Chapter 47

"Can't sleep again?" The message came from Liu Yan, the internet addict, who was still awake past midnight.

Wang Bo quickly typed back, "Are you watching an American TV show again?"

"No, I'm watching a British one, but the pronunciation is so strange." Usually, the teachers at school taught American English, so listening to British accents felt a bit like listening to a dialect, even though that was the proper way to speak.

The cultural festival performance had ended, and their group had disbanded. Wang Bo suddenly realized that apart from matters related to rehearsals, he had nothing to talk about with Liu Yan, as he was actually quite unfamiliar with her. Over the past two years, they had been in the same class, but they had spoken less than 20 sentences to each other. Although they now considered themselves friends, it was a kind of unfamiliar friendship, and if they didn't keep in touch, their relationship might become even more distant.

He could only ask what show she was watching and chat about the plot. Liu Yan probably realized he was just making conversation, so after a few messages, she stopped sending any more. Wang Bo then turned to the group chat.

The focus of the group chat that night was naturally the excellent performances at the cultural festival. The most mentioned were the hot appearance of the homeroom teacher and the stunning performance of Wang Bo and his group. However, when the group voted for the best performance of the cultural festival, they all voted for "Ten-Faced Ambush."

Next week, when classes resumed, the program list distributed today could be used as a ballot to be placed in the special ballot box outside the teaching building. The participants of the performance rated as the best would receive a 1000 yuan prize from the school for the cultural festival. Of course, it wasn't 1000 yuan for each person, but for the entire group, to be distributed among themselves.

Finally finding something to talk about, he immediately sent a message to Liu Yan: "If we are rated as the best performance, how should we divide the prize money?"

"What else? You can be generous and split it equally between me and Lili." She added a smiley face at the end.

"How can that be? I'm the main character, and you two are the supporting roles." Although the money wasn't much, he still had to argue his case, as others didn't know he wasn't short of money.

"Without us two supporting roles, could your performance have been so successful?" she said angrily.

"Alright, then you two can get a bit more, but at least leave me some."

The two of them started discussing how to divide the prize money even before they had won it, and then they began to haggle. Just as they were chatting happily, Liu Yan's avatar turned gray, and she went offline.

Wang Bo was a bit puzzled, but looking at the time, it was already late, and he had a match the next day, so he lay down and tried to fall asleep. After a while, his phone vibrated, and he saw that Liu Yan was calling. He answered.

"Hey, why did you suddenly go offline?"

"Don't even mention it. My dad caught me online in the middle of the night, and he unplugged the internet cable. I'll probably get a lecture in the morning." Liu Yan's voice sounded a bit strange, as if she was talking to him from under the covers.

"Ah? Is this the first time you've been caught? I thought you often stayed up late."

Liu Yan said, "Not at all. I rarely stay up past midnight. I was about to go to sleep, but you suddenly came online, and we chatted for a while, which made my dad angry. He not only unplugged the internet cable but also knocked on my door to warn me. It's all your fault!"

So, not sleeping at midnight could be blamed on Wang Bo. He hadn't forced her to chat, so he could only chuckle and say, "Sorry, then you should go to sleep early."

"Okay, I'll hang up. You should go to sleep early too. You have a match tomorrow, don't be listless." She gently reminded him.

"Alright, I know." He hung up the phone, looked at the time, and saw it was almost one o'clock. He turned over and tried to sleep quickly.

Wang Bo went to bed late but woke up early, around six o'clock. He didn't feel sleep-deprived, so he changed into his sports clothes and went out for a morning run to warm up. When he came back, he took a shower, and his father was already sitting at the table, eating breakfast and watching the news. "Why did you go out for morning exercise so early? Don't you have track team training later?"

Wang Bo suddenly remembered he hadn't mentioned switching to the soccer team to his father, so he reported, "Dad, I tried out for the school soccer team a few days ago and was accepted. I won't be participating in the track team training anymore."

"What? You made the school team?" Wang Dad immediately became interested. He was a sports fan and loved soccer much more than track. "What position do you play?"

"Central midfielder." Wang Bo took the porridge his mother handed him and started eating.

"The brain of the team, promising." Wang Dad nodded and asked, "When is the next match? Can you play?"

"Today in the afternoon, at the district sports center. Our school is the home team, playing against Nanding Middle School. The coach said he would arrange for me to play, but probably not as a starter." Wang Bo answered quickly.

Hearing that his son had a chance to play, Wang Dad became even more interested. "I'll come to watch. You better play well."

