Cheng Guodong exhaled, "Just for this?"
Qin Xin silently passed the journal on the table to him.
Little Taotie saw the journal, her eyes wide with delight, tears hanging there as her mouth broke into a smile. She hugged the journal and thundered "thump thump thump" up the stairs.
"What’s the hurry for?" Cheng Guodong shouted, "Slow down!"
"Can’t slow down! I need to write my journal now!" Little Taotie hurried back to her desk, took a pencil, and "swish swish swish" left her "dragon and phoenix dance" chicken scratches in the notebook!
Little Taotie wrote a line, then glanced at the time, mumbling under her breath, "I must finish within ten minutes, whatever I write counts!"
Usually, if she wrote day by day, she knew what to write, but now the teacher said the journals shouldn’t be written that way, so she was out of ideas. Plus, with insufficient time, she could only write whatever came to her mind.
Once time was up, she drew a period decisively, closed the notebook and stuffed it into her backpack, rushed to the bathroom to wash her face hurriedly, brushed her teeth vigorously, and, despite her messy hair, she spent a moment combing it neatly with a brush before slinging her backpack over her shoulders and thundering "thump thump thump" down the stairs.
She plopped down in her chair, grabbed a boiled egg with her left hand and a slice of bread with her right, eating voraciously.
The nanny seized this brief moment to come up behind her and comb her hair into a ponytail.
Little Taotie shook her high ponytail and gave the nanny a sweet smile, her dimples deepening, "Thank you, Auntie!"
Qin Xin asked, "Finished writing your journal?"
Little Taotie sighed with relief, sounding like a little old person, "The teacher was right— we shouldn’t procrastinate on homework. From now on, I’ll finish my journal by Friday and won’t include the things that happen in the next two days."
Hearing this, Cheng Guodong and Qin Xin exchanged glances and also sighed in relief.
As long as Little Taotie didn’t write about her Sunday visits to the Special Department, there wouldn’t be any issues with her journal.
"Can we have a look at today’s?" Cheng Guodong smiled, "I want to see if my sister has included her big brother!"
Little Taotie giggled shyly, "Sure! Of course, I wrote about you!"
Cheng Guodong and Qin Xin leaned their heads together to read the journal.
Perhaps because she was rushed for time, the child’s handwriting was even more "dreadful" than usual. Cheng Guodong and Qin Xin stared for a long time before they could understand what was written.
——This week I ate really well. My big brother brought back lots of delicious snacks, and my classmates gave me small treats every day. I’m so happy!
——My second brother has been really busy lately, drinking many cups of coffee every day. It’s so bitter, yet he seems to enjoy it; I really don’t get it—maybe his taste buds are different from mine.
——When I was writing my journal, I was too tired and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already daylight and I cried in a panic, almost turning into a bad kid who doesn’t do homework. From now on, I better finish my journal on Friday.
——This week, everyone still really liked me.
After reading the journal, Cheng Guodong looked at Qin Xin and couldn’t help but chuckle sotto voce.
Qin Xin glanced at the coffee in his hand, silently set it down, and cleared his throat.
As soon as she entered the classroom, she heard Little Fatty’s roar: "Hua Jinyan, you tricked me, black coffee is clearly the most bitter! You’ve gone too far, you did it on purpose, you must have done it on purpose!"
Little Taotie looked over at Little Fatty, who was "charging over" in confusion and turned to see Hua Jinyan with an unfazed expression: "Did I ever say it wasn’t bitter?"
Little Fatty bellowed, "You told me there are thousands of ways to have coffee, and if my dad won’t let me drink it, I could go to the café and buy it myself, remember to get black coffee, it’s the best!"
"You clearly told me that black coffee tasted the best! But it’s so bitter!" Little Fatty gagged, "Worse than bitter medicine!"