The boy let his grandmother pull him along.
The two elderly people's reaction made him feel deeply guilty.
And regretful and uneasy.
He shouldn't have come back so late...
He had made his grandparents worry.
The boy silently washed his hands in the kitchen.
Grandma turned on the stove.
"Xiao Guang, go sit by the dining table with Grandpa first."
"I'll heat up some of the dishes."
The food Grandma had made earlier had gone cold since he'd come back late.
"It'll be ready soon."
The boy moved his lips, wanting to say something.
He felt he ought to say something.
But he couldn't say anything at all.
It wasn't that the words were on the tip of his tongue.
He simply had no idea what to say.
The boy followed Grandpa into the dining room.
He sat in his usual spot,
his hands resting on his knees clasped together unconsciously.
The old man wasn't surprised by his grandson's silence.
His grandson had always been a quiet, taciturn boy.
And his parents' divorce when he was so young had affected him...
They'd been glad enough that he hadn't rebelled during his teenage years.
Besides...
Not only had he never rebelled, he'd always been sensible.
They hardly had to remind him or worry about him when it came to his studies.
He studied and did his homework diligently every day.
His grades were good, too.
They were very pleased about that.
But today was the first time since the boy had moved in that he'd made them worry so much.
It was already dinnertime...
Normally, he would have been home by now.
Had he lost track of time playing with his classmates?
After all, he was a boy, no longer an innocent little primary school student.