Teasing the Strawberry-Flavored Baby Alpha (ABO, GL) - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The next morning, Shen Tian got up early as expected. Before everyone else arrived at the dining room, she ate two custard buns ahead of time and finally made up for what she owed from yesterday.

When Shen Tian started eating preserved egg porridge and small meat buns, the others came down one after another.

Lu Ningwan was surprised to see Shen Tian so early. “Tiantian, you’re up really early today.”

Shen Tian smiled at Lu Ningwan. “Yeah, early to bed and early to rise is good for the body.”

Wang Auntie laughed outright at Shen Tian’s words. “Before you all came, Tiantian already ate two custard buns.”

Shen Tian didn’t get upset at being exposed. She smiled at Lu Ningwan and went back to eating her own food.

The little one glanced at her sister and shook her head with a worried look. What was she going to do about her sister loving food so much?

After breakfast, Shen Tian and Lu Ningwan were sent to school by the driver Tian Lei as usual. During the morning PE class, Shen Tian spotted Zhao Zhilei from the next class. When Zhao Zhilei saw Shen Tian looking his way, he quickly flashed her a brilliant smile.

Shen Tian felt like she had lard covering her eyes. She ignored Zhao Zhilei and hurriedly looked away.

Zhao Zhilei’s smile faltered when he saw Shen Tian pretending not to notice.

Shen Tian stood in her class line, bored out of her mind. After running two laps and doing some stretches, the teacher let the students move freely.

Most of the girls were kicking shuttlecocks. Some who brought beanbags were playing with those, while others gathered to chat about gossip.

Shen Tian, Lu Ningwan, Li Mengmeng, and Huang Shuai were chatting together.

Over on Zhao Zhilei’s side, he had started playing basketball. Quite a few boys and girls watched from the sidelines. Zhao Zhilei had just shown off by making a shot, drawing plenty of eyes. He scanned the edge of the court but didn’t see Shen Tian anywhere, so he simply let the others keep playing.

“Brother Zhao, why aren’t you playing anymore?” a friend who was playing basketball with Zhao Zhilei asked.

Guo Jie gave a knowing look. “Brother Zhao’s person isn’t here, right? You get it.”

The guys all wore understanding expressions and laughed together.

As soon as Zhao Zhilei reached the sidelines, boys and girls came over with water and towels for him. He thanked them simply but didn’t take any. He scanned the area and finally spotted Shen Tian under the shade near the teaching building—along with Lu Ningwan beside her, of course.

Zhao Zhilei didn’t wipe the sweat from his face. He didn’t want to use tissues or towels from others; he just wanted to see if he went over like this whether Shen Tian would hand him tissues and water. But he was still pretty scared of Lu Ningwan. He always felt like she held some hostility toward him.

After half a day of mental preparation, Zhao Zhilei finally walked over to where Shen Tian and the others were. From a distance, he greeted Shen Tian. “Shen Tian, want to come watch me play basketball?”

Shen Tian looked at Zhao Zhilei with complete bafflement, then glanced at the blazing sun over by the basketball court. She shook her head in disdain. “You go ahead. It’s so hot over there. Besides, you guys haven’t even made a shot in half a day—what’s there to watch?” Shen Tian just didn’t get the people watching the game. What was so great about baking in the sun? Staying in the shade was so much more comfortable.

Zhao Zhilei felt a bit awkward at her words. “Ah, if you don’t want to watch, just stay here. It is pretty hot over there. Look at all this sweat on me.”

What Zhao Zhilei said was actually a hint for Shen Tian to hand him tissues, but Shen Tian stepped back two paces in clear distaste. “If you’re sweating, can’t you just wipe it with a tissue? This is way too unhygienic.” With that, she shook her head, a bit dissatisfied.

Zhao Zhilei’s smile froze on his face. He hurriedly pulled tissues from his pocket to wipe his sweat, explaining as he did. “Shen Tian, don’t misunderstand. I just forgot to wipe because I was too hot. I usually pay a lot of attention to personal hygiene.”

