CHAPTER 52: CHAPTER 52: THE REAL NAUGHTY KID

Seeing that the young girl’s inner turmoil had been resolved, Scholar Meng let her return to the classroom to continue studying, while he went to teach the older students.

Zhao Zhitong had left the room with red eyes, but upon her return, she was smiling. Zhao Yue and a few others who were spectating looked puzzled.

Zhao Yue wondered, "Wasn’t the Teacher scolding her or punishing her? Why did she become so happy? I’ve never seen someone who was punished be happy before. What a strange girl."

Noticing their gaze from outside the window, Zhao Zhitong looked in that direction and saw Zhao Yue’s silly face hanging at the window frame. She snorted coldly and made a face at him.

She then happily returned to the classroom. After sitting down at her seat, she picked up her textbook and started reading aloud.

Wei Shulan, who was sitting beside her, relaxed when she saw Zhao Zhitong was fine and began to quietly read along.

Zhao Zhitong now seemed completely unaffected. Qiao Muchen, however, couldn’t sit still. Throughout the entire class, he was thinking about how to apologize to Zhao Zhitong.

So, after class, he took out some dried fruits from his luggage box and stuffed them into Zhao Zhitong’s arms, his face flushed red as he uttered three words, "For you to eat."

Zhao Zhitong was momentarily stunned but then recalled their argument from last night. However, she was a child who held no grudges. Seeing that he was trying to make amends, she decided to forgive him.

Thus, she happily accepted the dried fruits and even invited him to have lunch together, "Shall we go and eat together?"

Qiao Muchen replied, "Okay, sure."

Zhao Zhitong put the dried fruits in her luggage box, and then, together with her two friends, she happily ran towards the kitchen area.

She didn’t forget to brag to them that her mother was preparing the meal and that it would surely be delicious.

Qiao Muchen already knew this, but Wei Shulan was hearing it for the first time and showed a hint of envy on her face.

Soon, the three children carried their prepared meals to the dining hall. Zhao Zhitong sat in the middle, with Qiao Muchen on her left and Wei Shulan on her right.

Qiao Muchen even picked up some of Zhao Zhitong’s favorite noodles and said to her ingratiatingly, "Will you still give me candies in the future?"

Zhao Zhitong knew he was asking whether their previous agreement still held. She thought for a moment and nodded, "Mmhmm, I forgive you. Let’s still be good friends."

As she spoke, she took out a candy and handed it to him, proving she was a generous and kind child.

Qiao Muchen’s face turned slightly red, and he sincerely apologized to Zhao Zhitong, inviting her to his house to read books.

However, Zhao Zhitong shook her head, looking troubled, "But I’ve already promised Lanlan that I would go to her house today to watch Peppa Pig."

Qiao Muchen’s eyes dimmed, but then Zhao Zhitong offered, "Do you want to go? Lanlan said you’re invited to her house too, to see her wooden carvings."

...

Later, after school, the three children went to Wei Shulan’s courtyard together.

Wei Shulan happily showed her wooden carvings to the two others. She really had a talent for this, having learned it intermittently from her mother. Although her carving technique was somewhat rough, the carvings were lifelike.

Zhao Zhitong’s eyes sparkled as she gazed at the wooden carvings and without hesitation praised, "Lanlan, you’re truly amazing. So amazing."

Wei Shulan, who was receiving the compliments, blushed shyly, "Not at all, not at all. Look, I’m almost done with your Peppa Pig carving."

Zhao Zhitong leaned in, "Wow, it really does look like it!"

Despite one little one still feeling a bit awkward, the atmosphere in their courtyard was harmonious.

At the same time, outside the gate of the Wei residence, several children lingered, sneaking around.

These children were none other than Zhao Yue and his two friends. Upon leaving school, they had quietly followed Zhao Zhitong, intending to play a prank on her outside the school. They hadn’t expected her to go into Country Gentry Wei’s residence.

One of the friends said, "What do we do? We can’t get in."

Zhao Yue agreed, "Let’s go back and wait for tomorrow. I don’t believe she won’t go out to play. She used to love pulling weeds, so we’ll just wait for her next outing and teach her a lesson with the ink."

The other two friends nodded in agreement.

Just as the three of them were about to turn around and leave, a young girl’s voice suddenly rang out, "What are you doing at my door?"

Shocked, the three children froze. The voice belonged to Wei Shulian, the fourth daughter of the Wei family, who was spoiled and willful. They didn’t dare to mess with her at school.

Wei Shulian’s voice rang out again, "I’m talking to you. Are you mute? Oh, I get it. You must be here to steal, right? I’m going to tell my uncle. Stay right there!"

Zhao Yue and his friends hurriedly denied the accusation. They said they were not thieves and had only come here because they were following Zhao Zhitong.

Wei Shulian immediately seized on this key piece of information, "So you’re saying that Zhao Zhitong went with Wei Shulan to my house, and Qiao Muchen came too?"

Zhao Yue and his friends nodded repeatedly.

"Hmph!" Wei Shulian scoffed angrily. "How dare someone play with Wei Shulan!"

With that, she turned around and ran back inside.

Seeing that the difficult child was gone, the three children quickly made their escape.

...

So, while Zhao Zhitong and her two friends were happily admiring Wei Shulan’s wooden carvings, Wei Shulian appeared, followed by a pale-faced young boy.

Wei Shulian spoke in disbelief, "Sister, you’re still doing these lowly things? Just like Mother, you won’t amount to anything. When Father returns, I’ll tell him!"

The young boy also frowned, his face full of disgust, "At first, I didn’t believe Little Sister Lian when she said you were doing work that only craftsmen do. But now that I see it, you really are engaged in such base activities.

"As a young lady, shouldn’t you be properly staying at home, drinking tea, reading, embroidering, and playing the zither? Instead, what are you learning? It’s simply an affront to our culture! I must have my father cancel our engagement. If you were to marry into my family one day, it would be utterly disgraceful!"

The moment these two entered the room, they began disparaging Wei Shulan with harsh words.

Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen frowned.

Wei Shulan turned pale.

These two were none other than her half-sister Wei Shulian, who was Mrs. Wu’s daughter.

Mrs. Wu was originally Mr. Wei’s concubine. After Wei Shulan’s mother passed away, Mr. Wei promoted Mrs. Wu to his legal wife. It’s not hard to imagine how she treated the daughter of his first wife.

After being promoted, Mrs. Wu appeared to be a kind-hearted stepmother on the surface. In fact, she often treated Wei Shulan harshly when Mr. Wei was away and sought to sow discord between father and daughter.

As for Mrs. Wu’s daughter, Wei Shulian, her cold words and actions were bad enough. She also conspired with the other sisters in the family to isolate Wei Shulan. This happened at school as well. Whenever Wei Shulan befriended a schoolmate, Wei Shulian would either drive them away or win them over.