Chapter 6: Eight Years Old — It’s Him! It’s Really Him!

In the end, Xuezhu never succeeded in cutting ties with Zhu Qingying.

Because just a few days later, Zhu Qingying also lost a tooth. The two toothless kids could only cry together—now neither of them could eat candy.

Meng Yuning’s dinner situation was settled.

Every evening, as the sky turned deep with dusk, street vendors packed up and headed home under the glow of the sunset. The soft golden light filtered through the blue glass of old aluminum-framed windows. People still used traditional exhaust fans, and as dinnertime approached, wisps of cooking smoke drifted from windows, carrying the scent of home-cooked meals down the street.

Even when he was too caught up in homework and couldn’t make it to dinner on time, Xiao Zhu would always knock on his door right on schedule, reminding him in her crisp little voice: “Brother, come eat!”

Day after day, her childish, lively voice became an alarm clock in Meng Yuning’s subconscious.

By the second semester of second grade, when summer break arrived, Xuezhu once again went to her grandfather’s place in the countryside.

During her absence, the job of calling Meng Yuning for dinner temporarily fell to Song Yanping.

For the first time, dinner was quiet—no one was clamoring to watch cartoons. Pei Lianyi leisurely watched the local news instead.

With one side of the square dining table empty, the atmosphere at mealtime felt noticeably calmer. Song Yanping picked up a chicken drumstick and placed it in Meng Yuning’s bowl. He instinctively wanted to pass it to his little sister, only to realize she wasn’t home.

“Better eat it while Xiao Zhu isn’t here,” Song Yanping teased. “When she’s around, you never get a chance.”

Meng Yuning took a bite of the drumstick. The chicken was tender, not dry at all, and with each bite, rich juices seeped out, bursting with flavor.

“This is an old hen raised by Xiao Zhu’s grandma herself,” Pei Lianyi said. “It’s really nutritious. If you like it, I can ask her to send another one over.”

Meng Yuning’s eyelashes trembled slightly. He pursed his lips and asked, “Will Xiao Zhu come with her grandma?”

The couple was momentarily stunned.

They were just talking about the old hen—how did it suddenly turn into a conversation about Xiao Zhu?

Song Yanping asked, “Are you feeling bored without your little sister around?”

The boy answered reservedly, “A little.”

“That little troublemaker, Pei Xuezhu, is always making noise at home. She’s so loud my ears are practically calloused from hearing her all day. Now that she’s not here, I actually find it unsettling,” Pei Lianyi shrugged. “What’s so fun about Grandpa’s house anyway? Every summer, she insists on going.”

“She’s spoiled by her grandpa,” Song Yanping wasn’t surprised at all. “If Xiao Zhu wanted the moon, her grandpa would probably find a way to get it for her—if he weren’t too old and weak, Armstrong wouldn’t even have a job.”

That was an exaggeration, but it somehow stirred a twinge of sourness in Pei Lianyi’s heart.

“My grandpa was so strict with me when I was a kid. Other kids were outside playing every day, but he made me stay home and practice calligraphy.”

Song Yanping chuckled and then turned to Meng Yuning. “Ningning, was your grandpa strict with your dad too?”

Old Master Meng and Xuezhu’s grandpa used to be colleagues. Before retiring, both had been Chinese teachers, so it was likely that they had high expectations for their children.

Meng Yuning shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Song Yanping: “Huh?”

“My dad never told me,” Meng Yuning said. “He only calls my grandpa during the New Year.”

Realizing she had asked a sensitive question, Song Yanping quickly changed the subject.

After dinner, Meng Yuning returned home, only to be surprised to find his father there.

Old Meng was slumped on the sofa watching TV. When he saw his son come in, he looked up and greeted him, “Had dinner?”

“Yeah.” Meng Yuning asked, “Aren’t you on the night shift today?”

“Just came back to grab something. I’m leaving soon.”

Meng Yuning didn’t ask further and quietly went back to his room.

About ten minutes later, his door opened. Old Meng stood at the entrance and said, “I’m heading out.”

At that moment, Meng Yuning was deep in thought over a difficult math problem in his summer workbook. Seeing that his son didn’t respond, Old Meng walked over, frowned, and asked, “Why aren’t you answering me?”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Meng Yuning pointed at his workbook with his pen. “I was thinking about a problem.”

Old Meng glanced at it. “What problem?”

A middle school-level math problem—he couldn’t understand it.

The man looked a bit embarrassed.

“If you can’t solve it, go ask Uncle Pei next door,” Old Meng said. “He went to college. He’ll definitely know how to do junior high math.”

Meng Yuning nodded. “Okay.”

“I’m leaving. Finish your homework and go to bed early.”

The front door opened and closed again—his father was gone.

After completing his assigned pages for the day, Meng Yuning flipped back to the earlier question.

That math problem really stumped him. He glanced at the clock on his desk—it was already 9 PM.

