I understand Lü Tao's feelings, but I still feel a little sorry for Long Ling. So I said to Lü Tao, "The lighting is too dim and not good for the eyes. If it continues like this, Long Ling may become nearsighted at an early age."
"It's okay, there's a light on in the inner room," Lü Tao replied to me.
I went inside and found that there was indeed a light on in the inner room. It turned out that Lü Tao was just using candles while working, but he had Long Ling turn on the light to read.
This situation touched me deeply and I nodded my head before entering the inner room.
The space inside was relatively small and at that moment, Long Ling was lying face down on an old small table reading and writing.
When she saw me come in, she stood up nervously.
She had changed back into her old worn clothes which made her feel shy. Her little hand subconsciously covered up a hole in her tattered coat where some cotton could be seen poking out of it.
"Don't mind me; keep studying. I'll sit with you for a while. If you have any questions you don't understand then ask me," I waved my hand at her indicating she shouldn't be nervous.
After hearing what I said, she sat back down again and continued reading with her head buried in the book.
I sat down next to her bed and picked up an English textbook casually looking through it when after awhile Long Ling plucked up courage asking: "YiHeng brother how do we solve this problem?"
I leaned over carefully explaining everything to her before admiring her beautiful handwriting saying: "Your handwriting is very nice-looking; when you were studying before did you work hard?"
"Um," She nodded slightly glancing at me only to find that I was looking at her causing embarrassment as she lowered her head.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked her, "Why do I feel like you're afraid of me?"
"No, it's not that," Long Ling became nervous after hearing my words and said: "No, YiHeng brother please don't misunderstand. It's just that...I'm just nervous."
"Why are you nervous? We're the same age; what is there to be nervous about?" I was curious.
"I...I don't know," Long Ling squeezed her small hand.
Hearing this, I couldn't help but sigh feeling a little helpless as I roughly understood what was going on. Obviously since we met each other, I had always appeared in front of her as an adult figure. After all, both she and her father were people whom I had helped before so even Lü Tao would become somewhat tense around me. Therefore these behaviors from Long Ling were normal.
At the time when thinking about these things, my heart felt strange and helpless but fortunately we were both children. At first she was indeed a bit nervous but as we talked more and more she gradually relaxed herself while occasionally pursing her lips into a sweet smile with eyes bent speaking volumes.
I tutored her for almost two hours before stopping and then we started chatting. I asked her who taught her those acrobatic moves, and she said it was her master who taught her. She had been learning dance from a master since she was young.
This made me curious because I thought she came from a difficult family background, so how could they afford to pay for dance lessons? She then told me that when she was younger, their family was doing well, but after her mother passed away and some other things happened to her father, their situation changed.
Hearing this, I nodded my head and asked: "Did your mother pass away or...?"
"She left," Lv Longling said with a sad expression on her face. After a while, she continued: "She said there were some things in the clan that needed to be taken care of and that she had to go. After she left, it took a long time for her to come back. Later on they fought and my dad got hurt badly protecting me as we escaped. Let me tell you a secret; my dad wasn't always like this..."
"Longling!" We were chatting when suddenly Lv Tao walked in and interrupted Lv Longling's words by glaring at her saying: "Have you forgotten what I told you earlier? Don't talk about our hometown casually! What do you know as just a child?!"
After being scolded by Lv Tao like this, Lv Longling immediately lowered his head without daring to speak anymore.
Feeling awkwardly embarrassed by the situation now present in front of us all,I stood up looking at Lv Tao saying: "Uncle Luongtao , Long Ling is just talking casually; don't blame him too much."
"You're right little teacher."Lv Taosaid smilingly .He looked outside towards the sky adding:"It's getting late now; it's not safe walking around here at night. Why don't you stay here tonight?"
"Forget it, I'll just go back to school; it's not too far anyway." I smiled and turned around to leave.
"Longling, walk the little teacher out," Lv Tao said as he saw me leaving.
Lv Longling quickly got up and chased after me. After a while, we arrived on the street together with dim yellow streetlights shining down upon us. The cold spring breeze blew past us as she walked silently beside me without saying anything for a long time.
"Alright then, let's go back now and get some rest. You have to go to school tomorrow." I took my bike and looked at her saying this.
She nodded her head but only spoke after a long pause: "Thank you YiHeng brother; don't worry about it though because I will definitely repay you in the future."
"Okay then, I'll be waiting for your repayment,"I smiled before asking:"So how do you plan on repaying me?"
Upon hearing my question,Lv Longling looked at me surprisingly before frowning slightly and asking: "Why? Did you help us from the beginning because...because...
Do you think it's strange? Do you think I would say something like 'you don't need to repay me'?" I smiled and couldn't help but stop the car, reaching over to touch her head. "Let me tell you, people who say those kinds of things are often insincere. They don't really not want repayment, they just want more. Like me, if I said I didn't need you to repay me, then I must have taken a liking to you and am planning on marrying you. Do you understand?"
"Then...are you not planning on marrying me?" Lv Longling asked with some confusion.
"Don't be silly, I never thought about that. Let me tell you something: before meeting you, I've been through many similar situations. And what I learned is that gratitude and love are two completely different things. If we try to mix them together forcefully, it will only lead to tragedy in the end."I actually understand your current mindset; You probably always thought that I helped because of my feelings for you right? Well let me make it clear now: That's not how it is at all! Don't worry when being around with me as a friend." After finishing speaking,I pushed the bike forward while riding on top of it and said,"Of course if someday in future,you want to repay my kindness,it's okay.But first,you have work hard enough.I'm quite greedy so if your repayment isn't up-to-par,I won't be happy."
"I see now.Thank YiHeng brother,"Lv Longling finally brightened up after hearing my words.Then she even leaned forward subconsciously and kissed my cheek.
"What are doing?"I felt embarrassed.
"I'm just kissing my big brother,right?You called yourself as such!"Lv Longling blinked her eyes innocently at him.
"Well,kissing once doesn't matter.The problem is,didn't you eat garlic for dinner? The smell is too strong,"I said.
"Ugh, I hate you! I'm going to bed now and won't talk to you anymore."The little girl blushed and ran away.