Meanwhile, Shen Zhiyao was engrossed in her book, completely unaware that she had already become “someone else’s child” and the object of others’ jealousy.
Books from this era were written in a more straightforward, easy-to-understand way, unlike the textbooks of her later life that went around in circles.
Probably because people’s minds were simpler in this day and age—there weren’t so many hyper-competitive overachievers.
Just as she stood up, a chubby little figure suddenly scrambled backward at top speed, a smug grin on his small face. “Come catch me… come catch me…”
Shen Zhiyao tried to dodge, but she had underestimated just how weak this body was. The moment she stood up, her vision went black, and she was half a beat too slow.
Suddenly, something soft yet heavy pressed against her, and her vision flashed white. Instinctively, she toppled backward and crashed to the ground in a heap.
“Ah—”
The little chubby boy, cushioned by her body, hadn’t fallen hard at all. He scrambled up quickly, looking guilty as if he’d done something terribly wrong. “S-sorry…”
Then he caught sight of her reddened arm—on her fair white skin, the scraped marks stood out all the more starkly.
He froze.
He seemed to have done something really, really bad. His eyes immediately welled up with tears.
“Dongdong, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Two more children came running over—a rather thin little boy and a little girl with pigtails.
The three children were all about the same age, around five or six.
The moment their eyes landed on this big sister’s face, all three reacted identically: their pupils shrank slightly and their mouths fell open.
Wow, this big sister is so pretty, like a white crabapple blossom.
The little girl in particular blushed bright red.
But soon, the three little ones realized they had caused big trouble, and bowed in unison. “Big sister, we’re sorry!”
Shen Zhiyao frowned and flexed her arm.
It really wasn’t a big deal—the original owner’s skin was just too delicate and scraped easily.
Seeing that the children had a good attitude about apologizing and weren’t spoiled brats, Shen Zhiyao bent down, looked them in the eye, pressed her lips together, and gave them a serious warning. “I’m fine, but you need to be careful when playing around on the train. If you bump into an elderly person or a pregnant woman, it could be real trouble.”
At her words, the three children’s faces went white with fright.
That’s right—if something serious really happened, it would be too late for regrets.
So the three children nodded along, like do, re, mi in a song, raising their little palms and vowing earnestly, “We promise we’ll be careful from now on!”
After speaking, Shen Zhiyao went back to her book, focusing on it wholeheartedly.
The little chubby boy and the two other children would occasionally peek out from the side, secretly watching her.
All three children had gone quiet, their dark eyes fixed on her intently.
Who wouldn’t love a great beauty?
They had never seen such a pretty big sister before.
At one point, other children ran past, noisy and rowdy. The little chubby boy put a finger to his lips. “Shh. We’re on a train—we need to be civilized and promote good manners. No making noise and disturbing the fairy sister while she reads!”
The other children only half understood, but most of them quieted down.
Shen Zhiyao pressed her lips together. All the other noise was easy enough to ignore.
But this particular voice was hard to ignore—she couldn’t help being amused by the solemn, serious words delivered in such a childish tone, and she burst out laughing.
Hearing the little fatty’s spiel, he must be the child of some official—his way of talking was so formal.
At her smile, even the little girl with pigtails propped her chin in her hands, watching without blinking.
When Shen Zhiyao paused to rest from her book, the little fatty seized the moment to scoot over. “Big sister, you’re on a break now, so I can talk, right?”
Shen Zhiyao nodded with a smile.
“Then I’ll just say one thing.” The little fatty blinked his big sparkling eyes. “Big sister, you’re so pretty—prettier than Feng Chengcheng in The Bund! Prettier than Lili from our kindergarten class! Prettier than… than the fairies in the sky!”
The little fatty had clearly run out of words, his face flushed bright red.
The little girl beside them counted on her fingers and frowned slightly. “Dongdong, you said three things.”
The little fatty blushed even more.
Zhen Zhen had been watching this side for a while now. She felt suffocated. Fine that her mom picked on her, but even Zhai Dongdong did too.
Earlier, when she was reading and told Zhai Dongdong not to be noisy, what had he said? “Sister Zhen, I’m not being noisy anyway—you haven’t turned a page in ages.”
Oh, so if she just put on a little act, Zhai Dongdong would be this nice to her too?
It was just that she was straightforward by nature and didn’t know how to put on airs.
She never expected this—someone who would even deceive a child.
At that thought, Zhen Zhen’s anger flared up, and her arm was still throbbing with pain.
She shuffled forward, planted her hands on her hips, and glared at Shen Zhiyao. “I’ve put up with you long enough…”
Shen Zhiyao froze, letting go of Dongdong’s chubby arm, and looked up in confusion. “Who are you?”
She didn’t know this short-haired girl, did she? Why was she glaring like she had some enormous grudge against her, eyes shooting flames?
Zhen Zhen ignored her completely, fuming. “What’s wrong with a kid just playing around? Does it show you up or something? You had to make the poor kid shut up—stifling his nature!”
The moment she finished, someone tugged at her hand. She looked down.
It was Zhai Dongdong. He blinked and said, “Sister Zhen, it wasn’t Fairy Sister who wouldn’t let me talk. I wanted to be quiet myself, so I wouldn’t disturb her reading.”
Shen Zhiyao raised an eyebrow. They knew each other?
She waved a hand. “There’s a misunderstanding, I didn’t—”
But Zhen Zhen wouldn’t listen to Zhai Dongdong or Shen Zhiyao. “In a public place, you won’t even let someone else’s child talk! How can you be so selfish!”
“If you’re so rich and capable, go buy a soft sleeper ticket!”
With such a big accusation thrown at her, Shen Zhiyao’s gaze gradually turned cold. No one could stand being berated out of nowhere. “You say I’m selfish—but making all this noise and disturbing everyone, isn’t that also a kind of selfishness?”
Around them, odd looks fell on Zhen Zhen’s face.
Zhen Zhen uncomfortably fiddled with her hair. “I’m being righteous. How is that the same as you?”
Shen Zhiyao suddenly remembered she’d run into this girl on the way to the bathroom earlier, when the girl had muttered something about “putting on airs.” She’d thought the girl was talking to herself.
Oh, so that had been aimed at her.
Shen Zhiyao crossed her arms coolly and gave a light laugh. “Your so-called righteousness means not even listening to what a child says. You weren’t even there just now—so whatever you say goes, is that it?”
At those words, the looks from everyone around shifted a little more.
She had noticed the girl reading earlier, and when the train car had inexplicably fallen quiet, she’d actually believed the short-haired girl—that an adult was bullying a child.
Though things weren’t as strictly policed these days, “capitalist roaders” were still a thorn in many people’s sides.
Who would have thought that what she said actually made some sense.
Feeling those meaningful stares on her face, Zhen Zhen went pale. Her mind raced for a moment, then she said, “Hah, he’s just one kid saying that. It must be because he likes pretty older sisters.”
With that, her gaze shifted to the other children. “If any of you were threatened or coerced, be brave and speak up! Any sister who tells the truth gets a hawthorn roll as a reward. I can’t stand this kind of bad behavior!”
She refused to believe that not a single child would have the guts to step forward and speak the truth openly.
In her mind, no pretty girl was ever a good person—her older brother had just been cheated out of both his money and his heart by a pretty one.
Vixen!
Just then, a skinny little boy stepped forward, his small face scrunched up like a bitter melon. “Sister, I was forced to say it…”