Xu Chacha pouted, clearly unconvinced, "My mom probably only thinks piglets are good eaters."
Wen Mubai smiled, pursing his lips, "That's because Mom loves you."
"My aunt loves me too, right?"
“Yes.” Wen Mubai nodded, pulling out Xu Chacha’s test paper from before. “Enough with the chit-chat, let’s start class, my dear.”
Xu Chacha sat up straight, folded her hands on the table, and held a pen in her fist, looking like she was all ears.
"I'm ready."
"Um."
Wen Mubai started by teaching Xu Chacha English and Chinese, where she made the most mistakes. He explained all the questions she got wrong in detail, and then gave her a similar question to try and apply the knowledge to other questions.
"Try making a sentence using the phrase 'at something, what something is'."
It was too hot, so Wen Mubai was only wearing a pale yellow sleeveless top and shorts, with large patches of his snow-white skin exposed to the air, dazzlingly white.
Unlike her aloof and indifferent demeanor in public, she was relaxed at this moment, one hand lazily supporting her chin, her long, thick eyelashes drooping, her gaze following the pen tip to the question.
Xu Chacha glanced at her cautiously and blurted out.
"In Chacha's eyes, there is a beautiful aunt!"
"Change to another one."
"In Chacha's heart, there is a beautiful aunt!"
Wen Mubai finally lifted his eyelids to look at Xu Chacha, and after confirming that she looked serious, she seemed to give in.
"Okay, at least he can use adjectives."
"Does that mean you're praising me?" Xu Chacha shamelessly leaned closer, smiling and waiting for the compliment.
"Be serious, let's start class." Wen Mubai blocked her head from leaning closer and pointed to the next question, "Try to make another sentence using 'because therefore'."
Xu Chacha racked her brains, reading the words aloud as she wrote them down, "Because Auntie is very good to Chacha, Chacha likes Auntie the most!"
"Xu Chacha." Wen Mubai called her name in a deep voice.
Normally, a child would immediately become obedient if Wen Mubai called out to them with a stern face, just like Wen Shiyu was so scared that she cried last time. But Xu Chacha wasn't afraid at all.
"Huh?" She stopped writing and blinked at Wen Mubai. "What's wrong, Auntie?"
Her pretty, innocent face gave Wen Mubai the illusion that she was overthinking things, and that Xu Chacha was not actually being naughty, but was seriously completing the task she had assigned.
“Make a new sentence. You can’t say anything related to your aunt anymore,” Wen Mubai sighed.
“Okay, fine.” Xu Chacha compromised.
When Xu Chacha got serious, she was easier to teach than Wen Mubai had expected. She was the kind of person who understood things immediately, and the whole class was very efficient.
Wen Mubai took a break every forty-five minutes, following the school's schedule.
They put down their pens, and Xu Yanshu knocked on the door almost at the perfect moment.
Xu Chacha jumped off the chair and ran to open the door. "Sister, you're here!"
"Mm." Xu Yanshu smiled at her, placing the snacks and tea she was carrying on the desk. "Are you tired? Have something to eat."
Xu Chacha nodded, picked up her favorite chocolate cake, and presented it to Wen Mubai. "Auntie, have some, it's delicious."
She remembered that Wen Mubai had a habit of carrying chocolate with him, so he probably didn't dislike the taste.
Xu Yanshu: ?
The story of how my sweet little sister, whom I've raised for so long, turned out to be a hidden ingrate.
"Thank you, Chacha." Wen Mubai brought it over, picked up a small piece with a metal fork, and put it to Xu Chacha's lips.
Xu Chacha took a bite, stuck out her tongue to lick off the cocoa powder on her lips, and nodded vigorously, "Delicious, delicious, Auntie, eat up!"
She looked like she had discovered a treasure and was eager to share it with Wen Mubai.
Xu Yanshu, who was completely being used as a background character, couldn't help but say, "Chacha, does your aunt need you to take care of her while she eats? Eat your own food first."
She placed the remaining piece of cake in front of Xu Chacha.
"There are only two..." Xu Chacha hesitated, holding her fork. "Then my sister and I will each take half."
She divided the cake into two pieces, with Xu Yanshu's piece being larger.
"No need, I don't like sweets, you can eat it yourself." Xu Yanshu patted her little head.
This is the cute little sweetheart she knows.
"I see." Xu Chacha nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Wen Mubai and said, "Then let's give it to Auntie."
"Wait a minute." Xu Yanshu gripped the plate, contradicting herself without the slightest embarrassment, "My sister suddenly loves to eat again."
...
After finishing their snacks, Wen Mubai started tutoring Xu Chacha in English. Because Xu Chacha had scored close to zero on her previous English test, Wen Mubai put in extra effort, spending twenty minutes just explaining the concepts.
Xu Chacha nodded throughout, but her shifty eyes revealed that her mind was elsewhere.
"Here's what we'll do: if you can memorize ten words today, Auntie will give you a reward—you can have whatever you want," Wen Mubai said, offering a tempting offer.
Xu Chacha immediately took the bait, "Really, anything is fine?"
"As long as it's not a wish like asking your aunt to go to heaven and pluck stars from the sky for you, it's fine," Wen Mubai said.
"Yay!" Xu Chacha raised her arm. "I'll memorize it right now, I'll definitely memorize it!"
Of course she can memorize them. She could even make up ten sentences in English on the spot.
However, to make the performance more convincing, Xu Chacha chewed on her pen and muttered to herself for a while before raising her little hand to ask Wen Mubai to check it.
