I Want Her to See Only Me - Chapter 16

“A’Yu, you don’t have to fold it so carefully.” Cen Ao waited impatiently for Xia Yu to finish folding a paper boat, “It’s fine as long as it floats.”

“Sister told me not to be hasty when I’m doing things, that I’ll have plenty of time,” Xia Yu explained earnestly, correcting her. “It’s ‘Auntie’.”

“A’Yu!” Cen Ao pouted.

“Auntie,” Xia Yu insisted.

“Miaomiao, you promised Sister.”

Besides, she also wanted her sister to call her “Auntie.”

“A’Yu!” Cen Ao refused to back down.

“Auntie.”

Cen Ao looked around, then snatched the paper boat from Xia Yu while she wasn’t looking. She lay prone on the corridor railing overlooking the pond, set the boat on the surface of the water, and splashed it away.

Although the pond was shallow and the corridor was fitted with a railing, Xia Yu didn’t dare distract Cen Ao, afraid she might startle her.

The two servants anxiously watched from the side, hands clenched in sweat.

When Cen Ao stood up, dusting off her knees, Xia Yu gently reminded her, “Auntie, don’t forget to call me ‘Auntie’.”

Cen Ao grinned toothily. “G!”

Taken aback, Xia Yu realized after a moment that Cen Ao was teasing her. She shook her head, face flushed. “Miaomiao, you should call me ‘Auntie’.”

Cen Ao, her head lowered, looked at the tiny creature a whole forehead shorter than her. “But you’re too young; it’s weird to call you aunt.”

Xia Yu lifted her gaze slightly. “I grow very fast. Look, Sister is very tall, so I’ll grow up to be very tall too, and then I won’t be small anymore.”

“I am her little sister.”

She repeated this as if saying it enough times would make it true.

“Really?” Cen Ao asked, perplexed. “Then why are you so short right now?”

“Because…I hadn’t met Sister before.”

Xia Yu’s eyes were curved in delight.

“Just like flowers need to gather their strength to bloom in spring, I spent a long time waiting for Sister.”

“So I could save my strength, so that when I met her, she could see me bloom the most beautifully.”

Dinner was fraught with trouble.

Cen Ao refused to eat onions, garlic, chili peppers, cilantro, spinach, and pork… This vexed Aunt Chen greatly.

“When she was here last time, she wasn’t so picky.” Xia Xiuyin placed some food on Xia Yu’s plate, then said to Aunt Chen, “Thank you for your trouble.”

Cen Ao poured some juice into her bowl and set out a dozen or so pieces of fruit. She beckoned Xia Yu over with a dramatic wave of her chopsticks. “Auntie, come here! Listen to my concert!”

“Back then, she wasn’t so headstrong, and we hadn’t spoiled her yet.” Xia Shulan looked rather troubled, but Xia Xiuyin wasn’t an outsider, so the situation wasn’t too awkward.

When Aunt Chen prepared dinner earlier, Xia Yu was in the guest room removing her makeup, so Aunt Chen prepared the meal according to Cen Ao’s tastes from when he’d visited last time.

“Auntie, come sit with me—I won’t charge you for a ticket.” Cen Ao waved her chopsticks. “Sit right here next to me.”

Xia Yu was cutting the sweet and sour crispy tofu into pieces with her spoon, then putting the pieces into her mouth. She looked at Cen Ao with her slightly rounded cheeks, then shook her head. Only after slowly chewing and swallowing did she say, “Miaomiao, I’m eating right now.”

Cen Ao placed her chopsticks on the table. “Auntie, do you not like me? If you like me, then you have to come to my concert.”

Xia Yu thought carefully before answering, “Miaomiao, I’ll like you after I finish eating, okay?”

Cen Ao stared, taken aback by this response.

Xia Xiuyin didn’t consciously teach her child table manners, but Xia Yu learned everything by observing her sister, so she never developed bad habits like smacking her lips or talking with her mouth full. Cen Ao drummed on the table and bowl, which certainly surprised Xia Xiuyin, but she didn’t correct the child.

In contrast, Xia Yu’s gentle coaxing of Cen Ao to eat obediently made for an incredibly adorable scene.

Xia Xiuyin still touched Xia Yu’s head, but Xia Shulan laughed heartily.

“Oh, Cen Ao, Cen Ao, finally someone who can tame you… You always act so bossy at home, even bullying your own mother!”

She also touched Cen Ao, but she reached out to pat his hair.

Cen Ao’s hair was a mess from her mother’s hands, and she couldn’t believe that her music could be less appealing than Xia Yu’s ugly tofu.

