Chapter 71: IF Extra 5: She Really Did Marry Lin Zhao (End)
After Lin Zhao said those words, she quickly ran into the distance. By the time Cao Jing came back to her senses, she had already run a few steps away. Recalling what Lin Zhao had just said, her heart was in a panic.
She had a strange intuition that this Lin Zhao would really go and tattle.
After all, she was really shameless!
“You stop!” Cao Jing quickly chased after her, wanting to stop Lin Zhao. She absolutely could not let her tattle to Chu Xihuan. Although Cao Jing didn’t know what Chu Xihuan’s reaction would be, she had an instinctive sense of unease.
“I don’t want to,” Lin Zhao muttered to herself, her steps even faster, her goal very clear as she ran toward Chu Xihuan.
Although she was half a head shorter than Cao Jing, when it came to running, Cao Jing actually couldn’t catch up with her for a while and could only follow closely behind her, two or three steps away.
“Sister! Sister!”
As she ran, Lin Zhao also shouted, trying to attract Chu Xihuan’s attention, so that the person behind her wouldn’t really catch up and beat her up.
What if she really couldn’t beat her? It would be miserable to be beaten!
Chu Xihuan heard Lin Zhao’s voice and couldn’t help but look up in the direction of the sound. Then, she saw the slightly strange scene.
Lin Zhao was in front, her little short legs churning, and Cao Jing was behind, chasing her with an anxious expression.
These two… when did they get along so well?
This thought quickly flashed through her mind, and Chu Xihuan had already stood up from her sitting position. Seeing Lin Zhao’s posture, she was afraid that she would pounce on her directly. If she wasn’t prepared, she might be knocked to the ground.
Sure enough, as Lin Zhao got closer and closer, Chu Xihuan could even see her sparkling eyes. She seemed not at all worried that she wouldn’t be able to catch her and pounced into her arms without any hesitation.
Chu Xihuan caught her steadily, her tone with a hint of helplessness. “Did something happen?”
Although she had just complained that they were playing well, in reality, these two clearly didn’t seem to be on good terms.
“She wants to hit me!” Lin Zhao pouted, her tone firm.
Cao Jing, who was a few steps behind her, heard her words and couldn’t help but widen her eyes, her worldview shattered. She never thought that there would be such a shameless person in the world who could twist black and white. She was so angry she jumped up and down.
“You’re lying! When did I say I was going to hit you!” Cao Jing’s face was flushed with anger. This dead child was not two or three years old and couldn’t even speak clearly. How could she say such things!
Chu Xihuan’s expression was a little serious. She straightened Lin Zhao and made her stand properly. “Explain it clearly.”
Chu Ningyi, who was on the side, also had a much more serious expression, paying close attention to the situation here.
They were the ones who had brought Lin Zhao out to play. If anything happened to her on this trip, they would be hard-pressed to escape blame.
Under Chu Xihuan’s serious gaze, Lin Zhao said with a huff, “She said she wanted to fight with me, and whoever won would get sister. She said that if I lost, I wouldn’t be allowed to appear in front of sister again!”
At her words, Chu Xihuan’s face immediately darkened.
Lin Zhao saw that her face was not right and quickly said, “But don’t worry, sister! I didn’t agree to her. Only sister can decide who sister belongs to, and I don’t want to not appear in front of sister. I want to stay by sister’s side forever!”
At the end, Lin Zhao glared at Cao Jing with a huff.
Hearing Lin Zhao’s words, Cao Jing’s face turned slightly pale, and she looked at Chu Xihuan in a panic. “Xixi, no, I…”
“You just have to answer, is what she said true?” Chu Xihuan interrupted Cao Jing, her eyes dark as she looked at her.
Cao Jing gritted her teeth and did not speak.
Seeing her like this, Chu Xihuan knew what was going on. She looked at Cao Jing with a bit of disappointment, not understanding why she would do such a thing, and not even respecting her.
Facing Chu Xihuan’s disappointed eyes, Cao Jing’s anger flared, and she couldn’t help but say, “Can’t I care? Xixi, we grew up together, but look, ever since this person appeared, have you still cared about me!”
She was unwilling. She should have been her best playmate!
Hearing her words, Chu Xihuan was a little silent. She admitted that she might have neglected Cao Jing to a certain extent, but that was no reason for her to use her as a bet.
