Cleaning and Dinner

Analysis complete. Lin Yue released her arms around Hermione and mechanically stepped out of her embrace, her eyes dead and scanning the entire room, unable to find a broom, mop, or similar items.

"What are you looking for?" Hermione turned to look at Lin Yue, asking in confusion.

"Broom, mop, rag. Your room needs cleaning," Lin Yue blurted out expressionlessly, making Hermione pause.

Snapping back to reality, Hermione quickly raised her hand and waved, "I can do it. You don't need to clean. You just rest over there. You're a bit overheated."

After speaking, she even reached out and patted Lin Yue's head, indicating that she didn't need to worry about cleaning the room.

Lin Yue shook her head, her tone devoid of any fluctuation, "I'll help you."

Sighing helplessly, Hermione didn't argue with Lin Yue anymore. If she wanted to help, then she'd trouble her to help.

With that thought, Hermione took Lin Yue's hand and walked out of her room into the bathroom on the second floor. The broom and mop were both kept there.

Before Hermione could speak, Lin Yue took the lead and grabbed the mop and mop bucket. Including filling it with water, carrying the bucket, and wringing the mop, mopping was basically the most tiring task. Her brain didn't need to think at all as she took on the mopping.

Placing the bucket under the faucet to fill it with water, Hermione picked up the broom and asked Lin Yue, who was filling the bucket with water, "Do you need me to help you carry the bucket?"

The bucket was quite heavy after being filled with water. Every time she used it, her arms would ache.

Lin Yue subconsciously calculated the maximum capacity of the bucket in her mind, then turned back to Hermione and shook her head, her voice responding mechanically.

"No, I can do it."

"Okay." Hermione pursed her lips and walked out of the bathroom with the broom.

Returning to the room with the broom, Hermione slowly swept the floor. Most of her attention was still on the bathroom on the second floor outside the room. She listened carefully to the sounds from there, afraid that something might happen to Lin Yue alone.

After filling the bucket with water, even if it wasn't full, it was so heavy. What if she accidentally fell while carrying the water? What if she accidentally injured her arm?

Or... what if she accidentally got her clothes wet while wringing the mop? Would she catch a cold?

All sorts of worries popped into Hermione's mind one after another. On the other hand, Lin Yue was not as "dangerous" as she imagined.

Sensing that the water in the bucket was sufficient, Lin Yue reached out and turned off the faucet.

At this moment, the water in the bucket was just enough to thoroughly wring out the mop without causing water to splash out. Not a drop more, not a drop less, as precise as if someone had filled it with a graduated cylinder, bucket by bucket.

Picking up the mop by her side, Lin Yue bent down and skillfully wrung out the mop.

Holding the mop in her right hand and the mop bucket in her left, Lin Yue exerted force. The next moment, Lin Yue steadily lifted the mop bucket and walked steadily out of the second-floor bathroom, returning to Hermione's room door.

Hermione had almost finished sweeping her room. Lin Yue walked in with the mop and began to mop the floor carefully and diligently. She mopped with great effort with every stroke, visibly cleaning thoroughly.

After all, she was only eleven years old. Hermione felt some fatigue after sweeping the floor. She straightened up and leaned against the wall by the door, preparing to catch her breath.

As a result, she saw Lin Yue efficiently finish mopping the floor once, not even forgetting under the bed. Then, without a moment's pause, she walked over to wring the mop again, preparing to mop a second time.

Seeing the faint sweat on Lin Yue's forehead, Hermione's heart skipped a beat. It felt like she was pained for Lin Yue, but also... more than just pained.

Reaching out to press on Lin Yue's shoulder, Hermione spoke gently, "Lin Yue, take a break before you continue."

Lin Yue stiffly shook her head, her voice flat, "No need, I'm not tired."

After speaking, she picked up the mopping cloth she had just prepared, took off her slippers at the doorway, and walked into the room in black socks to mop the floor a second time.

Hermione watched Lin Yue working diligently, pursed her lips, placed the broom by the door, and ran downstairs to ask Mrs. Granger for a rag to wipe down the desk and windowsill.

If Lin Yue was working, she couldn't rest either. She couldn't wait until Lin Yue finished mopping and then have all the other chores left for her to do alone.

