Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Siblings Go to the Provincial City Together

After dinner, Luo’s Mom took out a suitcase she bought after work. The not too big, not too small suitcase was the black color Shufan liked. She packed the siblings’ change of clothes and also the money kept separately, ”This is the money you two need to give to the teacher tomorrow. Shufan, you hold it. This is the money for buying gifts after the exams. Don’t forget your classmates, teachers, and Xiao Yu’s godparents, I put it in Qianqian’s jacket pocket.”

”Mom, we’ll be gone for so many days, I’m going to miss you.” Luo Qianqian, regardless of her mom packing, directly threw herself into her mom’s arms to act like a child.

Luo’s Mom, stroking Luo Qianqian’s head, said softly, ”Mom will miss you too. Don’t be nervous, just consider it a trip for fun. Enjoy yourselves.”

”Mom, no one else demotivates like this. Other families all say to do well on the test, but you say to have fun,” Luo Qianqian pouted at Luo’s Mom, ”What gift do you want, Mom?”

”Do you even need me to remind you? Just be happy, don’t stress yourselves out too much,” Luo’s Mom said with a light laugh. Not because both kids are great so she’s at ease, nor because Elder Zhang said so, so she let go, but rather she felt as a child being happy and healthy is what matters. That’s what parents should hope for.

Shufan, watching his sister being affectionate, also smiled and spoke, ”Happy and joyous troublemaker, isn’t that just Qianqian?”

”Brother!!!” Luo Qianqian crawled out from her mom’s embrace and chased Shufan around the house.

Luo’s Mom packed the two children’s clothes and snacks, watching her sister chase her brother around the house like an angry kitten, her eyes smiling.

Luo’s Mom got up early to take Luo siblings to school and saw He Wenyu waiting at the staircase.

”Xiao Yu, why are you up so early?” Luo Qianqian asked, holding He Wenyu’s hand, curiously looking at He Wenyu, who wore neither uniform nor carried a school bag.

”Qianqian, this is for you, I made this peace charm with mom yesterday. You got to work hard,” He Wenyu said, attaching the cross-stitched charm to Luo Qianqian’s backpack, then took out another one, ”Brother has one too,” he handed it to Shufan.

”You must have stayed up late, right?” Luo Qianqian noticed the adhesive bandages on He Wenyu’s hand, her nose twitching, ”Does it hurt?”

”Not at all, but you have to push hard, really hard for my sake too,” He Wenyu’s gaze also blurred a bit as he said, ”I’m going home for lunch now. Remember to bring me a gift.”

As he spoke, the He family’s door opened and then closed, leaving Luo Qianqian baffled.

”Xiao Yu can’t bear to part with you. Come on, it’s time to go,” Luo’s Mom said with a smile as she looked at the firmly closed door.

Luo Qianqian turned back as she reached the intersection, seeing a small silhouette waving continuously from He Wenyu’s window. She waved back at the small figure. She thought to herself, would this silly kid keep waving if she hadn’t looked back?

”Mom, will Qianqian wet the bed tonight?” Shufan, seeing his sister’s melancholic demeanor, quickly spoke to change the subject.

Luo’s Mom looked at her son, rendering her momentarily speechless. Caring about wetting the bed instead of being homesick??? She still responded, ”She probably won’t.”

”Mom, brother is obviously making small talk, don’t mind him; he is the one who wets the bed,” Luo Qianqian huffed and turned her head away from him.

Shufan was both annoyed and amused, annoyed because his sister wouldn’t appreciate the joke, amused because his sister turned around and accused him back.

”Both of you stop it now. Shufan, take care of your sister. Watch her closely on the bus, don’t let her be kidnapped by traffickers,” Luo’s Mom earnestly instructed, ”Nowadays, traffickers don’t just kidnap kids to sell them to remote mountains. They might break their arms and legs to throw them on the street to beg, or even harvest their organs to sell.”

”Mom, where did you hear that from?” Shufan looked incredulous.

Luo’s Mom seriously told Shufan, ”It was written in the newspapers. Watch your sister carefully, don’t let bad people take her away.”

”Mom, little boys are more valuable, sold to the mountains to become the only child in the family and carry on the lineage,” Luo Qianqian added with a mischievous smile.

Shufan couldn’t help but glance at his relaxed sister and said, ”Ever heard of clay pot rice? That’s where they chop up kids like you and stew them in pots,” he joked dead seriously.

”Brother, you have to watch me. If someone else lures me away with a lollipop, let’s see how you’ll explain to Mom,” Luo Qianqian jumped in front of Shufan acting spoiled, she definitely couldn’t let their banter make her brother not care about her later.

Upon hearing his sister’s words, Shufan’s first reaction was to move the backpack from behind to the front and open it to check, then he finally relaxed and said, ”You are so picky, who could abduct you just like that? Besides, look whose sister you are, you can’t be that naive.”

”Are you praising your sister or yourself?” Luo’s Mom laughed, looking at her two children, and said affectionately, ”Don’t even think about going out and having fun on your own, in unfamiliar places.”

”Mom, should I tell you that she has been in the provincial city for three years of university?” Luo Qianqian thought to herself, then still put on a smiling face, ”Yes, yes, yes, my brother and I are the most obedient.” Not letting Mom worry was what mattered most.

