Yan Qiu's eyes lit up.
This was practically heaven chasing after her to feed her a meal!
Jiang Xiaoxiao, who had just been praised as exceptionally gifted, remained completely unaware as she placed her hands on her hips and proudly puffed out her small chest. "Achen-gege, look, I wasn't lying to you, right! I really did memorize all of it!"
Her adorable, slightly spoiled little appearance was cute enough to melt hearts—especially the little braids on top of her head that swayed back and forth, swaying the boy's heart until it melted. He couldn't resist using his index finger to gently scrape her little nose. "Really amazing."
"You're one smart little brat."
Being called a brat once again, Jiang Xiaoxiao pouted and cautiously made a request. "Achen-gege, could you not call me a brat…"
"Why not?" Qi Jinchen raised his eyes with keen interest.
Jiang Xiaoxiao felt anxious inside.
She worried that making too many demands would make him dislike her.
Before she could speak, her body was bumped, and she nearly tumbled to the ground—luckily her center of gravity was stable enough.
She turned her head. It was none other than Jiang Xiaowei.
Jiang Xiaowei rolled her eyes and flashed an awkward grin. "Sorry, Xiaoxiao, I accidentally bumped into you."
She clearly did it on purpose.
Jiang Xiaoxiao grumbled inwardly.
But she didn't dare say it openly. She worried that if she angered Jiang Xiaowei, the pretty auntie and Achen-gege might not come to take her away later, and once she went back, she'd only face even worse treatment from Jiang Qingmei. At the thought of this, Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but tremble with fear.
Qi Jinchen took in the whole scene. He stepped forward and shielded her behind him. "Why did you bump into my Xiaoxiao?" His voice was low, carrying a trace of coldness.
His small face was tense, wrapped in a chill that didn't match his age.
'My Xiaoxiao…'
Hearing those words, Jiang Xiaoxiao's cheeks turned as red as a monkey's bottom.
Even the tips of her ears were burning.
In her memory, only Mama had called her that when she was little. The pretty gege calling her that—did he want to be her mama? But the pretty gege was a boy, and their ages didn't match at all.
Jiang Xiaoxiao sank into deep contemplation over this question.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xiaowei's face across from her had gone pale with fright. Unwilling to accept it, she puffed out her cheeks. "How can Achen-gege take the side of a thief!"
"Jiang Xiaoxiao's parents stole from lots of families in the village and ran away! The child left behind by thieves must be a thief too—sticky fingers, you know. Achen-gege should check if anything's missing from his pockets!"
Qi Jinchen's sword-like brows furrowed in displeasure. "She's not a thief."
"She is too!" Jiang Xiaowei, who had always been spoiled beyond control, had no idea what the current situation was. She only knew that no one could talk back to her, and she spouted nonsense freely. "Lots of kids in the village have had their things stolen!"
"If you don't believe me, Achen-gege, you can go door to door and ask!" Jiang Xiaowei said with absolute certainty, crossing her arms.
Qi Jinchen still didn't believe it.
Finding the girl in front of him noisy and irritating, he pulled the silent Jiang Xiaoxiao to sit down at the side and ordered his bodyguard to scare Jiang Xiaowei away.
Seeing Jiang Xiaoxiao sitting silently on the little stool with her head down, Qi Jinchen thought she'd been struck in a sore spot. His voice softened. "I believe Xiaoxiao isn't a thief."
Only then did Jiang Xiaoxiao come back to her senses. She opened her big, innocent eyes and blinked. "Pretty gege, what's wrong?"
Qi Jinchen paused.
He simply assumed she didn't want to talk about this topic and was deliberately changing the subject. His heart couldn't help but clench. He gave a gentle, refined smile. "Nothing. What were you thinking about?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao's blush, which had just faded, climbed back up again.
She felt like she had a fever.
Fortunately, she was used to working in the fields on a daily basis, so her body was thin and wiry, her skin sallow and darkened by the sun—nothing that would make Qi Jinchen notice anything unusual. She stole a quick, furtive glance at him, her voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz. "A mommy can only have one…"
"What?" Qi Jinchen didn't understand what she meant.
