Chapter 68: Sponsorship for Tuition Fees ②
Li Shubai was about to speak when his mobile phone beeped twice. He glanced at his phone and said to Luo Sheng with a smile, “Luo Sheng, please wait a moment, I need to take a call.”
“Okay, then I’ll hang up. I’m driving,” Luo Sheng said, hanging up the phone. He whistled a happy tune, feeling like he had finally avenged his humiliation! Although his son was studying at Zijin High School, he was in Class 10. He had been laughed at by his friends countless times! This time, his son’s grades weren’t at the bottom, and he even made it into the top 200. It was definitely something to be happy about, wasn’t it?
After Li Shubai hung up a friend’s call, he dialed Luo Sheng’s number. “Ah Sheng, come to Zijin Hotel. Everyone wants to meet that girl.”
“Huh? What? Everyone? Who? Which people?” Strange, from Teacher Li’s tone, it sounded like many people wanted to meet this girl named ‘Nie Qiu’.
“Aren’t you very curious why your Luo Xu’s exam results were so good this time?” Li Shubai chuckled a few times and said, “It’s all because of that girl named Nie Qiu.”
“What?! Could it be… could it be that my son is in an early romance?” Luo Sheng almost swerved the steering wheel, asking in surprise.
“Pfft!” Li Shubai burst into laughter. “Alright, alright, stop guessing wildly. You’ll know when you get here.”
Nie Qiu met Nie Aiwen at the entrance of the residential area on her way home from school. Nie Aiwen looked very disheveled, with red slap marks on his face that gave it a slightly raised, three-dimensional appearance. His suit seemed to have been put on in a hurry, with only two of the three buttons fastened, and even those were in the wrong holes. He looked somewhat lost and dejected. “Uncle?” she asked uncertainly. Was this really her gentle and refined uncle?
Nie Aiwen looked up in surprise. “Nie Qiu? You’re done with school?”
Nie Qiu nodded, looking at Nie Aiwen. “Uncle… what’s wrong?”
Nie Aiwen nodded and looked at himself, then gave a bitter smile. “Will you sit with me on the resting chair in the residential area for a bit?”
Nie Qiu nodded and followed Nie Aiwen into the green belt of the residential area, sitting on the resting chair. After a long silence, Nie Aiwen said, “Qiu Qiu, I’m not your biological uncle…”
Nie Qiu had already had some doubts, so she wasn’t surprised. She simply asked, “In my eyes, you are my biological uncle!”
Nie Aiwen gave a bitter smile. “In my parents’ generation, no matter how many children they had, they had to have a son, or adopt one if they couldn’t. I was adopted by our parents… that is, by your maternal grandparents. When I was nine, our parents passed away, and my sister raised me, your mother.”
“Sister didn’t study much. At that time, son preference was very serious, even if the biological child was a daughter. Your mother only studied until the third grade of primary school, but I was supported by my sister to finish junior high school,” Nie Aiwen said with a smile. “Nie Qiu, you don’t know… I was the first one to go out and work. When I left to work, I secretly vowed in my heart that I would marry her when I returned home…”
Who was she? Nie Qiu didn’t ask. In fact, she didn’t need to.
“But I never expected that when I returned home, she was already married.” Nie Aiwen covered his face with his hands, tears flowing through his fingers. “I love her, I like her… I…” Nie Aiwen choked up and couldn’t finish his sentence.
Nie Qiu placed her hand on Nie Aiwen’s head and gently stroked it. Nie Aiwen, on the verge of collapse, lowered his head and rested it on Nie Qiu’s lap, sobbing uncontrollably. Nie Qiu knew without asking that the slap marks on Nie Aiwen’s face were from Nie Aifang.
When she met Nie Aiwen, he was walking out of the residential area, and she was walking in. If Nie Aiwen had been injured outside, given Nie Aifang’s personality, she would have been very heartbroken. In Nie Aifang’s eyes, Nie Aiwen was her own brother.
Therefore, this slap mark could only have been from Nie Aifang, which was why Nie Aiwen had left their home in such a disheveled state.
Nie Qiu didn’t know what had happened at home, but this person in front of her… whether he was her biological uncle or not, he had always treated her very well as an uncle.
She also hoped that there would be someone who could share life’s ups and downs with Nie Aifang. She didn’t want Nie Aifang to grow old alone while she had her own life. She would be filial to Nie Aifang, but children would eventually leave their parents to work and live their own lives. Perhaps she would live with Nie Aifang in the future, but the person who could share the storms and share the morning dew and evening mist with her would not be her.
Life had aged Nie Aifang, making her 38-year-old appearance resemble that of a 45-year-old. Such a woman wouldn’t be very attractive to men. The only person who could truly accept all of Nie Aifang was probably the person in front of her.
After parting ways with Nie Aiwen, Nie Qiu went upstairs to return home.
Nie Aifang was sleeping in her room. Hearing the sound, she asked, “Is that Qiu Qiu? I’ve warmed dinner in the pot. Mom isn’t feeling well today, so I won’t be setting up the stall. You should also stay home and do your homework and read your books, okay?”
Nie Qiu looked at the test paper she had just taken out of her schoolbag, took a deep breath, lifted the curtain, and walked into Nie Aifang’s room. Nie Aifang’s room was similar to Nie Qiu’s, with a bed made of nailed boards and a spliced wardrobe.
Nie Qiu walked to the bedside and said with a smile, “Mom, we got our monthly exam results today.”
Nie Aifang immediately sat up. “Really? What did you score?”
“I got eighth place in the entire grade.” Nie Qiu looked at Nie Aifang’s red eyes, remaining composed, and simply smiled, “Here’s the report card.”
“Eighth place in the class? You’ve improved! Let me see the papers.” Nie Aifang smiled happily, reached out to take the report card and test paper from Nie Qiu’s hand, and carefully read them one by one. “Eighth place in the entire grade?! Not eighth place in the class?!”
Nie Qiu nodded with a smile. “Teacher Yang said I can apply to transfer classes. I can transfer to Class 1.”
“Class 1?!” Nie Aifang looked at Nie Qiu uncertainly and asked, “Class 1? Transfer to the advanced class, Class 1?”
Nie Qiu nodded. “Yes, the top forty students in the entire grade are in Class 1. If students from other classes score within the top forty, they can apply to transfer. I heard there were only two application slips this time, one from me and one from someone in Class 2.”
“Class 1 is great! Class 1 is great! Going to Class 1 is wonderful!” Nie Aifang smiled and got out of bed. “Qiu Qiu, wait for me, Mom will go out and buy groceries now. Shall we celebrate tonight? What do you want to eat? Do you want fish? Oh, right, didn’t Mom say last time that if you did well on the exam, she’d buy you new stationery? Let’s go, let’s go shopping together, let’s buy some things you like.”
Nie Qiu smiled and nodded, following behind Nie Aifang. It wasn’t good for Nie Aifang to be cooped up at home alone. It would be good to get some fresh air.
