Chapter 26: Twelve Years Old – Princess Game

After finishing KFC and returning home, Xuezhu invited Meng Yuning to stay and blow out her birthday candles with her.

Her father had bought her a six-inch cake. Although it wasn’t large, it was enough for the adults to taste the fresh cream, and there was plenty left for the kids to enjoy.

As soon as the candles were lit and her father was about to turn off the lights, the door, which had been ajar, was suddenly pushed open.

“Is it Xuezhu’s birthday?”

It was Uncle He.

“Old He, what are you doing here? Come over and have some cake,” Pei Lianyi quickly stood up to invite him in.

“No, I’ve already had dinner,” Uncle He smiled and handed over a box to Pei Lianyi. “Yueyue specially sent this from Shanghai as a birthday gift for Xuezhu. I came to deliver it.”

Xuezhu immediately stood up in surprise, not expecting that Sister Yueyue, even though she went to Shanghai, remembered to send her a birthday gift.

“Sister is really good to you,” Pei Lianyi handed the gift to Xuezhu and suggested, “Why don’t you call Sister and thank her?”

Xuezhu nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes, yes.”

She borrowed Uncle He’s phone and dialed He Zhengyue’s number, immediately saying, “Sister, it’s me.”

“Xuezhu,” He Zhengyue recognized her voice and her tone brightened, “Did you receive the birthday gift?”

“Yes, yes, I received it, but I haven’t opened it yet.”

“You’re going to like it,” He Zhengyue said. “I spent a long time picking it out at the boutique.”

“Hehe.”

“Happy birthday! You’re twelve now, a big girl.”

Xuezhu kept grinning foolishly.

He Zhengyue added, “I’m still in Shanghai and can’t come back for now, but when I get back, I’ll take you out for KFC.”

Xuezhu didn’t mind: “Brother Ningning already took me out for KFC today.”

“Hehe, Ningning took you? That was his treat, but when I treat you, that’s a whole different thing!” He Zhengyue laughed, “This summer, I’ll bring my boyfriend back, and then my boyfriend and I will take you out to eat. How does that sound?”

“Wow! A boyfriend!”

She had only seen photos of him before, and now she would actually get to meet him in person.

Xuezhu’s exclamation was loud, and Pei Lianyi, who was nearby, immediately poked Uncle He’s arm. “Not bad, Old He. Your son-in-law is already coming to see you so early.”

Uncle He looked complicated, speaking in a low voice, “I originally didn’t want her to have a boyfriend in college, it’s too early, but this girl can’t be controlled. What can I do?”

“She has to have a boyfriend eventually. It’s bound to happen one day,” Pei Lianyi knew what Uncle He was upset about and patted his shoulder to comfort him.

Uncle He glanced at Xuezhu, who was happily talking on the phone, and frowned. “You say it lightly, but when Xuezhu grows up and brings a boyfriend home to show you, I wonder if you’ll still be able to laugh.”

Pei Lianyi shrugged nonchalantly. “Xuezhu’s still young.”

“Don’t say it like that. Time flies, and kids grow up in the blink of an eye. Before you even realize it, you’ll be an old man,” Uncle He grumbled. “Yueyue is like that too. In the blink of an eye, she’s almost graduating from college.”

Pei Lianyi still didn’t take Uncle He’s words to heart.

After the call, Xuezhu handed the phone back to Uncle He.

The couple repeatedly urged Uncle He to stay and have some cake, but Uncle He declined, patting his stomach. “I can’t eat any more of this creamy cake. Tomorrow my belt won’t fit! Anyway, I’ve delivered the gift, so my task is done. I’m leaving.” Before he left, he didn’t forget to say to Xuezhu, “Happy birthday, Xuezhu!”

After seeing off Uncle He, it wasn’t long before someone else arrived.

This time, it was Old Zhong.

He was holding a phone that was already in the middle of a call.

“Zihan is out playing with his classmates and can’t come back, but he called to wish Xuezhu a happy birthday.”

Song Yanping smiled happily. “It’s thoughtful of Zihan to call and wish her a happy birthday while he’s out playing.”

“Xuezhu and Zihan are both only children, with no siblings, and they grew up in the same building, so their relationship is just like that of real siblings. Even though Xuezhu is out playing, she still deserves to hear ‘Happy Birthday,’” Old Zhong said as he handed the phone to Xuezhu. “Here, talk to your brother.”

Xuezhu took the phone, and the noise from the other end was chaotic. Zhong Zihan was practically yelling.

“Hello? Xuezhu, can you hear me?”

Without thinking, Xuezhu shouted back, “I can hear you!”

“Oh! Happy birthday! I’m singing outside! My classmates won’t let me leave,” Zhong Zihan shouted again. “I bought you a gift, but I won’t be able to give it to you today. I’ll bring it to you tomorrow afternoon when you get home from school, okay?”

