Chapter 18 The Genius High School Student's Father
Once a child's curiosity is piqued, they won't give up until they get the answer; it's endless.
Pei Yiyan and Meng Zhiyao tried to coax her in turn, but to no avail. She tried all kinds of yogurt and pure milk, but she still kept her eyes fixed on her father's little plot of land.
Pei Yiyan, who had little patience, wore a long face and didn't want to talk to Xixi anymore.
Xi Xi was still upset, feeling that her father was being stingy. All she wanted was a sip of milk. Babies grow up drinking milk, and she was a baby too.
The little ginseng spirit has a blurred sense of gender, and the father and daughter end up communicating in a completely incomprehensible way, which infuriates them both.
The father and daughter had a quarrel on the street. Xixi turned her back to her father angrily, her chubby cheeks jiggling, her pink lips pouting, looking like she had been abandoned by a scumbag. She was holding back her grievances and refused to shed a tear, looking extremely pitiful.
Meng Zhiyao was sandwiched between the father and daughter, glancing at the child one moment and then at Pei Yiyan the next.
Do they argue like this at home too?
The first time I saw Pei Yiyan, I was so angry I was speechless, which was quite interesting.
While letting her thoughts wander, Meng Zhi took over the responsibility of soothing the baby. Three years old is the age when gender awareness begins to emerge, and since Xi Xi is a girl, it's more convenient for her, as the mother, to guide her on certain things.
Meng Zhiyao squatted down, tapped her daughter's little nose, and put her arm around her shoulder: "Xixi, Daddy is a boy, and he was born without breast milk. It's not that I'm being stingy and unwilling to feed you."
Xi Xi has her own set of standards for her parents, a blatant double standard.
She is willing to put aside her temper and communicate with her mother in a gentle and kind manner.
Xi Xi asked in confusion, "Daddy doesn't have breast milk? Then... then why are Daddy's breasts big and soft?"
Wasn't it the breast milk that stretched them?
Meng Zhi shook her head: "Although she agreed, it's not good to speak the truth."
She shivered from the low air pressure around her.
Pei Yiyan's head throbbed with pain, and he was filled with resentment. So what if he liked working out? A man with big breasts didn't offend anyone!
Meng Zhiyao quickly corrected, "This has nothing to do with breast size. No matter how big a boy's breasts are, they won't produce milk. They're just an organ in the human body."
“Only mothers who have gone through ten months of pregnancy and given birth will have breast milk.” To prevent the girl from having any designs on her, Meng Zhiyao spoke faster, “I didn’t give birth to you myself, so I don’t have breast milk to feed you.”
"Xixi, do you understand now?"
Xi Xi processed what her mother said in her mind, her little brows gradually relaxed, and she nodded as if she understood.
"I understand now, Daddy's boobs are just decorations, they're not useful." The little dumpling gave Pei Yiyan a reproachful look. "Daddy, you almost misled Xixi and made her look foolish."
Still not quite there?
Hasn't this already become a laughing stock?
His face had long been disgraced by that three-headed little brat.
Pei Yiyan closed his eyes: "Go home!"
In the week following New Year's Day, kindergartens gradually began their winter break, and the park became even more lively. Every day when I passed by the park, I could hear laughter and cheerful voices from inside.
The Spring Festival is coming early this year, with Lunar New Year's Eve at the end of January. The new year is just around the corner.
Zhou Yi received more and more phone calls, and Pei Yiyan knew without guessing that the calls were from Beijing, urging her to return to Beijing for the New Year.
Another time, Zhou Yi went to her room to answer a phone call during a meal. When she came out again, the food had gone cold.
"Go back now," Pei Yiyan said.
Zhou Yi was stunned.
“Go back to Beijing,” Pei Yiyan said coldly. “You’ve stayed here long enough.”
Zhou Yi's hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly as she asked, "Are you trying to get rid of me? Don't you want your mother anymore?"
"It's almost Chinese New Year. Are you going to wait for them to come knocking on your door to demand your return?" Pei Yiyan's expression was cold, his eyes ruthless. "I will not hesitate to kick them all out. If you don't care, then you can stay as you please."
Pei Yiyan is a man of his word, and he always keeps his promises.
Yes! This is what it was like before I had a baby.
Now, his tolerance has been pushed to an unprecedented level by the little brat, and all he's left is his mouth still stubborn.
Xi Xi held her rice bowl, trying to keep a low profile, and listened intently to any sounds, her big eyes sparkling.
Zhou Yi: "Xiao Yan, shall the three of us go home together for the New Year?"
Without a second thought, Pei Yiyan said, "That's your home, not mine." He glanced at the silly little dumpling out of the corner of his eye. "My home is here."
Zhou Yi looked down in disappointment; this child's heart was harder to warm than she had imagined.
