Liang Sheng was e-mo the whole night; she slept so poorly that Liang Jin nearly kicked her off the bed twice or thrice. And at the start, this girl kept sticking to her, making her super uncomfortable.
Finally, the night was over.
In the morning, after Liang Jin finished breakfast, she left, and Liang Sheng let out a sigh of relief.
“Yay!” She spun around in place, hugging her phone and kissing it several times (turns out the phone was the real winner), “Now, I can finally brush up other people’s favorability without worry!”
While showering in the bathroom yesterday, Liang Sheng had secretly contacted a girl behind her little sister’s back—no, more accurately, a little brat—Zhen Zhu.
“Zhen Zhu, little friend, didn’t you ask me to come play at your house? How about tomorrow? After school starts, I won’t have much time.”
Of course, Zhen Zhu happily agreed and immediately told the whole family that a girl was coming over to play with her.
Much like Lu Ziqing’s family, everyone was thrilled. Zhen Zhu was similar to Lu Ziqing—her mouth was too sharp, so no other kids wanted to be friends with her. Lu Ziqing’s was unintentional, plus she was tsundere, but Zhen Zhu did it on purpose and loved pranks; she hated other little brats.
When her family asked why she didn’t make friends, her excuse was: They’re all too childish, so we can’t play together at all.
That wasn’t true, actually. Though Zhen Zhu was childish too, she was more mature than her peers. Back in second grade, there was a time when a bunch of kids wanted to befriend her, and she was pretty happy, thinking everyone liked her. But then…
“Huh? Did your dad tell you to get along with Zhen Zhu too?”
“Yeah!”
“My dad didn’t say that, but I heard her family is rich, so if I befriend her, maybe she’ll take me out to eat.”
That moment, comically speaking, Zhen Zhu the elementary schooler went dark!
“People like you deserve to be my friends?”
“Hahaha, you’re so old and still scared of bugs!”
“Crybaby crybaby, go cry to your rich daddy, say I bullied you!”
You could say she was retaliating against these kids who befriended her but weren’t sincere at heart.
From then on, Zhen Zhu had this belief: Anyone who wants to befriend me has ulterior motives.
Until she met that silly, tall green curly-haired girl who wasn’t afraid of her at all and even clapped back when she bullied her (she really was tall in Zhen Zhu’s eyes; Zhen Zhu was just too short). Back then, she was like the CEO in those overbearing CEO novels: “Heh, tall woman, you’ve successfully caught my attention!”
Later, seeing Liang Sheng’s face twice, frantic with worry and tears streaming down as she cried for her, a strange feeling stirred in her heart. She thought, this must be what they call—friends.
Until… Liang Sheng showed her yuri manga.
After parting that day, back home, Zhen Zhu grabbed her phone and searched a ton of yuri novels, manga, and anime. She binged for over an hour, and then… she got it.
So, my liking for that old hag Liang Sheng… is actually romantic love? That day, Zhen Zhu lay flat on her huge, soft princess bed, cheeks flushed, pondering for a long time.
Don’t underestimate the kid; when it came to her feelings, she was decisive and straightforward, never dragging things out.
Yes! I like the old h… no! Liang Sheng! She bolted upright and rushed into her dad’s room without even knocking.
“Daddy! I have someone I like!”
“Pfft!” Zhen Zheng, mid-sip of tea, nearly spat it out.
“Daddy! I have someone I like!” Zhen Zhu repeated, dashing to her dad’s swivel chair and draping herself over his lap. “Did you hear me!?”
“I heard, I heard~” Zhen Zheng was the biggest daughter-con in this book; his voice was meltingly gentle right now. “Who’s so amazing? Caught our little princess’s eye.”
Was it still that stinky kid Su Ze? Zhen Zheng didn’t like Su Ze much; after years in the trenches, he could spot a bad egg at first glance. But back then, his daughter was only ten when she said she liked Su Ze; he just laughed it off as kid stuff.
But as Zhen Zhu grew older, she kept yapping about liking Su Ze, which annoyed him to no end.
“You still like Su Ze?” Zhen Zheng asked.
Zhen Zhu shook her head. “I don’t like him anymore!”
“Really?!” Zhen Zheng got excited, his voice pitching up involuntarily.
Zhen Zhu frowned. “Daddy, why do you look so happy?”
How could he not be thrilled?! Zhen Zheng tried to suppress his grin. He knew kids’ crushes were fickle—liking this one today, that one tomorrow; impossible to be consistent.
Phew, all that worry for nothing before.
“Ahem,” he lowered his tone, gentle again. “So, little princess, tell Daddy which boy you’ve fallen for, okay?”
Zhen Zhu shook her head, silent.
“No one anymore?!” Zhen Zheng was overjoyed.
“No, I do.”
“Then which boy is it?” His heart jumped back to his throat.
Zhen Zhu tilted her head. “Daddy, I never said the person I like is a boy…”
“Huh, that’s fine then… What did you say?!?!?!”
Poor Zhen Zheng, thirty-eight years old, shocked and terrified, face drained of color—his gaping mouth could fit several eggs.
“Daddy, what’s wrong, Daddy?” Seeing her dad frozen like that forever, Zhen Zhu got worried and shook his arm hard.
“Hoo, ha—” Zhen Zheng caught his breath, eyes glazed. “D-Daddy’s fine…”
“What’s wrong? Does that mean Daddy won’t let me like girls?!” Zhen Zhu got worked up and her eyes rimmed red. Besides crybaby Song An’an, the next biggest crybaby was little loli Zhen Zhu.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry,” Zhen Zheng saw his precious daughter looking all aggrieved and instantly melted, swallowing his advice. “Daddy didn’t say our little princess can’t like girls.”
“Then Daddy agrees I can like her!”
Zhen Zheng’s teeth ached. “That’s not what I meant, how to put it…”
“So Daddy still doesn’t agree with me liking girls?” Dang, extreme tugging—Zhen Zhu the bear child had her old dad’s psyche pegged; she knew he couldn’t stand seeing her upset and teary.
