Chapter 18: Crying in Grievance

Chapter 18: Crying from Feeling Wronged

The three of them entered the tiny room, which had just a small bed and a little stove with something bubbling on it that smelled like medicine. Lin Jinrui's schoolbag was on the bed.

"Is this your room?" Cheng Miao asked.

Lin Jinrui nodded.

"It's so cool you have your own room. I wish I had one too," Cheng Miao said enviously.

A flicker of light lit up Lin Jinrui's eyes. She was delighted but didn't know what to say. No one had ever envied her before. She quickly pulled out some paper and a pen from her schoolbag and handed them to Lu Yu, stammering, "Lu Yu, write down the questions you can't do."

Lu Yu raised an eyebrow, picked up the pen, and started writing while Lin Jinrui watched nervously.

Cheng Miao looked around and suddenly noticed a large bag of bread by the bed—the same kind of bread Lin Jinrui had given him that morning. This bread cost fifty cents at the corner store, and just eyeballing it, there were over twenty in the bag. Cheng Miao doubted Lin Jinrui's parents would buy her that many.

So he pointed at the bed and said, trying to sound impressed, "You've got so much bread!"

Lin Jinrui said, a little embarrassed, "Do you want some? I can bring you some more tomorrow."

Cheng Miao nodded without a hint of shame and asked, "Did your mom and dad buy this for you?"

Lin Jinrui hesitated. She didn't know what to say or if she even could, but Cheng Miao was the first person to ever help her, and she didn't want to refuse him.

"I'll tell you, but don't tell the other kids," Lin Jinrui said in a low voice. "My homeroom teacher bought this for me. I passed out from hunger in class once, and later Teacher Li would give me a bag of bread every month. It's the school's aid for poor students."

"Damn," Cheng Miao cursed silently in his head. Having both parents and still passing out from hunger—and this run-down little school, what "aid for poor students"? Her own parents weren't even as good as her homeroom teacher.

"Done." Lu Yu handed the paper over just then. On it was a short line: Given a+b=1, find a²+2ab+b².

Lin Jinrui took the paper and stared at the problem. Her face slowly turned red as she racked her brain, trying to figure it out. She knew every letter, number, and symbol on it, but she still couldn't solve it.

After a long pause, she looked at Lu Yu and stammered, "Sorry, I can't really figure it out."

"It's okay." Lu Yu said, being unusually patient, "I don't really get it either. You can take your time." Then he folded the note and handed it to her.

Lin Jinrui nodded seriously and said, "I'll study it. Once I figure it out, I'll teach you."

Lu Yu nodded, pulled Cheng Miao aside—who had been trying to peek at the problem—and said their goodbyes, "We're heading home now."

Lin Jinrui nodded, a little sad. No one had ever come to play with her before.

Cheng Miao waved at her. "We'll come hang out next time!"

A big smile spread across Lin Jinrui's face. She nodded quickly and said, "Next time, tell me ahead of time, and I'll sneak out."

Cheng Miao nodded and hurried after Lu Yu as they ran out.

"Her parents are so annoying. If they didn't want a kid, they shouldn't have had one. They had her but don't even take care of her." As soon as they were outside, Cheng Miao complained with disgust.

Lu Yu just said, "Mm."

Cheng Miao said, "My dad's great. My mom can be scary sometimes, but she's still..." Cheng Miao's voice trailed off.

Oh crap, he'd forgotten something. "Lu Yu, we're so dead. We pissed off the old witch this morning, and now we're home late."

Lu Yu was stunned. He had forgotten too. The whole morning had been chaotic.

The two of them sprinted all the way home. As they got close to the door, Cheng Miao slowed down and looked at Lu Yu. "My mom definitely won't hit you. Stick to the plan from this morning—play it by ear. If I get hit, I'm taking it out on you."

Lu Yu nodded.

They walked in, and Mother Cheng was sitting on the heated brick bed with a cold look on her face. She didn't tell them to wash up and eat like she usually did. The porridge from this morning was still on the table, already dried up.

