How to Make My Villainous Omega Stepsister Turn Over a New Leaf - Chapter 4

“Oh, you made a new friend?” The shop owner, her hair styled in fashionable little curls, smiled as she watched Ye Chengji take the brat around the shelves to choose snacks. “You were running so urgently earlier that I thought something had happened at home.”

At those words, Ye Chengji reflexively remembered the dozen or so time reversals she had just experienced. She unconsciously frowned and took a long time before finally saying, “Nothing happened.”

Actually, something serious had happened. It was a huge problem.

But even if she explained it, no one who had not experienced it would believe her.

Children her age always had a certain dramatic fantasy that they carried the fate of the world upon their shoulders, trudging forward alone beneath shadows no one else could see or understand as they single-handedly saved the world.

Ye Chengji had naturally dreamed about that sort of thing too.

She simply had not expected it to actually happen one day.

Unfortunately, she was not saving the world.

She was saving her own time—and the future fate of the wicked brat beside her, who would otherwise commit crimes and end up in prison.

“…I’ve chosen.”

The hem of Ye Chengji’s tank top was suddenly tugged.

Then she heard the brat’s clear, slightly shrill voice. Zhu Letao had been crouching in front of the candy jars for ages, unable to make up her mind.

She sounded a little like a baby chick.

With her vivid imagination, Ye Chengji pictured the future great villain turning into a soft yellow, round little chick that followed behind her while endlessly chirping.

She could not help wanting to laugh.

And she really did laugh aloud.

However, her laughter seemed to give the brat the wrong idea. Zhu Letao looked at her uncertainly, then lowered her head toward the candies clutched in her palm and fell into hesitation once more.

Zhu Letao had never expected that someone who had shown obvious rejection toward her from the very moment they met would willingly bring her out to buy snacks.

Ye Chengji had even already left out of habit, only to return specifically to bring her along.

Although Zhu Letao did not understand why she had come back through the window.

Earlier, she had secretly watched Ye Chengji while she took out her money. Zhu Letao had originally planned to steal the money hidden inside the mattress after the other girl left.

But Ye Chengji’s sudden return made it difficult to act.

It was nice that she could openly spend some of the money now.

Still, had Ye Chengji not returned, Zhu Letao would already have succeeded. She could have freely squandered all of it instead of being forced to watch Ye Chengji’s expression just to buy a few pieces of candy.

She had acted so generous before they came, but now that they were actually buying things, Zhu Letao could not even choose a few extra candies.

So stingy.

What a miser.

She should never have waited those extra few minutes to make sure Ye Chengji had really left. She should have acted the instant the door closed.

Zhu Letao thought all this with a completely expressionless face.

When Ye Chengji remained silent, she could only continue staring at the candies in her hand and dragging things out.

She wanted every single one.

She did not want to release any of them.

Making her take something back out after it had already entered her pocket was more painful than killing her.

“I already said I’d buy them for you!”

Ye Chengji finally realized what the brat had misunderstood. Zhu Letao was probably secretly accusing her of breaking her promise.

She immediately grabbed the back of Zhu Letao’s collar and lifted both the child and her selected candies upright.

“Come on. Let’s pay.”

The brat’s eyes immediately lit up again, and she hurried after Ye Chengji on her short little legs.

Carrying a pile of snacks so large that it blocked her vision, Ye Chengji moved forward with some difficulty.

Then she suddenly noticed something and stopped in front of another shelf. A new box was added to hands that could not possibly hold anything more.

The shop owner stared at the small mountain of snacks piled on the counter and widened her eyes in surprise.

“You’re buying so much today. Are you holding a meeting?”

By “meeting,” she meant a gathering of Ye Chengji and her crowd of younger followers.

To adults, they might only look like children playing together, but the shop owner had once happened to see them while she was out buying groceries.

All the children followed Ye Chengji’s lead.

Ye Chengji stood in front and assigned tasks in a logical, orderly way, looking remarkably convincing. She clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments too. Those who performed well received snacks, while those who did poorly were given a stern lecture.

She was not much different from the manager of a large company.

From that day onward, the shop owner had begun paying more attention to Ye Chengji, and the two gradually became familiar with each other.

“No. I have a new little sister at home. I’m buying these for her.”

The shop owner was surprised.

It had happened so suddenly, and no news had spread beforehand.

