The next day, Xu Youyou and the others didn’t see Liu Miaomiao even until class ended. They hurried to find Teacher Xu, only to be told that Liu Miaomiao had taken a leave of absence and probably wouldn’t be able to come to kindergarten for several days.

Their immediate thought upon hearing the news was of Liu Miaomiao falling ill, so they promptly dialed her number using their smartwatch.

The one who answered the call was Mother Liu.

In her voice, there’s an unmistakable hint of exhaustion that she couldn’t conceal. Facing the concern of several children, Mother Liu forced a smile and told them that Liu Miaomiao was indeed sick, but she was currently doing fine, asking them not to worry.

Alright, if she’s indeed sick, there’s really nothing they could do about it.

They could only hope that Liu Miaomiao would get well soon and return to kindergarten. Suddenly, with one less chatterbox, it felt a bit strange.

During another lunch break, the four children gathered back in the small classroom where they had discussed last time, which had somehow become their exclusive secret base.

These past few days, they would come there to discuss the 《Operation Defeat Bad Dad!》 plan almost every day. Teacher Xu even voluntarily helped cover up for them, and so far, no other children have noticed anything amiss.

The feeling of this secret operation was really exhilarating!

Lu Chenjun said, “The first one, speak.”

Liu Yanzhi answered, “Reporting to Captain, I didn’t see Rotten Egg yesterday. I quietly asked Grandpa Butler, the party is still proceeding as usual!”

Rotten Egg was the nickname everyone gave to Liu Yanzhi’s father because whenever they saw someone doing something big on TV, they would give the target a nickname to make it less noticeable.

Several children followed suit, ultimately adopting this nickname, which was kindly provided by Classmate Qian Xin.

After stating the outcome, Liu Yanzhi stomped the ground fiercely, wishing he could grow taller and older right away, and then give that Rotten Egg a good beating.

Yesterday, according to Xu Youyou’s plan, he found his father and tearfully complained to him. It has to be said…… this little guy Liu Yanzhi had some acting skills; he portrayed the grievances and discontent of a child vividly.

Moreover, Liu Yanzhi’s father had already heard that Lu Chenjun was an eccentric child, so he didn’t doubt Liu Yanzhi’s words even more.

But he still hoped to cling to Lu Weizheng’s thigh. After all, since ancient times, it has been common for the people not to fight with officials. Lu Weizheng’s future looked bright at the moment. Haven’t they seen how the Lu family had gone up another level because of him?

However, Lu Weizheng was often away, and Qin Yiren wasn’t easy to approach either. So he could only go through the children. There’s a bit of hope with Lu Chenjun.

Knowing that Elder Feng went to ask the Qin family to let Liu Yanzhi enter the training camp, Liu Yanzhi’s father was actually very supportive.

He even arranged for Liu Yanzhi to attend the same kindergarten as Lu Chenjun later on. Now hearing Liu Yanzhi’s grievances, even though his own child had been wronged, he only gave a few symbolic words of comfort. Making Liu Yanzhi stay away from Lu Chenjun was absolutely impossible.

It’s just that after Liu Yanzhi’s father received a call from Qin Yiren later that evening, his mindset shifted from understanding to indignation.

Women were just too emotional!

People who achieve great things wouldn’t care about such trivial matters!

However, after getting angry, Liu Yanzhi’s father quickly regained his composure. The party would proceed as planned, and Liu Yanzhi would continue his efforts.

Anyway, Qin Yiren was just a powerless woman. Her thoughts couldn’t obstruct the merging of interests.

Liu Yanzhi might be able to give him a surprise at some point.

But even if it didn’t happen, it didn’t matter, he wouldn’t lose anything.

Liu Yanzhi’s life was given by him. What’s wrong with making a small sacrifice for his father?

“I think An’an should still bide— bide what? Right, bide his time!” Xu Youyou spoke again under Xu Wenyin’s reminder. “After all, we’re still too young right now.”

In this matter, Xu Wenyin had the most right to speak.

Children face too many restrictions and it’s inconvenient to do anything they want on their own.

