Chapter 10

It was Saturday, Bai Yuqiao’s 18th birthday.

The children had entered their senior year of high school and had classes, so they could only come home in the evening.

At three in the afternoon, Bai Xiaochu closed the shop early to go to the market and buy groceries and a cake.

She locked each of the glass cabinets storing the camera samples one by one, then moved the chairs scattered around back into the shop, tidied everything up, stood in place and looked around once, confirmed there were no issues, nodded, shouldered the black leather bag on the counter, and left the computer mall.

In the previous two years, when the video shop’s business had still been booming, Bai Xiaochu had heard from one of Yang Yingyun’s friends far away in Guangdong—

“Now every household around here has a computer, and DVD players are getting harder and harder to sell.”

At the time, Bai Xiaochu had taken it to heart and chatted with the person in detail. In the end, even though Yang Yingyun analyzed that “maybe it’s just temporary, no one’s buying right now,” she thought it through clearly and closed the video shop as quickly as possible.

She sold the discs to other shops in the city, and discounted the DVD players for quick sale.

Then, she pivoted and moved into the newly emerging computer mall in the city to sell cameras.

It also helped that she had been in business early and had accumulated a customer base of some of the city’s earliest buyers of DVD players—quality clients. When they heard she had switched to selling cameras, those who were interested followed her to the computer mall.

Before long, Bai Xiaochu was making money again.

Right around then, the hospital allocated family housing to Yang Yingyun, so she sold the red brick house and bought the unit directly across from it in the family courtyard, Unit 002 on Li’an Street, an elevator building in Azure Glory Peak.

From then on, the two families remained “good neighbors” who could see each other often.

Five keys to Azure Glory Peak had been made.

Bai Xiaochu, Yang Yingyun, and the three children could all come and go freely.

Bai Xiaochu carried a bag of groceries and a box of cake. Just as she reached the entrance to Azure Glory Peak, a bicycle whizzed past her side.

Black ponytail, blue-and-white school uniform, no backpack.

Who else could it be but her daughter.

Bai Xiaochu took a deep breath and shouted loudly, “Bai Kou!”

The bicycle up ahead braked abruptly. Bai Kou turned her head back in surprise and waved her arm at Bai Xiaochu. “Mom!”

“Auntie Bai.”

A voice with a smile sounded from behind at the same time.

Bai Xiaochu turned her head.

If Bai Kou, who hadn’t brought her backpack home every day for the first week of school, seemed “extremely rebellious” in Bai Xiaochu’s eyes, then Yang Wanxi here, who was in her sophomore year and had once been “the perfect daughter” in Bai Xiaochu’s eyes…

She had changed completely!

Of course, she didn’t mean the child’s personality had changed—it was still as good as ever. It was purely that her appearance and attire had become overly mature.

The old Xiao Xi used to love wearing all sorts of cute baseball caps and tying her hair in a ponytail.

This new Xiao Xi had features very similar to Li Mengjun’s, with her black hair worn loose, dressed in a black T-shirt, a white jacket, and gray high-waisted pants baggy enough to fit two legs in one pant leg.

She even had a black leather bag slung over her shoulder, similar in style to Bai Xiaochu’s.

With Yang Yingyun so busy, every time Bai Xiaochu saw Yang Wanxi looking so unlike a high school student, she worried if the child had secretly gone astray.

But a few seconds later, Bai Kou rode back, shouting happily, “Yang Kuikui! Long time no see!”

Yang Wanxi’s eyes widened, her mature image shattered in an instant. She put her hands on her hips and retorted loudly, “You’re the Yang Kuikui! Don’t call me that! Bai Doudou! Stinky kid!”

Bai Xiaochu pursed her lips and silently set aside her worries.

The name “Yang Kuikui” originated shortly after Bai Kou started elementary school. “Yang” came from her surname, and “Kuikui” was because little Bai Kou once couldn’t distinguish between “xi” and “kui,” thinking Yang Wanxi’s real name should actually be Yang Wankui.

Yang Wan-kui? That sounded awful!

It had infuriated the increasingly image-conscious Yang Wanxi so much that she chased Bai Kou around the dining table five full laps.

