Chapter 43

“What’s wrong?” Su Qianqian turned to look at Cheng Yue, her gaze no longer warm as it had been with the children—completely different.

He instinctively blurted out, “It’s noisy.”

Su Qianqian frowned. “Alright, we’ll leave.”

Cheng Yue wished he could slap himself on the spot. What was he even saying?!

Su Qianqian smiled at the three children and then got up to leave.

Immediately, Cheng Yue felt three pairs of angry little eyes glaring at him.

He was doomed!

All night, he couldn’t sleep well, plagued by nightmares of Su Qianqian and the three children disappearing, no matter how hard he searched.

The next morning, when the kids got up, Cheng Yue also quickly got out of bed. He didn’t want to risk being left out of breakfast again and wanted to see if Su Qianqian was still upset.

“What are you looking at? I didn’t make any noise while eating,” Su Qianqian said. Her table manners were excellent; she never made loud chewing sounds.

“No, about last night…”

“I get it. From now on, we won’t disturb your sleep.” This was his home, so he made the rules.

Cheng Yue didn’t know how to respond. He was never good with words.

After breakfast, he left for work, deciding he would try to fix things that evening.

His leg was now fully functional—walking was no problem, and even climbing stairs was just a little tiring but no longer painful.

Meanwhile, Su Qianqian was teaching the three children to recognize and write characters, along with simple arithmetic.

The children were focused and enthusiastic. Each had their own notebook where they wrote their nicknames. Su Qianqian wrote their full names for them, and they cherished their notebooks dearly.

Their neighbor Wu Sufen came by with a watermelon.

“This watermelon is sweet. Give it a try,” she said.

“Thank you, Sister Sufen.” Su Qianqian cut it into slices, giving one to each person. Eating watermelon in this weather was indeed refreshing.

“Are you teaching them to read? Su Qianqian, you’ve been to school?”

“I studied for a while in the countryside, and I’ve also been attending night school recently.”

Wu Sufen was surprised. “Night school? Why bother? We women just need to manage our homes well. Isn’t there some saying about women and virtue—what was it again?”

“‘A woman’s lack of talent is her virtue’?”

“Yes, yes, that’s the one. What’s the point of girls studying? They’re going to marry and have kids anyway.”

Su Qianqian smiled but didn’t reply. Wu Sufen’s mindset was hard to change.

However, the eldest daughter put on a serious expression and said earnestly, “If I know many words, can I marry better?” Her tone was so mature that if it weren’t for the childish voice, she might have been mistaken for an adult.

Wu Sufen was taken aback but then nodded. “Makes sense. Smart parents make smart kids. You’re right—learning a bit can’t hurt.”

Su Qianqian patted her eldest daughter’s head. Despite being born just a few minutes earlier than her siblings, she was much more mature, with plenty of ideas swirling in her little head.

“Su Qianqian, you’re raising these kids so well, and yet Captain Cheng still looks down on you. Truly heartless! The better you are, the less you should divorce him. Otherwise, some other woman will reap the benefits, and a stepmother definitely won’t treat these kids right.”

“So everyone’s saying he looks down on me?”

“Of course. Gosh, you’re so beautiful, your cooking is great, and you’re so capable, yet he still complains. Life is tough!”

Su Qianqian was speechless. Who spread this? Wasn’t the reason for the divorce supposed to be “irreconcilable differences” and her “past misdeeds”?

“Who did you hear that from?”

“Uh, I’m not sure. Everyone’s just saying it.” Wu Sufen had heard it somewhere but didn’t bother tracing the source.

To her, it made sense—men often disregarded their wives after gaining success. This was just another Chen Shimei case.

After chatting for a bit, Wu Sufen left.

“Kids, how about we visit Tianshui Village the day after tomorrow?” Su Qianqian asked, seeking the children’s input.

“We’ll follow Mom wherever she goes. Bad Dad doesn’t like our noise anyway, so if we leave, we won’t bother him,” the second child said angrily, still refusing to forgive their “bad dad.”

“Alright, Mom will go buy train tickets this afternoon.”

During lunch, Cheng Yue didn’t come home, so the four of them ate well together. In the afternoon, Su Qianqian asked Wu Sufen to watch the kids for a bit while she went out to buy tickets.

