On the way back from the Qiu family’s house, Yan Xiao sat in the back seat, counting on her fingers and calculating how many more trips like this it would take to earn enough…

“Why are you so happy today?” At a red light, Chen Zilu glanced at her niece through the rearview mirror. The little bundle in the back seat was grinning from ear to ear, and the sight filled her heart with warmth. Smiling, she asked, “You like Brother Yan that much, huh?”

“Huh?” Yan Xiao was deep in thought when her aunt’s question snapped her out of it.

Her chubby little face lost its smile for a second as she blinked in confusion, her big eyes wide and innocent. The look hit Chen Zilu right in the heart. There were still more than twenty seconds left on the red light, so she turned around and stretched her arm to pinch her niece’s cheek. “What do you mean ‘huh’? You had such a good time with Brother Yan, you’ve forgotten all about me?”

Yan Xiao was already used to her aunt randomly pinching her cheeks like she was some kind of cat — something fluffy and irresistible that had to be squished from time to time.

She didn’t dodge, just looked up and grinned. “No way! My aunt’s so pretty — how could I forget you!”

Chen Zilu was instantly charmed, her smile spreading from ear to ear. She rubbed the little face in her hand and teased, “With a sweet mouth like that, have you been sneaking candy again?”

“Nope!” Yan Xiao answered seriously. “I only had one piece!”

Chen Zilu was only teasing her. Candy rations had become a weekly routine now, and everyone around them knew how strict their family was about Yan Xiao’s sugar intake. No one would dare sneak her extra sweets — on that point, she could rest easy.

“So well-behaved,” Chen Zilu said, straightening her niece’s crooked collar. The light turned green, and she turned back around to start the car. “Then tomorrow Auntie will take you to the aquarium — as a reward. Sound good?”

She’d been busy for over half a year, and now that she finally had a few days off, she was determined to spend them properly with her little niece.

The Aquarium?

Yan Xiao had absolutely no interest in the aquarium.

But since her aunt had mentioned a reward, then…

“Auntie!” she said excitedly. “Can you take me to the Qiu family’s house again tomorrow instead?”

That way she could spend another whole day racking up negative affection points!

Through the rearview mirror, Chen Zilu gave her niece a long look — a little traitor with nothing in her head but that genius boy. She said slowly, “But Brother Yan has class with Master Lin tomorrow. Even if we go to the Qiu’s, he won’t be there.”

Yan Xiao didn’t care where Qiu Yan went. She stretched her arms toward the front passenger seat, trying to pull herself forward, but her arms were too short. After struggling for a while, she gave up and settled for clutching her seatbelt instead.

“I’m not going for Brother Yan,” she said, a little flustered. She had just been trying to think of how to convince her mom and aunt to take her to the Qiu’s again — and now her aunt had brought it up first! She was so excited she started stammering. “I-I’m going to see Qiu Li!”

“Qiu Li?” Chen Zilu raised an eyebrow.

In the mirror, her little niece nodded seriously. “Mm-hmm. I’m going to play with Qiu Li.”

Of course, Chen Zilu didn’t read too much into it. She figured it was just a kid being a kid, switching favorites on a whim. Smiling, she asked, “Why the sudden interest in playing with Qiu Li now? What did you two play today that left such an impression?”

Annoying him on purpose!

In her heart, Yan Xiao gave her aunt a silent reply but what she actually said was, “He’s good-looking too, so I want to play with him!”

Chen Zilu burst out laughing. Such a typical kid — “good-looking,” really? No one in their family was shallow like that. Where on earth did this little face-obsessed gremlin come from?

When her aunt only laughed without replying, Yan Xiao grew anxious. What if she changed her mind and ruined everything? She quickly pressed, “Auntie, is that okay? Can we go?”

“I can take you to the Qiu’s tomorrow,” said Chen Zilu, pulling up at another red light. She turned to her niece with a sly smile. “But even if we go, you won’t see Qiu Li.”

