A Villainous Childhood Sweetheart At Four And A Half - Chapter 9

Being stared at by her beautiful eyes, Pei Hanying retorted,

“I’m not angry.”

She pressed a few piano keys and asked her, “Can you play the piano?”

She changed the topic a little too quickly. Ning Song froze for a moment, then gently shook her head.

Before Ning Song’s parents divorced, her family’s circumstances had been quite good, and there had also been a piano at home, but that belonged to her older brother.

Ning Song did not have anything she was good at.

Now, standing before the bright and dazzling Pei Hanying, she was nothing more than a dim and ordinary grain of sand.

The girl was sensitive and mature beyond her years. That bit of inferiority in her heart was like a wild beast, and in just a short while, it bared its fangs and claws as if it were about to swallow her whole.

She lowered her head, looked at the tips of her shoes, and said so quietly she could barely be heard, “No.”

Looking at her slightly messy curls and sensing the other girl’s mood instantly fall, Pei Hanying found it a little baffling.

She got down from the piano bench and poked Ning Song’s shoulder with a finger.

“Sit on the bench. I can teach you.”

Hearing this, Ning Song instantly lifted her head to look at her, her eyes somewhat stunned.

For a moment, she suspected she had heard wrong. “Wh-what?”

Pei Hanying rolled her eyes. “I told you to sit properly.”

After pushing Ning Song onto the piano bench, Pei Hanying stood behind her and guided her hands, pressing the black and white keys one by one.

Her movements were slow as she waited for Ning Song to gradually become familiar with the keys.

While guiding her through the entire simple song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” Pei Hanying silently complained in her heart.

When she had first started learning piano, even she had never played this slowly, especially not when playing such a simple children’s song.

She patiently guided Ning Song through it a few times. Seeing that her body had relaxed a little, she finally let her try playing by herself for a while.

Pei Hanying rummaged through the drawer and eventually found a beginner piano book for young children that had never been put to use.

After finding the music book, Pei Hanying finally had the mood to listen to the broken, intermittent piano sounds coming over. After listening, she was somewhat surprised.

Although Ning Song was still playing haltingly, one could still tell it was the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

She did not speak. Only after Ning Song clumsily landed on the final note did Pei Hanying say in surprise,

“You already learned it?”

Ning Song lifted her head and looked at her, smiling somewhat shyly. Her cat eyes curved into a jade-green crescent.

She said softly, “I remembered the order of the keys.”

Pei Hanying: “…”

Fine. A good memory could also be considered a kind of talent.

As expected of the great villain who would be able to teach herself how to make bombs after growing up.

Thinking of this, Pei Hanying put the music book down, and her wariness toward Ning Song once again rose in her heart. But looking at the little girl’s obedient face, in the end, she still said nothing.

Sighing softly in her heart, Pei Hanying held down Ning Song’s hands and let her naturally curve her fingers, then guided her through it a few more times.

After Ning Song became familiar with it, Pei Hanying had her play it a few times at a faster pace.

Once Ning Song played “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” through at a normal speed, Pei Hanying said lightly,

“Now you can play the piano.”

After hearing Pei Hanying’s words clearly, Ning Song’s body paused slightly.

She looked at Pei Hanying, and a faint mist rose in her eyes. Those jade-green eyes held the soft, warm rain and mist of Jiangnan.

Seeing her like this, Pei Hanying took a step back.

She spoke warily, “I didn’t scold you. Don’t cry!”

Pei Hanying felt so wronged.

She clearly had not done anything. Why was this little villain crying for no reason?

Ning Song rubbed her eyes and used the back of her hand to wipe away the moisture at the corners.

She said in a low voice, “I’m sorry. I won’t cry anymore.”

“You really won’t cry?” Pei Hanying still did not quite believe her.

Only after seeing Ning Song nod again did she let out a breath of relief.

She looked at Ning Song and said solemnly, “Don’t shed tears. Bad people will laugh.”

Seeing Ning Song look at her in some confusion, Pei Hanying coughed, unable to stop the smile at the corners of her lips.

She muttered, “I’m talking nonsense. Cry if you want to cry. Just cry less in front of me.” She could not handle being frightened like this every day.

Glancing at the time on her phone watch, she saw that it was already past ten.

Pei Hanying brought Ning Song through a few more slightly difficult piano pieces before finally taking her downstairs.

Seeing them come down, Xia Ting handed them the milk that had been kept warm, then quickly went off to continue the work in her hands.

With no one watching her drink it, Pei Hanying stuffed the milk into Ning Song’s hands.

“Drink more. Grow taller.”

With a reason, Pei Hanying’s tone was perfectly justified.

Who asked Ning Song to be a year older than her but still shorter than her by more than half a head?

Ning Song obediently accepted the milk and slowly drank both bottles.

There had not been much space in her stomach to begin with. After pouring down two bottles of milk, she could not help letting out a burp.

It smelled like milk.

Seeing this, Pei Hanying felt a little guilty for a moment.

She coughed lightly. “I’ll take you to the backyard. The weather is very nice today.”

It would just help with digestion too.

As she spoke, she went upstairs to get a thick coat. She also got one for Ning Song and put it on her, then tossed her a scarf and hat as well.

Although the clothes were a little big on Ning Song, she was wrapped up tightly from head to toe, with only her bright, white, soft face exposed. At least it would keep her warm.

After greeting Xia Ting and the others, Pei Hanying headed toward the backyard.

