This body she now inhabited was raised too delicately and had poor constitution, she had come out with them to exercise on purpose, and being carried would defeat the entire point.
Seeing her unwillingness, Ruan Feng didn't insist, although he felt somewhat disappointed at not getting to carry his soft little sister.
Ruan Jie, who had prepared a coat in advance, took it off and put it on her. He was a head taller than Ruan Jiaojiao, so when she wore his coat, it covered her down to her ankles.
Ruan Jie carefully buttoned her up, explaining, "There are a lot of mosquitoes in the mountains, brother is afraid they'll bite you, wearing the coat will prevent that."
Ruan Jiaojiao blinked, not expecting her little brother, who was only twelve, to be so considerate. Having never experienced familial affection in her life, she couldn't help but be moved. She reached out her plump little hand to circle around Ruan Jie's bent neck and gave him a big smooch with her lips, saying sweetly, "Thank you, brother."
Ruan Jie's heart melted at her kiss, and amidst the envious gazes of his other brothers, he hugged Ruan Jiaojiao tightly and returned the affection with a big kiss before letting her go and taking her hand to walk deeper into the mountains.
Little Fatty saw this and quickly scampered to the other side, taking Ruan Jiaojiao's little hand as well.
The six brothers, two in front, two behind, and two at the sides, shielded Ruan Jiaojiao so closely that she was more imposing than a princess.
Along the way, whenever they saw a beautiful flower, they would pick it, carefully clean off the stem, and hand it to Ruan Jiaojiao to play with.
The little girl who was traveling with Wa Yiting also had two brothers of ages similar to Ruan Jiaojiao's brothers, yet none of them treated her the same way, it was good enough if they didn't hit her.
Seeing this, she immediately said to Wa Yiting with envy, "Ruan Jiaojiao is really fortunate. Look how fair and tender she is, her clothes are beautiful too, they must be a new jacket made for the New Year, so nice."
Children of this age often don't feel jealousy, at most, they might just feel some envy.
Wa Yiting didn't reply, but her expression grew even uglier.
Compared to her peers, she had been through a lot from her uncle and aunt since she was young, making her much more mature.
She had always been more jealous of Ruan Jiaojiao than fond of her, especially whenever she had to do a lot of work, suffered beatings from her uncle and aunt, and could barely get enough to eat, while Ruan Jiaojiao was pampered, enjoying good food and clothes every day. And anything Ruan Jiaojiao casually "gifted" her was considered a rare treat, her jealousy would become uncontrollable and reach its peak.
Even sometimes, she would think, if Ruan Jiaojiao died and let her become the Ruan family's granddaughter, she would do so much better with her capability!
However, she knew how to weigh the pros and cons, and since the former Ruan Jiaojiao was simple-minded, she could easily coax anything she wanted from her, so she suppressed her jealousy deep within her heart.
Ruan Jiaojiao had refused her!
She did not give her any plums to eat. Even though there was such a big plum tree in her house, and she still had one in her hand, she was stingy with giving her one. This made her very angry, feeling that Ruan Jiaojiao was extremely hypocritical. All that talk about them being best friends was fake!
She glanced in Ruan Jiaojiao's direction and said in a bad temper, "What's so good about that, being so fat! Look at my aunt, she keeps getting sick because she is too fat!"
"Being too fat can make you sick?" The little girl didn't understand and, upon hearing that, took a look at Ruan Jiaojiao. Considering Ruan Jiaojiao's recent illness, she quickly felt that Wa Yiting's words were logical. Her envy for Ruan Jiaojiao diminished a great deal very soon.