Teething Stick

"If you encounter any difficulties, remember to send me a message and let me know. Don't be afraid that I'll find it troublesome; I'm your counselor."

"Every class has a counselor assigned, not just to help you solve academic problems, but more importantly, to care about your lives. University is different from high school; we no longer focus solely on grades, but more on becoming adults."

In the office, Li Na sent whatever came to mind. For a student like Mo Jingchun, Li Na's greatest hope wasn't what achievements he would make during his four years of university or how much glory he would bring to the school. Her only hope was to see Mo Jingchun successfully graduate in four years, bringing along four-year-old Candy. It was that simple.

But for Li Na, who only had two years of counseling experience, wasn't this also a challenge?

Currently, Mo Jingchun's sister, Candy, was less than a year old. She couldn't walk or run. As long as someone held her and kept her company, she was very well-behaved.

In another year or two, when the little one grew up and could run and jump, that would be the most troublesome time. After all, being active was a child's nature.

At that time, would the lively and active little one really be willing to sit quietly in the classroom all day with her brother, Mo Jingchun?

Most likely not.

Li Na, who had been in a good mood, became worried again when she thought about the problems she would face in the next year or two.

Ding dong~

"Got it, Na Jie. If I really encounter difficulties, I'll definitely come to you first. Haha ୧⍢⃝୨"

Seeing Mo Jingchun's reply on WeChat, a smile finally appeared on Li Na's face. Having problems wasn't scary; what was scary was when students had problems but didn't seek out her, their counselor, leading to the problems not being resolved. By the time the problems were exposed, it would be too late.

Especially every year when third-year students were about to take the postgraduate entrance exam, and after the exam ended, that was the busiest time for counselors in all universities across the country, and also the time when they were most prone to insomnia.

Even at Jing University, it was the same. One had to know that although Jing University students were undoubtedly more outstanding than most university students, when facing the postgraduate entrance exam, who would be willing to go down?

Would a Jing University student be willing to pursue postgraduate studies at an ordinary first-tier university?

It was undeniable that there might be some, but 99% of Jing University students would rather find employment immediately after graduation than choose such a path.

Psychological problems, in this rapidly developing, fast-paced society, had become a very serious issue.

It was good if they could be discovered in time; the fear was that by the time they were discovered, it would already be too late.

After class that afternoon, Mo Jingchun took out his phone, which was set to silent mode, and saw several missed calls and several WeChat messages.

Feeling a little uneasy, Mo Jingchun didn't have time to pack his textbooks and quickly checked who had called.

When he saw that all the missed calls were from the same person, Mo Jingchun inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time, a smile appeared on his face.

Nothing else, just because all the missed calls displayed in red were from his maternal grandfather, whom Mo Jingchun had nicknamed "Old Rascal."

Opening the WeChat messages, as expected, they were from his Aunt. From the message history, she had asked every few minutes why he hadn't answered the phone.

Mo Jingchun's maternal grandfather was old and didn't know how to use a smartphone. He still used an old-age phone with particularly large buttons and a particularly loud speaker. Not only that, but the old-age phone was given as a gift when he topped up his phone bill, and Mo Jingchun's maternal grandfather had been using it for two or three years.

Mo Jingchun pressed the voice message button and spoke into the phone's microphone:

"Aunt, I was just in class. I just finished class. I put my phone on silent before class."

"I'll make a video call when I get back to the dorm."

After sending the two voice messages, Mo Jingchun held his sister on his lap with one hand and tidied up the items on the table with the other.

This was how Mo Jingchun was; he would choose different ways of replying when chatting on WeChat with different people. When communicating with the older generation on WeChat, Mo Jingchun generally replied with voice messages. When chatting with the younger generation, it was basically text.

Walking on the campus path with his sister in his arms, Mo Jingchun had recently found a new use for his backpack straps, which was to use them for leverage when holding his sister, Candy.

Back in the bedroom, after putting down his backpack and canvas bag, Mo Jingchun carried his sister to the living room, sat on the sofa, and then made a WeChat video call to his uncle, Zhou Xing.

Speaking of which, ever since his grandmother passed away, his grandfather had been living at his uncle's house and had never stayed at his younger uncle's house. As for why this was the case, Mo Jingchun truly didn't know. When his mother was alive, she had never mentioned this in front of Mo Jingchun.

Mo Jingchun didn't understand. Logically, his uncle's family and his younger uncle's family should take turns taking care of his grandfather, but the reality was completely different.

Of course, what Mo Jingchun found most incomprehensible was that his aunt had never complained about this in front of others.

One should know that Mo Jingchun had saved his grandfather's phone number as "Old Rascal" for a reason.

He was an old man, his age was already there. When he was young, he overworked himself and accumulated a lot of illnesses. Coupled with his age, various major and minor illnesses had found their way to him. The old man's health had not been good for a long time. The last time he went, Mo Jingchun saw that his grandfather was panting heavily after walking just a short distance, feeling like he couldn't catch his breath.

But he still loved that one puff of smoke, and it was the kind of tobacco he grew himself in the previous era, and the cigarette holder was also made by himself using bamboo roots.

Knowing that his health was not good, you would tell him to rest at home or go out and play, but he insisted on going to work, and then it would turn into hospitalization and injections, repeating this cycle. No matter what you said, it was useless.

The ringing tone of the video call pulled Mo Jingchun's wandering thoughts back. On the phone screen, his uncle Zhou Xing's large face appeared, very close.

"Class is over?"

"Yes, just got back to the dorm."

Mo Jingchun leaned the phone against the coffee table, also capturing his sister Candy, whom he was holding in his arms.

"Candy, do you miss your uncle?"

"Oh, where are you looking, little one? I'm over here."

Seeing Candy, Mo Jingchun's uncle Zhou Xing's originally plain face was now beaming with a smile.

"Did your brother take good care of you? If he didn't, when you come back for the New Year, Uncle will spank him for you."

Zhou Xing was talking to Candy, who could only say "Guo-ge," while Mo Jingchun's mouth twitched.

Both hands and backs of hands were flesh, so why did he have to spank him?

After teasing Candy for a while, Zhou Xing looked at Mo Jingchun and said to him, "Your grandfather is idle again and made Candy a prickly ash tree teething stick. It's finished now, and he insists on sending it to you by express delivery. He'll call you about this in the afternoon."

"You talk to him yourself."