Dinner.
Jiang Zhuo carried a bowl of soup over to Qiu Xianzhi, crouched down, and poked the back of his hand with one finger. “Dinner’s going to take a little while longer. Have a bowl of soup first. You stayed with me at the hospital for so long, you must be hungry.”
Qiu Xianzhi took the soup from Jiang Zhuo and drank it spoonful by spoonful. Jiang Zhuo plopped down on the floor without a care, thinking that a rich young master really was a rich young master, even drinking soup looked elegant and handsome.
Jiang Zhuo said, “Qiu Xianzhi, did I cause you trouble today? Ye Heng and I got into a fight, his family won’t blame you for it, will they?”
When he saw that Qiu Xianzhi said nothing, Jiang Zhuo edged a little closer and poked the back of his hand again with one finger. “Qiu Xianzhi, are you mad?”
Only when he saw the brightness in Jiang Zhuo’s eyes dim did Qiu Xianzhi come back to himself. He handed the empty bowl in his hand to Jiang Zhuo. “I’m not mad, and you didn’t cause me any trouble. I’m not going to object to you making friends. I was just thinking about which school to send you to in September.”
For a moment, Jiang Zhuo did not understand what Qiu Xianzhi meant, and looked up at him blankly.
Qiu Xianzhi assumed the child simply did not want to go to school, so he began patiently persuading him. No matter what reason had brought him to his side, he was still young and naturally ought to be in school. Grades were not important, and he should not feel pressured. He could just treat it as a chance to meet new friends.
Only then did Jiang Zhuo nod, thinking to himself that Qiu Xianzhi was really a good person. And that was exactly what he said out loud. “Qiu Xianzhi, you’re really great. You’re a very, very good person.”
Hearing Jiang Zhuo call him a good person, Qiu Xianzhi laughed out loud. It was not a self-mocking laugh, nor a fake one, he was genuinely amused. He could see in Jiang Zhuo’s eyes that Jiang Zhuo was sincerely praising him, had firmly labeled him as one of the good guys. At this point, he had probably already turned him into some kind of hero.
Even Aunt Zhong, who was bringing out the dishes, had pricked up her ears and listened carefully for a couple of lines. Once she confirmed that the two of them were genuinely having a pleasant conversation, she called them over to eat.
Before bed that night, Qiu Xianzhi called Jiang Zhuo into the study and asked him about school, telling him to pick one himself, or mention any requirements he had.
Jiang Zhuo said, “Is there a school where the academic standards are really good, but also a lot of people get in through connections and money? I want the class that ranks last in the grade, and I want a teacher with a good temper.”
Wu Yixiao looked at Qiu Xianzhi, his eyes asking the question, This little ancestor isn’t going to school, he looks like he’s going there to stir up trouble.
Qiu Xianzhi nodded and handed the envelope in his hand to Jiang Zhuo. “Inside is a bank card. It’s for your spending money. There’s no password.”
Qiu Xianzhi did not say how much money was on it, but Wu Yixiao knew. It was the card he had just brought over, a supplementary card, while Qiu Xianzhi was still using the main one.
“I already have spending money.” Jiang Zhuo also stuffed the metal canister he had brought over into Qiu Xianzhi’s arms. He had already thought it through. Since Qiu Xianzhi was sending him to school, of course he should pay for it himself. He had even brought the family piggy bank along in his suitcase.
Qiu Xianzhi weighed it in his hand. It was almost weightless, a square stainless steel piggy bank, engraved with the words Make money and buy a big G. “I’ll accept your piggy bank, but you still need to take my bank card. Tomorrow I’ll have Uncle Zhong take you to buy a phone. You can go a little earlier tomorrow and see if there’s anything else you want to buy.”
As soon as Jiang Zhuo heard that Uncle Zhong would be taking him, the first thing he thought to ask was Qiu Xianzhi, “You’re not going?”
Qiu Xianzhi said, “I’ll stay home and read.”
The moment he heard Qiu Xianzhi would be at home, Jiang Zhuo shook his head without even thinking. “Then I’ll stay home with you. Just have Uncle Zhong buy the phone for me.”
If he was giving someone his piggy bank, then of course he also had to give them the password, otherwise it would practically count as scamming them. But he had forgotten the password. So Jiang Zhuo crouched on the floor trying the piggy bank’s code, again and again. Luckily it did not have a security lock function. Otherwise the combination lock would have frozen up long ago.
In the end, Jiang Zhuo gave up. He was so annoyed he wanted to pry the metal box open on the spot. “If it really comes down to it, we can just saw it open!”
If he had known, he would have picked a cheaper one. Then it would only have been a three-digit code. This expensive one needed a five-digit password.