Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Class One of Grade Four

As soon as they left the classroom, Luo’s Mom and Mother He were seen standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the window, talking about something.

”Mom.”

”Mom.”

Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu called out at the same time.

Luo’s Mom acted as if she hadn’t seen the two of them at all, continuing her conversation.

Luo Qianqian thought to herself, oh no. Luo’s Mom was angry because earlier in Teacher Wang’s office, she hadn’t told her what happened before sending her off to the principal’s office. He Wenyu, seeing Mother He not speaking, didn’t dare to say a word.

Luo Qianqian, with a face like a sad smile missing teeth, said, ”Mom, which class are we going to?” As soon as Luo Qianqian finished speaking, she felt like she had slapped her own face since the report card clearly stated Class One.

”Hmph, you still know I’m your mom?” Luo’s Mom looked at Luo Qianqian and was unable to suppress her irritation. Daring to keep things from her right in front of her face, who knew what else Luo Qianqian did behind her back? Didn’t she know her mother would worry?

”How could I not know? Qianqian’s mom is both beautiful and gentle, and she would never get angry with Qianqian.” Then seeing Luo’s Mom’s expression soften a bit, Luo Qianqian hurriedly continued, ”Just like Godmom, after all, birds of a feather flock together, and beautiful and gentle people tend to make friends with others who are beautiful and gentle.”

He Wenyu quickly gave a grateful look and chimed in, ”Right, right, Mom doesn’t look good with a stern face. Smile, a smile makes you ten years younger, smile more and you’ll be able to go to elementary school with us.”

At last, Luo’s Mom and Mother He couldn’t keep their serious faces and broke into laughter.

”Don’t think that settles the matter.” Luo’s Mom tried, but failed to recover her angry expression and instead spoke sternly, ”What exactly happened this morning?”

”Oh, a classmate broke something of mine, something that my brother’s friend had given to me, and then they said they’d pay for it so I had my brother come over with the receipt.” Luo Qianqian stuck out her tongue and said, ”After all, it was something given to me by someone else that got broken, it’s only right they should compensate, right, mom?” As she spoke, Luo Qianqian put on a pitiful look, with tears about to fall from her eyes.

”How come I don’t know about your brother’s friend that you’ve met? What did they give you? Was it valuable? How could you ask for something given to you by someone else? Did you thank them properly?” Luo’s Mom frowned and then saw the tears about to overflow from her daughter’s eyes, ”It’s not wrong, it’s not wrong. Don’t cry, you’re already in the fourth grade and still crying, how embarrassing.”

”Is Mom not mad anymore?” Luo Qianqian asked Luo’s Mom with a tearful voice.

”Not mad anymore, not mad anymore.”

”What about Godmom?” Luo Qianqian looked pitifully at Mother He.

”Why would I be mad, Qianqian? You’re a good girl, don’t cry, okay?” Mother He, feeling sorry for her, took out a handkerchief to wipe away Luo Qianqian’s tears and said to He Wenyu, ”Although I don’t agree with you being as warm-hearted as your dad, you did well to protect your sister. Tonight, what would you like to eat? Mom will cook for you both to celebrate skipping a grade.”

He Wenyu felt a great weight lift from his chest and patted where his heart would be, showing a gleeful expression, ”Of course, with me around, no one’s going to bully Qianqian. Mom, I want to eat pork trotters, chicken wings, ribs, and Qianqian’s favorite scrambled eggs with tomatoes, as well as brother’s favorite sweet and sour fish.”

Luo Qianqian didn’t listen to what was said next, but a shadow had already crossed her face.

A normal family atmosphere with rewards and punishments, praise, and reprimands—what was that situation with Zhang Jingjing? Too indulgent?

”Let’s welcome our two new classmates to our class. They are skipping up from the third grade. The taller one is He Wenyu, and the little one is Luo Qianqian. Let’s give them a round of applause.” Geng Zhi stood on the podium and introduced the two to everyone.

”It’s you!” A girl stood up, pointing at Luo Qianqian and exclaimed.

Luo Qianqian looked at the girl who had stood up, completely clueless. Did she know this person? ”What’s up?”

”Patchwork Bear!!!” The girl continued, ”You are Patchwork Bear.”

I do look like a person, right? But Luo Qianqian had already realized why this person recognized her. Because of the incident at the entrance of Experimental High School, they later sold at parks and playgrounds, and they only brought a few each time so it wouldn’t interfere with their normal fun; she must be one of the customers then.

”Qianqian, is it that person who didn’t have enough money and said they’d come to buy the next day, and then it rained the next day...?” He Wenyu looked at the girl, pondering for a while, then uncertainly said to Luo Qianqian.

”Can we talk about it after class? It’s time for class now.” Luo Qianqian, completely different from her quiet and ’cool’ demeanor when she was in the third grade, smiled sweetly at the girl, then turned to look at Geng Zhi standing behind the podium and asked, ”Teacher, where should I sit?”

”You and He Wenyu, go sit in the back for now, there are empty seats there. I’ll rearrange the seating during the afternoon self-study class.” Geng Zhi looked at Luo Qianqian with a bit of a fluster. Was this really the same kid who used to fold paper in his class and, when called out, directly said she didn’t get it?

