After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Side Character, I Became the Group’s Favorite (GL) - Chapter 24

Xu Chacha was too lazy to argue with her, climbing up stubbornly to fight against the pile of balls again.

Perhaps it was because Xu Chacha was too short and it was hard for her to maintain balance here. Other children were running around easily, but she could only move forward at a snail’s pace, falling twice for every three steps she took.

At this rate, the sun would set by the time she reached the slide!

“Come, Auntie will hold you.” Wen Mubai couldn’t watch anymore.

“No need.” Xu Chacha was getting fired up. “I can do it myself.”

She refused to believe that she, a grown-up, couldn’t handle a simple ocean ball pit.

Xu Chacha spread both arms out to improve her balance, carefully probing forward one foot at a time. Housekeeper Zhang clapped and cheered for her from the side.

“Miss, go! Miss, you’re doing great!”

With Xu Chacha’s determined effort, five minutes later, she finally “crawled” to the bottom of the slide.

By this time, the other children had already slid down three rounds, and she was just starting to climb the stairs with her little legs.

Heave-ho, heave-ho.

The stairs were higher than Xu Chacha thought. Here she was, hunched over like a frail old woman past her sixties, slowly stepping one rung at a time, while a little girl half a head shorter than her was quickly climbing on all fours, making steady and fast progress.

“Sister, do you want me to hold your hand?” The little girl with pigtails was quite polite. She didn’t just pass Xu Chacha by but actively held out her small hand, offering help.

Xu Chacha’s pride was a little hurt, but she managed a smile. “No, thank you, little sister. Go play. I can do it myself.”

“But we just saw you falling down below,” the pigtails girl said with an innocent expression, but her words made Xu Chacha want to spit blood.

“You, you… all of you?”

She looked up and saw four or five small heads peeking out from the little house on top of the slide, all watching her in perfect unison.

Their eyes were all very friendly, even carrying a touch of well-meaning concern, but Xu Chacha couldn’t be happy at all.

She pictured her earlier attempts at falling on her bottom being watched by everyone, imagined their expressions, and then Wen Mubai’s unrestrained chuckle echoed in her ear. Unconsciously, her entire face flushed, and her little fists clenched tightly.

Argh! It’s just a slide, I’m going to conquer you.

Xu Chacha stopped holding onto the railing, straightened her upper body, lifted her legs, and dashed forward. In the blink of an eye, she flew from the halfway point to the top.

“Wonderful, wonderful!” The pigtails girl led the applause for her.

Xu Chacha put a hand on her waist and started gasping for breath. Good heavens, a simple slide nearly killed her.

“Hurry up, let’s slide together.” The pigtails girl sat down, turning to wave at Xu Chacha.

Xu Chacha nodded, waiting until she had slid some distance before sitting down herself.

The slide was very long and twisted in seven different ways, making Xu Chacha dizzy. She closed her eyes and opened them, only to plunge into the evil pile of ocean balls again.

Five minutes of climbing, three seconds of sliding. Great, so worth it. She wiped the sweat from her forehead.

This thing was probably designed to burn off the excess energy of children, and it was never suitable for a homebody who practices good health like her.

After two rounds of this exhausting cycle, Xu Chacha was genuinely out of energy. She stopped being stubborn, crossed her legs, and held out her arms to Wen Mubai. “Auntie, carry me.”

Wen Mubai walked over, smiling. Her slender arms, when used, showed surprisingly visible muscle definition. She easily “pulled” her out of the ball pit.

“Did you have fun?”

“Fu… fun.”

The kind of fun that almost sent her to heaven, that’s all.

Seeing Xu Chacha panting, Housekeeper Zhang quickly handed over the thermos mug. Xu Chacha took a long sip of the health tonic, experiencing the feeling of an elixir extending her life.

It wasn’t good to play too wildly. Wen Mubai held Xu Chacha and rested on the side for over ten minutes, then took her to play a few other activities.

Around four o’clock, they prepared to pack up and go home.

…

The commercial street was just around the corner from the arcade exit. Xu Chacha twitched her little nose, smelling a delicious charred meat aroma.

“Auntie,” she tugged on Wen Mubai’s hand.

Wen Mubai was now so familiar with Xu Chacha that she knew what she was about to ask just by the way she moved. She looked up towards the food street on the right. “Are you hungry?”