When they arrived at the meeting point—the school entrance, looking at classmates laden with big and small bags, Luo Shufan then looked at the suitcase that Mom had packed, and silently marveled. Mom was the most exaggerated, but packing so much stuff was bound to be heavy, and he had to take care of his sister, so pulling the suitcase was best.

After greeting Luo Shufan’s class teacher and the leading teacher, Luo’s Mom seriously entrusted the siblings with some instructions before reluctantly heading to work, her face full of reluctance.

The leading teacher looked at Luo Qianqian and was secretly startled. Although he had been forewarned, seeing such a young child participate in the re-contest was still a bit hard to accept.

”Luo Shufan, this is your sister?” The one that the Bole Elementary School had asked him to take extra care of, and who had also been quietly entrusted by Elder Yuan from the school and even received a warning call from Elder Zhang from the Experimental High School?

”Hello teacher, I am Luo Qianqian, the bona fide younger sister of Luo Shufan.” Luo Qianqian saw the surprise in the leading teacher’s eyes but took it as due to her age and didn’t think further.

”Very well, sit next to me later, and just follow me,” the leading teacher cleared his throat, ”My name is Meng Xuedao, if you have any problems or get lost just mention my name.”

”Okay, thank you, teacher.” Luo Shufan held his sister’s hand and followed closely behind Meng Xuedao, although he didn’t understand why the teacher was particularly caring towards them, he wouldn’t refuse anything that was good for his sister.

The Experimental Middle School had chartered a bus to take those participating in the competition to the train station. Seeing that there were still empty seats, Luo Qianqian couldn’t help but wonder, ”Brother, are there only a few of us?”

”Our school has just these few people. According to the teacher, there are a total of one hundred slots for the contest, with one to two thousand people vying for twenty final spots,” Luo Shufan shrugged, catching his sister’s wandering hand and putting a milk candy into her palm, ”Just like Mom said, we should treat it as going out to have fun.”

”That exaggerated?” Luo Qianqian stuck out her tongue, ”I’m just there to join in the fun. With big brother around, there’s hardly any room for cute little me to shine.”

”Shufan, your sister is really fun, can I borrow her for two days?” A boy sitting in the front turned around and joked with the two.

Luo Shufan punched the boy on the back, ”Yang Yang, are you asking to borrow a kitten or a puppy? Why don’t you loan your mom to me for two days to do my laundry?”

”If my mom agrees, I don’t mind,” Yang Yang stretched his legs across the aisle, resting his head on his arms on the back of the bus seat, looking at Luo Shufan.

Luo Qianqian covered her mouth and giggled silently, watching the two. Her brother also had such good friends, not the introverted sort who can’t crack a smile, like in his previous life.

”Little sister, big brother gave you candy to eat. How about coming to play at my house for two days, big brother will braid your hair, and even put you in a little skirt,” Yang Yang turned around with a tone as if coaxing a child.

Luo Shufan smiled at his friend’s behavior, really thinking his little tiger of a sister was a cute little kitten, too young indeed.

Luo Qianqian looked at her brother’s expectant expression and was momentarily speechless. Is this a real brother’s behavior? Is it a trap for the sister or the friend? Then she spoke up, ”Big brother, do you love playing with Barbies? Qianqian hasn’t played with such kid’s toys for a long time, I’ve given them all to my sister. Perhaps, big brother, you can play with my sister when she grows up?”

”Barbie...” Yang Yang was momentarily stunned, not sure what kind of expression to make, his mouth twitching as he changed the subject, ”How old is your sister?”

”She was born this May, she’s half a year old now,” Luo Qianqian thought of the little chubby one calling her sister in the future and couldn’t hide her joy.

Yang Yang cast a resentful glance at Luo Shufan, silently turned his head, and stopped joking.

The moment they got off the bus, Meng Xuedao had everyone line up in front of the bus to distribute tickets, and happily brought Luo Shufan and Luo Qianqian forward, happily checking their tickets and getting them on board.

As soon as Luo Qianqian got on the train, she began to become lively. She had never ridden a train in her previous life; she always took the high-speed rail, which was fast and quiet. She hadn’t expected to have such an experience in this lifetime.

The train had a window in the front with two opposite rows of seats, on the left were two rows of three-seaters, and on the right were two rows of two-seaters. There was a small table by the window for placing things like water, and a tray for trash too. Looking at Luo Qianqian, Luo Shufan also felt in high spirits.

”Luo Qianqian, you sit on the inside, Luo Shufan, you sit in the middle,” Meng Xuedao pointed to a row of seats, the three people sitting opposite who had already settled down couldn’t help but show a bitter expression—how could they have fun with the teacher sitting across from them?

”Teacher Meng, I’ve already finished arranging everything, luckily we caught it in time,” another leading teacher, a young female, moved through the carriage handing a binder to Meng Xuedao, and said, ”Is that the big suitcase you mentioned?” pointing at the large suitcase Luo Shufan held in front of him.

”No, you should sit down too, we’re about to leave,” Luo Qianqian stuck out her tongue. Although the suitcase wasn’t full, it was still not small in size, although compared to the ones she used to take to school, it was nothing at all.