But once she remembered that Ye Chengji’s mother was the unreliable Zhang Lan, it no longer seemed particularly shocking.

She had probably impulsively allowed some man with a child to move into her home.

Poor Xiao Ji.

She was naturally sensible, yet not only had two strangers suddenly appeared in her home, she was now expected to help two irresponsible adults care for the younger child.

The shop owner could not help looking at Ye Chengji with tenderness and sympathy.

Ye Chengji knew nothing about the tragic little drama playing inside the woman’s mind.

She glanced backward and saw the brat staring fixedly at the compartment where the shop owner kept her change. Zhu Letao’s eyes looked as though they might fall inside.

Ye Chengji immediately grabbed both of her hands tightly.

The brat looked up at her with confusion and displeasure.

Ye Chengji stared righteously back.

What are you looking at? If I weren’t holding you, you would have emptied the shop owner’s entire change drawer by now.

Whenever Zhu Letao did something bad, Ye Chengji had no choice but to repeatedly reverse time and stop her.

In that case, it was better to prevent her before she even started—to smother the first spark of a time reversal in the cradle.

They packed all the snacks into Ye Chengji’s schoolbag.

At least Zhang Lan had bought her the ugliest but largest schoolbag at the market to save money. It was the only reason the mountain of snacks could fit inside.

“All right. Let’s go home.”

Ye Chengji felt Zhu Letao struggling but pretended not to notice, gripping her hand tightly and refusing to release it.

In fact, had there been enough space, she would have liked to stuff the brat into the schoolbag as well.

Zhu Letao was practically weightless anyway.

“Wait. These are for both of you.”

The shop owner casually took down two lollipops hanging nearby, each as large as a child’s palm, and handed them over with a smile.

“They’re new products in my shop. Consider them a welcome gift for your little sister.”

Ye Chengji looked at the familiar lollipops and felt deeply moved.

She should have received this lollipop a long time ago.

Instead, she had been tormented for ages by all those ridiculous events before finally getting it.

“Thank you, Boss Hong.”

Ye Chengji politely thanked her and accepted the lollipops.

Zhu Letao could not tear her eyes away from the colorful candy. She immediately reached out to take one, even though her thoughts were entirely different.

There were actually fools in this world who gave candy to other people for free.

Had she owned such a large convenience store, eating candy three times a day still would not have been enough. Why would she ever give any away?

Before her hand touched the lollipop, she was smacked on the back of the head.

Zhu Letao raised her head and glared viciously, only to see Ye Chengji looking even fiercer as she ordered, “Hurry up and thank Boss Hong.”

When under someone else’s roof, one had no choice but to bow one’s head.

Zhu Letao gazed longingly at the lollipop within reach, then at the stubborn arm blocking her path.

She could only lower her head unwillingly and say thank you.

Her voice was extremely quiet, as though being overheard saying those words would cost her life.

Boss Hong hurriedly waved her hands.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Hurry home.”

Zhu Letao finally received the huge lollipop she had never tasted before. She could not suppress the upward curve of her lips.

Before even leaving the store, she had already torn away the wrapper and stuffed the candy into her mouth.

Throughout the entire process, she watched Ye Chengji warily, as though Ye Chengji would steal her lollipop the instant she stopped paying attention.

At the same time, she still found opportunities to glance covetously at the untouched lollipop Ye Chengji had slipped into the pocket of her shorts.

Ye Chengji noticed the painfully obvious gaze and felt speechless.

This brat was far too greedy.

She wanted everything.

For the rest of the journey, Ye Chengji and Zhu Letao held hands and returned home beneath that same strange atmosphere of silence.

“My candy! Give it to me!”

A sharp, childish voice rang out.

Once they returned home, the brat, who had seemed somewhat wilted outside, immediately regained her energy like a small animal returning to its territory.

She tentatively bared her teeth and claws, and even her voice became louder.

Ye Chengji could not be bothered to explain that she would never embezzle the child’s small amount of snacks.

She directly handed over all the candies Zhu Letao had personally selected and tossed her an extra packet of milk candies.

“They’re all yours.”

Finally, Ye Chengji pulled out a round metal tin of cookies.

It was decorated with beautiful patterns, felt well made, and looked very sturdy.

Zhu Letao, who was stuffing milk candy into her mouth, cautiously raised her head and watched the girl approaching.

