Chapter 26 Daily Life 2
Wu Shi's face showed an expression of "I knew it," and he casually tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa.
Since there are two people at home, we can't just make do with whatever we have.
But at this time of year, the third-party food delivery industry has not yet taken off.
Wu Shi was not a regular customer of any restaurant, so he naturally could not directly contact the restaurant to have food delivered.
He opened the refrigerator and saw some frozen steak, so he took it out and asked, "Want some?"
"Um!"
Louise nodded. There were no snacks in the room, and she didn't know how she had managed to get through the afternoon.
"You can cook?"
Suddenly, she realized that the boy, who was only a year older than her, was going to cook.
"Frying a steak doesn't really count as cooking."
"Huh?" Louise didn't understand the Chinese sentence.
Wu Shi didn't explain, and soon after he went into the kitchen, the aroma of oil wafted out.
"Wow! It smells so good~" Louise ran into the kitchen following the aroma and saw two glistening steaks in the pan, her mouth watering.
After dinner, Wu Shi still had homework to do, so he went back to his room first.
Elementary school problems are a piece of cake for him; he can even multitask while doing copying assignments.
'The CKC Shanghai Grand Prix starts on October 13th, and the week before that is the F1 China Grand Prix in Shanghai. I wonder if my dad will let me go watch it.'
Wu Shi's mind was filled with thoughts. The 2007 Shanghai Grand Prix was full of highlights. Putting aside everything else, just watching Hamilton's slip and create Hamilton Corner was enough to witness history!
It was this very turn that prevented F1 history from having a rookie season to win the world championship.
"Wu Shi, I'm so bored! Can we go out and play?" Louise suddenly called out from the living room.
"What?" Wu Shi put down his pen and went to the living room to get a glass of water.
"Hehe, it's nothing."
Louise had a sweet smile on her face because she suddenly realized that Wu Shi couldn't understand a lot of English, so she could use a language he couldn't understand to say all sorts of things that he couldn't say directly.
"Oh~" Wu Shi went back to his room and searched for the current F1 standings on his computer.
"Wu Shi, I want you to watch TV with me!" Louise's voice came from the living room again.
"ah?"
Upon hearing Wu Shi's response, Louise became even more certain that he didn't understand English very well.
However, her native language is Italian, but she usually uses English when she is out in public.
Since they were just joking, she continued speaking entirely in Italian:
"You know, I'm lonely. Mom is always busy and rarely has time to play with me. I often stay at home alone, so I want you to play with me."
Wu Shi raised an eyebrow. Of course he knew Italian; otherwise, how could he have survived in Lafayette?
What is this girl doing? Why is she starting to complain and whine?
"I'm very sorry for what happened when we first met. I didn't mean to belittle you like that. I just, I just thought you were very beautiful and wanted to get to know you and say hello, but I didn't know how."
"So I thought that by competing with you and beating you, I could attract your attention."
"I lost afterwards, and it was wrong of me to cry and make a scene. I really want to apologize to you, but I'm too embarrassed to do so. However, if I don't apologize, I'm afraid you'll hate me because of it."
"But I was very happy to see that you didn't hate me."
Although Louise was confiding and apologizing, Wu Shi still couldn't quite hold back.
He covered his head. Fortunately, Aunt Martina knew he could speak English, but she certainly didn't know he could also speak Italian.
So, Louise, I'll keep this part of your behavior, which will definitely become a black mark on your history, a secret for you.
"Chinese is so difficult! I really want to learn it quickly so I can communicate with you properly. But why aren't you learning English yet? Aren't you going to Europe next year? (Italy)"
After saying this, Louise remained silent for a while, then quietly entered Wu Shi's bedroom, stood behind him, and asked:
"Wu Shi, have you mastered English?" (Chinese)
Wu Shi turned to look at her, paused for a moment, and nodded slightly: "I prepare to study a foreign language three or four days every week."
"So, you can understand most of English now?" Louise's face began to blush.
"I can only understand a little bit," said Wu Shi (English).
"So, you understood when I said I wanted you to watch TV with me?" Louise asked hastily.
"No, I didn't understand that sentence," Wu Shi (English) laughed.
"Phew!" Louise took a deep breath. That was close, or she would have made a huge fool of herself!
She patted her cheeks, but suddenly froze. The sentence only had a few basic words and a simple sentence structure. How could he not understand it?!
"No, you understand!" Louise realized.
"Really not." Wu Shi suppressed a laugh, finding it quite amusing to see the little girl so embarrassed that she wanted to disappear into the ground.
"Waaaaah!"
Louise felt like her head was steaming, with steam billowing out.
Fortunately, the rest was said in Italian, otherwise everything would have been exposed!
"Okay, okay, I know you're bored, but after I finish my homework, I'll watch TV with you, okay?" Wu Shi said.
Upon hearing this remarkably fluent English, Louise lowered her head and covered her face. What to do? She was so shy!
But he said he'd watch TV with me later?
Yay!
"Um."
Louise made a nasal sound and ran barefoot back to the living room.
Wu Shi smiled; sometimes this girl was quite adorable.
He looked at his notebook, then thought of what Louise had just said, and sighed.
Single-parent families have it pretty tough, and it's even tougher for single-parent families where the parents are busy.
Even though Aunt Martina intended to have Louise take care of her, it was impossible for her to always be there for her every need.
If he didn't have the mindset of an adult, he would probably feel endless sadness every time he returned to his empty house after school and saw the warm sunset shining in.
After all, dusk is bleak and night is approaching, and those who are most heartbroken are the most sorrowful.
After copying the newly learned vocabulary, Wu Shi went to the living room.
Louise, who had been lying down with her small pillow in her arms, had her hair sticking up like an antenna, and it trembled as she sat up straight.
"What are you looking at?" Wu Shi asked.
"Cat and mouse," Louise answered softly.
Wu Shi found an empty seat and sat down. On the old-fashioned, big-screen TV, Tom was concocting an evil potion. Each drop of the thick, viscous liquid dripped into the milk, bursting with various lights and sparks.
"A timeless classic!" Wu Shi exclaimed. Even now, sitting down, he still feels an urge to finish reading it.
"Hmm~" Louise uttered an ambiguous interjection from the side.
"What's wrong?"
"You're not using basic vocabulary." Louise pressed her mouth to the pillow, only her eyes visible beneath her bangs.
"Our courses will indeed teach you a lot of vocabulary that you don't often use," Wu Shi said.
"Huh? Is that so?" Louise asked in surprise.
"Yes, we are far removed from the language environment and mainly teach written language, so sometimes our speech sounds too rigid."
"Oh~" Louise nodded as if she understood.
"Can you tell me about China? My mom rarely tells me about it."
"Of course, China is an ancient country."
Wu Shi introduced the cultural origins of his motherland as if telling a story, from Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han to Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Taizu of Song, with so many interesting people and events in it.
Since he is a storyteller, he chooses to tell stories about interesting events.
If you want to understand China, you can't just go out and experience society; you won't get there.
Louise listened as if she were listening to a bedtime story, occasionally glancing at the boy beside her.
She thought to herself, "Sure enough, I still want to rely on him."
"I wish you really were my brother." (Italian)
"Um?"
Wu Shi was taken aback. What was this girl saying?