Right Here Waiting For You

Her shoulders heaving, and tears overflowing, Ning Tiantian repeated what exactly had happened. She admitted her mistake, “…I shouldn’t have left on my own without informing the teacher. I know it’s my fault, and I won’t do it ever again.”

It was the umpteenth time that day that she had cried; her eyes were extremely swollen, and she was even retching from the excessive crying.

Li Yanmo quickly stroked her back, before turning to look at Mama Ning. “Godma, Tiantian already knows what she’s done wrong. Could you forgive her, please?”

Tiantian’s pitiful face broke her mother’s heart, and Mama Ning nodded in response to Li Yanmo. “All right, I’ll forgive you this time around, but tell me: why do you make Yanmo drop you off at school every morning?”

“Yanmo did it of his own volition,” Mama Li immediately replied.

Li Yanmo also hummed in acknowledgement.

“You guys don’t have to defend her. She’s my blood and flesh. I know very well what she’s like.” Fixing her eyes on Tiantian, Mama Ning said sternly, “You must have kicked up a big fuss, and threatened not to attend preschool unless Inky sent you to school every day, right?”

Ning Tiantian shuddered in trepidation. This was, indeed, her biological mother. She knew her so well.

Not daring to lie, and knowing that lying wouldn’t make things any better, Tiantian nodded and said softly. “…Yes.”

“Do you have any idea that Yanmo has a self-study period at 7:30 am every morning? By the time he’s done with dropping you off at preschool, his study period would have been over!” Mama Ning’s temper flared again, and she roared at Tiantian, “Because of you, Yanmo has skipped his self-study period for an entire year!”

If it had not been for the preschool teacher, who had updated her of the happenings at school, she wouldn’t have realized how unruly Ning Tiantian was! She almost quit preschool on the very first day!

Ning Tiantian was astounded. Staring at Li Yanmo, she said with trembling lips, “Inky, you…”

How had it come to this?

She couldn’t believe that Inky had actually skipped class just to drop her off at school!

Holding her little hand, Li Yanmo walked forward and made eye contact with Mama Ning. “Please don’t blame Tiantian anymore. She did ask me whether dropping her off would disrupt my schedule, but I told her it wouldn’t. It takes two hands to clap, so I should be held responsible, too.”

His rational explanation made sense.

Mama Ning sighed. “Yanmo, you shouldn’t indulge her like this.”

“You guys set us up for the betrothal,” Li Yanmo directed his gaze at the adults present.

The adults were momentarily stunned. “So… it’s our fault that you’re indulging your fiancée?” they thought.

“Okay, okay.” Seeing that things had calmed down for a bit, Mama Li made an attempt to break the ice. “Yanmo’s not missing out on much. It’s not like he’s great at his studies, anyway. Missing one period is no big deal.”

Li Yanmo stayed silent but was thinking to himself, “I get full marks for most of my exams. And you say that I’m not ‘great’ at my studies?”

Mama Ning and Papa Ning left soon after having dinner at their place. There were lots of things waiting for them at work, and they had to head back to the company. Before they left, however, Mama Ning made Tiantian promise that she would head to school on her own every day, without throwing any tantrums or making a big fuss. If she were to renege on her promise, they would bring her overseas so that she would never get to see Inky.

Ning Tiantian promised, tearily.

“Inky, if I had known that you would be late because of me, I would have gone to school on my own,” Ning Tiantian said with a huge pout.