Even now, after Yang Wanxi grumbled angrily for a bit, Bai Kou remained unusually calm and patted her big sister Xiao Xi’s shoulder very understandingly. “It’s okay, Yang Kuikui. You can call me stinky kid. I don’t mind, because I smell nice every day, hehe.”

Yang Wanxi: “…”

She held it in for now, held it in, held it in.

She held it in until Bai Yuqiao got home from school. In an instant, she rushed to the door, hooked her arm around Bai Yuqiao’s, buried her face in Bai Yuqiao’s shoulder, and pretended to sob. “Wah wah wah, Sister Yuqiao, you’re finally back. Bai Kou bullied me again. You have to stand up for me!”

Bai Xiaochu heard the commotion and came out from the kitchen, smiling. “Yuqiao’s back. Quickly wash your hands. The food’s all prepped and just waiting to hit the pan.”

Bai Yuqiao smiled and nodded.

She poked Yang Wanxi’s forehead with her index finger to push her away, then walked steadily back to her room and set her backpack on the desk.

She had just set it down.

Another middle schooler who needed to “seek justice” charged up behind Bai Yuqiao.

She hugged Bai Yuqiao’s waist tightly from behind and cried even more exaggeratedly. “Wah wah wah wah wah wah! Sis, I missed you! Yang Kuikui cursed me out for no reason, calling me stinky kid! You have to back me up!”

Yang Wanxi chased in a second later, hands on hips, furious. “No reason? You called me Yang Kuikui first, okay?”

Bai Kou “hmph”ed. “That’s a term of endearment. It’s affectionate. I call Tongtong ‘Lu Tongtong’ too.”

“Heh, don’t think I don’t know that Tongtong’s full name is literally Lu Tongtong.”

Throughout it all, Bai Yuqiao ignored the two behind her. She took out her pen, physics textbook, and the review sheets she needed to do that night one by one, arranged them in order, then zipped up her backpack.

Bang! Bang!

Bai Xiaochu could tolerate a lot, but she absolutely wouldn’t allow those two to disturb a senior year student.

She banged the basin on the door and said sternly, “Bai Kou, come out and peel garlic! Xiao Xi—you come out too!” Then she softened a bit. “Yuqiao, no rush. Take your time unpacking. Once you’re done, come out and watch some TV, relax a bit.”

Bai Kou: “Ah? I don’t wanna peel garlic. I hate the smell of garlic!”

Bai Yuqiao had just finished unpacking. Amid Bai Kou’s hug, she turned around, smiling as she ruffled her little sister’s hair, and signed to Bai Xiaochu: 【Mom, I’m done. I’ll come help you.】

With Bai Yuqiao setting the example.

Bai Kou felt too embarrassed not to peel garlic, and Yang Wanxi felt too embarrassed to just stand around.

The three gathered at three corners of the dining table, facing the stainless steel basin, chuachuachua, peeling away with serious expressions.

Bai Yuqiao lowered her eyelashes and carefully peeled off the thin skin from a clove of garlic. She looked up—

Duang!

Bai Kou tossed in a clove and said smugly, “One point!”

Bai Yuqiao furrowed her brows a little.

Right after, Duang! Duang! Duang!

From the other side, Yang Wanxi tossed in three in a row and clapped her hands easily. “Sorry, three points.”

Bai Kou shot to her feet in a hurry. Bai Yuqiao looked up along with her somewhat speechlessly, only to hear Bai Kou declare righteously, “You fouled! Those three are so small! And they’re still stuck together!”

“The smaller ones are harder to peel, okay? You lost fair and square.” Yang Wanxi spread her hands. “Three bucks.”

“I!” Bai Kou stomped her foot. “I don’t have any money!”

Yang Wanxi withdrew her hand and cupped her face innocently with both hands spread like a flower. “Then I guess not. One buck interest per day on what you owe.”

Unwilling to accept defeat, Bai Kou plopped back down. “Five out of nine!”

“Sure.” Yang Wanxi agreed.

As soon as she did, the two on either side reached out together, trying to snatch the unpeeled cloves in front of Bai Yuqiao.

Bai Yuqiao slapped her hand down, pressing all the garlic under her palm. Her expression turned serious, her gaze sharp as she swept it over her two little sisters.