Xu Chacha nodded sheepishly. After all, not long ago, she had been sloshing with water and complaining to Wen Mubai that she was too full to walk.

Wen Mubai walked forward, but after two steps, she realized Xu Chacha wasn’t following. “Let’s go, I’ll buy you some.”

Xu Chacha hopped on the spot, then ran off, following the scent to the storefront selling teppanyaki skewers.

“Save some room. You still have to eat dinner at home,” Wen Mubai instructed.

“I know, I know,” Xu Chacha replied, but the speed at which she grabbed the skewers didn’t slow down at all.

Teppanyaki squid was absolutely her favorite, but it was so expensive that she was reluctant to eat it in her past life.

Xu Chacha took three large squids and a handful of squid tentacles, and finally, for good measure, a few skewers of cauliflower and chicken tenders.

The boss cooked them on the spot, with fast hand movements. A sizzling sound was accompanied by a burst of aroma. Xu Chacha sniffed with her little nose, her mouth practically watering.

The squid was finished with chopped onions and a thick, sweet sauce. Just looking at it was enough to lure a greedy cat’s soul away.

All the skewers Xu Chacha picked out filled two large boxes when packaged. The moment the boss handed them over, she stood on her tiptoes to take them.

“Oh dear, oh dear, Miss, be careful, it’s hot. Granny will take it for you.” Housekeeper Zhang took the boxes.

“Thank you, Granny!” Xu Chacha wrapped one large squid in a paper towel. This thing was bigger than her face when she held it up.

“One for Auntie, one for Granny,” she allocated the three squids. “One for Chacha! Just right.”

“I won’t eat it.” Housekeeper Zhang shook her head.

“Please eat, Granny. This is so delicious.” Xu Chacha held it out to her mouth. “Granny was tired following Chacha all day. You should eat something to refuel.”

“Thank you, Miss.” Housekeeper Zhang accepted politely, touched, and took a bite, slowly chewing to appreciate the charm of street food.

“Are you just going to eat this one?” Wen Mubai tucked a napkin into Xu Chacha’s hand. “Wipe your mouth.”

“Yes, just this one.” Xu Chacha held her squid and walked forward. The path was supposed to lead home, but she was again distracted by the claw machine on the corner.

This time, Wen Mubai didn’t even need to ask. She directly scanned the machine and exchanged a pile of tokens for her. “Shall Auntie try to win it for you?”

“Thank you, Auntie!”

Xu Chacha bounced as she led her to the machine she liked, pointing at the Hello Kitty doll inside. “This one, this one. But it looks hard to win. Can Auntie do it?”

“We’ll see.”

Wen Mubai inserted the coin. It was her first time playing these things, but she operated the machine with the practiced, decisive air of a veteran.

The metal claw was lowered and positioned over the large-headed Hello Kitty. Wen Mubai pressed the grab button, and when the claw gripped the cat’s head, she gave a slight smile.

That’s all there is to it.

Life quickly gave her a resounding slap. When the claw was lifted, it merely slid softly against the doll’s head without picking it up. The empty claw returned to its starting position, and the smile on Wen Mubai’s lips vanished.

“Go, Auntie, go, Auntie!” Xu Chacha cheered her on.

Wen Mubai shook her head, putting in five coins in a row. As expected, all empty grabs.

Click, click, click, ten more coins. Wen Mubai’s eyes were filled with competitive spirit.

Unfortunately, she had gained nothing by the time Xu Chacha finished all her skewers.

“Let’s find the staff,” Wen Mubai straightened up, having calmly accepted reality. “Auntie will buy it for you.”

“How about I try?” Xu Chacha wiped her small hands clean with the wet wipe Wen Mubai gave her, finally having a free hand to play. “We still have a few coins left anyway.”

“Okay, you play.” Wen Mubai handed her the remaining coins.

Housekeeper Zhang had already gone to find the staff. Watching Wen Mubai’s struggle had made her so anxious that she almost wanted to pull out her own wallet to buy the doll for Xu Chacha.

“Hello, are you a staff member from the arcade over there?” Housekeeper Zhang asked a girl in a vest.

The girl nodded. “Is the coin stuck? I’ll get it.”

