Chapter 69: Xuan Yuan Returns to B City

  After filling out the application, I felt relieved and said goodbye to Xiaoxiao Yaya's godmother. Then, my cousin and I rode our bikes home. When we reached the entrance of the alley, I saw a small shop at the door and stopped. With a very enthusiastic smile, I said to my cousin: "Cousin, it's so hot today, do you want to eat something?"

  As soon as my brother saw me like this, he knew I was thinking of him again. He opened his mouth and said: "I don't want to eat anything, if you want to eat, just go buy it yourself. Asking me is unnecessary."

  "Hey, I'm worried about you, afraid you'll get heatstroke like last time on the playground when you suddenly fainted while listening to the instructor's speech." I said with a very innocent expression. My cousin is most afraid of people bringing up old jokes about him fainting on the playground that time. Actually, at that time my cousin was just having a fever and felt weak, not really heatstroke.

  "Come on, what do you want to eat? I'll go buy it for you, but don't expect anything too expensive, okay? I only have 2.5 yuan and I need some left over to buy a popsicle."

  "I narrowed my eyes and said: 'I won't leave any for you, I want to eat all the Koala cookies, see what you can do about it.'"

  "Our family's little sister, you really aren't angry, are you? You really can bear to let your older cousin watch you eat?"

  "It's not far anyway, when we get home, you can come back and buy it again. Don't think I don't know, your uncle has been giving you a lot of money lately."

  "Hey, cousin, that money is nothing compared to your piggy bank. Cousin, my good cousin, on such a hot day, can't you just let me off the hook this one time?"

  I pretended to refuse and said: "No way, you're too cute, otherwise I'll tell your uncle that you're bullying me."

  My brother glared at me and said, "Alright, you win. I know you now. You must have owed me from the previous life, this life is yours to command." Brother, it's actually you who owes me this life, isn't that a case of retribution in this life? I'm a reborn person, and I'll change things around me as well. My brother was about to enter the small shop, and just as he was about to step inside, I shouted: "Brother, no need for Ovaltine, just give me a big flower face!"

  My brother smiled warmly at me and said, "Still good sister." Hehe, silly and honest brother, it seems like I'm hitting your weakness, you still say I'm good, really, in the future if I sell you out, you'll still count money for me, but don't worry, I won't do anything that's not good for you.

  My older cousin ran out of the small store, holding a three-color cup and a large pudding, laughing and saying: "Here, younger female cousin, I know you like to eat three-color cups, especially this kind with pink, white, and brown colors. I like to eat creamy flavors, so I bought a large pudding. Let's hurry home, we can still watch some Digimon."

  Watching my brother sweating in front of me, still speaking to me so happily, I'm really touched. He only brought two 50-cent items, a three-color cup for 50 cents and a large pudding for 50 cents. And he knew not to choose the kind with yellow color for me, knowing that I like strawberry flavor. In my past life, I wanted to have such a good brother. This life, although I don't have a biological brother, having this cousin is also fulfilling. After going home, I will definitely not fight with him over watching TV and let him watch Digimon to his heart's content.

  Thinking of this, I smiled brightly and said: "Come on, brother, it's just a few steps from here to the entrance of our home. Let's turn around and push the cart back home."

  My brother nodded, and as he pushed the cart while sucking on an ice pop, he looked quite pleased. Who would have thought that just as we arrived at our front door, there were several people gathered in front of it? Upon closer inspection, I saw a cameraman standing behind them, and my heart sank - these people must be reporters! As soon as they saw us approaching, they rushed over to ask me: "Excuse me, are you Nan Xixi from Class 2, Grade 6 at Yangguang Primary School?" Before I could even nod, my brother, who had never seen this sort of commotion before, curiously nodded and said: "Yes, my sister is Nan Xixi. What's going on here?"

  This is getting out of hand, as soon as my brother said that, all the other reporters rushed over, asking the cameraman to take pictures and record videos. Those reporters kept asking me what I thought about being the top scorer in the city's junior high school entrance exam, how I studied normally, if I had any study tips to share, and what I did in my free time, and so on. The questions were similar to those asked of the top scorers in the middle school and college entrance exams that I saw in the newspaper last year.

  My brother was stunned, squeezed out of my side by several reporters. Although I had no experience with being interviewed and even felt a little joyful in my heart, after all, I hadn't eaten pork but had seen pigs run. Summoning the courage and confidence from nearly thirty years of this life and the last, I calmly said: "Everyone, can we ask one question at a time? I'll answer each question one by one. Don't rush, I'll respond to every question. Also, look at my brother and me holding popsicles in our hands, can't we go home first? You can come to my house too, take a look at my usual living and learning environment, isn't that also good material?"

