Song Zhengguo, having eaten and drunk his fill, now resembled a head teacher. He sat down beside Zhao Xinlan and gestured for Zhou Siyu to join them.
"Siyu, come sit here, and I’ll go over the problems with you."
Zhou Siyu didn’t want to sit too close to him, but having invested so much, she finally had what she desired and couldn’t miss out.
So, suppressing her revulsion, she sat on the other side of Song Zhengguo, who revealed a sly smile and, with an arm around each of them, began to go over the problems, occasionally leaning in to kiss them on the ear.
After about forty minutes, the sky outside slowly darkened, and Song Zhengguo reluctantly let them go.
"I’ll stay up late tonight to list out the problems I’ve worked out. Try to come as early as possible tomorrow, and I guarantee you’ll be able to get into high school."
Zhou Siyu and Zhao Xinlan echoed a response and then finally left together.
They walked side by side for a while, neither mentioning the events at the Song residence. When they reached the crossroads where they had to part ways, Zhou Siyu clenched her teeth and said.
"Keep your mouth shut tight. You can’t tell anyone about today’s events."
"Do you think I’m an idiot?"
The thought of what had happened at the Song house nearly brought Zhao Xinlan to tears; it was something she would never speak of for the rest of her life.
Seeing her , Zhou Siyu started to worry, "Will you come tomorrow?"
She certainly didn’t want to face that old man alone.
"Why wouldn’t I come?" Zhao Xinlan bit her lip, fighting to keep her tears from falling. "I’ve already made all the sacrifices. If I don’t show up when it’s time to reap the rewards, I’d be a fool."
Although she had mentally prepared herself, the reality of it all still made her feel terrible.
At her age, she hadn’t even thought about her own purity; she only knew that when Song Zhengguo did those things to her, she felt disgusted and her body suffered greatly.
The more she thought about it, the redder her eyes became.
"Then don’t cry," Zhou Siyu warned. "If the family notices anything off, we’re both done for."
She felt awful too, but she had a strong conviction. Suffering now would lead to success later; what did these current troubles matter? After all, she hadn’t lost anything tangible.
Although her uncle and aunt loved her and were willing to let her go to school, it would be useless to blame heaven and earth if she couldn’t make it on her own merit.
"Doesn’t it bother you at all?" Zhao Xinlan asked, struggling to hold back tears. "When he..."
"Enough," Zhou Siyu interrupted with disgust. "I’ve already forgotten it, and you should too. I’m going home, and you should hurry back to yours."
With those words, Zhou Siyu hurried away on her bike like she was escaping.
Zhao Xinlan’s home was closer; as she walked, she remembered everything that happened at the Song house and suddenly felt disgusted with herself but even more determined to get into high school. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
"It’s almost dark; why isn’t Siyu back yet?" Zhou Lanfang paced worriedly back and forth in the house, the meal prepared but no sign of her daughter.
"You’re going to make me dizzy with all your pacing. Let’s wait a little longer; if she’s still not back, I’ll go and look for her," said Shen Jianhua, although he too was worried. He had no clue where Zhou Siyu was studying and had nowhere to start searching—perhaps he could try meeting her on the way from school and see if he could bump into her.
"Look at you, not caring about your child at all, not even asking where she’s studying at noon," Zhou Lanfang began to reproach Shen Jianhua.