“No, no. It’s just that the child wants a doll. Can you just open the machine and sell it to us?”

“Yes, we can.” This wasn’t the first time the girl had encountered this. “Which machine is it? I’ll open it for you.”

She followed Housekeeper Zhang’s pace, rattling her keys. When they arrived, only a short ten minutes had passed since before, but Xu Chacha was already surrounded by a small crowd.

“Wow! This little sister is amazing! Mommy, Mommy, I want to play too!”

“Little sister, can you help me win one too?”

“Help me too, help me too!”

Xu Chacha, in the center of the crowd, had several dolls at her feet, one in her arms, and one hanging from her waist. Her little hand gripped the joystick, her eyes focused intently.

Clang! She grabbed another palm-sized turtle and handed it to a little boy standing by. “Here you go.”

The little boy, who had been inconsolable, finally stopped crying and smiled, snot bubbles and all. “Thank you, Sister.”

Staff member: Did you call me over just to show me this?

…

Pleasant times are always brief. Wen Mubai quickly packed her luggage and started school, and Xu Chacha also had to return to class.

After that, Xu Chacha never heard Mr. or Mrs. Xu talking to Mr. Wen on the phone again, and Wen Mubai wouldn’t bring it up. She didn’t know whether Wen Mubai’s relationship with her father had eased or was still at loggerheads.

She sighed, resting her head on her hand, completely unable to listen to the teacher on the podium.

“Xu Chacha.” Wang Fang was never polite when calling names. “Why are you zoning out in class? Come up and solve this problem.”

Xu Chacha said “oh” and walked up to the blackboard. She glanced at the pattern-finding problem, not needing to think, and wrote down the answer immediately.

“Wow, Chacha is so smart.” Chen Qianqian, sitting in the back row, secretly clapped, her bright eyes filled with admiration for Xu Chacha.

“Hmph.” Her deskmate, Xue Miaomiao, lifted her chin dismissively. “Maybe it’s wrong. How can she write it out so fast?”

“Chacha is very good at solving problems. Don’t say that about her.” Chen Qianqian glared.

Xue Miaomiao bit her lip, pouting angrily. “I’m very smart too. I got ninety-five on the last math pop quiz. Why don’t you praise me?”

“But Chacha got one hundred points. She’s first in the whole class.”

“Xue Miaomiao, Chen Qianqian, if you two love to gossip so much, why don’t you come up and teach?” When Wang Fang’s voice went up, the two immediately drew in their necks like little turtles, pretending they weren’t there.

“There are exactly two questions left. You two come up and complete them.” Wang Fang clapped her hands, inviting them up.

Xue Miaomiao and Chen Qianqian reluctantly stood up, walking to Xu Chacha’s side with their heads bowed.

These were enrichment problems, the difficulty was much higher than the in-class material. There was no way they could solve them.

“Qianqian.” Xu Chacha tilted her head, winked with one eye, and gave her an “OK” hand gesture. “You can do it. I’ll go down first.”

Because Xu Chacha was quick, and she used the hand closest to the blackboard, and Wang Fang’s attention was on the two other girls, the teacher didn’t notice the hint.

Contrary to her appearance, Chen Qianqian was very sharp. She got Xu Chacha’s hint and confidently wrote the answer “3” on the blackboard.

“Don’t go, what about me!” Xue Miaomiao whispered to the departing Chen Qianqian, anxiously.

“I can’t calculate it either,” Chen Qianqian waved her hand, quickly escaping. “Good luck yourself.”

Xue Miaomiao was left alone to face the difficult problem. She stared at the blackboard for a long time, almost cross-eyed from looking at the numbers, but still had no clue.

“If you can’t figure it out, go stand in the back. Don’t waste everyone’s time.” Even though Xue Miaomiao’s grades were excellent across the grade, Wang Fang didn’t have the habit of spoiling “good students” and disciplined her just the same. “Take your book and pen. I’m going to explain it now. Take notes properly.”

Xue Miaomiao pursed her lips, quickly walked to her desk to grab her things under the gaze of her classmates, and stood at the back.

She had never been made to stand outside before. Her delicate little face was flushed crimson, and she bit her lower lip tightly, looking like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

In fact, when the class bell rang and Wang Fang left, Xue Miaomiao couldn’t hold back her tears, sobbing and hiccupping, utterly miserable.

