Chapter 441| Chapter 442| Chapter 443
Chapter 441: Great-Grandfather’s Little Pride
The moment Yiyi unveiled the plush dolls, the bright hairpins, the colorful elastics, and the brand-new toys nestled inside the bags, she let out an ecstatic cheer.
“Wow!!!”
“Daddy! Look, a baby doll!”
Yiyi jumped up and down, racing over to share her pure joy with her parents. Seeing her so incredibly happy, Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao couldn’t help but smile.
“Do you like them, Yiyi?”
“I like them so much~”
“Then you must remember to thank Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma properly later.”
“Okay~”
Yiyi nodded eagerly. Sheng Wanyan then led her over to the wardrobe, swinging the doors open to reveal a row of new dresses.
“Look at these. Your elders bought all these beautiful new clothes specifically for our Yiyi.”
“They all love you very much.”
As Yiyi stared at the garments, her large eyes sparkled with a much stronger sense of belonging than she had shown the previous day.
Children were often far more perceptive than adults gave them credit for. Even if they didn’t voice their anxieties, their smallest gestures routinely betrayed their inner worries. Deep down, Yiyi had been terrified that her great-grandparents and grandparents wouldn’t welcome her. After all, she had overheard some of the neighbors back at the northern military base gossiping that girls were useless, financial drains, and completely worthless. Because she was a girl, she had quietly carried a heavy burden, fearing her new family would look down on her. It wasn’t until this very morning that the little guy’s wild anxieties were finally put to rest.
“I love Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma~” Yiyi proclaimed, her voice ringing with newfound confidence. “And I love Grandpa, Grandma, my uncles, and my aunts too~”
Hearing a two-and-a-half-year-old child express her feelings so clearly warmed Sheng Wanyan’s heart.
“Then let’s head downstairs to thank Great-Grandpa and the others, and grab some breakfast while we’re at it.”
“Okay~”
Downstairs, Grandpa and Grandma Gu had been waiting for a long time. Out of sheer consideration for the weary travelers, they had intentionally refrained from going upstairs to disturb their sleep.
Father and Mother Gu’s winter holidays hadn’t commenced yet, so they had left for work early in the morning. Mother Gu held a position at the Education Bureau, and with the recent reinstatement of the college entrance examinations, her workload had expanded exponentially. Even with her late-term pregnancy, she flatly refused to take time off. Fortunately, her role was entirely administrative and didn’t require heavy physical labor; otherwise, Eldest Brother Gu would have never permitted her to keep working.
As a result, the only ones remaining at home were the two family patriarchs and the two older children, who were currently on winter break.
Gu Jinfang was now in the fourth grade and faced a demanding curriculum, so he had retreated to his bedroom to tackle his studies. Meanwhile, little Gu Jingjing was only in the first grade, having entered primary school just a few months prior.
Gu Jingjing’s enrollment had been explicitly ordered by Mother Gu, with the tuition covered entirely by Fourth Brother Gu Tinghao and his wife. When Wang Chunmei had initially discovered they were spending money to send a girl to school, she had thrown a massive tantrum. However, because Gu Tinghao had firmly seized total control of the household finances, she had no choice but to swallow her anger and comply.
The moment the two older children spotted Yiyi trotting into the living room, they sprinted over to greet her.
“Sister, how come you only just woke up?”
“Sister, we’re going to take you outside to play in a little bit!”
“Yeah, it’s incredibly fun out there. I’ll introduce you to all our friends later!”
The two older siblings flanked the toddler, both talking at once. Yiyi looked left and right, her little head pivoting back and forth as a wave of overwhelming indecision washed over her. Which one was she supposed to answer first? She simply couldn’t choose.
“Alright, alright, let your little sister eat her breakfast first,” Grandma Gu chuckled, stepping in to rescue the bewildered toddler.
The moment Yiyi saw Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma, she remembered her mother’s words and trotted over to deliver her manners. “Thank you, Great-Grandpa! Thank you, Great-Grandma~”
Before the elders could even parse what the sweet child was thanking them for, Sheng Wanyan offered a quick clarification about the gift bags upstairs. Enlightenment instantly washed over the old couple.
“Oh~ What a darling, precious girl. Great-Grandma’s heart is just singing,” Grandma Gu gushed, scooping her up. “Whenever you see something you like, you just tell Great-Grandma, and I’ll buy it for you immediately.”
As the youngest child and the only toddler girl in the immediate lineage, Yiyi naturally enjoyed a far greater level of indulgence from the elders than the boys ever did. Furthermore, she was naturally polite, thoroughly disciplined, and spoke with such a sweet, milky tone; there was simply no way anyone could bear to be harsh with her.
