Working busily until eleven or twelve at night, Liu Mei finally let go of the small room that had been decorated anew from top to bottom, waiting only for its tomorrow's owner to come and inspect it.
Early the next morning.
Just after finishing a meal, Hu Fan saw his mother rushing anxiously to Xia Xue's room to clean it all over again.
Without even stepping inside, he knew the room must be spotless by now; he just wondered if the incoming owner of the room would be satisfied.
Just as his mother was sitting on pins and needles, Xia Donghai came back with Xia Xue.
Sure enough, she looked quite formidable—she was really playing the part well.
"Come, let's all get to know each other. This is your older sister, Xia Xue. She'll be living with us from now on."
"This is your new mother, Liu Mei, and those two are your new younger brothers—the younger one is called Liu Xing, and the older one is Hu Fan. You all should get along well together."
After Xia Donghai finished acting as the introducer, Liu Mei also spoke up warmly. Although she didn't get much of a response and the atmosphere became a bit awkward for a moment, fortunately things didn't turn hostile, so it could still be considered a perfect first meeting.
Hu Fan didn't get involved in the dynamic between this newly formed mother and daughter; in any case, before long, they would all be one happy family.
He just needed to keep Liu Xing in check. If the two of them started a conflict right now, the one who would definitely get scolded was his unlucky younger brother.
Today's dinner looked exceptionally lavish—even the braised prawns with soy sauce that Liu Xing had been craving for ages didn't seem all that remarkable among this spread of grand dishes.
The two younger ones darted over to the chairs the moment the food was fully served, chopsticks already in hand, just waiting for the command to dig in.
"Dad, Mom, Older Brother, Older Sister, hurry up and come eat."
In the face of good food, calling someone 'older sister' was no big deal to Liu Xing; eating came first.
Liu Mei looked at the two youngsters, laughed and scolded them affectionately, took off her apron, and turned to look at Xiaoxue, who was sitting on the sofa nearby, her tone filled with warmth.
"Come on, Xiaoxue, let's come over and eat too. See if these dishes suit your taste, and just tell me if there's anything you want changed."
Xiaoxue happened to be hungry too. Smelling the aroma filling the table, her mouth actually started watering a bit, and seeing the kind look in this new mother's eyes, her heart inexplicably softened.
Never mind, she was starving, so she would eat first; tests could be talked about tomorrow. Thinking this way, Xiaoxue got up without any heavy burden, walked over to the dining table, and casually took a seat next to Xiaoyu.
Xia Donghai and Liu Mei exchanged glances and smiled silently. This was a great sign—it didn't matter if she didn't accept them just yet, as long as she didn't make a fuss.
"All right, then let's dig in."
Sitting at the head of the table, Xia Donghai looked at the full house and felt happier than words could express.
"Mmm, delicious."
Hearing that they could start, Liu Xing and Xiaoyu couldn't wait to dig in, each holding a large braised pork knuckle and gnawing on it.
Seeing her younger brother act like that, Xiaoxue looked somewhat disgusted and quietly moved her chair a bit farther away. Was this really the little sea-turtle she knew?
"Oh right, Fanfan, school starts for you the day after tomorrow. Do you want Mom to take you?"
Busy until now, Liu Mei suddenly remembered that her eldest son was going to school the day after tomorrow, and she gave her own forehead a somewhat vexed slap.
"Mom, no need. I'm so grown up now, I can handle everything myself, so don't you worry."
"Besides, aren't you going to work at the hospital the day after tomorrow? There's no need to take time off specially for this; you have to trust your son's abilities."
Hu Fan swallowed the food in his mouth and waved his hand dismissively. He was no longer a child who needed his parents to escort him to the start of school.
"Alright then, just remember to call me if anything comes up—mainly because that Chunfeng High School you applied to is really quite far from our house, taking nearly an hour just by bus."
At the mention of applying to high school, Liu Mei felt somewhat helpless. Although it was a famous key high school, the high schools near their home weren't bad either, and they were much more convenient.
Hu Fan tactfully made an OK hand gesture; this topic definitely couldn't be pursued any further, as his mother still harbored quite a few grievances about this distant high school.
September 1st.
Early in the morning, Liu Mei got up early to hustle and bustle with breakfast. Today, the three children in the family were ending their summer vacation and heading to school.
Before long, big meat buns, soybean milk, white congee, and tea eggs were laid out on the dining table, looking almost as good as what you'd buy at an outside breakfast shop.
"Kids, hurry up and come out for breakfast, you're going to be late for school."
Following Liu Mei's loud shout, one after another they emerged, though just by looking at them you could tell they hadn't fully woken up yet, looking completely dazed.
Hu Fan had stayed up late again last night, only going to sleep past one o'clock, so being able to crawl out and sit by the dining table right now was already no small feat.
Covering his mouth, he gave a few yawns and started eating breakfast. Chunfeng High School was rather far away, so he had to hurry; otherwise, he'd easily be late.
He finished a bun in a few bites, tilted his head back to gulp down the soy milk in his cup, and then grabbed two meat buns and a tea egg, getting ready to head out.
"Hey, wait," seeing her son in such a rush, Liu Mei hurriedly grabbed a thermos, filled it to the brim with soy milk, and stuffed it into the side pocket of his backpack.
"Take it slow on the way, chew your food well, and don't choke."
"Got it."
Hu Fan waved at his mom and zipped right out the door.
"This kid."
After closing the door, Liu Mei started hurrying the rest of the kids along.
Once the children had all left for school, Liu Mei finally let out a sigh of relief, then hurriedly cleared away the bowls and chopsticks—she had to rush off to work herself.
A hurried and bustling morning passed by just like that, quite lively indeed.
"Driver, to Chunfeng High School."
After heading downstairs, Hu Fan casually hailed a taxi and got in, tossing his backpack onto the seat as he started eating his breakfast at a leisurely pace.
Today was presumably the start of school for all institutions, and the roads were much more congested than usual. Fortunately, today was just the opening day with no actual classes, otherwise he really would have been late.
Upon arrival, there wasn't a single parking spot left in front of the Chunfeng High School gates, which were packed solid with parents dropping off their children, blocking the main entrance completely.
Seeing this situation, Hu Fan directly asked the driver to drop him off by the roadside nearby; walking that short distance on foot would be much easier.
Paying the fare, Hu Fan hoisted his backpack and headed straight for the school. As he walked, he wondered if this was really the Chunfeng High School from A Little Reunion.
When he was filling out his high school applications, he had accidentally seen this name, grown a bit curious, and impulsively applied, dragging his good buddy Wang Hao along with him.
There were perks to arriving late too. Looking at the sparse number of parents and children in front of the name roster, Hu Fan thought happily to himself, this is great, no need to squeeze together with a crowd of people.
He walked over and carefully read through the posted name list from top to bottom. Sure enough, he spotted Qiao Yingzi and Huang Zhitao in Class 1 of Grade 1; it seemed his guess was right.
Fang Yifan and Ji Yangyang appeared on the roster for Class 5. It looked like Class 1 was likely the experimental class, and Hu Fan's full name appeared right at the very top of the first page, while his good buddy Wang Hao was sixth.
Having learned the information he wanted, Hu Fan didn't linger and walked straight toward the direction of the Grade 1 teaching building.