A Change in January

This system really did understand what he was thinking.

He wasn't some kind of great villain, after all. Since he had taken this girl's things, he had to give her something in return.

Mom shouted from the kitchen, "Zhengran, Qingqing, dinner! The Big Shrimp are all steamed!"

Lin Zhengran and Little He Qing answered and left the bedroom. The two little ones sat on one side of the dining table, and Lin Xiaoli placed a plate of Big Shrimp in front of them. "Peel them yourselves. Qingqing, don't be shy at Auntie's place."

Little He Qing waited until Lin Zhengran reached out first before she dared to take one.

Her timid movements couldn't hide the true nature of the little glutton inside her. She snapped the Big Shrimp apart from the head, then bit the shrimp head with her little mouth.

The fresh, sweet flavor brought an obvious look of happiness to Little He Qing's face.

She placed the shrimp body in front of Lin Zhengran.

Lin Zhengran ate the shrimp meat and asked curiously, "Why give it to me? Are you picky? You don't like eating the body?"

Little He Qing was instantly at a loss for words. "I'm not picky..."

Lin Zhengran knew she wanted to give him the tasty shrimp meat. Little He Qing was good by nature; deep down, she believed in repaying a drop of kindness with a gushing spring.

It was just that her way of repaying people was always silent. Children couldn't understand it at all, and only Lin Zhengran, as someone reborn, could guess what she was thinking.

"If you're not picky, then take your shrimp back."

Little He Qing had wanted to say, "The shrimp body tastes good, so I gave it to you," but Lin Zhengran gave her one look, and she was so frightened that she could only take the shrimp body away, lower her head, shrink her neck, and gnaw on the shrimp meat.

That night, Aunt He came back late from overtime and took Little He Qing away. Aunt He was a very strict person, always wearing a stern face all day long, constantly giving people the feeling that she was under enormous pressure in life. Her mother's strictness, coupled with her father's absence...

Perhaps this was the root cause of He Qing being timid as a mouse.

Tonight, when Aunt He held her daughter's hand on the way home, she asked her a question. "Qingqing, why do I feel like you're very afraid of your Zhengran Gege? Don't you like playing with him?"

Little He Qing held her mother's hand and answered without hesitation, "I like it."

Aunt He didn't understand. "Then why do you always call him Lin Zhengran? Why don't you call him Zhengran Gege?"

At first, Little He Qing had actually called Lin Zhengran Zhengran Gege, but Lin Zhengran hadn't liked it, so she could only keep calling him by his full name.

Seeing that her daughter had gone silent again, Aunt He didn't ask further. "This winter, shall we go back to Hometown to visit Maternal Grandmother? We haven't been back in a long time."

"Mm, okay."

That night, Lin Zhengran ate the box of candies He Qing had given him in his bedroom. With every piece he ate, he felt either his strength, energy, or Physical Strength increase.

They really were like immortal pills. And so, he wiped out the whole box of candies in one night.

Children's teeth were good. Eating a whole box of candy wouldn't hurt!

For about the next month, Lin Zhengran began asking Little He Qing for snacks every day, while using his free time to read kindergarten books.

In exchange, Lin Zhengran also gave Little He Qing the snacks Dad and Mom gave him. After all, what he cared about wasn't the snacks, but the system's rewards.

Besides that, Lin Zhengran also did one more thing: he taught He Qing how to cause trouble.

For example, during class, when Lin Zhengran saw someone discussing this and that about Little He Qing, he told Little He Qing to throw paper balls at them.

Little He Qing didn't want to do it.

Lin Zhengran put on a stern face. "Didn't you hear them openly talking bad about you? Hurry up and throw paper balls at them."

If Little He Qing shrank back timidly and didn't move, Lin Zhengran would tug her cheek. "Hurry up. Didn't you say you'd listen to me?! Are you trying to go back on your word?!"

Little He Qing, ruled by a tyrant, could only obey. However, after those people saw that it was He Qing who had thrown them, they glanced at Lin Zhengran and didn't say anything.

