“We have no time to spend together. Just two days ago, she told me she was considering going abroad. She’s very stubborn and said she doesn’t need any financial support from me. She wants to distance herself from me in everything.”
"Don't say that. It's normal for kids to be a little stubborn. Maybe after a few years of experience abroad, they'll come back more sensible and mature," Xu's mother comforted her.
Father Wen sighed and shook his head, “Your two daughters are much easier to take care of. The older one is sensible and the younger one is well-behaved. My older one doesn’t treat me like family, and I’m lucky if the younger one doesn’t cause trouble. I’m just not blessed with children and grandchildren.”
Xu Chacha didn't listen anymore, and didn't dare to send any more fruit platters inside. She walked back dejectedly, her mind blank.
Go abroad?
Wen Mubai is going abroad?
Then they'll be separated for even longer than they are now. Maybe she'll only come back once a year, or maybe not at all.
What about her... what should she do?
Knowing about this, Xu Chacha was in low spirits. Her mother thought she was unwell and took her home after dinner.
Wen Mubai asked her about it on his phone afterward, but Xu Chacha made up an excuse to brush it off.
She didn't mention it to anyone, and life seemed to gradually return to normal, but Wen Mubai didn't think so.
She noticed that her little one hadn't been contacting her as frequently lately. Before, she would receive at least ten messages a day, but now it was just the usual good morning and good night messages.
When she had free time, she would call Xu Chacha, who would always answer and seem cheerful as always. However, the conversations never lasted long, ending after only a few minutes.
Just like today, even though they had only been talking for five minutes, Xu Chacha yawned and said sleepily, "Auntie, I'm sleepy, goodnight."
Wen Mubai is a woman of few words. The way she and Xu Chacha interacted was always that Xu Chacha would talk while she listened quietly. Now that Xu Chacha doesn't talk much anymore, she realizes how bad she is at conversation.
"Cha Cha, is there something you're hiding from your aunt?" Wen Mubai didn't say goodnight directly; she had a feeling that Xu Cha Cha's recent strange behavior was not a coincidence.
Xu Chacha shook her head, her expression natural. "No, Auntie is overthinking it. I'm really sleepy. I have a lot of homework lately, and I just want to sleep as soon as I finish it. I'm so tired."
Wen Mubai stared at the person on the screen for a long time, then sighed in resignation, "Alright, get some rest. Don't stay up so late doing your homework in the future."
"Mmm, goodnight Auntie, mua!"
"Good night."
Xu Chacha hung up the video call, her exaggerated smile vanishing instantly. She tossed her phone aside, her arm drooping dejectedly from the bedside, dangling from her slippers on the floor.
She also felt that she was acting strangely. She was very reluctant to part with Wen Mubai, but she couldn't help but do this strange thing.
It seems that if she practices beforehand, the feeling of not contacting Wen Mubai for a long time won't be so hard to adjust to when she actually goes abroad. (GZH: lesbian2088, all yuri resources are available)
"What should I do..." She bit her lower lip, her eyes red-rimmed, "I'm going to cry."
...
On Monday, the first day of school, Xu Chacha declined Chen Qianqian's invitation to go to the cake shop and walked alone to the school gate with her schoolbag on her back, feeling sullen.
"Where are you going?" Someone pulled her backpack from behind.
Xu Chacha stopped in her tracks, wanting to turn around but not daring to. "Auntie?"
"Hmm." Wen Mubai walked around to Xu Chacha's side, took off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck. "Aren't you afraid of falling if you walk with your head down?"
"It's cold, Auntie will wrap it herself." Xu Chacha pretended to pull the scarf off, but Wen Mubai held her down and then picked her up.
"It's not cold once you get into the car."
Xu Chacha was put into the back seat, and Wen Mubai sat down a step later. The door was closed, and she instructed the driver to drive.
"Why wasn't it Butler Zhang who picked me up today?" Xu Chacha asked softly, clutching her schoolbag with both hands.
"Because my aunt wanted to pick me up, and I already told her."
"Oh." Xu Chacha lowered her head.
"Look up." Wen Mubai tapped her chin with his finger. "Tell me why you've been behaving so strangely lately."
"Strange? Is it? I'm fine."
"Do you think anyone will believe you when you're lying with that gloomy look on your face?" Wen Mubai ruthlessly exposed her lie.
"..." Xu Chacha pursed her lips, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible, "I just wanted to try and see if I would miss you if I didn't see Auntie for a long time."
"I see." Wen Mubai nodded, finally understanding why Xu Chacha had been behaving strangely these past few days. "You know I'm going abroad?"
"It's not settled yet. It's just that after my solo exhibition that day, a school contacted me through Uncle Lang, extending an olive branch to inquire about my study abroad intentions. I haven't decided yet, I'm just telling him to be prepared."
"He" refers to Wen's father.
"knew."
Wen Mubai asked softly, "Are you still unhappy?"
"I'm not happy." Xu Chacha finally admitted it for once, "But I know this opportunity is rare, and I fully support Auntie going, I just..."
"Are you just making things difficult for yourself?" Wen Mubai pressed her forehead with his palm, lifting her head up and looking directly at her with his clear eyes. "You said you were closest to your aunt, but in the end you keep everything to yourself."
Xu Chacha wrinkled her nose. "I just feel like I'm a bit bad. I should be happy for my aunt when I hear this, but I just can't feel happy."
"Silly child." Wen Mubai rubbed her head and pulled her into his arms. "Is there something you can't tell me? Why are you keeping it to yourself?"
Xu Chacha didn't know what was wrong with her, but when she was hugged like that, tears started falling down her face.
"My aunt has been gone for so long, has she forgotten about me?"
