Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack

Chapter 408: Chapter 389: Picked Up a Burden

However, Feng obviously wasn’t as easygoing as Luo Qianqian, so he sighed over the good fortune of those three children but still quickly got into the car.

Luo Qianqian’s side felt a lot more relaxed. Though she let the three children sit together while she took the passenger seat, she would still occasionally turn around to chat with the children, asking what they would like to eat, making the atmosphere in the rental car much better than the tense one in Feng’s car.

Upon arrival, Luo Qianqian paid for the ride. Feng’s car also arrived, apparently having followed closely behind the taxi.

Feng went to park his car while Luo Qianqian led the eight children into the restaurant and calmly asked, ”Do you have a private room?”

The server, seeing a group of children, scrunching their nose upon noting that aside from the one leading them who was dressed cleanly, the others were all dirty, frowned, ”The minimum charge for a private room is six hundred yuan.”

Luo Qianqian coolly pulled out her wallet and slapped down six hundred yuan, ”Then, give me six hundred yuan worth of hot and sour shredded potatoes.”

The restaurant owner, who initially worried the children wouldn’t have enough money to pay, saw Luo Qianqian’s behavior and quickly stepped forward, scolding the waitress before saying, ”You can order normally, there’s no minimum charge. Uncle will give you a discount.” He then respectfully returned the six hundred yuan back to Luo Qianqian.

Luo Qianqian snorted, ”Your judgments aren’t very good, are they? Just because someone’s dressed poorly, they can’t afford a meal? Is it better to wear comfortable clothes? Those scrimping to buy brand names may not necessarily have the leisure to dine out.”

Just then, Feng walked in and saw Luo Qianqian furrowing her brows slightly, ”What’s the matter? Didn’t I tell you to order first?”

”Someone doubted that we could afford to eat, told me the private room had a minimum charge of six hundred yuan, so here I am slapping down the money to make a point,” Luo Qianqian said, completely disregarding the owner’s hint. She found it laughable that she would care about not eating here in the future.

”Oh?” Feng didn’t speak and just looked at the owner with a snicker.

The owner hurried over, ”Boss Shi, it’s you. Please, come into the private room.”

Luo Qianqian raised an eyebrow; she didn’t know Feng’s surname was Shi.

Feng waved his hand dismissively, ”No need. I’m taking my niece and her friends to eat somewhere else.” He then stuffed the waving money back into Luo Qianqian’s wallet and put the wallet into his own pocket, ”Why would you pay when you’re out with me? I’m scared I’ll drown in spit. Let’s go.”

Luo Qianqian knew he was saving her face in front of the owner and then gestured with her hand, ”We’re all hungry. Let’s eat here. I trust the owner won’t serve us substandard dishes.”

The owner, turning a shade of green at her words, nodded, ”Yeah, eat here. I’ll cook myself. Jingjing, take Boss Shi to the private room.” Another smiling woman emerged from behind the counter to meet them.

The owner glared at the waitress, ”Cause any more trouble and you can just get out of here, and don’t even think about getting paid!” With that, he went back to the kitchen.

Luo Qianqian swiftly ordered from the menu. She chose fish, meat, vegetables, and didn’t forget the soup. Then she looked at the children at the table, ”Anything else you want to eat?” They all shook their heads; Luo Qianqian had already ordered far too much.

Luo Qianqian nodded, ”Bring more rice.”

Feng frowned, about to say that eating too much after waiting for so long wasn’t good, but then he heard Luo Qianqian speak up, ”Who remembers their home phone number? I have a cellphone here, you can contact your family. Don’t worry if you can’t remember; we’ll find them slowly.”

Most of the children, being around ten years old, easily remembered a phone number. So they all lined up to make calls. Luo Qianqian looked at Little One sitting quietly beside her, ”What’s the matter, little sister? Can’t remember your home phone? How about your parents’ names then?”

Little One glanced at Luo Qianqian and said, ”I’m different from them. They were kidnapped; I was sold. My parents are dead, and my aunt didn’t want to take care of me, so she sold me.” Then after a moment’s pause, continued, ”My name is Lu Simiao. I’m a boy, so don’t call me little sister.”

Luo Qianqian’s eyes widened in shock - what?! The cute short-haired girl turned out to be a cute short-haired boy in disguise?!??

