CH 16

Aunt Hua thought that Little Miaomiao was grieving because of the pain from the fall. But she didn’t expect that the first thing that Little Miaomiao was worried about was the broken tablet.

The sight of Little Miaomiao crying about the broken tablet distressed Aunt Hua. She tried to lighten the mood, “The tablet didn’t get hurt, did it? Auntie will take it for repairs later. Let me take a look at you. Did you get hurt anywhere?”

As she spoke to her, Aunt Hua wiped Little Miaomiao’s flowing tears. Then, she put the tablet aside and searched her palms and knees for injuries. The area around the knees was red. But fortunately, the fall didn’t scrape her knees. Aunt Hua picked Little Miaomiao up, “I’ll rub some ointment on you. It’ll be fine after I apply it.”

She took Little Miaomiao to the living room, where there was a special medicinal kit.

“Does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt,” Little Miaomiao said quietly. In reality, her legs still gave her pain, but not because of the fall. Her legs hurt because she squatted for a long time outside.

She believed that her legs were broken. She believed that her legs were failing her. But she didn’t dare say this to Aunt Hua. She was afraid that Aunt Hua would be overwhelmed by melancholy and sorrow. The thought of this caused her tears to begin falling about.

Anguish could be seen on Aunt Hua’s face. She blew air onto her knees and reassured her, “Don’t cry. It’ll be better soon. Later, we’ll put a carpet here, so that you’ll never fall down again.”

When she heard Aunt Hua’s gentle voice, sadness gripped Little Miaomiao’s heart even more. She tried to repress her tears. But because of this repression, her face flushed and she was out of breath.

Aunt Hua stroked her face lovingly and asked, “Are you still in pain? Miaomiao, please don’t scare Auntie.”

“My legs…legs…broken…,” Little Miaomiao uttered in between her hiccups.

“Don’t be afraid. We’ll go to the hospital right now.” Aunt Hua stated in a hurry.

At this time, they heard the sound of a key unlocking the door. Then, the door opened, and they heard Uncle Hua’s voice, “What’s the matter?”

He noticed both the mother and daughter with tear-stricken faces inside the living room. Aunt Hua said sobbingly, “Miaomiao’s leg broke…”

Anxiety and consternation instantly seized Uncle Hua, as he immediately ran over without even taking off his shoes. He squatted near the weeping mother and daughter, “Let me take a look.”

He held Little Miaomiao’s leg, pressed it twice and looked at Little Miaomiao, “Does it hurt here?”

Little Miaomiao ceased crying, “It doesn’t hurt anymore…” Up until this point, her legs ailed her and she wasn’t able to move her legs at all.

Little Miaomiao shrank back. She didn’t dare say anything else because she feared being scolded for lying…

Uncle Hua still wore a serious expression on his face, “How did you get hurt? Where did you get hurt?”

Little Miaomiao uttered, “There are needles…inside.”

Uncle Hua froze for a bit. Then, he laughed, “Did you squat on the ground for a long time? Was it like that when you stood up?”

Little Miaomiao nodded.

Aunt Hua asked quickly, “Is it due to past injuries?”

“She has been squatting for a long time. Her legs were just numb.” Uncle Hua clarified.

Aunt Hua breathed a sigh of relief and kissed Little Miaomiao’s forehead, “It’s all right.”

Little Miaomiao realized that she was mistaken. There was nothing wrong with her legs. Even if it was just a misunderstanding, she still broke Aunt Hua’s tablet. This caused her to weep. A heavy feeling of guilt immediately gripped her little heart tightly.

She didn’t feel fear, but rather, she felt some disturbing emotion that she couldn’t understand. This flustered her.

Aunt Hua lifted her up. She thought that Little Miaomiao was still afraid because of her legs, “It’s okay. Uncle is a doctor. He said that there is nothing wrong with your legs; therefore, everything is alright.”

Little Miaomiao hummed in reply.

Uncle Hua stood next to them and happily said, “Just now, you two were really close. I should’ve taken a picture when I came inside.”

The two wept because they thought that her legs were broken, but it turned out to be numbness in the legs. The scene that unfolded just now was simultaneously heartbreaking and funny.

Aunt Hua continued to hold Little Miaomiao. Then, she touched her head and said gravely, “Don’t laugh at us. We were very scared at first.”

Little Miaomiao couldn’t speak, let alone look at her Aunt and Uncle.

Because of this incident, Aunt Hua completely forgot about the tablet’s shattered screen. At home, she used the computer and mobile phone more. And for drawing up designs, she used a dedicated, digital board. She rarely used the tablet.

But Little Miaomiao couldn’t forget about this matter. When she went to bed at night, her thoughts still swirled around the broken tablet. She wondered how she was going to fix it.

Then, she thought of Zhou Yuan. Everyone praised him as being the smartest person.

She remembered that Zhou Yuan knew everything, so he must know how to fix a tablet.

On Monday morning, Little Miaomiao arrived at school with her schoolbag. After settling down in her seat, she secretly placed a packet of dried meat and a bottle of yogurt, that her Aunt gave her, inside Zhou Yuan’s desk.

As soon as Zhou Yuan arrived at school, he noticed the dejection on his little classmate’s face. She came very early today. Zhou Yuan remembered that she was still studying about “mother” last week.

He approached her and said, “Good morning, Miaomiao.”

Little Miaomiao looked at him, “Good morning, Zhou Yuan.”

Zhou Yuan placed his schoolbag under his desk. Then, he looked at her and asked, “Is there something wrong with Miaomiao today?”

She looked melancholic.

Little Miaomiao suddenly raised her head. Just as expected, Zhou Yuan was indeed the smartest person in the world. He knew about her mood, even before she uttered a single word.

Although Little Miaomiao was still diffident, she was determined to do something for Aunt Hua. She felt a stronger desire to right the wrongs that she had committed. She produced the tablet from her schoolbag and said softly, “This…is broken…”

Zhou Yuan assumed that she accidentally broke the tablet and didn’t say anything to her parents. He took the tablet and scrutinized it. He understood that even though her Uncle and Aunt were very kind-hearted to her, her past incidents still affected her mentality. He comforted her and said, “It’s okay. This can be fixed. Only the screen is broken.”

Little Miaomiao widened her eyes and looked at Zhou Yuan, “Really? Can it be fixed?”

Looking at her big, watery eyes, Zhou Yuan found her very cute and replied, “I’ll have it repaired by tomorrow.”

During class, Zhou Yuan discovered that Little Miaomiao kept observing him carefully…

Zhou Yuan found it a little bizarre. Is it because she feared that he would run away with the tablet?

Zhou Yuan was still very considerate about the little kid’s thoughts. In his heart, he decided that he would take the tablet to be repaired during the afternoon, so that it could be returned to her as soon as possible.

Little Miaomiao stretched out her arm to hold Zhou Yuan’s hand. But, Zhou Yuan placed his hands atop his desk; therefore, she couldn’t hold them. So, she retracted her hands in silence.