“Where’s my game console!”
“You old witch, what have you done!”
The explosive shouting jolted Jiang Li awake from her afternoon nap.
Having anticipated this outburst, the girl leisurely stretched, got out of bed, and walked to the next room.
“What are you talking about, you little brat?” she said, striding in as if she owned the place. She settled into the computer chair, propped her chin on her hand, and flashed her most benevolent, gentle smile.
“Don’t get so worked up. I just want to sit down and have a calm talk with you.”
“Talk? Is this what you call a talk?” Jiang Fan yelled, craning his neck. “If you’ve got guts, let me go!”
The boy writhed frantically on the bed, tightly bound inside a children’s sleeping bag like a pig being prepared for scalding water during the New Year festivities.
Jiang Li wagged a finger. “No~ I know better than to release a tiger back into the mountains.”
That morning, after slipping him three melatonin pills, Jiang Li had timed her return home perfectly. Before Jiang Fan could wake up, she’d had the bodyguard stuff him into the sleeping bag and even took the extra precaution of wrapping five additional straps around his waist.
It wasn’t tight enough to hurt, but escape was impossible.
Without these restraints, Jiang Li would probably already be hearing cries of “died at the age of nineteen,” because an overstimulated Jiang Fan would undoubtedly have charged in to duel her.
The young woman reached out and pinched her little nephew’s soft cheek. “Playing that Panda League game all day long—your dark circles are so big you could get a job at the panda exhibit.”
“Heroes! It’s Heroes of the Gate!” Jiang Fan retorted, his speech slightly slurred from missing two front teeth.
“Whatever.” Jiang Li helped him sit up by supporting his back.
“I’ve confiscated your game console. Don’t expect it back.”
Experts always say, “Educate children with reason, not with scolding or hitting.”
In her past life, Jiang Li had followed that advice, only for Jiang Fan to see her as a nagging old maid.
The little brat threw his head back, kicking his legs up and down against the bed. “You old witch, witch, witch, witch—”
Jiang Fan’s face flushed crimson from screaming, snot smearing across his cheeks, his dark eyes blazing with the unmistakable message: “Fight to the end.”
Jiang Li raised an eyebrow, a glint of mischief dancing in her eyes.
She pulled a hamster cage out from under the table, lifting the rodent by its scruff and giving it a gentle shake. “Since you put it that way, if I don’t finish it off, I’d be letting down the title you’ve bestowed upon me.”
“The hostage is in my hands. I can do whatever I want with it.”
Wahhh… hiccup.
The crying stopped abruptly.
Watching Jiang Fan sniff back his snot only for it to slide down again, his anger palpable but his words stifled, Jiang Li nodded in satisfaction.
“If you can finish your homework on time every day, eat your meals at the right times, and go to bed on schedule, then I’ll make sure your hamster gets fed on time too.”
“But if you can’t…”
She pulled out another hamster cage from under the table. “Then don’t blame me for finding her a husband.”
Jiang Fan froze on the spot, his jaw hanging open as if dislocated, unable to snap back into place for a long moment.
“!!!”
“You’re a devil! You’re the incarnation of that old witch!”
“Hamster Princess is so adorable. How could you bear to marry her off to that sneaky, ugly-as-sin old hamster geezer!”
Jiang Li remained unmoved by his tearful insults.
A huge teardrop wobbled in Jiang Fan’s eye before he finally choked out in resignation, “I can do it.”
Jiang Li grabbed a tissue and wiped his nose. “That’s a good boy. You’re the hero saving the day! You’ve rescued a poor, unfortunate female hamster’s life.”
In this script, wasn’t she precisely the heinous villain, arbitrarily playing matchmaker and meddling with fate?
After dealing with the troublesome kid, Jiang Li enjoyed her first weekend after rebirth.
She had no classes on Monday morning. After finishing the breakfast Shen Muran brought her, she spent the entire morning practicing the cello in her room.
There was still a month and a half left before the Aegean Cup performance. After selecting her piece, Jiang Li returned to school to sign up with Professor Zhu.
Zhu Zhentian: “Schubert’s ‘Sonata in A Minor’? Why did you choose this one?”