Shen Tian had no interest in whether Zhao Zhilei paid attention to hygiene or not, so she didn’t comment.

But Zhao Zhilei wasn’t quite ready to give up. He saw cola and sparkling water in a bag on the ground and tried again. “Shen Tian, could you give me a bottle of water? I’m pretty thirsty.”

“Ah, those are the ones Huang Shuai bought for us. We each get one—just the right amount for four people. Classmate Zhao, the supermarket’s right over there. You can go buy some yourself—it’s not far.” It wasn’t that Shen Tian was stingy with a bottle of water; it was just that they had bought exactly the right number. If there had been an extra, she would have given it to Zhao Zhilei.

“Then, uh, okay. I’ll stand here and rest a bit before I go buy water.” Zhao Zhilei was wiping his sweat and still hoping to look at Shen Tian, but he met Lu Ningwan’s pitch-black eyes. In an instant, Lu Ningwan’s gaze cooled him right down.

Lu Ningwan stared at Zhao Zhilei impassively for a few moments, then looked up at Shen Tian. Her tone sounded a bit like she was acting spoiled. “Tiantian, I’m getting a little hot.”

As soon as Shen Tian heard Lu Ningwan say she was hot, she immediately pulled out the tissues she always carried, drew one out, and wiped the not-very-obvious sweat from Lu Ningwan’s face. Then she hurriedly handed Lu Ningwan a bottle of ice-cold sparkling water.

Lu Ningwan looked at the sparkling water in her hand but didn’t say anything yet. Shen Tian immediately caught on to what Lu Ningwan meant. “Little Lu Sister, I’ll open it for you.”

Lu Ningwan smiled and handed the sparkling water back to Shen Tian. In a soft voice, she said, “Okay, good thing I have Tiantian here.”

“Hehe, of course. Taking care of Little Lu Sister is what I should do!” Shen Tian laughed as she twisted off the cap and handed the sparkling water to Lu Ningwan.

Lu Ningwan drank the sparkling water, but her gaze lingered on Shen Tian with smiling eyes.

Zhao Zhilei watched their interaction from the side, and his smile really couldn’t hold up anymore. Why did he feel like Shen Tian’s standards for judging him and judging Lu Ningwan weren’t the same at all?

Zhao Zhilei couldn’t stand the way Shen Tian and Lu Ningwan ignored everyone else around them. He slunk off, ready to buy water himself.

Lu Ningwan asked with what seemed like concern and a smile, “Classmate Zhao, going to buy water?”

Zhao Zhilei always felt something off in Lu Ningwan’s smile. He replied dryly, “Ah, you guys chat. You guys chat. I’ll head to the supermarket.”

Huang Shuai and Li Mengmeng gave Zhao Zhilei a sympathetic look. The few of them had grown up together since kindergarten, so they knew exactly how close Shen Tian and Lu Ningwan were. There was no room for Zhao Zhilei at all.

But these were just little episodes in Shen Tian and Lu Ningwan’s daily life. Time flew by, and soon it was time for the New Year holidays. In previous years, Lu Ningwan always spent the holidays with Shen Tian’s family. Her uncle and auntie were taking her cousins back to their hometown, and they usually went on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Lu Ningwan would go over for a token visit, which counted as celebrating with Lu Ming and the others.

This year, for some reason, Lu Ningwan’s eighty-something-year-old grandma insisted on seeing her and told Lu Ming to bring Lu Ningwan back for the holiday. Lu Ningwan’s grandma lived in a village near Linhai City, about a forty-minute drive from the city.

In past years, Lu Ming and the others usually went back for four days. They would arrive on New Year’s Eve, stay until the third day of the new year, then return to the city before visiting relatives on Zhang Ruohua’s side.