Grandma Gu cuddled her fondly for a long while, planting a flurry of kisses on her chubby cheeks before finally letting her sit down to eat breakfast with her parents. Sheng Wanyan prepared a warm bottle of formula for her. Yiyi’s breakfast appetite remained modest; she was entirely full after consuming a single hard-boiled egg and half of a steamed meat bun.
Clutching her warm bottle, Yiyi was eager to bounce out the front door to play with her cousins, but her grand plans were instantly vetoed by Grandpa Gu.
“It’s snowing heavily out there right now. There won’t be any children playing in the courtyards,” the old patriarch stated firmly, rising from his armchair.
“But Great-Grandpa,” Gu Jinfang chimed in, leaning out of his room. “We can just take her over to our friends’ houses.” As the undisputed leader of the neighborhood children, he possessed an extensive network of loyal playmates.
“Not today. I am taking Yiyi to visit some of my old comrades this morning. You youngsters can play some other time!” Grandpa Gu barked. Without giving the children a single fraction of a second to argue, he scoop Yiyi up, turned on his heel, and marched straight out the front door.
Yiyi was whisked away into the winter air, her bottle clutched in one hand and her miniature schoolbag strapped to her back, her little face a picture of utter bewilderment.
“He definitely took her out solely to show her off,” Grandma Gu chuckled, watching the door click shut. “Just a few days ago, old Commander Xu was parading his plump new great-grandson right under his nose. He’s been itching for a counterstrike ever since.”
Grandma Gu could read her husband’s mind without even trying. Sheng Wanyan exchanged an amused glance with Gu Tingxiao at the old man’s competitive streak.
“Sigh~” Gu Jingjing let out a heavy, dramatic sigh. Since her adorable little sister had been forcefully conscripted by Great-Grandfather, she decided she might as well trudge back to her desk and continue her sketches.
Gu Jinfang shrugged, resigned to returning to his fourth-grade homework. There wasn’t much appeal to the frozen outdoors in the dead of winter anyway.
Sheng Wanyan checked the grandfather clock; it was already half past ten. The estate’s domestic cook had already departed for her own Lunar New Year family holiday, which meant the responsibility of preparing lunch fell entirely on her shoulders if she wanted to prevent the elders and children from going hungry.
“Are Mom and Dad coming back to the estate for lunch?” she asked.
“No, they’ll be dining at their respective departmental cafeterias,” Gu Tingxiao replied. Knowing his wife was about to start cooking, he rolled up his sleeves and headed into the kitchen alongside her, automatically taking over the heavy lifting of washing, peeling, and chopping the ingredients.
Seeing the young couple working in such seamless harmony, Grandma Gu smiled and chose not to interrupt their rhythm. Instead, she anchored herself in the living room, gently guiding the two children through their studies.
Gu Jingjing was completely absorbed in her drawing, her focus unwavering. Watching her, a thoughtful expression crossed Grandma Gu’s face. Now that the college entrance examinations had been officially reinstated, a vast wave of rehabilitated intellectuals and prominent artists had flooded back into the capital.
Perhaps after the Spring Festival, I should take Jingjing to visit a few of my old artistic comrades whom I haven’t seen in years, Grandma Gu mused. The girl would turn eight after the New Year, and if her passion for painting was truly genuine, it was vital to establish a flawless foundational technique early on. However, those arrangements would have to wait until the holiday chaos settled; her old friends had only just been permitted to return to the Capital and were undoubtedly overwhelmed with re-establishing their own households.
Grandma Gu’s instincts were entirely correct. Grandpa Gu had marched out with Yiyi with a singular, laser-focused objective: he was heading straight for the Xu family estate.
The moment Old Commander Xu opened his front door and found his old rival standing on the porch, holding a beautifully groomed toddler who was contentedly nursing on a milk bottle, he blinked hard, wondering if his eyesight was failing him in his old age.
“Where on earth did you steal such a beautifully plump child from?” Mr. Xu barked, staring intently at the guest.
The word plump instantly caused Yiyi’s large eyes to widen in mock offense.
“Though I have to admit,” Mr. Xu muttered, squinting closer. “This kid is undeniably gorgeous. Don’t tell me you actually took our bickering from two days ago to heart and went out of your way to rent a good-looking prop child just to spite me?”
The more Mr. Xu pondered the theory, the more plausible it seemed. After all, the old Gu patriarch possessed a legendary, fierce pride and flatly refused to ever accept defeat. It would be exactly like him to deploy a massive trick to win a neighborhood rivalry.