Ye Chengji was already beginning to shoot upward in height and towered over children her age. To Zhu Letao, who was three years younger and especially short because of malnutrition, she looked like a giant.

The terrifying “giant” placed the box on Zhu Letao’s bed and told her it belonged to her.

“Why?”

Zhu Letao’s arms had already wrapped around the fairly heavy cookie tin, but she did not understand.

“Once you finish the cookies, you can use the box to store things.”

Zhu Letao’s eyes instantly lit up.

What Ye Chengji was actually thinking was that if Zhu Letao changed the hiding place of her little metal box, it might become too difficult to find.

But she would not be able to hide such a large box so easily.

Ye Chengji could secretly check it at any time to see whether any objects that should not be there had appeared inside.

Still, the brat did not thank her this time either.

Tsk.

What a rude little brat.

That night, clear moonlight poured through the window.

Ye Chengji, who was not yet sleepy, sat leaning beside the window. Using the moonlight, she looked through the curtain she had erected during the day toward the brat on the other side.

A vague shadow appeared on the fabric.

The tiny brat from daytime had completely buried herself beneath the blanket. The outline projected against the curtain resembled a low mountain peak.

Zhu Letao was still lying down, but Ye Chengji knew she was not asleep.

The little mountain was still faintly rising and falling.

“Zhu Letao.”

For the first time, Ye Chengji called her name in a solemn tone.

There was no response.

“From now on, when you want candy or anything else, don’t keep it bottled up,” Ye Chengji continued without caring. “Tell me. If I have money, I’ll buy it for you. Even when I don’t have money, I can think of a way to earn some.”

Zhu Letao’s body stiffened.

Then she turned over to face Ye Chengji.

In the dim light, her eyes gleamed unnaturally brightly as she stared at the silhouette on the curtain, which resembled a huge monster.

“Really?” she asked quietly.

“Really. I never tell lies. Whenever I say I’ll do something, I always do it.”

Ye Chengji nodded proudly, then could not help adding, “But you have to promise me you won’t steal anything.”

Zhu Letao stared at her.

She did not know how Ye Chengji knew she had stolen things before.

Or had Ye Chengji specifically returned earlier because she already knew Zhu Letao intended to steal the hidden money?

But she did not ask anything.

She merely touched the expensive-looking cookie tin beside her pillow.

The cool metal felt perfectly refreshing on such a hot summer night.

It was far better than the little metal box she had hidden for so long.

In truth, she had never possessed much to put inside the old box. The marbles and hair ties had been discarded by other children and picked up from the roadside. She had added the little stones simply to make the box appear fuller.

The new box was expensive.

It was sturdy too.

Zhu Letao pressed her lips together, faint happiness appearing in her eyes.

Very good.

And now she also had things to put inside it.

She had lots of candy.

She had become a rich woman.

After finishing all this, Zhu Letao looked toward the monster-shaped shadow on the other side of the curtain.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Will you always buy things for me?” Zhu Letao asked softly.

In the darkness, her gaze was frighteningly serious.

“Or will you stop caring about me one day when you get tired of me?”

“I won’t stop caring about you,” Ye Chengji said.

After thinking for a moment, she added, “At least…I’ll keep buying things for you until you grow up.”

Once Zhu Letao grew older, she should earn money and buy her own things.

Just as Ye Chengji thought their conversation was about to end, she suddenly heard Zhu Letao’s muffled voice.

“Then you’d better keep your word.”

Ye Chengji did not respond.

She was using the moonlight to read the diary entry she had just finished writing.

It recorded the dozen or so time reversals she had experienced that day, her theories about how the reversals worked, and her future plans to observe and reform the brat.

The elementary school student’s handwriting was slightly crooked.

After finishing, she tore out the page, folded it into a small square, and stuffed it into the deepest compartment of her schoolbag.

Ye Chengji finally began to feel sleepy and lay down.

She did not know how much time had passed before rain seemed to begin falling outside the window, pattering softly.

The sweltering summer night finally gained a trace of coolness.

In the darkness, she could hear Zhu Letao breathing.

From a distant alley came faint laughter and conversation, along with the sounds of playing cards being pushed back and forth.

The crisp sounds struck against one another, then faded within a distant dream into the rushing murmur of ocean waves.