She usually didn’t speak kindly, so her classmates kept their distance from her. No one dared to go up and comfort her now, afraid they would be met with cold sarcasm.

“Don’t cry, Miaomiao. It’s normal not to be able to figure out those kinds of problems.” Xu Chacha couldn’t bear to see a child cry. She stood up to comfort her. “Actually, I gave you a hand gesture too just now. I thought you saw it.”

“No, you didn’t.” Xue Miaomiao looked up with a tear-stained face, her voice thick with a sniffle. That little hint of arrogance had turned into pure grievance. “You only told Chen Qianqian, and you ignored me.”

“Huh?” Xu Chacha scratched her head, then showed her the “OK” hand gesture again, drawing a circle with her finger to explain. “Look, isn’t this a ‘3’ and a ‘0’?”

The answer to Xue Miaomiao’s question was zero.

Xue Miaomiao stopped sobbing, but then more tears fell. “But I’m so embarrassed now, and the teacher won’t like me anymore. It’s all your fault, I hate you, wuwuwuwu.”

At this age, she didn’t understand right from wrong. Xue Miaomiao was only focused on venting her emotions and didn’t realize her words would hurt Xu Chacha.

Who would have thought that someone as competitive as her would start crying over “the teacher won’t like me anymore?” Xu Chacha felt like laughing, but held back for Xue Miaomiao’s pride.

“Does Miaomiao hate me?” Xu Chacha lowered her head, her little face scrunched up in a very wronged and sad expression. “I see. Chacha understands.”

Xu Chacha shoved the chocolate she was holding into Xue Miaomiao’s hand. “It’s okay if you hate Chacha. Just please don’t cry anymore. You like chocolate, right? Eat it and stop crying.”

“How, how do you know that?” Xue Miaomiao’s voice was hesitant.

“Because Miaomiao drinks chocolate soymilk every morning,” Xu Chacha smiled. “Chacha always pays attention.”

“Why do you… care so much about my business…” Xue Miaomiao didn’t know why her ears suddenly felt hot.

It felt like shyness, and yet not, but it also felt like it was because of Xu Chacha’s “mistake.”

“Why?” Xu Chacha didn’t answer directly. She just tilted her head, her sparkling grape-like eyes sending signals to Xue Miaomiao, then she squinted into a carefree smile. “Chacha doesn’t know either.”

Xue Miaomiao’s mood was tossed up and down by her sweet wink. She thought to herself with a bit of self-absorption:

Does Xu Chacha actually want to be friends with me, but is too shy to say it? So she can only observe me pitifully every day and brought chocolate just to give it to me.

If that was the case, were her words just now too harsh?

Actually… actually, she didn’t really hate Xu Chacha. She was just a little jealous that she stole the attention of both the teacher and the classmates.

“Um.” Xue Miaomiao’s palms were sweating, and her voice trembled, but her expression still held the arrogance of a little tyrant. “It’s not impossible if you want to be my friend.”

After speaking, Xue Miaomiao nervously watched Xu Chacha’s expression out of the corner of her eye, swallowing a mouthful of saliva, somewhat anticipating her next words.

“But Miaomiao hates Chacha, doesn’t she?” Xu Chacha frowned, looking very troubled. “Then Chacha should stay far away from you.”

“No! Not really.” Xue Miaomiao coughed lightly, grabbing her hand. “Not… especially hate you.”

“It’s okay. Chacha doesn’t want to force you.” Xu Chacha pulled her hand away.

“No forcing! My mom says to make friends with smart people. You’re… quite smart.”

“I see.” Xu Chacha finally turned around and looked her in the eye. “So Miaomiao wants to be friends with Chacha too?”

Xue Miaomiao didn’t speak. After a moment, she gave a stiff nod.

“What’s wrong, Miaomiao? Why aren’t you talking?” Xu Chacha blinked and leaned closer, asking again, with a persistence that suggested she wouldn’t give up until she heard a verbal confession. “Miaomiao, do you want to be friends with Chacha? If not, then forget it.”

Xue Miaomiao’s voice was very soft, but thankfully Xu Chacha was close enough to hear everything.

She said, “Yes, I do…”