Chapter 56 : Do You Have Something on Your Mind?

Fang Xiaoluo watched Shen Haifeng enjoying the bowl of milk and felt reluctant to rush him.

Fortunately, the boy knew that studying was the main priority. He quickly finished his milk and set the bowl aside.  

“I’m done. We can start now.”  

Fang Xiaoluo laid out the Chinese test papers. “Let me first see how your foundation is.”  

She pointed to the first big question, the most basic one, which involved spelling words from pinyin.  

Looking at the sea of red crosses, she decided to start from the first one.  

The first word she had spelled earlier was “春风” (spring breeze).  

She asked, “For the first one, spell it out for me.”  

Shen Haifeng raised his finger and seriously pointed at the pinyin. “Village, feng (wind). Village wind.”  

Fang Xiaoluo gave him a thumbs-up. “Good, you even know how to write ‘village’.”  

“Now explain to me why it’s village wind. Could it possibly be something else?”  

Shen Haifeng looked at it several times and couldn’t see any mistakes. The teacher hadn’t explained the test yet, so he couldn’t remember what was in the textbook. “Maybe it’s the big wind blowing through the village, so it could be ‘village wind’.”  

Fang Xiaoluo rubbed her forehead. “Don’t you know the difference between flat and retroflex sounds? Could this possibly be spring breeze ?”  

Shen Haifeng was suddenly enlightened. “Ah, right, it could be spring breeze.”  

Fang Xiaoluo pointed to the second word—(what).  

Shen Haifeng had left the answer blank.  

“You can’t possibly not know how to write these two characters. I think they’re very simple.”  

Shen Haifeng smiled awkwardly. “I guess this is related to aesthetics? I don’t remember learning it.”  

“What? Aesthetics? That’s perfect.”  

Fang Xiaoluo had a clearer idea now. It seemed like they really needed to start from scratch.  

She then spotted a more surprising word and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you sure you’ve learned this word?”  

Shen Haifeng looked at the two characters he wrote— (go to bed).  

“’Go to bed’?” Fang Xiaoluo pointed at the pinyin.  

Shen Haifeng spelled it again and said naturally, “Go to bed. The teacher must have marked it wrong. I’ll ask him at school later. It’s two points for a word.”  

Fang Xiaoluo said seriously, “I think your teacher might not give you those two points. He might glare at you and kick you three times.”  

Shen Haifeng stared blankly. “Why?”  

“Being confident is good,” Fang Xiaoluo said. “But could this possibly be (get on the boat), like a small boat, or the side of the boat?”  

“Ah.” Shen Haifeng suddenly understood. “Get on the boat, no wonder.”  

Fang Xiaoluo moved the Chinese test paper aside and looked at the math paper. There was no need to check it; it was clear enough.  

“I borrowed the textbook from last semester yesterday. We’ll start with b, p, m, f. If you don’t understand anything, ask me right away. Once we finish all the pinyin, if you still spell like this, I’ll kick you!”  

Seeing Fang Xiaoluo’s teeth clenched, Shen Haifeng couldn’t help but shrink his neck.  

She’s really fierce.  

In the morning, Fang Xiaoluo tutored Shen Haifeng for over an hour.  

First, they learned six consonants, then did some simple addition and subtraction problems within ten.  

Zheng Lanhua passed by the door and saw Fang Xiaoluo tutoring Shen Haifeng. She just went off to prepare breakfast.  

She stared at the pile of ingredients in the kitchen and finally resisted the urge to get creative. She obediently cooked millet porridge, boiled some eggs, and heated up steamed buns.

By the time Fang Xiaoluo and Shen Haifeng were done, Zheng Lanhua had already set the breakfast on the table.

“Time to eat!”

Shen Haifeng went into the room to wake up Shen Haiping, prepared his face-washing and tooth-brushing water, then walked over to the table. At first, he felt a bit out of place.

“Mom, did you make this or did you get it from the cafeteria?”

Zheng Lanhua, holding Shen Jinxia, answered gruffly, “Where would I get the money to go to the cafeteria every day?”

Shen Haifeng sat down, peeled an egg, and placed it into Shen Haiping’s bowl, then quietly began to eat.

Fang Xiaoluo sighed inwardly. It wasn’t easy. She had thought that since Zheng Lanhua didn’t go to the cafeteria, she was probably going to make some of her usual dark cuisine. But surprisingly, it was normal breakfast today. How rare.

Shen Jinxia, having peeled an egg herself, held the soft-boiled white part in her hand, large and tender.

She took a bite and squinted her eyes in satisfaction. It was so delicious!

“Grandma, do you have something on your mind today?” Shen Jinxia’s soft voice rang out.

Zheng Lanhua sipped her porridge and asked, “Why do you say that? What could I possibly have on my mind?”

Shen Jinxia took another bite of the egg, and the egg yolk tasted even richer.

“Grandma, you usually steam eggs and top them with radish strips or cabbage shreds,” Shen Jinxia said. “If you didn’t have anything on your mind today, how could you forget to put them on?”

Zheng Lanhua took another sip of porridge and immediately choked.

She turned around, coughing violently.

Shen Jinxia jumped off her high chair and tried to pat her back, but she couldn’t reach.

Shen Haifeng quickly stretched out his hand to help Zheng Lanhua recover her breath.

Fang Xiaoluo smiled and watched the chaotic scene in front of her. It seemed that Zheng Lanhua’s dark cuisine had made a lasting impression.

After Zheng Lanhua had calmed down, she picked up Shen Jinxia and pushed her back into the chair. “We ran out of radishes and cabbage.”

“Oh.” Shen Jinxia nodded in understanding. “I see now.”

After breakfast, Shen Haifeng went off to school, and Zheng Lanhua started washing the dishes.

Fang Xiaoluo went back to her room to embroider a qipao. Shen Haiping continued sitting quietly beside her, writing and drawing.

Shen Jinxia stayed close, watching the threads and patterns in Fang Xiaoluo’s hands, obedient and well-behaved.

The wall clock rang eight times, and Shen Jinxia jumped off her chair. “Mom, I’m going out to play, I’ll be back soon.”

It was very safe for the children to play in the yard, and there were no parents around. Everyone had gotten used to it.

With Fang Xiaoluo’s approval, Shen Jinxia ran out happily with her short legs.

She had arranged to play hide-and-seek with Xiaoying and Lingling.

Shen Jinxia reached the big tree where they usually played, and Xiaoying and Lingling were already there.

Of course, there were other children from the compound as well.

When Yu Xiaopang saw Shen Jinxia, his eyes lit up. He ran over holding an oiled paper bag, eager to present it to her. “Xiaxia, look, my mom bought these snacks yesterday after work, and I saved them for you. They’re really delicious. Try them!”

Yu Xiaopang was the youngest son of Yu Xinzhen, four years old, and loved to eat. He was strong and round.

Yu Feixu had once told Shen Jinxia not to play with him, since their fathers were rivals. So, Shen Jinxia didn’t really like Yu Xiaopang.

She took a step back. “I’m not eating it. You eat it yourself.”

Yu Xiaopang had already tasted the snack and knew how good it was. He had been holding onto it all night just to give it to Shen Jinxia.