed laughing and scolding after her, while Zeng Xuerou watched their gradually shrinking figures, seemingly lost in thought.