Chapter 1570 - 908: Overwhelmed by His Sister’s Love, Jiang Xiaowai’s Qixi (2nd Update)
Chapter 1570: Chapter 908: Overwhelmed by His Sister’s Love, Jiang Xiaowai’s Qixi (2nd Update)
Jiang Xiaowai’s summer class went relatively smoothly. Although his Taekwondo stances might not have been perfectly standardized, they still had some style.
The bonding between the siblings wasn’t due to the camaraderie of attending classes together, but rather their shared ordeal every time they went to the old house for a meal whenever they encountered Jiang Chengsi.
"So, how’s the Taekwondo practice going lately?" Some uncle-like figure, who appeared quite harmless, asked.
But he would always follow up with:
"Come on, show us what you’ve got."
The siblings: "..."
Jiang Chengsi didn’t really care to watch them perform, he was simply bored and amused himself by teasing the kids to pass the time. Plus, watching Jiang Xiaowai, who had a face similar to Jiang Xiaowu’s, throw punches was quite comical.
Jiang Xiaowai glanced at Jiang Sese, "My sister is dressed very prettily today, it’s not suitable for those moves. I’ll do it."
The little guy could tell that his sister didn’t want to perform, and as her brother, he felt he should take responsibility.
It was only then that Jiang Sese felt:
This brother of hers was really pretty good.
The little girl was somewhat slow to warm up to others, but once she had you in her heart, she’d naturally treat you well in various ways.
For children, the most direct way to express their fondness is by sharing their things.
Jiang Sese and Jiang Xiaowai’s way of deepening their sibling bond was by washing hands together and folding clothes together.
This love from his sister was something Jiang Xiaowai really couldn’t handle.
...
During a break in training that day, Jiang Xiaowai was wearing protective gear and had sparred with a child a year older than him, leaving him panting heavily.
What kind of clever tricks could kids come up with in a fight? The coach just wanted them to experience the atmosphere of confrontation. Jiang Xiaowai lay on the ground, unwilling to move a muscle.
"Brother, do you want some water?" Jiang Sese got up, "I’ll get it for you."
Their backpacks and water bottles were placed at the edge of the gym where some parents were also sitting. The training session lasted over three hours each day, and some parents stayed for the whole duration.
Jiang Xiaowai took a few breaths and noticed his sister hadn’t returned yet. He immediately got up and saw she was talking to a man while holding two water bottles.
The man seemed to be in his fifties or sixties, bent over with a particularly kindly smile.
Jiang Xiaowai immediately trotted over, looking cautiously at the person in front of him, "Grandpa, who are you? What do you want?"
"N-no..." The man bent over, with most of his face hidden in the shadows, making it hard to see clearly.
"Sister, let’s go." Jiang Xiaowai took the water bottles from Jiang Sese’s arms and led her away.
Jiang Xiaowai brought her to a spot very close to the coach. Several coaches were chatting, and when they saw the two little ones coming over, they teasingly interacted with them a bit.
"Drink water!" Jiang Xiaowai opened the bottle and handed it to Jiang Sese. The little girl took it and glanced back at the man in the distance, who seemed to have already left. "Do you know that grandpa from before?"
"I don’t know him." The little girl shook her head.
"So what did he say to you?"
"He just asked if I was tired from training."
"I’m telling you, there are a lot of child traffickers these days. Don’t talk to strangers casually." Jiang Xiaowai said with particular seriousness.
Jiang Sese sipped her water and nodded earnestly.
"There are many bad people out there. They often give you something tasty to trick you into going with them, and eventually, they’ll take you somewhere else, and you won’t be able to come back!" Jiang Xiaowai continued educating his sister about trafficking awareness.
"And even if a stranger offers you water, don’t drink it without thinking."
"But don’t be afraid, just stick close to me. I’ll protect you."
Jiang Sese nodded with a smile.
The reason Jiang Xiaowai was so vigilant was quite understandable, Jiang Jinsang had always intentionally guided him on such matters, like not talking to strangers casually or accepting food from strangers when parents weren’t around.
Jiang Jinsang even conducted a few "training" sessions, where someone disguised as a "stranger" would intentionally try to lure him away.
In the initial attempts, just a piece of candy could lure him away, which gave Jiang Jinsang quite a headache.
After hearing so much about it, Jiang Xiaowai finally remembered, and there was even an instance where Jiang Jinsang deliberately tested him, and the little guy directly responded:
"Dad, you are so boring."
Jiang Jinsang: "..."
...
The Taekwondo practice venue was a tutoring class full of parents; although the crowd was relatively simple, it wasn’t a closed environment. Almost anyone could enter.
Even if there were relatively unfamiliar people sitting around, the coach might assume they were someone’s parents and wouldn’t question it.
