The two of them didn't even pause for a cup of tea before rushing off to find Principal Yuan again.
Lin Zhilan let out a sigh.
Then, from beside her, came an even deeper sigh.
She looked at Su Li. "What's wrong with you now? What brings you home today?"
Su Li gave her a resentful look and trudged back to his room without a word.
"How strange!"
Jiang Chengzhou felt like spring had arrived.
Ever since he learned that he would be taking the college entrance exam next summer, his treatment at home had improved dramatically.
The most noticeable change was that he now got to pick what the family ate for every meal.
Whatever he asked for, he got.
He deliberately said he wanted hot pot—in thirty-three-degree heat on the island—and Lin Zhilan still managed to make it happen.
Though they did make him sit at a separate table to eat.
At first, Jiang Chengzhou was a little flustered, feeling that his aunt and uncle were overdoing it. But Lin Zhilan told him to treasure this time.
She said he might never enjoy such treatment again for the rest of his life.
Jiang Chengzhou immediately felt at ease.
Other families with kids taking the exam were much the same, though the real reward or punishment would only come once the scores were released.
Weekend.
Because Jiang Chengzhou's room was large—taking up half of the entire second floor—and because it had a fan, plus all the study materials Su Jue had mailed from the capital, several of his close friends came over to study in his room.
Linlin was doing her homework, and Su Li, surprisingly, hadn't gone over to the Zhuang family's place. He stayed put at home without running off anywhere.
Lin Zhilan and Su Lang were preparing fruit platters for the kids when they heard a little girl's sobbing from outside.
Zhuang Yi walked in, carrying Zhuang Nuo in his arms, his face grim. He greeted them sheepishly, "Doctor Lin, Captain Su... is Li Li home?"
"No!" came Su Li's voice from inside his room.
"Waaaaah..."
Zhuang Nuo struggled to get down from Zhuang Yi's arms and ran to pound on Su Li's door. "Li Li, open up! Aren't you going to play with me anymore?"
On the other side of the door, Su Li wiped his eyes. "Nuonuo, go home first. I just won't play with you for now. I'll play with you next year, okay?"
"No, no! I want to play with you now!"
The adults exchanged bewildered looks. Lin Zhilan asked reluctantly, "What happened between them?"
Zhuang Yi said, "I have no idea. Su Li hasn't come over for days. I thought they'd had a fight."
Su Li hadn't visited for several days, and Zhuang Yi, assuming the kids had quarreled, had secretly felt a little pleased.
But this morning, bright and early, Nuonuo was already waiting at the door, skipping breakfast, just watching to see if Su Li would show up.
By the afternoon, when he still hadn't come, Zhuang Nuo started crying.
Zhuang Yi tried everything to calm her down, even offering to take her to the hospital to see her mother, but she refused—she just wanted to find Su Li.
Zhuang Yi had no choice but to bring her over.
At first, they'd thought it was just two kids in a spat, but now it didn't look like that at all.
One was crying inside the room, the other crying outside it, carrying on like some tragic parting.
The adults fell silent just watching them.
Lin Zhilan picked up Zhuang Nuo to soothe her and gestured for Su Lang to coax Su Li out.
Su Lang knocked on the door for a long while, alternating between sweet talk, cajoling, and threats, until Su Li finally cracked the door open.
The door creaked open a sliver. Su Li kept his head down, hiding most of himself behind the door.
The moment Zhuang Nuo saw him, she stopped crying. She slid down from Lin Zhilan's arms, trotted over to the door, and tilted her face up: "Li Li!"
Su Li turned his face away and mumbled, "Go home. I'm not playing with you anymore."
Zhuang Nuo panicked and squeezed her way into the crack. "Why won't you play with me?"
Su Li pressed his lips tightly together, looking as if he'd suffered some great injustice.
When Zhuang Nuo saw he wouldn't pay her any attention, she burst into tears again.
Su Li covered his eyes with his arm, his body shaking with sobs.
Both sets of parents had to separate the kids to calm them down.
Su Li wasn't old, nor fat, but he was surprisingly heavy. Lin Zhilan couldn't lift him, so she led him to a chair and sat him down, holding him close. "What's going on? Did you and Nuonuo have a fight?"
"N-no," Su Li said between sobs.
"Then what is it? You need to tell me what's wrong, so Mama can help you."
Su Li buried his face in her shoulder, crying in fits and starts. "I... I lost my front tooth... I look ugly now..."
Lin Zhilan blinked in surprise.
Su Li had lost his front tooth a few days earlier, leaving a gap. She'd told him it would grow back, and he hadn't complained, so she hadn't realized how much it bothered him.
She comforted him, "I don't think it looks ugly at all. Same as before, really."
Su Li hiccupped, glancing at her sideways. "That's because you're my mama. That's why you say that."
Lin Zhilan: "..."
But Zhuang Nuo had overheard and squeezed in next to Lin Zhilan. "Li Li, you're not ugly."
"I don't have a tooth."
"Even without a tooth, you're not ugly! You're the prettiest!"
"Really?" Su Li sounded skeptical.
"Really. I'm not lying to you."
Su Li broke into a smile, exposing the gap, then quickly covered his mouth.
"Uncle? I mean, Auntie..." Zhuang Nuo looked up at Lin Zhilan. "Will Li Li's tooth grow back?"
"It will. Front teeth grow the fastest. It'll be out in two or three months."
Zhuang Nuo patted her chest, relieved.
Actually, she'd lied to Li Li just now—she did think he looked better with a tooth.
Both kids had swollen, red-rimmed eyes, but their friendship was instantly mended.
Zhuang Yi had totally given up trying to understand these two children.
Since the kids were all upstairs studying, Lin Zhilan kept Nuonuo for the day and sent Zhuang Yi upstairs to check on their progress.
Zhuang Yi didn't need to be asked twice—he stayed for dinner too.
Then, something unexpected happened.
That evening, Lin Zhilan made corn and pork rib soup with barley for the kids. While Zhuang Nuo was gnawing on a rib, her front tooth fell out.
Su Li immediately turned to Lin Zhilan, his face full of anguish: "Mama, you—"
His expression said it all.
Mama must love me way too much! But even if she loved me that much, she didn't need to make Nuonuo lose her tooth!
Su Lang rapped him on the forehead with his knuckles. "Kids your age all lose their baby teeth. What does your mother have to do with it?"
"Wasn't it for me?" Su Li rubbed his forehead.
Lin Zhilan rolled her eyes and poured Zhuang Nuo a glass of water to rinse her mouth.
It was Zhuang Nuo's first time losing a tooth, and she was nervous—so scared she started crying.
Zhuang Yi kept telling her a new one would grow back, but she wouldn't listen.
Then Lin Zhilan came over and said one sentence, and Zhuang Nuo stopped crying immediately.
Walking her home, Zhuang Yi couldn't help asking his daughter why it worked when Lin Zhilan said it but not when he did.
Zhuang Nuo answered with innocent big eyes, "Li Li said his mama is the most amazing person in the whole world. So whatever Auntie Lin says has to be right."