So in her opinion, the most important thing for Liu Yanzhi to do right now is to work hard and learn more things. Anyway, according to him, he would have shares in his family’s company as soon as he became an adult. So why not wait until then to show off his skills?

More importantly, what kind of lousy ideas were these kids coming up with?

Qian Xin even suggested beating up the ‘Rotten Egg’ so he wouldn’t dare to mistreat Liu Yanzhi in the future.

〖Xu Wenyin: ……〗

Naive! Too naive!

Was this a problem that could be solved by just one beating? It would take at least ten beatings, right? Keep beating him until he behaves!

This suggestion was also rejected by Lu Chenjun. He didn’t think that such a matter could be resolved with just one beating, let alone how they would beat him up.

On the contrary, Xiao Lu’s suggestion was better.

It’s just……

Was Xiao Lu learning idioms recently? It seemed like she was frequently using difficult phrases, where even he couldn’t understand some.

Feeling a sense of urgency to catch up, Lu Chenjun decided to read ten more pages of the idiom dictionary before bed. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing if he couldn’t understand what Xu Youyou was saying in the future!

“I know, that’s what Grandpa said too.” Liu Yanzhi nodded. “I must learn well from the instructor so I can beat Rotten Egg in the future!”

“That’s right!” Qian Xin gave Liu Yanzhi’s thin shoulder a firm pat, almost knocking him off balance. “An’an, don’t worry, I’ll help you beat him up in the future!”

“Me too, me too!” Xu Youyou raised her hand. “My mom said there’s strength in numbers. We’ll definitely succeed!”

After Xu Youyou finished speaking, both her and Qian Xin’s gazes fell squarely on Lu Chenjun, as if to say, ‘It’s your turn now’.

Lu Chenjun: “……”

“Mm, together.”

His voice sounded a bit forced.

Lu Chenjun thought he could ask that childish man how to hit someone where it hurts the most.

After all, that guy was always bragging in front of Lu Chenjun, saying he could take on a hundred people all at the same time.

Lu Chenjun didn’t notice at all that his thoughts had been led astray at some point.

Clearly, he had previously thought that violence wouldn’t solve anything!

However, for someone as precocious as him, perhaps this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

On Saturday, Liu Yanzhi’s birthday party went ahead as planned, with only Qian Xin’s family attending. Liu Miaomiao was still absent, and her health status was unknown.

Xu Youyou wasn’t originally on Liu Yanzhi’s father’s invitation list, so it didn’t matter that she didn’t attend.

The kids had already agreed that once Liu Miaomiao returned, they would all celebrate Liu Yanzhi’s birthday together.

They had even prepared gifts in advance.

“Let me tell you.”

Seeing the others again on Monday, Qian Xin couldn’t resist the urge to vent, and he blurted out a bunch of complaints.

If it wasn’t Sunday yesterday, he probably would have stormed over to Xu Youyou and Lu Chenjun’s house!

“Stinky Egg is so bad! He kept making An’an greet people, not even letting him rest!”

Qian Xin’s family had also hosted similar parties a few times.

Every time, Qian Xin just needed to show his face along with his parents in front of acquaintances, and then his mother would let him go play or head upstairs to rest and eat something.

After all, these parties typically last for at least two hours. It’s fine for adults, but it’s not reasonable to expect children to keep standing while greeting people and so on without rest.

And they didn’t even consider how young Liu Yanzhi was!

Fortunately, Mother Qian also noticed it and took the initiative to tell Liu Yanzhi’s father to let the child take Qian Xin to play for a while, otherwise her family’s little troublemaker would be bored to death.

Naturally, Liu Yanzhi’s father wouldn’t offend the Qian family for such a trivial matter, so Liu Yanzhi had some time to rest.

“I’m fine.” Liu Yanzhi smiled. “After all, it’s my birthday.”

Did he feel upset at that time?

Super upset!

But Liu Yanzhi didn’t want his friends to get angry because of it.

And besides, didn’t Qian Xin come to his rescue later?

At that moment, Liu Yanzhi suddenly understood his mother’s wish for him.