Seeing Hermione run downstairs and into the kitchen, Mrs. Granger, who was discussing Lin Yue's situation with Mr. Granger, paused her words. She looked at Hermione's slightly sweaty forehead, a flicker of understanding in her eyes.

She took a tissue and walked over to wipe Hermione's sweat, "Are you tidying the room? Why did you come down?"

Hermione touched her nose with her hand, a little embarrassed, "Lin Yue is helping me tidy up too. She's mopping, so I came up to get a rag to wipe the desk and windowsill first."

Mrs. Granger nodded, picked up a rag, carefully wrung it out twice, and handed it to Hermione.

"Why are you letting her help you with chores?"

Hermione playfully stuck out her tongue, "I tried to stop her, but it was no use. She insisted on helping."

"She's truly a good child..." Mrs. Granger sighed, her condemnation of Lin Yue's parents intensifying in her heart.

Such a good child, and they had ruined her like this.

Hermione took the rag, feeling a surge of happiness as her mother praised Lin Yue, and turned to excitedly head back upstairs.

"Compared to that child, our Hermione seems so much more lively and active."

Mrs. Granger turned to her husband and sighed, recalling that Hermione had always been seen as a bookworm by her teachers and classmates at school.

Mr. Granger smiled and put his arm around his wife, "After all, we have always respected Hermione's own wishes and life."

Therefore, Hermione only seemed a bit reserved because she loved to read, but in reality, she was confident and optimistic.

Mrs. Granger nodded in agreement. It was their first time being parents, and they felt they still had many shortcomings and areas where they could do better.

But compared to Lin Yue's parents, as Hermione had described, they instantly felt they might be considered qualified.

Returning to the room with the rag, Hermione had expected Lin Yue to still be mopping. To her surprise, Lin Yue had finished mopping, and had even tidied up her own desk.

All the books were placed within Hermione's easy reach. Some books that could be analyzed at a glance as unfinished were placed by Lin Yue at the very front of the desk. The entire desk was orderly and arranged for maximum convenience.

Hermione stood frozen, staring in astonishment at the spotlessly clean floor and the neatly organized desk.

Swallowing hard, Hermione couldn't help but think, Lin Yue's cleaning skills... were almost on par with a professional housekeeper.

Her wholehearted dedication to her studies... and she still had time to learn housework, and so proficiently?

No, wait a minute. Lin Yue said her parents didn't allow her to waste study time. So when did she learn housework, and how did she do it?

With her level of proficiency, Hermione really didn't believe she didn't do housework often.

Holding two rags, Hermione took off her slippers at the door and walked to her desk. While wiping the desk, she casually asked Lin Yue.

"Lin Yue, you're so professional at housework. Did your parents teach you?"

Lin Yue naturally took another rag from Hermione's hand, turned, and carefully wiped the windowsill.

"I taught myself by reading books."

"Oh." Hermione nodded understandingly, not surprised.

After all, when Lin Yue was in the Hogwarts Library, she went through books one by one from the shelves, "not letting go" of any book equally, regardless of what they said or if they were useful to her.

It could be said that she relied on her fast thinking ability, strong memory, and short rest time to engage in super-saturated learning.

"Then," Hermione paused slightly, preparing herself mentally before continuing, "when did you usually do housework at home?"

Lin Yue quickly wiped the windowsill clean and was about to move to wipe the window.

"After school, after holidays."

Hermione frowned. She was about to ask if Lin Yue's schedule wasn't packed with all time except eating and sleeping, so how did she squeeze in time for housework? According to the rules her parents set for her not to delay her studies, wasn't this contradictory?

As soon as she looked up, she saw Lin Yue's foot already on the windowsill, and she could climb up in the next second.

Hermione's brow twitched fiercely. The windowsill in her room was not low. Immediately, she stopped wiping the desk, threw down the rag, and ran behind Lin Yue in three steps, supporting her waist.

"You don't need to wipe the window! Come down!"

Hearing Hermione's words, Lin Yue slowly lowered her foot from the windowsill and looked back at her.

"Don't you need to wipe the window?"

