"Mister Li, you can rest a.s.sured that your sister is a kind girl." Chu Mo knew he actually had a good character; he was just a little reckless.
Li Tiejun scratched his head. "But why did you bring her back here?"
"Because I did something wrong and I wanted to apologize to you," Chu Mo said sincerely. "Zhao Hao, you can come too, and Ye Fei, Qin Xiaomeng. Let"s go upstairs, it"s quieter there. I"ve been holding this in my heart for a long time, and it"s time I said it."
Zhao Hao"s face was covered in blood and looked quite gruesome, but Ye Fei took a quick look at his wound and deemed it not too serious, so he let Qin Xiaomeng go to get him a band-aid.
Beneath the trickles of blood, Zhao Hao"s face was flushed red. He didn"t speak and kept his head down, shooting occasional reticent glances at Qin Xiaomeng.
"Sorry, I made your handkerchief dirty..." he muttered in a trembling voice.
"Never mind that. Just give it back later, I"ll wash it." Qin Xiaomeng smiled cheerfully, like a soft ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds of Zhao Hao"s heart.
"I..."
Zhao Hao didn"t give the bloodstained handkerchief back to Qin Xiaomeng, but gripped it tightly in his hands. After a long time, he whispered, "I"ll wash it for you."
"All right." Qin Xiaomeng smiled, "Use minty laundry detergent, it"s my favorite."
Zhao Hao nodded and fervently drilled this information into his memory.
After helping Zhao Hao treat his wound, the group went up to the second floor of the cafeteria. Where there were usually fewer people around. It was already past dinnertime, so there was no one there.
Once everyone settled down, Chu Mo stood up, her eyes slightly red, and said in a low voice, "I"ve called you all here because… I wanted to apologize to you."
Apologize?
Everyone exchanged confused looks.
Li Xiaohua hurriedly said, "Professor Chu, why are you apologizing? Zhao Hao and I should be thanking you! If it weren"t for your help in raising the donations, we... we wouldn"t have been able to pay this semester"s tuition."
"Thank you, Professor Chu." Zhao Hao also said, but his eyes were floating around Qin Xiaomeng, though he was too self-abased to even look at her eyes.
Hearing what Li Xiaohua and Zhao Hao said, Ye Fei smiled uncontrollably. He did not have a good first impression of Chu Mo - she seemed a bit neurotic - however, his impression of her had now changed.
Chu Mo might be a bit of an oddball, but she was kind.
"I have to apologize to you, and thank Qin Xiaomeng and Ye Fei. When I took the donation from the bank, a group of thieves tried to steal it on the bus on my way here. If it weren"t for these two, your tuition and living expenses would have been lost."
Chu Mo stood up and bowed to Qin Xiaomeng and Ye Fei.
"Oh, that"s incredible." Li Xiaohua had no idea about this. If this story were true, she had to thank Ye Fei and Qin Xiaomeng.
She glanced at Zhao Hao, and seeing that he made no response, she stood up to bow to them and whispered, "Thank you."
Qin Xiaomeng hurriedly waved her hands dismissively and smiled, "It"s not a big deal."
"Yeah, it was just a few thieves. Anyone with a conscious would have helped in that situation. You should be thanking your professor instead. If not for her, you wouldn"t have received the money," Ye Fei said.
Li Xiaohua was very docile, but Zhao Hao remained completely silent, his head lowered. No one could tell what he was thinking of.
Eventually, Li Xiaohua tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Zhao Hao, say something."
"Huh?"
Zhao Hao was silent for a moment. After a long while, he lowered his head again and said, "I don"t know what to say."
"You should thank them and the professor," Li Tiejun shook her head exasperatedly.
Suddenly, Zhao Hao stood up and bolted toward the door, disappearing before anyone could stop him.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Don"t mind him, that"s just how he is," Chu Mo sighed unhappily. "He"s too self-conscious and shy, but he is a good boy."
Meanwhile, Li Tiejun had appeared from the stairwell holding a tray piled with plates of food he had just bought downstairs.
"Captain Li, what"s this?" Chu Mo said in amazement.
"Oh, I was too reckless just now and almost wronged the victims. I thought you didn"t get to eat anything, so I bought you some food."
He put the tray down on a table and said to his sister, "There"s more downstairs, Xiaohua."
Chu Mo frowned, "Captain Li, why did you do this for? There"s no need for you to buy us all food."
"I may not be a rich man, but I think I can still afford some food at from the campus cafeteria. Besides... don"t tell anyone, but the chef of the cafeteria is from my hometown, so he gave me a good discount. I may be only a simple security guard, but if you look down on me, I will inspect your student card every day, Hahaha!" Li Tiejun laughed and went back downstairs to bring the rest of the food he"d bought.
They really were hungry, so they unceremoniously sat down and began to eat.
After eating, Li Tiejun said to Ye Fei, "Bro, I am illiterate, but I"m pretty strong. If anything happens later, call me and I"ll help."
Ye Fei smiled and said, "I do not deserve it. It"ll be a big help if you just tell me if you see any suspicious people skulking around on campus."
"You can count on me," Li Tiejun said, patting his chest.