At the dinner table, Chu Xiaoxiao showed a remarkable amount of concern for her new student. She looked eager to continue chatting with Han Ya.
Just then, Chu Jiadong brought a bowl of chicken soup to the table and redirected his daughter’s attention.
“Xiaoxiao, go with Great-Uncle and invite Grandma to dinner.”
Receiving an assignment, Chu Xiaoxiao temporarily forgot about Han Ya and stopped trying to teach her.
She slowly headed toward the bedroom with her great-uncle, Chu Qingfeng, to fetch her grandmother, Chu Zhen.
Only after Xiaoxiao left did Chu Jiadong turn to Han Ya with a smile.
“She’s difficult to deal with, isn’t she? Like a little schemer.”
Han Ya politely replied,
“No, not at all. Xiaoxiao teaches quite well.”
Chu Jiadong laughed.
“She’s stubborn about that sort of thing. If you don’t do what she wants, she’ll keep pestering you all day long!”
Xiao Bi shot him a look.
“And whose fault is that? You’re the one who spent every day playing school with her.”
Han Ya spoke seriously.
“Parent-child games are actually one of the best ways to nurture talent. It may have been a very important part of Xiaoxiao’s development.”
“From my initial observations, Xiaoxiao is extremely strong in both language ability and interpersonal skills. The latter is especially remarkable.”
“To be honest, I’ve met many gifted children with language talent, but I’ve rarely encountered one with stronger social abilities than Xiaoxiao. In fact, I don’t think I’ve met any.”
Han Ya had worked with countless prodigies, including famous cases such as the youngest members of Mensa. Yet Chu Xiaoxiao was a very unusual type.
Chu Jiadong looked surprised.
“Interpersonal skills count as a special talent? Doesn’t everyone have those?”
Unable to launch into an academic explanation, Han Ya chose simpler language.
“Interpersonal skills isn’t quite the right term.”
“What I mean is that Xiaoxiao possesses extremely strong empathy and communication abilities. She can accurately sense other people’s attitudes and adjust the way she communicates with them.”
“Put another way, if she wants someone to like her, it’s usually very easy for her.”
Many gifted children had eccentric personalities and struggled to interact with peers or adapt to ordinary social environments.
This was the first time Han Ya had met a prodigy who excelled so naturally at connecting with people.
Chu Jiadong stroked his face narcissistically and said with complete seriousness,
“Then don’t I have a special talent too? I think I’m pretty charming.”
Xiao Bi could not tolerate her husband’s smug expression.
She smacked his arm and frowned.
“Enough.”
Chu Jiadong’s response made Han Ya laugh.
“Yes, yes, of course. You taught her well, which is why Xiaoxiao has that talent.”
Xiao Bi glanced at Han Ya helplessly and sighed.
“Don’t encourage him. He’s just like Xiaoxiao—the more you praise him, the more full of himself he gets.”
“I think Xiaoxiao simply likes you, which is giving you the wrong impression. She fights with her kindergarten teachers all the time. There’s nothing especially charming about her there.”
Han Ya froze.
“That doesn’t seem right…”
From Han Ya’s perspective, Xiaoxiao’s ability to read people was practically maxed out. There was no reason teachers should dislike her.
Xiao Bi shook her head.
“You have no idea how many complaints her teachers have made.”
Han Ya fell into thought.
She was certain her judgment was correct.
If Xiaoxiao had poor relationships with her kindergarten teachers, that probably didn’t mean she lacked social skills.
It felt more likely that she was deliberately opposing them.
Although Han Ya hadn’t known Xiaoxiao for long, she was convinced the girl wasn’t a troublesome child without reason. There was probably some hidden cause behind it.
As they talked, Chu Xiaoxiao and Great-Uncle returned, helping Grandma Chu Zhen out of the bedroom.
The great-uncle supported the elderly woman as she shuffled forward unsteadily.
Xiaoxiao was too short to assist much, so she could only circle around her grandmother’s legs.
Grandma Chu Zhen looked confused.
She sat at the dinner table in a daze and looked around uncertainly, as though she didn’t know what she was supposed to do.
Climbing onto her chair, Chu Xiaoxiao placed a spoon into her grandmother’s hand.
“Grandma, eat.”
Han Ya had intended to greet the old woman, but Chu Zhen showed no reaction to her voice.
Xiao Bi explained,
“She’s very old and has some dementia. She can’t remember people anymore, and her hearing is so poor that she can barely hear anyone speak.”
Understanding dawned on Han Ya.