If he went to Xiao Zhu’s house now, he’d probably disturb his uncle and aunt.

Closing his book, Meng Yuning grabbed his change of clothes and went to take a shower.

Even after showering, he wasn’t sleepy yet. He sat on the sofa and decided to watch some TV.

Surprisingly, the TV station was replaying the same cartoons it had aired earlier in the day.

Of course, Xiao Zhu wouldn’t know this—she was always sent to bed by his aunt at 8:30.

If she did know, she would definitely be standing in front of the TV, singing along to the theme song.

Meng Yuning remembered that before Xiao Zhu left for her grandpa’s house, she had wrapped a red scarf around herself in the sweltering summer heat, slung a hula hoop over her shoulder, and asked him to guess what it was.

He said it was a scarf and a hula hoop.

Wrong!

Clicking her tongue mysteriously, Xiao Zhu shook her head and revealed the answer—

It was the ^[1]The “Hun Tian Ling” (混天绫) and “Qian Kun Ring” (乾坤圈) are references to mythical items in Chinese fantasy, often associated with the Journey to the West legends and … Continue readingHun Tian Ling and the Qian Kun Ring!

—

Later, Xiao Zhu played with that red scarf so much that it became covered in fuzz balls. Pure wool scarves were delicate and expensive, but luckily, Xiao Zhu had a sturdy backside—after getting a good spanking from her aunt, she was still perfectly fine.

Thinking of this, Meng Yuning couldn’t help but chuckle.

Before he knew it, he had finished watching an entire episode of ^[2]Legend of Nezha (哪吒传奇) is a famous Chinese mythological story about a young and powerful deity named Nezha. He is a popular character in Chinese folklore, particularly in Taoist and Buddhist … Continue readingThe Legend of Nezha.

—

The next afternoon, Meng Yuning took his math problem across the street to ask Uncle Pei.

Pei Lianyi casually flipped through Meng Yuning’s summer workbook.

There was still more than half a month left of summer vacation, yet the workbook was already filled to the last page.

Pei Lianyi asked in disbelief, “You’ve already finished all your summer homework?”

Meng Yuning: “Just a few test papers left.”

“If only Xiao Zhu had half your self-discipline. Last year, she waited until the day before school started and cried while rushing to finish her homework. She couldn’t even complete her first-grade summer homework—there’s no way she’ll finish her second-grade one. When she gets back from her grandpa’s house, if you ask her whether she’s done, I guarantee most of the book will still be brand new.”

“Ningning, if Xiao Zhu begs you to help her with her summer homework, you mustn’t do it, understood?” Song Yanping warned him sternly.

Sure enough, Pei Xuezhu lived up to being the child of Pei Lianyi and Song Yanping—the two of them knew exactly what kind of trouble their daughter would cause.

After two months of summer vacation, on August 30th, Xiao Zhu reluctantly took the bus home from her grandpa’s house in the countryside.

That very day, she knocked on Meng Yuning’s door, crying.

Having spent the whole summer running wild in the countryside, Xiao Zhu sobbed, “Brother, please help me with my summer homework! I really can’t finish it in time.”

Meng Yuning: “……”

He took Xiao Zhu’s homework.

One Chinese workbook, one math workbook, and a diary—just three books in total.

Her Chinese homework was at least half done.

Math? Only two pages.

As for her diary, the last entry was from July 10th.

It read: Today, I took a bus to Grandpa’s house. The weather was nice, the sun was bright, and the flowers along the road smelled lovely.

And that was it.

In other words, the summer homework was brought to Grandpa’s house exactly the same way it was brought back—completely untouched.

Xiao Zhu threw herself at Meng Yuning, clinging to him with all her strength as she begged, “Brother, I’m begging you! Please help me write it! If my mom finds out on the first day of school that I didn’t finish my homework, she’ll kill me! And the teacher won’t even let me register for class!”

“……”

If she knew the consequences were this serious, how did she still manage to procrastinate until the very last day?

If this level of boldness and determination were applied to the right things, she’d have a limitless future ahead of her.

But in this situation, she had no one to blame but herself, and Meng Yuning wasn’t about to take pity on her.

Expressionless, he led Xiao Zhu into his room, sat her down at his desk, and said, “If you’re afraid of your parents finding out you’re cramming your summer homework, then do it here.”

Xiao Zhu hesitated. “Then you…”

Meng Yuning lowered his gaze and stared at her blankly. “Who told you to play until the last minute before school? Do it yourself.”

Xiao Zhu looked miserably at the three workbooks in front of her, then reluctantly picked up a pencil and lay down on the desk to start writing.

The Chinese homework was the hardest—it required writing a lot of characters, and there was even an entire page dedicated to practicing handwriting.

Her fingers soon turned red from gripping the pencil too hard, and her pinky was smudged with graphite, but the summer homework felt like an endless road stretching beyond sight.

