Chapter 79: Just Consider It My Wishful Thinking

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Just Consider It My Wishful Thinking

Deng Yuyuan’s bedroom was located in a cramped corner on the first floor.

Standing at the dust-covered doorway, she caught the indifference of the Deng family from the corner of her eye. She had been here for a long time, yet no one had thought to add two chairs to the dining table. Even when they heard Tuantuan being humiliated by another child, they forcefully pretended that nothing had happened.

Deng Yuyuan lowered her head to look at her innocent, clueless baby, who was tilting her head to look back at her favorite mother. She felt a pang of regret for always joking around with Tuantuan earlier. As a result, the little girl was still smiling foolishly even after being scolded.

The AI system’s voice echoed in her mind, "Come on, take a deep breath. Tuantuan is still here, Player. Don’t let your anger kick away your intelligence and take the high ground. The child is old enough to understand things now; you can’t act impulsively in front of her.

"Why did you even come to the Deng family? Let’s just leave. We can settle Tuantuan down first and then come back to scold them."

"Tuantuan," Deng Yuyuan said aloud to her daughter, "only Mommy and the people who love you can jokingly call you a little pig or a little puppy. Strangers are never allowed to say that. They are using words to hurt you, and only rude people do that."

Deng Hua Yu was the first to slam his chopsticks down. THUD. The wooden chopsticks hit the wooden table covered in a pale gray tablecloth. "Deng Yuyuan, why are you bickering with a child? How can you be so petty as to hold a grudge over a kid’s unintentional words?"

"Xiao Yu," the officer with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes interrupted. "It is true that Little Guo’er misspoke. As long as she learns from it in the future, it’s fine, right?" He lowered his voice for the last sentence, his tone gentle, clearly trying to coax his own slightly disgruntled Little Guo’er.

"Little Guo’er is a magnanimous child. I’m sure she can forgive... this little kid, right?" Deng Hualing chimed in.

Deng Hua Yu glared at Deng Yuyuan and her daughter, then turned to his sister. "Hualing, stop covering for her all the time. The troublemaker just brought along a little troublemaker."

"Alright, that’s enough," Mr. Deng spoke up. As he turned his head to look at the officer, his stern expression softened. "Sorry to make a laughingstock of ourselves. Come, come, let’s toast."

Mrs. Deng had been restless and distracted. She looked at Deng Yuyuan, who was standing all alone with her child in her arms. Deng Yuyuan lowered her eyelashes and stared at the floor, looking helpless and obedient. Mrs. Deng had missed out on Deng Yuyuan’s childhood and had never seen her as a little girl. By the time Deng Yuyuan came to the Deng family, she was already ten years old—thin, tiny, and extremely timid.

Looking at Tuantuan, it was as if she could see the shadow of a young Deng Yuyuan. She must have had the same big eyes and small mouth, adorably clinging to her mother too.

Deng Yuyuan replied to the AI in her mind, "The original owner’s certificates, diaries, and some precious little trinkets are still here. I have to take them with me."

"Are you crazy?" the AI shrieked in disbelief. "The original owner never even thought about coming back for these things. They’re just a bunch of junk! Why are you getting scolded over this? You have a perfectly good life, yet you offer yourself up to be a punching bag for the Deng family?"

"Customer Service, are you mad with anger too? Come on, take a deep breath," Deng Yuyuan explained inwardly. "How could the original owner not want them? It’s just that she had no one to accompany her to get them back. Fine, just treat it as me being overly sentimental. Either way, this is what I owe her. I have to help her collect her belongings, or my conscience won’t be at peace."

"An AI doesn’t need to breathe. Furthermore, the original owner never felt that you owed her. She gave up this body of her own free will."

"Then just consider it me being triggered by the circumstances. I actually really hate it. It was the same at the orphanage I stayed at in my past life—people would always adopt my friends and take them home, only to mistreat them."

While Deng Yuyuan was communicating with the AI customer service in her mind, her expression inevitably went a bit blank.