Indeed, the elderly woman seemed completely unresponsive to sound. People had to wave directly in front of her to get her attention.
Xiaoxiao sat beside her grandmother, constantly trying to attract her attention, moving about energetically.
Grandma gazed at Chu Xiaoxiao in confusion.
With effort, she opened her mouth.
Her voice was hoarse, like a broken bellows, dragging out the syllables slowly.
“Xiao——Xiao——”
Seeing his mother speak, Chu Jiadong brightened immediately.
“Xiaoxiao, Grandma’s calling you!”
The old woman was already in her nineties.
Because of her hearing loss, she had gradually lost much of her ability to speak as well. She rarely said anything these days.
She couldn’t even recognize her own son, Chu Jiadong, anymore, let alone remember other people’s names.
Yet now she was calling Xiaoxiao’s name.
Just moments ago, Xiaoxiao had been cheerfully entertaining her grandmother.
Now, however, she suddenly fell silent.
Lowering her head, she focused on poking at the rice in her bowl.
Chu Jiadong was the model of a dutiful son.
Normally, he could tolerate all sorts of minor misbehavior from his daughter, but he couldn’t accept her ignoring an elder.
In a low voice, he reminded her,
“Xiaoxiao, Grandma is talking to you. You should answer her.”
Xiaoxiao buried her face deeper in her rice bowl and muttered something under her breath.
Chu Jiadong didn’t catch it.
His brows furrowed slightly.
“What did you say?”
Chu Xiaoxiao put down her bowl and raised her voice.
“I said Grandma wasn’t talking to me.”
“What?”
“I don’t know who she’s calling, but it’s definitely not me!”
Though small, Chu Xiaoxiao had quite a temper. She quickly shoveled the rest of her rice into her mouth, set down her bowl with a sulky expression, and ran back to her room.
She had once believed that Grandma was calling for her.
But as she grew older, she gradually noticed something strange.
Grandma didn’t actually remember her.
The old woman was becoming increasingly confused. She could no longer clearly remember the people and events around her, retaining only memories from long ago.
Grandma lived in a different time from everyone else.
Most people lived in the present.
Grandma lived in the past.
Chu Xiaoxiao didn’t know whom Grandma was calling, but she was certain it wasn’t her.
She had tried countless times to make Grandma remember her, only to be disappointed and frustrated again and again.
“Xiao——”
Grandma remained seated at the table, continuing to call out weakly between breaths.
No one had expected such a sudden emotional reaction from the little girl.
After listening carefully for a moment, Han Ya hesitantly said,
“Teacher Xiao… I think the old lady might actually be calling for Xiaoyi?”
The elderly woman still retained a strong hometown accent. Her Mandarin wasn’t very standard, and because speaking required such effort, she often couldn’t pronounce the “Yi” in Xiaoyi clearly.
As a result, people frequently mistook it for “Xiaoxiao.”
“That actually sounds right!” Chu Jiadong exclaimed, suddenly enlightened. “Mom spent much more time with Xiaoyi. She probably mistook Xiaoxiao for him.”
Then he added casually,
“Xiaoxiao’s being unreasonable too. Xiaoyi isn’t even home, and she’s still getting jealous…”
Xiao Bi immediately sensed something wrong.
“You’ve told Xiaoxiao about her brother, haven’t you?”
After returning from maternity leave, Xiao Bi had immediately taken charge of a senior-year class. She had been under tremendous pressure and hadn’t had much time to manage household affairs.
Chu Jiadong had repeatedly assured her that he would handle everything at home and make up for all the years she had devoted to the family.
Combined with the fact that Chu Xiaoyi was also a workaholic, she had rarely paid attention to what was going on between father and son.
But Xiaoxiao’s earlier words had revealed something unsettling.
It felt as though an important detail had been overlooked.
“Of course I told her,” Chu Jiadong replied. “There are so many products endorsed by Xiaoyi around the house. How could she not know?”
Xiao Bi: “???”
What did endorsement products have to do with anything?
She stared at him in disbelief.
“Did you actually tell Xiaoxiao that she has a biological older brother?”
Intimidated by his wife’s stern expression, Chu Jiadong’s eyes began wandering.
His voice suddenly weakened.
“Let me think… let me think… I’m suddenly not so sure…”
Xiao Bi nearly exploded.
“They’ve never even spoken on the phone!?”
“Xiaoyi’s been too busy to call these past few years…”
Pressing her lips tightly together, Xiao Bi forcibly suppressed her anger.
Otherwise she might have started yelling at her husband right in front of their guest.
She vaguely remembered mentioning Chu Xiaoyi to her daughter before.
