Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Zhou Rui stayed up late last night going out with Hou Ranxi. He was playing on his cell phone until after 2am before going to sleep.
The next morning, he heard the sounds of "ding dang dong" coming from the kitchen, knowing it was Chai Meicen already cleaning and making breakfast. If you didn't know better, you'd think someone was tearing down the house.
Zhou Rui frowned slightly and flipped over to continue sleeping.
Chai Meicen knocked on Zhou Rui's door, "Wake up, look at the time, other families are airing out their bed sheets in the sun this early, but you, you're always airing out the curtains. "
Zhou Rui pulled the quilt over his head and refused to get up lying down.
She's already turned back to sixteen, how can she still be so energetic? Why can't she just lazily sleep in and enjoy her youth?
After Chai Meicen finished making breakfast in the kitchen, she saw Zhou Rui still hadn't come out. She went back to Zhou Rui's door and knocked several times but there was no response.
Chai Meicen went ahead and got the room key, opened the door and went inside.
As soon as she entered, she saw Zhou Rui's pants and socks were taken off next to the bed. If it wasn't for Chai Meicen tidying up Zhou Rui's room regularly, who knows what it would look like.
She reached out and lifted Zhou Rui's quilt, nagging him, "Wake up, today is beautiful out, take your quilt outside and sun it, otherwise the sun will already be down later."
When Zhou Rui sleeps, he only wears underwear. He immediately jumped up and quickly put on some shorts before shouting, "How can you just come in by yourself? Before I started high school, we already agreed on three rules, you can't just come in whenever you want."
"Yes, we agreed you have to knock before coming in. I practically broke down the door knocking just now."
"Do you even have any self-awareness? Look at yourself, you're about the same age as me but you still come into my room. It makes me feel uncomfortable."
Ever since he started hearing other people talk about him and Chai Meicen, it had already started making him feel awkward.
In his opinion, he's very open and casual about it. She's his mom, if he's not good to his mom, who else would he be good to? Don't even mention momma's boy, it's not just that if you're good to your mom then you're a momma's boy, Zhou Rui is someone with a strong sense of self.
But he's also started to become more cautious, like now he can't be too intimate with Chai Meicen, otherwise in other people's eyes it would seem inappropriate.
Chai Meicen didn't bother with him, and went ahead grabbing the quilt up and shoved it into Zhou Rui's arms, "Take it outside to sun it. I'll change your sheets, after you're done go sun the quilt from my room too."
Jiahua International High School's school tyrant Zhou Rui, on this Sunday morning, was woken up by his mother. He finally compromised, wearing just a tank top and shorts, holding the quilt to go outside and sun it.
When he got downstairs he wanted to smoke a cigarette, but realized the neighbors on both sides were also wandering around outside, so he swallowed it down and went back upstairs.
The grandpas that lived in the building were just heading out for their morning exercise, the auntie selling pancakes was just pushing her cart to head out.
He looked up at the sun, it hadn't fully come up yet, and she called this the sun's already about to set?
When Chai Meicen was in a bad mood, at most she would fry an egg for Zhou Rui.
But when she was in a good mood, the food she made was very abundant.
Earlier on, Chai Meicen would make Zhou Rui children's meals, like breakfast with a wide variety, and would shape it into little bears and bunnies, Zhou Rui ate them very happily.
You could tell Chai Meicen was in a good mood today. Zhou Rui sat down and took a sip of banana milk, then started to eat breakfast, though his mouth was not so behaved, "When I went out the sun had just come up. This is what you call the sun's already about to set? If you talk like this in the future, don't go to other people's children's one month celebrations, and after you go in, look at that child and say, this child of yours isn't long for this world."
"Look at you talking so much crap!"
After eating breakfast, Chai Meicen took out homework from her bag and put in on the table, "Come over here and do homework together with me."
Zhou Rui was just standing leaning against the wall. He answered equally bluntly, "Come over here and stand together with me. You just finished eating, if you sit right away won't you get a pot belly again? You finally lost some weight, change your bad habits."