In the subsequent days, Jiang Sese would occasionally see that person, sitting among a group of parents, just watching their training. Occasionally, he would even take photos with a phone, appearing indistinguishable from regular parents.
She didn’t actively talk to her again, so Jiang Sese didn’t take it to heart.
**
However, as time passed, the summer course was nearing its end, and the Chinese Valentine’s Day was approaching.
Jiang Xiaowai was playing with his model at home that day and overheard his parents discussing where to go for Chinese Valentine’s Day.
"Didn’t you want to go to Nanjiang before and check out Yan’s Jewelry’s designs?" Jiang Jinsang suggested.
"But I also want to go to an island." Tang Wan frowned, "Once we’re back from this trip, I’ll probably have to focus entirely on my solo exhibition, and I might be particularly busy for a while."
"You take care of your work, I’ll handle the household matters and the kids."
Jiang Jinsang had always supported Tang Wan’s work. He never demanded that Tang Wan give up her career to take care of the family. He also believed he had no right to do so because taking care of the family was never inherently a woman’s duty or obligation. Over the years of marriage, the two had always discussed and negotiated things, and their relationship had been great.
While watching cartoons, Jiang Xiaowai thought happily:
Nanjiang, beach, coconuts, not bad.
The island, that’s even more fun.
Every choice seemed good.
When he went to the tutoring class, he deliberately told Jiang Sese, "Mom and Dad are taking me on a trip."
"Really?" the little girl was quite envious, "My parents are busy doing experiments lately. They definitely won’t have time to take me out this summer."
"How about I talk to your parents and take you with us?"
**
A few days before Chinese Valentine’s Day, the entire Beijing was covered with all kinds of advertisements. That day, when coming out of the tutoring class, it was rare that both Jiang Shiyi and Lin Luyou were busy, so they asked Jiang Jinsang and his wife to help take care of the kids, saying they would pick them up a bit later.
After eating at home, the two kids sat in the living room watching TV.
While munching on watermelon, Jiang Xiaowai was contemplating how to bring up the topic of taking his sister along, but before he could say anything, he heard Jiang Jinsang say:
"Mutang, your mom and I are going out in a few days, we’ll send you to stay at your grandparents’ for a few days."
Jiang Xiaowai paused his watermelon-eating action, "You’re all going? Not taking me?"
"Your mom has work, so it’s inconvenient to take you."
Jiang Xiaowai’s face fell:
Liars!
You’re obviously going out to celebrate, and you’re using work to fool me, really think I’m a three-year-old kid?
Mom’s work makes it inconvenient to take me, then why can she take you!
Jiang Xiaowai almost wanted to throw a tantrum, but he caught a glimpse of Jiang Sese still there, and pursed his lips. He had bragged in front of his sister about taking her with him, now in this situation, how was he supposed to save face?
"I’ve already talked to your grandparents, we’re just going out for a few days, we’ll bring back some goodies for you." Jiang Jinsang rubbed his head.
Jiang Xiaowai turned his head to look at Jiang Sese, feeling too ashamed to face her.
"If you don’t want to go to your grandparents’, you can stay at our place," Jiang Sese suggested.
Jiang Xiaowai immediately felt that compared to his heartless parents, his sister was simply an angel.
"Sister, I’m sorry." Jiang Xiaowai looked down at the half-eaten watermelon, almost crying.
"It’s okay." Jiang Sese said, pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket and handing it to him.
"I’m not crying!"
He’s a little man, how could he shed tears over such a small thing? He was very strong.
Jiang Sese frowned, "I know you’re not crying, it’s just..."
"You have watermelon seeds on your face."
Jiang Xiaowai: "..."
At that moment, Jiang Xiaowai was too angry with his heartless parents to think straight. His sister invited him to stay at her house, so he readily agreed. Jiang Jinsang and Tang Wan didn’t mind, as it was actually normal for the kids from these families to stay over at each other’s houses occasionally.
"Are you sure you want to stay at Sese’s place?" Jiang Jinsang asked again while packing his son’s luggage.
At that time, Jiang Xiaowai was huffing angrily, not wanting to respond to him at all.
When he arrived at Jiang Shiyi’s house and saw how clean and orderly it was, he was a bit stunned. He seemed to have forgotten that his uncle had OCD and was a neat freak, even the fourth uncle was afraid of him.
Is it still in time to go to his grandpa’s house?
"Dad, you and mom must come back early." That was Jiang Xiaowai’s last bit of stubbornness.
"Just settle in at our place, and you can keep Sese company." Jiang Shiyi looked Jiang Xiaowai up and down, as if assessing his worth, and smiled with extraordinary kindness.