Chapter 15

After watching Ning Song crouch there for a while, Pei Hanying moved closer.
She poked the little villain’s shoulder and knowingly asked, “Ning Song, you don’t want to talk to me anymore?”

Ning Song shifted away and turned the back of her head toward Pei Hanying without speaking.
Pei Hanying followed her and shifted over as well, then annoyingly asked again, “You really aren’t going to talk to me?”

After saying that, she stood and deliberately released a sorrowful sigh.
“You haven’t answered me after so long. It looks like you truly don’t want to talk to me. I’m so sad, but no one cares about my feelings at all.”

How could no one care when the Pei family’s young miss was sad?
The dozen or so people throughout the Pei household would all have to devise ways to cheer her up.
Therefore, Pei Hanying’s claim was completely unfounded.
But hearing the girl’s deliberately dejected voice, Ning Song couldn’t bear to continue sulking.

She caught the corner of Pei Hanying’s clothes and whispered, “I’m not ignoring you.”
She raised her head to look at the girl. Under Pei Hanying’s gaze, the heat in Ning Song’s ears still hadn’t faded as she said somewhat unhappily, “It’s just that Yingying is a little mean.”

Pei Hanying bent down, took her hand, and pulled the little girl to her feet.
Hearing that, she huffed, “Calling you adorable is mean too? You might as well accuse me to death.”

Ning Song was terribly shy. Even a simple compliment embarrassed her.
Pei Hanying could only say that if she always remained this easy to fluster, there would be countless opportunities to tease her in the future.

Ning Song pursed her lips. It wasn’t that she disliked being called adorable.
On the contrary, Pei Hanying’s compliment made her very happy. But along with the pleasant surprise came an overwhelming sense of shyness.

Her eyes grew moist. After Pei Hanying watched her for a while, she slowly corrected herself:
“Yingying isn’t mean at all.”

Only then was Pei Hanying satisfied. Holding Ning Song’s hand, she began introducing the various flowers and plants in the greenhouse.
She knew these plants like the back of her hand and explained each one to Ning Song.

“This is pennywort. These are spider plants, hibiscus, and lantanas.”
After introducing all the different flowers and plants in the greenhouse, she suddenly remembered Ning Song’s exceptional memory and curiously asked, “Kitty, did you remember all of them?”

Ning Song nodded gently and pointed at each plant, reciting their names one by one.
She didn’t get a single one wrong.
Pei Hanying was beginning to envy that memory.

She muttered sourly, “A memory like that is practically a cheat code.”
As expected of a villain—even the advantages she possessed differed from those of ordinary people.
But what good had those advantages done her? In the original novel, Ning Song’s life had remained miserable.

At the thought, her grip on Ning Song’s hand tightened.
After thinking for a moment, she said with exasperation, “You’d better study properly from now on.”

Ning Song felt Pei Hanying’s grip tighten and looked puzzled upon hearing her words.
She smiled faintly and said softly, “Daddy said he would let me start school next semester.”

Hearing that made Pei Hanying’s emotions even more complicated.
If she remembered correctly, in the original timeline, Ning Song had only completed elementary school.
Despite her excellent grades, Ning Cheng refused to let her continue studying. Instead, he forced her to take odd jobs at a young age and earn money to support the family, while he did nothing but eat, drink, visit prostitutes, and gamble at home. He also constantly beat and berated Ning Song.

She suddenly regretted saying something like that before deciding whether to raise Ning Song.
Whenever she thought about what Ning Song might experience in the future, more weight was added to the other side of the scales in her heart, tilting them increasingly toward Ning Song.
She truly could barely hold out any longer.
But allowing these factors to influence her decision didn’t seem sufficiently prudent.

She sighed softly. It was barely noticeable, yet Ning Song keenly sensed it.
Pei Hanying was ​Read on BaiLianTales​unhappy.
Ning Song became anxious, uncertain whether she had said something wrong or whether it was because of their earlier conversation about whether she was adorable.

It seemed she had gotten carried away. She was living under someone else’s roof, yet she had still willfully refused to agree with Pei Hanying.
She should simply have agreed with whatever Pei Hanying said. Why had she insisted on saying anything more?

Ning Song deeply regretted it now.
After a while, she apologized to Pei Hanying:
“Yingying, I’m sorry.”

