Zoe Young turned around and, with a bright smile, steered the conversation back to the experiment. Facing everyone’s suddenly enlightened expressions, she gave a very gracious concluding speech. For her crisis management and the excellent cooperation from that Romeo in the audience, the crowd responded with enthusiastic applause in appreciation.

When Mia Waters stepped off the stage, all he felt was emptiness and disappointment. While Zoe Young was patting her chest in relief, repeating “We finally muddled through,” he remained unusually quiet.

His own awkward performance was no longer worth being upset about; what bothered him was that he actually cared whether he had been awkward.

This intense sense of gain and loss, after being illuminated by their dazzling confrontation, broke through the surface and soared upward.

Maybe, years from now, when he thought back to this open class, he would only remember two moments.

One was Zoe Young standing calmly at the front, smiling as she said, “Everyone in the audience is a pig, pig, pig!”

The other was the boy in the white shirt, stepping forward at the crucial moment, speaking confidently, and finally, as if no one else was there, looking intently at Zoe Young and saying, “I’m sorry,” in front of the packed audience.

Mia Waters thought a little sadly that, no matter how warmly Zoe Young invited him, he was never qualified to say “Everyone in the audience is a pig.”

On their stage, he was the pig.

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8. Things One Can Do

Fastest update of the latest chapter of Hello, Old Times!

“The teacher’s treating us?”

“Yeah, it’s already past two in the afternoon. Everyone’s starving. The other students went back to school first, and the eight of us who did the experiment with the physics teacher are going to the nearby KFC.”

Zoe Young thought for a moment. “Mia Waters, tell the teacher for me, I have something to do, I need to go home for a bit, I have to...

Go home for a bit.”

“Go home?”

Before Mia Waters could finish, Zoe Young had already turned and run out.

The High School Affiliated to the Normal University was right next to the university itself. On her way to the bus stop, she passed the university’s main gate. Zoe Young slowed her pace, suddenly remembering a certain overcast morning when the place was bustling with parents and students, and the hope shining in their eyes.

Where were those people now? Of all the dreams and ambitions they had back then, how much was left after ten years?

Still lost in thought, Zoe Young suddenly heard a burst of off-key erhu music.

It was as if a string in her heart had been plucked. Zoe Young turned a corner and easily found, under the bridge, the old beggar wearing the same clothes and sunglasses as that year.

“...Why are you still here?”

And still playing the erhu so badly. Zoe Young swallowed the second half of her sentence.

The old beggar, just like before, lowered his head and looked at her over the top of his sunglasses, deep wrinkles forming on his forehead.

He studied her for a long time, then suddenly grinned, revealing a mouthful of golden yellow teeth.

“Girl, I remember you.”

Zoe Young smiled. Another winter had come. The little girl who once cried over math competitions and her future had been swept away by the flood of time. Looking back now, all those worries seemed so childish. In fact, she might have had a chance to get into the High School Affiliated to the Normal University—but Zoe Young knew that blaming herself was pointless; looking back, nothing was really a big deal.

She suddenly wished she could use Doraemon’s time machine to go back, to see if she could meet her old self—

Was Zoe Young of that time destined to live forever in tears and despair?

“Do you want to hear a song I wrote myself?”

Zoe Young shook her head. “I didn’t bring any money.”

The old beggar curled his lip. “Don’t try to fool me. If you don’t want to spend money, just say so. That song is only for people willing to pay to hear it. You don’t know good music, girl.”

Zoe Young laughed. “Other than me being silly back then, do you really think anyone else would pay five yuan to hear your lousy song?”

The old beggar smiled mysteriously. “You don’t get it, do you? Last winter, a kid gave me fifty yuan and stood here for twenty minutes without moving, just to hear the same song you listened to.”

“What?” Zoe Young was stunned.