Since Zhou Yi had taken the initiative to start the conversation, Pei Yiyan decided to take the opportunity to make things clear all at once.
“I acknowledge you as my mother. When you get old or sick, I am willing to take on the responsibilities of a child. But if you want me to integrate into your other family, I'm sorry, I can't do that.”
Pei Yiyan: "I have no interest in joining anyone else, so don't waste your time."
His attitude was firm, and his words clearly told Xiang Zhouyi that it was impossible, which was disappointing in a straightforward way.
The mother and son finished their meal in silence. Pei Yiyan went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, while Xixi stayed with Zhou Yi on the sofa in the living room to watch a variety show.
The little one keeps in mind the respect for elders and care for the young that her father, Shuling, taught her. She never fights with her grandmother, Zhou Yi, over watching TV, nor does she throw a tantrum at her grandmother because she doesn't want to do math.
Yes, Zhou Yi usually teaches Xixi some simple arithmetic and character recognition to lay a good foundation for her schooling.
Nowadays, kids can be just as good as adults when they roll their hair up. Children in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou can speak fluent and authentic foreign languages, are proficient in various musical instruments, and can easily master classical Chinese poetry and calculus.
Zhou Yi intends to cultivate her granddaughter in this direction, so she takes time every day to give Xixi lessons.
The little girl had a unique milky scent, like a mixture of milk and fresh grass and wood fragrance. Every time Zhou Yi hugged her, he would feel so comfortable that he would drift off to sleep.
The weather in Beijing is dry, and she thought her body would have adapted after ten years there. But when she returned to Baicao County, not only did her sleep quality improve, but her skin also became hydrated, smooth, and firm. It was more worthwhile than spending tens of thousands of yuan on a project.
Zhou Yi really didn't want to leave.
"Grandma, are you leaving?"
The soft, sweet voice was pleasant to hear. Zhou Yi opened her eyes again and stroked Xi Xi's hair: "Yes, it's almost Chinese New Year, we have to go back home for a family reunion."
"Oh." The little ginseng spirit, who had never experienced the Chinese New Year, was not interested in it.
Her almond-shaped eyes curved into crescents, and her small, white teeth gleamed: "Xixi has a gift for you, Grandma, please hold out your hand."
Zhou Yiyi reached out her hand and placed a warm ginseng root in her palm.
"Grandma, if you feel pain here when you get home, stew some shavings in soup and drink it. You won't feel any pain after you drink it."
The little girl pointed to Zhou Yi's lower back.
Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment.
In her early years, she worked in a beauty salon and sat for long periods of time, which eventually led to a herniated disc. Even though she later lived a life of luxury, took good care of herself, and received regular massages and acupuncture, she was unable to completely cure it. The herniation would recur whenever she stood or sat for a long time.
But she hasn't been in pain since she came back. How did her granddaughter know that she had a problem with her back?
Xi Xi could tell what Zhou Yi was thinking just by looking at her expression, and immediately added, "Dad told me."
It definitely wasn't something the little ginseng spirit figured out!
It was actually Xiao Yan!
Zhou Yi didn't remember whether she had told Pei Yiyan about this. In recent years, the mother and son had had very little communication. Perhaps she had mentioned it casually in the first year or two after she arrived in Beijing, but she had forgotten about it because of the long time that had passed.
Xiao Yan remembered.
I even bought her a ginseng root to nourish her body.
This child has a sharp tongue but a soft heart.
Zhou Yi felt a warmth envelop her body as she gazed intently at the busy young man in the kitchen, her eyes glistening with tears as she carefully tucked the ginseng root into her pocket.
She owed Xiaoyan far too much, to the point that the child could only afford to buy a tiny bit of ginseng rootlets.
Zhou Yi was filled with heartache and guilt. She took the tissue Xi Xi handed her to wipe her tears and then picked up her phone to do a few simple operations.
Pei Yiyan, who had just come out of the kitchen, heard the message notification.
You have a transfer to receive.
[From Mom: 200000]
Two hundred thousand.
Pei Yiyan looked up, puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Zhou Yi wiped away her tears, abruptly stood up, walked to her son, pinched his cheek, and scolded him with a laugh:
"You brat, isn't it only natural for your mother to give you money to spend? Why are you asking questions? Just spend it!"
“”
What happened to his mother?
Pei Yiyan couldn't understand Zhou Yi's riddle, and Zhou Yi thought her son was too proud to admit it, so neither of them pressed for an answer.
The stalemate between mother and son was broken by sheer luck, and Zhou Yi was so moved by her son that she woke up laughing for three consecutive nights.
The next day, Pei Yiyan took Xixi to the bank to open an account and deposited 200,000 yuan into Xixi's account. This was the little girl's first deposit.