"No!" Hermione shook her head firmly.

"Okay," Lin Yue nodded, her gaze calmly shifting to Hermione's bed. "Shall I help you change the bed sheet and duvet cover?"

Hermione was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

With permission, Lin Yue walked to Hermione's bed and reached out to unfold the duvet to start removing the old duvet cover.

Watching Lin Yue's smooth movements, Hermione sighed helplessly in her heart. This girl's serious and methodical demeanor was both cute and heartbreaking. Politeness and etiquette were practically etched into her bones.

She followed Lin Yue to help remove the duvet cover, then turned and opened her room's wardrobe to get a new duvet cover and bed sheet.

Lin Yue took the duvet cover and changed it in a flash before Hermione could even lift a hand. Hermione silently changed her bedsheet, and Lin Yue seamlessly spread the new one over it.

After thoroughly tidying the room, with Lin Yue's professional-level skills as a foundation, the two of them only took sixteen minutes in total. Pulling Lin Yue to sit on her own bed, Hermione took a tissue and focused on wiping the sweat from Lin Yue's forehead and neck.

"Lin Yue, don't you spend all your time studying except for sleeping and eating? Where do you find the time to do housework?"

Lin Yue's expression was blank as she explained emotionlessly, "Housework and studying can be done simultaneously. I can memorize knowledge points while doing them."

"Since you need to check if you've memorized your knowledge points firmly anyway, you might as well do housework and memorize at the same time. If you can concentrate on housework without getting the knowledge points wrong, doesn't that prove you've learned them to the point of muscle memory? That's what true learning is."

The woman handed the broom in her hand to the expressionless girl in front of her. Her own daughter had cleaning abilities that were no less than professional, even better than a cleaning robot. Why would she spend tens of thousands of yuan to buy a cleaning robot?

Besides, her daughter would ensure her own grades wouldn't slip.

Hermione gently pinched Lin Yue's cheek, feeling an indescribable heartache.

So, not only did Lin Yue's parents force her to study constantly, but they even relied on Lin Yue for daily life?

What had they truly provided for Lin Yue? It was probably only material possessions, meaning money...

An indescribable sourness filled Hermione's heart. Fortunately, Mrs. Granger's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hermione, Lin Yue, dinner is ready."

Hearing Mrs. Granger's call, Hermione took a deep breath and stood up, holding Lin Yue's hand as she walked out of the room. "Let's go, we're going downstairs for dinner."

"Okay." Lin Yue nodded expressionlessly and followed Hermione downstairs.

Four sets of tableware were already laid out on the dining table, and a sumptuous dinner was also served.

Lin Yue looked at the tableware and food on the table and was momentarily stunned. Her mind quickly processed, deducing that this must have been made by Mrs. Granger.

Sitting down at the dining table with Hermione, Lin Yue placed her hands on her lap and waited quietly. Hermione, who hadn't tasted her mother's cooking for a whole semester, had already eagerly picked up her knife and fork. Noticing Lin Yue still sitting upright, she turned to look at her in confusion.

Lin Yue remained sitting properly with a calm expression. Only after Mr. and Mrs. Granger sat down and picked up their cutlery did she reach for her own knife and fork, which surprised Hermione.

Was this Lin Yue's table etiquette? Hermione wondered, but ultimately, her craving for food overcame her curiosity. Hermione used her fork and knife to pick up a piece of steak and placed it on her plate.

Lin Yue, sitting next to her, immediately entered a state of rapid eating after the initial wait.

As expected, Hermione shook her head helplessly and gently reached out to stop Lin Yue from bringing the fork to her mouth.

"Eat slowly, okay? No one will rush you in our home."

Lin Yue blinked in surprise and then mechanically lowered her hand holding the fork. "Okay."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger watched this scene and couldn't help but purse their lips. This child was truly as Hermione had said, unable to even eat without being restless.

Mrs. Granger gently pushed a small portion of soup towards Lin Yue. "My cooking is quite good, you know. Hermione likes it very much, so can you taste it slowly, Lin Yue?"

Lin Yue looked up, her eyes vacant as she looked at Mrs. Granger. "Okay, thank you, Auntie. I will taste it carefully."