It was as if she had been writing for a hundred years, writing until she was about to die, yet it still wasn’t finished.

The sheer torture of not knowing when it would end made Xiao Zhu, a mere elementary schooler, feel like she was better off dead.

As she wrote, she deeply regretted not starting her summer homework earlier. If only she had done even half a page a day over the past two months, she wouldn’t be suffering like this now.

The more she regretted it, the more aggrieved she felt. The more aggrieved she felt, the more despair she sank into.

Meng Yuning was reading beside her when he suddenly heard a small sniffle.

He turned to look at Xiao Zhu and saw that her head was nearly buried in the desk, her thick bangs covering most of her face, leaving only her damp black eyelashes visible.

Then came the loud sound of her sniffling.

A teardrop splashed onto her workbook.

…Wasn’t this a bit much?

Meng Yuning sighed helplessly, his tone much softer than before. “Xiao Zhu?”

She had her arms resting on the desk and didn’t respond when he called her. Instead, she gripped her pencil even tighter, pressing down so hard that she was nearly puncturing the paper. All her frustration and despair boiled down to one miserable question as she sobbed: “What do I do?”

“What do you mean, what do you do?” Meng Yuning asked.

“What do I do?” Xiao Zhu cried as she scribbled away. “What do I do, wuwuwu… There’s just too much! I really… wuwuwu, I’ll never finish, my hand is going to break off, wuwuwu…”

That tone sounded both pitiful and funny.

Meng Yuning couldn’t hold back and chuckled softly.

Xiao Zhu immediately turned her head to look at him, her long eyelashes clumped together from tears, her mouth slightly open as she sniffled.

Her face made it even funnier.

Meng Yuning quickly straightened his expression and asked seriously, “…Are you still going to leave your summer homework until the last day next time?”

“No way, I’ll never do it again,” Xiao Zhu mumbled, her tongue tripping over her words. “I was wrong, wuwuwu.”

Meng Yuning took her workbook and finally compromised. “I’ll help you with one subject. The rest, you do yourself.”

Xiao Zhu sniffled and said, “Thank you, Brother.”

Then, between sniffs and hiccups, she dramatically declared that Meng Yuning was her lifesaver, and in the future, whether it was walking through fire or climbing mountains of blades, she would serve him loyally without hesitation.

Before long, the sun set, and another day was wasted.

Song Yanping called them over for dinner.

“Leave your homework here. Come over early tomorrow morning to finish it,” Meng Yuning said.

Xiao Zhu nodded vigorously.

—

August 31st.

Clear skies, not a cloud in sight.

The adults in the household left for work one after another. Since it was the last day of vacation, Xiao Zhu didn’t dare sleep in. She got up early, knocked on Meng Yuning’s door, and entered his house.

Doing homework at home wasn’t safe—just in case, she had chosen Meng Yuning’s house as the “crime scene.”

Xiao Zhu changed into indoor slippers and walked in.

Meng Yuning was about to close the door when she quickly stopped him.

“Wait! Don’t close it yet. After breakfast, Sister Yueyue and Brother Zihan will be coming over too.”

“They haven’t finished their summer homework either?”

“Ah, no,” Xiao Zhu scratched her head awkwardly. “They’re coming to help me finish mine.”

Meng Yuning didn’t say anything for a long moment.

Xiao Zhu didn’t dare look up at him—she knew she had promised to finish the remaining two workbooks herself.

But last night, she had stayed up until ten, fell asleep at the desk, and barely got through a few pages. She really couldn’t do it.

As she trembled in fear, a cool hand suddenly grabbed her ear and lifted it.

She was startled—she didn’t expect Meng Yuning to pull her ear like her mother did.

But compared to her mother’s strength, Meng Yuning was much gentler. It didn’t really hurt, but she was still scared out of her wits.

“I agreed to help you with one subject,” Meng Yuning asked in a low voice, “So you went and found other people to do the other two?”

Xiao Zhu trembled. “There’s just too much homework… I really can’t finish it…”

Meng Yuning asked indifferently, “So how many people are you going to pledge your undying loyalty to, swearing to walk through fire and serve them like an ox or a horse?”

She had picked up those dramatic lines from TV shows—it wasn’t like she actually meant them. Words were just words, as meaningless as air. But now that Meng Yuning brought it up, she suddenly remembered she had sworn that very oath just yesterday.

Desperate people really would say anything.

Xiao Zhu looked dejected. “Are you really going to make me be your servant?”

Meng Yuning sighed and tilted his head slightly, looking as if he was truly frustrated. But when he was angry, it only showed in the slight dimming of his expression—his face was still strikingly gentle, making it clear that even if he was annoyed, he had an endless capacity to tolerate her mistakes.

“Looks like I’m the one being your servant right now,” he muttered in resignation. “Unbelievable.”