But at that time, Xiaoxiao had still been an infant in swaddling clothes. Whether she could even remember anything from that age was another matter entirely.
Sensing the increasingly awkward atmosphere at the dinner table, Han Ya immediately lowered her head and concentrated on eating.
After the meal, she had Chu Xiaoxiao complete the assessment questions. Then she took the finished papers and prepared to leave so she could analyze the results later.
With worries still weighing on her mind, Xiao Bi smiled apologetically.
“What an embarrassing situation. You must think we’re ridiculous.”
Han Ya quickly reassured her.
“Not at all. Children rarely remember people they’ve never met. Xiaoyi’s just been busy with work these past few years. Once the siblings meet, everything will be fine.”
Xiao Bi forced a smile.
Her greatest fear now was that the brother and sister would fail to recognize each other entirely, making their first meeting unbearably awkward.
As far as she was concerned, Chu Jiadong was the undisputed culprit behind this absurd misunderstanding.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
After Han Ya left, Chu Jiadong immediately sensed the approaching storm.
Unfortunately, Great-Uncle and Great-Aunt escaped before the conflict erupted.
Chu Qingfeng hurried into the kitchen to wash dishes, while Song Chun helped Grandma Chu Zhen back to her room.
Xiao Bi fixed her husband with an icy stare.
Faced with the silent pressure, Chu Jiadong desperately tried to save himself.
“I think Xiaoxiao knows!” he insisted.
He promptly called his daughter out as a witness.
Chu Xiaoxiao emerged from her room.
She had been watching Peppa Pig on her iPad.
The moment she looked up, however, she noticed her mother’s emotional state.
In her vision, Xiao Bi’s red heart was beating violently.
Meanwhile, Chu Jiadong’s red heart had shrunk timidly.
Through years of observation, Chu Xiaoxiao had discovered that the color of a person’s heart represented their attitude toward her, while its shape and movement reflected their current emotions.
Chu Xiaoxiao’s conclusion:
Mom is angry.
Dad is scared.
But neither of them seems angry at me.
Having assessed the atmosphere, she relaxed and continued watching her cartoon.
Determined to prove his innocence, Chu Jiadong grabbed a package of laundry detergent endorsed by Chu Xiaoyi.
Pointing at the celebrity image on the package, he asked eagerly,
“Xiaoxiao, do you know who this is?”
Without much interest, Chu Xiaoxiao glanced up briefly before lowering her head again.
“A celebrity.”
Xiao Bi immediately let out a cold laugh and shot her husband a mocking look.
Refusing to give up, Chu Jiadong produced a large stack of tissues, every package printed with Chu Xiaoyi’s face.
He continued prompting her.
“No, no! Think carefully!”
“Why do you think Daddy bought so many tissues?”
This time, Chu Xiaoxiao looked up seriously.
She thought for a long time, carefully recalling the details of their shopping trip.
Then she answered honestly:
“Because they were on sale, and Daddy wanted to take advantage of the discount.”
At that moment, even Chu Jiadong himself found the explanation difficult to refute.
“…”
Looking at his utterly uncooperative daughter, Chu Jiadong felt as though he could hear Death’s footsteps approaching.
Suppressing her anger with great difficulty, Xiao Bi said calmly,
“Xiaoxiao, go back to your room and play for now.”
Without another word, Chu Xiaoxiao picked up her iPad and left.
The moment she returned to her room, an explosive roar erupted from the living room.
“CHU JIADONG—! Xiaoxiao is so smart! If you’d mentioned it even once in daily conversation, how could she possibly not remember? What kind of father are you!?”
Inside her room, Xiaoxiao calmly continued watching cartoons.
Then she sighed quietly.
“Dad is so dumb. He made another mistake.”
She had no idea why her mother was scolding him, but she assumed it was one of his usual blunders.
Maybe he’d used the cutting board for raw meat again.
Or accidentally thrown away one of Mom’s teaching plans.
Something like that.
After thoroughly unleashing her fury on her husband, Xiao Bi also silently cursed herself for being careless enough to be fooled by his recent good behavior.
Massaging her aching forehead, she casually asked,
“Then does Xiaoyi know about Xiaoxiao?”
The question instantly stole Chu Jiadong’s breath.
He didn’t know how to answer.
It felt suspiciously like the beginning of another execution round.
At that moment, his phone suddenly rang on the coffee table.
A new message lit up the screen, perfectly defusing the crisis.
He quickly grabbed the phone, eager to escape the danger zone.
To his surprise, the message was from his eldest son.