Besides that, Lin Zhengran did plenty more. For example, when Little He Qing didn't get enough to eat at lunch, she used to go hungry and wait until she got home at night to eat. But during this period, Lin Zhengran would take the initiative to make her raise her hand and shout, "Teacher, I'm not full!" to ask for another portion of food.

When Little He Qing's voice wasn't loud enough, Lin Zhengran would keep poking her thigh with his finger. "Keep shouting. Who can hear you when you're buzzing like a mosquito?"

There were also times when she had no partner for activities, when she didn't dare call the teacher to go to the Restroom, and so on and so on.

This month, Little He Qing didn't even know what had gotten into Lin Zhengran.

The number of times he bullied her had clearly increased. However, from not daring to do anything at the beginning, she later learned that resisting was useless, so she did whatever Lin Zhengran told her to do. Gradually, even shouting loudly didn't feel that embarrassing anymore, because it had happened too many times.

One day after January had passed.

Lin Xiaoli took Lin Zhengran out to shop at the mall. Mom loved new clothes and new shoes very much, and she could always spend ages browsing in a store.

Lin Zhengran truly couldn't stay put. But as he stood at the entrance and looked outside, he unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure with a ponytail standing in front of the children's Taekwondo Hall, watching the looping Taekwondo promotional video for ages.

Today, when you went out, you unexpectedly discovered that Fairy He was studying some kind of sect martial art. You were very curious and hesitated over whether to go over.

Lin Zhengran walked over and patted her shoulder. "He Qing?"

It startled her badly. Only when she saw it was Lin Zhengran did she let out a sigh of relief. Her little hands twisted together in front of her, as if she had done something wrong.

Lin Zhengran asked speechlessly, "Why are you always lowering your head every time I see you? Can't you raise your head and talk next time?"

Little He Qing heard him and raised her head, but her eyes were still timid.

Lin Zhengran was helpless. "Why are you here? Your mom brought you?"

Little He Qing turned back and pointed at a café in the distance. Lin Zhengran looked over and found Aunt He drinking coffee and chatting with a man. Only, her expression was extremely displeased, as if she might start cursing him out at any moment.

Lin Zhengran realized who that was. "Is that your dad?"

Little He Qing nodded. "Mm. Mom is arguing with Dad again. I didn't want to listen to them fight, so I came out." Her voice grew very small. "Dad and Mom only get to see each other once in a long time, so I don't know why they fight every time. I hate this."

Despite the clearly oppressive atmosphere, Lin Zhengran froze for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "You can actually say what you're thinking now? You know how to say you hate something? Looks like all the bullying I did this month wasn't for nothing."

Little He Qing's face turned red. She hurriedly covered her mouth and shook her head, meaning she hadn't meant to let that slip.

Lin Zhengran pulled her hand down and said sternly, "Why are you shaking your head? Speaking your mind is a good thing, not a bad thing. Do you think keeping your head down and never saying a word all day is a good thing? Do you think people like you that way?!"

Little He Qing pressed her lips together, her small hands clasped together. After hesitating for a while, she said, "But if I talk too much, I'm afraid people will find me annoying."

Lin Zhengran sighed. He could actually imagine someone like Aunt He coming home from work with a long face. Little He Qing must have been so scared she didn't dare disturb her own mother.

"That's still better than you not saying a word all day. From now on, when you're with me, just say whatever's on your mind. Got it?!"

Little He Qing nodded again and again.

Lin Zhengran turned to look at the Taekwondo promotional video beside them. "Juvenile Taekwondo—you're actually interested in this stuff? That's really unexpected. Are you planning to learn it?"

Little He Qing blushed and shook her head. "It's not that I want to learn it. I just think it's pretty cool. I want to..." After waiting for ages, she stopped talking again.

So angry that Lin Zhengran gave her a knuckle rap on the head.

It hurt so much that He Qing covered her head with her little arms, tears shimmering in her eyes.

Lin Zhengran asked coldly, "What do you want to do? Say it! Didn't I tell you to say whatever you're thinking?!"

Little He Qing mustered her courage, her voice trembling. "I just want to protect you. If anyone bullies you in the future, I'll be able to protect you."