Chu Xihuan hated the feeling of being an object that could be traded at will.
She was her own person. On what grounds did an outsider have to decide where she went?
“Sister…” Lin Zhao tugged at Chu Xihuan’s sleeve and called out softly, a little afraid that her little sister would not play with her anymore.
Chu Xihuan raised her hand and held Lin Zhao’s, then looked at Cao Jing. “Perhaps, we’re not suitable to meet again.”
She would not accept a playmate who could use her as a bet.
Cao Jing was stunned and looked at Chu Xihuan in disbelief.
“Is it because of her! What’s so good about her? What can she do to help you!” Cao Jing pointed at Lin Zhao in a rage, her voice rising by more than an octave.
Chu Xihuan frowned, stepped in front of Lin Zhao to block her view, and looked at Cao Jing with even more disappointment.
She couldn’t understand how Cao Jing had become like this.
Chu Ningyi, who was on the side, couldn’t help but blink at the three of them. Why did she have a feeling that Cao Jing and Lin Zhao were fighting for her little sister’s affection? And from the looks of it, it seemed that Lin Zhao was in the upper hand.
But… she could also understand. After all, if it were her, she wouldn’t like someone who could use her as a bet.
She did not interfere in the dispute between the three of them, believing that her little sister could handle it herself.
In the end, Cao Jing was the first to leave, leaving only the three of them.
Chu Ningyi looked at her little sister, whose face was dark, clearly her good mood had been ruined by the previous incident. Then, she looked at Lin Zhao, who was cautiously standing by her side, her eyes occasionally glancing at her little sister.
“Sister~” Lin Zhao called Chu Xihuan in a soft voice. “Are you angry with me?”
Should she not have tattled? Her sister seemed a little unhappy.
Chu Xihuan glanced at her. “Why would I be angry with you?”
The problem was not with Lin Zhao. She was not the type to take it out on others.
“But sister is not happy,” Lin Zhao pouted.
“Even if I’m not happy, it has nothing to do with you. You don’t have to worry,” Chu Xihuan couldn’t help but sigh and pinch Lin Zhao’s soft little face. “Alright, don’t think about it. You did the right thing today.”
And it was a good thing that Lin Zhao had not agreed to Cao Jing. Not to mention that Cao Jing was half a head taller than Lin Zhao, but Cao Jing was from a military family and had been practicing martial arts since she was a child. Lin Zhao was no match for her and would only be crushed.
Hearing Chu Xihuan say this, Lin Zhao’s eyes lit up a little. “If sister says it’s right, then it’s right!”
Chu Xihuan ruffled her head and looked at Chu Ningyi. “Second sister, are we still going to play?”
Chu Ningyi’s gaze fell on the two of them. “It’s getting late. Let’s go back.”
“Alright,” Chu Xihuan’s mood was indeed not very good at the moment.
They sent Lin Zhao home. When she got out of the carriage, Lin Zhao couldn’t help but say, “Sister~ Can I still come and find you to play tomorrow?”
Although Lin Zhao was still young, she could still see that her little sister was not in a good mood, and she couldn’t help but be a little apprehensive.
Chu Xihuan looked at her. “Of course you can.”
Lin Zhao’s previously nervous expression immediately relaxed, and a bright smile appeared on her face again.
However…
The next day, when it was almost evening, Chu Xihuan looked at Lin Zhao, who had run over crying, and found it hard to equate her with the bright, foolishly smiling person from yesterday.
“What’s wrong?” Chu Xihuan caught her as she pounced into her arms and, while wiping her tears with a handkerchief, she asked.
Yesterday, Lin Zhao had said that she would come and find her to play. She had thought that she would come early in the morning, but she hadn’t seen her all day. She had thought that she had forgotten about it, but she never thought that she would come over at this time, crying so pitifully.
“Wuwu, wuwu, sister, it hurts…” Lin Zhao let her little sister wipe her tears and held up her two hands to Chu Xihuan, sobbing, “The, the teacher hit my palm.”
Her nose was red from crying, and she looked as if she were about to die of grievance.
At her words, Chu Xihuan, who had been worried that she had been bullied by someone, paused for a moment, then found it a little amusing.
No wonder this person hadn’t come during the day. It turned out that she had gone to school.
She looked down and carefully examined Lin Zhao’s hands. They were indeed a little red. “Why did the teacher hit your palm?” she asked again.
