Redeeming Love

Chapter 11 New Tutor

The next day, I finally received a reply from Tang Hai.

As soon as I opened it, my heart felt cold. He said, "I've been busy lately, so let my friend be your tutor until school starts."

My fingers hovered over the keyboard for a while before I typed, "Okay, I'm sorry to trouble your friend during this time. The dress is very pretty, and my mom asked me to thank you."

Actually, my mom didn't notice or know anything, but I had to say something to continue the conversation.

It took Tang Hai several hours to reply, "You're welcome." Nothing had happened. I still couldn't help but tear up.

I hung the dress deep in my closet, and the silver-grey mist twisted around it, as graceful as the willows in West Lake in early spring when I first tried it on. But now, every time I saw it, all I could think of was Tang Hai's decisive departure, leaving me feeling lost and wronged.

Tang Hai's friend, whose name was Xu, was just as smart as Tang Hai. He explained the concepts clearly in a few words. Xu was much nicer than Tang Hai; when I made a mistake, he would just explain it again. Unlike Tang Hai, who either looked at me with a mocking smile or hit my head without mercy.

One day, I shrunk back when I made the same mistake again. Xu laughed at first and said, "What are you hiding from? I'm not going to hit you." Suddenly, I came to my senses and realized that the person in front of me was not Tang Hai. I missed Tang Hai very much, I found.

Once, when Xu was in a good mood, I asked him about Tang Hai's recent situation in a roundabout way. He thought for a moment and laughed, "This guy is idle at home. His advisor has a collaborative project in China, and he just needs to show up and take a look. He's much more leisurely than us."

Is that so? But he clearly said he had been busy recently. If he had time, why wouldn't he continue to teach me? I bit my lip and felt a thousand thoughts racing through my mind. I accidentally wrote the wrong formula again.

The winter vacation was coming to an end, and Xu brought a test paper for me to practice under a time limit. The test paper had a full score of 120 points, and I got 107 points in the end. Xu was quite happy and asked me what gift I wanted.

I was a little surprised. But he seemed to have let something slip and laughed a bit awkwardly, saying, "I'd already thought about it before I came. If your score is more than 100 points, I'll give you a small prize."

He was lying.

That was clearly the promise Tang Hai had made to me when he first came to tutor me in physics. He was at a loss at first and didn't know how to deal with a high school student like me. To make me study hard, he promised me a gift if I could score 100 points or more.

Later on, he left and I almost forgot about the promise, but it was brought up again by Xu. "Did Tang Hai tell him? Otherwise, how would he know?" I thought in my mind.

Professor Xu urged me, "Muyi?"

Slowly, a crazy idea grew in my heart.

I pursed my lips and finally said, "The gift I want is, can I have a meal with you and teacher Tang?"

He laughed, "Is that it? You're not going to rip him off... or rip me off a little?"

I nodded, "This is enough."

In front of me, Xu made a video call to Tang Hai.

"Where are you, Tang?"

The familiar voice sounded groggy, "I'm at home."

"Guess where I am?" Teacher Xu asked.

The phone screen suddenly turned and the camera was facing me, and I saw Tang Hai. He was putting on a shirt and not looking at his phone. The sunlight shone faintly on his abdomen, and I was a little dazzled.

Teacher Xu caught my expression and said, "Why don't you say hello to your nephew?"

Tang Hai also heard it, suddenly turned his head, caught a glimpse of me through the screen, and hung up quickly.

I dumbly handed the phone back to Teacher Xu, "He hung up."

Teacher Xu commented, "This guy probably adjusts his time for his tutor again and again, turning day into night. Wait for me, I'll call him back."

It took a while before he picked up the call this time. In the video, Tang Hai was dressed and looked normal. I, on the other hand, looked nervous and avoided looking at him.

Seeing me, he just asked, "What's up?" The tone was still polite, distant, and kept people at a thousand miles' distance.

The just-passed intimacy had vanished into thin air, and my heart became heavy again. Teacher Xu answered for me, "She scored 107 on the paper you made, and you...oh, no, didn't I plan to give her a gift? She said she wants to have a meal with us."

Afraid of exposing my intentions, I quickly added, "It's not a gift. My physics grades have improved, and my mom is very happy. I want to thank you two teachers."

Tang Hai uttered a sound of agreement, "Hmm," and said emotionlessly, "I'm busy these days, you can invite Teacher Xu to have a meal."

Teacher Xu seemed particularly familiar with Tang Hai, and teased him, "Are you so busy that you don't even have time to eat?"

Tang Hai was even colder towards him, and said directly, "No. Anything else? If not, I'll hang up."

Then he really hung up.

Teacher Xu shrugged and said, "Has your uncle really taught you physics for so long? His character doesn't seem to be suitable for tutoring."

I forced a smile. I didn't know what Tang Hai's true character was like. The only thing that was certain was that he really didn't want to see me.

After a brief chat, Teacher Xu left. I locked the door and took out the notebook I had locked in the drawer, silently writing.

Before meeting Tang Hai, this notebook was empty. Now, every word and sentence in it was about him.

Flipping through it slowly, turning dozens of pages, I turned the pen and wrote today's date.

"H, I don't know if I did something wrong to make you angry and not want to talk to me. But I miss you a lot, and I can't say it. I don't have the right to say it."

Lost in thought again, a blot of ink appeared on the tip of the pen, and tears inexplicably fell from my eyes.

My mother knocked on the door, and I quickly wiped away my tears, hurriedly closed my notebook and opened the door.

Her gaze lingered on my eyes for a moment, but she didn't show any emotion and only said, "Muyi, come eat dinner."

I nodded.

There were a lot of dishes on the table today that I love to eat, which surprised me.

Immediately, I was filled with joy.

My mother even remembered what I like to eat.

My stepfather used his chopsticks to pick up a braised chicken wing and put it in my bowl. I quickly said, "Thank you, Uncle."

When I was halfway through the chicken wing, my stepfather and mother exchanged a glance, and my mother cleared her throat and said, "Muyi, there's something we need to tell you."

I bit down on the chicken wing and looked up at her.

She smiled and said, "Mom is pregnant, and you're going to be a big sister."

I nodded slowly and said, "Congratulations."

Actually, her figure had become more and more bloated, and her belly was clearly visible.

My mother paused for a moment and said, "Don't tell your father yet. He's not thinking clearly, and I don't want him to disrupt my normal life."

I nodded and thought for a moment before asking, "Did you wait until now to tell me because you thought I would tell Dad?"

She laughed awkwardly and said, "How could that be? It's just that the fetal image was unstable before, and it wasn't good to talk about it outside."

Everyone, including Tang Hai, knew about the news, except for me, the "outsider."

I didn't say anything else and just buried my head and continued eating.

A month ago, I had tossed and turned over this matter, unable to sleep.

But today, a month later, I was able to keep quiet and accept it.

No one spoke at the dinner table, and I only occasionally heard the sound of utensils hitting the dishes.

At this moment, I suddenly remembered the day when I was soaking in the hot spring, crying in my dreams. Tang Hai didn't comfort me; he only wiped away the tears under my eyes.

His fingertips were dry and warm.

Tang Hai, why am I thinking of you again?

And just thinking of you, I want to cry.