You Must Be Good 28p2

Chapter 28 p2

When Qiao Banshan returned home, Huang Sulan was lying in her room like a corpse. She hadn’t eaten or drunk all day, just lay there crying, using her last shred of dignity to fight against everything.

The courtyard was filled with the faint, fresh scent of laundry detergent, and the drying clothes swayed gently in the breeze. Qiao Xiaoxiao was sitting on a small stool, teaching Nuonuo to read. The sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the pages of the book.

Qiao Banshan walked into the courtyard with a piece of fatty pork belly, the oil paper wrapping gleaming in the sun. He glanced at the peaceful courtyard, his gaze lingering on the closed door of the room for a moment.

“We’ll have braised pork for lunch,” he said, shaking the meat in his hand, his face still showing the lingering joy of the festival. “And a few braised eggs. I bought two liang of wine.”

Qiao Xiaoxiao looked up, her lips pursed slightly. She wasn’t sure what attitude her uncle would have towards her.

Qiao Banshan squatted down and leaned close to his niece’s ear. “Nuonuo… what does she think of this?”

Qiao Xiaoxiao hadn’t expected her uncle’s first words to be asking for the opinion of an 8-year-old child. Just as Qiao Xiaoxiao was about to shake her head at him, wanting to say that she was afraid of scaring her and hadn’t asked yet, the sharp-eared Nuonuo looked up, her eyes not leaving the teaching video on the phone screen, and signed with her hands.

—Mommy always hits sister. This time, sister finally fought back.

I support my sister! The teacher even taught us to sing “Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves”!

The two adults were at a loss for words. Under the sun, the child’s eyes were astonishingly bright.

At lunch, the three of them sat around a small table in the courtyard. Qiao Xiaoxiao filled her uncle’s cup with wine and said softly, “Before school starts, I want to take Nuonuo to the city to have her throat checked.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want his daughter to go to the big city for a check-up, but… the family’s savings had been completely emptied by Huang Sulan. He couldn’t get a single cent out of her. The little money he was earning now was barely enough for food and drink. He didn’t even dare to tell Qiao Xiaoxiao that the family couldn’t afford her tuition for the next semester.

“I’ve saved some money. It should be enough for a basic check-up,” Qiao Xiaoxiao put a piece of vegetable in her bowl. “Don’t worry about the tuition. I’ve been looking into children’s medical insurance and commercial insurance recently. We’ll take it slow.”

Nuonuo’s head shot up, her eyes sparkling. Qiao Banshan looked at his niece’s thin shoulders, his throat bobbing. In the end, he just lowered his head deeply and drained the wine in his cup.

That night, when Qiao Xiaoxiao took Nuonuo out for a run, there was another argument at home.

If in the morning, Huang Sulan had only been filled with rage, this time, she jumped up and became hysterical.

“What, you want to divorce me? Your niece hit me, and you still want to divorce me?”

“Qiao Banshan, do you have someone else outside?!”

“I worked so hard to raise our daughter, and you want to divorce me? Are you even human?!”

…

So many years of arguing had long since exhausted Qiao Banshan. He shook his head, not listening to her roars at all, and turned to leave.

After that, Huang Sulan couldn’t get over her anger and threw a tantrum for a few days. Seeing that Qiao Banshan was really determined to divorce her, she ran back to her parents’ house in tears.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year.

While Qiao Xiaoxiao was running, she had a video call with Chu Xinrou. In the video, Nuonuo was on her back, curiously looking at the beautiful sister on the other side of the screen.

Chu Xinrou’s voice was like a spring breeze brushing past her ear. “Is this Nuonuo?” Her eyes curved, her pupils filled with a gentle, watery light. Nuonuo was stunned. She had never seen such a beautiful person before. The simple sweater made Chu Xinrou’s skin look as white as snow. The pearl earrings by her ear swayed gently as she tilted her head, glowing with a soft luster in the light. The most captivating thing was her smile, so gentle, so gentle.

“Jiejie, Happy New Year!” Qiao Xiaoxiao said, panting, her cheeks flushed from running.

“Happy New Year,” Chu Xinrou’s voice was as soft as water. “Why didn’t you accept the red envelope I sent?”

Qiao Xiaoxiao stopped and hurriedly took out her phone. “Why are there two?”

Chu Xinrou’s gaze fell on Nuonuo, who was staring at the screen, her eyes filled with tenderness. “One is for Nuonuo.” As she spoke, she leaned forward slightly, her hair falling over her shoulder, her whole being enveloped in a gentle glow.

Hearing this, Qiao Xiaoxiao pouted. “Alright, I’ll accept it for her for now. Jiejie, wait a moment.”

The moment she received her sister’s call, Qiao Xiaoxiao’s mind was already wandering. She pulled Nuonuo off her shoulders and shooed her home. “We’re almost home. You go back first.”

Nuonuo shook her head and signed.

—No, I want to see the beautiful sister too.

Qiao Xiaoxiao had a headache. “Will you listen to me? Your sister and I have important things to talk about.”

Nuonuo hung her little head for a long time, then looked at her sister pitifully again.

—Sister, will the beautiful sister come to our house? She gave me a red envelope. Should I prepare a gift for her too?

Qiao Xiaoxiao was in a hurry to talk to Chu Xinrou, so her reply was very perfunctory. “Yes, yes, our Nuonuo has grown up and knows to give gifts when she meets people. How sensible.”

—But what should I prepare?

