CHAPTER 353: CHAPTER 346: BABY FACE AND UNHAPPY

Zhou Jinyuan always felt there was something strange, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

However, he knew this strangeness must have something to do with Ms. Zhen.

After all, Ms. Zhen’s way of handling things was always baffling.

Initially, he was afraid that if he told Ms. Zhen about his and Chen Xixi’s situation, she might do something weird and scare Chen Xixi. Unexpectedly, Ms. Zhen still found out.

Indeed, it was hard for Ms. Zhen not to discover it when he went on a dating reality show to close the gap between them.

In the end, Zhou Jinyuan added one more thing: "Don’t believe everything my mother says."

Chen Xixi was taken aback; the rich aunt hadn’t really said anything to her, except for this matter.

She now also understood the meaning behind the rich aunt giving her money; she guessed that seeing Zhou Jinyuan getting along well with her, the rich aunt wanted to let her pull Zhou Jinyuan back.

But the thing is, this task is not easy to do.

How about she takes out one thousand yuan from the forty million to give him a few princess points?

Wouldn’t that make the completion of the task a bit more impressive?

At least when the rich aunt asks, she can’t say she took the money and did nothing.

Otherwise, surely they can’t expect her to step into the ring personally, right?

No way! Forty million, not worth it!

With her current appearance fee, she could earn that in a year.

It’s not worth selling herself for it.

Even though Zhou Jinyuan is somewhat handsome, she can’t lose her reason over it.

Watching Chen Xixi’s pair of clear, bright apricot eyes spinning around, Zhou Jinyuan knew this girl was definitely scheming something in her head.

His lips curved slightly, and he turned to walk upstairs, leaving Chen Xixi with two words: "Come here."

Chen Xixi looked up at the man’s tall figure, asking in confusion, "Where to?"

The man’s deep voice came from ahead: "Isn’t it like ten thousand ants are crawling all over, making it unbearably itchy? I’ll help you end this feeling quickly."

"Alright." Chen Xixi immediately perked up, following Zhou Jinyuan’s steps.

Really, President Zhou is quite the problem solver, efficient, and a man of his word!

In any case, he’s truly been generous to her.

Second floor study.

Zhou Jinyuan walked to the desk, took out an album from the drawer, and then pulled out a photo to hand to Chen Xixi, "You recognize what you look like as a child, right?"

Chen Xixi took a close look.

The photo was indeed of her as a child!

With three sloppy ponytails on her head, she was making a bossy hand gesture like a gun, and standing next to her...

Chen Xixi immediately turned her head to look at Zhou Jinyuan, exclaiming in surprise, "You’re the Unhappy who had to do a hundred test papers!"

Zhou Jinyuan: "? Unhappy?"

He’s Unhappy?

So this is how she’s always seen him in her mind?

Realizing this, Zhou Jinyuan looked at Chen Xixi with a helpless smile, "If you say so."

Who could be happy with endless homework every day?

Ms. Zhen wanted Zhou Jinyuan to become the child of someone else’s family, but he had put a lot of effort into it since he was young. The trophies in the bookcase said it all.

Chen Xixi was surprised for a good while, then looked up to meet Zhou Jinyuan’s gaze, speaking excitedly, "It’s you who caused me to get mixed doubles punishment from my mom and dad?!"

"..." Zhou Jinyuan fell silent, his deep eyes also showing a touch of guilt.

Chen Xixi had an indelible memory of this incident, and Zhou Jinyuan similarly could never forget it for the rest of his life.

Later, Chen Xixi saw the homework book that had been torn to shreds but was now completely pieced together again in Zhou Jinyuan’s desk drawer.

Chen Xixi quickly took it out and flipped through it; it was indeed her childhood homework book.

The first ten or so pages were her own homework, with handwriting all crooked and twisted, clearly that of a child in the senior class of kindergarten.

However, the handwriting on the last two pages was noticeably neater, each stroke firm and strong, clearly showing the training of someone versed in calligraphy.

The last two pages were the homework that Zhou Jinyuan helped her write, discovered by the kindergarten teacher, who told her parents at the end of the day: "Even if the child can’t finish her homework, she needs to persevere. As parents, you can’t write it for her."

Mrs. Chen was baffled for a long time until she finally found the answer in Chen Xixi’s schoolbag.

The result was Chen Xixi getting a parental mix doubles spanking. Although it wasn’t hard, just a few smacks with the hand, Chen Xixi still cried bitterly, and Mrs. Chen, in her rage, tore up the homework book and threw it away.

Since then, Chen Xixi never dared to let others help with her homework lightly again. She learned her lesson.

Even if she looked for help, she had to look for someone smart who could mimic her handwriting.

Someone ’Unhappy’—so clumsy that they would be caught right away—that wouldn’t do.

Zhou Jinyuan cleared his throat and said with not much confidence, "It was my first time too; I didn’t have any experience."

He still remembered that day when he passed by Chen Xixi’s house and didn’t see the girl with the baby face coming out to play, but he heard sobbing, very heart-rending sobs, sounding like those of the baby face.

Then the second time he passed by the baby face’s house, he saw a pile of torn paper at the doorstep. On closer inspection, it was the baby face’s homework.

He also saw his own handwriting on it.

Afterwards, the baby face ignored him for several days, not even glancing at him.

Not long after, the baby face’s family moved away. Every day he walked past, he never saw the baby face again, only a short boy playing in the yard.

For the then ten-year-old him, this was a source of guilt, having made a little girl cry for so long.

Moreover, she was the first girl who had played house with him, gifted him a bride price, and declared she would marry him and take him home.

So he wanted to find the baby face and make it up to her in person.

But he was too young back then and his abilities were limited, so he couldn’t find her.

The next time he encountered the baby face, he was playing basketball at the court of a local school with his classmates.

At that time, he was in the second year of high school, and the baby face was in the eighth grade.

His classmates joked that there was a beautiful girl outside the basketball court. He looked over and found her familiar. That day, when he returned home, he asked his dad’s secretary to help check the identity of that girl.

He confirmed it was the baby face.

Memories long buried started assaulting him.

Later, he often went with classmates to that school to play basketball. When the baby face went to high school, he also went there a few times, and during university, too.

But he never spoke to her because he heard that the baby face had a childhood friend of the same age, and it seemed like they were dating.

He suddenly felt an emptiness in his heart, very uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable to the point that he couldn’t bring himself to play basketball for a long time.

Until he heard that the baby face had recently become jobless, and her childhood friend had gotten a girlfriend. He thought it was a perfect opportunity to make it up to the baby face.

He sent a message to the baby face, which, to his surprise, was mistaken for a scam...

Zhou Jinyuan didn’t know when he started liking Chen Xixi; all he knew was that if he didn’t go play basketball for a day, it felt like something was missing, and if he didn’t see the baby face for a day, he felt all out of sorts.

Although she had no place for him in her youth, it seemed like she was always there in his, even if she didn’t know it.

...

Chen Xixi suddenly felt that she was quite impressive as a child, daring to have the billionaire President Zhou help with her homework.

Hmm, she had the potential to do great things from a young age!

Chen Xixi was a clear-headed and rational person. She reached out and patted Zhou Jinyuan on the shoulder, speaking earnestly and with deep feeling, "This was my bad idea after all, you can’t be blamed for this. There’s no need to feel guilty; just pay attention in the next life. Let’s not make this kind of small mistake again."