Chai Meicen didn't reject it. Carrying a dictionary she went to Zhou Rui's side leaning against the wall standing.
This was Zhou Rui's habit.
Chai Meicen always felt Zhou Rui's standing and sitting postures were wrong, so she had Zhou Rui stand leaning against the wall, making every part of his body stick to the wall as much as possible, especially opening up his shoulders.
Chai Meicen stood at his side looking up words in the dictionary, mumbling.
"Are you reciting vocabulary?" Zhou Rui asked her.
"Mm, I can look at characters from time to time and not forget them too severely, but vocabulary really has faded a lot, I need to quickly pick it back up."
"Oh, you tested into a first-tier university before right?" Zhou Rui asked her.
He only knew Chai Meicen had a high school education.
"Mm, tested in before."
"Oh..." Zhou Rui silently calculated to himself, according to the years, not long after Chai Meicen started university, she got pregnant with him.
Afterwards, why she didn't continue university, and why their family currently had no other relatives, just thinking about it a bit he could guess.
When the two of them sat down to do homework, Zhou Rui truly felt very uncomfortable all over.
He rarely did homework, and his grades weren't great either, yet Chai Meicen would ask him when she came across problems she didn't know how to solve.
How would he know?
But the one asking was his mom, if he didn't know she would get angry.
He wrote this homework nervously and anxiously.
After writing for a while, Zhou Rui threw down his pen and went into his room, saying, "I'm going to tidy up the stuff I need to bring to school."
"Mm." Chai Meicen continued writing homework with her head lowered.
In less than five minutes, Zhou Rui started shouting, "Mom! Where are those new socks I bought last time?"
"How could you not find your socks?! They're in the small basket, look for them yourself!"
"Mom! Where are those shorts I bought last summer?"
"Aren't you wearing them?"
"No, the ones with a pattern in the front and black in the back."
"In the cabinet!" Chai Meicen answered then continued writing.
"Which cabinet? The standing one or the bedside one or the one next to my desk?"
"Which else could it be! The bottom layer of the standing cabinet, look carefully."
"They're not there! Can you not randomly tidy up my room? I had my stuff placed nicely, as soon as you tidy up they're gone."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Chai Meicen heard this she got angry. She immediately stood up and went to Zhou Rui's door, yelling loudly, her voice extremely big, completely incompatible with her current image.
"If I don't tidy up your room what kind of mess would it turn into? Still able to step anywhere in it? A big boy already, your room's like a pig sty. You tidy up your face until it's clean and clear every day, but you wear socks that don't even match! When you can't find something you get mad at me, what do I owe you?! I'm helping you tidy your room and you're not thanking me but complaining about me instead?"
"I didn't ask you to come tidy up! Look, aren't they gone now? Last time too, my newly bought stuff went missing, and I had to buy another one again! If it's so tiring then don't tidy up next time."
"What's your attitude?! So taking care of you was wrong huh? Come come come, put your room back to what it was like originally, I'll watch."
Zhou Rui felt very wronged after being scolded. Pointing at the cabinet he said, "The pants are gone."
Chai Meicen rolled up her sleeves and went over. Finally on the top layer of the standing cabinet she found the shorts and placed them on the bed, asking arrogantly, "Aren't they right here?"
"Didn't you say they were on the bottom layer?"
"Can't your brain turn a bit? If they're not on the bottom then don't you think to flip through the top?"
Zhou Rui gripped his waist, so angry his eyes almost rolled back.
After blowing at his bangs, he nodded resignedly, "Alright alright, nothing else, you go write your homework."
Chai Meicen was also quite unhappy. When she walked out it was truly as if she walked out with thousands of troops and horses, even knocking over the umbrella Zhou Rui had standing at the door.
During the time Zhou Rui continued tidying up, Chai Meicen came back in again, placing a cup of watermelon juice on Zhou Rui's desk.
