The next morning, An Xin woke up first as she slept earlyst night. When she came downstairs dressed in her school uniform, An Qinyan raised her brow in surprise.
“Good morning, mom, ” An Xin greeted and went to the cab to take out cat food to give to Betty and Augustine.
“Good morning, ” An Qinyan said in bewilderment. Each morning she had to force her daughter to feed the cats but this morning her daughter did so without her forcing her. “How was your stay at your dad’s house?”
“It was good, ” An Xin replied, tiredly. She slept all night yet she felt so exhausted. She didn’t want to go to school but she didn’t want to stay at home either.
“You slept earlyst night. Did you finish your homework?” An Qinyan asked.
“Oh, I didn’t, ” An Xin realised that she had yet to do her homework.
“Shangyan and Lu Xuan are still asleep. Let them wake up. You can take their help, ” An Qinyan said. “Until then, I will serve your breakfast.”
An Xin didn’t say anything but still followed her mom to the breakfast table.
“I know you would have eaten a lot of junk food at your dad’s house. No fried food or sugar for you for the next week, ” An Qinyan said and pushed a te full of healthy food in front of her daughter who quietly ate it. Now, she was getting more and more worried seeing An Xin not arguing about food.
“Do you want more?” An Qinyan asked.
An Xin shook her head. She had her breakfast in just five minutes and once again, she had nothing to do. She headed to her bedroom and came downstairs with her school bag andptop. Sitting next to her mother who was reviewing some files, she began doing her homework.
“What are you doing, Lan?” An Qinyan gently asked her.
“Homework, ” An Xin replied.
“But your brothers are still asleep, ” An Qinyan sighed.
An Xin pointed at herptop screen where she was getting help with homework.
“Oh, that’s good, ” An Qinyan reacted. She took her coffee from the house help and once again looked at her daughter who was doing homework on her own for the first time. She didn’t know why but she had a very uneasy feeling in her heart for some reason. An Xin looked the same yet she didn’t not. She didn’t know why she didn’t like seeing her daughter calm and well-behaved.
“Do you want to have coffee?” An Qinyan tried to initiate a conversation.
“Drinking coffee in the morning makes me nauseous, “An Xin replied, her head buried in her books.
“Oh, ” An Qinyan didn’t know what to say next. She had this feeling of kept talking to her for some reasons that she wasn’t aware of. “Does your belly and back hurt?”
An Xin looked up at her mother and then shook her head. “I took pain relievers after breakfast.”
“Okay, if you don’t feel good, tell me about it, ” An Qinyan said. “And if you need something, you can say so.”
“Can I not go to school today?” An Xin asked.
“Why?” An Qinyan asked.
“I don’t feel like going today, “An Xin stared at her and said.
An Qinyan sighed. “You already have to take so many days off for your shoots and stuff. You can’t miss school or your teachers willin. Do you understand?”
An Xin nodded her head and didn’t say anything.
“Do you want my help with any subject like maths?” An Qinyan asked her.
An Xin shook her head. She could do it with the help of the inte. Although it was taking her double the amount of time and effort to understand on her own, it was fine this way, without depending on anyone. Her mother left the couch when Gu Yanxi came from his morning run. She sighed as she looked at the homework that she was unable to finish. However, she still tried her best to finish.
First, shepleted English, which was her strong subject and then she did mathematics homework. When Gu Shangyan and Lu Xuan came downstairs, she was on her secondst subject– history.
“Auntie, where is Xin?” Gu Shangyan asked. “Has she woken up?”
“Oh, she is doing her homework in the living room, “An Qinyan replied.
Gu Shangyan sat next to An Xin and said with a smile, “Tell me where you need help?”
An Xin closed the geography notebook and blinked her eyes.“Nowhere. Only history is left.”
“What about mathematics?” Gu Shangyan furrowed his brow.
“Already done, ” An Xin replied and opened her history notebook and textbook.
“Show me your answers, ” Gu Shangyan said. He took her mathematics notebook and began reviewing her homework. He was impressed to see that all her answers were right. “All are right but don’t you think this method is tooplicated?”
“Oh, is it?” An Xin blinked her eyes.
”Of course, do you want me to teach you another method?” Gu Shangyan asked her.
“Maybe some other time. I only have fifteen minutes toplete my history homework, ” An Xin told him.
“Do you want help in history?” Gu Shangyan offered.
“Thank you but you are a science student, ” An Xin reminded him.
“But I have read books on Chinese history, ” Gu Shangyan assured her.
“Once again, thank you but the sybus is world history, ” An Xin replied to him with a polite smile. She didn’t look at him again and began reading the chapter to find answers to her questions. She was underlining the important points with a pencil.
Gu Shangyan sighed as he looked at her underlining her book with a pencil. He didn’t say anything even though he knew how much she hated someone dirtying her books with pencil or pen underlines.
、 “Then, see you at the breakfast table, ” Gu Shangyan replied.
“I already had breakfast, ” An Xin said, without looking up.
_____
Inside the car, An Xin was quickly writing while waiting for her history homework. When she could not solve it all on her own, she had to ask Shen Yue to help her. She had decidedst night to stop taking help from anyone else but once again she failed herself.
Lu Xuan sneakily turned to look at the girl sitting next to him in the back seat of the car writing her homework.
“Young Miss, do you want to stop by the dessert store?” The driver asked as they were on the road to her favourite dessert shop where she would buy something for her every day.
“No, uncle, ” An Xin answered without looking up.
Lu Xuan raised his brow at her reply. “But I want to buy something.”
Thus, the driver stopped the car and Lu Xuan got out. He thought An Xin was only ying aloof and indifferent to get his attention but when she didn’t even look at him when he exited the car, he signed. He entered the store and looked at the desserts in a depressed gaze.
He didn’t know why but he chose An Xin’s favourite doughnuts and boba tea. When he returned to the car, he quietly passed her the small bag of doughnuts and strawberry boba tea.
She looked at the dessert and drink and then at him before saying, “Thank you, Lu Xuan.”
Lu Xuan just shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. He was too proud to admit that he was hoping for her to fight with him. It was better when they fight than the time when they sit awkwardly having nothing to talk about.
When they reached school, he got out of the car first. Actually, he wanted to talk to her but he didn’t know what to talk to her.
An Xin dragged her tired body inside the school building, her eyes shone when she saw Han Zixin parking his bicycle and she strutted to him.
“What’s up?” Han Zixin asked, looking at her paleplexion.
“I’m sulking, ” An Xin said in a tone that belonged to a spoiled child.
Han Zixin rubbed her head gently and took her school bag. “Everything will be fine.”
She nodded her head and ced her head on his shoulder. He took the desert bag from her hands and sipped her boba tea.
“It’s good, ” Han Zixin said, sipping on the tea. “Do you wanna taste it?”
An Xin nodded her head. He passed her the drink and she sipped on it. “Too cold. You can have the rest.”
Han Zixin shrugged and epted it. She took out the doughnut from the packet and fed him. With innocent and happy eyes she asked, “Is it good?”
“Too good, ” Han Zixin said. “Eat it.”
An Xin shook her head. “I have to lose five pounds in a week.I am taking part in a show.”
From the distance, Lu Xuan, who was watching the scene, was so angry that the throbbing vein on his forehead could burst anytime. She had been sitting next to him all the drive like a dying cabbage and now that she saw that boy, she was shining and smiling like a blooming boy.