Chapter 18

Ever since her “birth,” Yan Xiao had never cried.
Even when the system first told her she was cannon fodder destined to die before eighteen, she hadn’t shed a single tear.
But now, one elementary school entrance question had broken her.
And once the tears started, they wouldn’t stop, like a dam bursting open.
Downstairs, Chen Zilu froze at the sound of wailing from upstairs.
Her niece was crying? Her never-cries niece?
Heart tightening, she bolted up the stairs.
Yan Xiao was sobbing uncontrollably, face red and wet, hiccuping through her cries.
The sight made Chen Zilu’s chest ache.
“Xiao-xiao?” She quickly lifted the little girl off the chair, gently cradling her. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Look at Auntie. Tell me what happened?”
Yan Xiao hadn’t expected to cry at all. It had just burst out of her, and once it started, it wouldn’t stop. Hearing her aunt’s voice only made her bury her face deeper into her shoulder and cry harder.
“There, there, it’s okay, shh, don’t cry…”
Not knowing what had happened, Chen Zilu could only comfort her while glancing at Qiu Li. “What on earth happened?”
From the looks of it, the two hadn’t fought.
Qiu Li looked just as lost. He stared at the sobbing girl, bit his lip, and shook his head.
“…”
Chen Zilu sighed helplessly, patting her niece’s back. “Alright, it’s okay, don’t cry. Can you tell Auntie what happened?”
That only made her cry harder.
Her aunt had never seen her like this, she was the calm, polite one, the little adult of the family. Now, she was wailing like her heart had broken.
Completely bewildered, Chen Zilu turned back to Qiu Li. “What were you two doing just now?”
He thought about it seriously. “Doing test questions.”
“?”
He hesitated, then reaffirmed with conviction, “We were just doing questions.”
That was true, they had gone upstairs to “study,” and somewhere in that process, she’d started crying.
He frowned slightly. Maybe she didn’t like the questions?
Following his gesture, Chen Zilu looked at the desk.
Elementary entrance exam papers?
What the?
They’re both in kindergarten!
“Maybe she doesn’t like this test paper,” Qiu Li said seriously after some thought.
“She was the one doing it?”
He nodded. “Mm. I couldn’t solve question nine, so she said she’d teach me.”
“…”
Chen Zilu was speechless.
Seeing the guilt and worry on Qiu Li’s face, Chen Zilu gently patted his head. “It’s alright. She’ll calm down in a bit.”
Then she turned her attention back to her niece, still softly crying in her arms. “Xiao-xiao, come on, tell Auntie what’s wrong, okay?”
Yan Xiao had cried so hard that her ears were ringing. It took a long while before her sobs weakened, and she opened her swollen, tear-stained eyes, hiccuping pitifully.
Chen Zilu wiped the tears from her cheeks and coaxed her again. “What happened, sweetheart? Tell Auntie. Don’t you remember? Auntie’s the most invincible person in the world.”
That only made things worse. The moment those words left her aunt’s mouth, Yan Xiao’s lips trembled, she nearly burst into tears again.
“Alright, alright, no more test questions,” Chen Zilu quickly said, standing up with her niece in her arms, moving her away from the desk.
She’d pieced together what had probably happened from Qiu Li’s vague explanation. Having spent plenty of time with her niece, she knew how fragile children’s pride could be, sometimes even more than an adult’s, and how sensitive they were about failure.
At the mention of tests, that wave of panic and shame hit again. Between hiccups, Yan Xiao managed to choke out, “It, it was too hard, wuuuu…”
If her niece hadn’t been crying so miserably, Chen Zilu might have laughed out loud.
“Too hard, huh?” she said, holding back a smile. “Well, of course it’s hard, you’re still a little kid. It’s perfectly normal not to know how to do it. When you’re older, it’ll be easy! You don’t have to cry about it. Auntie can teach you later, okay?”
Yan Xiao wriggled and buried her face back into her aunt’s shoulder, biting her lip as she swallowed another round of tears.
Auntie doesn’t understand. No one in this world understands my pain.
“Come on,” said Chen Zilu, holding out a hand to Qiu Li. “Let’s go downstairs. I’ll help you with the questions later.”
Qiu Li blinked, startled.
That hand, it was the second time someone had ever reached out to him like that. The first had been Yan Xiao.
He hesitated for several seconds, then picked up his test paper and carefully placed his small hand into hers.
Chen Zilu noticed that flicker of hesitation and shock on his face. She’d heard the rumors too, the ones about why he’d moved out of the Qiu home. The sins of adults and the children were the ones who paid for them.
Downstairs, she set Yan Xiao gently onto the sofa and took the test paper to review the problem with Qiu Li.
He stood nearby, quiet and patient, but his gaze kept flickering toward the little girl still hiccuping on the couch.
When their eyes met, she quickly turned her head away.
“…”
Yan Xiao tried to hold her breath to stop the hiccups, but it didn’t work. Not after several tries.
Ugh, so embarrassing. I should’ve never come today.
Chen Zilu began explaining the logic problem on the test.
Qiu Li reluctantly tore his eyes away from Yan Xiao and listened carefully.
Halfway through, he noticed her turn her back to them and cover her ears. His brows furrowed.
She must really hate doing these questions.
Maybe she hadn’t actually meant it when she said she’d teach him, and he’d taken it too seriously, upsetting her.
Watching her small shoulders tremble, guilt rose in his chest. This time, it was definitely his fault. He’d remember that.
Chen Zilu, a top university graduate, wasn’t exactly familiar with the gifted class entrance exams, but she still had the brains for it. In no time, she’d worked through the entire paper with him.
When they finished, it was already noon. Still no sign of the housekeeper. So she made an executive decision, she’d take both kids out for lunch.
Qiu Li looked startled, then nodded stiffly, trying to hide the excitement in his eyes.
By the time they left the house, one test paper later, Yan Xiao’s tears had finally dried, and her mood had mostly recovered.
“Sorry.”
The apology came softly, right before getting in the car.
“Huh?” Yan Xiao blinked, confused. She was still trying to figure out how to face him after humiliating herself so thoroughly. “Why are you apologizing?”
Qiu Li’s expression was grave. “I shouldn’t have made you cry.”
“…”
007!!!
System: [Online.]
Is the little villain acting weird?
System: [No abnormalities detected.]
Huh?
She tilted her head, studying him for a long moment.
Could it be that before his “blackening,” his moral compass was still intact? Maybe he just felt bad for “bullying” a younger girl into tears?
Her brows furrowed in confusion.
Just as she was about to sigh over crying for nothing and wasting all that energy,
[Ding! 44 points.]
“…”
He apologized and earned her points at the same time?
This little villain’s mind really was a labyrinth.
“Never mind,” she said, waving a hand, trying to sound indifferent. “I don’t care anyway.”
She even added a proud little huff, eyebrows tilted just so.
Watching her being lifted into the car, Qiu Li’s lips quirked faintly.
‘I don’t care’ means she’s not mad at me, right?
[Ding! 46 points.]
[Ding! 47 points.]
[Ding! 48 points.]
[Ding! 50 points.]
The four consecutive notifications made Yan Xiao’s eyes go wide.
She whipped her head toward the window, staring at the boy outside with his head slightly lowered, his expression unreadable.
You manipulative little villain!
She almost wanted to cry again, would that still count for extra points?!