A Villainous Childhood Sweetheart At Four And A Half - Chapter 2

In December, the cold wind in Jing City howled, scraping across people’s cheeks like a bone-carving knife.

The leaves on both sides of the roads in Jinhe Garden’s villa district rustled in the wind.

According to the weather forecast, in another week, Jing City would welcome its first snow.

Inside the Pei residence, it was as warm as spring. In the third-floor bedroom, the scent of bergamot aromatherapy still lingered, the citrus notes spreading softly through the room.

On the two-meter-wide bed, the blanket covered the entire body of the sleeping person, leaving only the top of a head with soft, fine black hair visible.

It was still early. Right now, it was not even eight o’clock.

A few minutes later, the person on the bed let out a miserable wail. In the end, she still sat up somewhat frantically, grabbing a messy handful of her hair.

Pei Hanying’s muttering voice carried a hint of despair. “How has it already been four years since I was reborn in the womb, and I still haven’t fixed this damned biological clock!”

In her previous life, Pei Hanying had been a miserable corporate slave. After years of being ravaged by a 007 work schedule, she had not only achieved the goal of spending her salary down to nothing every month, but had also managed to die early in one fell swoop. Before even reaching thirty, she had kicked the bucket right at her post.

Perhaps the heavens had eyes and saw that she had died young, so they gave her a chance to reincarnate with her memories.

And just like that, Pei Hanying was reborn, fresh and tender, into one of Jing City’s top wealthy families, becoming the Pei family’s only daughter.

From the moment she was born, she painlessly owned five properties in Jing City’s most prosperous area. There were also all kinds of luxury cars under her name, and so much expensive jewelry it was impossible to count.

From birth until now, Pei Hanying had been held in her parents’ palms and doted on for more than four whole years. Her personality had been spoiled into something proud, willful, and free-spirited. She was no longer like she had been when she was a corporate slave, with a faint sense of death on her face every day.

Now, she was a genuine young heiress through and through.

But the one thing she could not change was the increasingly punctual biological clock that came with her growth. Every morning between seven and eight, she would definitely wake up.

Going back to sleep was simply impossible.

Whose young heiress had such a punctual early-rising biological clock!

Pei Hanying ruffled her hair again.

The little girl’s thick, long hair fell messily over her shoulders, yet it did not affect the beauty of that face at all.

She was only four years old, but she had already grown into a jade-snow adorable little girl with delicate features. Anyone who saw her would have to praise her as a beauty in the making.

After sitting on the bed for a few minutes, Pei Hanying fiddled with her short arms and short legs and climbed nimbly out of bed.

She changed into casual clothes in the cloakroom, washed up, and only then went downstairs.

By the time she reached the first floor, Aunt Feng had already prepared breakfast. Pei Hanying loved Chinese food, so the Pei family’s three meals a day were almost always arranged according to her preferences.

Pei Yuan heard the little girl’s light footsteps, stopped talking with her husband, and turned her head. Seeing the child in a red cardigan and a white woolen skirt, looking like a bright little mushroom, she curved her lips.

She called out, “Yingbao, breakfast is ready.”

Pei Hanying lifted her head and smiled sweetly at Pei Yuan.

“Good morning, Mommy. Good morning, Daddy.”

Chao Qing nodded, bent down, and lifted her into her exclusive seat.

The Pei family originally had the habit of not speaking while eating or sleeping, but ever since Pei Hanying had learned to talk, she had become a complete and utter chatterbox.

When eating, she simply could not resist talking, so this rule was broken.

Every day, when Pei Yuan listened to her daughter’s childish, clear voice during meals, her mood improved by several degrees.

After breakfast, Pei Yuan and Chao Qing played blocks with Pei Hanying for a while before finally preparing to go to the company.

After her parents left, Pei Hanying stacked the final block in place and sighed rather melancholy.

Pretending to be a child and a well-behaved little darling in front of her parents was so tiring.

Clearly, she already had a mature soul.

As she was thinking this, the door to the playroom opened.

A maid poked her head in and said to her, “Miss, the roses in the flower room have bloomed. Would you like to go take a look?”

Hearing this, Pei Hanying’s eyes lit up. “Okay! Sister Tingting, I want to go see!”

She tossed her previous thoughts to the back of her mind, got up in a tumble, and followed the maid toward the flower room.

A large area of the Pei villa’s backyard had been occupied by Pei Hanying’s flower room.

This was a hobby that had only appeared in this life: growing flowers.

In this regard, Pei Hanying could be considered somewhat talented. Most expensive flower varieties could survive under her care, and they bloomed quite well too.

The orchids Old Madam Pei liked were difficult to raise, and most of them had to pass through Pei Hanying’s hands.

Pei Hanying also valued every flower and plant in the flower room very much.

The rose that had bloomed was an Yves Piaget rose. The deep pink, many-petaled rose stood out especially brightly among the pale flowers and plants in the flower room, blooming large and beautiful.

After admiring it for a while, Pei Hanying watered and fertilized the other flowers and plants. Only then did she pat the dirt off the hem of her skirt.

The flower room was an enclosed but transparent space. The little girl had only just stood up when her sharp eyes noticed that the persimmons, which had still been green some time ago, were now completely red. The red persimmons hung from the branches, while most of the leaves had already fallen. They looked like an ink painting winding upward.

She licked her lips and looked at the maid, Xia Ting, her eyes sparkling.

“Sister Tingting, let’s go pick persimmons.”

Xia Ting’s heart gave a thump, and she immediately tried to dissuade her.

“Miss, that’s too dangerous. Let’s have someone else pick them.”

Pei Hanying already had a plan in mind. She shook her head.

“I want to pick them myself. Just one or two. Mom and Dad won’t know.”