To ensure comfort, she bought three tickets.

That evening, when Cheng Yue returned, he brought something back with him. The three kids, curious, crowded around to see but didn’t dare touch it.

“What’s this?” the second child asked.

“A radio,” Cheng Yue replied.

He set up the radio, plugged it in, and adjusted the frequency. When the sound came through, it startled the three children, who were wide-eyed with curiosity and excitement.

“Wow, it talks! Sister, it talks!” The second child jumped up in delight.

He cautiously reached out to touch the radio, then quickly pulled his hand back before breaking into an impromptu dance.

“You can touch it,” Cheng Yue said, “just don’t press any of these buttons randomly.”

Su Qianqian was a bit surprised. He had brought home a radio? In this era, a radio was considered a big-ticket item. She had been dreaming of buying a color TV someday when they had more money.

Previously, Cheng Yue hadn’t lived here much, so the house lacked many essentials that other families in the compound already had, like televisions or radios.

When dinner was ready, Su Qianqian called out, “Come eat.”

“Do you like the radio?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes!” the children answered enthusiastically.

Cheng Yue exhaled in relief. Did this count as making amends? The mother and children seemed to be in good spirits.

After dinner, Cheng Yue voluntarily cleaned up and washed the dishes. Su Qianqian didn’t argue with him and turned to the kids. “Do you want to stay home and listen to the radio, or go to class?”

“Class!” The three children responded without hesitation, clearly eager to follow their mother’s lead.

Cheng Yue felt a pang of disappointment. Not even the radio could keep the kids at home.

“If you’re going to class, I’ll come pick you up afterward,” he said, settling for the next best thing.

Su Qianqian didn’t refuse. Riding a bike with three kids was risky, so it was good that Cheng Yue offered. Besides, since they’d be leaving soon, it was nice for the kids to spend a few more days with their father.

That day, Su Qianqian took the children to experience a math class. It was a fresh experience for them—they didn’t understand much, but that didn’t dampen their enthusiasm at all.

The kids used their fingers to solve problems. When they ran out of fingers, they turned to borrow from others.

“Sister, lend me your fingers,” the second child said urgently, realizing he didn’t have enough. He even considered using his toes.

Seeing this, Su Qianqian drew lines on a notebook for them. For example, for 5 + 7, she drew five lines on top and seven lines below.

“Now, count them,” she instructed.

“One, two, three… eleven, twelve—it’s twelve, Mom!”

“Now you don’t have to borrow anyone’s fingers, do you?”

The children were thrilled, as if they’d discovered a new world. They even started making up their own problems. The second child, in particular, showed a keen interest in numbers.

“Mom, if the numbers get really big, won’t this method stop working? We’d run out of notebook space to draw lines,” the second child asked.

“Exactly. When numbers get big, there are other methods. That’s why we go to school—to learn these things.”

The children now thought school was the most interesting thing ever.

After class, as they left the classroom, they ran into their language teacher, Meng Jin.

“You attended the math class today?” Meng Jin asked.

“Yes, I wanted the kids to experience it,” Su Qianqian replied.

“That’s great! It helps foster their enthusiasm for learning.”

“Meng Jin, I made this jar of fermented tofu for you as thanks for the books you gave us. Please take it,” Su Qianqian said.

Meng Jin was taken aback and tried to refuse. “Oh, it was just a few books. No need.”

“It’s just one jar of fermented tofu. Don’t worry about it,” Su Qianqian said with a gentle smile, tilting her head slightly.

Meng Jin chuckled and accepted it. “Alright, thank you.”

Standing a little distance away, Cheng Yue watched the scene, clenching his fists unconsciously. Why did she smile so brightly at everyone else, but stay so cold toward him?

“Mom, Dad’s here,” the third child tugged at Su Qianqian’s sleeve.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Su Qianqian led the children over to Cheng Yue. He didn’t look happy. He lifted the second child onto the bike’s seat and placed the third child on the crossbar.

“Hey, I learned how to do math today!” the second child said, poking Cheng Yue’s back.

“Hey? What ‘hey’? Call me Dad!” Cheng Yue snapped.

The second child shrugged indifferently. “You’re going to divorce Mom anyway. Why should I call you Dad?”