"I'm lucky I met her." She told Xu Yanshu the rest of her sentence.
...
As the banquet was drawing to a close, Wen Shiyu approached them with a stern face and said, "Hey, Dad's calling you."
Wen Mubai remained motionless, looking down at her.
"What, what are you doing?"
"Did you inflict the injury on Cha Cha's leg?" Wen Mubai asked bluntly.
"I...I...I..." Wen Shiyu stammered, "Didn't we agree not to tattle?"
“I discovered it myself,” Wen Mubai said, pointing to Xu Chacha, who was petting the cat nearby. “Have you apologized?”
Her cold expression was honestly quite frightening, and considering Wen Shiyu was only a thirteen-year-old kid, she pursed her lips, almost crying out in fear, "I apologized, but she still kicked me! You're my older sister, why don't you care about me?!"
Wen Mubai was not swayed by her tears. He laughed with a hint of sarcasm, "Now you remember I'm your elder? Why don't you show any respect to me normally?"
"You never give me a nice look either, so why... why are you saying that about me? Waaaaah..."
Xu Yanshu looked at Wen Shiyu, who was crying with snot and tears streaming down her face, with a puzzled expression, and subconsciously looked at Wen Mubai.
The latter stood calmly in place, with an expression that said, "I'll believe you if you keep acting."
After crying for so long that her brain was practically oxygen-deprived and no one came to comfort her, Wen Shiyu knew that this tactic wouldn't work on this group of people. She gritted her teeth, wiped away her tears, and said with red eyes, "You're ganging up on me! I'm going to tell my mom!"
“Kids shouldn’t tattle like that.” Xu Chacha walked over carrying the cat. “If you tattle, I’ll go too.”
After Xu Chacha finished speaking, the calico cat bared its teeth and waved its paw forward, scaring Wen Shiyu so much that her face turned pale.
"Get it away from me! Ahhh, don't come near me!"
"Huh?" Xu Chacha loosened her hands, cupped her palms to her ears, and pressed them against her ears. "You mean you really like cats and want them to play with you?"
The calico cat seemed to understand their conversation, meowing and trying to climb up Wen Shiyu's skirt with its paws.
"Help! Help me! I know I was wrong, I'll never do it again! Please let me go! My skirt!" This time, the voice sounded like it was truly crying.
Xu Yanshu and Wen Mubai stood to one side, looking down at their nails together in perfect unison. After looking at their own, they helped each other look at their nails, without ever glancing at Wen Shiyu.
Xu Chacha, on the other hand, smiled innocently, hopping and clapping her little hands, "That's great, that's great! The cat seems to like you a lot. You two should get along well."
Chapter 17
end of July
After feeling that Xu Chacha had adapted to the new environment, her parents began to make arrangements for finding a primary school for her.
Because Xu Chacha said she had never been to school, they found several sets of test papers and had her start with the easy ones to test her knowledge level. If she had fallen too far behind, they would find a teacher to tutor her as soon as possible.
"Miss, come here." Housekeeper Zhang was afraid that Xu Chacha would not want to do the test, so she offered her candy as a reward. "If you write a test paper, Grandma will give you a piece of candy, okay?"
Xu Chacha: "..."
At this point, should she take the bait willingly, or stubbornly refuse?
For Xu Chacha, who had attended an elite class and received a full scholarship in her previous life, the questions in first grade were practically a piece of cake that she could answer with her eyes closed and get full marks.
However, in order not to arouse too much suspicion, she deliberately kept her score below 60, wrote her handwriting crookedly, and even took a break to think about a few questions to prolong the time spent on the questions.
By the time she finished her Chinese, math, and English lessons, the whole morning was gone.
Housekeeper Zhang spent ten minutes grading all the test papers and was pleased to find that Xu Chacha's basic knowledge was not as bad as he had imagined.
"Here, let Grandma peel the candy for you." Butler Zhang tore open the hard-to-tear candy wrapper and stuffed the lollipop into Xu Chacha's mouth.
"Ah—" Xu Chacha opened her mouth wide to accept the food. "Thank you, Grandma."
Butler Zhang smiled broadly, his face crinkling with wrinkles. "Miss is wonderful."
When they got home that evening, Butler Zhang told Mr. and Mrs. Xu the test results.
"Your math is better than your Chinese and English, which means you're quite smart."
First-grade math doesn't cover multiplication and division, and given that Xu Chacha had been forced to help with the family's business and find money, it was normal for her to know some basic arithmetic. They didn't suspect anything.
“Chinese and English require time to memorize, so it’s understandable if she’s a little less proficient.” Mrs. Xu flipped through the test papers. “Tomorrow I’ll have someone find a better teacher to tutor Chacha.”
That evening, Xu's mother took the storybook into Xu Chacha's room and replaced her.
"Honey, how about we talk about going to school?"
“Okay!” Xu Chacha sat up straight, crossing her short legs. “Mom, you tell me.”
"Does our child enjoy learning? Would you like them to go to a better school, or would you prefer something less demanding?"
Xu's parents discussed it and realized that since Xu Chacha had just returned and was still young, she might be resistant to studying. They didn't want to put too much pressure on her and hoped to respect her own opinion.
“Chacha wants to go to school.” Xu Chacha held her mother’s hand. “Before, when other children went to school, Chacha could only squat at the door and eavesdrop. Actually, Chacha really wanted to go in and study with them, and also wanted to become smarter.”
"Okay, good, our baby is so good." Xu's mother touched her face. "Mom will find you the best school and hire the best teachers. I will make sure that Chacha becomes very, very smart."