Hearing the soft, delicate voice beside her, Pei Hanying returned to her senses.
The apology left her utterly confused.

What was this little idiot apologizing for now?
After silently staring at the little girl’s face for several seconds, Pei Hanying resisted the urge to hold her forehead helplessly.
She asked, “Why are you apologizing?”

Ning Song placed her hands behind her back, her nails digging forcefully into her palms.
Pain spread in waves from the crescent-shaped marks as she quietly listed her offense. “I shouldn’t have made you angry.”

Pei Hanying continued, “When did I ever say I was angry?”
The little villain had inexplicably placed all the blame on her, but Pei Hanying didn’t feel wronged or exhausted in the slightest. Not at all.

Ning Song didn’t know how to answer. She stood helplessly in place for a while, looking at Pei Hanying.
The girl was also watching her, her expression so faint that Ning Song couldn’t tell whether she was still angry.
Compared with Ning Cheng, Pei Hanying’s thoughts were so difficult to guess. Ning Song felt both troubled and disheartened.

She lowered her head and stopped looking at her, then voiced the reason she had guessed earlier.
“I heard you sigh just now. I made you angry.”

Pei Hanying: “……”
She didn’t even know what to say.
Ning Song truly was exceptionally sensitive to read the original at bailiantales.comthe emotions of those around her.

She said helplessly, “I never said you were the one who made me angry.”
She had merely sighed. Pei Hanying had no idea how Ning Song had concluded from that alone that she was angry.

After thinking for a moment, Pei Hanying added, “If I’m angry with you, I’ll tell you. If I don’t say anything, then I’m not angry. You’re not allowed to make wild guesses anymore.”
Ning Song abruptly raised her eyes to look at her, glimmers of light appearing in her jade-green catlike eyes. “Really?”
Was Pei Hanying truly not angry because of her?

Under Ning Song’s gaze, Pei Hanying nodded gently.
Her lips curved, and her expression softened. “I don’t lie to children.”

Ning Song looked at her and gently took her hand.
Before Pei Hanying could react, the little girl rose onto her tiptoes and kissed her cheek.

Her voice was soft, carrying a trace of sweetness so subtle it was almost impossible to discern.
“Thank you, Yingying.”

Caught completely off guard by the kiss, Pei Hanying’s body instantly stiffened.
She covered her cheek with one small hand. Even several seconds later, she could still feel the softness that had touched it, leaving her momentarily dazed.

She felt somewhat despairing.
As a lesbian, Pei Hanying hadn’t even dated a woman in her previous life, much less kissed one on the lips.
She never could have imagined that after becoming a child, Ning Song would suddenly kiss her.

Her ears felt warm. Unable to resist, she reached up and pinched one earlobe before finally managing to maintain her composure.
It was only a kiss from a child. It wasn’t anything serious. Wasn’t this simply how children expressed affection?

After hypnotizing herself with this reasoning, Pei Hanying finally ​Read on BaiLianTales​calmed down somewhat.
In a placid tone resembling a half-dead fish, she said, “You’re welcome.”

She was about to pull her hand from Ning Song’s when she met the girl’s confused and cautious eyes again.
Left with no alternative, Pei Hanying could only place her hand back in Ning Song’s grasp.
Fine, let her hold it. Holding hands wouldn’t make her lose a piece of flesh.

She sighed inwardly. No longer intending to remain in the greenhouse, she returned to the house with Ning Song.
That evening, the family doctor visited again to examine Ning Song and found that her injuries were gradually improving and her fever showed signs of subsiding completely.

The doctor told Xia Ting and the others, “Miss Ning is in much better condition now. Her injuries should heal completely in another few days, and barring any complications, her fever should also subside within the next day or two.”
“Make sure she stays warm. She absolutely must not catch a chill.”

Pei Hanying had never seen a child so physically weak that a fever could last two or three consecutive days. Hearing the doctor’s words, she finally sighed in relief.
As a result, she failed to notice the anxiety that flashed through Ning Song’s eyes after hearing the doctor.

Ning Song unconsciously wrinkled the hem of her clothes in her grip, her face turning somewhat pale.
The doctor said she would soon recover, yet she didn’t feel happy.

Once she recovered, did that mean she would be driven out of the Pei residence?

Ning Song felt utterly despicable.
She had actually begun wondering what she could do to remain with the Pei family.