Two days later in the afternoon, Meng Shuyu went out again carrying her schoolbag like a thief.
As soon as I left the community, I saw the tall and thin figure standing in the shade of the trees from a distance, blending with the green trees and the blue sky, looking as beautiful as an oil painting.
Meng Shuyu jumped for joy at his feet. When he was extremely happy, he was worried and sad, so he looked back.
She told her dad that today she went to Chen Xing's house to do homework with her.
After confirming that her father was not following him suspiciously, Meng Shuyu looked at the person not far away again, walked briskly around him in canvas shoes, and gently poked his back with her index finger.
Zhou Juan turned around.
Meng Shuyu looked up at him: "You are looking in the wrong direction!"
"How could I get it wrong?" Zhou Juan raised his eyebrows.
Meng Shuyu rushed to the gate of the community and rubbed her chin: "I came out through that door."
Zhou Juan pointed in the other direction: "But that puppy is at that door."
Meng Shuyu looked in the direction of his finger and saw a corgi shaking its butt.
“…”
"Oh." The smile on Meng Shuyu's face disappeared, and she raised her hand to straighten her schoolbag strap awkwardly.
Zhou Juan looked behind her and fixed his eyes on the huge schoolbag on her back: "Did you get the bricks out?"
It wasn’t because she was afraid that he was teaching very quickly, but the questions she prepared were not enough, and she would have to go back home soon...
Meng Shuyu's eyes flickered: "I agreed that I would treat you to afternoon tea with the New Year's money today. Isn't it worth it if I don't learn more?"
Zhou Juan nodded and raised his chin towards the bus stop in front: "Let's go then, hurry up and let you get your money back."
Meng Shuyu walked forward.
After walking a few steps, there was a sudden light on her back. When she turned her head, she saw a slender hand lifting the ring of her schoolbag.
"This must weigh - seven or eight pounds?" the owner of the hand calculated.
Meng Shuyu rolled his eyes: "You have forgotten after four years of college. High school students are so hard."
Zhou Juan lifted it up and unloaded her schoolbag.
"Huh?" Meng Shuyu turned her head to look at him.
"Anyway, if you call me brother, you can't call me in vain."
Meng Shuyu looked at the schoolbag hooked in his hand, lowered her head and smiled quietly with her lips pursed.
The bus arrived soon, and Meng Shuyu followed Zhou Juan onto the bus.
There were no empty seats in the car and it was a little crowded. He walked in front to clear a path, stood at the back of the car and waved to her: "Come to me."
Meng Shuyu got into the small open space he circled and hugged the handrail in front of him.
Zhou Juan stood aside, holding her schoolbag in one hand and holding the armrest above her head with the other.
As more and more passengers get on, the driver wears a loudspeaker to remind the passengers behind him to move back.
The crowd was rushing back, and when a rough snakeskin bag was about to rub her face, Meng Shuyu hurriedly raised her hand to block it. Halfway through, Zhou Juan moved a step and stood in front of her, keeping her firmly connected to the crowd. Separated.
The clear scent of acacia scented her nostrils. Meng Shuyu raised her head and met his gaze that had just fallen.
At this moment, the carriage was very crowded, the world was very small, and her ears were filled with the sound of her heart beating like a drum.
Zhou Juan took her to a coffee shop five stops away from her home community.
I heard it was driven by a friend of his, so they could sit there for as long as they wanted.
As soon as Zhou Juan entered the door, Meng Shuyu felt a sharp gaze coming from the front desk.
"Hey, you said you were bringing a friend, but it turned out you were bringing a girlfriend." The man at the front desk looked sideways at Meng Shuyu.
Meng Shuyu was stopped by the call of "girlfriend", froze in place and blinked.
"Don't talk nonsense, it's a kid." Zhou Juan glanced at the man, carried her schoolbag to the double seat by the window, and waved to her.
Meng Shuyu followed slowly and sat down opposite him.
The man at the front desk must be the owner of this store. Now he came over to take orders for the two of them: "I'm not being strict. Looking at the style of this schoolbag, it should be for my little girlfriend."
Zhou Juan glanced at him coldly.
The boss immediately shut up: "Okay, kids, kids." Then he turned to her and asked, "Kids, what do you want to drink?"
"I want a cup of hot chocolate." Meng Shuyu looked at them and added, "I'm not a child."
"Look, people say no." The boss turned around and teased Zhou Jun, "What about my friend, is it still American style?"
Zhou Juan nodded and pointed at the front desk to indicate that he could leave.
The boss smiled and went to make coffee.