Lin Zhao, who had been crying, her crying gradually subsided, and a hint of guilt gradually appeared.
Seeing her like this, Chu Xihuan’s hand, which was wiping her tears, paused. “No lying.”
Lin Zhao’s already wronged brow furrowed even more, and she pouted. “I-I couldn’t write the characters.”
Chu Xihuan was speechless.
She looked at the person in front of her with a mix of anger and amusement. She had felt a little heartbroken when she had seen her cry earlier, but now it seemed that it was all for nothing.
At this moment, Chu Xihuan had completely forgotten that she had said she didn’t like crying children. Not only was she not impatient with Lin Zhao’s crying, but she was even wiping her tears.
After wiping Lin Zhao’s face clean, Chu Xihuan asked, “Which character couldn’t you write?”
Lin Zhao was even more guilty. “A-all of them.”
Chu Xihuan was speechless.
A person, at least, shouldn’t be like this, right?
Chu Xihuan was a little at a loss for words, then asked again, “Then what characters can you write?”
At her words, Lin Zhao was invigorated, and her eyes lit up. “I can write the ‘xi’ from ‘xixi’!”
“?”
She can even write the character ‘xi’? What else is difficult?
Chu Xihuan had someone bring her paper and ink and spread it out in front of Lin Zhao. “You write it for me to see.”
Lin Zhao was eager to show off. She picked up the brush and started to write.
Chu Xihuan paused for a moment at her posture of holding the brush and decided to endure it a little longer.
However, when she saw the character Lin Zhao had written, she didn’t know what to say.
It turned out that this “xi” was not that “xi.”
She took the brush from Lin Zhao’s hand and wrote the “xi” from her own name. “The ‘xi’ you wrote is the ‘xi’ from ‘dongxi’ (east-west). The ‘xi’ in my name is this one, the ‘xi’ from ‘chenxi’ (dawn).”
Lin Zhao stared blankly at the character Chu Xihuan had written. The more she looked at it, the more her eyes felt a little dizzy.
Looking at the silent Lin Zhao, Chu Xihuan’s lips curved slightly. “You can only write this ‘xi’ character?”
Lin Zhao’s shoulders slumped, and she said in a small voice, “And the character ‘bei’ (north).”
With the “xi” as a foundation, Chu Xihuan had already guessed which “bei” character she was talking about.
“And?”
“…”
Looking at the innocent blinking Lin Zhao, Chu Xihuan paused for a moment. “That’s all?”
Lin Zhao nodded.
Chu Xihuan suddenly felt a little sorry for the handkerchief she had used to wipe her tears earlier.
The teacher had not been wrong to hit her palm at all.
Looking at Lin Zhao’s appearance, Chu Xihuan couldn’t help but start to worry about the Lin family’s industries.
“If you don’t study well, how can your mother be at ease handing the industries over to you to manage,” Chu Xihuan couldn’t help but poke Lin Zhao’s forehead.
She had already been taken by her mother to the various shops to learn how to inspect them and check the accounts.
Lin Zhao covered her poked forehead and muttered, “I’ve already told my mother. When I grow up, I’ll just marry a wife as amazing as her!”
At this, Lin Zhao suddenly remembered something. She put down her hand and looked up at Chu Xihuan with sparkling eyes. “Sister, will you marry me? Sister is so smart! You’re definitely not worse than my mother!”
This person had just cried, and now her eyes were exceptionally clear. She held her hand tightly, with an incredibly serious expression.
Chu Xihuan was speechless.
Marry Lin Zhao?
Marry a woman?
Chu Xihuan was taken aback for a moment, but she quickly realized that she was not opposed to such a thing. In fact, she even thought it was better.
But…
“If anyone is going to marry, it’s you who will marry me. I’m older than you!” Chu Xihuan said seriously.
Lin Zhao scratched her face, said “oh,” and then said blankly, “It doesn’t matter. As long as I’m with sister.”
Chu Xihuan looked at her with a bit of a headache, feeling that her little follower was really quite stupid and might really be bullied or cheated by others in the future.
No, her little follower can only be bullied by her!
At this moment, Chu Xihuan had no idea that their casual joke would come true in the future.
She really did marry Lin Zhao.
**
Author’s Note:
The extras end here. [Pitiful] Let Little Xixi properly teach Little Zhaozhao.