Yan Xiao’s smile disappeared instantly. She stared in disbelief. “Why not?!”

What was this — was the Qiu family going off-script and sending Qiu Li away?!

Chen Zilu was almost in tears from laughing at her niece’s wildly shifting expressions.

“Because tomorrow is Monday,” she said between chuckles. “Qiu Li has school. Of course he won’t be home…”

Just moments ago, Yan Xiao had been gleefully plotting her next move, but now that happy little fantasy popped like a bubble, shattered by the cruel weight of reality. She stared blankly at her aunt, as if the world had ended.

Chen Zilu couldn’t hold it in anymore. She took out her phone and snapped a picture of her niece in full-on shock mode, then sent it to the family group chat:

– Just told her the handsome little boy has school tomorrow and can’t play with her. Instant petrification 😂😂😂

Within seconds, the chat exploded with laughter and “Awws” and “Kisses for our precious Xiaoxiao!”

That very night, after dinner, Yan Xiao made a major decision—

She was going to preschool.

Most kids her age had already been enrolled in early education programs before they were even two—either sent to various enrichment classes or taught at home by private tutors. In this era of intense educational focus, wealthy families took it even more seriously. The Yan family was no exception—they had hired tutors too, but Yan Xiao hadn’t been very impressed.

Pretending to be a little kid all the time was already exhausting. Having to follow along with the early education curriculum, learning things meant for toddlers, didn’t exactly thrill her.

After a few sessions, Chen Ziyi and her husband realized their daughter genuinely didn’t enjoy it. Plus, she was smart—so smart, in fact, they quietly believed she might be even more brilliant than the Qiu family’s little genius. Not that they ever said it out loud.

She learned quickly on her own and loved watching educational videos on her tablet. So instead of pushing her into classes, they just tried to spend more time with her, guiding her gently to avoid sparking any early rebellion.

Even when she refused to go to preschool, they didn’t insist.

So when she suddenly announced she wanted to go, both Chen Ziyi and Yan Hao were surprised—and secretly delighted. Their daughter finally wanted to socialize with other children!

In truth, Yan Xiao had always refused preschool because… well, there were too many kids. And besides—preschool? It had “childish” right there in the name. She was practically college-bound! Why would she stoop to that?

But now the future villain-in-the-making was in preschool, and totally out of reach on normal days. That seriously hindered her mission of racking up negative affection points. If she wanted to make progress, she’d have to swallow her pride and enroll as a tiny classmate in the little kids’ group.

Chen Ziyi and Yan Hao exchanged glances, both seeing the excitement in each other’s eyes. Still, Yan Hao knelt down and asked his daughter seriously:

“Xiaoxiao, can you tell Daddy why you suddenly want to go to preschool?”

I don’t want to go at all!

Yan Xiao put on a thoughtful expression and said, “Because there are lots of kids in preschool, and I can play with them.”

In reality, she got along just fine with other children, but the one she really liked spending time with was Qiu Yan. Though “playing” mostly meant quietly sitting next to him while he drew. Her parents had once worried that hanging around Qiu Yan too much would make her turn out like him—quiet, serious, and a little too calm for her age.

So hearing her say she wanted to be around other kids again was nothing but a relief for them.

Yan Hao agreed on the spot and promised to handle the enrollment as soon as possible. With that, Yan Xiao finally relaxed. She went upstairs, snuggled under her blanket, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Meanwhile, Chen Ziyi shared the great news in the family group chat: Xiaoxiao was finally going to preschool!

When Chen Zilu came out of the shower and saw the message from her sister, she immediately burst out laughing. She held her phone, laughing for a solid sixty seconds before sending a reply.

After being @-tagged by everyone for spamming laughter, she finally composed herself and sent a voice message:

“Xiaoxiao wants to go to preschool because Qiu Li is in preschool. She just wants to go find him. Honestly, I have no idea where she gets all that sneaky cleverness from…”

The second the message landed, the group chat was instantly flooded with replies:

— She gets it from me.