“Okay!”

“Mm-hmm! Happy birthday! Did you make a wish when you blew out the candles?”

“Not yet!”

“Oh! Then don’t forget to include me in your wish!”

“What wish do you want me to make for you?”

“Just wish that I don’t get into college,” Zhong Zihan said, laughing. “I’ll repeat the year and redo senior year.”

Xuezhu hesitantly asked, “Is that for real?”

“No, I was just talking nonsense after drinking some pineapple beer. You should make your own wish for your birthday. I’m hanging up now, I have to go sing.”

After Old Zhong left, the lights were turned off, and finally, Xuezhu could make her wish and blow out the candles.

She clasped her hands together devoutly and made her wishes in her heart.

Her first wish was that her family and friends would always be happy.

Her second wish was that Sister Yueyue could always be happy with the person she loved.

Her third wish was that Brother Zihan could do what he loved.

Normally, three wishes would be enough, but Xuezhu couldn’t help feeling a little greedy.

The fourth wish was for Ningning, her brother, to always be by her side.

After making her wishes, Xuezhu was ready to cut the cake. The thick layer of white cream on the cake was a bit overwhelming for Xuezhu, who had already had enough from the KFC. She suddenly had an idea and, not caring whether her mom would scold her, she took a finger and swiped some cream, then smeared it on Meng Yuning’s face.

Caught off guard by the surprise attack, Meng Yuning froze for a moment, speechless, and found himself in a bit of a dilemma.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Song Yanping was speechless, and unsurprisingly, she scolded Xuezhu, “Xuezhu, who told you to smear food on your brother’s face?”

In contrast to her disapproval, Pei Lianyi’s attitude was completely different. He laughed heartily and, mimicking his daughter, smeared some cream on his hands, half of which he put on Xuezhu’s face and the other half on Song Yanping’s face.

Song Yanping widened her eyes in surprise, then laughed in frustration. “Pei Lianyi, how old are you? Still thinking you’re a child?”

“Today is Xuezhu’s birthday, let’s have some fun,” Pei Lianyi shrugged with no sense of guilt.

“Fun, my foot!” Song Yanping glared at her husband, then, no longer caring about her image, grabbed the cream and smeared it on Pei Lianyi’s face. “Here, let me give you some too!”

Although Pei Lianyi had gained a beer belly in recent years, his agility was still as sharp as it had been when he was younger. He quickly got up and dodged.

“Come on, come on.”

As her parents acted like children, Xuezhu watched happily from the side, clapping her hands and cheering, “Go, Dad! Go, Mom!”

Pei Lianyi: “Which side are you on? You’re a ^[1]“fence-sitter” is a term used to describe someone who is undecided or neutral, especially in a situation where they are expected to take a side or make a decision. It’s like someone … Continue readingfence-sitter!”

Song Yanping: “No cheering for your dad!”

With one cheek covered in cream, Xuezhu was still cheering, but suddenly, her clean cheek was also smeared with cream.

She turned her head to look at the “suspect.”

The “suspect,” Meng Yuning, slowly said, “This side should be done too, it looks more symmetrical.”

Xuezhu didn’t listen to his excuse and grabbed the cream, ready to get her revenge.

When Meng Yuning started to seriously join in the fun, Xuezhu couldn’t keep up with him, and in the end, she was helplessly held by the face, allowing him to smear her face with cream. The boy mischievously traced her cheek with his finger while still saying, “Don’t move. Let me turn you into a little snowman.”

The perfectly good cake had turned into a weapon, and by the end, the house was in complete chaos, with cream splattered on the walls and floors everywhere.

Song Yanping, who was responsible for cleaning up, almost had a breakdown.

“I can’t do all the cleaning alone. You two need to help,” Song Yanping, who usually had a soft spot for Meng Yuning, surprisingly said. “Ningning, you’re not leaving today. You need to help Auntie clean up the house before you go home.”

After nearly two hours of cleaning, the family finally regretted playing so wildly, realizing it was completely their own fault.

—

Not long after her birthday, the entrance exam for middle school came up. After taking the graduation photos for elementary school and finishing the exam, Xuezhu entered her last summer vacation before middle school.

By the end of July, the admission results from major universities started to arrive one after another. Tongzhou No. 1 High School once again put up a banner celebrating their science top scorer, who had been admitted to Peking University.

Xuezhu’s social media became lively again.

Their neighborhood had produced a top scorer this year, and families, both familiar and unfamiliar, came to offer their congratulations. Families with children even brought their kids along, hoping to share in the top scorer’s good luck, so they could also produce a top scorer when their own children took the college entrance exam.

