Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 1316, 536 Reading Comprehension under the Moonlight

Chapter 1316, Section 536: Reading Comprehension Under the Moonlight
"Aren't you hot? Want to go for a walk?"

"OK."

So Xiao Che went back to his room to get his phone, and asked Tang Xiaoxing what else he wanted to eat. Then he went downstairs with the teacher.

"Aren't you tired?"

"hey-hey."

Under the streetlights outside the building entrance, the little car bounced and hopped, stepping on its shadow on the ground, as if it hadn't had enough fun yet.

"Let's take a stroll on the rocky slope."

"Okay!"

With that, the little car jumped to the teacher's side, and the two of them walked towards the south gate of the community.

The city streets, scorched by the blazing sun during the day, finally felt a touch of coolness.

Elderly men and women sat on the street, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans and chatting about everyday life, letting the evening breeze caress them.

Passing by a shaved ice shop, Xiao Che asked Li An if he wanted some.

"Two bowls, please." Li An took out his phone. "I'll bring one more back for Xiao Xing when I get back later."

The driver rushed ahead and scanned the QR code: "Boss, two bowls of ice jelly."

"Two bowls of ice jelly!" The stall owner moved with great speed, and in the blink of an eye, he placed two bowls of tempting-looking ice jelly in front of the teacher and student.

"Thank you!"

The cart took a bowl, and Ang Lee took a bowl.

Each person was fed a spoonful, and the little car showed a satisfied smile.

The teachers and students, carrying their ice jelly, continued walking eastward along the street.

"Actually, I don't like the texture of ice jelly."

"Oh? Teacher, you don't like ice jelly?"

"It's not that I don't like it, I just like eating these raisins and hawthorn pieces."

This reminded the car of several scenes.

"No wonder you always leave most of the ice jelly uneaten when we eat hot pot; you only eat the toppings on top."

"Correct."

"Then why not just eat raisins and hawthorn slices?"

"That won't work."

"Why not? Wouldn't it be more satisfying to eat it directly?"

"It tastes best when dipped in the brown sugar syrup from the ice jelly, and you have to eat it with a spoon, like this—"

As he spoke, Ang Lee gently scraped the surface of the bowl with the spoon in his right hand, then straightened the spoon, and a spoonful of nuts coated with brown sugar syrup appeared in front of the cart.

With a "whoosh," the little car followed suit and scraped off a spoonful as well.

Ang Lee: "Give it a try."

The little car was fed into my mouth in one gulp, and then an overpowering sweet taste rushed straight to the back of my head.

"You're so sweet, teacher!"

Ang Lee smiled and said, "I just like to take a bite."

“I never knew you liked sweets,” the little car scooped up another spoonful of powder and fed it to his mouth, only to find that the powder no longer tasted sweet to him.

“I loved eating it when I was a kid,” Ang Lee said, scooping up a spoonful of noodles. “But I don’t like it as much now that I’m older.”

As he spoke, he fed it to his own mouth, asking, "Do you know why?"

Little car: "Because...because you've grown up."

“That’s right,” Ang Lee chewed and hummed, “It’s definitely because I’ve grown up.”

"When I was little, I liked to eat candy because it was sweet and sweetness brought me happiness. But as I grew up, I could try more flavors and have more experiences that brought me happiness, so the happiness that sweetness brought me was relatively less."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Che thought to himself, "That's really true. Nail used to like drinking fruit beer, but after my dad allowed him to drink regular beer, he said that fruit beer had no taste at all."

Ang Lee: "Yeah, that's roughly the idea."

Xiao Che: "I don't think I'll like drinking when I grow up; it's bitter and astringent."

Ang Lee: "I did sneak a drink."

Xiao Che: "Just once, when I was very young. I was just curious why adults could drink from noon until night."

Ang Lee: "Sometimes when a group of adults get together, they're not drinking alcohol, but bottle after bottle. Is the alcohol really that good? I've never thought alcohol was good."

Xiao Che: "Then you still drink, even when you're alone!"

Ang Lee: "Because it brings happiness, just like how you like to drink bubble tea. Some things you won't understand until you grow up."

Car: "Hmm."

Ang Lee: "Actually, the principle is very simple. Do you still like watching the cartoons you watched when you were in second grade?"

Xiao Che: "It's not that I don't like watching it, but like you said, there are more choices now."

Ang Lee: "Right, that's life. From birth to old age, one stage after another, and you can't skip any of them. When you look back at the end, you realize, oh, that's how I spent my life."

Xiao Che: "I'm going to write this down and use it in my essays later. I like this sentence; it has an indescribable beauty."

Ang Lee: "An indescribable beauty."

Car: "Oh, so this is how I've spent my life."

"It's like you can only understand some things by looking back, but time can't be turned back."

"I think this should be a calm tone."

He said it's okay, there are still young people, and there will still be old people tomorrow.

Li smiled and fed another spoonful of ice jelly into his mouth.

"Teacher, I was just talking nonsense."