“Watch your mouth! This is my biological great-granddaughter!” Grandpa Gu roared, his white beard practically bristling with indignation. “What do you mean, ‘plump’? Did she eat your family’s rice? What’s wrong with a child carrying a bit of healthy baby fat?!”
Grandpa Gu’s voice was so booming that Grandpa Xu merely chuckled, turning his full, calculating attention onto Yiyi to inspect the main line of the Gu family heritage.
Chapter 442: A Clash of Wills
“Is this the daughter of your third boy? Tingxiao is back?”
“He certainly is! And this is the pride of our Gu family line!”
Grandpa Gu marched into the living room with Yiyi, his head held high and his chest puffed out with immense pride. He claimed the central armchair with the absolute authority of a man who owned the place.
Old Commander Welfare Xu had been parading his chubby great-grandson in front of him every single day, bragging endlessly about the boy’s exact weight. It was as if no other household in the military compound possessed a thriving descendant. When Grandpa Gu had returned home a few days prior and taken a hard look at his own household, he had been forced to admit he was at a temporary disadvantage. Gu Jinfang and Gu Jingjing had reached their vertical growth spurts, meaning their frames were stretching upward rather than filling out. As for Gu Jinmin, though he carried plenty of baby fat, the old patriarch couldn’t stand the sight of the boy’s mother, Wang Chunmei, and he deeply despised the child’s habit of wailing and throwing a tantrum the second something went wrong.
He had been nursing a quiet irritation for days, but the moment he laid eyes on his little great-granddaughter yesterday, a perfect counter-strategy had formed in his mind.
“My precious great-granddaughter already weighs a solid thirty pounds, and she’s only two and a half,” Grandpa Gu stated casually, a smirk playing beneath his white beard. “If I remember correctly, your great-grandson is already three and a half. What does he weigh these days? Oh, right! You proudly informed me just the other day that he tracks at thirty-eight pounds.”
He let out a sharp, mocking chuckle. “A whole year older, yet he only has an eight-pound advantage over my girl. It seems the provisions in the Xu household are severely lacking!”
The corners of Mr. Xu’s mouth twitched. Looking at his old rival’s smug expression, he knew his peace and quiet were officially over for the day.
“Great-Grandpa! Great-Grandpa!”
Right on cue, a loud voice boomed from the backyard, and the Xu family’s prize great-grandson burst into the living room.
Yiyi sat obediently on the sofa beside Grandpa Gu, contentedly draining the last drops from her milk bottle while studying the old man and the boy standing across from her.
The young Xu Jiaming halted in his tracks, staring back at her in complete bewilderment. Why is this little sister so chubby? She looks like she’s almost as big as me!
“Hello. My name is Xu Jiaming. What’s your name?” the boy demanded, stepping forward to peer closely at Yiyi. His brow furrowed into a fierce, territorial frown, a sudden wave of crisis hitting his young mind. If this exceptionally cute, chubby little sister moved into his territory, would he even retain his elite status within the household?
“Hey, little fatty! I’m talking to you. Say something!”
Old Master Xu immediately delivered a light kick to the boy’s backside. “You little scoundrel, watch your tongue! This is your little Sister Gu. How dare you speak to her with such a crude attitude?”
Xu Jiaming’s face fell. I knew it, he thought bitterly. The second this chubby little girl stepped across our threshold, she was destined to steal my throne. It had only been a few minutes, yet he had already lost his exclusive standing with his great-grandfather.
“Address her properly,” Mr. Xu instructed. “This is the daughter of your Uncle Gu Tingxiao.”
Hearing that she was Gu Tingxiao’s daughter, Xu Jiaming’s hostility deepened, mixed with a sharp sting of disappointment. While he had never met Gu Tingxiao in person, he routinely overheard the older boys in the compound trading legendary tales of the commander’s extraordinary battlefield bravery. He held his idol in absolute awe, privately dreaming of the day he would finally meet him.
He had never imagined that instead of meeting the legendary warrior, he would be introduced to his daughter—and that his idol’s daughter would turn out to be a chubby little toddler who apparently only knew how to nurse a milk bottle!
The revelation felt like a severe blow to his pride, and the fact that his own great-grandfather was already taking her side made him entirely resentful. Seeing that Yiyi merely blinked at him without offering a single word of greeting, he reached out a hand and sharply pinched the soft baby fat on her cheek.
“Hey, little fatty, I asked you a question!”
Yiyi’s eyes widened into perfect circles. He actually dare to pinch my face!
“If you don’t answer me right now, I’m going to harvest all that fat and sell it!” the boy threatened, twisting his grip.
