Chapter 44

"Are you not going to sleep again tonight?" Zhang Tan asked with a sigh.

Xiaobai: "I'm just chatting."

Zhang Tan didn't understand: "What do you mean?"

Xiaobai tried another way: "I'm just shooting the breeze."

Zhang Tan was even more confused. He had heard of "chatting" before but didn't know what it meant, and "shooting the breeze" was completely foreign to him.

Xiaobai sighed, frustrated by his lack of understanding. Her temper flared, and she burst out in a high-pitched voice: "It means chatting, you know!"

Then she muttered, "Hao Bao."

"..." Zhang Tan said, feeling wronged, "You're so loud when you want to chat, and you even yell at me."

Xiaobai, thinking about her lack of patience with unintelligent people, chuckled awkwardly: "Uncle, you need to study more."

At his age, he should be studying hard, yet he couldn't even understand what a child was saying. Even Meng Chengcheng, a silly kid, could understand.

Of course, Xiaobai only compared herself to the good ones. Her Sichuan dialect was only understandable to the dim-witted Meng Chengcheng, while the mischievous Shen Liuliu was clueless and needed a translator.

Zhang Tan hadn't expected that after being so impressive at the company, he would be yelled at by a 4.5-year-old kid at the school and even told to study more. Was this a challenge to his learning ability?

"It's so late, why are you still chatting? Go upstairs and sleep."

As he said this, he caught Xiaobai and tried to take her away.

Xiaobai quickly clung to the classroom door, refusing to leave, and shouted: "Why? Why, Uncle? What are you going to do?"

Zhang Tan was speechless. Telling her to go to sleep made it seem like he was herding a pig into a pen.

Thinking about how this child often stayed up late and wandered around, Zhang Tan decided not to force her.

"Since you don't want to sleep, I'll leave. It's too late, and I don't want to chat anymore."

Xiaobai followed him step by step.

"Uncle, where did you go today?"

"Today, I had an argument with Luo Zikang, that silly kid. I won, hehehe."

"Why is Luo Zikang always so silly?"

"Uncle, have you eaten?"

...

Talking about food, Xiaobai remembered something and ran off like the wind. When Zhang Tan opened the door, Xiaobai, with the fish-belly glass bottle in her arms, rushed in.

"Uncle, look at my specialty."

She proudly handed the fish-belly glass bottle to Zhang Tan.

"Did you finish your candied fruit? What's inside?"

Zhang Tan examined it carefully. It was a cicada.

"Hehehe~ Ha~~" Xiaobai laughed like a goose.

"It's a lazy cicada, caught by Xiaobai. Ha, this is my specialty."

A lazy cicada is a cicada.

Zhang Tan and Xiaobai went inside, closed the door, and turned on the air conditioner.

"You caught it? Did you climb a tree again?"

Xiaobai quickly shook her head. She was strictly forbidden to climb trees, but the order wasn't from Zhang Tan. His orders had no effect. It was Aunt Huang who gave the order, and only she could control Xiaobai. Even Teacher Xiaoliu was a step behind.

"The lazy cicada fell on the ground, and I caught it. I'm pretty good, right?" Xiaobai said proudly.

Zhang Tan casually praised her but thought to himself that the glass bottle had just held candied fruit, and now it held a cicada. Before, it had held dragonflies, earthworms, beetles, mosquitoes... Why did she like catching small insects so much?

Zhang Tan turned on the TV for Xiaobai and told her to sit on the sofa while he went to take a shower. He was sweaty and uncomfortable.

Xiaobai sat up straight, holding the fish-belly glass bottle, and swore: "Uncle, go take a shower. I won't steal anything from your house!"

Zhang Tan was speechless. He opened the fridge, took out a bottle of bear drink for Xiaobai, inserted a straw, and handed it to her, saying: "Of course I know you won't steal. You're a good kid. Drink up, I'm going to take a shower."

Although her eyes were glued to the bear drink, Xiaobai politely said: "That's not good, right~"

Zhang Tan pushed it into her arms and said to reassure her: "I made some money today, so I'm treating you."

Xiaobai caught it with a smile, her face beaming. She then said enviously: "Uncle, you made money again. Making money is your specialty."

"Sort of, I'm just better than most."

