Chapter 7

Chu Xiaoyi became embarrassed and angry. Unwilling to continue arguing with the little thing, he led her straight toward the neighborhood exit. Along the way through the residential complex, Chu Xiaoxiao kept staring at the slit in his jeans and repeatedly reminded him, “The wind is blowing it open.”

Chu Xiaoyi normally never felt cold, but after listening to her constant nagging, he genuinely began to feel a trace of chill. Grabbing her little hand, he led her out of the complex gate and stopped her muttering. “Alright, hurry up and walk!”

Chu Xiaoxiao felt a little helpless. She thought her bargain-bin older brother was truly stubborn. As the saying went, the wearer of torn pants knows whether they’re cold or warm. Why insist on pretending he wasn’t cold?

Chu Xiaoyi had not returned to Yurong Terrace for many years and was no longer familiar with the surrounding area. He simply used a digital map for navigation and chose the nearest fruit shop. However, upon arrival, he discovered it had not yet opened for business. Looking at the little one, he asked, “Is there anywhere else nearby that sells fruit?”

Chu Xiaoxiao said, “There’s another store if you turn right from our house.”

After thinking carefully, Chu Xiaoyi realized they had walked left from the neighborhood gate for quite a while. Wouldn’t they have to backtrack now?

Chu Xiaoyi asked, “Is that store open?”

“I don’t know.” Chu Xiaoxiao looked at his hesitant expression. “Are you cold?”

“I’m not cold. Stop talking about that topic already—” Chu Xiaoyi truly didn’t want to discuss the pants anymore. He decisively made a decision. “Alright, I know where to go!”

Chu Xiaoyi directly took Chu Xiaoxiao into a taxi and, for the starting fare, arrived at the largest nearby shopping center, deciding to complete the fruit-buying mission there. The shopping center had been lightly decorated for the Spring Festival. Various stores had also adopted red decorations, creating a hint of holiday atmosphere.

There weren’t many customers in the shopping center. First, many people had left Beijing for the Spring Festival. Second, this place was positioned as a high-end destination and wasn’t originally meant for ordinary consumers. It was one of the city’s largest luxury department stores, and celebrities frequently appeared there, some attending brand events and others simply shopping on their own.

Chu Xiaoxiao’s range of activities was still relatively small. It was her first time coming here, and she curiously looked around.

The mall was very warm inside. Chu Xiaoyi smugly asked in return, “Not cold now, right?”

Chu Xiaoxiao shot him a puzzled glance and replied, “I never felt cold in the first place. I’m not wearing torn pants.”

Chu Xiaoyi: “…”

Chu Xiaoyi was so exasperated he laughed. “If your attitude improves a little, I’ll buy you dessert.”

There were quite a few boutique dessert shops in the mall, displaying all kinds of delicate and expensive pastries that sparkled under the lights. Chu Xiaoxiao glanced at the various desserts but couldn’t find any price tags nearby. She simply shook her head. “Forget it.”

Chu Xiaoyi had assumed all children were interested in pastries. Who would have thought she would study them seriously for so long and then react so indifferently? Puzzled, he asked, “You don’t like sweets? These are pretty nice-looking.”

Chu Xiaoxiao said, “I’m not in the mood to eat today.”

She’d have Dad bring her another day.

Chu Xiaoxiao: Just thinking about my poor and unsuccessful older brother makes me lose my appetite for anything.

Of course Chu Xiaoxiao thought the desserts were beautiful, but her instincts told her they were probably very expensive and beyond what Chu Xiaoyi could afford.

In her view, her father Chu Jiadong was the richest person in the family. Not only did he own his own company and have employees, but he also regularly gave living expenses to Great-Uncle and the others. Her mother Xiao Bi earned less than Dad, but she was a teacher who educated people and was loved by many students, making her equally impressive.

Grandma, Great-Uncle, and Great-Aunt were already elderly. They no longer needed to work and earn money. In Dad’s words, it was time for them to enjoy life.

