Chapter 425 - 411: We Are Still Children
Elder Xu’s birthday was a lively affair.
Su Nian, dressed up beautifully by her mother, arrived at Honghu Building in a car with her parents.
After getting out of the car, she carefully examined her outfit. ’Very good, very charming.’
’This has to be better than whatever that Yun Jiao is wearing, right?’
The Xu family had booked the entire Honghu Building for the day. Although Elder Xu hadn’t been in the Capital for the past few years, no one there dared to underestimate him.
After all, who doesn’t get sick in their lifetime? With his superb medical skills, Elder Xu could sometimes truly snatch a life back from King Yama’s grasp.
In the country’s current medical field, Chinese medicine had fallen into decline due to the impact of Western medicine.
However, the few top masters in the world of Chinese medicine had not been significantly affected by this.
In fact, the rich and powerful were even more willing to trust these few national grandmasters of medicine.
Elder Xu was one of them.
Even his disciples held considerable influence in the medical community.
Thus, one could only imagine the extent of Elder Xu’s connections.
This was also why Sun Shuzhen was so desperate to push her daughter into becoming Elder Xu’s apprentice.
If she became his apprentice, Sun Shuzhen would no longer have to curry favor with those two old geezers of the Su family, or even her sister-in-law. In fact, they would be the ones trying to win her over.
She had put in so much effort, only to be outdone by some little bitch from a fishing village.
Upon entering the restaurant, Sun Shuzhen’s eyes immediately landed on the child by Elder Xu’s side, surrounded by a crowd of people.
Staring at that excessively beautiful little face, Sun Shuzhen unconsciously tightened her grip on her daughter’s hand.
From the very first glance, she had loathed that child from the bottom of her heart.
"Mom, that hurts!"
Su Nian pulled her hand away from Sun Shuzhen’s.
"Sorry, sweetie. Mommy didn’t mean to."
Su Nian, of course, also saw Yun Jiao. She glanced down at her own dress and suddenly felt it wasn’t so pretty after all.
"Mom, she’s so annoying!"
Su Nian felt that Yun Jiao had stolen something from her; the person standing next to Grandpa Xu should have been her.
In her heart, Sun Shuzhen completely agreed with her daughter.
"Let’s go, Nini. We’ll go say hello to your Grandpa Xu."
She took the arm of the man beside her. "Honey, what’s wrong?"
Su Kangcheng stared at Yun Jiao’s face for a few seconds, looking a bit dazed.
"It’s nothing. I just feel like... that little girl looks a bit familiar."
She glanced at Yun Jiao. She found her familiar, too—so familiar it disgusted her.
"Let’s go over. Don’t forget you promised to help Nini. She’s our only daughter."
Su Kangcheng nodded. "I know."
After her master had her greet a few people, Yun Jiao went to find her Sixth Brother and Brother Ba.
"Jiaojiao, hurry! This is delicious."
Yun Xiao Liu handed a small cake to Yun Jiao.
"And this juice is good, too."
"This is also delicious."
Yun Xiao Liu just loved to eat; otherwise, he wouldn’t have eaten himself into such a chubby state.
He especially loved sharing tasty treats with his brothers and Yun Jiao.
Yun Jiao didn’t stand on ceremony, eating everything he gave her.
’Sixth Brother’s selections are always top-notch. The flavor really is excellent.’
"Sixth Brother, where’s Grandpa Hu?"
"He saw someone he knew and went to say hello."
Yun Xiao Ba added, "My master too. By the way, Jiaojiao, where’s the pearl you bought at the auction the other day?"
Yun Jiao blinked. "I have it put away safely. Why?"
"Master is a little curious about the pearl and asked me to see if you’d let him take a look. He made some inquiries and found out it came from an Emperor’s Tomb. Master said things taken from tombs can often have unclean things attached to them."
Ancient was worried. Although most people say they don’t believe in ghosts and spirits, it’s undeniable that one sometimes encounters things in life that science cannot explain.
Yun Jiao nodded. "Okay."
As it happened, she also wanted to see if Ancient could figure anything out.