Zhou Rui ignored her and continued tidying his things.
"Ok, I was wrong, alright?" Chai Meicen asked Zhou Rui.
Zhou Rui couldn't hold it in and smiled at an angle Chai Meicen couldn't see.
Right after, he heard Chai Meicen say, "But was I wrong to help you tidy your room?"
Just as expected...
"I can't remember where every piece of clothing is placed either. If you can't find something then look more, it's definitely in your room." Chai Meicen said, unsatisfied with how it went. She picked up the watermelon juice and drank a mouthful herself.
"Oh..." Zhou Rui responded.
"When you're done tidying come out and do homework."
*
Zhou Rui originally didn't want to bother with Chai Meicen anymore, but on Monday Chai Meicen caught him skipping class.
This time she caught him completely without any technique, it was because Yang Ming took the initiative to come ask Chai Meicen, "Chai Meicen, are you going tonight?"
"Going where at night?"
"Didn't Zhou Ge call you?"
"Probably hasn't mentioned it to me yet. Where are you guys going?" Chai Meicen put down her dictionary and asked excitedly.
Yang Ming was quite clever. Seeing Chai Meicen didn't know, he didn't say anything further and just smiled and said, "Then just wait for Zhou Ge to call you."
Afterwards Chai Meicen didn't ask further and lowered her head to continue looking at vocabulary.
When evening self-study ended, Chai Meicen immediately ran to the area near the usual truancy spot to wait.
She had asked this place from Zhuo Wenqian. She guessed Zhou Rui and the others would come by here. Even if they didn't come by she could just head back to the employee dorms.
As expected, she waited until they came.
Seeing the first two groups of truant students, finally in the third wave she saw Zhou Rui and immediately ran over asking, "What are you guys going to do?"
Seeing Chai Meicen, Zhou Rui was given a fright.
Getting caught red-handed skipping class by his own mother, this was like playing a heart-attack game.
"Just wandering around here to relax our minds." Zhou Rui answered, then started wandering around as if he had just happened to pass by.
Chai Meicen followed at Zhou Rui's side, watching his terrible act and said, "You can also take me out if you want."
"Take you to do what? Have you ever seen a drug dealer take a cop along to deal drugs?"
"Going out to play we should all go together!" Chai Meicen raised her eyebrows at Zhou Rui.
Zhou Rui stared at Chai Meicen for half a minute, then looked up towards Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan had been pursing his lips not saying anything the whole time. Only then could it be considered agreeing. He said to Chai Meicen, "Come, you go up first."
After Zhou Rui finished speaking he helped Chai Meicen climb up the over two meter high wall.
Right after, Chai Meicen watched as the three of them very adeptly climbed over the wall.
Zhou Rui stood below the wall and slapped off the dust on his hands, asking, "What do you think? Can't get down right?"
Chai Meicen looked down at the ground and nodded, "Help me get down."
"Then you just stay on the wall for now. I'll be back in a bit over an hour, I'll come get you down then." Zhou Rui grinned and replied.
Since he had already been discovered by Chai Meicen, Zhou Rui decided to just go all out.
Even if it's his own mother, he's got to con her. The will to survive is gone, as long as he doesn't get beaten to death, after recovering he'll still be a good man.
As soon as Chai Meicen heard, she got anxious, "Zhou Rui, do you believe I'll skin you alive?"
"Either way I'll have the same outcome even if I get you down now, so why would I do it?"
After Zhou Rui said this he really left.
Chai Meicen sat on top of the wall looking at the ground. She wanted to jump down in one go but when looking she saw the usually silent Li Xiaonan walk over and raise his hand saying, "I'll help you get down."
Chai Meicen immediately nodded excitedly.
When Zhou Rui looked back, he saw his mom getting carried down the wall like a little kid.
He could still accept this, but...seeing Chai Meicen fall into Li Xiaonan's arms he just couldn't stand it.
"What are you doing?! Where are you putting your hands?!" Zhou Rui quickly strode back.