Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Skipping a Grade
He just stood there stiffly, remaining frozen for a good while before closing his eyes and shutting the door.
He was going mad with jealousy, but in the end, he didn’t move or make a sound.
Because he had no right to.
Su Li and he were already divorced.
Tang Yuanxiao walked back with heavy steps. Seeing the eggs and sliced brown sugar prepared in the kitchen, he let out a self-deprecating smile.
「The night passed without a word.」
The next day was the military training demonstration. Su Li got up bright and early, put on her military training uniform, and, as required, tied her hair into two braided pigtails before putting on her hat.
Su Li looked at her reflection in the mirror, smiled, and nodded. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
"Not bad."
At this time, braids were still very popular. Younger girls wore two braided pigtails, while older ones wore a single thick braid.
It made all the young women look simple and innocent.
Su Li hadn’t really worn her hair in braids much since coming back. It was a rare occasion for her to do so today, and it felt pretty nice.
She was just a little tan. It would be even better if she hadn’t gotten a tan from the sun.
’I miss my phone...’ Su Li thought, looking at her empty right hand, longing for a modern cell phone.
’If this were the modern era, I would’ve already taken a selfie to commemorate this.’
Su Li, wearing her two braids, stepped out. Just as she was locking her door, the door across the hall opened.
"What are you doing here?" Su Li was confused to see Tang Yuanxiao.
’Little Tang Mo is in school, so he should be at work, right?’
"Little Tang Mo’s school is on break. I brought him here to see you last night." There were dark circles under Tang Yuanxiao’s eyes.
Hearing this, Su Li just said, "Oh. I got back a little late last night. You two were probably asleep."
Tang Yuanxiao was silent for a moment. "I wasn’t asleep. Su Li, have you accepted... accepted Wu Sheng’s pursuit of you?"
Su Li nodded frankly. "Yes."
Hearing this, Tang Yuanxiao blurted out, "I want to join too..."
Seeing Su Li’s strange look, he quickly realized and explained, "When I said ’join,’ I didn’t mean with you two or anything. I meant that if you can accept Wu Sheng’s pursuit, I hope you won’t reject my pursuit either."
He didn’t want to be left out.
Su Li was taken aback for a second. Just as she was about to speak, a small head popped out from behind Tang Yuanxiao.
"Mom!" Little Tang Mo had fallen asleep last night before Su Li got back. Seeing her first thing in the morning was a wonderful surprise.
His eyes lit up as he looked at Su Li. "Mom, you’re so pretty."
"Why are you so sweet?" Su Li laughed out loud, crouching down to pinch Little Tang Mo’s cheek.
"I’m telling the truth. Mom is really pretty," Little Tang Mo replied, his little hand tugging on one of Su Li’s braids.
"You little cutie." Su Li ruffled Little Tang Mo’s sleepy, rosy-cheeked face.
"Mom is so pretty, I shouldn’t call you Mom. I should call you Big Sister, pretty Big Sister." Little Tang Mo’s words were as sweet as honey.
After speaking, he glanced at the clueless Tang Yuanxiao standing beside them. "Dad, am I right? Isn’t Mom pretty?"
Tang Yuanxiao nodded without a second thought. "Pretty."
After answering, he glanced at Su Li, looking a little uncomfortable.
After what Little Tang Mo said, he felt too embarrassed to look at Su Li.
’How could Su Li not be beautiful looking like this? She could be the dream girl for so many men.’
Tang Yuanxiao was clumsy with words and couldn’t come up with any more adjectives.
Little Tang Mo was truly disappointed in his father’s inability to rise to the occasion. He shook his head slightly and got down to business with Su Li.
"Mom, I want to talk to you about something." He briefly explained the difficulties he was facing at school.
Su Li listened and nodded in understanding. "I understand what you’re saying."
She looked at Tang Yuanxiao. "Little Mo is smart. If it’s possible, I think we should let him skip a grade."
"Skip a grade?" Tang Yuanxiao had just been thinking about that too.
"Yes. If Little Mo feels like he isn’t learning anything, it would be better for him to skip a grade."
Skipping a grade was a viable option for a student who wasn’t being challenged enough. Instead of letting Little Tang Mo suffer through his classes, it was better to let him move up. He himself felt like he was just wasting his time, and over time, it would only dampen Little Mo’s curiosity and his attitude toward learning.
In Su Li’s opinion, a mind like Little Tang Mo’s wasn’t really suited for a conventional, step-by-step education.
She thought it would be better to hire a tutor to teach him. He could learn at his own pace, balancing work and rest, all within what he could handle. Then, when he reached a certain age, if he was still interested in physics, he could delve deeper into the subject.
Su Li had written so many handover notes for Tang Yuanxiao precisely because she hoped he would take this point seriously.
She and Tang Yuanxiao were divorced. Although she had said she would always be Little Tang Mo’s mother and always be good to him, in reality, it was impossible for there to be no impact. Tang Yuanxiao had custody of Little Tang Mo.
Only Tang Yuanxiao could make the decisions on these matters. It wasn’t her place to interfere too much; she could only offer suggestions.
After all, she didn’t have the official standing to do so.
With this in mind, Su Li spoke again. "Actually, before this, the material I was teaching Little Mo was already at a third-grade level, or even higher. Little Mo was learning it all very well."
Tang Yuanxiao looked down at Little Tang Mo. Something seemed to cross his mind, and he paused for a moment before nodding.
"Okay. I’ll go talk to his teacher about this."
"Okay," Su Li nodded. "Little Mo is much smarter than an average child. You should monitor his situation closely and make adjustments as soon as possible."
"I understand," Tang Yuanxiao said with a solemn nod.
They were talking all about Little Tang Mo, and he himself was listening intently and understood everything. Hearing this, he giggled.
"Thank you, Mom."
"No need to thank me. Why are you still saying thank you? Didn’t you just say you were going to call me Big Sister?"
"Big Sister," Little Tang Mo called out immediately, swinging Su Li’s hand.
"Aww, hearing you call me ’Big Sister’ is so nice. It makes me feel several years younger," Su Li praised.
This coaxed Little Tang Mo into calling her "Big Sister" a few more times.
Su Li responded to her son, then looked up at Tang Yuanxiao. "I have to get going. As for what you said earlier... I can only say that our situation is a bit special."
Her deep-seated resentment toward Tang Yuanxiao had been slowly dissipating over these past few days and through the divorce process.
Her resentment toward Tang Yuanxiao was also gradually subsiding in the face of his sincere efforts and affection.
It could be said that she no longer hated Tang Yuanxiao. She saw how good he was to her and the sincerity of his feelings, and sometimes, she found it impossible to refuse him.
’But what can I do? The problems between us... they still exist.’
’For example, Mrs. Tang is still his mother—that’s something that can never be changed. And for example, Qin Shanshan...’
’Thinking about it now, it would have been better if I hadn’t known him in my past life.’
’Take Wu Sheng, for example. I didn’t know him in my past life, so getting to know him now is truly a fresh start. Because of that, I don’t have many complicated feelings toward him, so I could be persuaded to accept his pursuit.’
’But Tang Yuanxiao... I inevitably think about our last life. I remember that he was once Qin Shanshan’s husband.’
’How should I put it... these things... even though I try my best not to think about them, they still pop into my head at times.’
’Judging by Tang Yuanxiao’s behavior in this life, he doesn’t like Qin Shanshan at all; in fact, he seems to detest her.’ Su Li had no idea how or why they got married in their last life.
’Because she didn’t know, she couldn’t be sure if Qin Shanshan would appear again and get entangled with Tang Yuanxiao once more...’