The sun was out today. But when the winter sunlight fell on a person, it was as if it were nothing at all, still carrying an icy temperature.

Fine snow was still slowly drifting down from the sky. Ning Song lifted her head and looked at the cold white sky condensed into one vast sheet, feeling dazed for a moment.

Only one day had passed, yet earth-shaking changes had happened to her.

Yesterday, she had almost frozen to death in the ice and snow. Today, she wore warm and comfortable clothes and had the leisure to feel the weight of snow falling on her body, no longer needing to worry about food and warmth.

Thinking this, Ning Song turned her head and looked at Pei Hanying’s face, saying thank you silently in her heart.

Sensing the little villain’s gaze falling on her, Pei Hanying suspiciously turned her head and met her eyes.

“What are you looking at me for?”

Was she holding back some bad idea again?

Ning Song shook her head and pointed at her eyes. “Your lashes are covered in snowflakes.”

Hearing this, Pei Hanying randomly rubbed her cheeks, then shook her head.

She was still holding a small bucket in her hand, with a shovel and several snowball molds of different shapes inside.

Pei Hanying looked around. After discovering that a lot of snow had accumulated under the persimmon tree, she told Ning Song to follow her.

“Let’s go under that tree.”

As she spoke, they stepped out little footprints one by one in the snow and arrived beneath the tree.

Pei Hanying crouched down and somewhat clumsily opened the duck-shaped snowball mold. She clamped it around a pile of snow and pressed hard with her hands, doing it very seriously.

Before waiting for the little duck to take shape, she looked at Ning Song. Seeing the other girl lift her head and look at the persimmon tree, she said casually,

“Stop looking. All the persimmons on the tree have already fallen.”

After one snowy night, the persimmon tree had long since been left with only bare branches.

“If I hadn’t come here to pick persimmons back then, I wouldn’t have met you either.” After these words slipped out of Pei Hanying’s mouth, not only did she herself freeze, but Ning Song was also a little stunned.

Pei Hanying’s hand holding the snowball mold lost some strength, and her thoughts began to drift.

If she could do it all over again, would she still be willing to meet Ning Song?

Would she still be willing to help her once?

Pei Hanying thought about it. In the end, she still came to a firm conclusion.

She would not.

Something foolish like softening her heart and letting her kindness overflow was probably something she would only do once.

If there really were a chance to start over again, Pei Hanying would definitely stay far away from this persimmon tree and avoid every possible place where she might run into Ning Song.

She loosened the handle of the snowball mold. The duck-shaped snowball inside fell to the ground, and before long, more than half of it had broken apart.

The little girl furrowed her brows. Hearing no movement from Ning Song, she lifted her eyes and glanced in her direction.

At this moment, Ning Song was crouching in front of the persimmon tree, touching the tree with her fingers, her lips moving slightly.

Pei Hanying could see clearly that she seemed to be saying “thank you.”

Pei Hanying’s brows and eyes relaxed, and she softly spat out two words.

“Dummy.”

What use was thanking a tree that did not understand anything?

Why did the villain seem so silly when she was little?

She poked Ning Song’s back with the snowball mold. “Ning Song, you’re in charge of making the snowballs.”

Ning Song turned her head and gave her a shallow smile, her brows and eyes movingly beautiful. She reached out and took the snowball mold from Pei Hanying’s hand.

The loose snow became much more obedient under her hands. Before long, several fully formed ducks, dinosaurs, and round snowballs were arranged on the ground.

Pei Hanying looked at the few “disabled” snowballs standing strong in the cold wind under her own hands. Without saying anything, she silently handed all the snowball molds to Ning Song.

More and more snowballs of different shapes were spread out in front of Ning Song. Pei Hanying took off her watch, intending to take a photo.

By accident, Ning Song’s side profile was also captured in the frame.

The little girl’s finger landed on the screen, her expression somewhat hesitant as captured in the frame.

The little girl’s finger landed on the screen, her expression somewhat hesitant as she struggled over whether to delete it or not.

In the end, from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Ning Song’s hands, which were faintly turning red from the cold again, and still saved it.

She stood up and said, “All right. It’s almost time for lunch. Let’s go back.”

Seeing that Pei Hanying seemed completely unmoved by the snowballs she had made, Ning Song felt somewhat disappointed inside. But she hid it very well, stood up, patted the snowflakes off her body, and nodded obediently.

After standing up and walking a few steps after Pei Hanying, Ning Song suddenly stopped.

Seeing that she had not followed, Pei Hanying turned her head in confusion.

“What is it?” she asked.

Ning Song looked at her, both hands hidden behind her back, nervously clenched together.

After mentally preparing herself, the little girl stepped forward, grabbed a corner of Pei Hanying’s clothes, and shook it lightly. It was a very subtle way of acting spoiled.

“Are my little ducks not pretty?”

“Why aren’t you looking?”

Saying these two sentences used up all of Ning Song’s courage.

After speaking, the little girl’s cheeks turned red, and she did not dare look at Pei Hanying again. Only, the hand clutching Pei Hanying’s clothes did not let go.

Pei Hanying looked at Ning Song’s pursed lips, and the thought that she was cute uncontrollably popped up again.

Did she already know she was very cute?

Bah, what cute?

This hateful little villain was clearly deliberately acting cute to make her soften her heart.

Pei Hanying pulled her clothing corner free and pretended not to see the hidden expectation in Ning Song’s eyes. Her voice was flat, her tone cold and ruthless as she answered,

“What’s there to look at? It’s not like you shaped them by hand yourself.”