Wang Mom scolded from the side, "Eat your breakfast. You get so excited when it comes to soccer. Focus and eat quickly."

The father and son quickly bowed their heads and drank their porridge, not daring to speak. Then they heard his mother say, "What time is the match? I want to go and watch too..."

In Jinqiao Majiacun, Ma Lizheng tied a bag of clothes that his niece had packed onto his motorcycle. He watched as Lu Lu said goodbye to the family, feeling a mix of emotions.

At the moment of parting, his sister-in-law shed tears. After all, she had raised Lu Lu from infancy, and to say she had no feelings for her would be a lie. However, Lu Lu had already explained the night before that something serious had happened in the Lu family, and she had to return early. With those words, even if she wanted to keep her, she couldn't pass the test with her daughter-in-law.

Among the family, only Lu Lu's cousin-in-law had a smile on her face, as if her cousin was going to a good place. She even smiled and advised her, "Come back and visit when you have time. Xiao Bao really likes you."

As she spoke, her child ran out of the house, wiped his nose, and rubbed it on Lu Lu's thigh. The child was naughty and spoiled by his mother, and he wasn't particularly close to Lu Lu, showing no sign of joy.

Her cousin-in-law picked up the child, patted his bottom, and chuckled, "Stay in touch. This is also your home."

Hearing her insincere farewell, Lu Lu nodded faintly. She was always cold and couldn't say the right things, which was why her cousin-in-law didn't like her.

With her backpack on, Lu Lu got on her uncle's motorcycle and waved goodbye to everyone, finally leaving the place where she had lived for sixteen years.

Jinqiao and Baihe were neighboring towns. Lu Lu had never been to the Lu family's home, but Ma Lizheng remembered it clearly, having visited more than once during the mourning period. The motorcycle drove to the Lu family's house, a two-story old house with two rooms on the ground floor, each with its own entrance. Lu Lu's grandmother was sunbathing in the courtyard.

When she saw the visitors, the old lady slowly stood up with the help of her cane, her mouth opening and closing, not knowing what to say.

Ma Lizheng parked the motorcycle and helped the old lady sit down again. "Grandma, your granddaughter has grown up and wants to come back to take care of you. Look, I've brought her back to you."

The old lady's mouth twitched, and she waved her hands, "No, no, I don't need anyone to take care of me. Go back, go back, take her back."

"Grandma..." Lu Lu approached with a hint of tears in her voice. The old lady's cloudy eyes met hers, and she burst into tears, sobbing, "Silly child, why did you come back? I'm not going to die... Go, go, go back to your uncle's house, study well, okay? Listen to me..."

"No, I won't go back," Lu Lu said firmly, "I've come back today, and from now on, I'm your granddaughter and will take care of you. If you send me away, it means you don't recognize me as your granddaughter."

Tears streamed down both their faces, and Ma Lizheng wiped his eyes. The old lady, who was not good with words, struggled to hold Ma Lizheng's hand, "At first, at first... why... at this time..."

She meant that they had agreed to raise her until she was eighteen, but now she was sent back early, especially at a time when something had happened to Lu Wei.

Ma Lizheng said, "I tried to persuade her, but the child insisted. I really had no choice. She knows about what happened to her cousin and is determined to come back. Please take her in, so you'll have someone to take care of you in the future."

The old lady remained silent, just shaking her head and sighing. Seeing this, Ma Lizheng took the niece's luggage from the motorcycle and brought it into the house, then handed a paper bag to the old lady, "This is Lu Lu's tuition for the next semester. Keep it well, and the rest is for your daily expenses."

The night before, Ma Lizheng's wife had given him the money, and the couple had managed to add another thousand yuan, as a token of their goodwill.

Lu Si usually roamed outside and earned money through dubious means, but the old lady never took any of it, so she lived on her pension, with no savings or income. With one more person to support, life would be even harder, so she didn't hesitate and nodded, accepting the money.

With that, Ma Lizheng said goodbye to Lu Lu. The uncle and niece talked for a while, giving each other instructions, and finally, Lu Lu reluctantly saw her uncle off.

The old lady, leaning on her cane, got up and led her granddaughter into the house. On the second floor, she pointed to a room, "This was your parents' room. You'll live here from now on." The old lady, who had difficulty moving, usually stayed on the ground floor.

The key was still in the lock, and Lu Lu opened the door to a dusty room that hadn't been cleaned for years. She had spent her infancy in this room, but she had no memory of it. "Alright, I'll go get some water and clean it up."

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**End of Chapter**