After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Side Character, I Became the Group’s Favorite (GL) - Chapter 67

Mr. Wen initially thought he was dreaming and had to raise a hand to slap himself to fully wake up.

“What are you doing!” His shout scattered the alcohol from Xu Chacha’s system.

Wen Mubai was the only one who remained calm. She raised a hand to shield Xu Chacha behind her. “Whatever you see, that’s what it is.”

“You… you… what on earth is this!”

“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry,” Mr. Xu put a hand on his shoulder, patting him soothingly. “The two kids had some alcohol and aren’t quite sober, and today is your special day. Don’t ruin your health by getting upset.”

“How can I not be angry?” Mr. Wen pointed at Wen Mubai. “Chacha is your child too. She’s being corrupted by her like this. Aren’t you angry?”

Mr. Xu was speechless. He couldn’t very well tell Mr. Wen that Xu Chacha had already notified them, and they were quite prepared.

And perhaps, it was their child “corrupting” the other family’s daughter.

“The birthday is important,” Mrs. Xu chimed in. “Everyone calm down. We can all sit down and talk properly after today is over.”

That was the advice, but Mr. Wen was not one to be easily persuaded. With his hands behind his back, he showed a rare expression of severity toward Xu Chacha and beckoned to her.

“Chacha, you come with me to the study.”

Wen Mubai started to follow, but Mr. Wen called out, “Did I call you?”

She was about to retort when Xu Chacha tugged at her clothes and whispered, “It’s okay.”

Wen Mubai’s clear eyes gazed at her for a moment. “Fine. If anything happens, call me. I’ll be right outside the door.”

“Mhmm, mhm.”

In the study…

He had said he wanted to talk, but after Mr. Wen entered, he didn’t say a single word, just kept drinking water, water, water…

Mr. and Mrs. Xu sat next to him, also waiting for his reaction.

Xu Chacha watched him drink cup after cup until his beer belly seemed twice its usual size before he finally coughed twice, cleared his throat, and asked, “When did this start?”

“It’s been a while…”

Mr. Wen remembered something. “When you moved recently, you moved in with her, didn’t you? So you are the one cohabiting with her?”

No wonder he didn’t catch anyone when he went to Wen Mubai’s house last time. He had been fooled by a clever trick.

He never would have guessed that the person he tried so hard to figure out was sitting right under his nose.

“Tell me honestly, Chacha, did she… take advantage of you first?”

Xu Chacha immediately shook her head. “No, I confessed first. She didn’t agree at first.”

“Ha…” Mr. Wen was nearly laughing from anger.

She didn’t agree?

“Don’t tell me that when she told me last time that she was serious about marrying you, that was also a delaying tactic to deceive me?”

“Marrying?” The three members of the Xu family asked in unison.

Mr. Wen was even more surprised than they were. “Chacha doesn’t even know about this?”

Xu Chacha didn’t dare to speak. How could she possibly know?

Right after she started dating Wen Mubai, she thought she was dreaming. Even after so long, it didn’t feel entirely real. Asking her to think about marriage now was too big a leap.

“It really was a lie to me! She’s just playing with young girls’ feelings, and she’s doing it to you—”

Seeing Mr. Wen about to explode, Mr. Xu quickly intervened. “You’re overthinking it! Overthinking it! We watched Mubai grow up. Don’t you know her character? Who is more respectable than that child!”

“If she was truly respectable, would she prey on such a young girl!”

“What are you saying? Didn’t you see just now? It was our Chacha who made the first move!”

Xu Chacha, who was outside the main conflict, didn’t know whether to speak or stay silent. Before coming in, she had expected to be jointly reprimanded by the three of them. Instead, it had turned into a reverse rivalry, with both sets of parents criticizing their own children.

The argument ended without any clear conclusion, but Wen Mubai was the first to lose patience waiting outside the door. She walked in and took Xu Chacha’s hand.

“It’s too late. Let’s go home and sleep.”

Mr. Wen, a moment too slow, only realized what was happening after the two had left the room. “No! You can’t let them go back now!”

These two should go back to their respective homes and be properly disciplined!

