Chapter 28: Agreeing doesn't mean giving up

  Both parents went out to work, and the family's economy was no longer as tense as before. Xiaoyan's life, although not restored to its former state, was much better than in previous days. The most direct reaction was that her living expenses increased a lot. After all, children are flesh and blood from their own bodies, unless it's a stepmother, who can really be heartless and ignore them?

  When scolded, Xiaocui also resented her parents, but after all, they were her own biological parents. Who could resent them for a lifetime? Especially with Wu Zhen recently sleeping with her, sometimes she couldn't help but say many heartfelt words to her. The most often said was that in the future, no matter what, don't lose your own job after getting married. A woman without a job is easily looked down upon by her husband's family. After all, they aren't her biological parents, so why would they willingly raise her for a lifetime? Even if she gave birth to children for them, they would think it was something she should do anyway.

  Xiao Chan knew that these words were Wu Zhen's summary of the past six months, perhaps she had also thought about being a full-time wife at home, but after experiencing it personally, she realized that such a life was not happy.

  Every time Wu Zhen says these words, Xiao Chan just nods. In fact, she thinks in her heart that she has never thought about not working after getting married, and before marriage, she is what she is after marriage, no one can change her mind.

  It's always easy to think too much when returning home, Xiaocui wiped her hands and entered the room to reply to the message, then received Lin Ke's information. She said she would go tomorrow too, of course with Pangzi together, and asked if Xiaocui was going or not.

  Xiaochan didn't have time to respond when Rongying's call came in, and her tone didn't sound too happy either.

  "Rongying, you're really petty. I was washing clothes just now, where did I have the time to care about you?" Xiaocui didn't wait for the other person to speak and started talking first, using her preemptive strike tactics to the best of her ability.

  Anyway, no matter how good Rong Ying said, Xiao Cheng always said she wouldn't go. She felt that her current age was not suitable for going to those places. Rong Ying gave up after failing to persuade her, originally he couldn't go either, but Xiao Cheng didn't let him. After all, it was his family who booked the private room for him, if he didn't go wouldn't he become a sinner for eternity?

  The two of them chatted on the phone for a while longer, and it wasn't until her grandmother called out to her from outside that she finally hung up.

  It turned out that there was too much trash at home, so Xiaocui took it out to throw away. She filled two bags and ran downstairs quickly. At this time, the trash cans downstairs were all full, so she could only take them to the big trash can outside the community to throw away.

  Out of the neighborhood, a few more steps forward is the trash can, and then a few more steps is the entrance to the opposite neighborhood. Xiaocheng walked over and threw the trash bag into the trash can in a parabolic arc from a few steps away, but a bottle couldn't withstand gravity and fell out. Xiaocheng sighed helplessly, walked over, bent down to pick it up, and threw it directly into the trash can. People are indeed not allowed to be lazy, this retribution has come.

  After throwing away the trash, Xiaochan raised her head. She had never looked at the opposite side before, but this time she couldn't help but take a glance. To her surprise, Chu Li was indeed leaning against the door frame, looking at her with an expression that was neither cold nor warm. Oh no, I hope my previous action wasn't seen, how embarrassing!

  "How did you end up here? Have you eaten yet? By the way, is your injury all healed?" Because she had gone to his house and cooked for a few days, although they still didn't talk much, their feelings were much better than before. Xiaocui asked him a bunch of questions as soon as she saw him.

  "Here." Chu Li didn't respond to her words, but instead handed her a notebook.

  Xiao Chan was taken aback for a moment before realizing it was her previous notes. "So you came specifically to return the notes, actually tomorrow would have been fine too."

  Chu Li withdrew her hand and said nothing, turning around and walking towards the residential area.

  "This person is still so strange." Xiaocui muttered softly behind her back and turned to head home.

  Xiaochan walked away without looking back, while Chuli took a few steps forward before turning around to gaze at the still somewhat immature figure, his eyes lingering before he turned and left again.

  The sky gradually darkened, and the neon lights on the street gradually lit up. The night was just beginning.

  The sky gradually brightened, and the sun slowly rose from the horizon, a new day began.

  Perhaps it was preoccupation, or perhaps it was a lack of focus, but Xiaocui repeatedly encountered obstacles while answering the pre-competition test questions and ended up in a mess without solving any of them. She felt somewhat disheartened, putting her book down on the desk and leaning against the wall with a sigh.

  "Your approach is wrong." Chu Li suddenly spoke up, then without waiting for her agreement, directly took over her question and with his slender hand holding the pen, wrote swiftly on the draft paper while explaining to her.

  Xiao Chan stared blankly as the difficult problem was solved effortlessly in his hands, and his explanation method was very different from the teacher's usual one, although it looked simple, but it was easy to understand.

  "What else do you know?" Xiaocui asked indifferently.

  However, after Chuli threw the draft paper and topic to her, she resumed her icy expression and did not respond to Xiaocui's words. Then Xiaocui sighed, "It's really heartbreaking, I've helped you cook a few meals, now you say you won't care about me and just ignore me."

  Chu Li's originally closed eyes slowly opened, and what entered her line of sight was her face pretending to be relaxed, but the corners of her mouth were actually filled with a bitter taste. This made him secretly hurt in his heart, and then he immediately spoke out "I don't have it."

  "Meaning you're willing to talk to me?" She smiled suddenly.

  Chu Li nodded slightly, then remembered she wanted to hear him speak, so she said "Mm." again.

  "You're actually pretending not to learn, right? You're actually very smart, aren't you?" Xiaochan took the opportunity to ask again the doubts in her mind.

  "It's nothing." He was very modest.

  As expected, Xiaocui got her answer but didn't stop there, continuing to push for more "How formidable are you? Can you get first place?"

  Chu Li raised her eyes and looked at her, saying lightly "Can't."

  "Then what's the highest ranking you can achieve with your best effort?"

  "He also didn't hide."

  Xiao Chan felt that this person was really arrogant, daring to say anything, and then said "You're not deliberately fooling me, are you? Seeing how easy it is to deceive me."

  "What if I can?" Chu Li said calmly.

  "Alright, I'll agree to one thing with you, anything is fine. If you can't, then you have to promise me that from now on, you're not allowed to bring me milk again!" Xiaochan had been wanting to make this request for a long time, but he never listened before. Now that there's such a plan, she certainly wouldn't let it go.

  "Why?" A hint of melancholy flashed in Chu's eyes, and then his thin lips moved slightly.

  Xiaochan wasn't afraid to speak the truth, leaning in a bit closer and saying softly, "Chu Li, actually your family situation is similar to mine, don't waste money on me, just take care of yourself. Moreover, that would make people misunderstand that you like me, but in fact you don't like me, this feeling is weird."

  Chu Li's expression was slightly stunned, then he said "Good."

  Agreeing is not about giving up, but rather not wanting to bring her confusion. However, the final outcome is not something she can control.