Analysis complete, Amanda released her arms from around Hermione, mechanically stepped out of her embrace, and her lifeless eyes scanned the entire room but found no brooms or mops.
"What are you looking for?" Hermione turned to Amanda, asking in confusion.
"Brooms, mops, rags. Your room needs cleaning," Amanda blurted out expressionlessly, making Hermione momentarily stunned.
Snapping back to reality, Hermione quickly raised her hands and waved them, "I'll do it, you don't need to clean. Just rest by the side; you still look a bit flushed."
After speaking, she reached out and ruffled Amanda's head, indicating that Amanda didn't need to worry about cleaning the room.
Amanda shook her head, her voice devoid of emotion, "I'll help you."
Hermione sighed helplessly and didn't argue with Amanda any further. If she wanted to help, then she might as well let her.
Thinking this, Hermione took Amanda's hand and walked out of her room into the second-floor bathroom, where the broom and mop were kept.
Before Hermione could speak, Amanda had already taken the mop and mop bucket. Considering filling it with water, carrying the bucket, and wringing out the mop, mopping was essentially the most strenuous task. Her brain, without needing to think, took on the task of mopping.
Placing the bucket under the faucet to fill with water, Hermione picked up the broom and, looking at Amanda's back as she filled the bucket, asked, "Do you need help carrying the bucket?"
The bucket was quite heavy when filled with water; her arms always hurt every time she used it.
Amanda subconsciously calculated the maximum capacity of the bucket in her mind, then turned back to Hermione and shook her head, answering mechanically.
"No, I can do it."
"Alright," Hermione pursed her lips and walked out of the bathroom with the broom.
Returning to her room with the broom to slowly sweep the floor, Hermione's attention was mostly focused on the second-floor bathroom outside her room, carefully listening for any sounds, afraid that something might happen to Amanda alone.
That bucket, even if not completely full, was so heavy. What if she accidentally fell while carrying the water? What if she accidentally strained her arm?
Or... what if she accidentally got her clothes wet while wringing out the mop? Would she catch a cold?
All sorts of worries popped into Hermione's mind one after another, but Amanda, on the other side, was not as "dangerous" as she imagined.
Noticing that there was enough water in the bucket, Amanda reached out and turned off the faucet.
At this point, the water in the bucket was just enough to thoroughly clean the mop without splashing, not a drop more, not a drop less, as precise as if it had been measured out with a graduated cylinder.
Picking up the mop, Amanda bent down and efficiently wrung it out, then twisted it dry.
Holding the mop in her right hand and lifting the mop bucket with her left, Amanda steadily carried the mop bucket out of the second-floor bathroom and returned to Hermione's room door with firm steps.
Hermione had almost finished sweeping her room. Amanda walked in with the mop and began mopping diligently, putting a lot of effort into each stroke, visibly cleaning it very thoroughly.
After all, being only eleven years old, Hermione felt a bit tired after sweeping the floor. She straightened her back and leaned against the wall by the room door, preparing to catch her breath.
Then she saw Amanda swiftly finish mopping once, not even forgetting under the bed, and then, without stopping, walk over to wring out the mop again to prepare for the second round of mopping.
Seeing the faint beads of sweat on Amanda's forehead, Hermione's heart thumped. It seemed like she felt sorry for Amanda, but it also seemed... to be more than just pity.
Reaching out to press on Amanda's shoulder, Hermione spoke softly, "Amanda, take a break before continuing."
Amanda stiffly shook her head, her voice even, "No need, I'm not tired."
After speaking, she took off her slippers at the room door, walked into the room in a pair of black short socks with the freshly wrung mop, and began the second round of mopping.
Hermione pursed her lips, watching Amanda work diligently. She placed the broom by the door and hurried downstairs to find Mrs. Granger for rags to wipe the desk and windowsill.
Amanda was working, so she couldn't rest. She couldn't just wait for Amanda to finish mopping while she hadn't done any of the other tasks, leaving it all for Amanda to do alone.