She bit on her chopstick. “Auntie, is it tasty?”

Despite being interrupted several times, Xia Yu remained unfazed, persisting in finishing the food in her mouth.

Cen Ao could only wait impatiently on the side.

Xia Shulan was gleeful at the thought of the little girl’s discomfort, paying her no heed.

“Subjective tastes are personal.” Xia Yu finally found a chance to use what she had read in her book, her young face earnest. “You have to try it yourself to know.”

Cen Ao was innocent and carefree, admittedly a bit willful and naughty, but charming nonetheless. She encouraged Xia Yu to speak more freely.

“Come on, little Miaomiao!” Xia Shulan sighed, lamented, and coaxed, carrying over two or three pieces of sweet and sour tofu.

“Life is full of trials.”

Cen Ao awkwardly took two bites, then his eyes lit up. “It’s really good!”

Taken aback, Xia Shulan laughed. “You’re such a picky eater.”

Normally, Cen Ao wouldn’t even smell this kind of food made from soybeans.

By the time Aunt Chen brought out the freshly cooked beef with pineapple, Cen Ao had already started slurping his rice. His table manners were terrible, but his youth made it almost cute.

As if racing against someone, Cen Ao exclaimed:

“Auntie, you put carrots on my plate!”

“And eggplant too!”

“Auntie, two pieces of chicken in my bowl!”

“Mommy, I think I swallowed a fish bone… Cough…”

Xia Shulan breathed a sigh of relief as Cen Ao picked a tiny fish bone out of his mouth, then playfully scolded him by poking him on the forehead. “Little rascal, you scared me to death!”

Cen Ao crossed his arms, a grain of rice dangling from his lips, and faked a cry. “Mommy’s so clumsy! Auntie picked the bones out perfectly! But Auntie, you didn’t even get a scratch!”

Seeing it was just a false alarm, Xia Xiuyin locked her phone screen again and ended the call with Li Conghao.

Beside her, Xia Yu was carefully scooping rice onto her bowl, a few grains at a time, slowly covering the tender fish meat her sister had deboned for her. Her sister had done a very thorough job, leaving no bones behind, so she didn’t have to worry about them.

Xia Yu decided she would leave the rice to eat last.

“Mother, Mother, you love her that much?” Xia Shulan sneered, also crossing her arms. “I’ll sell you my little girl to be your servant, and you can make her wake up before the chickens and sleep later than the dogs, just so she can learn the hardships of life!”

“Hmph! Sell me, then! Auntie treats me real nice!” Cen Ao immediately tried to jump out of his booster seat to dart over to Xia Xiuyin’s side, but Xia Shulan grabbed him by the collar, keeping him suspended in midair.

The mother-and-daughter duo frightened Xia Yu. She lifted her head, gripped the spoon handle tightly, and wondered, Will Miaomiao really be sold to Sister?

She’s so cute—will Sister like her? Will she like Miaomiao more than she likes A’Yu?

Xia Xiuyin was used to such antics; Xia Shulan and Cen Ao were always quarreling like this. However, as Cen Ao grew older, Xia Shulan found their bickering increasingly amusing. Yet she noticed the little girl beside her abruptly tense up; her back straightened, her knees pressed together, and she assumed a posture of high alertness and fear.

Xia Yu was scared.

Scared of what?

Xia Xiuyin’s eyes, half-closed, examined the girl, who held her breath as if even her breathing were a careful act.

Xia Yu truly was very young; the skin behind her ears was thin and translucent, her neck so slender a single hand could easily wrap around it. She sat upright in the chair, feet pressed against the ground, toes still hovering a distance above it, looking quite pitiful.

“Xiuyin, would you want a lazy and gluttonous little girl in your home?” Xia Shulan’s hand rested on the table, fingers hooked around Cen Ao’s collar. Cen Ao glared at her, his expression aggressive.

“Mommy, you’re mean! Mean Mommy! I’m not lazy and gluttonous!”

Cen Ao’s fragile ego forced him to turn to Xia Xiuyin. “Auntie! Hurry and buy me!”

Watching the two playfully bicker, Xia Xiuyin glanced at Xia Yu, whose fearful gaze fell on her. The words she had prepared to reject the offer rolled on Xia Xiuyin’s tongue before she swallowed them back down.

“Buy…you?” Xia Xiuyin’s lips curved into a faint smile, her gaze flicking toward Xia Yu, whose lashes trembled slightly and whose lips had suddenly lost color.

She paused, waiting until she saw the small girl’s resolve break before she continued lazily.

“But we have a little friend at home too, and…it has to be decided by her.”

