Chapter 441: Chapter 413: Black, Let’s Have Some Lamb Skewers!_2 Chapter 441: Chapter 413: Black, Let’s Have Some Lamb Skewers!_2 Xiong Xiong straightened his face and imitated the expression of their junior high school Chinese teacher, saying seriously, “Your lack of grace is extreme!”

“Just a few days ago, when I was at the vegetable market helping my mom carry the basket, I ran into that teacher; she looked much older.”

“Let’s make time to visit those teachers from junior high, they don’t live far from here anyway,” Jiao Yuan suggested.

“Sure, let’s include our high school teachers as well. We can probably only come back once or twice a year.”

…

The year went by fairly smoothly.

Jiao Yuan, Su An, and Lan Tianzhu couldn’t stay at home until the Lantern Festival; they had left one after the other after the eleventh day, causing Jiao Ma to cry for several days. Jiao Ma wasn’t the only one; Su An’s and Lan Tianzhu’s families reacted the same way.

Su An’s mom even came over and cried with Jiao Ma, “When he’s not home, I miss him so much, and when he’s back, it feels noisy after just a few days. I even told him to ‘go back to school when it starts,’ but now that he’s gone, my heart is…”

Without finishing her sentence, both mothers were overwhelmed with tears.

Zheng Tan hesitated outside the door, not daring to go in, afraid of being pulled in to lighten the mood. He thought about the paths Jiao Yuan and the others had chosen; they would likely continue their studies or go abroad, as many fields were more authoritative internationally, and many things in China were not recognized internationally. So the chances of them returning to Chuhua University were slim. Could it be that for the next few years, every time the children left home, there would be a gathering of mothers crying together?

Perhaps they would get used to it after a while.

Certainly, the advancement of technology has made it much easier for people living apart to keep in touch. Jiao Ma video calls and phones Jiao Yuan every week, and sends texts from time to time, which is much better than hoping for a slow letter like in the days before telephones.

As the new semester approached, and Jiao Ma got busy, there was less time to dwell on sadness.

While walking around the perimeter wall outside the school, Zheng Tan picked up a pencil and added a record “February 28, 2011”, feeling that this message was too plain, he looked up at the big sun in the sky and drew a circle behind the date, and added a few “hairs” outside the circle.

Zheng Tan had lunch at Mr. Jiao’s office at noon. Yi Xin now comes here, every day to eat together. Mr. Jiao is leading a major project, and Yi Xin is also involved. Sometimes, the teacher and student would discuss the progress of the project for a long time and then delegate tasks to the research students they were supervising.

“Hey, Mr. Jiao, when do you think I can make a name for myself?” Yi Xin was much more casual when alone with Professor Jiao.

Mr. Jiao looked up at Yi Xin and said, “When they no longer call you ‘Senior Brother Yi’.”

Because Yi Xin was quite amiable and only a few years older than many graduate students, many people in the institute followed Mr. Jiao’s students and called Yi Xin “Senior Brother Yi” instead of “Mr. Yi.” However, there was truth in what Mr. Jiao said; once Yi Xin made a name for himself, even if he seemed approachable, no student would dare to call him so casually.

Speaking of the recent experiments with the lab mice, Yi Xin thought about the red rat that was strictly monitored.

Thanks to this red rat, the institute has supported several high-impact factor articles, and even today, all the big shots at the Life Science Institute still treat it as a precious item. Its food is carefully formulated and any leftovers are discarded the same day. Collecting a blood sample is done with utmost caution, caution, and more caution. The big shots don’t dare to let young students handle it, fearing they might apply too much force, like they do with the other lab mice, and accidentally break the red rat’s spinal cord, otherwise, the teachers would collectively faint in the Life Science Institute’s bathroom.

Luckily, the red rat is still robust, and although it’s not as enthusiastic as when it first arrived, its vitality is still much stronger than that of other mice. At this rate, it wouldn’t be a problem for the red mouse to live another three to five years, which many consider miraculous. Nowadays, the red rat is a bit “gentler”, but those in charge of taking samples and feeding it still proceed with caution, because getting bitten is no small matter.

The institute did want to use this red rat to breed more red offspring, but unfortunately, they have never succeeded. Either the white mice sent in were bitten to death, or the offspring born didn’t have the red color and had various congenital diseases. Some people tried cloning, but alas, that wasn’t successful either. Moreover, if they pushed too hard, the red rat would go on a hunger strike, scaring the big shots, who normally maintain a dignified presence even in front of provincial leaders, into a state of panic. They would quickly back off, as any irregular bowel movements or unusual stool from this little guy could prompt the big shots to hold a meeting to discuss a solution. After all, to many people, the red rat was already getting old, and they wondered how to cope if it suddenly passed away.

As he spoke, Yi Xin looked at the Black Cat dozing off beside him and thought, “This cat has also aged quite a bit over the years.”

Zheng Tan, however, didn’t notice Yi Xin’s expression. After filling his belly and taking a nap here, he slipped out the window to leave. He had to pick up Zhuo Xiaomao at the Affiliated Primary School that afternoon. Xiao Zhuo had a meeting today and had planned to ask a student under Buddha to lend a hand, but Zhuo Xiaomao declined and instead called the Jiao family to have Zheng Tan pick her up.

Since Zheng Tan had nothing else to do and had picked up Little Youzi in the past, he headed over there.

Today, the Affiliated Primary School let out early, ending two lessons ahead of schedule for interest group activities, which Zhuo Xiaomao hadn’t signed up for. After class, she came out with her backpack on.

Seeing Zheng Tan squatting on the school wall, Zhuo Xiaomao’s eyes lit up. Calling out “Black”, she bounded over, with the pencil case in her bag rattling loudly.

Zhuo Xiaomao was now in the second semester of the second grade, and frankly, with her knowledge and ability, it was an understatement for her to be in this grade. But young talent classes and such didn’t appeal to Xiao Zhuo; she preferred to have Zhuo Xiaomao learn and socialize with children her age, to become a part of their generation.

In class, Zhuo Xiaomao often didn’t even look at the textbook and just read her own books, which the teachers didn’t object to. Many of the books she read and the questions she asked were beyond the primary school teachers’ ability to answer. Added to that, Buddha and Xiao Zhuo had both explained the situation to the teachers, so the substitute teachers didn’t try to constrain Zhuo Xiaomao.

Upon seeing Zheng Tan, Zhuo Xiaomao pulled out the 10 yuan from her pocket and waved it at Zheng Tan, saying, “Black, let me treat you to some lamb skewers!”

Zheng Tan looked at Zhuo Xiaomao. Wasn’t the child planning to go straight home? However, it seemed that Zhuo Xiaomao had something on her mind today. Shaking his head, Zheng Tan quickly followed her.

Little Point, Zhuo Xiaomao, headed to the school gate with practiced ease and bought two lamb skewers. Xiao Zhuo had told her that the food outside wasn’t clean and should not be eaten too often, so she just bought some to satiate her cravings.

After the purchase, she didn’t head straight back to the West District courtyard, but instead took a seat on a wooden bench along a small path in the campus, handing one skewer to Zheng Tan while she ate the other.

With Zhuo Xiaomao helping to hold it, Zheng Tan only needed to move his mouth to eat.

As they ate, Zhuo Xiaomao suddenly said, “Black, I think I may end up having another dad soon.”

Cough!

Zheng Tan, who was in the midst of enjoying his lamb skewer, choked quite spectacularly. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (wuxiaworld.site) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.wuxiaworld.site to read.)