"If you don't sleep this late, you won't grow tall."
"I..." Xu Chacha whispered on the other end of the phone, "I miss you."
Wen Mubai stopped drying her hair, put down the towel, walked to the bedside, picked up her phone, turned off the speakerphone, and held it to her ear, "Aren't your parents good to you?"
"No, no, my parents are very good to me." Xu Chacha pursed her lips. "Auntie, Chacha saw that painting."
"Yes, it was drawn for you."
"Cha Cha understands the meaning of that sentence." Compared to the previous sentence, this one seemed to have no beginning or end, but Wen Mubai knew what Xu Cha Cha wanted to say.
"Cha Cha is really great," Wen Mubai said softly with a slight smile.
Xu Chacha felt that the other person was speaking in a tone that sounded like they were coaxing a child, and she was quite indignant.
"I really understand now, I'm not a child anymore!"
"Cha Cha isn't a child." There seemed to be the sound of a pencil writing on the other end. After a few seconds, Wen Mubai's voice rang out again, "Auntie, if you write it down in your notebook, you won't forget it."
"..." Xu Chacha was speechless.
You even said you didn't treat me like a child!
"But older kids shouldn't stay up late either, or they'll become less intelligent."
Xu Chacha: It would be more convincing to me if you said staying up late would cause you to go bald.
"Okay, goodnight, sister." Xu Chacha's voice was full of reluctance. "Mom and Dad said they're going to invite Auntie over to play in a couple of days. Will Auntie come?"
If Wen Mubai comes, she will be able to see her again.
"I will go." Her voice was already pleasant, but it had a strangely soothing quality when transmitted over the phone. "Goodnight, little one."
"Good...goodnight." Xu Chacha's face was a little hot.
Wen Mubai held up her phone, waiting for her to hang up first. After a few seconds of silence on the other end, just when she thought Xu Chacha had gone to sleep without hanging up, she suddenly heard breathing sounds coming from the receiver near her ear.
"Cha Cha loves Auntie the most! Auntie, may you be happy every day! Mua!"
Wen Mubai listened to the busy tone of the phone call ending a few times, and sighed with a smile, "This little one will be quite the flirt when he grows up."
Chapter 11
For several days in a row, Xu Chacha was fed and pampered, and the skinny girl finally gained some weight. She looked like the kind of little kid who wouldn't be blown away by the wind.
While Xu's parents went to work during the day, Butler Zhang would follow her around, looking after her from head to toe. He was even afraid she would bump into something while washing her hands, and he wished he could do everything for her, even going to the toilet.
To reduce her workload, Xu Chacha suppressed her desire to move and would often sit still for half a day once she started reading a fairy tale book. As a result, the housekeeper Zhang was worried that she would strain her eyes and insisted on reading to her. Eventually, it became a regular nightly routine before bedtime, and Xu Chacha's repeated refusals were to no avail.
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Little Red Riding Hood...
It was another old story that I'd heard so many times I was sick of it. Xu Chacha rolled over, stuck her bottom out, pressed her chubby face against the soft pillow, and hummed twice in protest.
Logically, her biological clock should have told her she should be asleep by this time, but she just isn't sleepy.
Tomorrow is Friday, the day she is to see Xu Yanshu.
This adopted daughter, described in the book as a cunning and treacherous woman, is obviously difficult to deal with. Unlike her parents, Xu Yanshu doesn't feel guilty towards her, so she's not easy to handle.
The environment she grew up in caused her to build a protective barrier around everyone, which looks thin but is not so easy to break.
The more Xu Chacha thought about it, the less she could fall asleep. But perhaps it was the housekeeper Zhang's voice that had a hypnotic effect, because in the end she blinked her eyelashes and closed her eyes.
The lavender scent on the pillow was very similar to the one on Xu's mother, and it gave her a sense of peace.
I'm sleepy.
...
The next day, around four o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Chacha got into her mother's car.
"Your sister's school is a bit far away. If you're sleepy, you can sleep in Mom's arms for a while."
"Cha Cha isn't sleepy." Xu Cha Cha leaned her head over and hugged her mother with both arms. "But I also want Mom to hold me."
This coquettish behavior won over Xu's mother, who smiled and hugged her tightly, pinching the little bit of fat that Xu Chacha had painstakingly grown. "Okay, Mommy will hug you."
Xu Yanshu attends the best private school in City A, which includes three educational divisions from elementary to high school. The students at this school are all from wealthy and noble families, but money alone is not enough. Everyone must pass a very strict entrance exam to be eligible for admission.
In proportion to its excellent teaching resources, the school's tuition is also ridiculously expensive.
"By the way, our Chacha should be old enough to start elementary school by now, right?" Mrs. Xu turned her head to look at her beloved daughter.
“No, Cha Cha has never been to school.” Xu Cha Cha repeated exactly what she had told Wen Mu Bai before, “They said that Cha Cha is a girl and there is no need for her to go to school. It would be better for her to get married and make money faster.”
"Mom, Cha Cha doesn't want to get married." Xu Cha Cha tugged at her sleeve. (GZH: lesbian2088, all yuri resources are available)
"Pah, pah, pah!" Mother Xu frowned. "Don't listen to that rubbish. You are my precious baby. I can't bear to see you get married. Even if you stay by my side for the rest of your life, I won't mind."
"Mmm!" Xu Chacha snuggled her head against her chest. "Mom is so good to me."
"So Cha Cha likes school, right?" Xu's mother continued to probe, "How about Mom takes you to school?"
"With my sister!" Xu Chacha excitedly shook her arm. "Chacha also wants to study in such a beautiful school and make lots and lots of good friends!"
"Of course you can. Mom is already handling the paperwork for you. You can choose any school you want." Xu's mother couldn't help but fondle her chubby cheeks, finding the child incredibly adorable.
