CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 35 GOOD SEEDLING

"Pfft~"

Tang Yue looked at his impatient expression, deliberately cleared her throat, sat on the rocking chair with her schoolbag, and said slowly, "I’m thirsty. It’s still quite hot today, I want a drink of water."

"I’ll pour it." Tang Jun dashed off to pour some tea.

Soon, a cup of cool boiled water arrived.

Tang Yue took a satisfying sip, deliberately ignoring Tang Jun’s eager look, and said: "Xiao Jun, where is your exam paper? Let me see where you went wrong?"

"Oh." Tang Jun swiftly went to the room and brought back his Chinese and math papers.

Tang Zhengde and Zhang Hualian exchanged smiles, and she said, "Zhengde, take a break, I’ll cook."

Zhang Hualian, holding two pairs of shoes, originally wanted to dissuade Tang Yue, but before she could speak, Tang Yue said: "Mom and Dad, if you don’t wear these shoes, it would be a waste of your daughter’s filial piety."

"Mom, especially you—it’s not like my feet are one size bigger. You’re a size 35 and I’m a size 36, so if you don’t wear them, I can’t either, and they would just go to waste." Tang Yue sighed and said, "Mom, if you cherish them too much to wear them, just let them gather dust at home."

"You child, it’s such a pity for these good shoes to just gather dust at home." Zhang Hualian felt heartache immediately. Indeed, her feet were slightly smaller than Tang Yue’s. She would always wear Tang Yue’s discarded old shoes, but now that her daughter had grown up, she knew how to show filial respect.

Zhang Hualian happily accepted them, thinking of cooking more food tonight so Xiao Yue and Xiao Jun, the siblings, could replenish their strength.

"Sister, here you go." Tang Jun stood in front of Tang Yue, hesitant and nervous. For some reason, he felt more anxious watching Tang Yue look at his paper than when facing his teacher.

Tang Yue scrutinized the exam carefully. The parts she taught, he got right. Questions he hadn’t encountered before and didn’t understand, he got wrong.

For the Chinese recitation of classical poetry, all were correct. Math wasn’t the disaster it used to be either.

"Not bad," Tang Yue praised. Tang Jun’s smile hadn’t fully formed when Tang Yue’s next words made his little face fall: "However, just scoring in the eighties, that’s far from enough for college. To say you’re my little brother, Tang Yue, I’d be embarrassed."

"Sister, are you really my sister?" Tang Jun mumbled. But then he thought about how Tang Yue’s grades were much better than his, so he didn’t dare to say more.

"Xiao Jun," Tang Yue held the paper and explained to him the mistakes he made, how to correct them, and what to do when encountering similar questions next time.

Without realizing it, Tang Jun forgot all about the gift.

Tang Jun was actually quite clever. Usually, he just didn’t pay attention. With a little stimulation from Tang Yue this time, he listened attentively in class. Whatever the teacher explained, he understood, and a single hint from Tang Yue would make it all clear.

After she had finished explaining all of his mistakes on the paper, Tang Yue leisurely opened her schoolbag and said, "Xiao Jun, you said you would protect me, that you want to go to college. A true man keeps his word."

"I’ll keep my word," Tang Jun nodded and said, "Sister, you are really my sister. I’ll definitely stand by your side and protect you. Going to college is my goal."

Tang Jun spoke earnestly.

Only then did Tang Yue, with a beaming smile, take out the military chess game.

"Wow!" Tang Jun’s eyes instantly lit up with excitement, and he said, "Sister, what’s this? What is this?"

Tang Jun asked twice in a row, this thing he had never even seen before. No one in their village had it.

"Military Chess," Tang Yue explained.

"How do you play it?" Tang Jun asked, unable to wait as he tore open the packaging, a sense of indescribable joy filling his entire being.

"It’s just..." Tang Yue wanted to explain how to play, but for a moment, she didn’t know how to explain, and finally said, "Let’s look at the instruction manual, it must have taught us how."

No sooner had Tang Yue’s words fallen, Tang Jun had already snatched the instruction manual and started to read it. It didn’t take long for Tang Jun to understand how to play, and he said, "Sis, let’s play a round."

Half an hour later.

Tang Yue lost three times in a row and clamored not to play anymore.

Tang Jun was brimming with pride and still pulled Tang Yue to play, but no matter what, Tang Yue refused to play anymore.

"Sis, just one more game," Tang Jun still wanted to play and kept pestering Tang Yue.

Being pestered to no end, just as Tang Yue couldn’t escape, Zhang Hualian came in with the food. Tang Yue immediately said, "It’s time to eat."

"After we eat, let’s play again and have Dad be the judge," Tang Jun quickly said.

Tang Yue: "..."

Wasn’t this just shooting herself in the foot?

Good heavens, she was so old, yet playing a child’s game, she felt so childish, especially since she couldn’t even beat Tang Jun, this secretly hurt Tang Yue even more.

"Xiao Yue, Xiao Jun, Zhengde, I made some syrup eggs, you each get two; autumn is here, it’s good for you to nourish your bodies," Zhang Hualian placed the syrup eggs in front of the three of them.

"Mom, I can’t finish two," Tang Yue moved one into Zhang Hualian’s bowl.

Tang Jun also moved one into Zhang Hualian’s bowl and said, "Mom, you and Dad are adults, you two should each have two, one for me and Sis is enough."

"Not bad, Xiao Jun has grown up," Tang Yue praised, looking at the braised pork in the bowl, and said, "Here, this piece of fat pork is for you."

"Sis, I don’t like fatty meat," Tang Jun said with a face of disgust.

Tang Yue earnestly said, "You’re skinny; you should eat more fatty meat to gain some weight."

Zhang Hualian watched the two children eagerly eat the eggs, feeling warmed by their actions.

Tang Zhengde was also very content, thinking to himself that he must earn more money, to provide a better life for his family. He said, "Hualian, don’t refuse the children’s good intentions."

Under the warm light, a dish of braised pork, a bowl of bean sprouts, a bowl of pickled cucumbers—there were only three dishes, but a family happily together, that was the happiest.

Tang Yue guessed that her parents must have been reluctant to eat meat on ordinary days at home, so she kept adding meat to their bowls, fearing they wanted to save it for her and her brother Tang Jun, and she didn’t hesitate to add more.

After dinner, Tang Jun pulled Tang Yue to play again. Tang Zhengde acted as the referee. Tang Yue spirited up, wanting to win against Tang Jun, but that kid, Tang Jun, was really smart, and Tang Yue wasn’t very interested in this military chess game, as a result, she lost disastrously.

Laughter and joyful sounds occasionally came from the house. Tang Zhengde and Zhang Hualian sat on the side, and in the end, Tang Zhengde also became interested and played a game with Tang Jun, only to lose as well.

Tang Jun’s triumphant voice kept echoing in the room.

"Haha, I won again!" Tang Jun said excitedly, celebrating his continuous wins by dancing around joyfully.

"Xiao Jun, you play slowly; I’m sleepy," Tang Yue yawned. Since school had started, she had been crazily busy, getting less than six hours of sleep at school, not to mention the past two weekends spent going to the Provincial City to stock up, then selling the goods—the tiredness was genuine.