That evening, when Du Tong and his wife returned, it was already late, and Su Xiaotian had already gone to rest.
She had no idea what Du Tong and his wife had found out at the school, or if they had found out anything at all.
The next day, Su Xiaotian went to school.
Her days at school were very busy, and she even put aside the matter of Su Ciliang.
Remarkably, for the entire week, everything at school was peaceful. Even Song Lingling and Liu Xiaohong, who usually caused trouble, were quiet.
Su Xiaotian suspected that these two were up to something, but since they weren't making any major moves, Su Xiaotian didn't plan to do anything either.
When soldiers come, block them; when water comes, cover it up. This saying was not wrong.
Her strategy was to remain still and wait for developments, to respond to changes with constancy.
It was only after school on Friday afternoon that Su Xiaotian suddenly remembered she had forgotten to ask Yu Ruiyuan about her second brother, Su Ciliang. She hurried back home.
As soon as Su Xiaotian reached the doorstep, she saw Su Ciliang.
"Xiaotian, you're back too? I thought you'd go to the dining hall first," Su Ciliang said, smiling radiantly.
His demeanor reminded Su Xiaotian of the unrestrained, spirited teenager who used to run barefoot in the mud of Hongxin Brigade many years ago.
A hint of a smile appeared in her eyes.
This was how it should be, this was the confident second brother from back then.
It seemed her second brother had adjusted very well over the past week.
"Second brother, you're back? Where's Big Brother?"
Su Ciliang and Su Shouwen attended the same school, and normally, they would return home together on weekends.
Since only Su Ciliang had returned today, Su Xiaotian asked this question.
"Big Brother said he was going to attend some event and might meet some important people, so I came back by myself!"
As the siblings spoke, they entered the courtyard and reached the living room.
They did not see Yu Ruiyuan and her husband.
"Grandma Yu, Grandpa Du, are you there?" Su Xiaotian called out loudly.
But there was no reply.
Su Ciliang tossed his schoolbag onto the table and then slumped onto a stool, sitting squarely.
"Second brother, how was your week?" Su Xiaotian also sat down opposite him.
Although Su Ciliang didn't look like he had been discouraged before, Su Xiaotian was still worried that her second brother might have been brainwashed again by that shameless teacher.
Even though she didn't know why the person named Cao Gaoxuan was doing this, it was unlikely he would suddenly stop once he started.
Especially if he discovered that her second brother's state had improved, it was hard to say that the shameless person wouldn't put in more effort to ruin her second brother.
Su Ciliang playfully pinched Su Xiaotian's nose and said, "It's been good, everything went smoothly."
"Are people still saying those things?"
"Yes. But I've taken to heart what you and Grandma Yu said, and I definitely won't let those words bother me anymore," Su Ciliang nodded sincerely.
When he heard those words at school these past few days, Su Ciliang would ponder them.
Indeed, after careful observation and thoughtful consideration, he had truly realized something.
Not all his classmates were saying these things to him; it was only a few people who consistently said these few words around him.
And it just so happened that those few people had always acted as if they were very close to him.
He had to admit, those few people were truly skilled at pretending to care for him and be concerned about him, repeatedly undermining his confidence!
"Second brother, have you figured out who those people are who always say such things to you?"
Su Ciliang nodded; he had indeed figured it out.
He felt a bit sad about this, as he had always considered those few people his good friends since arriving at school, but he never expected them to have malicious intentions.
"Has that person named Cao Gaoxuan shown any unusual behavior this week?" Su Xiaotian asked again.
Last weekend, Grandma Yu and Grandpa Du had gone to the school. She didn't know if they had alerted the enemy.
"Yes! Very unusual."
Over the past week, Cao Gaoxuan had asked him three times if he had been painting recently, and said he wanted to give him some guidance.
This struck Su Ciliang as very strange.
After all, Cao Gaoxuan had previously said that his comprehension was limited and he needed to practice diligently, so guidance was not yet necessary.
Suddenly offering to guide him must mean something was wrong.
After listening to Su Ciliang, Su Xiaotian sensed that Cao Gaoxuan's reaction was indeed a bit off.
However, she couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong.
"Did he say anything else?"
"He also told me to quickly paint two pictures for him to see. He specifically emphasized that I shouldn't sign them."
Not sign them?
Su Xiaotian frowned. While it was possible not to sign during practice, the specific emphasis on this point was strange.
"Ciliang, give him one painting, but this painting shouldn't be given for free; we need to make some mark on it," Yu Ruiyuan said.
Yu Ruiyuan came in holding a plate with some sliced fruit on it.
It was clearly prepared specifically for the siblings.
"Here, Xiaotian, Ciliang, you must be thirsty after your journey. Have some fruit first, and we'll discuss this matter further."
Su Xiaotian immediately understood Yu Ruiyuan's intention, and the group sat in the living room to discuss it.
Yu Ruiyuan didn't explicitly state what she had found out, but her meaning was clear: Cao Gaoxuan was problematic.
"Grandma Yu, now that you mention it, I understand why he always said my paintings weren't good and threw them into the wastepaper basket without letting me take them back!"
Su Ciliang was just a young man, simple and kind, not truly foolish. After this discussion, he finally understood.
His paintings might have been used by Cao Gaoxuan somewhere, at some time, without his knowledge.
When the group had finished their discussion, Su Shouwen returned.
He entered the house sweating profusely and his eyes lit up when he saw the sliced watermelon on the table.
However, he first greeted Yu Ruiyuan before picking up a piece of watermelon and biting into it.
"I'm so hot!"
"Big brother, what did you go out to do?" Su Ciliang couldn't help but ask, seeing Su Shouwen like this.
"I went to an event at a factory. When I got there, I found out that the factory was looking for someone to translate a document. I looked at it for a long time, and although I managed to translate part of it, I felt something was not quite right."
After swallowing the last piece of watermelon, Su Shouwen threw the rind into the trash can before speaking.
Since Xiaotian had taught him about learning methods, he felt he had learned a lot this week.
Who knew that necessity truly reveals the scarcity of knowledge; he still knew too little.
Su Xiaotian asked, "Did the factory just give you the document to translate like that?"
It all felt rather strange.
"How could that be? They just gave us a document with different content to translate, to test our abilities," Su Shouwen said with a smile, shaking his head.