“How would I know which song he wanted? I have so many pieces, I can’t even fit them all in a basket. He stood here describing it for ages,” the old beggar imitated the boy’s tone, “‘It’s the little girl who gave you money to play the erhu, about this tall, with a ponytail, wearing a black coat and a red scarf’...”

After finishing, he grinned mischievously, his golden teeth dazzling Zoe Young. Suddenly, her nose stung, and the grievance she’d suppressed in her chest because of Andrew Lane’s coldness and harshness was instantly released.

“I told you, if you don’t want to listen, someone else will appreciate it...”

The old beggar was still rambling and showing off, but when he looked up, he found the sidewalk in front of him was already empty.

Zoe Young hurried home, because this evening was important. She needed to ask for leave to go home early and “get ready,” because her mom said she wanted her to meet an uncle on Christmas Eve.

There were always uncles pursuing her mom, but none had ever been introduced to Zoe Young, and they always disappeared quickly.

When she was little, she would ask, “Why doesn’t Uncle so-and-so call anymore?”

Her mom would always pat her head and say, “If he’s gone, he’s gone. Just pretend he never showed up.”

So today’s uncle definitely wasn’t someone who would just disappear.

Anyone her mom valued, Zoe Young would value even more. As she grew up, sometimes she and her mom would talk about these things, even some taboo stories from the past.

That’s why Zoe Young especially hoped her mom could be happy. There’s a kind of happiness in the world that Zoe Young could never give her mom, no matter how hardworking or sensible she was.

When she appeared at the revolving restaurant entrance, dressed up and holding her mom’s hand, she couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. Her mom’s hand was still soft and warm, constantly giving her strength.

“Hello, Uncle Quinn.” She looked up at the tall middle-aged man in front of her and smiled sweetly.

“Hello, 周周.” Uncle Quinn gently patted her head with his big hand, as if she were a small animal.

Sitting at the table, Uncle Quinn frowned and stared at the menu for a long time, then suddenly burst out laughing, scratching his head a little sheepishly as he said to Zoe Young, “周周, you and your mom order. I’ll eat anything.”

Zoe Young was a little surprised and leaned forward to ask, “So, uncle, is there nothing you especially like to eat?”

“Sure there is,” Uncle Quinn’s smile was a bit like Guo Jing from the Wong Yat Wah version, “I like your mom’s zhajiang noodles.”

“You’re so unserious.” Zoe Young’s mom rolled her eyes at him.

Zoe Young was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously. “I like them too. Uncle, you have great taste.”

Uncle Quinn was different from those refined uncles. He wasn’t pretentious or showy, and his smile was a little goofy, but it felt warm.

It was just a warm feeling. Like a real father.

And he liked watching cartoons, and martial arts and detective novels, and more importantly, he was an engineer and really good at math...

When they got home, her mom was still running the bath. Zoe Young slipped into the bathroom, grinning cheekily. “Uncle Quinn is pretty cute.”

A forty-two-year-old man being called cute—who knows if that counts as a compliment.

“You skipped class this afternoon, didn’t you? I saw you at home as soon as I got back from work.”

“Hehe,” Zoe Young quickly changed the subject, “Can Uncle Quinn go with me to buy a computer?”

Her mom sighed and turned off the shower, the sound of water stopping abruptly.

“周周, do you really like him?”

Zoe Young looked up. Her mom’s face, still with makeup on, barely showed any signs of age—her skin was still smooth and flawless, but only 周周 knew about the puffy bags and fine lines beneath the mask. When her mom rushed between home and the office in ten-centimeter heels like a superwoman, all Zoe Young could do was not add to her burden—so she desperately hoped for someone who could truly lighten her mom’s load.

Anyone would do, as long as he had a straight back, a broad chest, and a warm smile.

She knew her mom didn’t want to see her pretending to be accommodating or generous for some reason, acting as if she didn’t care about her mom remarrying—but she really didn’t mind, in fact, she was very much looking forward to it.

“I like him. As long as you like him, I’ll like him too,” Zoe Young said solemnly.