Chapter 5

On the drive back from the Qiu residence, Yan Xiao sat in the backseat, counting on her fingers.
If she managed to “farm” hatred points like this every day, how long would it take before she maxed it out?
“Why are you so happy today?” Chen Zilu asked at a red light, glancing at her niece through the rearview mirror. The little girl was grinning so wide her eyes disappeared. Just seeing her like that filled her heart with warmth. “Did you have that much fun with Xiao Yan”
“Huh?” Yan Xiao, lost in calculation, blinked up at her in confusion.
Her round cheeks puffed slightly as she tilted her head, all wide-eyed innocence. The sight melted her aunt completely. With twenty seconds left on the light, Chen Zilu turned, reaching back to pinch her niece’s cheek. “What’s that ‘huh’ for? You had such a good time with him you’ve forgotten all about me, haven’t you?”
Yan Xiao was long used to her aunt’s random need to “squish the cute thing.” Like a cat being cuddled against its will, she simply smiled. “No way! Auntie’s so pretty, I could never forget you!”
Chen Zilu laughed out loud, rubbing her soft little face. “Your mouth’s so sweet. Have you been sneaking candy again?”
“No!” Yan Xiao said earnestly. “I only had one!”
Her aunt chuckled. She knew her niece’s weekly candy quota by heart, and everyone else did too. No one dared secretly feed her more, so she didn’t worry.
“You’re such a good girl.” She straightened the child’s collar, and as the light turned green, she smiled. “Then how about this, tomorrow Auntie takes you to the aquarium as a reward, hm?”
She’d been swamped with work for months, and this rare break was the perfect chance to spend some time with her favorite little girl.
An aquarium, huh?
Yan Xiao had absolutely zero interest in fish.
But since her aunt said it was a reward…
Her eyes suddenly lit up. “Auntie! Can we go to the Qiu house again tomorrow instead?”
That way she could earn another round of hatred points!
Chen Zilu glanced at her through the mirror, amused. “Tomorrow Xiao Yan’s going to Master Lin’s for lessons. Even if we went, we wouldn’t see him.”
Yan Xiao didn’t care where Qiu Yan was.
She was already leaning forward, trying to grab the back of the passenger seat, but her arms were too short. After a moment of struggling, she gave up and clutched the seatbelt instead.
“I’m not going for Xiao Yan!” she said, her voice bubbling with excitement. She’d just been wondering how to convince her mom and aunt to take her there again, now Auntie was basically offering! “I, I want to see Qiu Li!”
“Qiu Li?” Chen Zilu raised a brow.
In the mirror, the little girl nodded seriously. “Mm-hmm! I’m going to play with Qiu Li!”
Chen Zilu smiled indulgently. She couldn’t imagine any reason beyond childish curiosity. “And why’s that? What did you two play today that made you miss him already?”
Play? Yan Xiao thought. You mean ‘deliberately annoy him’!
Out loud, she just said cheerfully, “He’s good-looking! I want to play with him!”
Chen Zilu burst out laughing. What a kid!
So she liked pretty boys, huh? No one else in their family was such a looks-obsessed little thing. Who on earth had she taken after?
Her aunt’s laughter only deepened, but she didn’t answer. Yan Xiao grew anxious. What if Auntie changed her mind and ruined her grand plan? She leaned forward, eyes wide with pleading urgency. “Auntie, please? Can we go?”
“Fine, fine,” Chen Zilu said, chuckling as she stopped at another red light. She turned her head, a sly smile curving her lips. “Auntie can take you to the Qiu house tomorrow, but even if we go, we won’t see Qiu Li.”
Yan Xiao’s smile vanished. Her expression froze in disbelief. “Why not?!”
Don’t tell her the Qius were suddenly going off-script and sending the villain away!
Her aunt could hardly keep a straight face watching her niece’s dramatic little face change. “Because tomorrow’s Monday,” she said, laughing. “He’s going to school, silly. You won’t see him there.”
Her world crumbled instantly. The bright little daydreams she’d been building popped like soap bubbles, leaving her stunned and hollow-eyed.
Unable to resist, Chen Zilu snapped a photo of her niece’s frozen, despairing face and sent it straight to the family group chat:
“Heard her favorite handsome boy’s going to school tomorrow and can’t play, turned to stone on the spot hahahaha!”
Within seconds, the chat exploded in a storm of laughing emojis and cooing replies:
“My poor little Xiao-xiao!”
“Our baby’s heartbroken, haha!”
“So dramatic!”
That night after dinner, Yan Xiao made a life-changing decision,
She was going to kindergarten.
Normally, kids her age had already been in early education programs since they were toddlers, but while the Yan family had tried that route, little Miss Yan had been unenthusiastic.
Pretending to be a child was exhausting enough, sitting through actual toddler lessons was unbearable. After a few sessions, her parents, Chen Ziyi and Yan Hao, had given up. Their daughter was bright, exceptionally bright, and they both privately believed she might even outshine the Qiu family’s “little prodigy.”
They never said it aloud, of course.
Yan Xiao learned fast, absorbed information like a sponge, and often watched educational videos on her own. So they decided not to pressure her further. They just spent time with her, gently guiding her curiosity, not wanting her to grow rebellious too early.
Even when she refused to go to kindergarten, they didn’t insist.
After all, in her mind, kindergarten was for “kids”, and she, an ex-college student in a toddler’s body, would never stoop to that.
But now, the villain went to kindergarten.
And she couldn’t get close to him otherwise. How was she supposed to build hatred points like this?
For the sake of her mission, and her survival, she’d just have to swallow her pride and enroll as a very dedicated preschooler.
When she announced her decision, her parents were both shocked and delighted. Their daughter, who’d always preferred solitude, finally wanted to play with other children!
They exchanged a glance, mutual excitement sparkling between them.
Still, Yan Hao crouched beside her and asked seriously, “Xiao-xiao, tell Daddy, why do you suddenly want to go to kindergarten?”
I don’t want to go at all!
Feigning deep thought, she finally said, “Because there are lots of kids there! I can play with them.”
Her parents beamed. She actually wanted to socialize! They’d worried before that spending too much quiet time with the equally silent Qiu Yan might turn her into a miniature artist, withdrawn and unsmiling. Now, hearing her enthusiasm, they couldn’t have been happier.
Yan Hao agreed on the spot, promising to start her enrollment paperwork the next day.
Only then did Yan Xiao finally relax, curling up in bed with her blanket pulled to her chin.
She fell asleep quickly, smiling in her dreams.
Later that night, Chen Ziyi proudly shared the big news, “Xiao-xiao’s going to kindergarten!”, in the family chat.
Fresh from the shower, Chen Zilu saw the message, burst into laughter, and typed hahahahaha for a full minute before getting scolded in a flood of @mentions.
Still giggling, she sent a voice message:
“You’re all celebrating for nothing. Xiao-xiao’s going to kindergarten because Qiu Li’s there! She wants to play with him. I swear, I don’t know who she gets this scheming from!”
Within seconds, the chat blew up:
“From me.”
“No, she takes after me!”
“ME!!!”
“Definitely me!”
Knowing she’d soon see him every day, every single day, Yan Xiao drifted off to sleep with a wide grin.
Her dreams were full of flashing lights and the blissful sound of hatred points shooting up like fireworks, biu! biu! biu!