Even though his father treated him poorly and those people indirectly caused his mother’s death, besides seeking revenge, he also had caring friends.

Seeing Xu Youyou’s distressed expression, Liu Yanzhi smiled instead.

It turned out that having friends feels really good!

“By the way, why hasn’t Miaomiao come back yet?” Liu Yanzhi didn’t want to dwell on the topic any longer, so he quickly shifted the focus of the conversation to Liu Miaomiao.

Not counting the weekend, she hadn’t been to kindergarten for three days already.

Was Miaomiao’s illness so serious?

But when they called before, it was Mother Liu who answered. Even if the children knew where Liu Miaomiao lived, they couldn’t just barge in there, right?

Just when they were feeling torn, Lu Chenjun suggested asking Mother Liu first. If she agreed, they could go visit Liu Miaomiao together after school in the afternoon.

“Oh, it’s been so many days already. It’s fine, come over, come over. It’s great if you want to come and see Miaomiao. Aunt thanks you all for caring about Miaomiao.” Mother Liu’s voice was hoarse, but the meaning behind her words indicated that she agreed to let the children come over.

So, as soon as school ended in the afternoon, the four children hopped into Qian Xin’s family car.

As for Qin Yiren and Xu Wenyin, they naturally didn’t stop the children’s actions. After giving a few reminders, they watched the children leave.

I hope the little girl’s illness isn’t serious.

Qin Yiren silently sent her blessings. Her heart had softened a lot after becoming a mother.

———pr

At a familiar villa, they saw the familiar Mother Liu.

However, this time, even the heavy makeup couldn’t conceal the dark circles under Mother Liu’s eyes in front of the children, who had always seen her as elegant and refined.

Xu Wenyin, who came inside Xu Youyou’s mind as soon as she could, wanted to comment, How many days have you not slept?

She had read in a book that humans would die if they didn’t sleep for a long time!

“Miaomiao is upstairs.”

Mother Liu forced a smile. “I’m glad you came to see her. Right now, I’m really, really…… sorry.”

“Miaomiao won’t let us in. Maybe, you guys……” Mother Liu said a few words as she led them upstairs, but they were disjointed, leaving the children somewhat puzzled.

They exchanged glances, clearly noticing that the atmosphere in the entire Liu family’s villa was off.

It felt extremely stifling, extremely…… anyway, it’s very uncomfortable.

They walked quietly, afraid to make any noise.

And when they reached Liu Miaomiao’s room, they were even more shocked by the sight before them.

The once beautiful princess room was now completely destroyed. Liu Miaomiao’s beloved dolls were strewn about on the floor by the door, and the dreamy decorations and other items were unrecognizable.

Has this place been hit by a typhoon?

“Miaomiao, Youyou and the others are here to see you.” Mother Liu’s voice sounded somewhat cautious.

Everyone followed her gaze and saw Liu Miaomiao.

She was sitting at the edge of the princess bed, hugging a doll and staring into space.

Liu Miaomiao’s big eyes were swollen like walnuts, indicating she had been crying for a long time.

She seemed to have lost weight, and when she saw Xu Youyou and the others, her reaction was slow, only turning her head slightly.

But at least she didn’t smash things to prevent them from entering like before.

Mother Liu cautiously took a step back, not daring to upset Liu Miaomiao at this moment.

“Miaomiao?”

Xu Youyou broke the silence.

She took off her shoes and climbed onto the bed, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Thinking back to when they first went to the training camp, Xu Youyou could bear to ignore the crying Liu Miaomiao.

But after half a year of getting along, they had become friends. Xu Youyou couldn’t just ignore Liu Miaomiao like before.

Under Xu Wenyin’s guidance, Xu Youyou had only retracted her extra kindness compared to an average person, but fundamentally, she was still a kind child.

Now, with her friend looking like this, Xu Youyou turned to Lu Chenjun for help with a pleading look.

Juanjuan is so smart, he must know what to do, right?

Lu Chenjun: “……”

He looked at Qian Xin and Liu Yanzhi.

The two who were singled out both stiffened, their faces showing similar troubled expressions.