Wen Mubai thought to herself that the time was shorter than she had expected. If Xu Chacha stumbled over her words, she could give her some more hints.
As a result, Xu Chacha opened her mouth and recited all ten words in a rapid-fire manner. When she finished, she said with a little pride, "I memorized them very carefully. I can even recite them from memory."
So Wen Mubai very kindly handed her a piece of paper, "Then try to do a dictation test."
The result was even more unexpected. She originally thought that Xu Chacha was just casually blowing her tail, but the ten words she wrote down were neatly arranged and without a single mistake. The Chinese meanings were also marked on the side.
This explains why Xu Chacha said she had never been to school, yet she was able to complete the test paper almost perfectly; she is truly intelligent.
It's only natural that such elite parents would raise a daughter who wouldn't be stupid.
Wen Mubai didn't hold back his praise, "Great job, Cha Cha is so smart."
More interested in praising Xu Chacha for keeping her promise, she gripped the armrests of the chair with both hands, her bright eyes fixed on Wen Mubai, "Where's the reward? Where's the reward?"
Wen Mubai pinched her little upturned nose and smiled with a doting expression, "Tell me, Auntie will grant your wish."
She thought that what Xu Chacha wanted at her age was nothing more than eating, drinking, and having fun, but Xu Chacha said something else entirely.
"I want to call my aunt every week."
"Um?"
“No, you can’t…” Xu Chacha’s shoulders slumped down, like an abandoned pet dog. “I can see my dad, mom, and sister every day, but I only see my aunt once in a long while. I’m afraid my aunt will forget about me.”
"How could I forget?" Wen Mubai pinched her cheeks with both hands, pulling them upwards into a smile, and leaned closer to say, "Auntie promises you, I'll call you for at least half an hour every week, okay?"
Xu Chacha's eyes lit up instantly, "Great!"
When he left, Wen Mubai gave his spare phone to Xu Chacha.
Although he knew she was obedient, Wen Mubai still carefully instructed her, "If you don't understand something in your studies, you can take a picture and send it to Auntie. You can't use it to play games. If your grades drop in the next test, Auntie will confiscate it."
"I know, I know," Xu Chacha replied obediently.
On his way home that evening, Wen Mubai passed by a dessert shop. He paused for a few seconds at the door before opening it and going inside.
The shop assistant was a sweet-smiling young girl who enthusiastically recommended her signature dishes.
Wen Mubai listened quietly, his gaze sweeping through the cabinet before finally settling on a chocolate mille-feuille.
This looks similar to the one I ate at Xu Cha Cha's restaurant.
She pointed at it with her finger, "Thank you, I'll take this one."
The shop assistant quickly packed the cake and handed it to her. Wen Mubai carried the cake home, and without turning on the lights, she simply nestled into the sofa.
"Miss, you're back." The maid, Afu, brought her a glass of cold water, looking very careful. "Master said... he won't be home tonight either. What would you like to eat? Afu will arrange it for you."
Wen Mubai tilted his head back and poured the cold liquid down his throat, his tone indifferent, "No need, I'll eat this."
"No way, it's your birthday today, you should eat something good." Afu rubbed his hands together. "Maybe you don't have much of an appetite because of the heat. Afu will cook you a bowl of longevity noodles, something light so you can eat it easily."
"No need, Afu." Wen Mubai lowered his head and opened the dessert box, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Go and rest."
"knew."
Wen Mubai put the cake in his mouth. The dense cake and cream spread a sticky taste on his tongue. The cocoa powder had a slightly bitter taste, but it neutralized the sweetness very well.
She silently ate half a piece, then put down her fork, losing interest.
I don't know what went wrong, but it wasn't as sweet as the one I had at the Xu family's house.
The phone in his pocket was vibrating against his trouser leg. Wen Mubai took it out and saw that it was a video call from Xu Chacha.
Wen Mubai took a deep breath, trying to make his expression less stiff, and then answered the call.
"Happy birthday, Auntie!" The familiar baby voice came through as soon as the camera was turned on. Xu Chacha's face was right in front of the camera, her big, dark eyes looking adorable. She pouted, looking not very happy. "Why didn't you tell Chacha it was your birthday? If Mom hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known."
Wen Mubai smiled and said, "Auntie forgot."
"Then Chacha will remember for you and remind you every year from now on." Xu Chacha pointed her chubby index finger at the screen. "Did you eat birthday cake? Did you eat longevity noodles? Is Chacha the last one to wish you a happy birthday?"
The way the little boy talked about people was also endearing. Wen Mubai replied to each one, "I ate. You're the first one to wish Auntie a happy birthday, thank you."
"Ah..." Xu Chacha didn't seem very happy. "Did your dad forget because he was busy?"
"He has a bad memory," Wen Mubai said casually.
At this moment, Xu's mother took the phone from the side and held it a little further away so that Wen Mubai could see everyone's faces clearly.
"Auntie and Uncle also wish you a happy birthday. Did you like the gift?" She smiled and said to Wen Mubai on the other side of the screen. "You really spoil her too much. Why would someone so young want a phone?"
"She really likes the gift." Wen Mubai smiled back. "It's a reward I promised her. Cha Cha is more self-disciplined than most kids and won't play with it carelessly. It will also help her with her studies."
“That’s right, that’s right,” Xu Chacha said to her mother, puffing out her little chest.
"Having your aunt backing you up has made you so arrogant." Xu's mother poked her forehead, her words of reproach sounding like a loving scolding. "Just say a few words to your aunt and then come down for dinner. I even made your favorite braised chicken legs today."