Because she had been too excited the previous day, Qu Tantan unsurprisingly woke up late the next morning.
Half-asleep, she was dug out of her blanket by her Mom, then ate the fragrant fried dough sticks and tofu pudding her Dad had bought. Even after being dropped off at kindergarten, her mind was still occupied with thoughts about her Uncle.
It wasn’t until she suddenly noticed how quiet it was around her, with all the children staring at her, that she finally realized what she had done yesterday.
Even the teacher seemed a bit nervous, as if afraid she might cause trouble. She must have made quite the name for herself.
Although the other kids were somewhat scared of her and didn’t dare talk to her, at least there was one silly little fawn with pigtails who took the initiative to approach her.
Meng Jiajia’s eyes shone brightly as she thanked her, looking quite excited. “Qu Tantan, you’re amazing! My Mom said to thank you for protecting me yesterday. If not for you, my hair would’ve been yanked right off. These are cookies my Mom made, have some! Oh, and, how did you know my nickname is Zaizai1?”
Qu Tantan was momentarily speechless. She hadn’t expected her future best friend to have actually been in the same kindergarten class as her. Hearing Meng Jiajia’s question, she almost burst out laughing.
Not only did Qu Tantan know Meng Jiajia’s nickname was Zai’er, but Qu Tantan also knew that every time Meng Jiajia made her Mom angry, her Mom would chase her around with a broom and call her ‘Dog Zai’er’.
She had once confided in Qu Tantan that she started learning taekwondo because, as a child, she could never outrun her Mom during those chases.
Just as Qu Tantan was trying to hold back her laughter, she heard Meng Jiajia say seriously, “Qu Tantan, I told my mom I want to enroll in Taekwondo class today. I’m going to make Gu Quan eat dirt!”
Gu Quan was probably the boy who had led the group in bullying Meng Jiajia yesterday and ended up with a face full of bite marks.
Realizing that her talking as if in a dream yesterday had actually inspired Meng Jiajia to take up Taekwondo, Qu Tantan choked. She glanced at Meng Jiajia’s pretty dress and cute little braids, then thought about Meng Jiajia’s future self—short-haired, grinning with a mouth full of bright white teeth, exuding such a commanding presence on the basketball court that younger schoolgirls would call Meng Jiajia ‘husband.’ Suddenly, she felt a faint sense of guilt.
“Uh… aren’t we a bit too young to start Taekwondo?”
Meng Jiajia tilted her head, then excitedly waved her little fists. “Mom said we’ll ask first, and if I’m too young, Dad can teach me a few moves. Either way, I’ll make Gu Quan eat dirt!”
Meng Jiajia’s Dad was a retired soldier and now the deputy captain of the criminal investigation unit at the police station. Most of Meng Jiajia’s future combat skills could be credited to him.
Meng Jiajia’s Mom had once aspired to raise her as a little princess, but after Meng Jiajia threw a tantrum demanding to learn Taekwondo, her Mom ended up with a wild little troublemaker instead.
Meng Jiajia’s Dad was delighted, while Meng Jiajia’s Mom, though disappointed, showered all her affection for a little princess onto Qu Tantan instead, going so far as to make Qu Tantan her goddaughter.
Privately, Meng Jiajia had heaved a sigh of relief, muttering that her Mom, who once chased stray dogs mercilessly, was dreaming if she thought she could turn a scrappy country mutt into a princess.
Qu Tantan always found their family hilarious.
Thinking about the ‘country mutt’ of the past, she couldn’t help but glance at the little girl in the princess dress again. How strange. She had to take another look.
Before, she had only heard Meng Jiajia’s complaints. Now, she could finally understand her Godmother’s obsession with raising a little princess.
Kindergarten felt like a lifetime ago to Qu Tantan. She only vaguely remembered having a teacher she really liked, but looking around now, all the faces were unfamiliar.
Thankfully, she had Meng Jiajia by her side. She didn’t even have to ask much, her chatterbox friend had already spilled all the details from yesterday.
Apparently, Meng Jiajia had been bullied by Gu Quan because the arts and crafts teacher had praised her. Gu Quan, who had a crush on the pretty teacher, had tried to snatch away the little duck figurine the teacher had given Meng Jiajia. When she refused, Gu Quan and his group tried to take it by force, and in the struggle, the duck broke.
Meng Jiajia had cried mainly because the duck was ruined, but Gu Quan and the boys had indeed pushed her, so they deserved the beating.
Qu Tantan suddenly realized that the teacher she had liked back then must have been this beautiful arts and crafts teacher. She also found it amusing that someone who would later become the school’s most notorious troublemaker had once been a little kid who cried over a broken duck and held a deep grudge about it.
As she laughed, her sense of reality in this second life finally solidified.
As she already knew Meng Jiajia so well, it only took one class period for her to become Meng Jiajia’s closest friend. With ease, she also got Meng Jiajia to list out the names of all the kids in class.
Even though she had no memory of her kindergarten days, she knew how to act cute and had brought sweet milk candies to share. By the end of the day, she had won over the children who had initially been afraid of her, to the point where they were now crowding around her.
