Su Xian didn't say whether he liked it or not, he just buried his head in reading.
There was a pen on the book, and a voice, softly: "For you."
Su Xian wanted to say that he should not accept gifts without merit, but the other party had already prepared the next line: "You gave me such precious eggs, so of course I should give you something. Otherwise, my mother would scold me if she knew. On the way here just now, I was thinking about what to give you. Now this problem is finally solved."
Su Xian didn't dare to take it, thinking that this pen must be much more valuable than the egg.
Zuo Yueyao stuffed the pen into her hand: "Take it, it's not a valuable thing, I have plenty of them at home."
After hearing this, Su Xian accepted it with confidence, thinking that he was getting a good deal, so he said, "When you leave, I'll pick a basket of dates for you to take back with you."
"Okay." Zuo Yueyao agreed readily.
The two of them read and did homework without disturbing each other.
Zuo Yueyao discovered that this girl was quite serious when she was working hard, with her eyes fixed, brows furrowed, and she was only in her own world, as if all the troubles in the outside world had nothing to do with her.
After solving one problem after another, Su Xian felt that his brain and eyes were a little tired, so he stopped, propped up his head and looked at the person opposite him. Seeing that he was reading a book seriously, he didn't want to disturb him, so he propped up his head and looked out the window.
The windows of the village committee were not in good condition either. The glass had several cracks and had not been replaced yet. It was only stuck together with tape. Su Xian looked at the broken glass, which resembled his own heart at some point in time.
"You and your dad, have you always been like this?"
Zuo Yueyao took the initiative to speak and brought Su Xian back to his senses.
"It was fine before, but it became like this after my mother passed away." Facing Zuo Yueyao, Su Xian suddenly didn't want to hide it anymore.
"Why?"
Su Xian touched the black pen, which felt really good: "Maybe he thinks I'm his nemesis?"
Zuo Yueyao was stunned for a moment: "Don't talk nonsense, there is no such thing as a nemesis."
"Maybe some people believe this." Su Xian shrugged nonchalantly, as if telling someone else's story: "When I was ten years old, one night, I suddenly had a cough and a high fever. My mother was extremely worried and went out in the dark to ask for a village doctor. As a result, she slipped and fell into a ditch, and hit the back of her head on a stone in the ditch. She died because of the lack of timely rescue. My father was working in a factory in the town at that time. When he got the news and rushed back from outside, my mother's body was already cold."
Su Xian sniffed and slowly exhaled the tightness in his chest: "My father is a bit biased towards boys, but he still loves my mother. After this incident, he put all the blame on me. Later, he became fond of smoking and drinking. When he was drunk, he said some nasty things to me. I was afraid at first, but later, I was not afraid of anything."
"When he was twelve, he suffered from a heart disease due to excessive drinking. From then on, he could no longer do heavy work and his temper became even more strange. Ever since my mother's incident, our relationship has been incompatible. Later, when his health deteriorated, he thought that I was his nemesis and came to collect debts from this family. After collecting my mother's debt, who knows when it will be his turn."
These ordinary numbers and dates were connected into stories and events. Zuo Yueyao watched Su Xian's bright eyes gradually turn red, thinking that her tears were about to burst out, but she didn't shed a single tear and held them back.
At this moment, the girl's strength made it impossible for anyone to remain indifferent. Although he was eloquent, he didn't know how to comfort the girl. She was at an age where she should be enjoying the love of her parents, but she had to endure the pain that outsiders could not see.
Zuo Yueyao really wanted to go up and hug the girl, even like a brother, but he restrained himself.
“Do you know Nanyang University?”
The previous topic came to an abrupt end and turned to another one.
"I know." Su Xian answered quickly.
"You have such good grades. You can apply to Nanjing University in the future. That university is right by the Yangtze River. When you have nothing to do at night, you can sit by the river and look at the stars in the sky. They are especially bright."
Su Xian blinked, and then heard him say, "Really."
This is Su Xian’s goal, but she is not sure whether she can pass the exam in the end, so she can only keep working hard.
Su Xian put the math problem he had done in front of Zuo Yueyao: "Please help me check it."
Zuo Yueyao only looked at it for a while and then said, "In fact, many of the questions are the same. They just test us in a different way. The ideas for solving the questions are similar. If you believe me, I can highlight the key points for you in the next few days and then tell you some ways to solve the questions."
"There are also ways and methods to memorize other things. Although rote memorization is possible, it will always be a bit tiring. I can teach you some easier methods."
What Zuo Yueyao said is also Su Xian’s shortcoming. Most of the time, she really relies on rote memorization to complete her studies, so it always takes her more time than others.
Now that a free teacher suddenly appeared, she was of course happy to see it happen.
Su Xian finally understood what it meant that there is always someone better than you.
Under Zuo Yueyao's guidance, I also understood what true excellence is, and this excellence is innate and incomparable.
With the guidance of an expert, Su Xian received help that was like a sudden enlightenment. In the following days, she would take the initiative to run to the village committee as soon as she got up. Before running, she would put a few dates in her pocket to save for Zuo Yueyao to eat.
