Free Web NovelChapter 281: Chapter 281: Not Pitiful
He rubbed his nose and huffed softly. ’Why tease me if you’re not even going to give me a goodbye kiss...’
He stroked his chin, thinking for a moment before shaking his head. ’Why can’t I stop being such a scoundrel?’
’What’s wrong with me, wanting to tease her the moment I see her?’
As Wu Sheng went downstairs, he thought, ’Whatever this problem is, I kind of like it.’
Wu Sheng smiled, his steps light as he descended the stairs.
After getting in the car, his eyes lit up when he remembered Su Li had promised to knit him a sweater. freēwēbnovel.com
’Hehe... My charm is just irresistible.’
’That whole thing with her hating Old Tang Yu is ancient history, hahaha! Now, I’m the one who reigns supreme in Su Li’s heart!’
Hahaha....
After chuckling to himself for a couple of seconds, Wu Sheng had to admit that, well, besides him, there was a certain Little Point strutting his stuff in there too.
’Hmph, Little Point.’ Wu Sheng huffed softly, wondering, ’What set him off? Why does he suddenly hate me so much?’
He started the car with a dismissive wave of his hand. ’Whatever. I’m getting a sweater from Su Li, so eat your heart out.’
The thought of Little Tang Mo’s cute, helpless look when he got angry made Wu Sheng smile.
’Why is he so possessive at such a young age?’
Wu Sheng couldn’t help but speculate the entire drive.
’What color will Su Li pick? I wonder if she’ll give it to me as a birthday gift?’
Just as Su Li expected, Wu Sheng hadn’t forgotten his birthday.
Besides when he was three or five, in all these years, it had been a long, long time since he had looked forward to his birthday this much.
’Oh man, there are still a few days to go. Why does time feel like it’s moving so slowly?’
Wu Sheng drove away, buzzing with excitement.
Meanwhile, Su Li’s face was burning red from Wu Sheng’s goodbye kiss.
When she turned around, she saw Little Tang Mo watching her with a serious expression.
"What’s wrong, Little Mo?" Su Li asked, trying her best to act casual.
Little Tang Mo looked at the blush on Su Li’s cheeks, pursed his lips, and then smiled, waving the gift list she had written earlier.
"There’s no sweater on the list,"
Little Tang Mo wrote.
"Mom, do you have time to knit a sweater? I want to learn what’s in these books quickly," he wrote, pointing to the box of books.
He was trying everything he could to stop Su Li from knitting a sweater for Tang Yuanxiao.
"You can’t rush your studies. You have to take it slow," Su Li said, stroking Little Tang Mo’s head.
In her past life, she had desperately studied foreign languages to achieve her dreams and make up for the shortcoming of having only a middle school education.
She learned three of them. Besides English, the most common global language, she also studied French and German.
She wasn’t as fluent in German as the other two, but she was still quite good.
Perhaps because she had picked up some techniques from her intense studies, she later went on to learn simple phrases from other languages and found she could pick them up quite quickly.
If all went as planned, Little Tang Mo would eventually leave Huaguo and see the world, so learning a few more foreign languages would be a great advantage.
Seeing Little Tang Mo’s aptitude for learning, Su Li ambitiously wanted to teach him all three languages.
And Little Tang Mo was more than up for the challenge; he wanted to learn all of them, and all at once.
"A balance of work and rest is best," Su Li said as she took out the books and sorted them by category.
Little Tang Mo glanced at Su Li, then looked down at the list she had made.
After a moment, he tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the word "fountain pen" on the list, offering a suggestion.
"Mom, you should give this to Uncle,"
Little Tang Mo wrote.
’As long as it’s not a knitted sweater!’
He wanted to be the only one who received a hand-knitted sweater from his mom. That privilege was his alone.
"A fountain pen, huh? That’s a good idea, too. We can go buy one at the department store sometime," Su Li said, accepting his suggestion.
Looking at the list, Su Li felt a little awkward.
"Alright, Little Mo, let’s put this list away now."
In the end, Little Tang Mo never got Su Li to promise she wouldn’t knit a sweater for Wu Sheng.
Due to the special circumstances, Su Li had always been sleeping in the same bed as Little Tang Mo.
But that night, Little Tang Mo announced that he wanted to sleep by himself.
"I’m a big boy now, so I should sleep by myself. Don’t worry, Mom," he wrote.
Although Su Li was a little worried, she respected his decision.
"Alright. If you need anything, or if you get scared, come find me right away."
After giving him a few more words of encouragement, Su Li finally turned off the light and left.
After getting into bed, Su Li started thinking about what color of yarn to buy.
She had knitted many sweaters in her past life, but she’d sold most of them.
She had also knitted sweaters for Yu Zhengqing and Ling Zhen, but her feelings then were completely different from how she felt now.
’This is the first time I’m knitting a sweater for a man with such a clear purpose.’
’That Tang Yuanxiao sweater doesn’t count! I knitted that one for myself.’
Su Li thought it over and over. ’Black or blue, perhaps...’
’There will be more yarn colors and more choices in the future, but for now, the selection is a bit limited.’
’I’d better start knitting soon. There isn’t much time.’
Su Li was a fast knitter, but this time she wanted to use a new pattern.
It was more time-consuming and complex, but it would also look much nicer.
She could guarantee it would be one of a kind.
Wu Sheng had asked for a sweater, and he would definitely think it was his birthday gift, but Su Li felt it wasn’t enough.
She wanted to do more.
Wu Sheng had told her before that he didn’t want her feelings for him to be mixed with too much gratitude.
Su Li was grateful to Wu Sheng, but that was only part of it.
Humans aren’t made of stone; how could she be unfeeling?
After all this time, she had seen everything Wu Sheng had done, all the care and effort he put in.
And so... she wanted to give him more.
More surprises, just like the ones he had given her.
Su Li thought and thought, for a long, long time.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, an idea suddenly struck her.
She shot upright in bed.
"Yes, yes, that would make a perfect birthday gift! Right, why didn’t I think of that before? Wu Sheng... he’ll definitely love it!"
After thinking for so long, tonight, Su Li had finally decided on the perfect birthday gift for Wu Sheng.
Su Li, excited and happy, fell asleep feeling completely satisfied.
In Little Tang Mo’s room, just a wall away, the atmosphere was completely different.
A stifling feeling filled the entire room.
He lay flat on his back, his eyes open in the darkness. Again and again, he silently opened his mouth, trying with all his might to practice making a sound.
’He didn’t want people to say his mother was pitiful.’
’Mom has me. How could she be pitiful?’
’He wouldn’t allow it.’
’And he didn’t want Wu Sheng, either.’
’He didn’t want someone who would despise him in the future, someone who would only reluctantly accept him. He didn’t want it. He didn’t want any of it!’
’If he could just speak, who would dare call him a little mute anymore!’
’If he could just speak, who would dare say his mother was pitiful!’
’He would make his mother the happiest mother in the world!’
Layer after layer of cold sweat beaded on his skin, only to dry before a fresh wave took its place.
Little Tang Mo tried with all his might, again and again, but each time was a failure.
A silent, hoarse "Ah!" tore from him, making his throat ache with a raw pain.
Drenched in a cold sweat, Little Tang Mo shot up in bed.
He snatched the notepad from the nightstand and wrote furiously.
"Why isn’t it working? Why isn’t it working!"
"I’m not afraid of Grandma. I’m not afraid of her. I’m not afraid of her..."
His hands trembled as he desperately tried to suppress the terror buried deep in his heart.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he slammed his head hard against the wall.