"Teacher, we've arrived."

The teacher and student stopped at the entrance of the stone slope, where the campus was filled with the chirping of cicadas under the night sky.

"Want to come in?"

"I'm fine with either going in or continuing forward, whatever you say."

When the gatekeeper saw that it was the teacher and student, he readily let them through.

On the path to the playground, Xiao Che sent Tang Xiaoxing a message.

A moment later, Tang Xiaoxing replied that she was still video chatting with her mother.

Ang Lee: "Hey, do you think Wang Xiaohu even understands what 'liking' means? Based on your understanding of him..."

Little Car: "You should understand, right? What do you think, teacher?"

Ang Lee: "I also think he understands."

Car: "Hmm."

moment.

Ang Lee: Let me tell you a few things too.

The little car immediately started rubbing its little hands together.

Seeing this, Ang Lee both laughed and sighed inwardly. As the person involved today, how could this girl remain so calm?

Perhaps influenced by Xiao Che's emotions, Ang Lee's anxiety seemed to lessen somewhat.

"The first thing."

Li An mimicked Xiao Che's tone, "Class A and B."

Xiao Che: "Class A or B?"

Ang Lee: "Did you know that Shuren initially only had two piano training classes?"

Xiao Che: "Understood, Class A and B."

Ang Lee: "After the classes were assigned, it was probably before the National Day holiday. One day after class, Wang Xiaohu came to me and said he wanted to change classes. I was a little puzzled at the time. Why would he want to change classes for no reason?"

"Then he stammered for a long time and said, 'Qiao Zhizhi.'"

Little car: "Zhizhi?"

Ang Lee: "Yes, he means he doesn't want to be in the same class as Qiao Zhizhi?"

Xiao Che: "Why? Aren't they classmates from Jinhua? They even participated in the graduation performance together."

Ang Lee: "Because he said that Qiao Zhizhi used to pester him for a period of time when she was in elementary school."

Car: "!?"

Ang Lee: "That's what he said. He told me a lot of things, including how Qiao Zhizhi blocked him at the door of their classroom, and so on."

Car: "Are you sure it's Zhizhi?"

Ang Lee: "I believed him when he said it. I knew he was lying. Whenever he was anxious, he would tell the truth."

"Of course I'm curious. In my mind, Zhizhi has always been calm and composed, even now."

Car: "Yes!"

Ang Lee: "So here's the question: I jokingly asked him if Qiao Zhizhi liked him."

He said yes.

Car: "!!!"

Ang Lee: "But he probably lied to me later. I asked him if Zhizhi confessed to him, and he said yes, in the school hallway."

Xiao Che: "I'm a little skeptical too..."

Ang Lee: "When he said that, his eyes darted away, and I could tell it was fake. But I do believe that Qiao Zhizhi may have shown him excessive attention at some point."

Xiao Che: "That's understandable. Objectively speaking, Tiger is quite attractive to girls."

"Um, teacher, please continue."

Ang Lee: "~"

"Isn't Zhizhi outstanding? She has good grades, is good at studying, can dance and play the violin, and is pretty too, no problem, right?" Xiao Che: "I liked her the first time I saw her."

Ang Lee: "But Wang Xiaohu tried every means to avoid her. Why? Regardless of whether Zhizhi had any feelings for him, he had no feelings for Qiao Zhizhi since elementary school and carried that feeling into junior high."

Xiao Che: "Is it possible that he's afraid to face it?"

Ang Lee: "He just simply hates trouble. Don't you know his personality? No matter who you are, remember when he scared Xiaoxing during the icebreaker games at summer camp by trying to guess a word?

Car: "That's true."

Ang Lee: "Generally speaking, young boys, even if they don't develop feelings for outstanding female classmates who take the initiative to approach them, wouldn't go to great lengths to avoid them."

Car: "That makes sense."

Ang Lee smiled and asked, "Do you know anything about his special circumstances?"

Xiao Che: "Could it be because he liked me back then?"

Ang Lee: "This question doesn't need an answer."

The car immediately shut up.

Ang Lee: "Later, he asked me to keep this a secret."

“I said okay, but on my condition that he answer three questions for me.”

"The first person I was asked to do was ask him why he didn't like Qiao Zhizhi. I gave a list of many of Qiao Zhizhi's good points."

"He admitted that Qiao Zhizhi was indeed outstanding, but he just didn't like her, and he couldn't explain why."

"I jokingly told him that he probably liked the person, but he just didn't know it. Then I asked him a second question: 'Do you even know what liking someone means?'"

He immediately got anxious and said, "Of course I understand."

Xiao Che: "He'll tell the truth when he's in a hurry."

Ang Lee: "That's right, that's why he said he was certain he absolutely didn't like Qiao Zhizhi."

"Then I asked him a third question: 'Do you know what 'like' means? And who is the person you like?'"

“I was observing him when I asked him this question. He choked up when he heard it, and his expression was as if he had done something wrong.”