Every year thereafter, he would deposit a sum of money into it as a means for his daughter to secure her future.
With the Spring Festival approaching, universities across the country are in the midst of their final exam preparations, and the senior students at Jiamu High School have just finished their last round of mock exams for the semester.
The day the grades were released, the entire senior class was filled with lamentations.
"Damn! The score is even lower than I expected. Oh no, how am I going to get through the New Year?"
"You should be secretly happy, at least your ranking didn't drop, but mine dropped five places, I'm really going to die!"
"With grades this bad, they still need parents' signatures? Old Lu is really afraid we'll have a good New Year!"
"Oh, I really envy so-and-so, they don't even need to sign their name because they don't have parents."
Some people booed and gave the person making sarcastic remarks a meaningful look.
The tall young man who returned from Lao Lü's office blocked most of the light and shadow at the doorway, and the bustling scene cooled down with his arrival.
How long has he been standing at the door? Student A felt uneasy, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and shrank his neck. Had he heard everything that was just said?
The light and shadow flickered as Pei Yiyan approached with a cold expression.
Student A: Playing dead (jpg).
Qiu Ming sneered, "You deserved to be beaten, that's what you got for being so foul-mouthed!"
A cold wind swept by, and the gossipers, who were the first to be affected, tensed up, staring intently at the tall figure approaching from behind, but nothing happened.
The gossipers: Wow, he didn't beat us up! He's so gentle!
Qiu Ming: Men who become fathers are different; they're so mature and steady!
Pei Yiyan, now a father, was frighteningly stable. He only had money to earn and raise his child in his mind and had no time to pay attention to those childish gossips.
It's the same old story, just a different version; I'm tired of hearing it.
After Zhou Yi returned, Qiu Ming was too embarrassed to come over for free meals and lodging. Instead, he pestered Pei Yiyan to play basketball together every day after school and check the stock market on the side.
Pei Yiyan didn't play basketball before. The change happened when Xixi watched an idol drama with Zhou Yi. The male lead's handsome basketball skills captivated a group of female supporting characters, and the female lead also fell for him.
The little girl outside the TV screen had a flushed face and kept crying out while covering her cheeks.
Pei Yiyan, the father, immediately became alarmed and started actively pulling Qiu Ming to play basketball. He was determined not to let his daughter be led astray by that blond-haired basketball player.
It's just basketball, what's so great about it? He can do it too!
On one hand, there's that damned competitive spirit; on the other hand, there's the desensitization training the father is planning for his daughter.
A young dad who plays basketball has to be more handsome than the male lead in an idol drama. He doesn't believe that if his little girl watches him play basketball every day, she'll ever have any inappropriate thoughts about other basketball players.
Xixi watched her dad play basketball for a week straight:
I've already begged for forgiveness, please let me go qaq
"I'm not playing today." Pei Yiyan packed his schoolbag and walked out.
Qiu Ming followed up: "Xi Xi has successfully desensitized?"
Pei Yiyan strode forward, letting out a pleasant "hmm" from his throat.
"Wow, so fast?" Qiu Ming laughed. "I thought it would take at least ten days to half a month."
Pei Yiyan glanced at him sideways: "You're overthinking it."
His daughter isn't that shallow; a week is enough for her to realize who the coolest basketball player in the world is.
Qiu Ming: "Brother Yan, have you seen the messages in the group chat? Da Liu and Lao Yang asked when we can get together again. They miss Xi Xi."
Pei Yiyan: "She's just a little girl, why would I want to think about her?"
“I can tell you haven’t been paying attention to the group messages.” The two walked side by side, and the young man Qiu Ming smiled like an aunt. “They said that Xi Xi is their lucky star. After we met last time, Da Liu’s eyesight improved overnight, and Lao Yang’s tumor was cured without any medicine. It’s such a coincidence. Recently, they have a few major investment projects, and they are all waiting for Xi Xi to bless them.”
Pei Yiyan scoffed after hearing this.
"What nonsense!"
His expression was cold and disdainful: "They call themselves Party members, but they'd be better off smoking fewer packs of cigarettes, exercising more, and staying up less at night instead of believing in this stuff."
Qiu Ming did not respond.
Pei Yiyan suddenly became alert: "Why aren't you saying anything?"
Qiu Ming rubbed his eyes: "Brother Yan, you've become caring towards people now, it feels so strange."
Pei Yiyan remained silent for a long while before saying, "Get lost."
"Ah, yes, yes, that's the taste!"
Pei Yiyan turned his head away speechlessly and quickened his pace to go home.
The full moon hangs high, and the cold wind howls, stinging one's face. Under the dim streetlights, a boy carrying a schoolbag walks with his head down, his gaze falling on the myriad lights of the homes he sees.