Nuonuo was very serious. Qiao Xiaoxiao let out a breath and thought for a moment. “It doesn’t have to be too expensive, just something that’s uniquely yours, something special.”

As she spoke, she pressed on Nuonuo’s shoulders. “Come on, follow my command. About-face, one-two-one, one-two-one!”

Following Qiao Xiaoxiao’s “command,” Nuonuo marched in a proper manner towards the small courtyard. But just as she reached the entrance, she saw a woman standing under the moonlight, her long hair draped over her shoulders, her arms crossed.

“Wu wu.”

Nuonuo couldn’t speak and could only hum a few times. The woman turned around and looked at Nuonuo. “Hey, kid, is this Qiao Xiaoxiao’s house?”

Nuonuo looked at her, her eyes suddenly lighting up.

—Wow! It’s the beautiful sister from the phone!

Her little brain couldn’t figure out how the person in the video could suddenly appear before her. Is she a fairy?

Nuonuo happily rushed over, her arms outstretched, her soft cheek pressing against Chu Fengyi’s straight suit pants. She was startled and flinched. “What are you doing?”

She could clearly feel the child’s warmth through the fabric. She subconsciously wanted to step back but was held even tighter.

Nuonuo looked up at her, her little face smiling like a sunflower. She signed with her hands.

—Sister, are you here to find my sister? You’re so beautiful. Have you eaten? Can I take you to eat? Are you tired?

Nuonuo had face blindness and had mistaken her for someone else based on her eyes.

Chu Fengyi leaned down slightly, her delicate brows furrowed as she stared at the dancing little ball of fluff before her. The eyeliner she had specially drawn today had a fine shimmer, and her long eyelashes cast a small shadow on her cheeks. After looking for a long time, she pouted her red lips. “I don’t understand.”

But this didn’t stop Nuonuo’s enthusiasm at all. The little one automatically classified the “beautiful sister” as “one of her own” and pulled Chu Fengyi into the courtyard by the corner of her clothes. A cute wrinkle appeared on Chu Fengyi’s five-figure cashmere coat, but she, as if possessed, followed this strange little one over the threshold.

The courtyard on the fifth day of the New Year still had a festive atmosphere, the red couplets on the doorframe dazzlingly bright. Qiao Banshan had gone out to work to take advantage of the high post-holiday wages. The house was quiet, with only the moonlight dancing on the bluestone slabs.

Nuonuo was as busy as a little spinning top. First, she stood on her tiptoes to get the enamel mug with “Labor is Glorious” printed on it from the eight-immortals table and brewed some jasmine tea with cold boiled water. She remembered her sister saying that guests should be served the best tea. Then, she huffed and puffed as she moved her own little stool over, patted it with her small hand, and looked at Chu Fengyi with sparkling eyes.

Seeing that the guest was still standing, Nuonuo stomped her feet in anxiety. Suddenly, she had an idea and made a “please sit” ballet gesture, “sacrificing” her little stool to Chu Fengyi. Before she could react, the little one had already pattered into the inner room, and the sound of rummaging through chests and cupboards could be heard. She was getting her long-unused writing board.

Nuonuo was so busy that fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose. She wiped it with her small hand, leaving a cute little flower mark on her cheek. She solemnly wrote a few crooked words on the writing board and even drew a smiley face.

—Sister, Happy New Year (＾▽＾).

Chu Fengyi looked at her and wanted to ask, “Who are you? Do you know who I am?” But seeing the pure innocence in Nuonuo’s big eyes, she held back the “who are you.” The little ball of fluff before her looked up, her clear, big eyes filled with unreserved joy, reminding her of the little puppy she had raised as a child, which would wag its tail whenever it saw her.

This New Year, the Chu family’s villa was as cold as an exquisite ice sculpture. On the breakfast table on the third day of the New Year, her father’s flight information to the United States and her mother’s itinerary to Canada were placed side by side next to the gilded tableware. The Second Miss stirred her bird’s nest porridge with a silver spoon and suddenly said she wanted to go to the countryside to experience life.

“Let Ah Sen go with her,” Chu Yunji said without looking up from signing electronic documents on his tablet. Her mother was touching up her lipstick in front of the makeup mirror and just gave a soft “hmm” in response.

Chu Fengyi knew that if she went to find her sister at this time, it would definitely end unhappily. She wanted her sister to have a good New Year.

She thought about it left and right. Since she couldn’t torment her own sister, she came to find Qiao Xiaoxiao.

But who would have thought that after traveling all this way to this broken alley, she wouldn’t see the main person, but would see such a little child instead?

Nuonuo stared at Chu Fengyi, finding her more and more beautiful. Her little brain suddenly remembered the meeting gift her sister had mentioned. Oh no, should she give her sister a meeting gift? She spun around in anxiety, her small hands fumbling on her body. The pockets of her new cotton-padded jacket from yesterday were empty. The sesame candy she had hidden in the morning had long been eaten, and she didn’t know where she had lost the beautiful little stone she had picked up yesterday.

After Qiao Xiaoxiao finished talking to Chu Xinrou and hung up the phone, she walked into the courtyard, still feeling a little unsatisfied. The scene before her shocked her.

She saw the arrogant Second Miss Chu Fengyi sitting properly on a small stool that looked like it would collapse at any moment, her ten painted fingers carefully holding an enamel mug, looking at Nuonuo like a good baby.

And Nuonuo scratched her head, not knowing what she had thought of. She raised her hand and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed on her body, rubbing out a mud ball, and solemnly handed it to the Second Miss.

—Here, a meeting gift.