Chapter 104: Parent Meeting (Part 2)

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The heart was beating violently.

How long had it been since feeling such a thorough satisfaction?

Gloria panted, exhaling a few puffs of faint white mist.

David had just arrived at the door when he saw that familiar, old car perform a stunt-like scene.

Compared to others' praise, worry filled his heart more.

Pushing through the crowd gathered at the door, David rushed into the swirling smoke to find his mother.

"Mom!" He looked around and shouted, but accidentally inhaled a large mouthful of smoke and dust, unable to stop coughing.

A hand gently patted his back, followed by a familiar voice drilling into his ear.

"How was it? Did Mom not arrive late?" Gloria's cheerful laughter lingered by his ear, causing his originally tense body to relax instantly.

"Cough..." David glanced at Gloria irritably, grabbed her hand tightly, and walked toward the school gate. "Mom, do you know how dangerous that just was?"

"Relax, your mom's driving skills are amazing..." The boastful words were cut off halfway by David.

"No matter how amazing, it's not allowed! Safety first; what would I do if something happened to you?"

"David..." Gloria paused, touched her son's head with some gratification. "Mom promises it won't happen again, okay? Don't be mad at Mom... I just thought parents shouldn't let their children lose face..."

"To me, you are the most important; all that face-saving is **!"

"My son has grown up... so good..." Watching David's back as he walked forward with his head down in a sulky mood, Gloria smiled, letting him pull her forward with force.

Most of the crowd that had just gathered had dispersed, leaving only a few people behind.

"David, is that your mom? That was awesome!" A girl with long golden hair praised softly.

"She's practically at a professional racer's level..." A girl with two cute dimples nearby also gave a high evaluation.

"Ah? Oh... thanks... Sophia and Bonnie..." David paused, thanked his classmates for their sincere praise a bit awkwardly, waved goodbye politely, then pulled Gloria through the school gate and continued walking toward the classroom.

"Such beautiful girls... are they all classmates?" Gloria poked David's lower back lightly, asking with a hint of meaning.

"Oh my... where did that come to mind... I haven't really talked to them much; I almost couldn't even remember their names just now..." David frowned, answering a bit perfunctorily.

"Just now I praised you for growing up, but looking at you now, you're still a child..." Gloria pouted, speaking softly.

"Nyah nyah..." David turned back and made a funny face at his mom.

"Seriously, when will you find a girlfriend to show Mom? Do you have someone you like now?"

"I don't know, no!"

◎

"Ding, ding, ding..."

The class bell rang.

Gloria waved to David, who was standing outside the classroom looking in, then sat down in a seat and put on that old Super Dream Device.

After a slight dizziness, a virtual forest filled with birdsong and flowers appeared before her.

Perhaps because she had lived in the steel jungle for too long, Gloria felt somewhat unfamiliar with this vibrant green before her eyes.

Just as she curiously reached out to touch the green leaves so close at hand, a serious, mature voice sounded from beside her ear, making her involuntarily stop her hand.

"Good afternoon... dear parents, thank you all for taking time to attend..."

Gloria sighed, brushed all irrelevant curious thoughts out of her mind, and listened seriously to the teacher presiding over the meeting.

◎

"So boring... Bonnie..." Sophia leaned against the tiles outside the classroom, sighing long and low intermittently.

"For you, isn't not attending class the most interesting thing?" Bonnie shook her head, sat on a chair placed by the corridor, and leisurely drank canned coffee.

"What kind of talk is that? Am I the kind of person who doesn't love studying?" Sophia ran to Bonnie's side, snatched the drink from her hand, brought it to her lips, and opened her mouth to gulp it down in large swallows.

"Damn, so bitter..."

"Letting you like snatching my drinks, now you've reaped the consequences..." Seeing Sophia's face scrunch up, looking like she couldn't accept the bitter taste, Bonnie covered her mouth and secretly laughed.

"Hey! Aren't you a young lady? How can you swallow this kind of drink?" Enduring the dry, astringent sensation wrapping around her tongue and forcing the liquid in her mouth down, Sophia frowned, examined the drink label clutched in her hand carefully, and unexpectedly discovered it was a third-rate cheap coffee brand.

"For my dear best friend, I'm willing to pay any price..." Bonnie patted her flat chest, looking very serious.

"Including scamming me without counting the cost, right! Take this!" Sophia, in a huff, grabbed her best friend who had just tried to stand up from the seat to escape, and used both hands to tickle Bonnie's ticklish waist.

"I was wrong, I was wrong... Queen spare me!" Bonnie trembled all over, laughing until tears came to her eyes.

"Every time you beg for mercy, every time you don't learn your lesson... I really don't understand you..." Sophia shook her aching wrist, pressed down on Bonnie's legs, and threw her whole body onto them.

"Ouch... so heavy..."

"Hmm?"

"Uh... no, so light!" Bonnie, holding Sophia's hand, quickly corrected herself.

"Hmph, that's more like it..." Sophia nodded, comfortably resting her head on Bonnie's shoulder. "How much longer until the parent meeting ends? I'm tired from playing..."

"By the way, Sophia, did you solve your problem from last time?"

"What thing?" With her nose pressed against Bonnie's tender skin, Sophia spoke muffledly.

"Oh my, so ticklish, don't do that..." While dodging Sophia's hot breath, Bonnie spoke softly. "Didn't you ask me last time if there was anything in your bag on the 20th?"

"Oh... it's just that I picked up an ugly Robot at some point..." Sophia jumped off Bonnie, reached into the storage cabinet outside the classroom, and pulled out her backpack. "Here, it's this dumb-looking Robot."

She took the Robot out of the bag and held it up in front of Bonnie.

"I think it's quite cute..." Bonnie lightly tapped the Robot's cold shell with her fingertip. "I haven't seen this model of Robot in any tech magazines either; is it an experimental model?"

"If someone as knowledgeable as you doesn't know, let alone me?" Sophia wrinkled her nose, held the Robot's thick waist with both hands, and shook it left and right. "I was even talking to this guy before; why is there no reaction now?"

"Broken?" Bonnie watched Sophia's rough movements and silently wiped the sweat seeping from her forehead.

"Probably this guy is asleep..." Sophia opened the backpack zipper and stuffed the Little Robot back in. "Anyway, anything that falls into my hands belongs to me forever!"

Bonnie thought of Sophia's identical bold words from her previous online romance, sighed lightly, and chose to remain silent.