Meng Shuyu was still struggling with the conversation just now, and asked Zhou Juan: "What's wrong with my schoolbag? Is it childish?"
Zhou Juan glanced at her pink floral schoolbag and shook his head: "No."
"Yes." Meng Shuyu curled her lips dissatisfied.
Zhou Jun looked thoughtful: "That might be my problem."
Meng Shuyu looked at his mature attire, and there was indeed a strong sense of violation in carrying her schoolbag.
"You're right," she nodded, blaming the problem on him, "Why do you always wear the same shirt and trousers?"
“You don’t have to choose clothes, it’s convenient.”
"Isn't that a waste?"
"What's a waste?"
"You look so-" Meng Shuyu took a breath and whispered, "You're good-looking."
Zhou Juan was amused by her: "What should I wear so that I don't waste my good looks?"
"You can also wear it occasionally..." Meng Shuyu pointed to a boy wearing a black sweater on the street outside the window, "That kind of sweatshirt or something like that. That way you look much younger. Wearing a shirt and trousers will make you look older."
"Appearing old?" Zhou Juan seemed to have heard this word for the first time.
Meng Shuyu nodded solemnly: "It's hard to tell at ordinary times, but it's obvious when you are with a high school student."
"You high school students have a lot to do." Zhou Juan raised his eyebrows, "It seems you still have too little homework."
"Who said that?" Meng Shuyu put all the books and papers she had memorized on the table, "We have a lot of business to do."
The front desk rang the bell, and Zhou Juan stood up to get coffee and hot chocolate, handed her the cup, and then magically picked up a supermarket shopping bag.
Meng Shuyu looked up and saw the shopping bag filled with snacks, and asked in surprise: "When did you buy this?"
"I stayed here before I came to pick you up. You used your New Year's money to treat me to afternoon tea. I can't be empty-handed."
"But afternoon tea is the tuition I gave you."
"Then consider this the reward I give you," Zhou Juan raised his hand, "You can only get it if you answer the questions correctly."
Meng Shuyu opened the bag and took a look, seeing both sweet and salty snacks inside, as well as a large bucket of planet cups.
"Hey, how do you know I like to eat this?" she asked, pointing to the bucket of planet cups.
Zhou Juan didn't answer for a while, and looked at her for a while, not knowing what he wanted to say, but in the end he just said lightly: "I guess, don't all children like to eat?"
"I'm not a kid," Meng Shuyu frowned, "I'm only three years younger than you!"
"But I'm six grades ahead of you."
Meng Shuyu choked, opened the bucket of planet cups, grabbed a large handful in his left hand, and a large handful in his right hand, and stuffed them all into him: "No matter what, you have to eat too."
Zhou Juan was stuffed with the planet cup in her hand, looked down at it, laughed and murmured: "I haven't eaten it in ten years."
Meng Shuyu clapped her hands: "Wouldn't that just help you rejuvenate?"
From that day on, this coffee shop seemed to become Meng Shuyu's secret stronghold.
Every now and then she would come with Zhou Juan and spend the afternoon doing homework.
Although her family initially had objections to her always running away, every time she brought back a pile of freshly completed homework, and she always came back on time before dark, her parents had nothing to say in the end.
However, Meng Shuyu was a little dissatisfied with the fact that she "must go home before dark".
Even when he went out to play with his classmates, they ended up after dinner. Why did Zhou Juan treat her like a child and send her home early.
Meng Shuyu didn't know what she was obsessed with.
It seems that the time of darkness is a boundary. The difference between before dark and after dark is not two hours, but two worlds.
Suffering from finding no reason to go home late, Meng Shuyu honestly acted as the "Cinderella" who returned home before dark for a while.
It wasn't until her father's summer vacation for teachers coincided with her mother's late shift that happened in the same week—she knew her opportunity had finally come.
On this day, Meng Shuyu spent the entire afternoon doing homework in the coffee shop as usual. When Zhou Juan looked at the time at around five o'clock and said it was almost time, she said "Oops" and said, "I forgot to tell you."
"Huh?" Zhou Juan asked while packing her papers.
"My parents are not at home tonight, and there will be no one to cook for me when I go back..."
Zhou Juan looked at her: "Are you really not at home?"
“…”
Is her expression so exaggerated that he doesn't believe the truth
"Really, if you don't believe me, I called my mother." Meng Shuyu took out her cell phone and started to dial.
Zhou Juan stopped her with a smile: "I believe it, so what do your parents want you to do for dinner?"
"I said I came out with my best friend and would eat outside with her before going back." Meng Shuyu looked at her "best friend" sincerely.
Her "best friend" nodded: "What do you want to eat?"
