"What are you going to do-"
"Just do Auntie a favor." Xu Ruyi's voice was very low. In fact, she didn't need to lower her voice deliberately because Ding Guisheng and his friends were talking intensely at the moment. The men were blushing and grabbing each other's arms. His wrists, speaking personal words as if in a quarrel, almost brought down the entire roof.
In this context, Hestad couldn't even hear what Xu Ruyi was saying. Xu Ruyi raised her head and looked into Hesta's eyes, with some pleading in her eyes.
"Xiao Qing seems to have something on her mind recently. I mentioned it and asked, but it's no use. It's great that she is willing to go out with you today... You guys have a chat, relax, and talk about some topics about you young people—— "
"Of course, no problem," Hesta looked at her, "But you don't have to give me money."
"You take the money first," Xu Ruyi said quickly, "Auntie will reimburse you for whatever you go out to play or eat."
"Let's go to the Hope Center. It doesn't cost anything to go there—"
"After going to the Hope Center, why don't we go to the city center for a walk?" Xu Ruyi said, "Go buy some clothes, eat something...and watch a movie?"
The two parties tried to shirk several times, until Ding Guisheng patted the table and called Xu Ruyi to come over. Xu Ruyi took a few steps back and left the door of Hesta's room as if running away.
…
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Hesta and Ding Yuqing walked out of the door of the Hope Center together.
This afternoon, they first listened to the children's chorus rehearsal together, and then went to the activity room to do crafts together. When they arrived, they were empty-handed. When they left, Hesta's bag contained a can of paper stars. After returning from the city hall last time, Eleven and Qiqi found time to fold them together. During the afternoon activities, Ding Yuqing also taught Qiqi and the others how to fold a robin, which made the children's eyes look straight.
Ding Yuqing was in a good mood all the way from the Hope Center to the station and chatted a lot about the children with Hesta. She was surprised that Hesta, as a visitor from the third district, first became familiar with a welfare agency that took in street children without being familiar with the place.
"Where are you going next?" Ding Yuqing asked.
"Do you want to go downtown?"
"What to do?"
Hesta started to dig in her pockets, "...buy some clothes, eat something, and watch a movie."
Ding Yuqing suddenly stopped, and half of the smile on her face faded.
Hesta quickly felt something was wrong, "...what's wrong?"
"You asked me at noon yesterday if I wanted to come to the Hope Center. Was it on my mother's behalf?"
Hesta suddenly realized where the problem was - she once again experienced Ding Yuqing's terrible intuition, so she stopped and answered seriously, "No. Your mother gave me some money before going out today. Let me talk to you about young people - I was still at school when I sent you a message yesterday, and asking you whether you want to come over has nothing to do with your mother."
Ding Yuqing looked at Hesta's face suspiciously, not entirely convinced by this explanation.
"Where's the money?"
Hesta handed the stack of banknotes that Xu Ruyi pushed to her into Ding Yuqing's hand.
"Let's go back directly," Ding Yuqing said softly, "Don't tell her that you gave me the money directly."
"If she doesn't ask, I won't tell."
"You don't have to tell her if she asks."
"Ask me and tell the truth."
"...If you want to say it, just say it."
"Why can't you tell me?"
"You - so annoying." Ding Yuqing glared at her, "Do you want to tell me that you are a person who can't lie?"
"...It depends on the situation."
"Then why did you go behind my back and secretly find Mrs. Kajia last week?"
This time it was Hesta's turn to be surprised. After a while, she said: "...So during this time, are you angry with me?"
"I'm not angry!" Ding Yuqing said immediately, "Don't change the subject."
"I did go to that cafe this week because a friend of mine told me that Mrs. Katja is very good at playing chess and I can go to her for advice." Hesta replied, "This matter has nothing to do with you. Say it wasn’t intentional, and of course I would tell you if you asked.”
"Playing chess? Is it just for playing chess?" Ding Yuqing observed Hesta's expression, "But the people in the cafe told me that you asked her to... about divination!"
"The person at the cafe asked me that, so I made an appointment...I'm also very interested in divination," Hesta replied, "Do you have any questions?"
"...Then what is the result of your divination?"
"We haven't met yet. We originally made an appointment for Friday night, but later we tentatively decided to reschedule it for Sunday - isn't this what you informed me yesterday?"
Ding Yuqing said nothing more, just walked forward quickly for a while.
Not far away, the car they were going to take was slowly approaching. Before getting on the car, Ding Yuqing suddenly asked: "...Didn't the people in the cafe tell you what 'divination' means?"
It was only then that Hesta realized the difference between her and Ding Yuqing's understanding of "divination". However, before she could ask further questions, Ding Yuqing had already shaken her head again, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. .”
She quickly got on the car and quickly squeezed into the back row of the car. Hesta was always two or three people away from her and did not come forward to ask questions. This somewhat gave Ding Yuqing some relief.
When the two of them returned to the family area, Ding Yuqing suddenly started to rummage through her bag.
"By the way, I have a gift for you...I kept forgetting it this afternoon."
A small white plastic box was handed to Hestad. On it was a machine that looked slightly like a hair dryer, but the head was shorter than the hair dryer.
"What's this?"
"Hair removal device." Ding Yuqing said, "My classmates and I drew this one in a lottery this morning... This one is very easy to use, with a large light emitting area and high energy. I already have one myself, and I will give this to you."
Hesta held it in his hand and observed it for a moment.
"There are instructions inside," Ding Yuqing said, "You stick it on the area where you want to remove hair - such as the forearms, armpits, and around the lips. The pulse light shines on the roots of your hair. The melanin absorbs the energy, and the hair follicles will advance. Entering the resting phase...it works well if you keep using it.”
"Why use this?"
"Why..." Ding Yuqing laughed, "To look good in clothes in the summer? But if you find it troublesome, you can also use beeswax, but that is very painful and easily irritated."
Hesta also put the box into his schoolbag, "Okay, I'll go back and study it."
…
At night, Hestad sat alone at his desk, editing the complaint letter to the school inspection team. She spent about an hour drafting the draft. She first sent the electronic version to the supervision team's email address, then copied it and prepared to go to the school tomorrow and drop it directly into the relevant email box.
(End of chapter)
