Zhou Tingting’s jaw was set tightly. She forcibly pushed the jealousy away and approached Xu Wei with Tian Nuo.
She pulled her hair behind her ears and offered a warm smile to Xu Wei, but the latter ignored her completely. She watched as Fu Zhi finished the milk and then put the bottle away. “Warm milk is good for your brain. I’ll bring some for you again tomorrow!”
“That is not necessary.”
Fu Zhi forced down the urge to burp and replied, “If you’re free, you can water the plants or even feed the ducklings. It’s a lower cost with a higher return. You don’t have to come to school every day.”
Xu Wei was speechless.
‘Lower cost? Higher return? What does that mean?’
“Alright then.”
Xu Wei did not dare ask or say anything. As long as her daughter was happy, she was willing to play dumb.
Fu Zhi took a look at her watch and said, “I have to return to class. You and daddy can go back and rest.”
“That sounds good to me.” Xu Wei had not even spared Zhou Tingting a single glance until now, treating her as if she was invisible.
Fu Zhi nodded but did not go back to class.
Looking at her, Xu Wei said, “You don’t have to wait for us. Go back to your class. Your father and I can walk to the gate by ourselves.”
However, on the inside, she murmured, ‘I was just kidding. If you don’t walk me out, that means you don’t love me anymore.’
“Alright then. Goodbye, mom. Goodbye, dad.” Fu Zhi nodded obediently. “Don’t play with your phone while you’re walking and take care of yourself.”
Apparently, Xu Wei had overestimated her daughter’s ability to read between lines. Crestfallen, Xu Wei coiled her arm around Lu Jingqing’s and said, “Well, you too, Zhizhi. Remember to pay attention in class.”
Just as Fu Zhi was about to say something, Zhou Tingting, who had been standing aside the whole time and waiting for the opportunity to perform, finally got her chance. She took a step forward and elbowed Fu Zhi out of the way. Upon seeing Zhou Tingting’s action, Tian Nuo quickly followed suit, positioning herself right between Fu Zhi and Xu Wei.
Zhou Tingting gave Tian Nuo an affirmative nod before turning to Fu Zhi. Then, with a frown on her face, she said, “Zhizhi, Mr. and Mrs. Lu came all the way here to see you. You were supposed to invite them to have a seat in the classroom so that they could have a cup of water and rest up. How could you send them away just like that?”
As she was talking, she subtly rolled her eyes at Fu Zhi. Then, she turned to look at Xu Wei and said in a sweet voice, “Are you leaving already, Mrs. Lu? Let me walk you to the gate!”
Xu Wei was stunned. She took a step back and looked past Zhou Tingting at Fu Zhi. Then, forcing a smile on her face, she asked, “Zhizhi, is this your classmate? She is kind of... friendly, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is my classmate,” Fu Zhi said. She paused for a moment before adding nonchalantly, “But we’re not close.”
Understanding instantly dawned upon Xu Wei, who turned to Zhou Tingting and said, “Well, I really appreciate your kindness, but we don’t know each other, so it’s alright. Zhizhi’s father and I can walk to the gate by ourselves.”
“Mrs. Lu, Tingting is not an outsider! She is a model student and one of our class’ committee members. She has a bright future!” Tian Nuo went forward and stood up for Zhou Tingting.
“Oh, wow. That’s pretty impressive,” Xu Wei replied. However, deep inside her heart, she whispered, ‘So... what does that have to do with me?’
“This is all thanks to you and Mr. Lu. Had it not been for your support, I wouldn’t have been where I am today!”
Zhou Tingting lowered her head shyly, but she inwardly felt exhilarated by a sense of almost perverted satisfaction. She took great glory in her achievement and was confident that she was better than Fu Zhi.
Xu Wei was confused.
She seemed to remember her eldest son always mentioning a girl at home. It took her quite some time to remember her name, but she suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, you’re Xu Tingting, right? I remember you.”
Zhou Tingting was stunned.
“Mrs. Lu, I’m not Xu Tingting...”
“Huh?” Xu Wei blinked blankly. When she saw that Zhou Tingting was about to cry, she hastily said, “Oh yeah, silly me. You’re not Xu Tingting. I’ve finally remembered. You’re Ma Tingting!”
Right now, Zhou Tingting felt as if she had been slapped twice by someone. She had worked hard for so long, yet Xu Wei did not even know who she was.
In Xu Wei’s eyes, was she just like ordinary folks?
Tears began to well in Zhou Tingting’s eyes.
The bell then rang.
Xu Wei urged Fu Zhi to go back to class and then hastily walked away with Lu Jingqing. She walked as fast as if she was being chased by a monster.
Tian Nuo turned to look at Zhou Tingting. Her face was pale, and her eyes were red.
“Tingting, you...”
Zhou Tingting bit her lips.
Tian Nuo bit the bullet and said, “Don’t be too sad, Tingting. It must be Fu Zhi! She must be messing around! There’s no way Mrs. Lu doesn’t know who you are. They have been sponsoring you for many years, and you’re Lu Yumo’s girlfriend. It’s just that you don’t want to rely on them. That’s why you didn’t approach them or ask them to take you in. Otherwise, Fu Zhi wouldn’t have had this chance. You—”
“Okay, enough! You go back to class first!” Zhou Tingting interrupted her. Tian Nuo wanted to say something else, but she swallowed her words upon seeing Zhou Tingting’s expression. She turned to look back at Zhou Tingting repeatedly as she walked into the classroom.
Zhou Tingting waited until Tian Nuo had gone into the classroom and only then wiped her tears away.
Suddenly, her gaze fell on the competition registration form and she entered a pensive silence. An idea popped up in her head, and she took out a pen. She scratched Zhou Zihuai’s name off the list and then wrote Fu Zhi’s name down.