"Wow~~~"

Zhang Tan went into the bathroom, and Xiaobai looked around, even under the sofa, but saw no one else. She then nestled into the sofa, holding the bear drink, watching the cartoon on TV, feeling very happy. Her little feet couldn't help but tap, and she started to hum and sing:

"Tang Seng rides a horse, dong that dong, followed by Sun Wukong..."

When Zhang Tan came out of the bathroom, Xiaobai was singing: "The old witch, truly evil, deceived Tang Seng and Zhu Bajie..."

She didn't notice Zhang Tan had come out and was singing enthusiastically, completely immersed in her own story.

"What are you singing?" Zhang Tan asked.

The sudden voice startled Xiaobai.

"Chuan chuan! You scared me!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"I forgive you. The bear drink is really good, so yummy. This is what my grandma taught me. Do you want to learn? I can teach you."

Zhang Tan said with interest: "Sing it for me."

Xiaobai took a deep breath, drank a mouthful of bear drink, stood up from the sofa, straightened her back, and sang seriously: "Tang Seng rides a horse, dong that dong, followed by Sun Wukong. Sun Wukong runs fast, followed by Zhu Bajie..."

After finishing, Xiaobai asked bluntly: "How was it? Do you believe this is my specialty now?"

"Great, great, it really is your specialty," Zhang Tan praised.

She sang really well, with a good rhythm and a pleasant feel.

Encouraged by his praise, Xiaobai laughed like a goose.

Zhang Tan had her sing two more songs, which she chose herself. One was "Jumping in the Mud Pit," and the other was "I Love Bouncing." The songs weren't great, but she sang them really well. Zhang Tan thought this might really be Xiaobai's specialty.

"Uncle, praise me a bit, and I'll leave," Xiaobai said.

Zhang Tan praised her, and after laughing enough, Xiaobai immediately got up and waved goodbye: "Bye~~~"

She left without hesitation.

"Want to stay a bit longer?"

"Uncle, go to bed. Bye~~~ See you next year."

"It's tomorrow, right?"

"Sure, sure."

"You forgot your glass bottle."

"The lazy cicada is a gift for you. Thanks for the bear drink. I don't have money, so I'm giving you my beloved lazy cicada."

Xiaobai waved her little hand and left without any hesitation.

Zhang Tan held the fish-belly glass bottle, looking at the cicada inside. What do I need this for? Should I let it go? If I let it go, will Xiaobai cry?

Xiaobai didn't cry. At 11 PM, Meng Chengcheng started crying softly on her little bed.

Every night at this time, she would wake up because this was when her father would come to pick her up. Over time, she had developed a biological clock and would wake up at this time without needing a reminder from her teacher.

But today, after waking up, she didn't see her father. After waiting for a while, she couldn't help but cry.

Xiaobai wandered from the first floor to the second floor and found Meng Chengcheng crying. She stayed to comfort her, like a big sister.

At 11:30 PM, Meng Chengcheng's father still hadn't arrived, but Xiaobai's aunt did, to take her home.

Xiaobai was worried about Chengcheng and asked her aunt to wait until Chengcheng's father arrived before they left.

Ma Lanhua had been busy all day and was very tired, wanting to go home and sleep. She pulled Xiaobai along.

"Wait, wait for Chengcheng's father."

Xiaobai pleaded loudly, her feet rooted to the ground, trying to stay, but she was small and weak, and was dragged along, stumbling.

"Go home early, it's tiring."

"Wait, wait for Chengcheng's father, he's coming soon."

"Wait your head off! You silly kid, worrying about everything."

"How am I a silly kid?"

"Who else if not you?"

"Luo Zikang is the silly kid."

"You too! You're so annoying~"

"Where am I annoying? I'm so angry~~"

"Are you itching for a spanking? Do you want me to spank you?"

"*$%^&*^%$#*"

...

Meng Chengcheng cried even louder.

Xiaobai was dragged to the dormitory door and saw Chengcheng looking at her, crying sadly. She quickly waved and said: "Chengcheng, bye, see you next year. Can I let you be the little eagle again? Don't cry, your dad is here, I can see him..."

"Xiaobai, go home. I'll take care of Chengcheng."

Speaking was the oldest boy in the school, 8-year-old Jiang Bin.

Xiaobai was already far away, her voice drifting back: "Sure, sure, thank you~~"