Mother Cheng glared sharply at Cheng Miao. "So you finally decided to come back? I thought you were gonna hide out there forever!"

Cheng Miao was so scared he hardly dared to breathe. He glanced at Lu Yu, then at his mother.

Lu Yu walked over to the table, grabbed a rag, and with his other small hand holding a big bowl, carefully wiped the porridge into the bowl.

Mother Cheng frowned. "Xiao Yu, leave it. Whoever knocked it over cleans it up. Don't spoil him!"

Hearing this, Cheng Miao quickly spoke up, "Yeah, Xiao Yu, go get the old lady next door to clean it up. Don't spoil her."

Mother Cheng slammed the table and shouted, "Cheng Miao, you're still talking back! Did you spit in the bowl?"

"I did spit, but I didn't knock the bowl over," Cheng Miao said stubbornly, his tone defiant.

Mother Cheng grew angrier. "You keep talking! Haven't I told you not to spit randomly? Can't you learn to respect others?"

"That old witch doesn't respect anyone either, so why should I respect her?" Cheng Miao stuck out his neck, pursed his lips, looking rebellious.

Mother Cheng was furious. "Looks like I have to beat you today." She moved to take off her shoe.

Cheng Miao's face tightened, he tilted his chin up, and said stubbornly, "Go ahead. If you're gonna hit me, just kill me." But the corners of his eyes were already red with grievance.

Lu Yu sighed inside. The plan from this morning—act cute and talk it out—had totally fallen apart.

Seeing that Cheng Miao was about to get hit, he had no choice but to step forward, grab Mother Cheng's hand, and say apologetically, "Auntie, I'm sorry. It's all because of me that Cheng Miao argued with Grandma."

"I should go back to my own home. Because of me, you and Cheng Miao are fighting. Maybe I do bring bad luck. I'm sorry." Lu Yu lowered his head, his voice low and hoarse.

"What nonsense are you talking about? What bad luck?" Mother Cheng frowned in displeasure.

"That grandma said it. This morning, it was because she wouldn't give me porridge that Cheng Miao argued with her. I could have gone without drinking it, but she hit Cheng Miao, so I bumped her waist. If it's about that, I'll go apologize to her." Lu Yu's eyes drooped slightly at the corners, making him look pitiful and helpless, his tone dejected.

Mother Cheng hastily pulled Cheng Miao over. "Where did she hit you?"

Cheng Miao still turned his head away, lips tightly shut, not saying a word. The grievance he had been holding back finally turned into hot tears that rolled down from the corners of his eyes.

Lu Yu lifted Cheng Miao's clothes. On his fair wrist, the red mark from that morning had already turned slightly bruised. "She also hit Cheng Miao's bottom, and she's hit him before too," Lu Yu added quietly.

Mother Cheng looked at Cheng Miao with heartache. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Only then did Cheng Miao speak through sobs, "If I told you, would you believe me? You'd still blame me."

Mother Cheng was at a loss for words. "You're my son. If I don't believe you, who would I believe?" She stroked Cheng Miao's face and pulled him into her arms. "You always have to be so stubborn. If you talked to me properly, how could I not believe you?"

Cheng Miao hugged her back, wiping his tears with a pitiful look, and said in a low voice, "Then I don't want her coming to our house anymore. I'll get up by myself."

Mother Cheng asked, "Can you actually wake up?"

Cheng Miao: "Lu Yu can. He'll wake me up."

Mother Cheng: "What about meals? Who'll heat up food for you two?"

Cheng Miao: "Lu Yu can. He'll heat it up."

Mother Cheng laughed in exasperation. "So Lu Yu's here to take care of you?"

"I can help him too," Cheng Miao quickly added. He pulled Lu Yu over and looked at him expectantly. "Right?"

Lu Yu nodded. "Auntie, I know how to light a fire, and I can heat up food too."