Chapter 9: Knowing Warmth and Coldness by Oneself

  With the calming of this matter, the household also became much quieter all at once. The town wasn't big, so news spread quickly, and naturally many people discovered that Liu Qin's adopted daughter Su Mo had changed.

  Junzi and Lianying were nowhere to be seen for several days, as they were upset about their mother's fight at Sumo's house. Meanwhile, Qian Meng'er and Kong Yihui continued to visit every day, acting as if nothing had happened.

  Liu Qin still goes out every day to find work, dragging her tired body back home to make lunch and dinner for Su Mo. Su Mo sees it with her eyes and feels it in her heart, but she doesn't let this way of life change one bit, having been used to it for so many years. If she were to suddenly change her foster mother's habits, it would only make her feel like there was something wrong with her, increasing the distance between them, which is not what she wants.

  Two days before going to school, Liu Qin didn't go out again, but got up early and packed her clothes and luggage. There was little conversation between them, only using their own actions to express their thoughts.

  Watching the busy foster mother's figure, her eyes are as deep as the sea, and the emotions that no one can understand are reflected in her gaze.

  At home, the daily life is relatively ordinary. Although Liu Qin spoiled Su Mo Ruo a lot, after all, they didn't live a rich life, so it was rare to have good food, such as meat. Liu Qin tried her best, but they could only eat meat once more than an average family in a month. An average family would eat meat once every one or two months. But today, she bought more meat than the past two or three months combined and prepared a sumptuous lunch for Su Mo Ruo at home.

  Qian Meng'er and Kong Yihui came over again, followed by several timid peers of the same age, while Liu Qin was busy making lunch in the kitchen.

  "Why come if you're not going to come in." Looking at the two people standing at the door, she also saw several faces behind them and knew they didn't have any ill intentions, so she didn't take offense with these people.

  The people outside heard this and deliberated for a while before slowly walking into the house with "small steps".

  "How did you think of coming over?" This sentence wasn't directed at Qian Meng'er and Kong Yihui, everyone knew that. As soon as the question was asked, several companions were also stunned into silence.

  One of the boys, about Kong Yihui's age, seemed to have mustered up his courage and walked up to Su Mo with his chest out and head held high, "Boss, do you think we're not good enough, that we're too weak?"

  Raised an eyebrow, didn't say a word, just stared straight at the boy in front of him.

  Not getting a clear answer from the two options, and being stared at like this, the boy only felt a thorn in his back, his body stiffened, his whole body uncomfortable, his eyes changed from initially firm to now wavering, his eyeballs also dared not stare straight at one place, starting to sway left and right.

  "It's only a coward who would say that he is weak." Just as the boy was about to give up, Sumo Rou calmly said this.

  The boy was taken aback, looking up at Su Mo in surprise, but he took the words to heart. Although he couldn't understand them now, he felt that something had changed about Lao Da, and he admired her even more than before. Compared to the past, today's Lao Da seemed even more majestic, while he himself appeared so childish and weak, without any initiative.

  "We don't care about age, we only talk about growth. This growth is not the kind of growing up that we know, but a kind of experience. In fact, you don't have to put pressure on yourself, when you leave your parents' arms and face this society alone, the more experiences you have, the more you will naturally grow and mature. Cowardice exists in everyone's heart, it just depends on how you look at it. Are you going to magnify it infinitely or shrink it smaller and smaller, burying it deep in your heart, making yourself strong and stable...

  Thinking about her past experiences, looking at the companions in front of her now, she always feels that she is much older than them. After all, her mindset and age are not on the same level as theirs."

  Everyone listened quietly and seriously, but in the end, no one expressed surprise, instead they all nodded silently.

  They couldn't understand her words for a while, after all, they could only grasp the other meaning of these words when they really faced them.

  "Are you all here to see me off today?" Su Mo asked with a smile, enlivening the atmosphere.

  Upon hearing this, Qian Meng'er spoke up first, "Big sister, you're leaving tomorrow, let us see you off."

  "I'll be waiting for all of you to get into my school, I'll be there waiting for you." Smiling and patting Qian Meng'er's shoulder, Su Mo Ruo looked relaxed, with expectation in his eyes.

  Qian Meng'er was left speechless by these words, her face flushing slightly because of her poor grades. "Sister is just joking, among us, only you and Kong Yihui have a bit of brains..."

  "You have a conscience." Feeling the atmosphere was not right, Kong Yihui came back with a retort, preparing to stir up some trouble with Quan Meng'er and liven up the mood.

  But Qian Meng'er seemed to have no idea of Kong Yihui's thoughts, and just kept her head down, not speaking again.

  Thinking that Qian Meng'er might have a possible identity, and looking at her expression, I knew she must be bitter in her heart too. Sighing inwardly, every family has its own unspeakable troubles, she is not Qian Meng'er after all, so I couldn't say for sure if I understand her. I could only smile lightly, "If you're willing, I'll do my best to help you."

  Ordinary people may not understand what Su Mo Ruo said, but Que Miao Er did. She suddenly raised her head and stared at Su Mo Ruo with a determined gaze. Her face had a faint flush due to excitement. She kept staring at Su Mo Ruo, just wanting to confirm one thing - whether she had misheard earlier, and why her heart had suddenly become so resolute, willing to believe what Su Mo Ruo said.

  Can she help her? She believed in Su Mo Ruo's abilities, but what about herself? Her parents had said that her brain wasn't good enough, not smart enough, with older siblings above her and younger ones below, yet she was just ordinary and plain. More often than not, her mother would say that maybe the hospital had mixed up the babies when she was born, and at those times, she really wanted to run up to her mother and shout loudly, if you didn't love me, why give me hope, why not just leave me in the countryside with grandma?

  She was abandoned by her parents to be raised by a nanny since she was young, and this nanny was not even her biological grandmother, but an old spinster who had been working as a maid in their family for her whole life.

  The old man was very good to her, she was very clear, but her identity had never been deliberately concealed. Her parents would come to see her every year, but each time they saw them, she felt under pressure because she wasn't smart. Every time the practice book and test paper were handed over to her parents, it ended up with her parents being cold again and again, year after year.