Chu Xiaoyi’s texts were always concise and to the point. No emojis. No unnecessary words.
Just a single sentence.
YI: I don’t have any work after the Spring Festival Gala this year.
The father and son had never been capable of speaking normally.
Their text conversations were always absurdly cryptic.
Every word carried hidden meaning.
Every sentence required interpretation.
They communicated like undercover agents exchanging coded messages.
Or like a couple in the awkward early stages of romance, where every text had to be carefully analyzed.
If anyone else saw the message, they’d probably assume it had been sent to a manager.
Yet Chu Jiadong immediately deciphered its true meaning.
He turned to Xiao Bi and announced,
“Looks like Xiaoyi can come home for New Year’s this year!”
Xiao Bi froze.
Then delight spread across her face.
“Really? When will he arrive?”
“Probably after the Gala ends.”
“Perfect.” Xiao Bi smiled. “At least the siblings will finally meet this year. Xiaoyi’s been far too busy these last few years…”
Seeing her attention shift elsewhere, Chu Jiadong immediately lowered his posture and behaved with exceptional humility.
At last, he managed to muddle through the crisis.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Chu Xiaoyi had forced himself to send that message to his father.
Afterward, he set his phone aside.
Yet his eyes kept drifting back toward it.
His face appeared calm, but inwardly he felt strangely anxious.
What would his father reply?
He didn’t want to look too eager to go home, which was why he’d sent such a vague hint instead of directly asking.
At the same time, he worried that his father might not pick up on the hint at all.
The relationship between father and son was painfully awkward.
Everything felt strained.
When he was young, he had lived under the shadow of his father’s authority.
Now that Chu Jiadong had gradually become gentler with age, Xiaoyi found it even harder to communicate with him.
A long time passed without a reply.
He silently complained:
Why does this old man text so slowly?
His manager, He Xin, urged him,
“They’re starting the next procedure. We should head over now.”
Still having received no reply, Chu Xiaoyi shoved his phone into He Xin’s hands.
“Fine. Hold onto it for me.”
He was about to go onstage and didn’t want to spend the entire performance worrying about text messages.
Better to check everything after the Gala.
Because of that avoidance, he never saw his father’s reply right away.
Back at home, Chu Xiaoxiao had been forcibly planted in front of the television.
To make matters worse, her beloved iPad had been confiscated.
Immediately, she began complaining.
“I don’t want to watch this…”
Seeing her trying to escape from the sofa, Chu Jiadong swiftly pressed a hand onto her shoulder.
“Xiaoxiao, tonight is New Year’s Eve. Everyone watches the Spring Festival Gala together!”
This year marked Chu Xiaoyi’s first appearance on the Gala stage.
Chu Jiadong intended to use the opportunity to formally introduce her older brother.
Xiaoxiao looked toward her mother for help.
Unfortunately, Xiao Bi sided with her husband.
“Xiaoxiao, you’ve already spent the whole day looking at your iPad, and I didn’t stop you. Now sit back and watch TV for a while.”
Great-Uncle chimed in with his heavy accent:
“That’s right! It’s not even the Year of the Pig anymore. Stop staring at pigs all day!”
His education level wasn’t very high.
He had no idea what Peppa Pig was about.
He only knew that Xiaoxiao seemed obsessed with watching pigs.
Chu Jiadong added,
“This is the highest-rated program of the entire year!”
Sulking, Xiaoxiao immediately pierced through his argument.
“That’s because there aren’t any other programs on tonight.”
Her little lips stuck out so far they could practically hold an oil bottle.
She sat lifelessly on the sofa, staring at the television without enthusiasm.
She simply couldn’t understand the appeal of all the bright red and yellow images on the screen.
The Gala’s stage lighting was dizzying.
A huge crowd of performers dressed in red came out to sing.
Although their outfits differed slightly, the colors were strangely uniform.
Xiaoxiao couldn’t remember any of their faces.
All she saw was a collection of bouncing tomatoes, strawberries, chili peppers, cherries…
Chu Jiadong deliberately asked,
“Xiaoxiao, aren’t all these brothers and sisters beautiful?”
“They look tasty.”
She liked strawberries and cherries.
Chu Jiadong: “?”
What kind of logic was that?
Patiently, he continued guiding the conversation.
“Then would you like a handsome older brother?”
“Don’t want one.”
Chu Jiadong had been about to smoothly introduce Chu Xiaoyi, but his daughter rejected the idea without hesitation.
His eyes widened.
“Why not?”