”Okay, thank you, teacher.” Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu took their seats, a desk against the wall, with Luo Qianqian sitting inside and He Wenyu sitting outside. The two boys in the front row immediately turned around and handed a textbook to each of them.

Watching the considerate classmates, Geng Zhi felt gratified and realized that he had carelessly forgotten to hand out the books to the two students.

”Thank you.” Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu said in unison. He Wenyu reached out to take the book, and the two of them exchanged a smile.

”My name is Ye Chen,” the fair-skinned tall guy sitting in front of Luo Qianqian said, using a book to cover his face as he introduced himself.

”My name is Zhang Sheng,” the wheat-skinned tall guy sitting in front of He Wenyu said, covering his face with his hands as he introduced himself.

”My name is He Wenyu,” He Wenyu quickly covered her mouth and introduced herself when she saw the other two doing it, ”you can call me Xiao Yu.”

”Luo Qianqian, just call me Qianqian,” Luo Qianqian tilted her head and smiled at Geng Zhi on the podium.

Geng Zhi helplessly shook his head, having no way with these two little ones, and continued with the lesson.

”Luo Qianqian!!!” Right after class, the girl rushed to their table, slamming her hands down on it, ”Patchwork Bear!!!”

Luo Qianqian blinked innocently at the girl, ”Do I look like a patchwork bear to you? I don’t have one now; this is a school.”

”I waited for you guys in the rain all afternoon and you never showed up...” The girl looked at them with a grievance, ”Shouldn’t business be carried on, rain or shine?”

Indeed, Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu exchanged a glance. He Wenyu had guessed it was this girl.

”Okay, okay, what kind do you want? Half-price as compensation is okay, right?” Half-price was two yuan, and although a few yuan didn’t mean much to them now, they would still not refuse the small accumulating amounts.

”A red one, I love red the most,” the girl said shyly, scratching her head, ”thank you, my name is Jiang Qian.”

”Wow, Qianqian, you’re the top of our class?” After class, Geng Zhi, who had placed the report cards on the podium, told everyone they could go and check their grades, and everyone except Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu gathered around the podium.

Zhang Sheng came back and exclaimed, patting the table behind him in surprise.

”Xiao Yu’s grades are also ahead of mine, ah, the heavens are envious of my talents, not allowing such an excellent young man like me to standout, it’s jealousy, the heavens are jealous of my good looks.”

”Alas, I never expected to fall out of the top ten this time; I won’t get the reward my mom promised,” Ye Chen said, rubbing his head as he returned to his seat.

Being tall has its perks, Luo Qianqian thought as she looked at the two in front of her who had already checked their grades and returned to their seats amidst the chaos.

”Hey, I’ve never received a reward. Although there’s this all-star kid in other families, Qianqian has never gotten one either,” He Wenyu said mournfully, looking at the two.

Luo Qianqian thought this seat was not bad, with nice people and good feng shui. At least when it came to playtime, she wouldn’t be called out by the teacher. Her vision was also good, and so were her abilities. It wouldn’t be bad to take root here, but still, He Wenyu should probably be towards the front.

However, as soon as she spoke to He Wenyu about it, it was vetoed, under the pretext of ’protection.’ So the two of them went to Geng Zhi and shared their thoughts, and the matter of switching seats was dropped.

After math, science, English, and a music class, the morning ended. At noon, Luo Shufan showed up promptly at the school gate with Bai Yizhu, waiting for his sister.

It was another session of ideological education, ’you should come to your brother if something happens, otherwise what’s the point of having a brother?’ and the like brainwashing preaching. Bai Yizhu then handed Luo Qianqian a piece of paper from Bai Yixian, ”About the breakfast,” and then said nothing more, leading Luo Shufan back to school.

Luo Qianqian opened the note, which read: This is your family’s concern, we are simply the errand runners. It was followed by a string of numbers.

Luo Qianqian was startled; it was a landline number, the area code was from Capital City.

Taking advantage of the fact that the lunch break hadn’t ended yet, Luo Qianqian, accompanied by He Wenyu, headed to the snack shop.

——Dudu...dudu...dudu...

——Hello, this is the Luo Family.

Luo Qianqian hung up the phone, realizing in her heart that it must have been the doing of Little Uncle Luo Xiying. It turns out it wasn’t just a one-time encounter before disappearing; there was still someone caring for her, her mother, and her brother. As she thought about it, Luo Qianqian began humming a little tune.

”Long-distance call, twenty cents,” the old man at the snack shop held out his hand for Luo Qianqian’s money. Luo Qianqian turned around and looked at He Wenyu with an innocent face; she had forgotten that phone calls cost money and had not brought any with her.

”I didn’t bring any either,” He Wenyu was also bewildered.

”It’s on me,” Jiang Qian said as she helped the two pay after looking curiously at them standing dumbfounded in the snack shop; they had run out of money to pay the bill, and she laughed a little as she covered for them.

”You’re the best, I’ve decided, tomorrow’s Patchwork Bear is on the house for you, just for those two lollipops,” He Wenyu said generously as he watched Jiang Qian not only buy Luo Qianqian’s phone call but also the two lollipops she was holding.

”No need, consider it a welcome gift for you guys joining our class,” Jiang Qian said, indicating that actually, her heart was bleeding, if not for the generosity of the two selling her the Patchwork Bear at half-price, she wouldn’t be so generous.