"Won't."
"Really?" Xu Chacha asked, her voice choked with emotion.
"Really." Wen Mubai rested his chin on her head and said solemnly, "I will keep every promise Auntie made to you."
“We talk on the phone every week and meet once every two weeks. It’s just a matter of a plane ticket. Why are you crying?”
"Auntie, you mustn't lie to me." Xu Chacha's voice trembled, and she looked terribly pitiful.
Seeing her like this, Wen Mubai's heart melted. "When has your aunt ever lied to you?"
...
On Tuesday, Xu Chacha went to school with her eyes swollen from crying.
Xue Miaomiao happened to bump into her at the door, patted her on the shoulder and greeted her, but Xu Chacha turned around and startled her.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Xu Chacha stammered, "I was bitten by a mosquito."
Xue Miaomiao looked her up and down. "You're so good at biting! You don't bite anywhere else, but you bite symmetrically around the eyes."
“Yeah, you stinky mosquito.” Xu Chacha grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry about me, let’s go, or we’ll be late.”
If the two of them, one the class monitor and the other the vice-monitor, were both late, Wang Fang would lose face when punishing them.
Xue Miaomiao listened to her and quickened her pace, finally arriving at the classroom before the school bell rang.
"Why didn't Xixi come?" Xu Chacha turned to ask Gao Lele, who had just returned from the hospital.
With a steamed bun still stuffed in her mouth, Gao Lele spoke indistinctly, "I just saw her with the school bully at the door."
"School bully?" Xu Chacha tried hard to recall.
It seems that there is a school bully in A Elementary School. He is a fifth grader who is tall and strong despite his young age. He is often seen walking with a group of tall boys.
"Are they bullying her?"
"I don't know, I didn't look closely... hiccup~" Gao Lele touched her stomach.
The whole class passed, and Xu Chacha still hadn't seen Chen Qianqian. She became increasingly worried. She thought that if Chen Qianqian didn't come back, she would go to Wang Fang after class. But as soon as the bell rang, Chen Qianqian returned looking dejected.
The little girl's face was streaked with tears, and her hair was a mess. Xu Chacha quickly stood up and went over to her. "Qianqian, were you bullied?"
Chen Qianqian nodded pitifully, "Waaah, there are so many of them and they're so fierce."
"Don't cry, don't cry." Xu Chacha gently smoothed her hair and wiped away her tears. "Don't be afraid, I'm here. I'll protect you."
"Yes, and you too." Chen Qianqian sobbed, tugging at Xu Chacha's clothes and saying fearfully, "He even threatened me, telling me to bring you to the woods after school to meet him, waaaaaah."
"Go ahead then, I'm not afraid of him." Xu Chacha laughed in exasperation, touching Chen Qianqian's face and asking, "Are you alright? Were your things stolen?"
Chen Qianqian shook her head, "No, no, they didn't hit me."
"That's fine then." If those people dare to lay a hand on Chen Qianqian, Xu Chacha will definitely not let them off easily.
"There are so many of them, Chacha, don't go. Let's tell the teacher."
"Of course I'll tell the teacher, but they also need to be taught a lesson." In her anger, Xu Chacha was already imagining herself transforming into Superman and beating those hooligans until their faces were like pig heads.
She clenched her little fists secretly. How dare they bully the kids in our class without even asking if she, as the class monitor, agreed!
...
As soon as the school bell rang, Xu Chacha, carrying her schoolbag, aggressively dragged Chen Qianqian to the grove.
"Slow down, you guys." Xue Miaomiao followed behind. "You're going to get beaten up, not to beat up people, so why are you in such a hurry?"
Xu Chacha: "I'm just going to beat someone up."
The so-called grove is near the English Corner. There are several small pebble paths, two or three pavilions in the middle, and large trees with lush foliage on the sides.
Xu Chacha spotted a group of boys sitting in one of the pavilions, all wearing winter school uniforms. The boy in the middle with a buzz cut was the biggest and looked the most menacing.
She swallowed nervously, her heart pounding, and her legs, which had been moving as if she were taking three steps in one, slowed down.
"Shi Cheng, look, isn't that Xu Chacha?" A boy noticed three little ones approaching.
Shi Cheng, the so-called school bully, looked up, narrowed his eyes, and held up his phone to check, "It's her."
Xu Chacha was a little nervous, but she still forced herself to stand in front of the group, hands on her hips, chin raised, "It was you who bullied our Qianqian?"
Xu Chacha had her phone in her chest pocket to record the whole thing. She had thought it all out before she started doing anything. After all, these were just elementary school students, and they only had a handful of ways to intimidate people. Plus, this was within the school grounds, and there were surveillance cameras everywhere, so they wouldn't dare to do anything too outrageous.
Moreover, if these people dare to do something to them, she has also left herself a way out; the consequences for these people will not be as simple as just dropping out of school.
Upon hearing her words, Shi Cheng turned around and exchanged glances with his friends. "Who bullied her? All she did was ask her to pass on a message."
"If you didn't bully her, would she have come back crying with her hair all messed up?" Xu Chacha mustered her courage and asked loudly again.
“How would I know? I just stopped her and asked if she knew you, and then she started crying.” Shi Cheng scratched his buzz cut. “Then I told her I’d bring her to the place after school, and she screamed and ran away.”
My hair probably got messed up around that time.
"No, you were clearly mean to me." Chen Qianqian tugged at Xu Chacha's clothes. "How did I mean to you?" Shi Cheng stood up and walked towards them, staring down at them. "Come on, tell me."
Xu Chacha exclaimed "Whoa!" and tilted her head back. "These elementary school students are developing so well these days! They're only in fifth grade and they're already so tall and strong!"