Chapter 3: Six Years Old – Playing House

Xuezhu didn’t expect to be exposed so quickly. She hurried to explain, her words stumbling over each other in her panic, “Yes, but I didn’t mean to stick them there. Grandpa said they looked nice, so I put them up.”

“They do look nice,” he said.

Meng Yuning took the bubble gum, peeled off the wrapper, popped the gum into his mouth, and handed the sticker back to her.

Seeing that he wasn’t upset, Xuezhu finally relaxed.

Since Uncle Meng didn’t like them on the door, this time she stuck the sticker onto her left hand instead. She pressed it down firmly with her right hand, making sure it was stuck on tight.

Applying stickers took skill, and Xuezhu was an expert. Press, pat, rub—only then would the sticker be perfectly smooth and neat.

After finishing, she asked, “Does it look nice on my hand?”

Meng Yuning looked at the colorful sticker on her small, fair hand. He hesitated for a moment, then saw the anticipation shining in her bright eyes.

A faint smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes curved slightly. “It looks nice.”

Xuezhu’s eyes sparkled even more.

A few days later, Xuezhu ran around the neighborhood in short sleeves, proudly showing off both arms covered in stickers—her little “tattoo sleeves.”

The kids in the neighborhood stared in awe at this artistic masterpiece, showering her with genuine admiration.

So cool! So awesome! So badass!

That evening, when Song Yanping came home from work, her furious voice rang through the neighborhood, loud enough for all the neighbors to hear through the walls.

“Old Pei! Pei Lianyi! Are you even paying attention to your daughter?!”

“Look at what she’s done to her arms! Stickers all over the place—her whole arm is covered in a mess! Do you know your daughter looks like she’s trying to join a gang?!”

Song Yanping was a strong-willed, independent woman determined to raise her daughter into a graceful young lady. She had enrolled Xuezhu in piano lessons and spent a fortune on a piano, making sure she practiced every day.

Now, seeing her daughter looking like a little delinquent, her composure completely shattered.

The fate of the “tattoo sleeves” was sealed—Xuezhu was dragged to the sink and scrubbed under the faucet until her arms turned red. Only then was her “artwork” washed away.

—

After being vacant for a year, the house of Old Master Meng was moved into by his son and grandson. One evening, after dinner, Song Yanping casually mentioned to her friends while they were out playing cards, and within a week, the entire neighborhood knew about it.

Xuezhu also played her part as the neighborhood’s little gossip, immediately running up and down the stairs to tell her friends, who she was close to, that she had new neighbors as soon as Meng Yuning moved in.

“Sister Yueyue! Brother Zihan! I have a new neighbor! A new brother moved in across from my house!”

Her best friends, He Zhengyue and Zhong Zihan, were thrilled.

He Zhengyue, as the eldest sister, welcomed any younger siblings she could boss around.

Meanwhile, Zhong Zihan, the only boy in their little group, was always caught between He Zhengyue and Xuezhu—either being ordered around by his big sister or used as a horse by his little sister.

Now, finally, another boy had arrived to share his burden. With that, the small group, despite their wide age gap, quickly accepted their new member.

As the new school year approached, the children desperately tried to hold onto the last days of August.

At around eight o’clock in the evening, the sky was scattered with silvery-white stars, twinkling and falling, yet never outshining the gentle glow of the moon.

No matter how many times their parents called them home to bathe and sleep, the children remained tireless, running under the streetlights, shouting and playing without a care.

Just as kids had their post-dinner entertainment, so did the adults.

In the small, crowded mahjong parlor, the sound of tiles shuffling was just as loud as the children’s laughter outside.

Song Yanping was already one tile away from winning, watching her hand intently, waiting for the God of Fortune to bless her.

“Ningning and his dad have been living here for a while now, but why haven’t we ever seen his mom?”

When a group of women sat around chatting, their favorite topic was always the neighbors who weren’t present.

Without looking up from her tiles, Song Yanping answered, “They divorced.”

“Oh, that explains it.” The woman nodded without surprise, then asked, “How did it happen?”

“Ningning’s dad didn’t tell me,” Song Yanping said, drawing a tile she didn’t want. Disappointed, she tossed it out. “Three of circles.”

“Got it. Pong.” Her friend picked up the tile, rubbing her chin as she considered her next move. “Your little Xuezhu seems to get along well with Ningning.”

“Xuezhu really likes Ningning’s grandpa,” Song Yanping replied with a smile. “Ningning has the same quiet personality as his grandfather, unlike Yueyue and Zihan—they’re always so rowdy.”

Her friend chuckled. “What kid isn’t? At least your Xuezhu listens better than mine. I’ve yelled myself hoarse, and mine is still running wild outside.”

Song Yanping smirked. “Mine’s just going wild in someone else’s house. If I don’t go pick her up from the Old He’s later, she probably won’t come home at all tonight.”

A mother knows her daughter best—and she was absolutely right.

Xuezhu was about to start first grade, free from the burden of summer homework. Coincidentally, He Zhengyue was starting high school—also with no homework.

Put two kids with no assignments together, and you can imagine the chaos.

They played together all day, and when night fell, Xuezhu still refused to go home.

She just thought He Zhengyue’s house was a hundred times more fun than her own.

It wasn’t just because her sister’s room was covered with posters of cute cartoon characters.

Even though they both loved watching cartoons, Xuezhu preferred shows where the characters had short arms and short legs, while her sister liked ones with long-limbed protagonists whose giant eyes took up half their faces—eyes so shiny they could outshine a light bulb.

If someone in real life looked like that, they’d probably scare people to death.

