"brush--"
Xu Chacha heard the sound of someone turning the pages of a newspaper, followed by a smiling voice.
"She only slept once, and now she's an aunt?"
In the darkness, Xu Chacha blinked slowly. Oh, it wasn't a dream after all; she really had died from overwork.
"Cha Cha was just dreaming, she wasn't calling for her sister," Xu Cha Cha explained softly, adopting a childlike voice.
Wen Mubai didn't care about any of that. She stood up and turned on the light. "It's okay, shout whatever you want."
It seems that girls of their age are particularly averse to being called "auntie" or similar nicknames. For example, Jiang Panpan would always carefully correct the children's names and make them call her "sister."
“That won’t do. Girls under forty have to call me ‘sister.’” Xu Chacha said, then smiled at Wen Mubai with narrowed eyes. “Someone as pretty as you, sister, has to be called ‘pretty’ too. Pretty sister!”
"Okay, pretty little sister." Wen Mubai mimicked her tone and then came over to pick her up. "It's time to eat."
Xu Chacha obediently hugged her neck, "Where's my sister? Has she eaten? Has Chacha been sleeping for a long time?"
"I'm not hungry, so I'll wait for you to eat together."
She helped Xu Chacha sit on a chair, then went to heat up the dishes herself. On her way back, she ran into Jiang Panpan.
"Is Little Chacha awake?"
"You're awake." Wen Mubai wiped away the soup that had spilled onto the edge of the plate with a tissue.
Jiang Panpan was used to her obsessive-compulsive disorder. "That's perfect, I'll go too. I bought a lot of pretty dresses, and I'm just waiting to see how she looks in them. She'll definitely be super cute!"
Wen Mubai: "..."
When the two returned to the room, Xu Chacha was sitting on the chair that Wen Mubai had arranged for her. The chair legs were a bit high, and her feet couldn't reach the ground. In addition, Wen Mubai had applied ointment to her feet, so she wasn't wearing shoes and couldn't get down. She could only wave her little hand at them from afar.
"elder sister!"
Jiang Panpan walked over with the bag, squatted down in front of her, and looked her over from head to toe. When she saw the shocking scars, her nose started to sting.
"How are you? Does it still hurt? I'm so sorry I didn't realize you were asking for help. You almost made our little Chacha suffer."
Xu Chacha shook her head and patted Jiang Panpan's shoulder with her little hand, comforting her in a childish voice, "It's okay, pretty girls shouldn't cry."
"A pretty girl?" Jiang Panpan pointed at herself, then turned to Wen Mubai and laughed loudly, "Hahahaha! She said I'm pretty! Kids don't lie, so she's right!"
Wen Mubai silently placed plates on the dining table, pretending not to hear.
Jiang Panpan then took Xu Chacha's hand and began to urge her, "So tell me, am I prettier, or is that lady over there surnamed Wen prettier?"
Xu Chacha spoke sweetly, yet without hesitation, stabbing someone in the heart: "Of course it's that older sister, that older sister is the most beautiful in the world."
"Your sister bought you lots of pretty dresses!" Jiang Panpan took out the clothes and waved them in front of Xu Chacha. "Come on, Chacha, tell me, which sister is the prettiest?"
Xu Chacha remained unmoved, pointing firmly in Wen Mubai's direction, "That older sister is pretty."
"Even a little skirt can't bribe you." Jiang Panpan chose not to humiliate herself any further.
"No little dress is as nice as my sister's." Xu Chacha swung her toes and said in a very innocent tone, "I like my sister the most in this world."
With his back to them, Wen Mubai lowered his head and chuckled softly. When he turned around, he had already regained his calm and composed demeanor.
She lowered her voice, hiding the amusement in it, and said, "Come and eat."
"Coming right away!" Xu Chacha was about to get down when Wen Mubai came over and picked her up, chair and all, and placed her on the dining table.