"Mmm-hmm!" Xu Chacha nodded her little head. "Chacha wants to go to my sister's school so I can see her every day."
"I'll do whatever you say." Mother Xu's gaze softened.
"Can Aunt Mu Bai be my teacher?" Xu Chacha suggested with a selfish motive. "Sister Panpan said that Aunt Mu Bai is a top student, and Chacha wants to become a top student too!"
“Aunt Mu Bai…” Xu’s mother hesitated.
They asked Wen Mubai for help, so they definitely had to repay him in kind. Wen Mubai was neither short of money nor fame, so repaying this favor would be a bit troublesome.
"Can I call and ask Auntie?" Xu Chacha shook her mother's arm, her dewy eyes making it hard to refuse.
"It's too late today, we shouldn't disturb their rest. How about Mom asks for you tomorrow?"
"Okay!" Xu Chacha smiled and jumped into her mother's arms, nuzzling her. "Mom is the best."
"Okay, now you can go to sleep peacefully."
"Go to sleep now."
Xu Chacha kept her word, stretched out her legs, covered herself with the blanket, and closed her eyes.
"No need for stories today, Mom, you should go and rest too." Worried that she wouldn't leave, Xu Chacha reached her hand out from under the covers to shoo her away, "Hurry up, hurry up."
Mrs. Xu smiled and shook her head, giving her a goodnight kiss on the forehead as usual, and then quietly closed the door.
...
The next day, Xu's mother called Wen Mubai and repeatedly emphasized that if she didn't have time, she shouldn't force herself. However, the latter agreed almost without much thought.
"School doesn't start until September, so I've been quite free during this time," she said. "I've been missing Chacha lately."
If it weren't for the fact that the college entrance exam was over and she no longer had to live a monotonous life, Wen's father wouldn't have agreed to let her go on a trip with Jiang Panpan and the others to relax.
“She’s the one who’s jealous. She keeps telling me she misses her aunt, and I, as her mother, am getting jealous.”
With just a few simple words from Xu's mother, Wen Mubai could almost picture the little boy tugging at her sleeve, acting cute and adorable. She smiled and said, "He's just a kid, that's normal."
When Xu's mother told Xu Chacha the news, she was so happy that she ate two large bowls of rice that night.
It's worth mentioning that her older sister, Xu Yanshu, heard the whole thing from the side, kept her head down and quietly ate her rice, devouring the sweet and sour pork ribs.
Even though she was teaching a first-grade class, Wen Mubai still carefully prepared her teaching outline and spent time borrowing the new textbook to list out the important knowledge points. After she was fully prepared, she was taken to the Xu family home by a car arranged by Xu's mother early Saturday morning.
Unlike most children who love to sleep in, Xu Chacha's biological clock is abnormally accurate, and her daily routine is very regular. She not only goes to bed early and gets up early herself, but also supervises the whole family.
Xu's mother once joked that even a seventy-year-old woman wasn't as health-conscious as her.
Xu Chacha's room has a desk and is spacious enough that Wen Mubai could sit there without any problem.
Her room had a faint lavender scent, the blankets with Hello Kitty prints were neatly folded, and the floor was so clean there wasn't a single hair on it.
It's rare to see a child this age being so clean.
Wen Mubai placed the materials he brought on the table and pulled out a chair on the right to sit down.
"Auntie, have some water."
"Auntie, have some cake."
"Auntie, are you tired? Let Chacha give you a shoulder massage."
Xu Chacha was wearing a light blue dress today, with white tights on her slender legs and pink slippers, bustling around serving food to Wen Mubai.
After watching her run around excitedly for a few minutes, Wen Mubai finally couldn't help but speak up, "Sit down, does your auntie need a little brat like you to serve her?"
"ah?"
"Come here, let Auntie see if you've gained weight." Wen Mubai pulled the little girl's arm and pressed her down on the small stool next to her.
This stool was specially made for Xu Chacha's height, as it is tall enough to reach the tabletop. However, a crossbar was added in the middle of the stool legs, which is just enough for her to put her feet up in the air.
"I can't get any fatter, I don't want to become a chubby kid."
"Don't worry, you're far from being a little chubby." Wen Mubai raised his hand to show her height. "But instead of gaining weight, you should grow taller first. You're too small."
!
Wen Mubai's words hit Xu Chacha's sore spot precisely. Her face immediately fell, and she muttered softly, "Auntie is annoying."
Wen Mubai found it quite intriguing and pressed for more information, asking, "Who do you dislike?"
Xu Chacha wrinkled her nose and said angrily, "I'm going to be angry with you for five minutes, so don't talk to me now."
"I see." Wen Mubai laughed instead of getting angry, leaning against the table and casually resting his chin on his right hand. "My aunt said on the phone that there's a little one who keeps saying he misses his aunt. She thought it was you, but it wasn't? Then I'll go find Yan Shu and catch up."
"You're not allowed to go." Xu Chacha pulled her back, her round toes curling up to hook onto the chair's crossbar, and said somewhat awkwardly, "It's me, it's me who misses Auntie."
Chapter 18
“It’s okay to be short now, you’re still growing,” Wen Mubai comforted her.
"Will Chacha grow as tall as Auntie in the future?"
She remembered that the guy who had approached her last time was more than half a head shorter than her when he stood next to Wen Mubai, but Wen Mubai was wearing high heels at the time.
“It must have taken some effort for you to grow up to be like your aunt.” Wen Mubai pinched her cheek. “So you need to drink more milk and eat well. Your mother says you don’t like to eat, and that won’t do.”