They don’t know how to comfort people either!

In the end, Xu Youyou reached out and hugged Liu Miaomiao, gently patting her back as she spoke, “Miaomiao, don’t cry! Miaomiao is the best~ Miaomiao is the bravest~”

This was the way Grandma Wu comforted children at the orphanage. Xu Youyou could only copy it at this time.

In Xu Youyou’s mind, Xu Wenyin couldn’t help but click her tongue softly.

What’s going on with the Liu family? Can’t they even take care of a child properly?

She doesn’t like Liu Miaomiao, but she wouldn’t intentionally bully her either.

That’s why Xu Wenyin never stopped Xu Youyou from being friends with Liu Miaomiao.

“Waaah!!!”

Perhaps upon seeing her friends, Liu Miaomiao finally found a place to vent all the grievances in her heart.

“Waaah, Y-youyou! G-grandma lied to Miaomiao! Bad! They’re all bad!”

The whole room was filled with Liu Miaomiao’s heart-wrenching sobs.

But this time, no one minded her crying, because they could tell that Liu Miaomiao was utterly devastated.

How did this come about?

That night, under Mother Liu’s serious gaze, Liu Miaomiao roughly recounted the words her grandmother had told her.

For example, “Girls don’t need to study, they just need to marry a good man.”

Another example she recalled was, “Anyone who makes Miaomiao angry is a bad person. Bad people should be hit, and even if you hit them, don’t be afraid, your Mom and Dad will protect you.”

Then Liu Miaomiao’s voice became lower and lower as she saw her mother’s expression getting worse.

But Mother Liu didn’t show her anger in front of the child. She simply suppressed her rage and told Liu Miaomiao to go to sleep first. She wouldn’t be sleeping with her that night.

After Mother Liu left, Liu Miaomiao found herself unable to fall asleep.

Children were sensitive; adults might think they were hiding things well, but in reality, they had long been discovered.

Unable to sleep, Liu Miaomiao opened the door while hugging a doll in her arms, intending to go find her grandmother.

Just as she reached the third floor, she heard Mother Liu’s sharp roar.

“What have I done to deserve this from you? Are you intent on ruining Miaomiao?!”

“What?! Speak up!”

Liu Miaomiao had never heard her mother speak so loudly before.

She hugged the doll tightly, fear gripping her heart, but her feet remained rooted to the spot, unable to move.

Then, there was her grandmother’s voice.

It was equally loud, so loud that Liu Miaomiao could hear every word clearly.

“Wouldn’t it be good if you had a son a long time ago? She’s just a girl!”

“She’s going to marry someone in the future! It’s the Liu family’s money! Why should it go to outsiders?!”

Mother and Father Liu were college classmates, both coming from ordinary families, especially Father Liu, whose family conditions were even more average.

He had an elder brother, an elder sister, and two younger brothers. There were more of them so they struggled more financially.

But fortunately, Father Liu was ambitious and studious from a young age.

He managed to get into a good university, where he met Mother Liu.

After graduating, the couple started a business together, coinciding with the peak of the real estate boom.

Father Liu had a keen eye, while Mother Liu was meticulous.

Through their hard work, the couple managed to establish a considerable fortune in the capital.

However, this delayed the couple’s plan to have children.

Entrepreneurship was never easy; burning the midnight oil was a common occurrence, and Mother Liu even suffered a miscarriage halfway through.

It wasn’t until the company finally stabilized that Mother Liu had the time and energy to focus on her health and gradually prepare for pregnancy.

At the age of thirty-five, which was considered advanced maternal age, Mother Liu gave birth to Liu Miaomiao.

During the delivery, there’s a moment when Mother Liu nearly suffers from severe bleeding, causing Father Liu’s hair to turn white overnight.

Once the mother and daughter’s condition stabilized, he promptly underwent a vasectomy and declared that they would only have Liu Miaomiao as their child, and all their assets would be passed down to her.

How could Grandma Liu agree?

Why should a girl like Liu Miaomiao inherit the Liu family’s wealth? It’s fortunate enough if she receives a dowry!