Jiang Xiaoxiao thought about how the beautiful auntie and the beautiful older brother were both kind and understanding celestial beings who would surely never blame her—after all, a mommy could only be one person.
How could a boy become her mommy?
With that thought, she took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and blurted it all out in one go. "Brother Aochen! Xiaoxiao does have a mommy—she's in a place very, very far away, and Mommy said she will definitely come back! So Xiaoxiao can't call Brother Aochen 'Mommy.'"
Her little face was serious, even grave.
Qi Jinchen hadn't processed it yet, tilting his head in a daze. "Why would you say that?"
Jiang Xiaoxiao kept her eyes shut the whole time, afraid of seeing the beautiful older brother's angry face. When she heard the question, she answered matter-of-factly, "Because 'my Xiaoxiao' is what only Mommy calls me."
"…" Qi Jinchen stifled a laugh.
So this little one had been agonizing over this all along!
Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't hear any sound for a long while. She cautiously lifted her eyelids just a crack, and when her gaze landed on that face so beautiful it even made her envious, she saw that he didn't seem angry at all.
She gathered her courage. "Brother Aochen, are you angry?"
"Pfft—" Qi Jinchen burst out laughing.
Jiang Xiaoxiao froze.
The beautiful older brother's smile was way, way, way too handsome! Even more handsome than the celestial beings in the sky—though she'd never actually seen any celestial beings, he really was that good-looking. Even more approachable than Uncle Xiaomao. Jiang Xiaoxiao felt that the Brother Aochen before her was as warm as the sun in the sky!
She stared with wide eyes, not daring to blink.
Afraid that this beautiful sight would vanish the next second.
Yan Qiu, having finished her work, heard the laughter and felt her heart flutter with excitement. She sat down beside them, doing her best to hide her inner thrill. "What happened?" In her heart, she thought that bringing Jiang Xiaoxiao into the film crew had been an absolutely wonderful decision!
If it were possible, she'd even consider adopting her!
Since Jiang Qingmei wasn't Jiang Xiaoxiao's biological mother, then adoption wasn't entirely out of the question.
Yan Qiu mulled it over in her mind.
Qi Jinchen reined in his smile and briefly recounted what had happened.
Yan Qiu laughed so hard she couldn't close her mouth, then couldn't resist reaching out with her delicate hand to pinch Jiang Xiaoxiao's little cheek. "Xiaoxiao, you are just too adorable! So adorable that Auntie's heart is about to melt."
Jiang Xiaoxiao's expression turned tense, and she frantically grabbed a cup.
Yan Qiu and Qi Jinchen were baffled by this sudden move.
Seeing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao urgently shoved the cup toward her, then scratched her head, looking a bit embarrassed. "Auntie, where did your heart melt to? Hurry and catch it—if it melts, what are we going to do? Xiaoxiao would be a sinner…"
Her little face was full of worry, at a complete loss.
Even though she didn't know what she'd done wrong.
But Uncle Xiaomao had told her that the heart was the most important thing in the human body—if anything ever went wrong with it, you couldn't run around and play anymore. So before she left, he'd specifically warned her: no matter what you hit, never hit the chest.
Jiang Xiaoxiao used her own small body to gauge where the beautiful auntie's heart was, panicking as she tried to catch it.
"Hahaha…" Yan Qiu was tickled silly. "Auntie's heart didn't melt, you're not a sinner. Auntie just couldn't help being happy seeing how adorable you are—that's why I said it."
Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao let out a huge sigh of relief.
Her little expression was extremely serious. "Auntie, you can't joke about the heart—it's a very important part, and we need to protect it!"
The five-year-old little tot puffed out her cheeks, looking dead serious.
Her earnest manner had all the other adults in the room doubling over with laughter.
Only Jiang Xiaowei, hiding in a small corner not far away, gradually darkened her gaze, glaring furiously at Jiang Xiaoxiao. Someone who ate and slept with dogs—what right did she have to be more popular than her?!