Chapter 87: Must Sever Ties

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Must Sever Ties

With a freshly acquired letter of introduction, they no longer needed to endure the slow, bumpy ride of a long-distance bus. Deng Yuyuan took her daughter and headed straight for the train station to buy tickets.

"Customer service, considering how many years we’ve been friends, you didn’t even know to remind me," Deng Yuyuan complained. She had racked her brains for a long time, only to find the solution was so simple.

[I thought you had your own unique plan.]

Very well. Deng Yuyuan revealed a faint, harmless smile that sent a shiver down the AI customer service’s spine.

Just as this cross-species friendship hung by a thread, the AI customer service changed the subject.

[Will the Deng family really listen to your newspaper declaration to sever ties? In a week, we’ll be in Beijing, so we won’t be able to see if they follow through or not.]

Deng Yuyuan shrugged. "Who knows.

"Based on the sheer volume of ’groveling and regret’ tropes that fill the original novel, they should be entering their phase of sudden awakening." Deng Yuyuan rubbed her chin. When she had flipped through the original novel, she noticed it was a revolving door of side characters going through relentless groveling arcs, except for the male and female leads—the childhood sweethearts who were constantly sharing sweet romantic moments.

"It’s so strange. When the side characters are full of hope and anticipation for affection, the others refuse to meet them halfway. But the moment the side characters become completely disillusioned, they suddenly seem to awaken, and all their guilt and love come rushing out."

It was a complete joke. Utterly ridiculous.

[That’s because mourning the dead only requires shedding a few tears, but compensating the living requires real time, money, and genuine emotion.]

"I didn’t expect you to be so insightful about this." Deng Yuyuan scooped up Tuantuan, who had almost been tripped by a small stone, and pulled the girl into her arms.

Tuantuan wiggled her bottom. "Tuantuan wants to walk by herself."

"Next time. The train station is really far from here. If Tuantuan walks by herself, we might not get there until this afternoon."

"Okay." Tuantuan leaned against her mother’s shoulder and whispered into her ear, complaining, "Just now, Tuantuan pointed out the bad grandma to Mommy, but Mommy didn’t even pay attention to Tuantuan."

Deng Yuyuan’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly asked, "Did Grandma see us?"

Tuantuan shook her head confidently. "To prevent the bad grandma from seeing us, Tuantuan specifically covered her own eyes."

What a genius baby!

Deng Yuyuan gave a forced smile. "Deng Tuantuan, seeing as you’re a little illiterate, I won’t hold it against you."

"Okay! Tuantuan is a little illiterate, hehe." Thinking her mother was praising her, Tuantuan happily patted her own little cheeks, her smile practically overflowing.

Forget it. Whether Mrs. Deng had seen them or not, at least they hadn’t been interrupted. Deng Yuyuan specifically checked their surroundings to ensure there were no signs of being followed.

The AI customer service opened the map for her and directed her to the train station through secluded paths with little foot traffic. Bored along the way, Deng Yuyuan couldn’t help but let her mind wander, gossiping with the AI customer service about the Deng family.

"I noticed the Deng siblings have a good relationship. In a non-only-child family like this, they should be relatively accepting of suddenly having an additional sister," Deng Yuyuan said, furrowing her brow. "The problem must lie largely with the parents. Unkind parents raise unharmonious children."

[After the original host returned, the adults let it slip, and Deng Hualing found out she wasn’t their biological child. Then, the neighbors teased her, saying her parents wouldn’t want her anymore. That was when she started using petty tricks to exclude the original host. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Deng felt that Deng Hualing’s bad behavior stemmed from her desire to fight for their love, which actually proved how important they were to her. So, feeling both touched and at a loss, they decided to pretend they didn’t know.]

The more Deng Yuyuan listened, the tighter her brows furrowed, until a puff of warm air blew against her forehead. A warm little hand rubbed back and forth across her skin, accompanied by Tuantuan’s unique mumbling, "Wrinkles, wrinkles, fly away~"

Deng Yuyuan kissed Tuantuan on the cheek and relaxed her brows. She changed her plan. "Later on, I’ll write a letter to the Deng family, urging them to mail me the newspaper clipping of the severed ties."

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. It was the Deng family’s crooked values that planted the seeds for their children’s disastrous behavior. Otherwise, how could a ten-year-old—who should just be at the age of pulling hair in petty fights—resort to such dirty tricks? The Deng family had definitely done some shady things. If she didn’t completely cut ties with them early on, they would likely drag her into their mess in the future.

"From now on, Tuantuan doesn’t have a grandma or grandpa on Mommy’s side anymore. We’ll just treat them as strangers," Deng Yuyuan instructed Tuantuan.

Tuantuan nodded. "Next time we meet, Tuantuan will just address them as a regular old grandpa and grandma!"

"Mhm. Tuantuan is such a polite, good girl."

***

The train ride to Beijing would take two days. Seeing that Deng Yuyuan was traveling alone with a child, the ticket conductor specially arranged a lower berth for them.

Deng Yuyuan was quite lucky; her temporary roommates were all very easy to get along with. There was an elderly couple traveling to Beijing to visit relatives along with their newly adult twin children, as well as two middle-aged women heading to Beijing to seek out fellow villagers. They all showed immense interest in Tuantuan. Over the course of the two days, they fed Tuantuan until her belly was perfectly round, and they listened with great relish to her stories about playing with little chicks in the countryside.

The twin siblings were quite shy and didn’t speak much, but they stuffed plenty of imported candies into Tuantuan’s hands. The boy drew a quick sketch of Tuantuan. With just a few simple strokes, Tuantuan’s lively spirit leapt onto the paper.

The middle-aged women were intrigued and asked him to draw one for each of them as well, carefully tucking the precious sketches away. They chatted about the purpose of their trip: through a fellow villager’s introduction, they were going to work as live-in nannies for city folks. The pay was good and the expenses were low, so they could send the money back home for their kids.

"Do a lot of people work as live-in nannies?" Deng Yuyuan grew curious. She thought to herself, "If I can find the right connections later on, I could rent a small house and hire a live-in nanny to watch Tuantuan, or even find a part-time maid. That would make life in Beijing much easier."

Seeing her outfit, one of the women assumed she also wanted to be a nanny. "You need to have an acquaintance to make the introduction. It has to be a dual-income family or something like that, and they have to submit a report to their leaders before they can hire a nanny. Otherwise, showing up to work is just doing it illegally.

"Aren’t you going to join your husband? Just stay home, take care of the child, and do the chores. A man who can establish himself in Beijing must be quite capable, and he definitely cares about his reputation. Don’t go working illegally. It wouldn’t be good if you were mistreated by your employers, and it would also embarrass your man." The woman advised her earnestly. Partially afraid that Deng Yuyuan might join the industry and steal their business, she actively tried to dissuade her.

Deng Yuyuan smiled. "Thank you for the advice, ma’am. I understand."

Before parting ways, the group couldn’t resist stuffing another large pile of snacks into Tuantuan’s hands. The elderly couple secretly handed Tuantuan a piece of paper and gently poked her little cheek. "Come visit Grandpa and Grandma when you have time, okay? If you come, Grandpa will raise little chicks for you."

Tuantuan affectionately acted cute while saying her goodbyes, then promptly tumbled headfirst into the carrying basket. The boy quickly hoisted her up and turned her around so her feet were pointing toward the ground.

"Thank you, older brother," Tuantuan thanked him politely.

The boy nodded, then furrowed his brow slightly. He squatted down and said to her, "Call me Uncle."

Tuantuan looked at Deng Yuyuan in confusion. This was different from what Mommy had taught her!