This was the only way she could express her gratitude.
Because Zuo Yueyao said dates are delicious and he likes to eat them.
The two of them stayed together for the entire day, talking about study. Su Xian was quite satisfied with this free teacher, and Zhou Ling was also quite optimistic about Su Xian's seriousness and perseverance.
Looking at Su Xian's clear eyes, Zhou Ling fondly touched her somewhat cold cheek and asked with a smile: "If you don't mind, be my goddaughter."
Su Xian opened her mouth, not knowing how to answer. Zuo Yueyao answered for her: "I don't want a sister like that. She'll annoy me to death."
Su Xian said nothing, feeling extremely ashamed.
These days, Zuo Yueyao is really annoyed to death.
Zhou Ling patted Zuo Yueyao on the shoulder, cursed him as a "stinky boy" and never mentioned the matter again.
That day, Su Xian came to see Zuo Yueyao on time again, thinking that he would be sitting in the office waiting for her as usual, but the office was empty.
Uncle Zhao happened to pass by the window with a thermos in his hand, and Su Xian hurried over.
"Uncle Zhao, where is Zuo Yueyao?"
"He's lying in the house. He must have caught a cold. I'm going to send him a bottle of hot water."
Su Xian breathed a sigh of relief, she thought Zuo Yueyao had left without saying goodbye.
Su Xian snatched Uncle Zhao's thermos, otherwise he would have no excuse to sneak into someone else's residence. He knocked on the door, and the voice coming from inside was a little hoarse.
Su Xian pushed open the door and saw Zuo Yueyao sitting on the bed putting on his shoes.
"Uncle Zhao said you were sick." Su Xian put the thermos on the table and poured him a cup of hot water.
"It's okay, I just have a minor cold and a headache, it will be fine in a while, my mom is making a fuss and insisting that Uncle Zhao come to take care of me."
Su Xian touched his forehead: "No fever."
"Well, I don't have a fever, I just overslept. Have you been waiting for a long time?"
"No, I just got here too."
"Then let's go study."
"Let's not study today." Su Xian felt a little guilty: "Have I been a burden to you these two days?"
"What nonsense! On the surface, I am helping you, but in fact, I am also reviewing it myself. It's the best of both worlds. There is no burden at all."
He is really good at comforting people. Does he still need to review the knowledge of the second year of high school
"The holiday is almost over. We will be going back tomorrow afternoon, so we must make the most of today."
Su Xian's mood, which had just gotten a little upset, suddenly fell again.
"you are leaving?"
"Yeah." Zuo Yueyao took the glass of water that Su Xian had poured and blew it to his lips. "The workload in the third year of high school is very tight. I was supposed to make up for it during the holiday, but my mom informed the teacher in advance, so I was able to come out and slack off."
Su Xian thought to herself: It’s not your mom who said hello to the teacher, it’s the teacher who thinks you don’t need extra lessons at all.
Su Xian felt even sadder because such a separation made it impossible to retain the other party.
So that day Su Xian was absent-minded during class. Several times he wanted to pack up his textbooks and go home to lie down, but seeing that Zuo Yueyao was still as serious as ever, he felt embarrassed to be pretentious.
Su Xian made up his mind that he would get up early tomorrow and climb the tree to pick dates. When he had a full basket, he would give it to him and then say thank you sincerely.
But when Su Xian got up early and picked dates, and ran to the village committee, the place was empty.
"Girl, you're late. They left. Just half an hour ago, someone came and took them away."
Su Xian didn't hear what Uncle Zhao said next, but he just felt as if a piece of his heart was hollowed out, and it was empty.
We agreed to leave at night.
I promised to send you a basket of dates.
And I also said I would thank people.
She was also thinking about whether she could leave a contact address so that she could write him a letter or something.
Su Xian was feeling sad when Uncle Zhao suddenly thought of something and called out to her through the glass window in his office that was taped shut: "By the way, Xiao Zuo asked me to tell you something. He said he was in a hurry to leave so he wouldn't say goodbye to you. He said he would wait for you at Nanjing University."
"Oh, by the way, he also said that if you get admitted to Nanyang University, he would treat you to a meal or something like that. Anyway, he just wanted you to study hard and try to get admitted to Nanyang University in the future."
Su Xian placed the basket full of dates at the door of the office and turned away.
I was so depressed along the way, it felt like these few days had passed in a flash.
The man named Zuo Yueyao appeared, but seemed never to have appeared. He threw a small stone into the stagnant water of her life, causing ripples, and then disappeared.
So for several days, Su Xian blamed Zuo Yueyao for being ruthless and not even saying thank you to her.
But later on, she was no longer surprised, because during the few days they spent together, Zuo Yueyao taught her a lot of things. She originally thought that such an outstanding person must be aloof and would not want to associate with someone like her, but everything beautiful was beyond her imagination.
She was happy and full of hope during those days.
To this end, Su Xian worked harder than ever before.