Yiyi’s little eyebrows flew upward in pure indignation. Sell my fat?!
That was the absolute final straw. A disciplined girl could tolerate a modicum of rudeness, but threatening her dignity and her cheeks meant he hadn’t been taught a proper lesson yet.
“Still mute? Are you a little silent dummy?” Xu Jiaming sneered, tightening his fingers. “If you don’t start speaking this instant, I’m going to snatch that bottle away and ensure you never drink milk again!”
As he increased the pressure on her skin, the sharp sting caused Yiyi’s eyes to flush red with tears. Grandpa Gu’s frame tensed, his hands rising to intervene, but before he could move a single inch, his tiny great-granddaughter launched a ferocious counter-offensive.
Refusing to endure another second of the insult, Yiyi slammed her milk bottle onto the cushion and threw her entire weight directly at him.
The sheer force of her tackle sent both children crashing to the floorboard. Xu Jiaming landed hard on his back with Yiyi pinning him down, his mind completely dazed by the sudden blitzkrieg. But before he could even process what had happened, Yiyi’s chubby hands flew to his face, clamping down onto his cheeks with a ruthless grip.
“How dare you pinch my face… and threaten to throw away my milk bottle!” she erupted, her inner fury fueling her fingers as she squeezed with every ounce of her strength.
“Ahhhh! Let go of me! How dare you lay a hand on me, you absolute monster!” Xu Jiaming shrieked in agony, giant tears spilling over his lids as the crushing pain radiated through his face.
Yiyi’s physical strength was far from ordinary; back north, even Sheng Wanyan would occasionally wince whenever the toddler gripped her hand too tightly during a tantrum.
The two children rolled across the rug in a wild, chaotic brawl. Standing above them, the two old military patriarchs stared in absolute, open-mouthed shock. Why on earth had a simple greeting devolved into a full-scale infantry engagement?
The old men exchanged a long, calculating glance, but neither made a single move to separate the combatants. In this military compound, the strong ruled supreme! Furthermore, these were the descendants of elite soldier lines; cultivating a fierce, unyielding fighting spirit was considered standard development, and childhood scuffles were entirely normal. The adults had a strict code: never interfere in a juvenile dispute unless a boundary was crossed. They simply stood watch to ensure no lasting damage occurred.
“I’ll teach you a lesson!” Yiyi shouted between grunts, her little mouth firing off declarations as her fists flew. “You’re the fatty! Your entire household is fatty!”
Faced with a barrage of slaps and insults, Xu Jiaming’s patience shattered completely. He had initially tried to hold back out of a lingering sense of chivalry toward a girl, but being thoroughly pinned and verbally thrashed by a toddler was too humiliating to bear. He gritted his teeth, braced his legs, and used his superior size to forcefully throw her off his chest.
Yiyi refused to break her grip, latching onto the collar of his shirt as they both rolled across the floor once more. Though Yiyi possessed incredible natural power, Xu Jiaming held a clear one-year age advantage and the raw physical leverage of a young boy. As the seconds ticked by, Yiyi gradually found herself losing ground, pinned beneath his weight.
Staring up at the fair, unblemished cheeks of her opponent looming over her, she didn’t waste a single fraction of a second on strategy. She simply opened her mouth, locked her jaws onto his cheek, clenched her tiny fists, and bit down with everything she had.
“Aaaaaaaah! Great-Grandpa, save me! Help!!!”
Seeing that the engagement had reached a definitive conclusion, the two old masters quickly gestured to their respective security guards, who rushed forward to pull the snarling toddlers apart.
Once separated, the children remained locked in a fierce staring contest, their chests heaving with mutual hatred. Xu Jiaming cradled his throbbing cheek, weeping openly as he nursed the wound.
Grandpa Gu swiftly scooped Yiyi into his arms. Her rose-colored overalls were covered in dust, her face was completely flushed, and her fine hair stood up in a chaotic, static cloud. He systematically inspected her arms and legs for injuries. Because it was the dead of winter, both children were swathed in thick layers of padded clothing, meaning the physical blows had been thoroughly absorbed by the heavy fabric. Aside from a bright red mark on her cheek where she had been pinched, Yiyi was entirely unscathed.
Grandpa Gu turned a calculating gaze onto Xu Jiaming sitting across the room, noting with immense satisfaction that the boy had fared significantly worse. A perfectly neat, semi-circular indentation of miniature toothmarks was stamped directly into his cheek—impeccably symmetrical and beautifully pronounced.
