After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Side Character, I Became the Group’s Favorite (GL) - Chapter 11

For several days, Xu Chacha was supplied with delicious food and drinks. The scrawny little girl finally gained a little weight and now looked at least like the kind of child who wouldn’t be blown away by a gust of wind.

When Mr. and Mrs. Xu went out to work during the day, Housekeeper Zhang would follow her around, fussing over her. She was afraid Xu Chacha would bump herself even when washing her hands, practically wanting to help her with everything, even going to the bathroom.

To reduce her workload, Xu Chacha controlled her desire to move, often staying still for half a day once she started reading a fairy tale book. However, Housekeeper Zhang, worried about her straining her eyes, insisted on reading to her. This eventually evolved into a fixed nightly routine before bed, and Xu Chacha’s numerous refusals were useless.

“Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose name was Little Red Riding Hood…”

It was another old story that she had heard until her ears were practically calloused. Xu Chacha rolled over, stuck her butt up, and muffled her plump cheek into the soft pillow, letting out a low grunt as a protest.

By all accounts, her biological clock dictated that she should be asleep, but she just wasn’t tired.

Tomorrow was Friday, the day she would meet Xu Yanshu.

She knew without a doubt that this adoptive sister, described in the book as an inscrutable “smiling tiger,” would be difficult to deal with. Xu Yanshu was not like Mr. and Mrs. Xu, who were easy to handle due to their feelings of guilt.

The environment she grew up in had caused her to put up a protective shield around everyone. It looked thin, but it would not be easy to break.

The more Xu Chacha thought about it, the less she could sleep. But perhaps Housekeeper Zhang’s voice had a built-in hypnotizing effect, as her eyelashes eventually fluttered and closed her eyes.

The scent of lavender on the pillow was very similar to Mrs. Xu’s, providing a sense of security.

She was tired.

…

The next day, around four in the afternoon, Xu Chacha got into Mrs. Xu’s car.

“Your sister’s school is a bit far. If you’re sleepy, you can nap in Mommy’s arms for a while.”

“Chacha isn’t sleepy.” Xu Chacha leaned her head over, hugging Mrs. Xu with both hands. “But I still want Mommy to hold me.”

This act of endearment won Mrs. Xu over completely. She smiled, hugged her tightly, and pinched the small amount of flesh she had managed to put on Xu Chacha. “Okay, Mommy will hold you.”

Xu Yanshu attended the best private school in City A, which included three educational divisions from primary school to high school. The students at this school were either rich or powerful, but money alone wasn’t enough; everyone had to pass a very strict entrance exam to gain admission.

Commensurate with the excellent educational resources, the tuition fees at this school were also outrageously expensive.

“By the way, our Chacha is old enough to start primary school, isn’t she?” Mrs. Xu turned her head to look at her precious daughter.

“No, Chacha has never been to school.” Xu Chacha repeated exactly what she had told Wen Mubai before. “They said there was no need for Chacha to go to school because she’s a girl, and it would be faster to make money by getting married later.”

“Mommy, Chacha doesn’t want to get married.” Xu Chacha tugged at her sleeve. GZH: lesbian2088, has all lily resources.

“Pooh, pooh, pooh!” Mrs. Xu frowned. “Don’t listen to that trash talk. You are Mommy’s darling. Mommy could never bear for you to marry anyone. You can stick by Mommy’s side for your whole life, and Mommy wouldn’t mind.”

“Mhm!” Xu Chacha rubbed her head against her. “Mommy is so good to me.”

“So Chacha likes school, right?” Mrs. Xu continued to probe. “Shall Mommy send you to school?”

“With Sister!” Xu Chacha excitedly shook her arm. “Chacha wants to study in such a beautiful school too, and make lots and lots of good friends!”

“Of course, you can. Mommy is already handling the paperwork for you. You can choose any school you want.” Mrs. Xu couldn’t resist her cheek fat, finding the child extremely cute.

“Then Chacha will study hard and earn money for Mommy to spend later.”

“Hahahaha, thank you, darling.”

The driver skillfully drove in through the side gate of the middle school division, stopping the car beneath a beige teaching building.

“Come, darling, Mommy will take you to your sister’s classroom.”

In fact, it was usually the driver who picked up and dropped off Xu Yanshu. Mrs. Xu rarely came, but she had attended a parent-teacher meeting at the beginning of the semester and remembered the location of Xu Yanshu’s classroom.

Before coming, she had already briefly explained the situation to Xu Yanshu over the phone so that she could be mentally prepared for Xu Chacha’s appearance today.

“If possible, Mommy hopes you can take care of Chacha a little more.”

