Chapter 53 : Rice Topped with Green Onions

Eighty points?  

When Shen Haifeng heard this number, it felt utterly unattainable.  

He was currently scoring in the twenties, and now he had to aim for eighty? That was a monumental leap.  

Fang Xiaoluo noticed his hesitation and added fuel to the fire. “You’re already doubting yourself, aren’t you? If even you think you can’t do it, there’s no way I’d believe you could.”  

Shen Haifeng clenched his teeth. “Fine, I promise you. I’ll write you a guarantee letter as soon as we get home.”  

Fang Xiaoluo smirked. “You’re scoring twenty points, do you even know enough characters to write a guarantee letter?”  

Shen Haifeng: …  

“Then what do I need to do to make you believe me?”  

Fang Xiaoluo replied, “Forget the guarantee letter. I’ll just watch how you perform. After all, your grades are already a weak spot I can hold against you. Besides, as a person, if you can’t keep your word, what kind of person are you? If you don’t keep your word, you’re basically admitting you’re not a real man. And if that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do but admit I overestimated you. I’ll make sure not to team up with you again.”  

Shen Haifeng: …  

On their way home, Shen Haifeng couldn’t help but ask, “Did our teacher Ding say anything about me?”  

“She did,” Fang Xiaoluo replied.  

Shen Haifeng’s heart sank. He hadn’t been performing well at school, often zoning out in class. Teacher Ding must have complained about him to Fang Xiaoluo.  

By now, she must have a terrible impression of him, as someone who fails at everything.  

Fang Xiaoluo glanced down at him, but since he was shorter, she couldn’t see his expression clearly.  

“Your Teacher Ding said that as long as you’re willing to work hard, you have a lot of potential,” Fang Xiaoluo said. “She also said you’re a kind and helpful child, who loves to pitch in with chores at school.”  

Shen Haifeng’s head shot up, his face filled with disbelief. “R-really?”  

“Do I look like I’ve got nothing better to do than lie to you? Or are you just that gullible?” Fang Xiaoluo snorted lightly.  

Shen Haifeng instantly broke into a smile, scratching his head in delight.  

Fang Xiaoluo had no intention of bringing up the topic of repeating a grade. Before leaving, she had also asked Teacher Ding not to mention it to Shen Haifeng for now. Everything would hinge on his performance in the end-of-term exams.  

Even though an eight-year-old might seem to understand everything, the emotional wounds inflicted during childhood could take a lifetime to heal.  

He had just emerged from a dark chapter in his life, barely a month ago.  

In this situation, encouragement was far more critical than criticism.  

After a long pause, Shen Haifeng said, “Thank you.”  

Fang Xiaoluo responded, “Starting tomorrow, wake up at 5:30 AM and come to me. In the evening, you’ll do your homework in my room. Once you finish, I’ll tutor you. Besides your schoolwork, you’ll also need to complete the extra assignments I give you every day.”  

Unlike decades later, homework wasn’t overwhelming at this time. The amount was relatively small and could be finished quickly.  

“Can you do it?”  

Shen Haifeng nodded immediately. “Yes, I can.”  

“And one more thing,” Fang Xiaoluo continued. “If you don’t complete the assignments I give you, you’ll get punished. For every wrong answer, you’ll get a smack on the palm.”  

Shen Haifeng glanced at his palms, then clenched his fists. “Alright.”  

When Zheng Lanhua saw Fang Xiaoluo and Shen Haifeng return together, seemingly getting along, she was quite surprised.  

Fang Xiaoluo hadn’t mentioned she was going to attend a parent-teacher meeting, only saying she had some errands to run.  

Noticing Zheng Lanhua’s puzzled expression, Fang Xiaoluo casually explained, “I picked him up on the way back.”  

Zheng Lanhua nodded and took off her apron. “Now that everyone’s back, let’s eat.”  

Since Fang Xiaoluo wasn’t home earlier, Zheng Lanhua hadn’t cooked but had gone to the canteen to buy some dishes.  

She had just steamed some rice in the pot, though she still couldn’t get the timing quite right. Today, it was slightly burnt again.  

Fortunately, she caught it in time and inserted a green onion into the rice to salvage the flavor.  

Fang Xiaoluo wondered what kind of meal Zheng Lanhua had prepared today, she could faintly detect a hint of burnt smell.  

After changing her clothes and washing her hands, Fang Xiaoluo sat down at the table. The three children also gathered around the table.  

Zheng Lanhua placed a pot of rice on the table. As soon as it was set down, Fang Xiaoluo confirmed her suspicion, the rice was indeed slightly burnt, courtesy of Zheng Lanhua’s cooking.  

However, compared to some of her previous culinary “adventures,” this wasn’t bad at all. At least she hadn’t thrown in random ingredients like meat, eggs, milk, or vegetables into the rice.  

Maybe once they got an electric rice cooker, Zheng Lanhua’s rice-cooking skills would improve.  

Next, Zheng Lanhua began opening the containers of food she had brought back.  

Fang Xiaoluo looked at the spread in front of her: braised tofu, red-braised pork, shredded radish with meatballs, and stir-fried potato slices.  

While the canteen’s food was more affordable than buying from a regular restaurant, for someone as frugal as Zheng Lanhua, this was still a lavish meal.  

Noticing Fang Xiaoluo’s surprised expression, Zheng Lanhua spoke while scooping rice. “I was cleaning the house this afternoon and found a few nearly expired meal tickets in a box crevice.”  

Accepting the unburnt portion of rice Zheng Lanhua handed over, Fang Xiaoluo nodded earnestly. “Absolutely, letting them go to waste would be a shame. Wastefulness is disgraceful.”  

To Fang Xiaoluo, the canteen’s food was mediocre in flavor, it was, after all, mass-produced in big pots.  

But compared to Zheng Lanhua’s own cooking, this was like night and day.  

Shen Haiping quietly ate his food without much enthusiasm since it wasn’t particularly delicious. He didn’t bother commenting.  

For Shen Haifeng, however, getting to eat canteen food even once in a while was a rare treat, akin to celebrating a holiday.  

That said, in his heart, nothing could compare to the half meat bun and the stir-fried hand-pulled noodles Fang Xiaoluo had made for him before.  

Despite his eagerness to dig in, Shen Haifeng used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of red-braised pork and silently placed it into Fang Xiaoluo’s bowl before taking a bite for himself.  

Zheng Lanhua was stunned by this gesture.  

What on earth had happened this afternoon?  

After dinner, Fang Xiaoluo called Shen Haifeng over. “Haifeng, do you still have your textbooks from last semester?”  

Shen Haifeng shook his head. “No.”  

All his books from the previous year had been burned by his former stepmother.  

She used to say they were useless trash, that studying was a waste of time and money.  

His textbooks had been turned into kindling under her orders.  

Fang Xiaoluo didn’t press for details, she understood it was a painful chapter he would rather forget.  

Instead, she decided to see if she could borrow a first-grade math and language textbook to get an idea of the current curriculum.  

She recalled that Shen Zheng had mentioned that one of his brothers, Huo Jinlei, had a daughter in second grade. She likely still had her first-grade books.  

Fang Xiaoluo headed out, making her way to Huo Jinlei’s house.  

As she walked past rows of single-story houses, she heard the sound of a car behind her. Turning to look, she saw a small delivery truck approaching.  

She stepped aside to let it pass, but instead, the truck stopped in front of her.  

Moments later, a familiar and nauseating figure jumped out of the truck.  

It was none other than Zhou Yanwen.