Chapter 25

◎Parting Gift◎

If you want something, you have to pay something in exchange. Just as Wen Xu wanted to go to Xi Village to sketch, he had to exchange it for taking the TOEFL test.

After the holiday, he didn't rest for a moment. The tutor accompanied him from morning to night to practice questions again and again, and his throat was smoking from oral practice. She inadvertently revealed her anxiety to Wen Xu: Han Ling gave her a death order, if he didn't get 95 points in the exam, she would have to leave.

"In fact, there is no contract signed... The recent tuition fees have been accumulated and not given to me. If I don't pass, maybe I won't get it at all," looking at Wen Xu's dull look, the tutor said distressedly: "But don't put too much pressure on yourself. Anyway, I haven't seen a high school student who meets the standard in one go. It's also my fault. I've been here for so long, why haven't I thought about signing a contract?"

She knew that she couldn't do anything. In fact, she felt a little sympathetic to Wen Xu in her heart. Whenever she thought of the big camera behind them staring straight at them, she would be scared and want to sweat. And Wen Xu sleeps in this room every day. Will even his sleeping posture be corrected?

Wen Xu had a rough idea in his mind. A few days ago, someone from an organization came to talk to him and asked for some information. He vaguely heard them talking about applying for a visa.

Looking out the window at the lush trees, the sun was shining, the birds and cicadas were chirping, and the leaves were blown to the window by the hot wind. He picked them up and threw them out. Behind him was a cage, so it was better for the leaves not to come in.

He thought that he would soon leave Huaicheng and set foot on a strange land. This was the decision of Han Ling and Wen Pinyan, which could not be challenged or questioned.

"I will pass the exam," he said in a light tone, suppressing the inexplicable thoughts of parting that were surging in his heart, "When will their class with you end?"

"The end of July... they said they would see if you want to renew it at that time," the tutor lowered his voice: "If you pass the exam, they won't renew it, but they will give me a bonus and say they will introduce me to their friends' children. Anyway, Wen Xu, don't worry that I can't find a job."

"Well," Wen Xu picked up the pen, "I'll practice another essay."

At dinner that night, he was as calm as a business negotiation. He said that he would pass the TOEFL, but the prerequisite was that he had to go to Xi Village to sketch. "This is the last time, and I want to relax."

"You will play with your mind wild," Han Ling glanced at Wen Xu, "What's fun in a small village... It's shabby. When mom is not busy, wouldn't it be nice to take you to travel to Europe?"

Wen Xu fell silent, pouted, and lowered his eyes. There were heavy dark circles under his eyes, and the whole person looked thin and fragile.

For the first time ever, Wen Pinyan couldn't bear to see this and said something to help him, "Let him go. He has been studying hard recently. Let Aunt He pack his luggage and then ask Lao Du to send him there."

Wen Xu looked up inexplicably and gave him a puzzled look. Wen Pinyan was a businessman and would never do a business that would lose money or help out unnecessarily. "When you come back, concentrate on preparing for your trip to the United States, review your lessons, and stop thinking about those unrealistic things."

Knowing this would happen, Wen Xu stopped struggling. It was useless to struggle. Fortunately, the thing he wanted to do most at the moment was not obstructed. After taking the TOEFL, he felt exhausted as if he had been drained of energy. He had a splitting headache and couldn't sleep at night. But this did not prevent him from setting off the next morning.

Du Minda gave him a shot of warning along the way, "Young Master Wen, the conditions in Xi Village are very difficult. I guess the food is not very delicious. My daughter asked me to bring a lot of instant noodles. Oh - and a few hats, probably because they were exposed to the sun. Did you bring any hats?"

"I should have. Aunt He collected the luggage. I'm not sure," Wen Xu replied. His headache pulled his nerves, his eyelids drooped, and he gradually fell asleep.

He didn't hear clearly what Du Minda said later. Anyway, his tone was relaxed and cheerful, "If you don't mind, you can borrow Du Ningyang's. She brought at least eight hats in seven days."

When he opened his eyes again, three and a half hours had passed. The Maybach stopped on the muddy road into the village. Du Minda called Wen Xu, and diligently opened the trunk to help him take out the boxes and luggage, as well as the instant noodles and hats he smuggled with Du Ningyang.

"Let me carry it in. I don't know how long it will take," Wen Xu looked at Du Minda carrying large and small bags, "There aren't many things, I'll take them to her for you."

"How can that be," Du Minda twisted the luggage behind her back like a treasure, "you'll be tired before we even get there."

Wen Xu stretched out his hand and insisted, "You still have to drive back for four hours, don't tire yourself out, give it to me now, I'm in time for dinner."

"Okay," Du Minda saw that he was so persistent, "Then I'll wait for you here for a while, tell me if you can't carry it."

Wen Xu waved his hand without turning his head, "It's not heavy, I'm useless if I can't carry it."

Du Minda chuckled behind her, watching Wen Xu's back disappear behind the Xicun archway, and then left with peace of mind. Before leaving, he sent a text message to Du Ningyang, saying that the things had been delivered and asked her to remember to ask Master Wen to pick them up.

Du Ningyang didn't have the heart to look at his phone.

