Chapter 30: I’m Willing to Suck Up a Little

Chen Lie snapped back to his senses and abruptly let go of her wrist.

Now freed from his grip, Su Qinghu’s eyes brimmed with tears that hadn’t yet fallen. She clutched her wrist and looked at Chen Lie accusingly. “That really hurt!”

Chen Lie opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn’t know what to say. He thought about reaching out to rub her wrist, but then suddenly realized the girl in front of him wasn’t one of those rough-and-tumble guys he was used to.

Meeting her watery eyes, lashes damp with tears, Chen Lie felt a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry.”

“Look, it’s all red now.” Su Qinghu raised her wrist for him to see.

Chen Lie glanced over and saw a distinct red mark circling her fair wrist.

Just from the look of it, he could tell it wouldn’t fade anytime soon.

“We have a first aid kit at home. If I remember right, there’s some Yunnan Baiyao in it.”

As he spoke, Chen Lie was about to head inside to get the kit, but before he could turn around, Erdan had already come out holding the little medicine box.

“Dad, here you go!”

He prayed silently that the heavens would keep his new mom safe and sound—otherwise, how would they ever get to go to the movies?

Su Qinghu saw Chen Lie take the kit and was about to open it when she stepped forward and pressed the lid shut. “Oh, come on, that’s way too much! I’m not even hurt…”

It was just that the blood hadn’t dispersed yet. Using Yunnan Baiyao for a little massage was overkill—she felt awkward about it!

“Just put some on, it’ll heal faster!” Erdan recommended earnestly. “Really!”

Su Qinghu: “I don’t care if it’s true or not, I’m not putting it on.”

Medicine was medicine, after all, and it always had a smell. Plus, it was hot out—being clean and fresh was best.

Chen Lie raised his hand, but before he could do anything, Su Qinghu took a step back and eyed him warily.

Don’t even think about making her put on the medicine!

Chen Lie paused, looking from her to his own hand, and explained, “There was a spider on your hair just now.”

Su Qinghu: “???!!!”

Her eyes flew wide open, and she didn’t dare move a muscle—just barely moved her lips. “Take… take it off!”

In this kind of situation, there was no need for explanations—just catch it! Why waste time talking? By now, the spider could’ve been caught already!

As Su Qinghu spoke, her eyes darted around. When she finally spotted the web, she nearly lost it.

She felt like her whole head was crawling with spiders!

She wanted to scratch her head so badly!

Chen Lie couldn’t see her expression clearly, but the tension radiating from her was unmistakable.

He quickly found the spider and caught it.

Erdan immediately put down the medicine box and hugged Chen Lie’s leg. “Dad, Dad! Don’t squish it—give it to me! I want to see how spiders spin webs!”

Earlier that spring, he and his brother had caught some tadpoles, but that woman had thrown them all out before they could grow into frogs.

Now they had a new mom—maybe she’d let him keep a spider…

Erdan wasn’t sure, but he had to try. “Mom, can you tell Dad not to squish the spider, please?”

Su Qinghu resisted the urge to scratch her head in front of this devastatingly handsome man. Hearing Erdan’s plea, she suddenly had an idea. “Chen Lie, hurry up and find a jar for Erdan to keep it in!”

Go! Hurry up and go! Turn around! Turn around right now!

Seeing that Su Qinghu no longer looked scared and was moving around just fine, Chen Lie nodded and let Erdan lead him off to find a jar.

The moment they turned away, Su Qinghu gave up on maintaining any ladylike composure in front of the handsome man and scratched her head with abandon.

Chen Lie heard the commotion behind him and turned to look.

Everything was fine—except for Su Qinghu’s hair.

“Hahaha, Mom, your hair’s a mess!” Erdan pointed at her, laughing so hard he nearly doubled over. “It looks just like… just like a magpie’s nest!”

What did a magpie’s nest look like? Erdan didn’t say, but Su Qinghu understood perfectly—he was just saying her hair was a disaster.

Meeting Erdan’s eyes, Su Qinghu threatened, “You’d better shut that chattering mouth of yours.”

Erdan instantly wilted. What was that about? Was it wrong to like talking? Was it his fault he was good with words?

Inside, Erdan was practically bouncing off the walls, but under Su Qinghu’s gaze, he fell silent as a mouse.

For the sake of seeing that movie, what grievance couldn’t he swallow?

Right now, Erdan felt like he was carrying the weight of the world—whether he and his brother would get to see the movie depended on this.

So, he couldn’t let the adults gloss things over. “Mom, if we’re going to the movies later, do I need to change clothes?”

Su Qinghu shot him a look. “Did you finish your reflection essay?”

Erdan: “…”

He hadn’t, true. But hadn’t he come out to help? He was the first to bring the medicine box!

Did helping out not count toward his essay time?

If he’d known… If he’d known… Erdan wanted to grumble, but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Even if he’d known, he’d still have brought it…

Sigh! Erdan hung his head and sighed, dejected. “Fine, I’ll go write it now.”

Just as he turned to leave, Dadan came over with his notebook. “I’m done. Please check it.”

Erdan was stunned, his face a picture of disbelief. Standing off to the side, Su Qinghu mentally captioned his expression: “We promised to grow old together, but you secretly got a perm.”

Just as Su Qinghu was about to laugh, Erdan pursed his lips and dashed into the house.

“You just wait—I’m going to write my essay right now! Nobody’s going to sneak off to the movies without me!”

By “nobody,” he meant everyone else in the house but him!

Su Qinghu chuckled and lowered her head to read Dadan’s essay. The handwriting was neat, no typos, the content solid and well-expressed.

“Looks good.” Su Qinghu nodded and handed the essay to Chen Lie. “Take a look—see if there’s anything obviously wrong.”

Dadan straightened up even more. Dad rarely checked his homework, but when he did, he was as strict as a homeroom teacher.

Chen Lie took the notebook and read for a while. Just as Dadan was sure his essay was about to be sent back for a rewrite, Chen Lie spoke.

“Your handwriting,” Chen Lie shook his head slightly. “Still hasn’t improved.”

Dadan’s head drooped.

Seeing this, Su Qinghu ruffled his hair. “Chin up. If your handwriting hasn’t improved, that’s just a fact. Since it’s a fact, we should accept the criticism and work on fixing it.”

Chen Lie nodded.

Su Qinghu glanced at Chen Lie, then turned back to Dadan. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

This kid seemed a little too sensitive…

“I’ll ask Teacher Sun sometime if she knows any calligraphy teachers,” Su Qinghu said, taking the notebook back from Chen Lie and handing it to Dadan, telling him to go inside.

After he left, Su Qinghu lifted her wrist, the red mark still visible, and teased Chen Lie, “Looks like we’ll need to buy some long-sleeved shirts, huh?”"