Seeing Hermione run downstairs into the kitchen, Mrs. Granger, who was talking to Mr. Granger about Amanda's situation, paused, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes as she saw Hermione's slightly sweaty forehead.
She pulled out a tissue, walked over, and wiped Hermione's sweat, "Are you cleaning your room? Why did you come down?"
Hermione awkwardly touched her nose, "Amanda is helping me clean. She's mopping, so I came down to get rags to wipe the desk and windowsill."
Mrs. Granger nodded, picked up a rag, wrung it out carefully twice, and handed it to Hermione.
"How did you get someone to help you with chores?"
Hermione mischievously stuck out her tongue, "I tried to stop her, but it was no use; she insisted on helping."
"She really is a good child..." Mrs. Granger sighed, her condemnation of Amanda's parents deepening.
Such a good child, and look what they've done to her.
Hermione took the rag, and hearing her mother praise Amanda, she couldn't help but feel happy, then excitedly turned and went back upstairs.
"Compared to that child, our Hermione... seems much more lively and active."
Mrs. Granger turned to her husband and couldn't help but exclaim. Hermione used to be seen as a bookworm by teachers and students at school, after all.
Mr. Granger smiled and put his arm around his wife, "After all, we respect Hermione's own wishes and life enough."
So Hermione was only a bit quiet because she loved to read, but in reality, she was confident and optimistic.
Mrs. Granger nodded in agreement. They were also first-time parents and felt they still had many shortcomings and areas where they hadn't done enough.
But compared to what Hermione had said about Amanda's parents... they instantly felt that they might actually be qualified parents.
Returning to her room with the rag, Hermione had expected Amanda to still be mopping, but to her surprise, she had finished mopping and had even tidied up Hermione's desk.
All the books were placed where Hermione could easily reach them, and some books that were clearly unfinished were placed by Amanda at the very front of the desk. The entire desk was orderly and arranged for the most convenient use.
Hermione stood there in a daze, staring wide-eyed at the spotless floor Amanda had mopped and the meticulously tidied desk.
Swallowing with difficulty, Hermione couldn't help but think, Amanda's cleaning skills... they were almost on par with a professional housekeeper.
With her complete dedication to studying... how could she still have time to learn housework, and be so proficient at it?
No, wait, Amanda had 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 truly didn't believe she didn't do housework often.
Holding two rags, she took off her slippers at the room door and walked to her desk. As Hermione wiped the desk, she casually asked Amanda.
"Amanda, you're so professional at housework. Did your parents teach you?"
Amanda naturally took the other rag from Hermione's hand and turned to carefully wipe the windowsill.
"I taught myself from books."
"Oh," Hermione nodded knowingly, not feeling surprised.
After all, when Amanda was in the Hogwarts Library, she would read books one by one from the shelves, equally "not letting go" of any book, no matter what it was about or whether it was useful to her.
One could say she relied on her quick thinking, strong memory, and short rest periods to engage in supersaturated learning.
"Then you," Hermione paused slightly, gathering her thoughts before continuing, "when did you usually do housework at home?"
Amanda quickly wiped the windowsill clean and was already preparing to climb onto it to clean the window.
"After school, after holidays."
Hermione frowned, about to look up and ask her, wasn't her study time scheduled to fill all hours except eating and sleeping? So how did she squeeze in time for housework? According to her parents' rule of not wasting study time, wasn't this contradictory?
But as she looked up, she saw Amanda already had one foot on the windowsill, ready to climb up the next second.
Hermione's brows twitched violently. The windowsill in her room wasn't low. Immediately, she didn't even care about wiping the table, dropped the rag, and ran behind Amanda in a few quick steps, supporting her waist.
"Don't wipe the window! Get down quickly!"
Amanda heard Hermione's words, slowly lowered the foot she had on the windowsill, and looked back at her.
"Don't wipe the window?"
"No!" Hermione shook her head firmly.