Looking at it this way, her brother Chu Xiaoyi was indeed at the very bottom of the food chain. He didn’t even have money for medical treatment and had to wear torn pants.

Chu Xiaoyi had no idea how poorly his sister viewed him. Seeing that she truly wasn’t interested, he led her onward. The siblings had not gone far when Chu Xiaoyi was attracted by a luxury brand store and turned in with Chu Xiaoxiao.

Although Chu Xiaoyi had his face thoroughly covered, his temperament and style couldn’t be hidden. A sales associate immediately came forward to provide one-on-one service. He had entered a men’s store. Having been busy with work and not gone shopping for a long time, he suddenly became rather slow and meticulous now that he finally had a chance to spend money.

Chu Xiaoxiao was settled into a seat by a young sales assistant. Holding a bottle of mineral water with nothing to do, she looked like an impatient boyfriend accompanying his girlfriend on a shopping trip, appearing thoroughly bored. She was still young and didn’t yet understand the existence of luxury goods. She merely felt her brother was somewhat vain and was even discussing discount rates with people.

The sales assistant said there was currently a promotion: spend one thousand and get fifty back. Chu Xiaoyi nodded knowingly, apparently thinking it was quite a bargain. After all, individual items generally cost tens of thousands, so the deal wasn’t bad.

Chu Xiaoxiao couldn’t bear to burst her bargain-bin brother’s bubble:

What you’re lacking isn’t fifty yuan. What you’re lacking is the thousand yuan that comes before it!

Chu Xiaoxiao wasn’t the type of child who embarrassed people in public, but she truly couldn’t stand listening any longer, so she simply wandered off to look around elsewhere.

There were very few customers in the store. The moment the little girl moved a few steps away, the other saleswomen practically couldn’t stop watching her. Fortunately, Chu Xiaoxiao didn’t look like a troublemaker. She merely curiously looked left and right while remaining quiet the entire time.

One saleswoman had originally intended to guide Chu Xiaoxiao back, but seeing that the child was fairly well-behaved, she found it difficult to stop her outright and could only follow close behind.

Chu Xiaoxiao eventually stopped near a neighboring counter because a customer and a saleswoman there seemed to have gotten into an argument. Their voices gradually grew louder, attracting her attention.

Seeing this, the saleswoman accompanying Chu Xiaoxiao immediately tried to lead the child away from the dispute and patiently said, “Little friend, let’s go back over there.”

At the counter, a brown-haired, blue-eyed middle-aged man was arguing with a saleswoman. A trace of impatience showed on his face as he rattled off a stream of words. The meticulously made-up saleswoman’s smile had become somewhat stiff. She was communicating with him in English, awkwardly trying to explain. The atmosphere between them grew increasingly tense, and a hint of anger even appeared on the man’s face, as though he were about to storm off.

The saleswoman handling the conversation was sweating at the temples as well. In the end, she truly had no choice but to seek help from her supervisor. “Sis, could you please come take a look? I really don’t know how to explain this…”

The saleswomen all had fairly good English skills, but unfortunately the customer didn’t seem to understand very well, and his expression only worsened. This foreign customer wasn’t very good at English either, making communication between the two sides increasingly difficult.

After listening for quite a while, Chu Xiaoxiao suddenly said, “Здравствуйте!”

The foreign uncle had been annoyed a moment ago. Hearing his familiar native language, he froze, then turned around to see a delicate Chinese little girl. The saleswoman had originally wanted to take Chu Xiaoxiao away, afraid that she would get dragged into the trouble. Who would have thought that the adult and child would suddenly start chatting, rattling away nonstop?

After learning the situation from the man, Chu Xiaoxiao translated, “Uncle says he thinks there’s a problem with the discounted price.”

The saleswoman looked helpless. “I’ve already explained it to this customer…”

After hearing the complicated discount calculations, Chu Xiaoxiao began chattering away with the man again. A confused and hesitant expression appeared on his face, as though he had fallen into deep thought.

Hearing the commotion, Chu Xiaoyi turned around. Seeing all the sales associates gathered there, he mistakenly thought his sister had caused trouble and frowned. “Chu Xiaoxiao, what are you doing?”

