Chapter 63: Reviewing X Asserting Sovereignty √

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Reviewing X Asserting Sovereignty √

The adults burst into laughter again.

"Why don’t you go call your sister out? Tell her to stop tending the fire and come watch the little fishes with you, okay?"

"Okay," Tuantuan replied articulately. Without moving an inch from her spot, she yelled toward the kitchen at the top of her lungs, "Sister, come out quickly and help Tuantuan!"

Tuantuan was far too clever. Knowing that Gou Ya loved doing chores, she didn’t ask her to come play, but instead asked for help.

Before Gou Ya could answer, a voice rang out from outside the door. "Tuantuan, didn’t Mommy tell you not to be lazy? Walk over there and tell her yourself."

"Mommy!" Tuantuan scrambled up from the ground, but Zhang Ci Hao beat her to the door and opened it.

It was Deng Yuyuan, returning on her bicycle. The past two years hadn’t left a single trace of hardship on her face. Her healthy cheeks were delightfully rosy, her face as round and fair as a silver moon, and her complexion smooth and radiant like peach blossoms. Her exquisite features now carried an added touch of mature charm brought on by the passage of time.

"Let’s have fried little fishes for dinner tonight, shall we?" Deng Yuyuan tilted her head to look at Zhang Ci Hao, who was a full head taller than her. Over the past two years, he had completely transitioned from a boy into a man. "Don’t leave just yet. Stay and take some back with you later."

Fried little fishes were a delicacy that could only be eaten at the Knowledge Youth Institute. There was no other reason than the fact that, aside from Deng Yuyuan, no one else could bring themselves to commit such a reckless waste of ingredients as using a whole pot of oil just to fry a few tiny fish and shrimp.

"Yay!" Tuantuan bounced happily around the small basin. "Can Tuantuan bring some to Fubao?"

"Then you’ll have to ask Uncle Zhang if he’s willing to let you ride on his bicycle." Deng Yuyuan smoothly pulled Tuantuan away from the basin. After all, it wasn’t as if there hadn’t been a funny incident before where an overly excited Tuantuan had jumped right into the water.

Naturally, Zhang Ci Hao agreed.

Although Tuantuan and Fubao lived on opposite sides of the village—one in the west and one in the east—the adults in their families loved to visit each other. Being girls of the same age who grew up together, the two had become best friends who shared everything.

When Tuantuan first realized she didn’t have a father, Deng Yuyuan gave her a simplified version of what had happened back then. It couldn’t be helped. Since the two children played together so often, there normally wouldn’t be a need to tell a child so early on. But if Fubao suddenly got the bright idea to hope her best friend’s parents would get back together, that would be an absolute nightmare.

Knowing that Tuantuan’s father had almost caused Tuantuan and Deng Yuyuan to starve to death, Fubao completely lost any good impression of the Zhang Family. Meanwhile, having lost Cheng Xue’s support, Zhang Jiahua’s career had stagnated.

Back when their house was being built, Zhang Jia Shu and his wife had tried to embezzle some of the construction funds, and Wang Pozi had also wanted to skimp to save her own money. This resulted in unstable wooden planks on the second floor, causing Zhang Jia Shu, who was supervising the work, to fall straight down. He eventually recovered with medical treatment, but the Zhang Family’s savings were completely wiped out in the process, to the point that they couldn’t even afford to host a housewarming banquet.

Deng Yuyuan took down the basket hanging from her bicycle handlebars. She had bought not only seasonings but also a box of shrimp dumplings and Tuantuan’s favorite preserved fruits.

Tuantuan subconsciously wiped her mouth. "Tuantuan won’t eat it now. Tuantuan will share it with Sister."

Smiling, Deng Yuyuan handed her the preserved fruits. "Of course Mommy believes Tuantuan is a child with self-control. But if you eat these before dinner, you are dead meat."

Not daring to become dead meat, Tuantuan nodded her head like a little chick pecking at grain. She took the preserved fruits, placed them on the stone stool, and couldn’t help but share her news. "Mommy, Tuantuan’s little chicken, the good little chicken, laid two eggs today!"