He Zhengyue didn’t just love these beautifully drawn characters—she could draw them herself. Xuezhu thought that if she could turn in one of her sister’s drawings as her art assignment, she’d definitely get a perfect score.

Under Xuezhu’s watchful eyes, He Zhengyue once again professed her love to ^[1]Rukawa Kaede is a character from the popular manga and anime series Slam Dunk, created by Takehiko Inoue. He is one of the main characters and a highly skilled basketball player, known for his cool, … Continue readingRukawa Kaede on the TV screen for the countless time.

This Slam Dunk VCD box set, spanning 100 episodes, had cost over a hundred yuan. He Zhengyue had watched every second of it without missing a single frame.

Unfortunately, even after reaching the final episode, there was still no national championship match. Determined, He Zhengyue decided to save up her money so she could buy the second season when it was released.

Uncle He walked by and said he wanted to watch the news. Reluctantly, He Zhengyue turned off the VCD and took Xuezhu back to her room to play.

She collapsed onto her bed, unwilling to move. Xuezhu tugged at her hand and said she wanted to play a game.

“What do you want to play?” He Zhengyue asked weakly.

“I want to play house,” Xuezhu said.

Finding it childish, He Zhengyue deliberately teased her, “Then I’ll be the mom, and you be the dad.”

As expected, Xuezhu refused. “I don’t want to play a boy. I want to be the mom.”

He Zhengyue smirked triumphantly and seriously argued, “No way, I don’t want to play a boy either. Guess we can’t play, then.”

Xuezhu, though young, was quick with her excuses. “But you’re taller, so you should be the dad.”

“That’s not fair,” He Zhengyue protested. “Of course I’m taller—I’m older than you.”

The sisters immediately started arguing over the roles. Their voices grew so loud that Uncle He knocked on the door, asking what was going on.

In perfect sync, they both replied, “Nothing.”

The moment he walked away, they resumed their argument.

“If you don’t want to be the dad, and I don’t want to be the dad, then we can’t play,” He Zhengyue said with an exaggerated sigh. “How about I teach you how to do the ‘In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!’ pose instead?”

But to her surprise, Xuezhu was stubborn. She had made up her mind—she was playing house no matter what.

“Then I’ll go find a boy to play the dad!”

“Wait!”

Too late—before He Zhengyue could stop her, Xuezhu had already dashed out of the room, her tiny legs moving as fast as they could.

Before long, two boys who had been peacefully watching TV were dragged into He Zhengyue’s room.

Both were much older than Xuezhu, and they tended to humor her when they played together. Compared to bickering with kids their own age, Xuezhu preferred this kind of attention—being pampered by her older siblings.

The two boys had no idea why they’d been summoned.

Then, Old Pei began assigning roles.

“I’ll be the mom, Yueyue will be the daughter.” She then turned to the two boys. “Brother Zihan, you’ve always played the dad before, so this time you’ll be the son. Brother Ningning, you’ll be the dad.”

Had they known it was just to play house, they would’ve stayed home and continued watching TV.

That was the only thought in the two boys minds.

—

By the time it was almost ten o’clock, Song Yanping finally finished her mahjong game and came to pick up Xuezhu.

It was Old He who opened the door.

“Is Xiao Zhu still playing?”

“She is,” Old He replied. “Zihan and Ningning are here too. I just cut up a watermelon—come have some.”

Song Yanping shook her head. “No thanks, it’s already ten. I need to take Xuezhu home to sleep.”

After saying that, she headed toward He Zhengyue’s room.

“Let them finish playing first,” Old He said with a laugh, stopping her. “They’re acting out a scene right now. If you walk in, it’ll be awkward.”

Song Yanping was confused for a couple of seconds before she sighed and laughed along.

“These little rascals.”

Without disturbing the children inside, Old He quietly cracked the door open. Three parents peeked in sneakily.

Inside, the kids were fully immersed in their play.

The tiny room, with its makeshift props, had transformed into an imaginary world—

A world where they reenacted the lives of adults.

The grown-ups found it amusing but also endearing.

They watched as the youngest, Xuezhu, played the role of the mom. She woke up her husband and children, made them breakfast, and sent them off to work and school. Then, as a housewife, she went out to buy groceries—at which point the husband and children quickly switched roles, pretending to be vendors at the market, bargaining with her.

The kids’ self-directed performance was surprisingly detailed—so much so that it felt a little too real.

When the family went shopping at the mall, He Zhengyue arranged all her little trinkets in a neat row, pretending they were part of a dazzling display of goods.

She wanted to buy a new dress.

Zhong Zihan wanted to buy a new ^[2]Gundam model refers to a model kit of a Gundam, which is a popular series of mecha (giant robots) from the Japanese anime franchise Mobile Suit Gundam. These models are usually made from plastic and … Continue readingGundam model.

But Xuezhu, with a stern face, refused. “You want to buy everything you see? No way!”

He Zhengyue was so impressed by Xuezhu’s acting that she exclaimed, “This is exactly like my mom!”

Xuezhu snapped out of character instantly, looking surprised. “Really? My mom is like this too!”

Outside the door, Auntie He and Song Yanping looked slightly embarrassed.

Old He was struggling to hold back his laughter.

Zhong Zihan, quick-witted as always, knew that in most families, the dad was usually easier to convince than the mom. So, he bit the bullet, turned to Meng Yuning—who was his age—and called out, “Dad, buy it for me!”

Xuezhu immediately retorted, “Your dad only earns so much money each month, and you still want to waste it on random things? So irresponsible!”

Meng Yuning: “……”