Bai Kou and Yang Wanxi: “…”

Bai Xiaochu came out of the kitchen carrying a pot of stewed bone broth and saw the three kids sitting together very peacefully, obediently peeling garlic like proper little ladies. She couldn’t help but praise them.

“Aiya, you three really get along just as well as when you were little.”

During dinner, Bai Kou picked up a chicken wing.

“Let me tell you guys, back during summer vacation, I had it all planned out. When I started middle school, I was gonna act like a super aloof top student, make all my classmates worship me. But who knew Lu Tongtong would end up in my class again. She calls me Bai Doudou and tells everyone my old QQ name. So much for aloof.”

Yang Wanxi waved her chopsticks. “Hey, aloofness isn’t about the outside. It’s the inside, the aura. Look at Sister Yuqiao.”

“My sis is only aloof because she can’t speak, okay?”

“Hey.” Bai Xiaochu felt something was off. “Bai Kou, how do you talk like that?”

【She’s not wrong.】Bai Yuqiao set down her chopsticks and signed quickly.

“See?” Bai Kou lifted her chin. “Sis has a great mindset. And I really do envy her. Sometimes I really wanna be mute. When people ask me stuff I don’t wanna answer, I could just—” She furrowed her brows, pointed at her mouth, and waved her hand. “Oh my god, so much easier.”

Bai Yuqiao laughed. Yang Wanxi laughed too. “True that!”

“…” Fine, you two like it rough, one willing to hit and one willing to take it. I’m done meddling. Bai Xiaochu kept picking up food and eating.

As they ate, Yang Wanxi suddenly remembered something. “Ah!” She asked the whole table outright, “So how did you actually get in that morning on registration day?”

Registration? Bai Yuqiao and Bai Xiaochu both looked toward Bai Kou.

“That was wild.” Talking about it, Bai Kou set down her chopsticks, beckoned with her hand, and said mysteriously, “Let me tell you, it was super miraculous. That morning, I watched the school gate about to close, but then I ran into a senior sis. She was late too, and she wasn’t even in uniform.”

Yang Wanxi: “Not in uniform, how’d you know she was a senior?”

“I found out later, duh. Don’t interrupt.” Bai Kou gestured in the air. “She was about this tall, a sophomore sis.”

Yang Wanxi laughed again. “Sophomore? Just another little brat then!”

“Tch!” Bai Kou huffed. “Interrupt again and I’m not telling!”

“Ok ok, sorry, please!”

“I was scared of getting caught by the gate guard and didn’t dare go in. That senior glanced at me, then—get this—she went straight into the guard room and turned herself in. So I snuck into the school!”

Bai Xiaochu was puzzled. “Registration was at nine. I told you to leave at eight. How’d you get late?”

“I fell asleep on the bus by accident and rode all the way to the high school section.”

Yang Wanxi: “Auntie Bai, it was my fault. I forgot to wake Bai Kou to get off.” She paused, saw Auntie Bai nod and let it go, then continued, “So she turns herself in at the guard room, you sneak in. What’s the miraculous part?”

“The miraculous part—” Bai Kou was just about to go on when she glanced at Bai Yuqiao beside her, who was wiping the table with a napkin and seemed not to be paying full attention.

She scooted her chair over next to Bai Yuqiao. Under the latter’s puzzled gaze, Bai Kou made a grand double-handed flourish to the right. “Ta-da! She had the same name as my sis used to—Xiao Yue!”

Yang Wanxi frowned. “Huh? That’s it?”

Bai Xiaochu didn’t get it either. “What’s so special about having the same name?”

“…” Bai Kou was hugely disappointed and sighed. She looked helplessly at Xiao Xi and her mom for a few seconds, then suddenly turned her head and asked, “Sis, isn’t this interesting? It’s the first time I’ve met someone with your old name, and it’s been forever since I heard anyone called ‘Xiao Yue.'”

Bai Yuqiao looked at Bai Kou’s dejected eyes.

She smiled, pointed to her heart, then her temple, laid her index finger horizontally and let it drop, hooked her finger at Bai Kou, then half-curled her fingers and flicked her middle finger with her thumb.

【I think it’s very interesting.】