"Alright," Amanda nodded, her gaze calmly shifting to Hermione's bed, "Shall I help you change the sheets and duvet cover?"
Hermione was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Okay."
Amanda only walked towards Hermione's bed after getting permission, reaching out to unfold her duvet and prepare to remove the old cover.
Watching Amanda's fluid movements, Hermione sighed helplessly in her heart. This girl's rigid and meticulous manner was both adorable and heartbreaking; politeness and etiquette were practically etched into her bones.
Following along, Hermione helped Amanda remove the duvet cover, then turned to open her room's wardrobe and took out a new duvet cover and bedsheet.
Amanda took the duvet cover and changed it in a flash, before Hermione could even get her hands on it. Hermione silently changed her bedsheet, and Amanda seamlessly spread the new one.
With Amanda's professional-level abilities, the two of them finished tidying the room in a mere sixteen minutes. Hermione pulled Amanda to sit on her bed, then focused on wiping the sweat from Amanda's forehead and neck with a tissue.
"Amanda, don't you usually spend all your time studying except for sleeping and eating? So where do you find time to do housework?"
Amanda explained expressionlessly and emotionlessly, "Housework and studying can be done simultaneously. You can just recite knowledge points while doing chores."
"Anyway, you need to check if you've memorized the knowledge points firmly, so you might as well recite them while doing housework. If you can focus on housework without making mistakes in reciting knowledge points, doesn't that prove you've learned them as muscle memory? That's true mastery."
The woman handed the broom to the expressionless girl in front of her. Her own daughter had cleaning abilities no less than a professional, even better than a cleaning robot, so why spend tens of thousands of yuan on a cleaning robot?
Anyway, her daughter would ensure her grades didn't drop.
Gently pinching Amanda's cheek, Hermione felt an indescribable heartache.
So Amanda's parents not only forced her to study constantly, but even relied on Amanda for daily life?
Then what did they provide Amanda? Probably only material things, money... An unidentifiable bitterness filled Hermione's heart, but thankfully, Mrs. Granger's words interrupted her thoughts in time.
"Hermione, Amanda, dinner's ready."
Hearing Mrs. Granger's call, Hermione took a deep breath, stood up, and led Amanda out of the room, "Come on, let's go downstairs for dinner."
"Okay," Amanda nodded without any expression, following Hermione downstairs.
Four place settings were already laid out on the dining table, and a sumptuous dinner was also on the table.
Amanda paused as she looked at the tableware and food on the table, then her brain quickly reacted, concluding that Mrs. Granger must have made it.
Sitting down at the dining table with Hermione, Amanda placed her hands flat on her lap and waited quietly. Next to her, Hermione, who hadn't tasted her mother's cooking for a whole semester, was already eagerly picking up her knife and fork. Noticing that Amanda was still sitting primly, she turned to her in confusion.
Amanda remained calmly seated, and only after Mr. and Mrs. Granger also sat down and picked up their knives and forks did she reach for her own, which surprised Hermione.
Was this the dining etiquette from Amanda's side? Hermione was curious, but ultimately, her craving for food overcame her curiosity, and Hermione used her knife and fork to pick up a piece of steak and put it on her plate.
Amanda, sitting beside her, began to eat quickly after her initial wait.
Sure enough, Hermione shook her head helplessly and gently reached out to hold Amanda's hand, which was about to put the fork into her mouth.
"Eat slowly, okay? No one rushes you in our house."
Amanda paused, then mechanically lowered her hand holding the fork, "Okay."
Mr. and Mrs. Granger couldn't help but purse their lips, watching this scene. This child really was just as Hermione said, unable to even eat peacefully.
Mrs. Granger gently pushed a small portion of thick soup towards Amanda, "My cooking is quite good, Hermione loves it, so Amanda, can you taste it slowly?"
Amanda looked up, her eyes vacant, at Mrs. Granger, "Okay, thank you, Auntie. I will savor it well."
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