Three pairs of eyes turned toward Xia Yu, whose face still held traces of sadness.

Among them, one pair burned passionately, teasingly, until Xia Yu’s ears slowly turned red.

Cen Ao lifted his chin confidently. “Auntie will definitely agree!”

Xia Yu’s lips parted slightly, her heels guiltily tapping on the chair’s legs. Her voice was soft, but determined. “Miaomiao, we can’t buy you.”

“Ah…why?” Cen Ao pouted, puzzled.

“Every child is a treasure…” A hint of uncertainty flashed across Xia Yu’s eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. “Treasures are invaluable.”

“And if we accidentally hurt you, your mom and dad would feel terrible… If we sold you to someone else, they’d be so sad.”

She struggled to keep her voice steady. “Miaomiao can’t make Mommy sad, right?”

“Invaluable?” Cen Ao fell backward into Xia Shulan’s arms, looking up at her with innocence in his eyes. “Mommy, am I invaluable?”

Xia Shulan hadn’t expected Xia Yu to speak such words. The tone was childish, but there was also a hint of manipulation.

She glanced at Xia Xiuyin.

She must have learned this from her.

Xia Shulan’s heart softened as she held her daughter, who leaned against her chest, her little face as fair as a dumpling. “Yes, my little ancestor,” she relented, “don’t Mommy and Daddy always call you ‘sweetie’?”

Satisfied, Cen Ao stuck to Xia Shulan like a sweet, sticky piece of candy, smacking her oily lips all over the woman’s face and neck.

Xia Shulan was at her wit’s end, but she couldn’t do anything, so she glanced at Xia Xiuyin. “Xiuyin, look at this mess you’ve made!”

Xia Xiuyin pretended not to hear, instead finding a wet wipe to clean Xia Yu’s hands.

The little girl lifted her chin slightly, waiting obediently for her mother to wipe her mouth.

Xia Xiuyin folded the paper towel and swept it across Xia Yu’s wet lips, studying her for a moment before narrowing her eyes. Then she suddenly pressed a gentle kiss to the tip of the child’s nose.

Xia Yu’s eyes widened slowly, her gaze flickering before it filled with an uncontainable delight. She reached up to cover her nose, then heard Xia Xiuyin deliberately soften her voice. “You’ll have everything that others have. Don’t be sad…”

“Hm?”

While Xia Shulan was being kissed, Xia Yu had stared at them, seemingly surprised by this kind of interaction between a mother and daughter.

A close, noisy, but smiling relationship.

“Mm…” Xia Yu’s attention returned to her sister, and she carefully studied Xia Xiuyin’s deep brown eyes, straight nose, and finally, her lips.

Thin but shaped beautifully, each curve in perfect harmony. The color was slightly glossy, soft like petals, tender and red.

These lips had just kissed her moments ago.

Xia Yu heard a “drop,” and ripples spread across the surface of her heart.

Xia Yu stepped out of the bathroom, seeing Xia Xiuyin sitting by the bed with her eyes downcast. She ran barefoot to Xia Xiuyin, her small toes tapping on the floor.

“Sister…” Her voice was unbearably sweet, carried by the steamy air.

Xia Xiuyin closed her book without a word, only glancing at Xia Yu’s feet.

How could Xia Yu not understand? She stood dumbly, her tender and fair toes wiggling uneasily.

“Sister, I’m sorry…”

Xia Xiuyin lowered her gaze slightly and bent down to pull the little girl into her arms, then sat on the edge of the bed with Xia Yu in her embrace.

Half crouching, Xia Xiuyin wiped Xia Yu’s feet with a wet towel, then carefully slipped on a pair of slippers.

Under the dim light, Xia Xiuyin’s face was difficult to make out, and she remained silent.

For some reason, Xia Yu felt her courage swell. “Sister, if…if I want to be sold to you… Would you buy me?”

Xia Xiuyin’s fingers brushed against the sole of her foot. Xia Yu stared at the small whorl at the top of her head, where her long, black hair draped down her shoulders and back, framing her delicate nape.

“Would you be willing to buy me?”

At this, Xia Xiuyin’s fingertip paused at the inside of her ankle.

This child was still struggling with this? How adorable.

“Little friend, you’re priceless. I can’t afford you.”

Warm light reflected in Xia Xiuyin’s eyes, creating specks of glimmering stars that flowed gently within the depths of her gaze.

Xia Yu felt warmth in her eyes and shook her head.

“Hm?”

“I don’t want money,” Xia Yu whispered. “Sister, can’t I give you every of me?”

Xia Xiuyin’s pupils contracted, and she licked the roof of her mouth, smiling softly. “Sure.”