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Thirty-First Period (1)
T/N: Translated by Jen on Broken Jinsei! Please do not repost my translations! All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
The news of Jiang Huihui taking first place in the academic competition had already spread throughout the entire neighborhood. There were even parents who came to her home, hoping Jiang Huihui can help tutor their children over winter break.
The pay they offered was very tempting, so her mom agreed without a second thought.
However, before starting, they hoped that Jiang Huihui can do a trial lesson first, see whether she’s suitable or not.
After all, a lot of people have good grades, but don’t know how to teach others.
When Jiang Huihui returned home, her mom told her about this matter. She only hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
–
Early in the morning, someone knocked on the door outside.
Zhou Yanli was so sleepy that his entire face had contorted, getting out of bed and opening the door with anger all over his face.
If he finds out it’s someone selling insurance or asking him to apply for a credit card again, he will definitely have them beaten until their own father doesn’t recognize them anymore!
But when he opened the door with a menacing look, he discovered that it was his dad standing outside.
…..
“What are you doing here?” He had an unwelcoming look on his face.
Facing his unwelcoming attitude, Zhou Jinwei chose to ignore.
He pushed him aside and went in. Looking around the place, he frowned in disdain, “Why is this place so messy?”
“Get over it. It’s clean at least.”
Zhou Yanli placed an empty cup in front of him, letting him pour his own water.
He then went into the bathroom to wash up, the sound of the water coming through.
TN: All translations outside of Broken Jinsei are stolen and reposted without permission!
At the same time, there was also the sound of the door across from them opening and closing. The middle-aged woman’s voice was sharp and piercing, “Jiang Man, you better stay at home and finish your homework. Huihui, remember to peel the potatoes in the kitchen and then soak them in the water.”
A young girl’s soft and docile voice sounded, somewhat muffled by the door, “En, okay, mom.”
Zhou Jinwei lowered his eyes, his fingers unconsciously curling.
On the other side, Zhou Yanli heard the sound and swiftly came out from the bathroom.
He opened the door with a toothbrush hanging from his mouth, his mouth full of foam, greeting her, “Morning, Little Huihui.”
Jiang Huihui had just finished washing her hair and had a towel wrapped around her head, her look somewhat resembling a landlady.
She was just about to reply with a “morning”, when she spotted Zhou Jinwei sitting behind him.
She froze twice in a row——the first time because of his presence, the second time because of her current appearance.
Too ugly.
She covered her head and ran back inside, quickly shutting the door.
It was so out of character that Zhou Yanli was left somewhat puzzled.
He took out the toothbrush and looked to Zhou Jinwei in confusion, “What’s wrong with her?”
“Don’t know.” Zhou Jinwei’s tone was very flat, yet his eyes showed dissatisfaction as he stared at the short-sleeved shirt Zhou Yanli was wearing, “It’s winter right now.”
Zhou Yanli was unconcerned, “I’m young and vigorous, ya know? Only an old geezer with a foot in the graze would be scared of the cold.”
Zhou Jinwei slightly furrowed his brows, not knowing where he’d learned this nonsense from.
After Jiang Huihui finished drying her hair, she finally came over and knocked on their door.
She was holding a plate of sweet and sour ribs[1], saying that she’d made it herself, the ingredients bought with the prize money from the competition.
“It might not taste as good as my mom’s.” She modestly said.
Zhou Yanli slightly lifted his brow, “You even know how to make this?”
She somewhat embarrassingly scratched her head, “Jiang Man likes to eat it, so mom taught me before.”
Hearing Jiang Man’s name, Zhou Yanli suddenly recalled that he hadn’t beaten him in a while.
“Has he been behaving lately?”
Jiang Huihui nodded, “Behaving, last time…..ever since I hit him last time, he has very rarely bothered me.”
Zhou Jinwei’s gaze shifted from that plate of sweet and sour ribs to her face, his cold eyes beginning to reveal a bit of disbelief, “You even know how to hit someone?”
Her face turned red, “I….just lightly smacked him.”
