Zhang Li Xue has been in a bad mood all morning.
She had studied hard with her aunt and had finally skipped a year and go to school earlier. The little girl had thought that she could be together with her teammate and practice her favorite basketball together.
However, the person that led her to make this decision was not around.
She will finally be able to join a team at this school, but her first teammate was no longer around.
When Li Qin Yao picked up her daughter at school, she could not help but notice that the little girl has been in a bad mood. After helping Li Xue to wear her seatbelt, Li Qin Yao stroked the little girl's head and spoke. "What's wrong? You seemed unhappy. Did someone bully you?"
Zhang Li Xue pouted. "No. I just missed a friend."
Her lips curled into a helpless smile. Li Qin Yao did not expect that the reason her daughter would be in a bad mood was that she missed her friend.
Now that she thought about it, her daughter has been a deskmate with Fang Su Jin since her first day at the kindergarten. Now that she had a new deskmate, perhaps, Zhang Li Xue was having a hard time adjusting.
Of course, Li Qin Yao did not know that the person that her daughter was missing was not her deskmate.
"Alright, how about we invite Su Jin and Lin Na to play over on the weekend? I'm sure that they miss you as well."
Zhang Li Xue opened her mouth before pursing them again.
The little girl wanted to tell her mother about her friend that was moving away, but she realized that she did not know how to do it. After all, she had never mentioned Bai Qi to her mother before.
Seeing that her daughter was still unhappy, Li Qin Yao could only find another way to coax her daughter. "How about we grab some ice cream on our way home?"
Zhang Li Xue looked up but did not respond.
"Hmm... I heard that your great-grandfather is planning to grill some chicken wings today." Li Qin Yao smiled as she bopped her daughter's nose. "Today is your first day at school. Great-grandpa wanted to celebrate this special occasion."
Zhang Li Xue was still unhappy. But thinking about the chicken wings that her great-grandfather will grill in the backyard elevated her mood a little bit. "Alright."
A faint sigh escaped her as Li Qin Yao saw her daughter start to smile again. After kissing the little girl's cheek a few times, she went over to the driver's seat and drove her daughter back home.
...
"Li Xue, you're back!" Zhang Yu Ying greeted the moment she saw her niece walk into the house. "How was your school today?"
"It was okay," Zhang Li Xue spoke. "I met a lot of elder sisters and brothers." The little girl looked at her aunt again. Suddenly, she seemed to realize that her aunt was the only person who knew about her teammate.
From the corner of her eyes, Zhang Yu Ying could see that her sister-in-law's expression did not seem right. However, before she could ask, her niece had tugged at her hand and pulled her into the corner.
"What's wrong?" Zhang Yu Ying could not help but find that her niece was acting strangely.
The little girl looked at her left and right, once she saw that her mother did not come over, Zhang Yu Ying beckoned for her aunt to come closer. "Aunt, come over, I have something to say to you."
Zhang Yu Ying squatted down so that she could be on the little girl's level. "What's wrong? Why are you being so secretive?"
The little girl cupped her hands to her aunt's ear. "Younger Aunt, do you remember Brother Bai Qi?"
"Brother Bai Qi?" Zhang Yu Ying remembered to keep her tone low to avoid anyone from listening to their conversation. "Un. That's your basketball teammate, right?"
She had secretly helped her niece to cover up her relationship with that boy. How could she not remember Bai Qi?
Zhang Li Xue's expression turned solemn. "Aunt, I heard today that Brother Bai Qi is moving away."
"Ah?" Zhang Yu Ying did not expect to hear this news as well. For a while, she could not react to this sudden news.
"Brother Zhen Yu told me earlier," Zhang Li Xue spoke. "He said that Bai Qi's father was moving overseas for his job. Brother Bai Qi is moving along with his parents. Aunt, what am I supposed to do? I no longer have a teammate."
The corner of her lips started to twitch. Zhang Yu Ying almost could not believe that her niece was worrying about her basketball team.
"Aunt, I did not even get to see him one last time." The corner of her eyes turned red. Thinking that she would not be able to meet Bai Qi again made her sad.
Zhang Yu Ying noticed her niece's mood change and hugged her tightly. As the little girl's face was pressed to her shoulder, Zhang Yu Ying could hear her niece's little sob.
Her heart ached.
In the beginning, she had supported her niece and Bai Qi, thinking that it would be fun to hide this secret from her brother. The first time she saw her niece holding hands with Bai QI, Zhang Yu Ying had thought that it would be cute if her niece grew up with a childhood sweetheart.
Who would have thought that the little girl would be experiencing her first heartbreak as well?
Her heart softened. She was not willing to see her niece this sad.
Even if they were going to be apart, Li Xue should be given the chance to at least say goodbye to that little boy. Otherwise, she would be sad for a long time and this might leave a scar on her little heart.
As the thought came to her mind, Zhang Yu Ying finally make her decision. "Li Xue, do you want to see Brother Bai Qi one last time?"
The little girl's eyes lit up. She pulled away from her aunt and stared at her with teary eyes. Her heart was feeling hopeful. She wanted to scold Bai Qi for leaving after she had worked hard to enter school earlier.
"But... I cannot promise that you will be able to see him," Zhang Yu Ying said. She was worried that the girl would be hopeful and be disappointed again. "Let me ask around if his family had left the country or not."