Chapter 373 Endless Homework

Chapter 366 Endless Homework

Guoguo got anxious, threw the fishing rod on the ground, ran to Duoduo's side, squatted down, and stared at her fishing float for a long time.

"Duoduo, you must have gotten to know all the fish here so well, they only recognize your hook!"

Duo Duo chuckled, her hands still moving: "No way, I was just tossing it around randomly."

Yueyue ran over to chime in, "That's right, that's right! We haven't caught a single one, but you've caught five!"

Xiao Guang pulled the fishing rod, which was covered in water plants, out of the water and shook it off: "There's definitely something wrong with it."

Duoduo's eyes darted around, and she took out a small paper packet from her pocket. She opened it, and inside were some crumbs of biscuits.

She pinched a little and sprinkled it on the water's surface, and the fish immediately swarmed over to snatch it, causing the water to churn even more violently.

"You need to feed them more," Duoduo said smugly.

Cheng Mo grinned and shouted at Guo Guo, "Guo Guo, why don't you sprinkle some fertilizer on them? These fish will definitely like you if they eat your fertilizer."

Guoguo was taken aback: "What fertilizer?"

Cheng Mo's smile deepened: "The kind you just scattered on the back hill."

Guoguo's face flushed red instantly, from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears, like a boiled shrimp.

"Senior brother, please stop talking!"

Yueyue tilted her head, her face innocent: "What kind of fertilizer is it? Why do fish like to eat Guoguo's fertilizer?"

Xiao Guang leaned closer, his eyes practically brimming with questions: "Guoguo, when did you go fertilize? How come I didn't know?"

Duoduo squatted next to the bucket, her ears perked up, forgetting to even pick up her fishing rod.

The big yellow dog appeared out of nowhere, circling around Guoguo, its tail wagging wide, barking and pawing at the ground as if to say, "I know, I know."

Xia He was sitting on the shore eating watermelon when she heard this. She looked at Guo Guo thoughtfully, then at Cheng Mo, and her expression turned strange.

"Guoguo, you didn't just—"

"Sister, don't say it!" Guoguo jumped up, covered Xia He's mouth with both hands, and then pounced on Cheng Mo, "Ouch! Senior brother, you big bad guy!"

Cheng Mo laughed so hard he almost choked, dodging the crowd while shouting, "Come on, let's go buy ice cream, it's on me!"

Guoguo stopped punching, her eyes lighting up: "Really?"

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Cheng Mo waved to the big yellow dog: "Big Yellow, come along."

Big Yellow barked twice, its tail swishing rapidly, circling around the two people's feet, occasionally rubbing its head against Guoguo's calves.

Cheng Mo took a couple of steps, then turned back to the kids and said, "Catch as much as you can eat, okay? I'm having a whole fish feast tonight, and everyone has to finish what they catch. Nobody is allowed to waste any."

Yueyue nodded vigorously: "I understand, Senior Brother!"

Duo Duo gave an OK sign: "Don't worry, senior, we'll definitely finish it!"

Xiao Guang stuck his fishing rod into the ground and patted his chest, "Don't worry, senior brother, I can eat five!"

Cheng Mo chuckled and led Guo Guo and Da Huang down the mountain.

Guoguo and Dahuang walked very fast down the mountain.

Guoguo ran ahead, and Dahuang chased after her. When it caught up, Dahuang would nudge Guoguo's bottom with its head, causing Guoguo to stumble forward a couple of steps.

Guoguo steadied herself and turned to chase after Dahuang. Dahuang took off running, but stopped after running for more than ten meters. It turned back and barked at Guoguo, wagging its tail like a windmill.

Guoguo couldn't catch up and stomped her feet in frustration: "Dahuang, you wait! When I grow up, I'll carry you and run away!"

Big Yellow wagged its tail, as if saying, "Come on, come on."

Cheng Mo let them make a fuss. Anyway, no one would die from falling. Running around like this would also improve their physical flexibility.

After descending the mountain, Cheng Mo greeted everyone as he left the village. Once they reached a secluded spot, he retrieved his car. Guo Guo and Da Huang climbed into the back seats, and the car moved forward. Da Huang stuck his head out of the window, his tongue flapping backward in the wind.

They arrived in Qinchuan County. Cheng Mo parked the car on the side of the road and led Guo Guo and Da Huang into an ice cream wholesale store.

The air conditioning in the store was on full blast, and Guoguo shivered as soon as she entered.

The shop owner, a woman in her forties, was stocking the freezer when she saw Cheng Mo come in. She greeted him with a smile, "Oh, young Taoist Master Cheng, it's been a long time!"