"Then Chacha should study hard so that she can earn money for her mother in the future."
"Hahahaha, thank you, baby."
The driver, familiar with the area, drove in through the side gate of the junior high school and parked the car in front of a beige teaching building.
"Come on, baby, Mommy will take you to your sister's classroom."
In fact, Xu Yanshu is usually picked up and dropped off by a driver. Her mother rarely comes, but she did attend a parent-teacher meeting at the beginning of the school year and remembers Xu Yanshu's class location.
Before coming, she had already told Xu Yanshu about the general situation on the phone so that she could be mentally prepared for Xu Chacha's appearance today.
"If possible, Mom hopes you can take better care of Chacha."
Sitting in the last row, Xu Yanshu propped her chin up, watching the teacher assign homework with a blank expression, her mind filled with her mother's words.
She knew that the Xu family had a lost daughter before. At first, she mistakenly thought that the couple wanted to use her as a replacement, but she soon found out that was not the case.
Xu's father was strict with her grades and acted more like a mentor than a father. Xu's mother was gentler and cared about her daily life. She would talk to her about things that girls would talk about, but she was still limited by her role as an elder. She was not distant but there was not much intimacy either.
The three of them only sat down to talk a few times, and those conversations were all very formal, like a meeting of officials.
Perhaps because Xu Yanshu had no memories of her parents growing up, she didn't know how families usually got along, but at least not like the three of them, who were so polite to each other as if they were roommates.
Even if the couple wanted to find a replacement, they wouldn't choose someone so much older than Xu Chacha.
As elders or benefactors, they never made any demands on her, so the only thing they mentioned on the phone was taking care of Xu Chacha, which Xu Yanshu felt she could do her best to do.
"I heard that the Xu family's biological daughter has been found?" Wen Shiyu, who sat next to Xu Yanshu, struck up a conversation.
"Hmm." Xu Yanshu turned her head to look at her. "How do you and your sister usually get along?"
The Wen family and the Xu family have close ties, so Xu Yanshu knows some inside information.
Wen's father's first wife passed away a few years ago, leaving behind only his eldest daughter, Wen Mubai. Not long after, he remarried and had a daughter named Wen Shiyu.
They claimed to the public that Wen Shiyu was a premature baby, but in fact, her mother became pregnant out of wedlock in order to marry into a wealthy family.
“How good can a relationship be when you’re not even born to the same mother?” Wen Shiyu got angry just thinking about it. “Wen Mubai is also interesting. I didn’t kill her mother, so why does he give me attitude all the time, as if I’m the one who broke up her family?”
Xu Yanshu disagreed, "Your sister doesn't give anyone a nice look."
“That’s different. I can’t stand her condescending attitude, as if no one is as good as her or anyone can catch her eye.”
"Didn't you ever try to make a move on her?"
"Why should I have to be nice to her? My mother is the young mistress of the Wen family now. I should be doing her a favor by not showing her any power."
Xu Yanshu lowered her eyelids, automatically filtering out Wen Shiyu's next series of actions of spitting out black mud.
She had only one thought in her mind, which was what Wen Shiyu had just said: "How good can a relationship be when you're not even born to the same mother?"
Could it be that Xu Chacha sees herself as the villain who stole her parents and destroyed her family?
"If you ask me, you shouldn't be too polite to your sister, otherwise she'll think you're easy to bully and will try to take advantage of you. How will you ever gain a foothold in the Xu family then?"
Xu Yanshu remained silent, only nodding to indicate that she had heard.
After spending most of the semester together, she had figured out Wen Shiyu's personality quite well. She had the typical spoiled rich girl temper and sophisticated egoism. She could let everyone down, but no one could let her down.
As Wen Shiyu herself said, she is now a member of the Wen family, and Xu Yanshu cannot offend her because of a childish temper.
She was just an adopted daughter, and an adopted daughter should do what an adopted daughter should do, keeping her low-key and obedient ways.
So she will remember everything her mother told her, including getting along well with Wen Shiyu and taking good care of Xu Chacha.
When the bell rang, Wen Shiyu patted her shoulder, gave her a knowing look, and left first.
Xu Yanshu packed her things, put on her backpack, and walked out. From a distance, she could see a tall and a short person standing on the opposite side of the corridor.
Xu Yanshu's palms inexplicably began to sweat. Standing at one end of the corridor, watching Xu Chacha and her mother cuddling intimately, the sense of belonging she had in her heart began to crumble.
The real heiress is back; shouldn't her adopted daughter also disappear?
"Sister Yan Shu!" someone called out to her. The childish voice was very distinctive. Then Xu Yan Shu saw the little guy running towards her with a bouncy gait.
Xu Chacha quickly ran up to her, her clear eyes reflecting her image. "You must be Sister Yan Shu, right? Mom said you're the prettiest one. I recognized you at a glance!"
Contrary to expectations, Xu Chacha did not speak ill of her at all. Instead, she was like a blazing flame, unexpectedly appearing in front of Xu Yanshu with a cheerful and energetic demeanor that the latter was unfamiliar with.
It's not something I'm used to, but... this feeling isn't too bad.
Chapter 12
"What did you call me?" Xu Yanshu wondered if there was something wrong with her ears.
As far as she knew, Wen Shiyu had never called Wen Mubai "sister," and neither had Wen Mubai. The two of them always addressed each other by their names, and in private, they would even use "hey" instead.
Xu Yanshu never imagined that she would one day be called "sister".
"Is it not allowed?" Xu Chacha gently took her hand, her small palm soft and warm, her beautiful, bright eyes gazing at her. "Then what can Chacha call you..."
The child's tentative tone made Xu Yanshu feel guilty.