Ning Wanwan looked at her son’s expression and felt a sudden pang of unease. This little rascal—was he up to something again?
She then turned her gaze to Jiang Xian’s face.
The little girl had been woken up early by her parents and wasn’t feeling very energetic. After the initial excitement of seeing Shen Yan had subsided, she had settled down and was now rubbing her eyes as she walked.
Seeing this, Ning Wanwan couldn’t help but laugh. “Xianxian, did you not sleep well?”
Xu Shu glanced at her daughter, looking both exasperated and a little helpless. “She was so excited last night thinking she’d get to see Yan Yan that she just wouldn’t go to sleep. Then she was woken up early this morning, so of course she’s not feeling her best.”
Shen Yan suddenly lifted his head and looked at Ning Wanwan.
The little rascal hadn’t said a single word, but damn it, Ning Wanwan found herself actually understanding the meaning behind her son’s gaze.
Ning Wanwan sighed inwardly at having given birth to such a little master of blackmail, then steeled herself to speak up: “Your place is really quite far from school. It’s too hard on Xianxian to get up so early every day. She’s at an age where she’s growing, and she can’t afford to be sleep-deprived. Why don’t you let her stay at our place? That way, the two kids can keep each other company.”
The Shen family’s old mansion was only about ten minutes’ walk from the school.
The Jiang family’s home, however, was over an hour away. If it weren’t for the fact that the school the Shen family had chosen was truly excellent—one that most people couldn’t get into—Xu Shu and Jiang Zheng, who both didn’t want to hold their children back, wouldn’t have sent them so far away to study.
“How could that be? That would be too much trouble for you.” Xu Shu’s first reaction was to refuse.
Who would let their own child stay at someone else’s house?
Besides, it wasn’t just for a day or two.
However, the long commute was indeed a problem.
Ning Wanwan smiled and said, “What’s the big deal? Are you really going to be so formal with me?”
Over the past three years, the two families had become as close as one. As far as Ning Wanwan was concerned, having one more person in the house really wasn’t a big deal.
“Your husband, Jiang Zheng, just got promoted, didn’t he? He’s bound to be busy from now on and probably won’t have time for the household. And aren’t you planning to go back to work too? It works out perfectly. I really like this girl. Let Xianxian stay with us during the week—I’ll help take care of her—and you can pick her up on the weekends. Or are you worried she’ll be mistreated if she stays at the Shen household?”
Don’t ask how she knew so much about the Jiang couple’s affairs—it was all thanks to that little rascal.
The little rascal was finding new ways to stir things up every day, and his intentions were all too obvious. The old man would definitely never agree to let them keep living out there, but having the Jiang family move in wasn’t very realistic either.
So the only option was to find a way to get the little girl to move in.
But her parents were perfectly capable—why on earth would they agree to let their one and only precious daughter live in someone else’s home?
That just meant we had to figure something out.
Jiang Zheng had just been promoted recently, and the company wanted to send him to oversee the branch office. The problem was, the branch was in a neighboring city, a two-hour drive from Beijing, making the commute extremely inconvenient.
Moreover, once he was transferred, there was no telling how long it would take to return.
But this opportunity was extremely rare; countless people were scrambling to get it. Everyone knew that as long as they delivered results at the branch office, promotions and raises would follow.
Jiang Zheng was quite surprised that this opportunity had fallen to him.
On one hand, he wanted to seize the chance, but on the other, he couldn’t bear to leave his wife and child behind.
Given the abundance of talented people in the company, the fact that such a great opportunity fell to Jiang Zheng wasn’t solely due to his own outstanding abilities.
What he didn’t know was that the Shen family was behind it all.
To be precise, it was all thanks to that little brat.
Under normal circumstances, parents wouldn’t agree to let their only precious daughter live with another family, but what if they were too busy to take care of her?
When Shen Song’an brought this up with her, Ning Wanwan was taken aback.
She had no idea how that little rascal could be so cunning.
It was as if she’d given birth to a full-fledged schemer.
Though she wasn’t sure if that kind of temperament was a blessing or a curse.
She also feared that if the Jiangs refused, the little rascal might come up with even more extreme measures.
If he went too far and damaged the relationship between the two families, that wouldn’t be good.
Ning Wanwan said, “To be honest, I have my own motives. As you’ve seen, Yan Yan doesn’t get close to anyone—he only cares about that girl Xianxian. I’m hoping Xianxian can spend more time with him, so maybe it’ll help the little rascal change his ways.”
With her putting it that way, Xu Shu couldn’t very well refuse.
Although Jiang Zheng’s transfer to Lin City hadn’t been finalized yet, it was almost certain to happen. If that happened, it would indeed be quite inconvenient for her to go out and look for a job on her own while taking care of the child.
But if she waited another two years, finding a job later on would be much harder.
Leaving Jiang Xian with the Shen family turned out to be the best solution.
It was just a bit of a burden on them.
Seeing the hesitation in her expression, Ning Wanwan continued, “If you’re really worried, why not ask Xianxian what she thinks?”
She turned to Jiang Xian. “Xianxian, would you like to live with Yanyan?”
The little girl had just yawned again, and tears were still hanging from her eyelashes, but upon hearing the question, she immediately nodded her little head.
“I do! I want to live with Yanyan!” the little girl answered in a very loud voice.
Seeing her like this, Xu Shu finally relented. “It’s fine, but I still need to go home and discuss it with her dad.” After all, this was such a big decision; she couldn’t make it on her own.
“Alright.” Upon hearing this, Ning Wanwan knew the matter was as good as settled.
If it didn’t work out, there was nothing she could do about it.
She certainly couldn’t just force the issue!
After dropping the two little ones off at the classroom door, Xu Shu took a special moment to check Jiang Xian’s backpack, afraid she might have secretly stashed some strange items inside to bring to school.
After thoroughly searching every nook and cranny to make sure there was nothing out of place, Xu Shu handed the backpack back to her and said, “Pay attention in class. No fooling around, and no getting into trouble. Otherwise, just wait until we get home and see what I’ll do to you.”
Jiang Xian took the backpack with both hands, puffed out her little chest, and huffed like a little adult, “ “I know! I’m not a five-year-old anymore!”
She was already six—a big girl now!
It would be so embarrassing if the other kids saw her getting scolded by her mom.
“That’s right, our Xianxian is a big girl now. We should trust her,” Ning Wanwan said with a smile, ruffling Jiang Xian’s hair.
She really was a little gem.
The more Ning Wanwan looked at the little girl, the more she liked her. Her eyes filled with affection as she said, “Since you’re a big girl now, how about Auntie gives you a task?”
“What kind of task?” Jiang Xian blinked her big eyes, looking at her curiously.
“Help Auntie look after Yan Yan and help him make more friends,” Ning Wanwan said with a smile.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Xian stretched out her little chubby hand and patted her chest, promising, “I promise to complete the mission!” She looked as if she had just accepted some sacred and arduous task.
“Alright, then Auntie will leave Yan Yan in your care.”