I Give Half of My Life to You

Chapter 11

11: Mess Up Your Room
Lin Miao sat on the ledge of the bed. For convenience's sake, the Young Master gave her some room while he dialed.

Lin Miao quickly took off her shoes and crawled beside him.

The Young Master had many pillows. The two waited nervously yet with anticipation, listening to the beeps while resting on the pillows.

Suddenly, a voice came from the other side, "Hello, who are you looking for?"

Lin Miao's face glowed and she yelled enthusiastically, "Big Sister Da Mei, it's Shuishui!"

Da Mei was the eldest daughter in the village head's family. She was two years older than Lin Miao but was really kind to her.

"Shuishui, I heard Xiao Mei say that you went out to work. Is it fun working out of the village?" Da Mei asked.

"Yes, it's fun." Lin Miao's head was filled with her mom, so she didn't continue further with this and instead asked, "Is my mom home?"

"Aunty Lin went to the town. She left the same day that you left and didn't say when she was coming back..."

Lin Miao's face immediately dimmed. "Oh, okay. Tell Little Mei to study well at home. I'll buy candy for them when I return for the New Year."

Lin Miao hung up. Her smile was uglier than her crying expression. "Mommy went to town, she didn't say when she would return."

"Younger brother is sick; she definitely went to town with Papa."

The Young Master patted her head. "There's six more months until the New Year. I'll go with you then, don't cry."

Lin Miao was feeling low. She came down from the bed. "Six months is so long, I wonder if my mom would be back by then."

"Mm, she will definitely be home by then. Your brother will recover as well." The Young Master's tone was very trustworthy, "Didn't your mom tell you to study? I'll teach you English in these six months. Your mom will definitely be proud of you when you return." They usually didn't have much time, and these classes were basically either Chinese or Math. Furthermore, Lin Miao's school's English class only starts at third grade, she didn't even have many English classes since the middle-school entrance exams only consist of Chinese and Math.

Lin Miao was only able to learn "mess up your room", which meant "good evening," after a greater half of the semester. Her mom made cured meat to reward her the evening she said it to her.

(Note: Mess up your room [鼓捣你屋里] is pronounced gŭ dăo nĭ wū lĭ, it's a Chinese phrase with a similar sound in Lin Miao's dialect to "good evening")

Originally, she had no interest in this, but she picked up her motivation and mood, "Gege, you're so nice."

The Young Master nodded and said solemnly, "I think so too."

The Young Master then pulled himself out of his quilt. "Bring your book."

The Young Master had to cover himself with quilts despite it being summer since his room was air conditioned all the time.

Lin Miao was about to joyously go into the study room next door when the Young Master stopped her. "Don't let anyone see. Get the most inwards book in the lowest right row next to the door."

Lin Miao snuck out as if she was a spy.

The Young Master told her to act carefully because the doctor would definitely comment that he was overworking himself, thus hurting his body. This irritated the Young Master.

Lin Miao was pretty fast and returned surreptitiously.

Empty-handed.

"Where's the book?" The Young Master was confused.