Lin Qingping and Gu Juncheng

Chapter 429 Lin Qingping, are you testing me?

Chen Lei's plan failed.

His parents were already happy to have someone keep an eye on him. As long as Master Gu was willing to take care of him, they would be happy to pack him up and give him away as their son.

So Chen Lei spent the whole afternoon practicing calligraphy at the Gu family's house. After he finished, his face and hands were covered in ink. Not only did Lin Qingping refuse to let him stay for dinner, but he didn't even wash his hands. He just threw down his dog-paddle-like calligraphy work and ran away from the Gu family's house as fast as he could.

But running won't help, after all, there's still the second day, the third day...

In the blink of an eye, a week has passed.

It's time to submit my reading notes.

After playing chess for a week, Zhiyuan and Chen Lei suddenly realized that they hadn't read a single word of the book they were supposed to read.

That morning, Chen Lei didn't dare to take out the chess set. He just grabbed a book and devoured it. Forget about writing a book review, there were still some words in the book that he didn't recognize. He even had to look them up in a dictionary. You can imagine how inefficient he was.

At noon, Gu Juncheng came to collect the homework. The two resigned themselves to their fate, lowered their heads, and dared not speak.

That's practically the same as submitting a blank exam paper, isn't it?

Gu Juncheng looked at the blank paper in front of them and asked them which book they were reading.

The two dejectedly handed in their books, which they had barely read, and the reading room fell silent. After the silence, Chen Lei and Zhiyuan were punished by having to copy a book review of about a thousand words fifty times.

"Look how others write it! You'll remember it if you copy it!"

These were the words Gu Juncheng threw at them, and then he left.

Chen Lei's eyes widened. "How much did your dad just say he copied?"

Zhiyuan also looked distressed. "Fifty!"

Chen Lei, on the verge of collapse, managed to regain his composure. "Zhiyuan, that's your father, not mine. I don't have to listen to him, right?"

Zhiyuan didn't know; all he knew was that he was going crazy.

But people can always find a glimmer of hope in despair, and for Zhiyuan, that glimmer of hope was his many companions on the island!

He distributed the task of fifty repetitions, using the nougat made by Lin Qingping as bait, and successfully obtained forty repetitions in return.

Just as he had finished reciting forty times and was excitedly preparing to hand it in when his father returned, he suddenly realized, what were those forty recitations all about!

He and Chen Lei were the oldest kids on the island. The other kids were either younger than him or didn't go to school. Like Fang Yi next door, he couldn't even read! What kind of rubbish is this?!

He already foresaw what awaited him after submitting such a thing.

With little time left before he had to hand in the punishment copy, he reluctantly selected some barely passable copies from the forty copies, but he was still short of half, and he knew he couldn't finish them no matter what.

Finally, during this summer vacation, on this island where the sunset painted half the sky red, Zhiyuan felt melancholy.

"What's going on?" Lin Qingping asked him. Seeing the large stack of papers he quickly hid behind his back, she guessed what was going on and chuckled, "Didn't your friends complete your tasks?"

Zhiyuan's eyes widened. "Mom, how did you know?"

"What don't I know?" Lin Qingping snorted. "What do you think your father, Gu, doesn't know?"

Zhiyuan panicked, "Does Dad know I had someone else write it for me?"

"No, he went on a mission today and probably won't be back until tomorrow."

Zhiyuan suddenly felt hopeful! "What time will you be back tomorrow?"

"I don't know. He might not tell me in the morning, or at any time of day."

But Zhiyuan felt that as long as he didn't come back tonight, there was still hope!

He looked at Lin Qingping, his eyes gleaming with hope. "Mom, Mom, I beg you, please help me!"

"What do you mean? Do you expect me to copy it for you?"

Zhiyuan nodded vigorously, "Mom, please? Just this once, really. I promise I'll never make this mistake again, I'll never be playful again. I'll study hard, practice my calligraphy, and do my best in my studies."

Gu Juncheng returned the next day at noon, carrying the scent of the sea. A jeep dropped him off at his doorstep.

Everything at home is in perfect order.

Lin Qingping was taking a nap in her room. Unusually, Zhiyuan was also taking a nap. On the table was a neat stack of manuscript paper. The first sheet was in Zhiyuan's handwriting, a copied article.

Is the mission complete?

Gu Juncheng forgot about eating and started looking at the photos one by one. His calm face became more and more tense as he flipped through the photos.

Finally, put the manuscript paper down.

He first took a shower to wash away the dust and sweat from his trip, and then, still wet and with water dripping from his hair, he pushed open the door to his and Lin Qingping's room.

Lin Qingping is sleeping so soundly...

He pushed the door open and came in, standing right next to her bed. He even called her name several times, but she didn't hear him at all.

"Lin Qingping?"

Still no response.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Lin Qingping, five of your attempts were unsatisfactory!"

Lin Qingping was really tired.

To help her child with his punishment of copying, she stayed up all night. She and Zhiyuan checked it again and found that many of the pieces that Zhiyuan thought were acceptable were still unreadable. Since they were going to have to copy them again, they decided to rewrite them all!

So, I started copying last night after dinner and didn't get to sleep until after nine o'clock this morning. I've only been able to sleep for a few hours now...

This intensity was so intense that it almost left Lin Qingping with a phobia of it; she even dreamed about copying it!

At that moment, she was engrossed in copying in her dream when Gu Juncheng's shout of "Five times is not up to standard" startled her awake.

She sat up abruptly and shouted, "Nonsense! How could I fail? Ouch—"

Before she could finish speaking, she screamed in pain as she jumped up too suddenly and bumped into Gu Juncheng's chin.

This incident also served as a wake-up call for Lin Qingping.

"You...you..." Lin Qingping covered her forehead, looking at Gu Juncheng standing in front of her. She felt a little guilty, wondering if the "unqualified" comment she had just heard was from her dream or from Gu Juncheng. She didn't dare to ask, and only asked, "What time is it? Have you eaten?"

Gu Juncheng looked at her with a half-smile on his face, "I was also about to ask, have you eaten yet?"

"I...I've already eaten." Lin Qingping dared not admit that she hadn't even had a proper breakfast, let alone lunch!

"Really? I saw you guys working so hard copying, and you still had time to make lunch?" Gu Juncheng said abruptly.

Lin Qingping was stunned and vehemently denied it, "What do you mean we worked hard to copy? I didn't copy, it was Zhiyuan who copied!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Gu Juncheng stared at her. "Lin Qingping, are you testing my ability to judge people?"

Lin Qingping was certain that something terrible had happened; Gu Juncheng must have discovered it.

Gu Juncheng threw Zhiyuan's large stack of manuscript papers in front of her. "Are you going to tell me how many times you copied it, or should I count them for you? And while we're at it, let's count how many times Zhiyuan copied it himself?"

Now that the truth had come out, Lin Qingping became quite frank. "Yes, I copied it. I helped copy it a dozen or twenty times, so what? You were like a cold-faced god, scaring the child. Did you expect the child to stay up for days and nights as punishment for copying?"