"He only came to his senses when I asked if it was Tang Xiaoxing, and then he went on and on, saying how could it be Tang Xiaoxing?"

Xiao Che: "Why did you mention Xiao Xing?"

Ang Lee: "I did it on purpose. I just wanted to see his reaction. Didn't he and Tang Xiaoxing get along quite well in the later stages of summer camp?"

Car: "You did this on purpose."

Ang Lee: "I wanted to provoke him into telling the truth."

Xiao Che tilted his head upon hearing this, but continued walking forward: "I understand, so you are admitting that you already knew about this before the A/B class incident."

Ang Lee chuckled and sighed without replying. "The second thing is Liu Fengrui."

Car: "Ah Liu?"

Ang Lee: "Ah Liu is very gossipy."

Xiao Che: "Xiao Bei said the same thing."

Ang Lee: "Back then, we were still in the Yudong office building. One day after class, he quietly told me that Wang Xiaohu often stuffed all sorts of delicious food into Che Lin's hands and deliberately did things to attract her attention."

"right."

Car: "Mm."

Ang Lee: "I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but when I thought back on it later, I realized that Wang Xiaohu might have already shown signs of it back then."

“I also talked to your senior sister about this.”

Xiao Che: "What did my senior sister say?"

Ang Lee: "What can my senior sister say? It's only human nature."

Xiao Che: "You said that it's common for people at our stage to have feelings for the opposite sex."

Ang Lee: "Yes, the third thing is a birthday present."

Little Car: "Birthday present."

Ang Lee: "You just asked me about the dolphin necklace that Aunt Xu Li had in her car in the kitchen."

moment.

"That was the first birthday present Wang Xiaohu's father gave her."

Xiao Che: "Tiger really knows what he's doing."

Ang Lee: "So I'm very troubled. Yes, I knew about it a long time ago, not only me, but also you, Aunt Xu Li."

Xiao Che: "It would be strange if Aunt Xu Li didn't know, but what I wanted to say is, um—"

The car suddenly stopped. "Teacher."

Ang Lee took two steps forward, stopped, and turned around. Under the empty night sky, the teacher and student looked at each other again.

Ang Lee suddenly smiled and said, "Now that we've come this far, what else is there to hide?"

Xiao Che smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about anything."

Ang Lee: Are you sure?

Car: "Yeah."

Just like every time she said "yes" to the teacher, the girl smiled like a bright crescent moon under the moonlight.

moment.

Ang Lee turned and continued walking forward, with the car quickly following.

"Teacher, I have nothing to be embarrassed about. You said I was already thirteen years old and not a little girl anymore. You also discussed the issue of puppy love with me at that time."

"I'm almost four or five years old now. According to you, it's normal for me to have some feelings for the opposite sex now, and it has nothing to do with whether the other person is playing Wang Xiaohu or not, right?"

Ang Lee: That makes sense.

Xiao Che: "So let's put aside the fact that this person is Wang Xiaohu."

"I'm not sure if I have feelings for someone of the opposite sex."

"I might be sure after some time."

"It's also possible that I'll be sure it's not true after some time."

"Whether it is or not is a process. Just like you said, life is a series of stages, and no one can skip them directly."

"It's even possible that after some time I'll be sure it is, but it actually isn't."

"It's even possible that after some time I'll be sure it isn't, but it actually is."

"I'll only know these things when I'm much older and look back."

"Yes or no, I won't avoid it and I don't want to avoid it. They are all part of me. Just like you said, this is an unavoidable adolescent impulse during the growth stage."

"And all I need to do is do what I'm supposed to do."

Ang Lee: Are you sure these things won't affect you?

Xiao Che laughed: "You're right here beside me, you know, I tell you everything."

Ang Lee: "You're quite clever."

Xiao Che: "Hehe, don't worry, teacher. I already know some things, so there's nothing more to it. I'll pretend nothing happened tonight."

"I know what I should do, and you should know it too."

He paused, then said, "In my heart, you understand me better than anyone else."

Ang Lee chuckled, "You have such a big mouth."

The little car grinned, "It's all thanks to you."

Ang Lee: "So now the problem is Wang Xiaohu."

Xiao Che: "Wang Xiaohu was able to keep it a secret for so long, so I don't think he has any problems. Besides, he's about to go abroad. I'm more worried about his state after he finds out he's leaving early."

"Okay, I'll leave it to you."

Ang Lee: "Do you have any other good suggestions?"

Xiao Che: "Before summer camp started."

Ang Lee: "That means there are only three days left."

On their way home, the teacher and student seemed much more relaxed, and they stopped at a shaved ice shop to buy a serving.

Little Car: "Teacher."

Ang Lee: "What?"

Xiao Che: "I've noticed that Wang Xiaohu is quite similar to you in some ways."

Ang Lee: "Is he handsome?"

Car: "Hahaha!"

Ang Lee: "Apart from that, in what other way does he resemble me?"

Car: "Twisted."