“Thank you, Brother,” Long Xiaoxi said, grinning from ear to ear.
Once class started, Long Xiaoxi began staring at An Youqing.
Initially, An Youqing did not know that she was in the classroom. He was momentarily stunned when he discovered her presence later, perhaps because she was staring too intently.
Since it was an arts and craft lesson, the teacher instructed the children to draw a flower according to the sample on the blackboard. However, the teacher found that Long Xiaoxi had drawn a little boy instead when she went round to check on their progress.
“Hey, I asked you all to sketch the flower on the blackboard, why did you draw a person instead? Who is it that you’ve drawn?”
“My brother.”
“Oh… redo the drawing.”
Long Xiaoxi had no choice but to tear up her initial piece and redo the drawing. She seemed to be very focused while drawing with some colored pencils.
At last, she managed to complete the task.
She waited for the teacher to leave before running towards An Youqing’s desk and called him in her sweet, delicate voice, “Brother Youqing.”
“Hello, Xiaoxi, why are you here?”
“To see you, of course.”
An Youqing began blushing slightly.
“Youqing, could you take a look at my drawing?” asked Yue Chan as she placed her drawing book in front of him.
“You’ve done a really good job. It looks just like the one drawn by Teacher,” An Youqing praised.
Long Xiaoxi turned around to bring him her drawing book and said, “Brother Youqing, take a look at mine.”
Yue Chan craned her neck to take a look and burst into giggles. Long Xiaoxi indeed did not do too great of a job. After all, she was still young and had simply done her best.
“Xiaoxi, your drawing is nice too.”
“Compared to hers? Is mine better than hers?” Long Xiaoxi asked, pointing at Yue Chan.
An Youqing was at a loss for an answer. Furthermore, it was a tough decision to make since they were both staring at him.
Based on the drawing itself, Yue Chan had indeed done a better job.
However, after the previous incident, he no longer dared to say that Yue Chan’s drawing was better.
“Xiaoxi, could you stop asking me such comparative questions?”
Long Xiaoxi stared at An Youqing with pouted lips and did not say anything further. She then left with her drawing book and walked back to her brother’s side.
“Brother, do you think I did a great job at drawing?”
“Yes, you did.”
Long Xiaoxi hugged Long Wenlun and said, “I’m going to ignore Brother Youqing from now on.”
“…”
After school, Long Xiaoxi’s teacher bumped into her and asked, “Xiaoxi, where were you the previous lesson? Why weren’t you in class?”
Long Wenlun shot Long Xiaoxi a look, as if to be asking, “Didn’t you say that you were having a free period?”
Long Xiaoxi looked down quietly before raising her head again quickly to bid her teacher goodbye smilingly. “Buh-bye, Teacher.”
“Hey… Long Xiaoxi…”
Noticing that she had taken flight, Long Wenlun hurriedly chased after her and questioned, “Xiaoxi, did you lie?”
“I just wanted to see Brother Youqing.” Long Xiaoxi then put on a serious face and said, “Brother, I want to marry Brother Youqing when I grow up.”
“Didn’t you say that you’re going to ignore him from now on?” Long Wenlun reminded her.
“Did I? When?”
Long Wenlun held her hand and said, “You want to marry him in the future, but he may not necessarily wish to marry you too when he grows up.”
“Why?”
“Do you want to hear the truth?”
“Yes, yes,” she said, nodding fervently like a woodpecker.
“I don’t think he likes girls like you who are noisy and kick up a big fuss over small things. He definitely fancies girls like his table mate.”
“Brother, do you actually find his table mate better than me too?”
“Of course not. In my eyes, no girl can be compared to you in our class because you’re my sister. But to him, it might not be that way.”
“Brother, I’m going to sleep together with Brother Youqing tonight. No one is allowed to stop me,” said Long Xiaoxi, feeling rather dejected upon hearing her brother’s words.
“…”
On the way home, the three children sat together in the back seat of the car. Long Xiaoxi was exceptionally quiet and remained seated obediently. She was nothing like her usual bubbly and restless self.
An Youqing took a glance at her before looking away without uttering a single word.
Upon returning home, everyone had lunch together, after which Long Xiaoxi decided to take an afternoon nap.
She woke up half an hour later, only to find that there was a fresh stalk of rose and a note on the table.
Long Xiaoxi sat up straight and picked up the note.
She took a look to see that there was a message written on it. Unfortunately, the only word she could recognize was “I” and she did not understand the rest of the sentence.
A smile formed on Long Xiaoxi’s face as she picked up the rose on the table.
She got down from the bed and placed the stalk of rose into her drawer before leaving the room with the note in hand.
“Xiaoxi, you’re up? I was just preparing to wake you up. Hop in quick, you’re almost late for school.”
“Yes.” Long Xiaoxi sped towards the car and hopped inside quickly.
She noticed that everyone was present in the car and sat down beside her brother.
An Youqing turned to face her and asked smilingly, “Do you like the flower?”
“What flower?” asked Long Xiaoxi.
“The one I placed on your table. Didn’t you see it?” An Youqing then muttered under his breath, “There’s no way you couldn’t have seen it.”
Long Xiaoxi quickly admitted, “I saw it. But, I don’t understand what you’ve written on the note.”
Long Wenlun took the note from her and read it out loud, “Don’t ask me such questions again in the future. I’ll be put in a spot.”
“Xiaoxi, if you ask me such a question in front of everyone, someone’s bound to be upset no matter who I pick. Do be considerate towards others.”
“I understand,” Long Xiaoxi conceded, thinking that he was right.
—
“Sis Yan, guess who I saw on my way here?” Song Yan’s assistant said with a smirk.
“Who is it?”
“Sun Weiwei. She was dressed sloppily like an old hag and was coming out of the market while carrying a basket.”
Song Yan’s eyes widened in shock before she snorted with laughter. “Sun Weiwei?”
“Yeah, she’s as thin as a stick now. She looks just like a haggard, middle-aged woman.”
“She brought it upon herself, she deserves it.” Just as Song Yan was about to grab a bag of snacks, she quickly retracted her hand.
“Did I get any missed calls on my mobile phone?”
“No,” the assistant answered.
Song Yan reached a hand out and said, “Pass me my phone.”
The assistant did as instructed. Song Yan was filled with pique at the fact that Ling Ciye had yet to contact her despite it being so long. “Is he really trying to break things off completely with me this time?”
After taking a look at the time, she said, “I’m going out for a while.”
“Sis Yan, you have a song-recording session at the studio in half an hour’s time.”
“Wait for me to come back.” Song Yan left with her purse while the assistant hurriedly chased after her.
Donning a surgical mask and a pair of shades, Song Yan drove towards Ling Ciye’s work area at the peak of Nanshan Mountain together with her assistant.
She drove along the route leading towards the mountain and arrived right at the entrance.
Song Yan alighted from the car. Upon sight of her arrival, the guards watching by the door said, “Ms. Song, our boss is not in.”
“Where did he go?”
“Wei Ni Estate.”
“Got it.”
Song Yan then returned to her car and drove away.
“Sis Yan, are you going to Wei Ni Estate?”
“Yes.”
The assistant dared not utter a word.
Upon arriving at Wei Ni Estate, Song Yan instructed the assistant, “Wait for me in the car, I’ll go in by myself.”
“Alright.”