Even Gu Quan, who had been beaten up, blushed and forgave Qu Tantan when she apologized. Under her persuasion, he even admitted that he had been in the wrong yesterday and voluntarily apologized to Meng Jiajia.
The originally determined Meng Jiajia, who had vowed to beat Gu Quan so badly he’d be searching for his teeth on the ground, now scratched her head and sheepishly forgave him.
Sigh, innocent little kids really are adorable.
Thanks to Qu Tantan’s maneuvering, the teachers who had been worried about the children making a fuss today also changed their impression of her. They now saw her as the obedient and well-behaved child she had always been, believing that yesterday’s assertiveness was merely her standing up for a friend.
Thinking about how she still insisted on coming to school despite being injured—how she was clearly in pain, her hand nearly bringing her to tears, yet she blinked her big eyes and bravely said, “It’s okay, teacher, just blow on it and it won’t hurt anymore”—the homeroom teacher’s heart nearly melted.
Who wouldn’t love such a sweet and resilient child? Especially when she was this cute.
So, after school, when the parents arrived to pick up their children, the teachers made a point to tell the parents involved in yesterday’s incident how the children had made up thanks to Qu Tantan’s efforts. They even pulled Mother Qu aside to shower her daughter with praise.
Under the envious and admiring gazes of the other parents, Mother Qu, who had initially been preoccupied with her own thoughts, couldn’t help but smile. Her bright and expressive features were now full of unconcealed joy.
Holding onto her Mom’s hand, Qu Tantan tilted her head up and suddenly realized. Her parents, when they were young, were quite different from how she had always known them. She had thought that only her Dad had changed a lot, but now she saw that her Mom had as well.
It was just that in front of her, they had never revealed their other side.
Meng Jiajia’s Mom, holding a neatly wrapped box of treats, brought her daughter over to express their gratitude. Compared to Mother Qu—who had permed her hair into such voluminous curls that her daughter nearly didn’t recognize her—Meng Jiajia’s Mom still had her sleek, straight black hair and looked almost the same as she would in the future.
This made Qu Tantan slip up as she casually responded, absentmindedly blurting out, “Godmother.”
The natural way she said it caught both mothers off guard, and before she even realized her mistake, Meng Jiajia’s Mom instinctively responded, “Yes?”
—…Huh?
Once they processed what had happened, the two women exchanged slightly awkward glances. Meng Jiajia’s Mom looked down at the little girl, who was now covering her mouth in realization, her big eyes twinkling with mischief. A thought flickered in her mind.
The urge to dress up a little princess was stirring again.
So, before Mother Qu could apologize, Meng Jiajia’s Mom decisively took Qu Tantan’s hand, laughing as she playfully pinched her cheeks. “Alright then, Godmother it is! Godmother will bring you a gift tomorrow, and you’re welcome to come over this weekend. Jiajia’s been wanting a little sister for ages.”
—Oh my, does this mean I now have two adorable little princesses? What a win!
Meanwhile, Mother Qu, who had just suddenly gained an honorary relative: “…?”
Even though it had been a slip of the tongue, both women were easygoing and found they had a lot in common while chatting about their daughters. So, in the end, they simply went along with it.
“Tantan was such a good girl today! How about we go home and celebrate with some braised pork?”
As they left after saying goodbye to Meng Jiajia, Mother Qu, feeling quite pleased, swung her daughter’s hand happily. “Want some candied hawthorn? What about sticky rice cakes2?”
Qu Tantan vaguely remembered how, as a child, she had always looked forward to the food stalls outside school, especially those sweet sticky rice cakes and bamboo-wrapped zongzi3.
Thinking about it made her mouth water, but when she noticed that even in her happiness, her Mom still carried a trace of worry between her brows, she hesitated, then shook her head and reached out to be carried.
Using her uninjured chubby little hand, she gently touched her Mom’s forehead and, in a soft voice, deliberately tried to cheer her Mom up. “Did someone make Mom unhappy? Tantan will beat the bad guys for you and make them cry too!”
Surprised that her daughter had noticed her mood, Mother Qu was taken aback by her daughter’s perceptiveness but also felt deeply warmed. She rubbed her daughter’s little face affectionately. “Mom’s not unhappy. How could I be when I have Tantan looking after me?”
But under Qu Tantan’s skeptical gaze, she eventually sighed and confessed, “Your Grandma and Uncle are at home right now. Remember to be polite when we get back.”
She hesitated, still troubled. “And if you see your Grandma… don’t be scared. Mom and Dad are here, okay?”
She wasn’t worried about much, except that her daughter might be frightened by her mother-in-law’s presence. If that happened, they’d be stuck between a rock and a hard place, and her brother-in-law would have more ammunition to use against them.
But Qu Tantan, who didn’t fully grasp her Mom’s deeper concerns and had only caught the key words, suddenly narrowed her eyes.
So soon? That Uncle had already come knocking?
The only question was whether he was here to ‘borrow money’ or scheming something even bigger.
