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Chapter 294: I Made a Cover.
Chapter 294
After returning to the classroom, Wang Li quietly moved over and asked ZhiXia An, "ZhiXia, what did Teacher Zheng call you over for?"
"Nothing much, he just asked me a few questions." ZhiXia's words were perfunctory, and Wang Li was sensible enough not to ask any further.
This went on until the end of school. Just as ZhiXia was getting ready to leave, she heard Wang Li calling her again, “ZhiXia, are you going to the cafeteria to eat? Let’s go together. After the meal we can rest in the dormitory for a while. Oh right, I still don’t know which dorm you live in!"
"I need to find someone first before I can go to the cafeteria. You can come along with me if you’re not in a hurry."
Since Wang Li seemed to only know ZhiXia, she was sticking quite close to her. "I'm not in a hurry, I have nothing to do anyway, so I’ll just go with you." Wang Li quickly said.
Of course the person ZhiXia was looking for was Guo Momo. Today was her first day bringing her child to school, so ZhiXia wondered how it went.
She had been waylaid by the sophomore girl when class ended, so there was no chance to go check it out.
With a child in tow, Guo Momo’s actions were naturally much slower than others. By the time ZhiXia and Wang Li got there, the classroom was already empty, with only Guo Momo just walking out carrying Little PingAn on her back.
"Auntie, I was just about to come looking for you," said Guo Momo. The gloom in her eyes disappeared the moment she saw ZhiXia, lighting up happily as she walked over to her.
When she got to ZhiXia, she noticed there was someone else standing next to her. She was surprised for a moment, "This is...?"
Wang Li quickly introduced herself, "Hello, I’m Wang Li, ZhiXia’s classmate, just call me by my name."
After speaking, she looked at ZhiXia in astonishment, "You got married? She calls you auntie!"
Not long after marrying Gao Meiyun off, Wang Li responded to the country’s call and went down to the countryside. She hadn't had much contact with her family since, so of course she didn't know about ZhiXia having gotten married years ago.
"Yes, I got married. I'm already a mom to quite a few kids." ZhiXia readily admitted it, then said to Guo Momo: "There isn't much difference in our ages, just call me by my name when we're at school."
"Oh I couldn’t do that, it would be improper. If others heard it, they might think I don't understand proper etiquette." Guo Momo hurriedly shook her head.
"Suit yourself then." ZhiXia didn’t mind, so she let it go.
Reaching out to tease Little PingAn, she asked “Was PingAn good today? Did you listen well?”
Although he couldn’t speak, he could understand what was said. His bright eyes looked at ZhiXia as he nodded his little head vigorously, but his open mouth couldn’t make a sound.
"PingAn was very good, he didn’t fuss at all," said Guo Momo. But as she spoke these words, her eyes brimmed with heartache. "I'm starting to regret this a little, auntie. Being admitted to university is my good fortune, but it’s so unfair to PingAn. I gave birth to him but couldn’t give him a healthy body. Now he has to endure ridicule at such a young age just to follow me around."
In class, the way others looked at her with a child, especially after finding out PingAn couldn't speak, made her feel like her heart was being cut open.
Perhaps she should be grateful that PingAn was still young now, unable to comprehend the gaze and idle chatter of others, and could still remain happy.
At this point, Wang Li also noticed something different about this child. They were all perceptive people, understanding that in this situation they shouldn’t ask questions. Instead, Wang Li quickly praised the child in a positive way, soon praise that had the mother Guo Momo beaming radiantly.
ZhiXia held PingAn’s little hand and looked at Guo Momo reassuringly. "This will all pass. Don't take it to heart. The doctor also said PingAn's legs and feet are fine, he can stand and walk, it's only a matter of time before he starts walking properly."
"Mm," Guo Momo braced herself with an affirmative nod. "Let's hurry and eat."
The cafeteria was large but they didn't arrive early. As soon as they entered, they were faced with crowds of people and long queues already formed at the serving windows.
Wang Li’s eyeballs nearly popped out in shock. "Hurry hurry, let’s quickly go line up!"
After speaking she didn’t wait for the others, immediately joining a queue at a window for food she wanted to eat.
ZhiXia said to Guo Momo, "You take PingAn first to find seats to sit down. I’ll go get food."
Guo Momo nodded. "OK, auntie please take care of buying the food. I’ll give you meal tickets in a bit."
The cafeteria food was pretty good, with rice, noodles and mostly a mix of coarse grains. There were many options for dishes, meat and vegetable.
ZhiXia bought two bowls of noodle soup, and specifically took two boiled eggs for little PingAn.
Guo Momo had already found them seats, with Wang Li a little faster than her.
When ZhiXia put the food on the table and passed the eggs to Guo Momo, she said, "Got these specially for PingAn, they're still hot. Feed him first."
Guo Momo didn’t stand on ceremony.
Anyone who has raised a child knows adults have to eat fast. There’s basically no time to savor anything.
ZhiXia quickly finished her food. Little PingAn had also eaten his fill, so she carried him to let Guo Momo eat hastily.
After the meal, the three went to rest in the dorms.
Although Wang Li wasn’t in the same dorm room as them, fortunately she was in the same building on the same floor, just a few steps away.
Their dorm room housed 6 people. When ZhiXia and Guo Momo returned, the other four were already there.
"Hello everyone, let me introduce myself. I’m Guo Momo, this is my son Little PingAn. I'm very happy to be roommates with you all and hope we can help each other in the future." Bringing a child to the dorm, Guo Momo was afraid the others might have an opinion, so she didn’t have much confidence and greeted them amiably.
ZhiXia also made her own self-introduction, easing Guo Momo’s awkwardness.
Two of the girls were quite friendly, while the other two didn’t speak. Guo Momo didn’t say more, carrying PingAn to her own bed.
Everyone quickly tidied up. Guo Momo placed PingAn on the bed, patting his little bottom with one hand. He knew this gesture was to coax him to sleep, obediently closing his eyes and soon falling asleep.
ZhiXia climbed onto her upper bunk, spreading out the quilt but didn’t sleep. Instead she sunk her consciousness into her space.
She wanted to make a cover that could envelope the bunk beds. She felt a little uncomfortable sleeping under others stare.
In her space she took out some blue mesh fabric, using three layers which would block outside view but not make it stuffy.
With a quick scan when she first entered, she had estimated the height of the bunk beds, calculating a size that could cover the lower bunk as well. Then she started cutting before sewing it all together with a sewing machine.
Time always flies quickly when busy. When ZhiXia finally finished sewing and tidied up, a glance at her watch showed it was almost time for class.
As her consciousness exited the space, she heard someone calling to them, "Hey, ZhiXia An, Guo Momo, it's almost time, why aren't you getting up?"
Guo Momo awoke in confusion while ZhiXia climbed down from her bunk. Only little PingAn wasn't fully awake yet.
The person who called them had already hurried off. ZhiXia looked at the other girls, "Didn't rest well last night? You really conked out."
Guo Momo nodded awkwardly, embarrassed to say she and PingAn didn't get much sleep last night because of her husband arguing again. "Auntie, you go first. I’ll get PingAn up."
ZhiXia didn't sense anything amiss and left first. Before leaving she handed PingAn a pack of jerky, for him to nibble on when bored to alleviate tedium.
The sophomore girl still didn't show up, making the day pass relatively peacefully.
On her way home, ZhiXia parted ways with Guo Momo and went straight to the An family home.