She even demonstrated for him by lightly smacking her own forehead.
Yet, accidentally ended up hurting herself.
Zhou Jinwei lowered his eyes, but despite restraining his eyes, he wasn’t able to stop his lips from curving.
The smile in the bottom of his eyes was very faint and light, but it was hard to ignore.
In the afternoon, Jiang Huihui stayed behind to tutor Zhou Yanli. But after tutoring for half an hour, she pressed her temples and threw in the towel.
That kind of helplessness was just like whenever she tutored Jiang Man.
Zhou Yanli nonchalantly spun the pen and blurted out, “The nephew takes after the uncle.”
As soon as he said this, his brows twisted into a knot, responding to himself, “Wait, why should I be like that idiot?”
Jiang Huihui lay sprawled over the table, with her hand over her mouth, uncontrollably laughing.
Zhou Yanli pondered for a moment, recalling something, asking her, “Are you going to be visiting relatives the day after tomorrow?”
Jiang Huihui was surprised, lowering her head to pack up the study materials, “How do you know?”
Her older cousin was getting married and had invited her to be a bridesmaid.
He naturally remembered. It was precisely at that wedding, Jiang Huihui nearly got sexually assaulted by that dumbass groomsman. And it was also because of that incident that her performance in her exams got affected, slipping by over twenty ranks.
After returning home, she even got scolded by her mom, saying that if she’s not going to take her studies seriously, then she might as well quit and either go work in a factory or go with her older cousin to a salon to be an apprentice.
Thinking to here, he had a dark look on his face, his two knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists, “I’m going with you.”
He rather wanted to confront that dumbass groomsman.
See how many fists he can take from him.
Although unclear why he was suddenly angry, Jiang Huihui still nodded.
The auntie downstairs happened to come up at this time, asking for his help.
She’d bought a bed that was difficult to move, wanting to let him go see.
Zhou Yanli swung a jacket over his shoulders and headed downstair with a lollipop in his mouth.
He’s been very popular in the neighborhood lately. Those aunties and grannies were all particularly fond of him.
Once he was gone, only Jiang Huihui and Zhou Jinwei remained at home.
She originally had planned to leave too. The only reason she came over was to deliver the ribs.
But seeing Zhou Jinwei silent with his eyes lowered, she still decided to stay.
She handed him a bottle of juice. It was freshly squeezed by her.
Zhou Jinwei looked up, seeing her quietly standing there. Lately, she didn’t seem to be scared of him anymore, even daring to look him in the eye. Just, occasionally, she would suddenly lower her head like having gotten shocked by electricity.
Just like in this moment, she actually detected a trace of fervor from his calm gaze, so somewhat nervously averted her gaze.
She sat down beside him, her breathing a bit quick, taking quite a while to calm down. Afterwards, she softly asked him, “Are you in a bad mood?”
She was attentive and perceptive, unlike Zhou Yanli who was carefree and careless. She keenly sensed the changes in Zhou Jinwei during this period.
Ever since coming back from the capital, his mood became very erratic.
Although still the same as usual, aloof and calm, Jiang Huihui was still able to sense that subtle change that ordinary people were unable to detect.
“No.” He twisted open the cap and took a sip. It was a bit sweet, too sweet for him to handle.
But he still finished drinking it.
A long while later, Jiang Huihui finally opened her mouth again.
Her voice was soft, like the spring breeze, “Zhou Jinwei, I know you’re very impressive, but you don’t always need to be this impressive.”
Hearing this, he froze.
His throat felt as if it’d gotten clutched. He couldn’t find the right breathing rhythm.
He shifted his gaze back onto her face, his voice hoarser than imagined, “What?”
“You give yourself too much pressure.” No matter what she did, she was always slow. Even her intonation was slow and sluggish. But under certain specific circumstances, this kind of slowness instead would make others feel comfortable.
She was too ‘slow’, to the point where being around her made that inexplicable pressure all disappear.
She took a deep breath, “If you’re sad, you can stop for a rest.”
[1] See below.
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