  They probably felt a bit embarrassed, but they were too busy grabbing the first-hand information and didn't notice my situation. After entering my home, I poured each of them a cup of jasmine tea, thinking that they must have been waiting outside for a long time and were thirsty and tired. After all, being a reporter is not an easy job. I took them to see my bedroom, our house, introduced my usual study methods, exam strategies, and leisure activities, until my parents, grandparents, and uncles came back one after another. They then interviewed my family members briefly, and finally took a family photo with us. They thanked us repeatedly, saying they had disturbed us, and left with satisfaction.

  After they left, Dad smiled and said: "Baby, you're really capable of being a little devil. With just you and Zhan Feng at home, you even dared to let the reporter in. Aren't you afraid of not being able to handle it?"

  "None at all, my cousin is very calm and composed. They were originally going to rush up together, but it was my cousin who let them come one by one. Cousin, from today on, you are one of my idols."

  I smiled and said: "Brother Biao, it's really my honor, but who else is your idol? Idol, idol, I won't be the object of your vomiting, will I?"

  "It's not like that, cousin, you're just teasing me, I'm serious."

  "Alright, that was the little girl's greatest honor."

  In the midst of my playful fights with my cousin, it was soon time for lunch. After lunch, it was time to digest and take a nap, but after returning to my room, I couldn't sit still thinking about Xuan Yuan not coming to fill out his college application today. Looking at my wooden bird alarm clock, it was only 11:55, and Xuan Yuan didn't have the habit of taking naps anyway, so he shouldn't be disturbed. Having thought this through, I went to the living room to make a phone call. Before dialing, I had already thought out what I wanted to say and even rehearsed it several times in my head.

  It rang several times without anyone answering, until it said "Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable." I felt a bit discouraged and couldn't understand why no one was picking up. I called again, and this time someone answered soon after. I politely asked: "Hello, is this the Ding family? Can you please help me find Xuan Yuanrui?"

  A low laugh came over the phone, saying: "Little chili pepper, long time no see! You're looking for my younger brother? That's really not convenient, he went back to B city. Do you have anything I can pass on?"

  Who else can call me Little Chili Pepper, isn't it Ding Beicheng, Xuan Yuan's older cousin? The words I was practicing in my head just now had nowhere to be said, and could only say a little disappointedly: "Oh, so it's Brother Beicheng, when is Xuan Yuan coming back?"

  "This question, you really asked the right person. If you ask others, they may not know either. As for him, unexpectedly he will stay in B city this summer vacation. As for when he will come back, maybe after summer vacation is over and school starts, or maybe he will just stay in B city and not come back."

  As soon as I heard this, I was anxious and asked hastily: "Why? Why didn't Xuan Yuan Ruo come back? Is the rumor true that he didn't do well in the junior high school entrance exam? But even if that's the case, it wouldn't be a reason for him not to come back to study."

  Ding Bei chuckled and said, "Who knows what's going on with that guy? His thoughts have always been different from others. If not, he wouldn't have transferred to N City from B City for no reason. And it seems like there's more to the story of why he didn't do well this time, but nobody can get him to talk about it and his mood is off too. Speaking of which, Auntie and Uncle were originally in B City anyway, so it was only a matter of time before he went back to B City. What's strange about that? Is Little Chili reluctant to let go or something? I'll call my cousin and tell him to come back earlier."

  "Who... who can bear to part with him, don't talk nonsense, I just... he has always been my good classmate, good friend, this person suddenly disappeared from my side, anyone would feel uncomfortable about it."

  "Oh, I see. Well, that's settled then. Anyway, Aunt and Uncle were thinking that it would be great if Xuan Yuan could stay in B City, although they're really busy and don't have time to take care of him. But with his ability to take care of himself, it's no problem. Having a nanny will do."

  The more I listened to Ding Bei Cheng's words, the more uncomfortable and uneasy I felt. I said with a hint of resentment: "Fine, if he comes back, call me and let me know. If he doesn't come back... then don't tell me. Don't bother me again, goodbye." I quickly hung up the phone without even hearing Ding Bei Cheng say goodbye. What I didn't hear was: Little Chili Pepper, why didn't you call earlier? My cousin just left yesterday. If you had called earlier, maybe he wouldn't have left.

  Want to know if Xuan Yuan will come back, when he will come back, and how I spent my summer vacation? Please stay tuned for the next chapter.

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