That same night, across town, Qiu Li had just finished his bath when a carton of milk hit him square in the chest.
He looked up, dripping, at Qiu Zhan’s mocking half-smile.
Remembering what his brother had done to Yan Xiao earlier, his expression darkened.
“Drink it,” Qiu Zhan sneered. “You love milk, don’t you?”
Qiu Li stayed silent.
The older boy towered over him, taller, stronger, a shadow of cruel amusement in his eyes. After a moment, Qiu Li bent down, picked up the carton, and drank, sip by sip, until it was empty.
When he dropped the carton into the trash, Qiu Zhan finally turned away, letting out a cold, derisive snort as he left.
It wasn’t the first time. Qiu Li had long grown used to it. Normally, he’d have just gone to bed, expressionless as ever.
But tonight felt different.
He stood by the door for a long time before closing it. Then, in the quiet glow of moonlight, he suddenly sat up in bed.
On his desk lay a small pink wrapper.
He hesitated, then got up, walked over, and picked it up carefully, the cotton candy she’d given him.
After staring for a while, he slipped it into the innermost pocket of his schoolbag.
Only then did he crawl back into bed and close his eyes.

Kindergarten days were mostly the same.
Qiu Li didn’t particularly like or dislike it, it was just something to get through. Before he knew it, the week had passed.
That Friday, they had art class.
He painted pink clouds.
The teacher praised him for his imagination, and for once, he felt quietly happy.
But when class ended, his classmates surrounded him, snickering and pointing.
“Clouds are white, dummy!”
“Yeah, what’s wrong with you? You trying to copy Qiu Yan again?”
“You’re such a loser, pretending to be artistic!”
Their laughter filled the room like gnats buzzing in his ears.
Things like this happened almost every day. Qiu Li had long grown used to it. He never argued back; there was no point. No one ever listened to what he said anyway.
Still, he couldn’t help feeling upset.
At lunch, as always, he sat alone in the corner with his tray, silently eating. He told himself that they were the ones who didn’t understand, painting was art, art was imagination, and pink clouds were beautiful. He even had a pink cotton-candy cloud of his own once. They were the ones who lacked imagination, not him.
The quiet little pep talk helped. By the time he picked up his chopsticks again, his mood had almost recovered, until thunk!
A small, pastel-pink lunch tray slid right onto his table.
It even edged closer, nudging against his tray like it wanted to shove his off.
He immediately pressed his hand down on his plate. In class, the other kids sometimes “accidentally” knocked over his food just to laugh at him. His first instinct was to guard it, his eyes snapping up in a glare at whoever dared mess with him again,
And froze.
Because the culprit was her.
Yan Xiao had spent the entire morning pretending to be the sweetest, most harmless little girl alive, fluttering her lashes and tilting her head until the teacher finally relented and let her “try eating lunch with the big kids.”
The moment she set down her tray and looked up, she found herself meeting Qiu Li’s dark, annoyed stare.
Her eyes instantly lit up.
The system had told her that the villain was reclusive, antisocial, and hated being disturbed.
So if she sat right next to him, sharing his table at lunch, of course he’d be irritated!
She’d only been in kindergarten for half a day and already managed a major hit! Perfect execution!
Qiu Li, on the other hand, had completely frozen. His frown, caught somewhere between confusion and shock, stayed on his face like it had been painted there.

Author’s Note:
Baby Qiu Li: Ah… she came. I’m happy (#^.^#)
[Reverse Operation +4]