Madam, Please Behave-Chapter 288: Dawnlight

Liu Changqing noticed An Yuanyao’s concerns and quickly tried to comfort her.

“You don’t have to worry. Once you figure out that kid’s personality… it’s actually pretty easy to handle her the right way.”

“Handle her the right way?”

An Yuanyao was confused for a moment when she heard this kind of talk from Liu Changqing. But when she asked for clarification, Liu Changqing just acted mysterious, refusing to explain.

Not long after, Feng Qian called. Liu Changqing answered, said a few words, then turned and called out toward Liu Xiazhi’s room.

“Xiazhi, come out, time for school!”

There was no reply at first, but after a few moments, the door opened, and Liu Xiazhi stepped out with her backpack on, head hanging low.

Maybe she was feeling guilty—she didn’t make eye contact with either of the two at the breakfast table. She just mumbled,

“I’m going to school…”

Then she put on her shoes and went out the door.

As the door shut behind her with a soft click, An Yuanyao looked even more down. She started wondering if she had done something recently that made Liu Xiazhi upset.

Before she could figure out what went wrong, she felt Liu Changqing gently pat her shoulder.

Turning her head, she looked at Liu Changqing with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t get it… Why is Xiazhi suddenly pulling away from me?”

“That’s just how she is… How should I put it? One word—tsundere.”

With that word, Liu Changqing continued trying to reassure her.

“I actually thought Xiazhi would be the first one to call you ‘Mom.’ Based on what I know about the two kids, Zhiyue’s the tougher one when it comes to opening up. I don’t know what changed, but now that Xiazhi is the only one left—it’s actually easier to work with.”

An Yuanyao was a little dizzy listening to him talk.

Before she could ask more, she saw Liu Changqing get up from his seat and go back into his room. A moment later, he returned with a few notebooks in hand.

He sat back down and placed the notebooks on the table.

“Xiazhi’s the type who’s terrified of being scolded by teachers, so she always finishes her homework every day. Last night, while she was asleep, I took all her notebooks out of her backpack. She’ll probably find out they’re missing when the teacher collects them this morning.”

“Why would you take her homework notebooks?!”

An Yuanyao was shocked by what Liu Changqing just said. She immediately grabbed Xiazhi’s homework and was about to rush out the door.

But Liu Changqing stopped her.

He quickly stood up and held her back, making sure she didn’t lose her balance. Then he explained hurriedly,

“Xiazhi already accepts you in her heart. She just needs one last push.”

He looked into her eyes and continued,

“Once she works through that emotional block, we’ll finally be able to live together in true harmony.”

At school.

Feng Shuyan noticed Liu Xiazhi looked a little down and tried asking her about it, but all she got in return was a shake of the head.

As her best friend, Feng Shuyan couldn’t help feeling worried.

Once they got to class, she put her backpack down on the desk and immediately placed her homework on top—it was to be collected by the group leader that day. Then she stuffed her bag back into the desk.

After she finished all that, she saw Liu Xiazhi staring blankly into her backpack.

She seemed completely spaced out. When Feng Shuyan noticed, she asked,

“What’s wrong?”

“My homework’s gone!”

Liu Xiazhi turned around in panic to face Feng Shuyan. Just in those few seconds, she looked like she was about to cry. Her voice trembled with fear.

“They’re huge notebooks! A bunch of them… and they’re all gone!”

“Check carefully—maybe they’re stuck between some books?”

“No… no, they’re not!”

Liu Xiazhi dug into her backpack with her small hands, flipping through everything frantically, hoping to find her homework notebooks.

But the truth was—she’d never find them.

She dumped the entire contents of her bag onto the desk. Staring at the scattered stuff in front of her, she still couldn’t find a single homework book.

Panic surged through her.

She sniffled, tears welling up as if she were about to cry. In that moment, Liu Xiazhi felt like her entire world had gone dark.

She couldn’t be happy like before anymore.

Looking up, she saw the group leaders in the front row starting to collect homework. She slumped in her seat, feeling like her soul had left her body.

Head hung low, silent.

The whole scene scared Feng Shuyan too. She wanted to comfort her, but before she could say anything, she heard Liu Xiazhi mumbling under her breath.

“Shuyan… tell my dad… I really like him. I really like… Aunt An too… sob sob sob!”

Sadness overtook her. It felt like she was saying her final words, like she had no hope left for the future.

She had seen it with her own eyes—other classmates who forgot to finish their homework, being called to the teacher’s office.

Then coming out in tears.

That was such a terrifying image. Just thinking about it made Liu Xiazhi freeze with fear. That’s why, even if she hadn’t finished her summer homework, she would stay up all night just to get it done.

Losing her homework now meant being called to the office.

Liu Xiazhi couldn’t even imagine what kind of punishment was waiting for her…

Would the teacher smack her palm with a stick? Or her butt?

Either way, she wanted none of it.

Laying her head on the desk, Liu Xiazhi whimpered softly, doing her best to keep from making too much noise.

Knock knock!

“Xiazhi!”

The sound of knocking on the window caught Feng Shuyan’s attention. When she looked out, she saw none other than An Yuanyao.

And in her hands… were the missing homework notebooks.

After a moment of stunned silence, Feng Shuyan snapped back to reality and quickly nudged Liu Xiazhi beside her.

Liu Xiazhi, unwilling to face reality, was shaken awake by Feng Shuyan.

Before she could ask what was going on, Feng Shuyan pointed toward the window and shouted excitedly,

“Xiazhi, look who’s here!”

Following the direction of Feng Shuyan’s finger, Liu Xiazhi saw An Yuanyao’s face—and the homework notebooks she was holding up.

She froze.

Then, little by little, joy began to spread across her face.

She jumped up and squeezed past Feng Shuyan, rushing out of the classroom in a flurry.

Standing in the hallway, Liu Xiazhi saw An Yuanyao holding fruit in one hand and her homework in the other. Her tears started falling uncontrollably.

It was like she didn’t even notice Liu Changqing standing beside her. She ran up and threw herself into An Yuanyao’s arms, shouting,

“I’m saved! Waaaahhh!”

“……”

“……”

The two adults looked at each other, stunned. Liu Changqing stared at his daughter, completely baffled.

This kid… is way too timid, isn’t she?