He called Wen Mubai, but the result was predictable: she glanced at the phone and hung up immediately.

Annoyed by the persistent calls, she even turned off her phone. Xu Chacha’s phone had long since run out of battery, so calling her was pointless too.

“What did he say to you?” Wen Mubai’s hands were on the steering wheel. “Whatever he said, don’t worry about it. What he says doesn’t count. Only what I say matters.”

Xu Chacha still hadn’t fully recovered. “You might not believe this, but Uncle Wen kept talking about you. He didn’t scold me once…”

Wen Mubai wasn’t very surprised by this answer. She chuckled. “What did he say about me?”

“Not respectable… misleading young girls… playing with feelings…” Xu Chacha counted on her fingers. “Want to hear more?”

“Take away the last one, and the rest isn’t wrong.”

Xu Chacha: Is something wrong with you?

Because of the unexpected event, they went home earlier than planned.

Afraid of eating too much and not looking good in her gown, Xu Chacha had eaten very little that evening. After showering, she lay on the sofa, clutching her rumbling stomach and groaning.

“I’m hungry…”

The first time she called out, Wen Mubai had just grabbed her towel to go wash. She turned and told her, “There are dumplings and tangyuan (sweet rice balls) in the fridge. If you’re hungry, only cook a few. Eating too much late at night is hard to digest.”

But when Wen Mubai came out after her shower, Xu Chacha was still in the same slumped posture, lying on the sofa, blinking at her with a wrinkled nose.

“I’m hungry, Wife. Food, food.”

Wen Mubai took the towel from her neck and walked closer. “Say that again.”

“Hungry, food, food.”

“You missed a word.”

“Will you cook tangyuan for me then?” Xu Chacha tried to trick her.

Wen Mubai shook her head, then got up and opened the fridge. “Osmanthus or sesame?”

“Mmm… both.” Only children make choices.

Sesame-filled tangyuan are easy to break while boiling. Wen Mubai, afraid of mixing the flavors, used two separate pots to cook them. Then she thought it was a waste to go to so much trouble for just a few, so she added a serving for herself as a late-night snack.

The small tangyuan cooked quickly. Once the water boiled, Wen Mubai used a ladle to scoop them out, putting them into two large bowls and setting them on the coffee table.

Xu Chacha finally twisted her body, flipping over like a turtle to sit up. She picked up a spoon and swallowed one.

“Mmmph—Hot—” She held the tangyuan in her mouth, scalded but reluctant to spit it out. She squeezed out physiological tears by sheer force of will.

Wen Mubai handed her a glass of water, her tone slightly scolding. “You’re a grown-up. Don’t you know that freshly boiled tangyuan are hot?”

Xu Chacha drank some water, finally neutralizing some of the scorching temperature in her mouth. She worked her cheeks, chewing and swallowing the tangyuan.

“Oh.” Of course she knew, but she couldn’t help but do it every time. “They just look so delicious.”

Wen Mubai went back and filled a small bowl with osmanthus tangyuan, adding a few ice cubes to it.

“Try this.”

This way, she didn’t have to worry about burning her mouth. Xu Chacha picked up three with one spoon and put them straight into her mouth. As she ate, her eyes lit up.

The chilled tangyuan were chewier and more delightfully nuo ji ji than the hot ones, cool and refreshing with the slight sweetness of osmanthus. “Delicious!”

Mindful of Xu Chacha’s delicate stomach, Wen Mubai took the tangyuan away after she finished the small bowl and dragged her off to brush her teeth.

Xu Chacha, being led away, insisted, “Just one more bite, just one more bite.”

“Eating too much is bad for digestion, and you can’t have too much ice-cold food.”

“Then I’ll eat the hot ones!”

“Alternating between cold and hot is more likely to give you a stomach ache.”

“You’re doing this on purpose!”

Wen Mubai leaned against the doorframe, supervising her brushing with a restrained smile. “Maybe.”

Xu Chacha took a mouthful of water and angrily spat out the minty toothpaste foam, pretending it was Wen Mubai.

“My sister doesn’t even control me this much.”

“That’s why I’m not your sister,” Wen Mubai tilted her head, as if remembering something. “I cooked tangyuan for you. You owe me now, don’t you?”