"Hello, Sister Zhang." Cheng Mo greeted her with a smile, "Give me a case of ice cream, a mixed pack, a little of everything."

"Okay."

Sister Zhang moved quickly, carrying boxes of ice cream out of the freezer one by one. Old-fashioned popsicles, Little Pudding, Green Mood, Chocliz, Casual, and Cute Ice Cream were all displayed on the counter in a colorful array.

Cheng Mo pointed at the ice creams: "Five of each of these, and ten of those—"

Guoguo lay on the counter, her eyes almost touching the freezer glass, her breath fogging the glass.

Sister Zhang took a large styrofoam insulated box and stacked the ice creams inside layer by layer, neatly arranging them, and stuffing a few bags of ice into the gaps.

"This is enough to last for many days," Sister Zhang said with a smile as she handed the insulated box to Cheng Mo.

"Children eat quickly."

Cheng Mo paid the money, took the insulated box, and left the store.

Guoguo held up a freshly opened pudding, licked it, and looked up at Cheng Mo, asking, "Senior brother, why do we need an insulated box? Aren't insulated boxes used to keep things warm?"

Cheng Mo put the insulated box into the trunk and closed the lid: "You've misunderstood. Insulation means keeping the temperature constant, not just at high temperatures, but at low temperatures as well. The insulated box can insulate against heat, so the outside heat can't get in and the inside cold can't get out, which is why the ice cream won't melt."

Guoguo nodded thoughtfully, then licked the little pudding again: "Oh—so the insulated box can keep the food warm even in winter?"

"More or less."

Just as Guoguo was about to continue sharing her new discovery, a man walked by with a little girl in his hand.

A man in his early thirties walked past, leading a little girl of about seven or eight years old. The little girl had tears on her face and was crying as she walked, burying her face in the man's arm, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

The man looked helpless, glancing down at the little girl every now and then.

Guoguo tugged at Cheng Mo's hand and whispered, "Senior brother, there's something wrong with them."

Guoguo had been to the Medicine Fairy Society and was particularly sensitive to these kinds of things. That's how the trafficked children all cried.

Cheng Mo nodded: "Let's go and see."

The two had only taken two steps when they saw the man wiping away the little girl's tears, asking gently, "Don't keep crying. Tell Dad what's wrong. Did someone bully you?"

The little girl sobbed, and after a long pause, she managed to squeeze out, "I haven't finished my homework! Waaaaah!"

The man sighed helplessly, "It's still early before school starts, so let's hurry up and finish it. It's not like we have to finish our homework in one day."

The little girl cried even harder, her voice cracking: "I could have finished today! My mom made me go to dance class! I even brought my homework to the dance studio, but the teacher wouldn't let me do it and made me stretch my legs, it hurts so much!" The man, after holding back for a long time, finally managed to say: "—Your mom is doing it for your own good."

The little girl cried even louder: "For your own good? What do you mean 'for your own good'! She doesn't have to pull the legs! Why doesn't she go to dance class!"

man:

Cheng Mo:

Guoguo scratched her head and whispered, "It seems we've made a mistake, senior brother."

Looking at the little girl crying her eyes out, Cheng Mo suddenly remembered a question: "Guoguo, have you finished your homework?"

Guoguo looked up at him and said, "Senior, we'll be starting elementary school soon, and there won't be any homework."

Cheng Mo nodded: "Then we have to have a lot of fun this summer vacation, because we'll have homework next summer."

Guoguo skipped ahead, her voice light and cheerful: "It's okay, Sister Erzhuang said that next holiday she'll help us finish our homework before she goes home."

Cheng Mo laughed: "Er Zhuang is quite loyal."

Guoguo nodded vigorously: "That's true."

Far away in the Northeast, Erzhuang was sitting at his desk with a thick book of Olympiad math problems spread out in front of him.

In a residential building far away in Northeast China.

Erzhuang sat cross-legged at her desk, on which lay a book titled "Elementary School Math Olympiad: Learning by Analogy," densely covered with numbers and diagrams. She bit her pen cap, her brows furrowed, staring at the chicken-and-rabbit problem for almost ten minutes.

She was writing out equations on a piece of scrap paper when, halfway through, she slammed her pen on the table, looked up to the sky, and sighed, "Why did I have to do math olympiad?!"

She had already finished her summer homework, but her sister insisted that learning advanced math could improve her understanding of techniques, so she bought her this set of problems.

My parents also believed her nonsense, saying things like "Your sister is right" and "It won't hurt to learn more."

Erzhuang cursed in his heart a hundred times: Improve my ass! What does the chicken-and-rabbit problem have to do with cultivation techniques?

She sighed, turned to the next page, and found an even more difficult one.