"Who’s stopping you from eating," the Ruanlin Family matriarch shot back at him but turned around to go back into the kitchen and brought out a bowl of noodles and handed it to him: "Here, eat quickly and then take your things back to school, don’t miss your classes."
"Okay, I know, I’ll be leaving in a bit," Ruan Jun said cheerily, taking the bowl and sitting down to eat beside Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi.
Slurp, slurp; he ate voraciously, praising while he ate, "Granny’s cooking really is the best; the chefs at school can’t compare at all."
He ate with his head down, and his voice showed no signs of irregularities; the Ruanlin Family matriarch thought he was just flattering her and scolded him playfully before going off to get busy.
Now, the new house was filled with farm animals, and just preparing their feed took up her entire day, not to mention the need to keep it a secret from others. The Ruanlin Family matriarch lived each day with her heart in her throat, hardly finding a moment of free time.
Ruan Jun continued slurping down the noodles, loud enough that the steam fogged up his face.
Perhaps he thought no one had noticed, but Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi could both see that their older brother, his face almost buried in the vapor, was crying! Crying silently and without a sound, yet his sorrow was intense.
Ruan Jiaojiao and Xiu Xi exchanged a look but chose to remain still.
Ruan Jun finished the noodles in minutes, then, worried the younger ones would notice, he wiped his face hard, turned, and said, "You two enjoy your meal. Big brother is going to the room to find something, I’ll be heading back to school soon."
He left in haste as soon as he said this.
Ruan Jiaojiao furrowed her little brows.
This big brother was acting too strangely; had something happened? But why wouldn’t he tell the family?
Ruan Jiaojiao didn’t understand.
She quietly waited in the main room.
Once Ruan Jun returned to the privacy of the second room, he couldn’t help but cover his face and cry. In front of Liao Zhaoji, he put on a cold facade; in front of Ruan Jiaojiao, he pretended as if nothing was wrong.
Yet he was still just a child not yet fifteen years old.
At this moment, his despair for the future made him want to burst into tears.
But he didn’t dare to cry too loudly, only biting hard on his lip, stifling his sobs silently.
After venting his emotions, he wiped his face, went to the kitchen to splash cold water vigorously over it, and then went back to his room to pack some clothes in an old bag.
Having done that, he took out some paper and a pen, wrote a few lines, left the note on Ruan Chi’s desk, shouldered the old bag, and stepped out of the door.
As he passed through the courtyard, he didn’t even look up at Ruan Jiaojiao and the others but raised his voice to call out, "Granny, I’m leaving."
From the back courtyard, the Ruanlin Family matriarch answered him.
"Be good, Jiaojiao; your brother is leaving first," he finally said to Ruan Jiaojiao, but even as he spoke, he dared not lift his head, and after speaking, he scurried off with his head down.
The moment Ruan Jun left the courtyard, Ruan Jiaojiao immediately ran to the second room to look around. She scanned the area and found the note on Ruan Chi’s desk.
It read just a few words, which Ruan Jiaojiao glanced at and saw: "Dad, Granny, I don’t want to study anymore. I’m going out to work. I will take care of myself, earn money, and come back. Do not search for me or worry!" Followed by Ruan Jun’s name and the date.