But now that her son was grown, she couldn’t control him anymore. Her several previous attempts to push for more children had already made Grandma Liu aware of her son’s stubbornness.

The key point now was that Father Liu had already undergone a vasectomy. No matter what Grandma Liu said, it was already too late.

But despite Grandma Liu being just an old rural woman, she was quite shrewd.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to raise five children on her own after Grandpa Liu passed away early.

With her son being unreliable, she had no choice but to focus her efforts on her granddaughter.

If Liu Miaomiao couldn’t handle significant responsibilities, then no matter what, Father Liu couldn’t hand over the company to a frivolous girl, right?

He had so many nephews, like Haohao from the eldest son’s family, and Xuanxuan from the fourth son’s family, which one wasn’t smart and clever?

Of course, the things belonging to the Liu family must be given to the members of the Liu family!

So, after Liu Miaomiao was born, Grandma Liu changed her previous attitude and doted on her granddaughter immensely.

Almost to the point of giving whatever she wanted. Grandma Liu would fiercely oppose any attempt by Father Liu to discipline the child.

Father and Mother Liu didn’t think much of it. They wouldn’t imagine Grandma Liu in such a negative light. They simply thought it was normal for grandparents to dote more on their beloved grandchildren.

Moreover, the Liu couple were usually very busy, so Liu Miaomiao was mostly taken care of by the nanny and Grandma Liu. They never noticed any issues.

After all, the parents themselves doted on their only child a lot.

But who could have known?! Who could have known?!

If it weren’t for the last shred of reason left in Mother Liu, coupled with Father Liu’s desperate attempt to stop her, she would have been tempted to tear the old poisonous woman apart with her bare hands!

“Mom……”

Father Liu also never imagined that his mother would do such a thing. His heart was undoubtedly in agony at this moment.

“You should go back to our hometown. I’ll send you money every month, but we won’t be coming back. You should live well with Eldest Brother.”

As soon as the exhausted Father Liu finished speaking, he heard Grandma Liu’s cursing.

Each word was more vicious than the last, as if the person she was cursing wasn’t her son, but a mortal enemy.

In Grandma Liu’s view, Father Liu’s actions were simply outrageous, a betrayal of filial piety that would earn him the scorn of countless people. All for the sake of a little girl who would eventually marry off, he was willing to forsake his own mother?

What a sin!!!

The key was that she had lived in a big villa for several years, accustomed to being waited on. This time, she returned to her hometown for only a week, but how could she bear to live permanently in that old house?!

And then there’s the wife of her eldest son who’s a shrew!

She would argue back at Grandma Liu and even get into physical fights with her, completely different from Mother Liu, who has a university education. If Grandma Liu were to return to her hometown, she’d be tormented to death by that b*tch!

No! Absolutely not!

Just then, Grandma Liu’s gaze suddenly landed on the crack of the door, and saw Liu Miaomiao by the staircase.

Her anger seemed to find an outlet.

“You disaster! I should have killed you when you were born!”

“Go die, die!!!”

Even though Mother Liu quickly scooped up Liu Miaomiao and took her away, Liu MIaomiao still saw the fierce expression on her usually loving grandmother’s face and heard the curses that wished for her immediate demise.

Liu Miaomiao, who hadn’t even yet reached the age of four, completely froze.

Why was her grandmother like this?

Did she do something wrong?

“Miaomiao! Miaomiao! It’s okay, it’s okay, Mom’s here, Mom’s here! Don’t listen, don’t listen!”

Mother Liu’s voice seemed to be right beside her and yet also very far away.

That night, Liu Miaomiao developed a high fever.

When Xuyuyou and the others first called, Liu Miaomiao had just recovered from her fever, and Mother Liu was too exhausted to deal with anything else, so she casually responded. Who would have known……

After finally recovering from the fever, Liu Miaomiao locked herself in her room and refused to see anyone.

Only the nanny who had taken care of her since young could enter and feed her some food. When Mother Liu was at a loss for what to do, the appearance of Xuyuyou and the others gave her a glimmer of hope.