The top scorer’s banquet, just like a wedding banquet, was full of people wanting to share in the good fortune. As a result, many inquiries were made about when the banquet would be held and where it would take place.

In order to avoid the neighbors’ gossip, Old Meng had no choice but to arrange the banquet at a hotel for his son.

On the day of the banquet, the number of guests exceeded even that of Old Meng’s second wedding.

Xuezhu got up early that day and had her mother do her hair for her, making it even more elaborate than when she had attended a cultural performance with the youth club dance class. Her long hair was left down, soft and voluminous like a flower bud, almost as if she were wearing a small crown.

Once her hairstyle was ready, Xuezhu quietly took out the birthday gift from He Zhengyue.

It was a pair of hairpins studded with rhinestones, shaped like six-petaled snowflakes, each angle shimmering with dazzling white light.

At her age, she was particularly interested in such things. Young girls love beauty and enjoy shiny accessories, but while she liked them, she also thought they were a bit too flashy, worried that people might think she was being vain.

After some thought, Xuezhu put the hairpins back in the drawer. Even if these sparkling items just lay there gathering dust, she felt satisfied every time she took them out to admire them.

When she left her room, Pei Lianyi was already sitting in the living room, waiting as usual for his wife to finish getting ready.

“Is Mom not ready yet?”

“You know how slow your mom is.”

Xuezhu walked to her parents’ room, where Song Yanping was applying lipstick in front of the mirror.

Looking at the array of cosmetics on the vanity—eye makeup, face cream, lipstick—everything seemed like magical tools, gradually turning her mom’s face into a delicate masterpiece.

“All done.”

Song Yanping put the lipstick away, raised an eyebrow at her and said, “Ready to go?”

Xuezhu didn’t rush to leave. Hearing her dad complain from the living room about her mom taking too long with her makeup, she slowly walked to the mirror, staring at the lipstick her mom had just used, suddenly struck with an idea.

Picking up the lipstick, Xuezhu awkwardly pouted her lips and tried to twist the tube, wanting to apply a little lipstick like her mom did.

Would she look better with it on?

Before she could do it, Song Yanping called out, “Xuezhu, what are you doing? Let’s go, time to eat.”

Startled, Xuezhu quickly put the lipstick down, fearing her mom would catch her.

When they were leaving, Xuezhu again saw her mom expertly slip into a pair of high heels, a few centimeters tall. She glanced at her own flat shoes.

Her mom’s high heels were too long for her, and they would make her feet look much bigger. Ignoring this, Xuezhu imagined herself walking gracefully in high heels, feeling a sense of longing and satisfaction.

Lost in thoughts of how mature and grown-up she would look, she didn’t even realize when they had reached the hotel.

The banquet was packed with people. Old Meng and Xu Qin were standing at the entrance, greeting guests. Pei Lianyi and his wife gave out red envelopes and chatted with people at the door. Xuezhu, not interested in adult conversations, bypassed her parents and ran toward the inner rooms.

Most of the familiar children from the neighborhood were there. Xuezhu immediately spotted Meng Yuning, who was surrounded by people like a shining star.

Boys are different from girls. While girls can attract attention with beautiful dresses and exquisite hair accessories, Meng Yuning didn’t need any embellishments. He simply wore a clean, fresh outfit, and with his superior physique and natural aura, he effortlessly drew people’s attention.

Inside the banquet hall, there were no spotlights, and the room was full of people. No one explicitly said that this banquet was for him, but everyone knew that he was the star of the day. There was a warm light in his eyes, and wherever he went, light seemed to follow.

He was glowing, even brighter than the rhinestone hairpins Xuezhu kept as a treasure.

She was still standing there, lost in thought.

“Xuezhu, what are you daydreaming about?”

Xuezhu snapped out of it, gently pressing her chest as she looked at the person in front of her, a bit reproachful. “You almost scared me to death, brother.”

“You don’t even know what you were thinking and you’re blaming me for scaring you?” Zhong Zihan didn’t argue with her. Instead, he lowered his head slightly and curiously examined her hairstyle. “I’ve never seen you style your hair like this before. It looks pretty good.”

Xuezhu immediately puffed out her chest with pride. “Of course! Mom spent half an hour doing it for me.”

“No wonder, no wonder. You look gorgeous,” Zhong Zihan nodded absentmindedly, not wanting to pay attention to the sudden boost in the young girl’s sense of superiority.

Xuezhu ignored him and looked around. “Where’s Sister Yueyue?”

“She’s with her boyfriend, all lovey-dovey,” Zhong Zihan replied lazily.

“Did her boyfriend come today too?”

“Yep.”

“Quick, take me to see him!” She immediately became interested.

Zhong Zihan seemed far less excited about it. The tall guy, over 1.8 meters, walked slowly like a snail, muttering, “He’s not a celebrity, why are you so excited?”

