Chapter 9

Li Xiaoya's deskmate let out an "oh" and immediately lost interest in chatting with her.

Li Xiaoya was used to being given the cold shoulder and lowered her head to diligently take notes in her book.

At noon, it was time for lunch.

Li Xiaoya took out her lunchbox from a cloth bag. As soon as she went outside, she saw Sheng Yuxiao standing on the playground.

Shitou School only had one PE teacher, who was now having a basketball shooting competition with Sheng Yuxiao.

Sheng Yuxiao, with his long legs and arms, raised his hand, the muscles in his arm flowing smoothly as he held the basketball and effortlessly tossed it.

Three-pointer!

The PE teacher exclaimed in amazement, "Kids these days are so impressive!"

Sheng Yuxiao didn't respond. He suddenly turned his head and caught sight of Li Xiaoya.

She stood there all alone, clutching an aluminum lunchbox.

He strode over to her with his long legs and asked, "Lunch?"

Li Xiaoya sniffled and said with a touch of guilt, "I forgot to bring your lunchbox."

She opened her lunchbox, keeping the lid for herself and handing the container to Sheng Yuxiao. "You can use this to eat."

Sheng Yuxiao swallowed the words "aluminum lunchboxes are toxic" that had almost escaped his lips.

He took the container and said, "Alright." Fịndd new updates at novelhall.com

The school had a small cafeteria, less than 80 square feet. Several large aluminum pans were lined up, containing steamed buns, eggs, dark pork noodles, oxidized stir-fried vegetables, and a pot of soup.

Oh, it didn't even look like soup, more like dishwater, Sheng Yuxiao thought.

Li Xiaoya filled her portion of food.

Then she led Sheng Yuxiao to sit on the steps outside the classroom and shared half of her food with him.

In the past, the young master Sheng would have considered this worse than pig slop.

But now, the young master Sheng found it hard to refuse.

Li Xiaoya found a tree branch, peeled off the bark, washed it clean with water, and it became Sheng Yuxiao's chopsticks.

Sheng Yuxiao lowered his head and took a couple of bites.

...It tasted fucking awful.

He couldn't help but look at Li Xiaoya.

Li Xiaoya hadn't eaten yet. She was busy stuffing steamed buns and boiled eggs into her pockets.

Sheng Yuxiao raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

Li Xiaoya said, "Taking them for Grandpa."

Three words popped into Sheng Yuxiao's mind again — too bitter.

Her life was too bitter.

Her grandfather was such a jerk, yet she still had to save food for him.

But then he heard Li Xiaoya pause and say, "The egg is for you."

Sheng Yuxiao's breath caught, and those three words in his mind instantly changed to — too sweet.

Li Xiaoya continued, "City people like eggs, right?"

So she was saving it for him.

Sheng Yuxiao's breathing returned to normal, but his mind kept repeating, Li Xiaoya is so damn adorable!

"Yuxiao has a bit of a temper. If he comes back and finds out someone's been in his room, he'll get angry. Even your aunt and I can't stop him," Sheng Jun said with resignation.

Li Qingqing had originally hoped that her family could curry favor with Sheng Yuxiao. If she could be adopted and live under the same roof with him every day, maybe she could even become the Sheng family's daughter-in-law in the future.

But now, knowing Sheng Yuxiao's bad temper and that he had been led astray by Li Xiaoya, Li Qingqing couldn't help but nurture another thought in her heart.

If only I weren't just nine years old.

I could give Mr. Sheng children.

If he wants a daughter, I'd give him a daughter. If he wants an obedient son, I'd give him an obedient son.

She knew that "artists" like Xu Qiulai paid great attention to maintaining their bodies. The Sheng family not having a second child was probably because Xu Qiulai didn't want to give birth.

Li Qingqing dug her nails into her palm again, frustrated by the limitations of her small body.

"Uncle, have some tea." Li Qingqing suppressed her many thoughts and attentively poured water for Sheng Jun.

[Li Qingqing is still quite likable, isn't she?]

[Who wouldn't love such a thoughtful little darling?]

[Wait, am I the only one who thinks her way of speaking is a bit odd today?]

[+1, she's being overly polite... uh.]

[What's wrong with you all? She's just a child, and you're calling her fake?]

The comments section erupted into an argument.

The scene then switched to Sheng Yuxiao.

As the school bell rang, signaling the end of classes, Sheng Yuxiao finally caught up on his sleep. He got up, stretched his limbs, and headed out to pick up Li Xiaoya from school.

When others saw Sheng Yuxiao, they immediately kept a meter's distance.

By the time Sheng Yuxiao picked up Li Xiaoya, no one dared to come within a meter of them.

Sheng Yuxiao didn't find anything wrong with this and confidently led Li Xiaoya out.

He was full of energy now, taking long strides that Li Xiaoya's short legs couldn't keep up with.

"Wait, wait for me."

Sheng Yuxiao bent down, picked her up, and continued walking.

Li Xiaoya was stunned for a moment before finding her voice again. She asked, "Why were you angry today?"

Sheng Yuxiao replied, "Can't you tell? Of course, it's because they insulted you."

"You carefree little thing, how come you're not angry at all?" he shook his head helplessly.

Li Xiaoya maintained her serious tone: "Them insulting me is their business. If they call me a little bitch, does that make me one?"

Li Xiaoya firmly stated, "I'm not a little bitch, so I won't get angry."

Even though the words were so vulgar, coming from her mouth, they sounded remarkably pure.

Sheng Yuxiao couldn't help but smile: "Well, well, looks like we have a little philosopher here."

Li Xiaoya tilted her head, her hair a mess: "What's a philosopher? Can you eat it?"

"No, you can't eat it."

"Oh."

The comment section was once again stunned.

[Thank you, as an adult, I feel healed by these words. My life isn't defined by others, let the rumors go with the wind.]

[Is she really the Li Xiaoya with the bad reputation that the villagers talk about? Doubt.jpg]