She had looked up some books about the Merfolk afterward, but in every single one, the Merfolk were described as fantasy creatures.
"Are you guys pigs? You eat so much."
An annoying voice piped up. Yun Jiao frowned and turned her head to look.
Su Nian stood there with her arms crossed, a haughty look on her face.
Even though she was so short, her chin was lifted high, as if that made her superior to everyone else.
"Yun Jiao, are those two your brothers? That brother of yours is so fat. Is he a pig?"
Yun Xiao Liu glanced down at himself. ’I may be fat, but she’s so rude!’
Yun Jiao was even angrier. "Su Nian, don’t make me hit you here."
She didn’t want to cause any trouble at her master’s birthday banquet.
Su Nian looked at Yun Jiao with a flicker of fear in her eyes, but it was quickly followed by indignation.
"Grandpa Xu was supposed to be my master! You stole the position that should have been mine! You’re a thief!"
Yun Xiao Liu shot back, "Who do you think you are? How can you be so shameless?"
Yun Xiao Ba added, "Not only are you shameless, you’ve got a fat face. You’re ugly, but you dream big."
Yun Jiao said, "I can see the boogers in your nostrils."
’What a joke. As if the three of them couldn’t win an argument against one Su Nian.’
It was the first time Su Nian had ever heard so many nasty things said, all directed at her.
It was too much for Su Nian, with her princess attitude and fragile heart, and she unsurprisingly burst into tears.
A child’s crying is especially piercing.
Hearing Su Nian’s cries, Sun Shuzhen rushed over. "Nini, what’s wrong? Did you three bully her?"
"My Nini is still just a child. If she did anything wrong, I, as her mother, apologize on her behalf. But can’t we just talk things out peacefully? Why..."
As she spoke, her eyes reddened, and she started to cry.
Mrs. Xu walked over, and upon seeing Sun Shuzhen’s act, she mentally rolled her eyes.
’So annoying.’
Mrs. Xu said with a forced smile, "Shuzhen, let’s find out what happened first. Why are you, a grown adult, crying along with her?"
Yun Jiao nodded. "This is my master’s birthday banquet. You’re going to cry all the good fortune away."
Mrs. Xu wanted to give Yun Jiao a thumbs-up.
’This kid really knows how to talk.’
The expression on Sun Shuzhen’s face almost froze.
"Nini, you stop crying too. Look at you, always crying over every little thing. The older boys won’t want to play with you anymore. That won’t do, you know."
This was blatant favoritism toward Yun Jiao.
Sun Shuzhen’s nails nearly dug into the flesh of her palms.
"Sister Xu, it was my fault for being too anxious and ruining everyone’s mood."
"But my Nini is a bit spoiled and delicate from being doted on at home. She tends to cry whenever she feels wronged. I don’t know what just happened."
Yun Xiao Ba piped up, "It was nothing much. Just your daughter saying my sister stole something that belonged to her, that she was supposed to be Grandpa Xu’s apprentice, and that my sister is a thief."
Yun Xiao Liu said pitifully, "She also called me a pig! My master clearly says I’m adorably chubby."
Mr. Hu walked over. "Whose child is so impolite, saying such things to people they just met?"
Yun Jiao said, "Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am. We just said she was shameless, had a fat face, and was an ugly dreamer."
Yun Xiao Ba continued, "She insulted us first, so we insulted her back. Let’s just call it even. My sister is just a child, not even six years old yet."
Yun Xiao Liu added, "I’m still a kid, too."
Yun Xiao Ba nodded. "I’m still a kid, too. Ma’am, you’re an adult. You wouldn’t hold a grudge against three children, would you?"
The three siblings went back and forth, their teamwork flawless, completely turning Sun Shuzhen’s own words—that Su Nian was just a child—right back at her.
’As if they weren’t children, too!’
And just as they intended, the color drained from Sun Shuzhen’s face, her expression growing uglier by the second.
She wanted to play the weak victim like she usually did, crying and sniffling to win others’ sympathy.
But the look Mrs. Xu was giving her was already far from kind.