“Don’t cry, Miaomiao. If your grandma lied to you, then we won’t play with her anymore. We’ll only play together!”

“Yeah, yeah. Miaomiao, look at how my father isn’t good to me either. But having you guys is enough for me!”

Liu Miaomiao’s cries gradually subsided under the comfort of her friends.

Upon closer inspection, they noticed that she had already fallen asleep.

This incident had a significant impact on Liu Miaomiao. Mother Liu wasn’t only worried about her physical health but also her mental well-being.

Now that she saw Liu Miaomiao finally fall asleep after crying loudly, her tense nerves also relaxed a bit.

However, Liu Miaomiao still couldn’t go to kindergarten yet. Mother Liu could only sincerely ask Xu Youyou and the others if they could come and visit Liu Miaomiao more often.

It was a mother’s humble request.

Of course, Xu Youyou and the others wouldn’t refuse. After all, she’s their friend!

But they were still puzzled. Why was Miaomiao so sad? What did Grandma Liu lie to her about?

Mother Liu knew that their family’s dirty linen shouldn’t be made public, but for the sake of her daughter, she didn’t care anymore.

She tried her best to explain to the children in simple terms.

Basically, Grandma Liu intentionally taught Liu Miaomiao some very bad things, hoping to make Liu Miaomiao bad and then take over Father Liu’s company and money.

“So bad!” Qian Xin couldn’t help clenching his fists!

How could she intentionally teach people bad things? She’s even Liu Miaomiao’s own grandmother!

The children all knew how much Liu Miaomiao trusted her grandmother. Many of the things Liu Miaomiao blurted out were taught by Grandma Liu, and now this!

Even Lu Chenjun couldn’t help but furrow his brow. How could there be such a person in this world?

It seemed like there wasn’t much they could do today. Mother Liu wanted to invite the children to stay for dinner, but they all declined.

Considering the chaotic situation at home, how Father Liu had to deal with company matters while worrying about his wife and daughter who had lost nearly ten pounds in just a few days, and how Mother Liu herself wasn’t in good shape, she didn’t insist on keeping the children.

But she would remember these children’s kindness to her Miaomiao! She would definitely find an opportunity to repay them in the future!

On the way back, Xu Youyou and the others remained silent. What they’d seen and heard today had a slight impact on their worldviews.

They originally thought that Liu Yanzhi’s father was already very bad.

They didn’t expect Grandma Liu to be even worse!

If it were themselves and the elder they trusted the most turned out to be such a person, they would probably be even sadder than Liu Miaomiao, right?

There was silence all the way home, and Xu Youyou and Lu Chenjun parted ways at the doorstep.

“Meow~”

As soon as the door opened, Niannian happily rushed over and circled around Xu Youyou’s feet with its tail wagging, clearly delighted to see its little owner.

After nearly a month of care, the kitten no longer showed any signs of its previous ragged appearance from its days as a stray. It ate well, slept soundly, and its weight was steadily increasing.

Qin Yiren occasionally treated it to some premium canned food, giving Niannian a glossy coat, and one could say that the cat had reached the pinnacle of cat life.

But Xu Youyou wasn’t in the mood to enjoy the company of the cat right now.

She simply squatted down and gently stroked Nianbian’s head, then, with great confusion, she asked in her mind, “Mom, Youyou don’t understand.”

“Why are An’an’s dad and Miaomiao’s grandma so bad?”

Even Grandma Wu, who had no blood relation to them, worked so hard to take care of every child in the orphanage, but why……

Xu Youyou couldn’t understand. Right now, she felt lost.

As Xu Wenyin had been observing the whole time, she naturally knew the ins and outs of the matter.

Faced with Xu Youyou’s doubts and confusion, she suddenly spoke in a cheerful voice, 〖Ding, ding, ding, Xiao Youyou’s class is starting!〗

〖Question time! Student Xu Youyou, in light of what happened with Miaomiao and An’an, what have you come to understand? Please share at least three thoughts!〗

〖Three-minute time limit starts— now!〗

Xu Youyou was dumbfounded. “Huh?”

How did it suddenly turn into a class?