Xu Yanshu, sitting in the back row, rested her chin in her hand, watching the teacher assign homework with an impassive face, her mind focused on Mrs. Xu’s words.

She knew the Xu family once had a missing daughter. At first, she had wrongly suspected that the couple wanted to use her as a substitute, but she quickly found that wasn’t the case.

Mr. Xu’s strict requirements for her grades made him more of a mentor than a father. Mrs. Xu was gentler, caring about her daily life, clothing, food, and travel, and talking to her about topics only girls would discuss, but this was still limited by her status as an elder—not distant, but not overly intimate either.

The few times the three of them sat down to talk, it felt as formal as a meeting between executives.

Perhaps because Xu Yanshu had no memory of her parents from childhood, she didn’t know how typical families interacted, but at least it wasn’t like the three of them, who were so polite to each other it was like they were housemates.

Furthermore, even if the couple wanted a substitute, they wouldn’t choose someone so much older than Xu Chacha.

As an elder or, rather, a benefactor, they had never made any demands of her. So, just the request over the phone to take care of Xu Chacha was something Xu Yanshu felt she could strive to do.

“I heard the Xu family’s biological daughter has been found?” Her deskmate, Wen Shiyu, struck up a conversation with Xu Yanshu.

“Mhm.” Xu Yanshu turned her head to look at her. “How do you usually get along with your sister?”

The Wen family and the Xu family were close, so Xu Yanshu knew some small details.

Wen’s father’s original wife passed away a few years ago, leaving behind one eldest daughter, Wen Mubai. Not long after, he remarried and had Wen Shiyu.

They publicly claimed Wen Shiyu was premature, but in reality, her mother was pregnant before marriage in order to marry into the wealthy family.

“The relationship can only be so good when you don’t even share the same mother.” Wen Shiyu got angry whenever this was brought up. “Wen Mubai is ridiculous, too. I didn’t kill her mother, so why does she give me attitude all day long, acting like I ruined her family?”

Xu Yanshu didn’t take offense. “Your sister doesn’t give a good attitude to anyone, does she?”

“That’s different. I just can’t stand her condescending attitude, as if no one is as good as her, and no one is worthy of her attention.”

“Haven’t you ever tried to be nice to her?”

“Why should I be nice to her? My mother is the Young Mistress of the Wen family now. It’s a miracle I haven’t tried to cut her down to size.”

Xu Yanshu lowered her eyes, automatically filtering out Wen Shiyu’s subsequent series of malicious complaints.

Only one sentence from Wen Shiyu remained in her mind: “The relationship can only be so good when you don’t even share the same mother.”

Would Xu Chacha also see her as the wicked person who stole her parents and ruined her family?

“If you ask me, you shouldn’t be too polite to your sister, either. Otherwise, she’ll think you’re easy to bully and push you down. How will you establish yourself in the Xu family then?”

Xu Yanshu remained silent, merely nodding to show she had heard.

After half a semester of being around her, she had a good grasp of Wen Shiyu’s personality: a textbook spoiled rich girl with an exquisite sense of self-interest. She could fail everyone, but no one could fail her.

As Wen Shiyu herself said, she was a member of the Wen family now, and Xu Yanshu couldn’t afford to offend her over a trivial childish temper.

She was only an adopted daughter. An adopted daughter must do what an adopted daughter should: maintain her low-key obedience.

So, she would remember everything Mrs. Xu told her, which included getting along well with Wen Shiyu and taking good care of Xu Chacha.

The bell signaling the end of class rang. Wen Shiyu patted her shoulder, giving her a look that suggested “good luck,” and left first.

Xu Yanshu gathered her things, put on her backpack, and walked out. From a distance, she could see one tall and one short figure standing intimately on the opposite side of the hallway.

Xu Yanshu’s palms inexplicably started to sweat. She stood at her end of the hallway, watching Xu Chacha and Mrs. Xu nestled close together, and the small sense of belonging she had felt was already wavering.

The true daughter is back. Should she, the adopted daughter, disappear now?

“Sister Yanshu!” Someone called out to her. The clear, childish voice was easily recognizable, and then Xu Yanshu saw the short figure scurrying toward her.

Xu Chacha quickly ran up to her. Her clear eyes reflected Xu Yanshu’s figure. “You’re Sister Yanshu, right? Mommy said the prettiest one is you. I recognized you at first glance!”

It wasn’t the malice she had imagined. Xu Chacha didn’t even show a hint of distance toward her. She was like a ball of scorching flame, unexpectedly rushing up to Xu Yanshu, bringing with her an unfamiliar, cheerful vitality.

It was very unusual, but… this feeling didn’t seem too bad either.