Lu Ningwan didn’t want to put Shen Xian and Lin Qinghan in a tough spot or break the surface-level peace with her uncle’s family. After all, her custody was still with her uncle, so she agreed to go.

If anyone was the least happy about this, it had to be Shen Tian. In previous years, Lu Ningwan was always by her side for the holidays. This year, it would just be her and her little sister. Shen Tian lay on the bed, unable to muster any energy for anything. She even only ate half a bowl at lunch before going back to her room.

Lu Ningwan knew Shen Tian was unhappy about not seeing her. She knocked on the door and went into Shen Tian’s room.

Shen Tian lay on the bed and turned her face toward Lu Ningwan. Without much energy, she called out, “Little Lu Sister.”

Lu Ningwan looked at the girl sprawled on the bed with amusement. Did she want to be with her that much?

Lu Ningwan sat on the bed next to Shen Tian and reached out to smooth her back. “Feeling down? Because I won’t be here for those four days over the holiday?”

Shen Tian stacked her two hands together, rested her face on the backs of her hands, and tilted her head toward Lu Ningwan. “Mm-hmm. In previous years, we always spent it as a family. Besides, you don’t like going back there. I’m worried they won’t take good care of you, Little Lu Sister~”

Lu Ningwan reached out and touched Shen Tian’s hair, saying with a smile, “It’ll be fine. And I’m only going for four days. I’m so grown up now—I won’t be like when I was little. I can take care of myself. Tiantian, don’t worry, okay? I’ll have my phone with me. If you miss me, just call, or we can video chat.”

Shen Tian pouted and said in a pitiful tone, “But what if I miss you all the time?”

Lu Ningwan chuckled and replied, “Okay, then I’ll keep the video on to keep Tiantian company. I’ll be back on the third day, and then I’ll stay with you every day, all right?”

Shen Tian finally nodded but still instructed her uneasily. “Little Lu Sister, if they treat you badly or you don’t want to stay, just tell me. Mommy and I will come pick you up.”

“Okay, look at you. It’s not like I’m going to a wolf’s den. You don’t need to be so nervous. Tiantian, do you want to count how many hairs I have?” Lu Ningwan smiled and said.

Shen Tian sat up from the bed and settled beside Lu Ningwan, asking curiously, “Why count hairs?”

“Count them now, and count again when I get back. I promise I’ll return without a single one missing.” Lu Ningwan said with a soft laugh.

Shen Tian felt both annoyed and amused as she leaned her face on Lu Ningwan’s shoulder. In dissatisfaction, she complained, “Little Lu Sister just knows how to tease me.”

Lu Ningwan felt Shen Tian’s breath as she leaned in and curved her lips upward slightly as she put an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “Okay, I was wrong. I shouldn’t tease Tiantian. I promise Tiantian I’ll take good care of myself. You be good at home and eat properly while you wait for me to come back, all right? Otherwise, Mommy and Mother will worry.”

Lu Ningwan held Shen Tian and coaxed her for a good long while until it finally had some effect. Shen Tian leaned against Lu Ningwan and replied, “All right then. I won’t make Little Lu Sister worry about me either. I’ll be good at home and wait for you.”

At dinner that evening, Shen Tian finally had the appetite to eat properly.

Shen Xian teased her little one. “Ningwan coaxed you better?”

“Mm-hmm. Little Lu Sister said we can video anytime.” Shen Tian nodded and didn’t forget to eat the food on the table.

And sure enough, after Little Lu Sister coaxed her, Shen Tian realized she was actually pretty hungry.

“You— you really can’t be away from Ningwan for a minute.” Shen Xian shook her head with a chuckle. Her little one was so clingy right now. What would happen if she dated someone in the future?

Lu Ningwan smiled and spoke up for Shen Tian. “Mother, I pretty much can’t get used to being apart from Tiantian either.”

“Fine, fine—not surprising from you two.” Shen Xian smiled helplessly. Her two daughters’ bond was just too strong.