Jiang Li lowered her gaze in thought. “This piece tests a cellist’s technical finesse the most, requiring control over vibrato and bowing.”
“Trying to show off your skills?” Zhu Zhentian didn’t question further. “But this piece does suit you. Practice it well.”
The registration deadline had passed a week ago, but Zhu Zhentian had specifically reserved a spot for her.
If she had missed it, he would have considered her no longer his student.
But Jiang Li came.
The little girl didn’t disappoint him after all, living up to the spot he had reserved under pressure.
Jiang Li walked out of the office holding the sheet music.
She chose A minor not only for the reasons she gave Professor Zhu but also because of the melody’s immersion and the hope that emerges from silence.
After practicing for two days over the weekend, the opening melody carried a faint melancholy, yet within those lingering phrases lay the ever-renewing green sprouts beneath barren soil—a sense of rebirth.
It reflected Jiang Li’s current state of mind.
“Li-jie, we agreed to meet in the music classroom. Why did you come here?” Ji Chengyu ran up to her from behind, panting heavily.
“Why didn’t you answer my calls?” Ji Chengyu patted his chest to catch his breath and handed her a paper bag. “Here, I got the little cake you wanted.”
Jiang Li was still lost in the emotions of the piece. The sweet scent of cream that drifted to her nose dispelled the heaviness in her thoughts.
She reached out and took the paper bag. “Thanks, bro.”
Jiang Li took out the little cake, opened the front camera, and stood under a tree to take a perfect selfie from a beautiful angle.
Youthful beauty was the hallmark of this age.
Every girl’s most beautiful moments didn’t need editing to shine brilliantly.
She stuffed the cake back into Ji Chengyu’s arms and lowered her head to edit her social media post: 【A gift to bribe the sports assistant coach, all picked out～】
In the photo, she held the little cake, playfully winking at the camera.
“Wait, Li-jie, you made me run all the way to buy this just for a photo?”
Ji Chengyu had received some bad news the day before.
His brother had actually sold him to Jiang Li as a servant for a semester.
Weren’t servants supposed to be abolished after the founding of the nation?
But with an empty wallet and his livelihood at stake, he had no choice but to comply.
Sports Institute track field.
Shen Muran had just finished a three-kilometer aerobic endurance run and was sitting by the track drinking water to rest.
“Wow, Miss Jiang’s photo is so charming, like she’s smiling right at me.”
“Wonder who the assistant coach she mentioned is. Kinda jealous.”
The hushed discussions of a few classmates reached Shen Muran’s ears. He suddenly felt the urge to check how much money he had left in his WeChat wallet.
He casually tried to tap on 【Me】 but accidentally hit 【Discover】 next to it.
The first post in his feed was her update.
Shen Muran zoomed in and noticed the silver-haired, edgy wolf-cut mullet boy standing behind the girl, panting heavily with his tongue out.
He hadn’t received any notification about being an assistant coach.
So, had she found someone else?
But that guy wasn’t from the Sports Institute.
Helping her pass the fitness test wouldn’t earn him any credits.
Shen Muran rested for ten minutes, his heart rate still unsettled from the exercise.
The whistle blew again. He took another big gulp of water, turned off his screen, and prepared for the next round of training.
With twenty minutes left until Shen Muran’s class ended, Jiang Li went to sit and wait in the café next to the sports institute.
As for Ji Nucai, she dismissed him with a few casual words and sent him away.
For the date, she had specially picked out a super fresh and energetic sportswear outfit.
The girl rested her chin on her hands, propped on the table, imagining how Shen Muran would be stunned when he saw her.
The small cake on the table was picked up and then slammed back down, its smooth cream now uneven and bumpy.
“Ali, the badminton team has a lot of complicated matters. I can’t help with the assistant coach position, so I can’t accept this cake.”
Jiang Li was stunned for a moment.
Looking up, she saw a man with his hands in his pockets, looking down at her from very close, his eyes filled with a helpless expression that seemed to say, “Can’t you be more sensible?”
Their eyes met. Jiang Li stood up, poked his shoulder hard, and pushed him away.
“Damn it, pay up!”