Today, Zhou Yi cooked her signature soybean and pig's trotter soup. The pig's trotters were stewed from noon for a total of seven hours. When the lid was lifted, the whole house was filled with fragrance. The pig's trotters were so tender that they melted in your mouth, leaving a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth.
When Pei Yiyan tasted Zhou Yi's braised pig's feet soup again, a slight ripple stirred in his usually calm heart; the taste was just as he remembered.
Zhou Yi gazed calmly and gently at the two figures, one large and one small, and after a moment's hesitation, said softly:
"Xiaoyan, Mom is going back to Beijing tomorrow. You and Xixi need to take good care of yourselves while Mom is away. If you encounter any problems that you can't solve, tell me. Don't bear them alone. Mom wishes you a Happy New Year in advance."
Pei Yiyan paused, a look of relief and blessing in his eyes. He put down his spoon and looked directly into Zhou Yi's dark, gentle eyes.
Happy New Year, Mom.
A chubby little hand reached out: "Happy New Year, Daddy and Grandma!"
"cheers"
The little girl picked up the yogurt beside her, gulped it down in a few big mouthfuls, her eyes crinkling with laughter, and a ring of milk stains around her mouth.
Pei Yiyan smiled gently and reached out to pat the little girl's cute head: "You're allowed to watch two more episodes of Dog Today."
The little girl was overjoyed and raised her hand, shouting, "Long live Daddy!"
Watching this scene, Zhou Yi was filled with emotion; her eldest son was becoming more and more like his father.
Unfortunately, the scene of fatherly love and filial piety did not last long. After the meal, Zhou Yi saw her eldest son secretly going crazy, with a tragic expression of utter despair.
"Dad, what is this?"
A stack of test papers and textbooks lay scattered on the ground; the school heartthrob's father's schoolbag had just survived a catastrophe and was completely looted.
Meanwhile, the criminals were intently flipping through a test paper covered in red crosses, and posing questions to the victim in an attempt to uncover the truth.
The bright red score of 60 on the back is particularly eye-catching.
The moment he looked up, Pei Yiyan almost died on the spot; he gasped for breath.
"You're going to destroy the house!"
He strode over, snatched the exam paper back, and sneered, "You can't read a single word, so it's a waste of your time to look at it."
The little ginseng spirit didn't like hearing this. Xi Xi puffed out her cheeks and retorted defiantly, "Who said Xi Xi can't read? Xi Xi can read!"
A bad feeling crept into Pei Yiyan's heart.
By the way, the little girl has been learning to read with her grandma lately.
"Dad, that's your test paper, isn't it?"
Pei Yiyan was drenched in sweat.
“I know even if you don’t say it.” Xi Xi put her hands on her hips and said seriously, “Dad, even though you’re still a little short of a perfect score, you can’t be arrogant. You have to keep working hard.”
"?"
"Xixi, you must get 90 points on your tests in the future! No, Xixi, you must be even better than Daddy and get many 100 points!"
Pei Yiyan silently put away the exam paper.
With a forced smile, he said, "Then good luck to you. We're counting on you to bring glory to our family."
"Leave it to Xixi!"
The little monster complained that his father only got 90 points on the test, but he was actually very happy inside.
Xi Xi goes around showing off his dad's 'excellent grades' to all the kids in the neighborhood, boasting that he has a genius high school student as his dad.
The smartwatch chatted until it ran out of credit: "Yuanbao, I'll let you in on a secret, my dad is so smart, he got 90 on his test!"
"Xingxing, my dad got 90 points on his test. He's going to be a scientist. Do you want my dad's autograph? Xixi can give it to you for free."
"But you have to give me half of the money if you sell it later!"
"Oh, if you don't believe me, come to my house, I'll show you my dad's test paper."
"Hmph, he'll definitely get a hundred next time!"
Pei Yiyan:
Zhou Yi smiled and encouraged, "Xiao Yan, you have to work hard for Xi Xi. Bringing glory to the family depends on you."
Pei Yiyan has a head that's two big.
Since starting high school, he has been failing his exams more and more each time, and he just wants to get a high school diploma.
He always ranks among the bottom in monthly mock exams, regardless of how alarming his scores are. No matter how many times Lao Lü tries to persuade him, he continues to do as he pleases.
However, this time he began to feel a little ashamed of his score and was very embarrassed.
How could he tell Xixi, without losing face and dignity as a father, that her father wasn't cut out to be a scientist, didn't dream of becoming one, and couldn't sell his autograph for a high price?
Tsk, if I really tell them, won't those little brats think the little monster is a braggart and stop playing with her?
Pei Yiyan was so worried that he couldn't sleep at night, tossing and turning. One night, he sat up, stared at the child's innocent sleeping face, and gritted his teeth.
Scientists have a better reputation than capitalists, let's give it a try!
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