To demonstrate the profound friendship between her and the chicken, Tuantuan threw her arms around the large hen’s neck, wanting to pull it close to show Deng Yuyuan. Before Deng Yuyuan could voice a warning, the suffocating hen opened its beak and pecked right at Tuantuan.

In the blink of an eye, Tuantuan’s chubby little hands nimbly clamped shut the hen’s pointy beak. She wanted to mimic the adults and point a finger to poke the hen’s head, but she didn’t have a free hand. Instead, she kept her little face taut and lectured the hen in a stern tone, "You cannot bully your good friends. You are not being good! If you keep doing this, Tuantuan is going to stop being friends with you."

Looking utterly defeated, the immobilized hen went limp against Tuantuan’s shoulder.

"...Tuantuan, your little chicken friend looks like it might be a little dead," Deng Yuyuan felt compelled to point out.

"No it’s not, Mommy," Tuantuan shook her head and hugged the hen even tighter.

At this, the chicken’s wings started wildly flapping, and its two claws launched a frantic assault on Tuantuan’s body. Dressed thickly for the autumn weather, Tuantuan couldn’t withstand the hen’s kicks and tipped backward, landing squarely on her bottom. Undeterred, she wrapped both her arms and legs around the hen and tried to coax her feathery friend even more earnestly. "Don’t throw a temper tantrum. Tuantuan will treat you to some steamed egg custard, okay?"

Deng Yuyuan took a deep breath. "How about Mommy takes your little chicken friend away, and we have fried chicken for dinner tonight?"

A hen that had attacked someone couldn’t be kept, even if it was only acting in self-defense. Tears of sorrow practically flowed from the corners of Deng Yuyuan’s mouth in the form of drool. She silently apologized to the mother hen; this was simply a world of survival of the fittest, ruled by the law of the jungle.

Having never eaten fried chicken before, Tuantuan didn’t understand what her mother was talking about. Her small face flushed bright red from exertion. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to hand her little chicken friend over to her mother, but the chicken kept thrashing around. If Tuantuan let go, it would bully her!

The few adults present had to swarm forward to safely pry the child and the hen apart.

This time, even though Tuantuan hadn’t eaten the preserved fruits before dinner, she still couldn’t escape the fate of being dead meat.

"The little chicken pecked you because it was uncomfortable. You cannot hug any small animal like that ever again!"

Fearing that Tuantuan wouldn’t understand, Deng Yuyuan scooped her up into her arms and squeezed her forcefully. Tuantuan’s squishy, bouncy baby fat was completely squished together, causing her voice to pitch up from the pressure. "Mommy, Tuantuan feels your love! You love me so, so much! Tuantuan won’t reject your love like the little chicken did!"

She really had inherited the original owner’s foolishness.

The system’s voice chimed in her head, "Clearly, she inherited your glib tongue."

Deng Yuyuan patted Tuantuan’s bottom and set her back down. Turning around to enter the kitchen, she bumped straight into Meng Deyin’s chest. She grumbled inwardly, "Why does he have to stand so close for no reason?"

Reaching up to rub her reddened nose, Deng Yuyuan raised her eyes to look at him. "What is it, Mr. Meng?"

"The college entrance examination is going to be reinstated. Do you still plan to stay in Dazhang Village?" Meng Deyin handed her a letter.

Deng Yuyuan took it half-skeptically and skimmed through it rapidly. Everything mentioned in the letter aligned perfectly with the original novel’s plot, only this news had arrived a whole month earlier than it was supposed to.

"Of course not."

"Then I think you should have Tuantuan keep her distance from certain people, lest she cry too hard when it’s time to part ways," Meng Deyin said pointedly.

The two made no effort to hide their conversation. Upon hearing this, the only local villager present, Zhang Ci Hao, instantly went pale.

"If you plan to take the college entrance examination, I can help you review." Meng Deyin raised an eyebrow, shooting a sharp glance at his overconfident romantic rival. "I returned from my studies in Country M with excellent grades, and my family lives in Beijing."

Zhang Ci Hao only had a high school diploma because his family couldn’t stand watching him idle about and had used connections to get him enrolled. In reality, he was a terrible student who utterly despised studying.