Xiaoquan consulted Lu Xuezhong that night, and the two of them came up with a countermeasure. They went to the village chief to borrow a large ancestral hall with a courtyard, and asked them to gather around and draw the scenery in the courtyard.

Xiaoquan solemnly announced: "Yesterday, I let you play for a long time, so today, you have to make up two homeworks. You can move freely after you finish drawing."

As expected, there were complaints, but there was still a countermeasure. The students got familiar with each other and secretly agreed, "Anyway, he only said that we have to hand in the homework, and didn't say what quality is required. We all just draw randomly to get by. The law cannot hold everyone responsible."

"What if he has new requirements tomorrow? For example, what if we have to stay after class because the painting is too bad?"

"Let's talk about tomorrow's things tomorrow. Who cares so much? Let's talk about it after we finish playing today."

"I agree. Let's think about tomorrow's plan tomorrow.

" "How about voting and counting, and the minority obeys the majority?"

When a tattered note with the words "Did you choose to draw randomly to get by today? A. Yes B. No" was passed to Du Ningyang, she ticked option A without hesitation.

The ticks on option A were stacked up, full, while option B was still empty.

——This was an overwhelming advantage, a complete victory for the big painting scum. Almost everyone had completed today's requirements before lunch and happily went back to the B&B to eat.

Du Ningyang and Zhu Yao had experienced the cooking skills of the chef in Xi Village during breakfast, and the dog shook his head after eating it. At this moment, they just wanted to run back to eat instant noodles, so they left the group and slipped back to the room.

Unexpectedly, I saw the familiar snakeskin bag in the lobby, lying next to the sofa. Did he have heatstroke? Did he have hallucinations? Not sure, let's take a look.

Moving his eyes to the left, next to the ugly snakeskin bag was a pair of clean and brand new white sneakers. Further up, there were slender legs, white arms, a pure white shirt, an angular profile, and cold lowered eyes.

Wen Xu came to Xi Village carrying her snakeskin bag.

What kind of combination is this? She didn't eat mushrooms in the morning? How could her eyes be so dim?

Zhu Yao's voice broke Du Ningyang's shocked thoughts. She called out the name very confidently and decisively, "Wen Xu? Did you go the wrong way? This is the girls' dormitory."

Wen Xu turned her head and frowned slightly. She was probably a little impatient waiting. Fortunately, the air conditioner was turned on in the hall, so she didn't sweat.

Compared with him, the two of them looked like homeless people who had just come back from scavenging. Their short sleeves were soaked with sweat and exuded a faint salty smell.

His eyes swept over Du Ningyang. She was wearing a halter-neck short-sleeved fake two-piece and pencil pants, and a pair of high-top Converse canvas shoes on her feet. Her bangs were wet with sweat and stuck to her forehead in strands. Perhaps it was because of the heat, why was her face so red?

His eyes stopped at Du Ningyang and pointed to the bag at his feet, "Uncle Du asked me to bring this to you. He said it was instant noodles and a hat."

Why did he help Du Minda deliver it? Old Du is really rebellious. Isn't he afraid of being fired?

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she could only say a string of thank yous in the awkward moment, and then she came to her senses and greeted, "It's a hot day, isn't it? Do you want me to buy you a popsicle? Um, the store is not far away."

Well, just consider it as atonement for Du Minda and to please Wen Xu. It's not at all that she had the ill intention of being alone with him for a while.

Zhu Yao's stomach growled at an inopportune moment. She tugged at the hem of Du Ningyang's shirt, her eyes full of resentment, indicating that she needed to eat quickly.

Wen Xu took in Zhu Yao's expression, "No, I still have to put my luggage away. What are the plans for the studio this afternoon?"

"I rushed to finish my homework in the morning, and I'll have free time in the afternoon. You'd better not go and bore yourself," Zhu Yao squatted down and began to pick up the supplies sent by Du Minda, her mouth open, "They said they'd find a pond to fish, and there's an open-air KTV nearby where we can sing and eat barbecue at night." "

Are all the students from No. 3 Middle School going?"

"No, everyone is going, and you can come too."

"Then we'll see you in the afternoon," Wen Xu walked towards the door, wondering in his heart - everyone? In just one day, they suddenly became so familiar with each other. Why did the damn TOEFL test have to be yesterday?

While flipping through the pages, Zhu Yao screamed, "Du Ningyang, damn - your dad bought you a little gold bottle of sunscreen? If I remember correctly, this thing costs more than three hundred yuan a bottle. Oh my God! There was also a bottle of perfume, Chanel's Miss Coco. Did your dad go to rob a bank?"

"Ah?" Du Ningyang was also jaw-dropping, and repeated in disbelief: "Say it again? Is it the real little gold bottle of sunscreen and Miss Coco?"

"I think it's real. My mom has a bottle of Fifth Avenue, and the packaging box is similar to this; but I have never used the little gold bottle. I have only used supermarket products like Clean and Clear."

"Damn, that was definitely not bought by my dad. He doesn't know anything. I'll call my mom. Ouch, the line is busy. I guess he went to play cards."

With his back to them, Wen Xu smiled. She seemed to like it very much, so let's take it as a farewell gift. His smile soon disappeared. He

turned around and glanced at her.