Blinking innocently, Chu Xiaoxiao answered in complete seriousness,
“Sister Yang Yin said older brothers are all bad news.”
Just as Chu Jiadong was about to argue, Chu Xiaoyi suddenly appeared on the television screen.
Dressed in a bright red suit, he slowly walked into a sea of golden backup dancers.
Combined with the classic CCTV-style choreography, the performance looked suspiciously like a particularly elaborate public-square dance routine.
The entire family instantly became excited.
“Xiaoyi’s on!”
“Look, Xiaoxiao! Look!”
Chu Jiadong grabbed his daughter and shook her excitedly, making sure she paid attention.
Xiaoxiao pressed her lips together.
She stared at the red-suited fool on the screen with a complicated expression, completely unable to understand why everyone had become so excited.
The Spring Festival Gala choreography was repetitive, somewhat cheesy, and not particularly interesting to begin with.
On top of that, Chu Xiaoyi’s throat had been bothering him recently.
The performance was genuinely painful to watch.
Several times Xiaoxiao tried to turn her head away, only for Chu Jiadong to physically turn it back toward the television.
Forced to endure three minutes of what felt like visual and auditory torture, she nearly suffocated from holding in her reactions.
After surviving the ordeal, the poor, weak, and helpless Chu Xiaoxiao arrived at a concise review of the performance:
A lonely tomato mixed into a plate of golden scrambled eggs. Very unappetizing.
At last, the lonely tomato disappeared from the television screen.
Xiaoxiao let out a heartfelt sigh of relief.
Then she voiced the question deep within her soul:
“This celebrity can’t really sing, and he can’t really dance. How did he get on television?”
There had been plenty of strawberries, cherries, and chili peppers singing earlier too.
But only the lonely tomato kept receiving solo camera shots for such a long time.
In Xiaoxiao’s opinion, all the fruits and vegetables sang and danced at roughly the same mediocre level.
The lonely tomato simply received the most screen time, making him the primary target of criticism.
The moment she finished speaking, the room fell into an eerie silence.
The family members who had been cheering moments ago all stared hesitantly at the innocent little girl.
For a while, nobody knew what to say.
As the person responsible for the entire misunderstanding, Chu Jiadong could only force himself to explain.
“Xiaoxiao… that’s your brother.”
Chu Xiaoxiao: “???”
Chu Xiaoxiao’s inner thoughts:
My brother embarrassed himself that badly on national television.
How am I supposed to hold my head up in front of other children from now on!?
Meanwhile, after finishing his performance, Chu Xiaoyi returned backstage.
The moment he saw his father’s message, he froze as though struck by lightning.
Nearby, manager He Xin and the assistants chatted while packing up.
“We’re done!” He Xin announced enthusiastically. “Time to go home. Happy Spring Festival, everyone!”
“Nothing happy about it,” one assistant groaned. “Going home just means the full package: marriage pressure, grandchildren pressure, endless lectures. I’d rather stay at work and make money…”
“True enough. Same thing every year.” He Xin laughed.
Not noticing Chu Xiaoyi’s rigid posture, he casually slapped him on the shoulder.
“Give it a few years. Your parents will probably start pressuring you to get married and have kids too.”
“They won’t.”
“Don’t be so confident. You might still be young and handsome now, but sooner or later they’ll start asking when you’re settling down.”
“They won’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’ve already had one for me.”
“…?”
Staring at his WeChat screen, Chu Xiaoyi remained trapped in a state of profound shock.
He still hadn’t recovered from the bombshell.
The conversation read:
YI:
I don’t have any work after the Spring Festival Gala this year.
Home’s Pillar (Dad):
Come home when you have time. Your little sister misses you.
Home’s Pillar:
[Video]
Chu Jiadong had indeed provided his son with a convenient excuse to come home.
Unfortunately, the “step” he offered nearly caused Chu Xiaoyi to trip and fall flat on his face.
Opening the attached video, Chu Xiaoyi saw a little girl with a face like a soft rice cake sitting in front of the television.
Meanwhile, the old man was shaking her back and forth while shouting,
“Xiaoxiao, look! Look!”
The scene resembled someone enthusiastically shaking a teddy bear.
No one understood his father’s cryptic wording better than Chu Xiaoyi.
The phrase “your little sister” clearly had nothing to do with cousins.
Not a maternal cousin.
Not a paternal cousin.
Not any kind of cousin.
Chu Xiaoyi’s conclusion:
I’ve been so busy working that I’ve practically passed by my own home three times without entering.
And while I wasn’t paying attention, my parents actually went and had a second child!?
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