The young man in his twenties was good-looking, and his manner of speaking was much more mature than Zhong Zihan and the other guys who had just graduated from high school.

He, usually carefree, was much more refined in front of his girlfriend. He lowered his voice and gently introduced himself to Xuezhu. “Xuezhu, this is my boyfriend, Yi Zhengpeng.”

Xuezhu was amused by her sister’s overly sweet tone. She held back a laugh and greeted her boyfriend.

The young man’s voice was as serious as his appearance. “Zhengyue always tells me about her little sister, and I finally get to meet you today.”

Zhengyue proudly asked, “I didn’t lie to you, did I? Isn’t my little sister super cute?”

“She’s cute,” Yi Zhengpeng nodded. “In a few years, she’ll get even more beautiful.”

Zhengyue suddenly squinted her eyes. “Oh, so my little sister will get prettier, but what about me? When I get older, will I get uglier?”

Yi Zhengpeng finally smiled. “No. You’ve always been beautiful.”

Zhengyue laughed and playfully punched him. “You sure know how to flatter me.”

The young couple’s atmosphere was too intimate for anyone else to join in. Zhong Zihan quietly took Xuezhu away.

“What do you think of Zhengyue’s boyfriend?”

Xuezhu had no strong opinion. To her, men who were much older than her seemed pretty much the same and automatically reminded her of her dad.

“He’s alright. He talks like our math teacher.”

Zhong Zihan asked again, “How do you think he compares to Liu Chuanfeng?”

Liu Chuanfeng was Zhengyue’s number one male idol during her teenage years. She used to mention him all the time, and now that she had a boyfriend, of course, she would compare him to her former idol.

Is there any doubt about this? How could a real person compare to an anime character?

“Well, I think Liu Chuanfeng is still more handsome,” Xuezhu answered honestly.

“So, what Zhengyue used to say about never marrying anyone but Liu Chuanfeng was obviously a lie,” Zhong Zihan muttered as he summarized.

Xuezhu thought to herself that when she was younger, she had fantasized about marrying the famous “Chinese Master Chef,” so she could eat all sorts of delicious dishes every day. But now, looking back, no matter how firm she was at the time, she found it childish after just a few years.

The two of them walked for a while before they were called back to the group by Zhengyue, who had snapped out of the sweet atmosphere.

Zhengyue, who used to be the eldest sister in the group, still had that dominant presence when talking about her childhood. She began recalling stories from her past, often choosing the most embarrassing ones to share.

“Xuezhu, when she was little, used to watch ^[2]My Fair Princess (also known as Princess Pearl) is a popular Chinese television drama series based on the novel Bu Bu Jing Xin by Tong Hua. The series originally aired in 1998 and is set in the Qing … Continue readingMy Fair Princess all the time, and then insisted on playing the princess game with me. She even made Zihan dress up as a eunuch and shout ‘Your servant greets the princess!’ Looking back, it’s hilarious.”

Xuezhu was so embarrassed she could hardly stand it.

Zhengyue got more and more excited as she continued: “Oh, and when Ningning moved in, we both played eunuchs for her. Sometimes she’d want to play a foreign princess game, and I had to be the evil stepmother, while she played the princess. Zihan and Ningning would take turns being the prince, and whoever wasn’t the prince had to be the servant.”

Yi Zhengpeng couldn’t help but laugh at the funny childhood stories.

Later, Meng Yuning saw them laughing and chatting happily, and curious, he came over to listen. He didn’t expect to be hearing embarrassing childhood stories instead.

“Ningning, do you remember? When Xuezhu was little, she insisted on you playing the prince, and made you call her princess.”

Meng Yuning had been mature for a long time, so of course, he remembered.

With a smile in his eyes, he said, “Ah, I remember. But calling her ‘princess’ wasn’t formal enough. Xuezhu insisted I call her ‘Your Highness, the Princess.’“

Zhong Zihan burst into laughter instantly: “Hahaha, my God, ‘Your Highness, the Princess’? I didn’t expect Xuezhu to be so serious about it.”

“What are you laughing at?” Xuezhu growled, pretending to pounce on Zhong Zihan. “Didn’t you play as Ultraman when you were little?”

“I did, but you never saw it,” Zhong Zihan teased. “What can I say? You were the youngest.”

Meng Yuning didn’t say anything, but from the corners of his lips, Xuezhu could tell that he was probably thinking the same thing.

Her brothers and sister were all laughing at her.

Suddenly, Xuezhu felt that being the youngest wasn’t so great. Looking back, her older siblings had always been more mature than her. Back then, everyone spoiled her, but now, karma had caught up. She was the one who had the most embarrassing stories to tell.