Seeing her standing there in silence, Mrs. Deng guessed she wanted to go inside. "Let your child come over to me. Your room... is very dusty. I’ll keep a close eye on her."

"Let Tuantuan go over to her," the AI advised. "That room is probably genuinely dirty and damp. The guilt in Mrs. Deng’s eyes is practically overflowing. Tuantuan is really lethal; one sentence from her completely broke through Mrs. Deng’s defenses, and she’s still reeling from it."

Deng Yuyuan did as she was told and set Tuantuan down. "Stick close to... Grandma and stand properly. Wait obediently for Mommy to come back. Actually, you can also wait fiercely for Mommy. If anything happens, just yell. Tuantuan has a very strong voice."

Tuantuan walked toward Mrs. Deng on her short little legs. "Okay, Tuantuan will wait for Mommy."

Mrs. Deng pulled the little girl into her arms, picked up her chopsticks, and asked gently what she wanted to eat.

"There’s no need. Tuantuan doesn’t eat food tainted with other people’s saliva," Deng Yuyuan spoke up.

"And just like that, the motherly love vanishes into thin air," the AI quipped.

Tuantuan closed her newly opened mouth and awkwardly patted her own little cheek. "Grandma, Tuantuan... um, Tuantuan won’t eat."

Mr. Deng let out a cold snort. "Do you only know how to call for your grandmother?"

Mrs. Deng was happy to see the stalemate broken. "This is your Grandpa, and over there are your Uncle Hua Yu, Aunt Hualing, as well as Uncle Bu and Sister Little Guo’er."

Tuantuan greeted them one by one in a crisp, clear voice. No matter what the others were thinking in their hearts, they all nodded on the surface.

Only then did Deng Yuyuan feel relieved enough to open the door—before immediately taking two steps back.

A gust of wind, mixed with the heavy scent of mildew and decaying wood, blew dust right into her face. By the faint light from the hallway, she could see all sorts of miscellaneously shaped junk piled haphazardly inside the room.

The original owner had anticipated that the family would not treat her room kindly. She had packed her belongings into a wooden trunk and shoved it under the bed. Now, the bed was piled high with large items wrapped in cloth, and the space underneath it was packed tight as well.

Fortunately, two years of rest and conditioning had given Deng Yuyuan nothing but brute strength.

She dragged the items out from under the bed one by one. The original owner’s wooden trunk, which had initially been near the edge of the bed, had been shoved all the way to the very back. Steeling her resolve, Deng Yuyuan secured her face mask and crawled inside to pull the trunk out.

Some parts of the trunk had already rotted away, and little bugs were crawling around inside. Resigned to her fate, Deng Yuyuan opened it, wiped her items clean one by one, and placed them into her bamboo basket.

By the time she left this room, she was going to spend a fortune in the system store to spawn ten adorable "Southern twin-tails" (cockroaches) inside.

No need for thanks, you’re welcome—she was just that generous.

***

Sitting right across from Tuantuan, Little Guo’er found it hard not to peek at her. The chubby, round little girl looked far too much like her favorite plush doll.

"Hey, your name is Tuantuan, right? Come here, I’ll treat you to some lean meat," Little Guo’er spoke up.

Tuantuan shook her head, snuggling comfortably in her grandmother’s arms.

Seeing that Tuantuan wasn’t obeying, Little Guo’er tapped her bowl with her spoon. CLINK, CLINK. She raised her voice, "Come here!"

Everyone looked toward the two children, somewhat dissatisfied that Tuantuan didn’t know how to read the room. Deng Hua Yu’s job situation was still up in the air, and they had been hoping to pull some strings with Officer Bu.

Besides, what major conflict could there possibly be between children? Even if Tuantuan suffered a little grievance, taking a loss was a blessing. If she just endured it, it would pass, and her good fortune would come later. That was how Deng Yuyuan had gotten through it back in the day, too. Once Deng Hua Yu secured a good job, he would also be able to back up his sister.