Meng Shuyu rolled his eyes: "Is hot pot okay? I'll treat you to it."
"The hot pot restaurant here used to take a long time, so it will be a bit late to finish eating. I can take you there another day at noon."
Meng Shuyu sighed unhappily: "Why can't it be done if it's too late?"
"Then why did you lie to your family and say you were out with your best friend?"
Meng Shuyu choked.
"Since your parents won't allow you to go out alone with an older brother, then I should be an older brother who doesn't worry your parents, don't you think?"
Meng Shuyu lowered his eyes and nodded: "Okay."
Suddenly there was a laugh from the other side.
Meng Shuyu raised her head and looked at him: "What are you laughing at?"
"Are you so unhappy that you can't eat hot pot?"
Of course, Meng Shuyu was not unhappy because he couldn't eat hot pot.
But she didn't know how to say it - why was she unhappy, so she could only say a dull "Yeah".
"Then, can I cook for you?"
Meng Shuyu was stunned: "How to do it?"
"There is a kitchen here, and there are ready-made ingredients," Zhou Juan pointed to the kitchen of the coffee shop, "I can borrow it from my friends."
It wasn't until she saw a table of dishes placed in front of her that Meng Shuyu's lingering sense of loss finally disappeared.
Staring at the plates of curry shrimp, potato beef brisket, and tomato scrambled eggs in front of her, she exclaimed, "How do you cook so well?"
Zhou Juan clicked his tongue softly: "Maybe it's because he knows that some people will not be able to eat."
"Then can I start eating?" Meng Shuyu couldn't wait to pick up the chopsticks.
Zhou Juan raised his hand to signal her to do whatever she wanted, and then picked up the chopsticks.
Meng Shuyu tasted all the dishes, and her eyes sparkled with emotion: "It's so delicious, it's so delicious that I cried!"
Zhou Juan looked at her with a smile: "Cry, let me see?"
"What a beautiful thought, these are my mermaid pearl tears."
Meng Shuyu smiled and lowered her head and continued to eat, finishing all three dishes with rice.
In the end, she even felt that she had eaten more than Zhou Juan. She looked at the curry shrimp left on the plate and licked her lips and said, "You can eat it."
"You've wiped your hands clean, and you're still looking for trouble for me?" Zhou Juan glanced at his hands.
Meng Shuyu blinked.
"Eat it, hurry up." Zhou Jun pointed to the shrimp.
"Oh." Meng Shuyu ate the last shrimp happily.
After dinner, night fell.
Although it was not very late, Meng Shuyu finally succeeded in crossing this boundary. When she left the coffee shop, she felt that she was in a beautiful mood, so beautiful that she thought about it even more.
Seeing that Zhou Juan was about to take her towards the bus stop, Meng Shuyu touched her belly and said, "Hmm... I seem to be too full. Will I get motion sickness while riding in the car?"
Zhou Juan glanced at her: "What should we do?"
"How about taking a walk to eat? Just walk along this bus line. When you get tired, take the bus." Meng Shuyu pointed to the place where the street lights were on.
"Then just one stop."
"Just one stop." Meng Shuyu nodded and walked forward excitedly.
Zhou Juan held her schoolbag in one hand and pulled her to the inside of the walking path with the other: "Go inside."
Meng Shuyu looked up at him and asked a question that had come to mind from time to time recently: "Why are you so good at taking care of—"
She wanted to say that she took care of girls, but she felt that this identity was weird. Finally, she paused and recognized the identity she didn't want to recognize: "Child?"
Zhou Juan's answer seemed to be leaning in this direction: "Because I was taken care of like this when I was a child."
"Oh, I thought it was because you often take care of others like this. You have younger brothers and sisters at home."
"No." Zhou Juan shook his head.
"Then -" Meng Shuyu swallowed lightly, "Don't you have a girlfriend?"
Zhou Juan paused for a moment in his crisp answer and turned his head to look at her.
Meng Shuyu almost choked when he saw her: "I'm just asking casually. You don't have to answer if you think it's personal privacy."
Zhou Juan laughed: "It would only be private if I had a girlfriend."
"so… "
"What's not called privacy?"
Meng Shuyu's suffocated breath eased, she calmed down and said, "Then why don't you have a girlfriend?"
"Because-" Zhou Juan seemed to think seriously for a while, "it's not good to fall in love early."
"You are nineteen years old."
"Well, I'm still not old enough."
"How old do you have to be?" Meng Shuyu blinked.
Zhou Juan lowered his eyes and looked at her: "Let's give it another two years."
The author has something to say: In two years, I will wait for you to be eighteen.