novelcity
Chapter 174 - 174 175 Encounter (4)_1
Chapter 174 - 174 175 Encounter (4)_1
?Chapter 174: Chapter 175: Encounter (4)_1 Chapter 174: Chapter 175: Encounter (4)_1 “Jing Haohao?” Principal Fang muttered the name twice, then, with a sudden understanding, nodded his head and said: “Haohao, indeed. You’ve asked the right person, she made quite an impression on me more than any other student I remember.”
Principal Fang paused for a moment and asked, “But what do you want to know?”
“Anything that you recall, anything at all, just say it.”
Principal Fang chuckled softly, giving Liang Chen a curious, somewhat teasing look, and asked, “Are you her boyfriend?”
Liang Chen flushed a little and chuckled awkwardly without answering, only lowering his head and taking a sip of his drink.
Principal Fang drank a lot, but his thoughts remained clear. After downing a large mouthful of alcohol and savoring the taste, he began his tale, “Haohao was tiny when I first met her, only four years old.
“Her mother sent her to the school’s preschool class. At the time, we didn’t really have kindergartens, and all the preschools accepted were five-year-olds. I mentioned her being too young and didn’t want to admit her, but her mother insisted. As we were all fellow villagers, it was hard to refuse. And do you know what happened when she joined?”
“Our class was full of more than thirty children, all older than her, some by a year, some by two. But the day their parents left, Haohao was the only one who didn’t cry. She was very well-behaved.”
“I remembered her instantly. She was thin, a year younger, not very tall, and easily overlooked amid the taller children. But she was beautiful, just like her mother—who was renowned for her beauty in our town.”
“She was young but smart and mature for her age. An only child, but not at all spoiled. The other students liked her, and she was always eager to help others. Mmm… She especially loved painting… Speaking of which, I just remembered something. Wait here, I’ll fetch it for you.”
With that, Principal Fang rose to his feet, walked into another room, and emerged about five minutes later with a box. He opened it, rummaged through it for a while, and took out an old painting and handed it to Liang Chen, saying, “This painting was drawn by Haohao when she was eight years old. It won the grand prize in a local children’s painting competition. Take a look.”
The painting was somewhat worn out; the watercolors had faded, and the brushwork was a bit childish. Many of the curves were slightly distorted.
Nevertheless, for an eight-year-old, this painting was already quite exceptional.
The painting by Jing Haohao depicted a glass house surrounded by a multitude of blossoming flowers. Inside were a hammock, a table, a pair of chairs, and more flowers.
A wind chime hung at the entrance to the glass house, and on the window was a birdcage containing two songbirds.
Liang Chen looked very absorbed, almost entranced, by this rather unremarkable painting.
Ignoring Liang Chen, Principal Fang continued drinking and speaking, “She named this painting ‘The Most Beautiful House in My Heart.'”
“But speaking of Haohao, I remember a funny thing. Despite her beauty and artistic skills, her essays were rather mediocre.”
Principal Fang searched through the box again, and after a moment, produced a test paper, handing it to Liang Chen, “Take a look at this; it’s an essay she wrote.”
The topic of the essay was “My Dad”.
Liang Chen couldn’t help but cracked a smile as he read the first sentence.
“My dad has a face full of black and white beard.”