But the next second, her heart ached terribly for the child’s experiences. How could relatives be like this?

”Do you still have family? Grandparents? Maternal grandparents?”

Lu Simiao shook his head, ”They’re gone. She was my only relative.” He saw shock and compassion but, thankfully, no pity in Luo Qianqian’s eyes, which greatly comforted him.

But the next second, Luo Qianqian’s words sent panic through him, ”What will you do then? Will you go to an orphanage or where?”

”I can cook, clean, and make pastries. I can work to earn money. Can I stay with you, sister?” he asked.

The question took both Luo Qianqian and Feng aback. How could such a situation arise???

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However, these two people thought entirely different things. Luo Qianqian thought, ”This child truly has no mother; like a blade of grass, such a young age and already has to learn so much.”

Feng thought, ”Could this be the legendary ’drag’?”

But Luo Qianqian didn’t speak; she touched Lu Simiao’s hair and said, ”Let me think about it, okay?”

Lu Simiao nodded but also added, ”If you don’t want me to follow you, I’ll just go work somewhere far away, just don’t know if I’ll be picked up again...”

Feng was speechless. Was this a threat? Was it really good for such a small child to be so calculating?

Luo Qianqian nodded, ”I’ll give you an answer after they are all picked up by their families.”

Lu Simiao smiled, ”Okay.”

Meanwhile, a girl grabbed Luo Qianqian, ”Excuse me, where is this place? My dad said he’s coming to pick me up.”

Luo Qianqian quickly recited the address, leaving the address of the hotel next door, saying once the person arrived, they could just contact this number.

Fortunately, there were no further issues with the seven others; all their families had agreed to come and pick them up right away. What surprised Luo Qianqian was that one of the quiet girls, unlike the others, was different. They were all brought from the same place, but this girl called a number in Capital City and spoke clearly and logically to the other side, not crying like the other girls.

The food was served. Aside from Luo Qianqian and Feng, the remaining eight devoured their food like mad after Luo Qianqian served each one a chopstickful. Luo Qianqian didn’t eat, instead pouring drinks for each of them, watching over these poor children.

Feng had never expected that such a mundane B-level task could involve so many difficulties. A profound look flashed across his eyes.

After having their fill, the children’s bellies were all round. Luo Qianqian smiled, ”Your parents will probably arrive at the earliest by tomorrow, do you want to stay at the hotel or stay at the hotel?”

What’s the difference? Feng paid for the meal and looked at Luo Qianqian. It was better for her to make decisions like this; even as a man, he was being shunned by the group of kids.

”We can all stay in one room,” the oldest girl immediately said, knowing that Luo Qianqian intended to let them stay there from the start, which is why she had them tell their families the address. But she was still afraid Luo Qianqian might have ulterior motives.

The quiet girl suddenly spoke up, ”I want to stay in the same room as you.”

Luo Qianqian was surprised but nodded anyway; it was all the same to her.

Lu Simiao, who spoke up too late, glared at the girl.

However, Luo Qianqian patted his head, ”Boys should stay with boys. Would you stay with this uncle to help your sister keep an eye on him so he won’t go out drinking?”

Feng was utterly speechless. Was he that lacking in principles?

Lu Simiao looked at Feng and then firmly nodded to Luo Qianqian.

The other girls were worried about not sleeping well or something like that but didn’t refuse to stay six in a room. Luo Qianqian calmly booked a triple room and tossed the room card to them, then asked the girl, ”Do you want to share a bed with me or have separate beds?”

The girl immediately said, ”The same bed,” as if afraid Luo Qianqian would change her mind if she was slow to respond.

Luo Qianqian smiled, then booked another standard room and a suite. That’s right, if she was spending the money, she wanted to stay somewhere nice.

Upon entering the room, Luo Qianqian realized the girl was actually a bit taller than her, raising her eyebrows in surprise. Was she really that short?

The next morning, parents came one after another. Luo Qianqian did not refuse the reward money they offered in gratitude and simply accepted it. Why pretend to be courteous when they had no other connection?

But no one from the family of the girl in her room had come yet: ”Your family might have made a mistake. Don’t worry, they will come to pick you up.”

The girl nodded, not a bit worried.

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