The guesthouse owner prepared four dishes and a soup for them. Two meat dishes were placed in front of Xu Chacha, and the rice in front of her was piled up into a small mountain.
"Are you trying to fatten her up like this?" Jiang Panpan, who had already finished eating, teased Wen Mubai from the side.
Wen Mubai was stuffing meat into Xu Chacha's bowl. Hearing her words, he nodded seriously, "Hmm, it would be best to gain ten pounds in one night."
Xu Chacha, whose cheeks were stuffed with food and unable to speak, immediately looked up when she heard this. Her round eyes looked at her, and her slightly pouting lips, combined with her stunned expression, made her look a little silly and cute.
"ah?"
Wen Mubai reached out and wiped the rice grains from her mouth. "You're too thin. You don't have any meat on your body."
Jiang Panpan, standing to the side, exclaimed as if she had discovered something amazing, "I never knew you could say so much at once!"
Wen Mubai: "Hmm?"
"You have no idea what people at school are saying about you." Jiang Panpan got really excited when she talked about these things. "They said you were so quiet that you wouldn't even say five words when rejecting someone's confession. Later, when those boys went to confess to you, they weren't trying to get you to say yes, but rather to get you to say a few more words. Hahahaha, it's hilarious!"
Xu Chacha ate her food while her eyes darted around, glancing at Jiang Panpan and then at Wen Mubai, before nodding in agreement, listening intently to the gossip.
Indeed, with looks like that, it would be abnormal not to get confessed to a few times during a semester.
"And don't you think those guys are just asking for it? The more you ignore them, the more they like you. What's the point?"
Wen Mubai lowered his eyes dismissively, "If they put even a little effort into their papers covered in red crosses, they wouldn't have the energy for this."
"Mmm, yes, that's right." Xu Chacha mumbled in response to Wen Mubai's words, put down the bowl with both hands, and then went to brush away her bangs, which were getting in the way and were interfering with her eating.
Wen Mubai glanced at the little boy struggling with his hair and reached out, "Don't move, let me tie it up for you."
"Okay." Xu Chacha grinned, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons.
Wen Mubai found a hair tie, stood behind Xu Chacha, ran his fingers through her soft hair a couple of times, then gathered her bangs, which looked like they hadn't been trimmed in a long time, and tied them into a small bun.
Is it tight?
Xu Chacha shook her head, and the little bird on her head also shook. "It's okay, thank you, sister."
After tying her bangs up, Xu Chacha's smooth and full forehead was revealed. Combined with her slightly chubby cheeks with a light pink tint, she looked like a juicy peach that had soaked up a lot of juice, making people want to take a big bite.
Jiang Panpan rested her chin on her hands, "Waaah, this little cutie is so adorable, can I steal him and take him home to raise!"
"No!" Wen Mubai and Xu Chacha said in unison.
"I'm a little injured..." Jiang Panpan clutched her chest.
"Cha Cha, you should go with this older sister." Xu Cha Cha took Wen Mu Bai's hand and led it.
Wen Mubai's fingers twitched, his expression momentarily stunned, but he quickly recovered and softly agreed, "Yes."
“Sigh, you two have only known each other for a short time, yet you’re as close as sisters.” Jiang Panpan sighed. “When you were tying her hair just now, I even saw a maternal aura shining from you.”
Eighteen-year-old Wen Mubai: "..."
Xu Chacha picked up a chicken wing and held it to Jiang Panpan's lips, smiling as she said, "Sister, try this chicken wing, it's delicious!"
Surely they can shut them up with food.
Jiang Panpan thought Xu Chacha was comforting her. They say that if a child is willing to share food with you, it means they consider you one of their own. As she munched on the chicken wing, she completely forgot about the minor injury she had just suffered.
The chicken wings today were freaking delicious! And the girl who delivered them was so adorable!
"By the way, after we finish eating, I'll cut your hair for you," Jiang Panpan said. "Your hair looks like it hasn't been styled in a long time; it's all uneven."
