When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 18 - 0: She Has a Dream

Mother returned to find Jiang Shuyao just finishing her last bite of dinner, and upon inquiring, learned that Uncle Pei had come to pick someone up.

Pei Yan had left, and now only mother and daughter remained in the house.

Jiang Shuyao didn’t rush back to her room; instead, she conscientiously cleaned and wiped the table, and even attempted to roll up her sleeves to wash the dishes, but her mother refused her help.

Zhu Yun smiled and gently touched her daughter’s head, asking, "Is there something you want to tell Mom?"

Under the bright lights, the girl pondered for a moment before lifting her head filled with anticipation, "Mom, they’ll release the monthly exam results tomorrow. If I get first place in our grade, can I continue to paint afterward?"

Zhu Yun was stunned for a moment before she reacted.

Ever since she was young, her daughter’s studies were always excellent, and she had hardly caused her and her husband any worry.

Precisely for this reason, when they both had work relocations, they had bravely allowed Yaoyao to transfer schools in the middle of the term.

However, when it came to painting, Zhu Yun couldn’t help being a bit stubborn, "Yaoyao, your father and I hope that you could endure a little longer. After the gaokao is over, then we can—"

"Painting and studying don’t interfere with each other. Last time was just an accident. I promise I’ll manage my time reasonably from now on and never neglect my studies," Jiang Shuyao interrupted her mother, her voice sincere and urgent, her face full of deep longing.

In her second year of high school, she had registered for an art competition organized by the provincial art association behind her parents’ backs.

On the day of the competition, which coincided with a mock exam at school, she impulsively decided to forgo the exam and head to the art contest instead.

The consequence was that her parents had mercilessly locked her studio.

Jiang Shuyao acknowledged her fault and accepted her parents’ actions. Although she faced no scolding, the guilt in her heart was a hundred times more painful. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

She was waiting for an opportunity, hoping that with good behavior for a while, she could pick up her paintbrush again.

Painting was her favorite activity, and becoming an artist was her dream. Even if it might remain unfulfilled forever, she was not willing to give up easily.

Seeing her daughter as if possessed, Zhu Yun sighed almost imperceptibly.

"Yaoyao, Dad and Mom never said you could never paint; it’s just that right now is a critical period. Nothing is more important than the gaokao. Listen to Mom, let’s focus on studying first. When you get the college admission notice next year, I will immediately give you the key to the studio."

After her mother finished speaking, Jiang Shuyao fell silent.

In the quiet living room, the girl seemed lost in thought. After a while, she slowly lifted her eyes and quietly gazed at her mother, "What if, I fail the gaokao next year?"

Her daughter’s unexpectedly calm query left Zhu Yun so shaken she couldn’t speak.

Just then, a phone on the coffee table suddenly rang, breaking the standoff between mother and daughter.

Zhu Yun picked up the phone and saw it was a call from her department.

Before answering, she calmed her emotions and smiled warmly at her daughter sitting on the sofa, "Yaoyao, you will not let Dad and Mom down. We believe in you."

Watching her mother’s receding figure, Jiang Shuyao’s heart could no longer remain calm.

Believe in her.

Ever since she could remember, this was the phrase her parents had repeated to her the most, and Jiang Shuyao felt almost numb to it.

Sometimes she wondered, why could Pei Yan live so recklessly, while she could not?

The idea instilled in her from childhood was to listen to her parents. Everyone around her taught her what she should do, not what she wanted to do.

Her father thought she should study architecture; her mother wanted her to become a doctor. When it was time to choose between arts and sciences in her second year of high school, she had chosen science without any struggle, following her parents’ wishes.

Everything she did that she didn’t like was only to avoid disappointing them.

Jiang Shuyao hugged a pillow and nestled on the sofa. Her gaze wandered past the potted plants in the living room, eventually resting on the door adjacent to her bedroom.

That door had been locked for over four months now. Her brushes, paints, and easel must all be covered in dust by now.

The girl looked down disconsolately, shifting her legs that had grown numb from sitting, and was about to get up and return to her room to revise her studies when her phone buzzed twice.

It was late; what could that little rascal want, sending her a WeChat message?

It probably wasn’t anything important.

Jiang Shuyao didn’t bother to check the message and turned off the phone, entering the study with a listless expression.