“Owe you what?”

Wen Mubai straightened up, taking a step closer to her, her eyebrow slightly raised. “What do you think?”

Xu Chacha couldn’t hold up under her direct gaze. She turned sideways, resting a hand on the vanity. “W-Wife…”

Wen Mubai was still not satisfied. “Calling me that so reluctantly?”

“What do you want?” Xu Chacha was initially quite confident, but when she looked up, she saw the dog-bite-like teeth marks on Wen Mubai’s collarbone beneath the loose neckline of her pajamas. Her confidence immediately faltered. “I’ve already called you that anyway.”

Wen Mubai followed her gaze to her collarbone, raised a finger, and rubbed the area. Her lips curved up as she deliberately lengthened her final syllable. “Tsk… I wonder which mosquito bit me last night. It still hurts now.”

Xu Chacha coughed, trying to cover it up. Once her throat felt less dry, she said weakly, “I didn’t bite on purpose.”

She was just frustrated that she couldn’t leave hickeys. Every time afterwards, Wen Mubai’s body was perfectly smooth, while she was covered in embarrassing patches of blue and red.

“It’s not fair,” she pouted.

Wen Mubai listened to her sullen complaint and finally couldn’t hold back, turning her head to laugh out loud.

“Just because of that?”

No wonder her casual remark last night, “You still haven’t learned after practicing for so long,” had instantly made the little brat explode.

It turned out she had been harboring a grudge for a long time.

Xu Chacha pursed her lips without speaking. The next second, Wen Mubai pulled her right hand over. As Xu Chacha stared in a daze, Wen Mubai lowered her head and gently held the soft flesh on the inside of her wrist between her lips.

First came the feeling of her tongue sweeping over the skin, followed by a surge of electricity-like tingling. By the time Wen Mubai pulled back, a red mark had already been left on that spot of skin.

Xu Chacha was so shy that her fingers curled up. The other person, as if she hadn’t teased her enough, asked, “Did you learn now?”

She remained silent.

“Silence means yes. Since you’ve learned, let’s have a pop quiz.” Wen Mubai had a smile on her face. With her right hand, she lazily tugged at her collar, pointing with a fair finger at the perfectly intact collarbone on the other side. “Here?”

Xu Chacha’s head exploded with a boom. Without a mirror, she knew how red her face was right now.

“What’s wrong? Your face is so red…” Wen Mubai didn’t finish her sentence before Xu Chacha made a quick decision and turned off the bathroom light.

The warmth of the lamp slowly faded, taking a moment to go completely dark.

In the last few seconds before darkness descended, Wen Mubai saw Xu Chacha’s wide, unconvinced almond eyes.

“I’ll try if you want me to.”

Practice makes perfect. Xu Chacha’s motion of pulling Wen Mubai’s collar was getting increasingly skilled.

But while her mind was eager, when her lips actually touched, she didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, the lingering sensation on her wrist reminded her of every detail of what had just happened.

So, Xu Chacha imitated Wen Mubai’s previous action, striving to put it into practice.

“Hiss—” A sudden cry of pain came from the quiet space.

“What’s wrong?”

“The roof of my mouth hurts.”

The roof of her mouth had been scalded while eating the tangyuan earlier and was already raw. She had just sucked hard, which was pure agony.

“Let me see,” Wen Mubai said softly.

Xu Chacha obediently raised her chin, expecting Wen Mubai to use her eyes to “see.” But to her surprise, Wen Mubai put her finger directly into her mouth.

Afraid of biting her, Xu Chacha could only keep her mouth slightly open.

Wen Mubai’s fingertip gently touched the broken skin, bringing a slightly irritating itch. “Does it still hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt when you touch it… it hurts when I suck…”

“Then we’ll give this area a rest today.” Wen Mubai wrapped her arms around Xu Chacha’s waist and lifted her to sit on the counter.

“W-What are you doing?”

“We can’t let your Auntie’s kind gift go to waste,” Wen Mubai pressed her finger onto Xu Chacha’s wet tongue, her voice low and husky with suggestive intent. “Suck on this a little. It will be useful later.”