“If anything happens, then it was all because I insisted. It has nothing to do with any of you.”

After saying that, she made the decision. “Sister Tingting, have someone set a ladder against the wall. That way, it’ll be steadier and safer.”

Although she was young, she had always been very calculating.

No one in the household, from top to bottom, dared go against her decisions. Hearing this, Xia Ting could only arrange for people to set the ladder up.

Pei Hanying put down the small shovel in her hand, went back inside to put on a down jacket, then carried a small basket and pitter-pattered toward the backyard.

The difference in temperature between the house and the courtyard was somewhat large. As soon as she reached the yard, Pei Hanying shivered from the cold.

But her passion for picking persimmons did not lessen at all. After directing several people to place the ladder against the wall closest to the persimmon tree, the maids held the ladder steady below while Pei Hanying climbed to the highest point and stretched out her hand to reach a few persimmons.

She was not greedy either. After picking a few, she was just about to go down when, the moment the persimmons fell into the basket, she heard a very faint sob from the other side.

It was like a tiny cat’s cry, scratching past the tip of her ear.

Pei Hanying’s body paused. She pressed her palm against the wall and looked around with some confusion.

The maids holding the ladder below were trembling with fear inside, terrified that this little ancestor would fall.

Seeing that she had picked enough yet was still not coming down, Xia Ting could only remind her,

“Miss, please come down quickly. It’s cold outside. You might catch a cold later.”

Pei Hanying furrowed her brows, pressed a finger to her lips, and gave a soft “shh,” signaling for them to be quiet.

After everything quieted down again, other than the fierce whistling of the wind, there were no other sounds by her ear.

It was as if the sound Pei Hanying had heard just now had been an illusion.

Could she really have misheard?

Unable to find anyone, she carried the basket and was just about to climb down the ladder when she suddenly seemed to sense something. Her gaze swept toward the outer corner of the wall, then finally froze there.

At the corner outside the villa wall, a girl whose appearance could not be clearly seen was curled up, her face buried in her knees. Her small frame looked to be only three or four years old.

The clothes she wore were thin, and her body was trembling. Her long hair fell loosely, covering most of her body, while the ends were yellowed. From head to toe, she looked dusty and gray, like a filthy little kitten.

Whose child had run here? Pei Hanying was somewhat puzzled.

Jinhe Garden’s security was very good. Non-residents would not be allowed inside. The only possibility was that she was also a resident here.

Surely not? She did not look like a child from a rich family.

But one could not judge everything with a single glance. Maybe this little girl had fought with her family.

She lay on top of the wall and called in the other party’s direction,

“Hey, whose family’s kid are you?”

Her voice was clear, and when she spoke, it did not have the softness and stickiness often seen among children, so it sounded rather domineering.

The child did not respond, but Pei Hanying’s eyes were sharp, and she saw the girl’s body stiffen.

So rude. She heard me talking and still won’t answer, Pei Hanying secretly complained in her heart.

She disliked impolite children the most, and she should not meddle in other people’s business.

Thinking this, Pei Hanying lowered her head and looked at the several maids anxiously staring up at her. She said, “Sister Tingting, help me catch the basket.”

As she spoke, she tossed the basket down, and it was caught just right.

Seeing the little basket land safely, she no longer wanted to bother with the rude child. Holding both sides of the ladder, she began climbing down. But after stepping down two rungs, her cheeks puffed up, and she immediately climbed back up again.

Taking off the down jacket she was wearing, Pei Hanying raised her voice and said, “Hey! Catch it properly. My clothes are very expensive!”

As she spoke, she threw the down jacket over the wall. Her aim was fairly accurate. The wind blew the jacket until it landed over the child in the corner, covering her head and face.

Pei Hanying, on the other hand, could not help sneezing because she was now wearing only a thin cardigan.

She quickly climbed down the ladder, hugged her arms, and walked back into the house.

The soft, light down jacket covered the little girl in the corner, still carrying a faint citrus fragrance.

Her body, which had originally been shaking from the cold, was instantly wrapped in the remaining warmth. Warmth surged up, cutting off the cold from outside.

Ning Song lifted the face she had buried between her knees and burrowed out through the gap in the down jacket.

What emerged from the wine-red down jacket was a pale, delicate face. Her originally white lips bore a rather deep bite mark, and after being bitten, they had gained a bit of color. The most striking thing of all was that pair of jade-green cat eyes.

She lifted her head and looked at the top of the wall where Pei Hanying had just been lying. The girl who had spoken just now was already gone. Even the bit of ladder that had shown above the wall was quickly taken away.

Listening to the footsteps going farther and farther away, Ning Song’s frozen, red-swollen fingers grabbed the down jacket.

She thought blankly, Why did she suddenly give me a down jacket?

…

“Achoo! Achoo!”

Pei Hanying sat on the sofa holding a cup of prepared cold medicine, her face ashen.

She wrinkled her nose and said in a muffled voice, “I don’t want to drink it.”

Children had low resistance. She had only been out in the cold for a little while, yet the tip of her nose was already red, and her sneezing had not stopped.

Aunt Feng looked at her, appearing especially cold and merciless at this moment.

“No. You have to drink it. Otherwise, if you catch a cold, your Sister Tingting and the others will be punished.”

Pei Hanying tightened her grip on the cup. “It’s not their fault. I was the one being willful.”

Although she knew Pei Yuan and the others were not people who would vent anger on the innocent, Pei Hanying was still worried that she would implicate Xia Ting and the others and cause them to be punished. In the end, she still pinched her nose and gulped down the awful cold medicine.

As she drank, Pei Hanying thought viciously:

If she had another chance to meet that rude child next time, she would definitely force her to call her “Sister” several times.