After the rain, spring bamboo shoots sprouted like fangs.
The entire courtyard had just been washed clean by the rain. Su Qing squatted in front of the small row of bamboo shoots Su Rao had planted, counting how many had emerged.
The riverbed at the entrance had risen considerably from last night's rain.
With a ripple, the water emerged onto the steps where people had washed clothes long ago.
"Qing Qing, isn't today Sunday? Why are you wake up so early? Go back and get more sleep."
When Su Rao woke up and went to the bathroom, still wrapped in her coat, she saw her daughter squatting there, gazing outwards in a trance, a slight smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth.
She looked as if she were smiling, her eyebrows and eyes curved considerably.
A heavy sense of relief washed over Su Rao's heart. She finally looked like a young girl again. It seemed her decision to come to Wuzhen had been the right one.
But Su Qing hadn't heard her.
She squatted there, her mind drifting back to the scenes of last night.
They didn't go to dinner after finishing the watermelon. Su Qing was so full of food, she watched Jiang Sui devour the remaining half of her watermelon.
On the way home, beneath the sycamore tree, he gently kissed her hair.
Su Qing had forgotten what he said.
Then she went back to bed. Even at dawn, she could still feel her heart beating. Unable to sleep, she ran out.
Shortly after she'd left, a text message from Jiang Sui arrived on her phone.
"Are you up yet? You didn't have dinner with me yesterday. Make it up to me today. I'll come find you later."
"And I'll give you an hour of physics class."
Su Qing hung her head, fiddling with a small bamboo shoot with one hand while replying to the text with the other. However, after she'd replied "hmm" she deleted it.
Girls should be more reserved.
He had just sent a text message, so her immediate reply seemed a bit impatient.
Su Qing was struggling, and accidentally pinched the tip of a small bamboo shoot with her finger...
She pulled the muddy-smelling sprout out.
"Qing Qing, what are you doing..."
Su Rao saw this very scene as she stood in front her. Her daughter, who never messed with things...
It was a bit unexpected.
Su Qing was stunned. She immediately put her phone away and looked at the incriminating evidence in her hand.
"Mom, I just wanted to... touch it."
That doesn't make sense.
She awkwardly clasped her fingers together, helplessly putting the plucked sprout back in.
"Mom, I didn't mean to."
She stood up, not even noticing the dirt still stained on her fingers as she touched them...
A nose full of mud...
"It's okay. Did you have fun playing with your classmates yesterday?"
Su Rao's eyes lit up as she watched her. This kind of lively girl was exactly what Su Rao wanted to see.
Yesterday…
Su Qing lowered her head uncomfortably.
Thinking of something, Su Qing bit her lip, her face calm and her heart steady.
"Not bad, Mom. We were just studying in the library and didn't have time to eat. We'll go out for dinner later."
"You didn't eat? Why didn't you tell me you didn't eat last night? How can you skip meals at your this age? Next time, just bring her home and Mom will cook it for you both. Even when studying, don't forget to eat."
Su Rao had always known that the seemingly aloof girl was very strong-willed, but the fact that she didn't eat made her frown.
Last night, Su Qing came back and said she was tired and wanted to rest. She didn't expect that the two children had been studying so hard that they hadn't eaten.