"Does your sister know how to cut hair?" Xu Chacha asked, a little worried.
"Of course, my sister cuts her own hair." Jiang Panpan brushed her bangs aside. "How is it? Doesn't it look good?"
Xu Chacha observed it seriously and gave her evaluation like a little adult: "It's beautiful."
"Of course! The girls in our class not only cut their own hair but also dye it themselves. Who goes to a hair salon these days?" Jiang Panpan said with considerable pride.
Speaking of this, Xu Chacha's curiosity was piqued, "Are the two older sisters classmates?"
“We… are classmates, but not in the same class.” Jiang Panpan pointed to herself, “I’m an art student, and your sister Wen is a science student, a top student.”
"Oh, okay." Xu Chacha nodded.
Wen Mubai raised his hand and placed it on her head. "Chacha, what do you want to learn in the future?"
“Cha Cha…” Xu Cha Cha rummaged around in her bowl with her chopsticks a few times. “They said that Cha Cha is a girl and doesn’t need to go to school. They also said that she can marry anyone and make a lot of money. It’s much easier than raising her to go to college and then earning money.”
Jiang Panpan's expression stiffened. Although her family wasn't as well-off as Wen Mubai's, she was still an only child who had been pampered since childhood. She wholeheartedly believed that all parents in the world were as gentle and kind as her own, and she couldn't imagine what Xu Chacha had gone through.
"Don't believe those things." Wen Mubai gently patted her head and said in a soft voice, "They are bad people, and bad people talk nonsense."
"Okay! Then Chacha wants to become just like her sister." Xu Chacha imitated Jiang Panpan's words, enunciating each word clearly, "A top student!"
Actually, Xu Chacha just spoke offhand back then. It wasn't until later, when Wen Mubai pressed her down in front of his desk and used those words to "motivate" her, that she realized some things were truly regrettable.
She was perfectly fine, so why did she suddenly grow a mouth?
Chapter 5
"Oh right, Chacha, try these clothes on!" Jiang Panpan remembered the purpose of her visit.
Every only child envies other people's well-behaved little sisters. How could she miss such a great opportunity to experience the fun of dressing up dolls!
Xu Chacha looked at Wen Mubai, as if seeking her opinion.
Wen Mubai took a tissue and wiped her mouth, then patted her head lightly. "Go ahead."
Xu Chacha looked at the pure white princess dress in Jiang Panpan's hand and gently shook her head, "Chacha is dirty..."
She'd been running around all day, covered in sweat, and had even slipped and fallen in the mud. If she wore those new clothes now, wouldn't she just get them dirty?
“Hey, why don’t you take her for a bath?” Jiang Panpan said to Wen Mubai. “After sweating all day, the child must be uncomfortable.”
Xu Chacha glared at Yuan, "I can wash myself!"
Even if her body is that of a seven-year-old child, her mind is that of an eighteen-year-old. Doesn't she have any shame about asking others to help her take a bath?
“You really should wash it.” Wen Mubai put his hands under Xu Chacha’s armpits and picked her up like he was holding a doll. “You have too many wounds and can’t get it wet. Let me help you.”
"I--"
"Then you guys go ahead and wash, I'll go get the hair dryer," Jiang Panpan said.
Xu Chacha: "..." Can I say something?
She felt like a helpless puppet, easily carried into the bathroom by Wen Mubai.
This guesthouse is one of the best in town. The bathroom is quite large and very clean. It even has a separate wet and dry area for showering and bathing.
Wen Mubai hooked his foot over the small wooden stool next to him and placed Xu Chacha on it so that she could see her reflection in the mirror.
Xu Chacha stared at the dusty-faced baby in the mirror, blinking her eyes, and suddenly felt as if she had traveled through time.
This child looks exactly like her when she was little, except that her appearance is a bit unkempt. Otherwise, even if you put her in front of her own mother, you probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart.
Wen Mubai took out scissors and a comb from somewhere and started combing the knots in Xu Chacha's hair.