— No, me!

— She takes after me!!!

— No, me! Me!

…

Thanks to the thought of soon being able to see him every day—of having daily opportunities to be seen… to rack up those negative points—Yan Xiao drifted off to sleep with a smile still on her face.

Her dreams were filled with the joy of biu biu biu—her villain points skyrocketing like fireworks.

—

At the Qiu residence, Qiu Li had just stepped out of the shower when a carton of milk hit him square in the chest.

He looked up, only to be met with Qiu Zhan’s cold smirk—more sneer than smile. And as he recalled what his cousin had done to Yan Xiao earlier that day, Qiu Li’s eyes gradually darkened.

“Drink it,” Qiu Zhan scoffed. “Isn’t milk your favorite?”

Qiu Li: “…”

He stared at Qiu Zhan, who was much taller, broader, and far stronger than he was. After a moment of silent defiance, he lowered his head, picked up the milk, and drank it slowly, one sip at a time.

When he was done, he tossed the empty carton into the trash.

Only then did Qiu Zhan turn to leave, letting out a mocking snort through his nose as he walked away.

Qiu Li was used to this. Usually, after drinking the milk, he could go straight to bed without batting an eye.

But tonight…

He lingered by the door for a long while before finally shutting it, face cold, and heading back inside to sleep.

Just as Qiu Li pulled the covers over himself, something suddenly came to mind, and he sat up straight.

Moonlight filled the room, casting a soft glow across the furniture. His eyes immediately fell on a small pink package on the desk.

He hesitated for a while before throwing off the blanket, getting out of bed, and tucking the marshmallow carefully into the innermost pocket of his backpack. Only then did he climb back under the covers and go to sleep.

…..

Every day in preschool was more or less the same. Qiu Li didn’t exactly like it, but he didn’t exactly dislike it either. Before he knew it, Friday had arrived.

That day during art class, he painted pink clouds. The teacher praised his creativity, and it made him genuinely happy.

But after class, a group of kids gathered around him, pointing and laughing, calling him an idiot. “Clouds are supposed to be white!” they jeered. Someone even accused him of trying to copy Qiu Yan—“Shameless!”

It wasn’t anything new. Things like this happened all the time. He was used to it by now. He didn’t bother arguing back—what was the point? No one ever listened to what he had to say anyway.

Still… he wasn’t happy.

At lunch, he sat alone in his usual corner, quietly eating. He told himself over and over that they were the ones who didn’t understand anything. Art was about imagination. You could paint things however you wanted. And besides, he had seen a pink cloud—his pink cloud-shaped marshmallow. They were the ones who lacked imagination.

After giving himself a long internal pep talk, Qiu Li felt a bit better and finally began eating his lunch in peace.

Then—thud.

A lunch tray landed right in front of him on his little table.

The extra little pink lunch tray scooted closer to his, clearly trying to push his tray off the table. Remembering how some of his classmates would sometimes knock over his lunch tray on purpose, Qiu Li instinctively held his own tray steady and looked up with a cold glare, ready to confront whoever was picking a fight—

Only to see Yan Xiao.

She had finally managed to sweet-talk the teacher into letting her eat in the older kids’ lunchroom next door. As soon as she set her tray down on the small table and looked up, she was met with Qiu Li’s annoyed glare—and her eyes lit up with excitement.

The system had said the future villain boss was a loner who hated having people around. So she’d come over and purposely sat next to him, invading his space just to eat together—and it worked! He was clearly irritated! What a win on her very first day at preschool!

Qiu Li’s expression froze the moment he saw who it was. His glare and frown stiffened on his face.

=^_^=

Author has something to say: Little Li Li: Ah… she’s here. I’m happy now. (#^.^#)

[Xiaoxiao Reverse Manipulation +4]