Just moments ago, Chu Xiaoxiao had been sitting obediently in her seat. Now she had run over to the neighboring counter and was busily occupied with something. Chu Xiaoyi was certain she wasn’t a troublesome child at home. Could it be that she became overly excited when outside?

At the counter, Chu Xiaoxiao and the foreign uncle sat on tall stools. They were using paper and pen to work through calculations.

Hearing her brother’s question, Chu Xiaoxiao calmly replied, “I’m teaching a foreign friend mathematics.”

Chu Xiaoyi: “???”

The saleswoman continued providing numbers to Chu Xiaoxiao, who translated them for the foreign uncle. Chu Xiaoxiao simply wrote the numbers into equations and demonstrated the calculations step by step. The man studied the process for a few seconds. It seemed he finally understood where the misunderstanding lay. Thoughtfully nodding, he readily pulled out his credit card.

The foreign uncle happily paid for his purchase, then rattled off another stream of words to Chu Xiaoxiao, looking much more relaxed.

Chu Xiaoxiao translated, “He says his English isn’t very good. He didn’t understand some parts earlier and thought the other side had made a mistake in the calculations.”

The people around them finally breathed a sigh of relief. A sales associate led the foreign uncle away to complete the payment, while Chu Xiaoxiao followed Chu Xiaoyi back. Suddenly, the foreign uncle turned around and gave Chu Xiaoxiao a thumbs-up, awkwardly saying in Chinese, “Amazing, thank you!”

Having become familiar with him as well, Chu Xiaoxiao responded, “Незачто.”

A strange expression appeared on Chu Xiaoyi’s face. He truly couldn’t understand why both sides insisted on speaking in each other’s native language. Would speaking only one language burn their mouths or something?

After the foreign uncle finished paying and left, Chu Xiaoxiao had become the center of attention in the store, making it awkward for Chu Xiaoyi to stay any longer. He had dressed quite inconspicuously, but unfortunately Chu Xiaoxiao was extremely conspicuous, directly promoting international friendship inside the store. Who could stop that?

Chu Xiaoyi lost any desire to continue browsing and simply took Chu Xiaoxiao away, deciding to head to the supermarket to buy fruit. Seeing that he left the store empty-handed while also taking two bottles of mineral water from it, Chu Xiaoxiao felt even more like sighing. She increasingly felt that her brother had come solely to scam free water.

After the siblings left the store, Chu Xiaoyi exclaimed, “Your English is really that good? You’re even better than the sales associates? Is this the magical effect of watching pigs every day?”

Seeing how calmly and naturally the little thing had chatted just now, Chu Xiaoyi finally understood what his mother meant by language talent. He had originally thought Chu Xiaoxiao was merely a little smarter than average and had a richer vocabulary than children her age. He had never expected her foreign language abilities to be so extraordinary.

Because Chu Xiaoxiao refused to play teacher-and-student games with her bargain-bin brother, he had never seen the foreign-language list on her iPad and naturally didn’t know his sister’s true abilities.

Chu Xiaoxiao revealed a complicated and somewhat pitying expression. Hesitating, she asked, “Your English isn’t good?”

Chu Xiaoyi’s gaze drifted away. Bracing himself, he said, “Yeah, it’s alright, I guess. I could understand a little of your English conversation…”

Even in front of his sister, Chu Xiaoyi still wanted to save some face. He didn’t want to seem excessively stupid, so he answered vaguely.

Chu Xiaoxiao blinked, her expression becoming even more peculiar. “He’s Russian. He was speaking Russian, not English.”

Chu Xiaoyi: “…”

Chu Xiaoxiao added, “Your English listening skills must be really bad. English doesn’t have rolled R sounds.”

Chu Xiaoyi looked at the serious little girl. He truly didn’t want to appear even more bewildered, but he genuinely couldn’t understand what his sister was saying anymore.

What was a rolled R sound? Why had a snake suddenly appeared?