Old Master Xu felt a deep, profound wave of embarrassment wash over him. While his great-grandson hadn’t technically lost the physical wrestling match, the final metric of the engagement was undeniable: his boy had cried out to his elders for salvation. How was that any different from a total surrender? To lose a tactical engagement to a little girl who was still dependent on a formula bottle was an absolute blow to the Xu lineage’s prestige.
Still, the weeping boy was his own flesh and blood, so Grandpa Xu offered a symbolic scold while carefully checking the bite mark to ensure the skin wasn’t broken. Once he verified it was just a superficial bruise, he let out a quiet breath of relief.
Xu Jiaming glared at his rival with absolute venom, but Yiyi merely puffed out her chest and matched his gaze with a terrifying, steady stare.
“Look at me again, and I’ll bite your other cheek off!” she warned, her milky voice carrying an icy edge.
Terrified by her sheer intensity, Xu Jiaming instantly shrank back, burying his face behind Grandpa Xu’s uniform jacket. Why is this chubby little sister so incredibly ruthless?!
“And listen well! My name is Yiyi, and my full name is Gu Jinsheng!” she announced, her speech suddenly flowing with absolute precision. Gone was the cute, garbled pronunciation she usually used to charm her parents; every syllable rang out with crystal-clear authority. “I am not a little fatty, and I am certainly not a silent dummy!”
She lifted her chin, her eyes shining with absolute triumph as she delivered the final, crushing blow to his pride: “You lose!”
Chapter 443: A Fighting Spirit Brought Home
Xu Jiaming was so furious his entire frame was shaking. That chubby little girl had actually looked down on him!
If he hadn’t taken into account that she was a girl and refrained from using his full strength at the start, how could she have possibly won? Besides, she had absolutely no moral principles and no ethics when she spoke! That was completely unbecoming of a gentleman!
“You… you are no gentleman!” Xu Jiaming sputtered, his body trembling as he glared at her in utter disbelief.
“I am a girl, not a gentleman,” Yiyi shot back matter-of-factly.
Xu Jiaming: “……” Why does that make me even angrier?
Neither child was willing to back down, their glares locking as they bared their teeth at one another. Finally, Xu Jiaming covered his bruised cheek and took a few steps back. Fine… he wouldn’t deign to bicker with a girl!
“Go fetch the healing ointment from the medical chest,” Old Master Xu commanded, not wanting to look at his great-grandson a second longer. A loss was a loss; there was no need for so many excuses.
“Yes, Commander.”
The guard hurried off to retrieve the salve. Both children had sustained visible marks on their faces, and if they kept squabbling, the wounds would only take longer to heal.
“Lao Xu! Your great-grandson severely lacks physical conditioning,” Grandpa Gu chimed in, practically radiating smug satisfaction. “Our Yiyi is still just a toddler, yet she thoroughly handled your boy. Tell you what—how about I pull a few strings and arrange for him to undergo some proper training at the military barracks?”
Grandpa Gu delivered the offer with a look of pure, mock benevolence, nearly causing Old Master Xu to spit blood from sheer rage. This old scoundrel Gu just couldn’t stop rubbing salt in the wound!
How could he not know his great-grandson had lost? How could he not know Yiyi was a girl? How could he not know she was still a toddler? This old rascal Gu was deliberately making life miserable for him!
“Oh, matching wits aside,” Grandpa Gu sighed, feigning a deeply apologetic air. “This is my little great-granddaughter’s first time meeting you. She got so excited that her jaws accidentally got a bit out of control. I am truly… terribly embarrassed. Tell you what, I’ll make sure to compensate your family handsomely.”
Hearing this, Old Master Xu narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Since when had this old bandit Gu ever been generous? “Are you serious?”
“Naturally!”
“Then name your compensation!”
“I’ll compensate you by graciously accepting your greeting gift for the child,” Grandpa Gu replied smoothly, picking up the teacup from the table to take a slow sip. He noted inwardly that the leaves weren’t nearly as fragrant as the premium tea his third grandson’s wife had sent him previously.
“Get the hell out of my house!” Old Master Xu roared. The old scoundrel had spun a massive web just to lay a trap right here. “Are you a bandit raiding a village? Every single time your lineage produces a new child, you march over to my estate demanding tribute!”
The old man would haul away massive sacks of gifts every single time. Did he truly mistake the Xu family estate for his personal treasury?
“I am no bandit, though I certainly routed my fair share of them back in my youth!” Grandpa Gu countered proudly.
Old Master Xu’s temper flared exponentially. How dare this man bring up the historical record? Back in the day, while others protected civilians from raiders, this lunatic was out robbing the bandits!
When they were young, in order to secure a critical tactical victory, this man had attempted to execute a complex “ruse within a ruse.” The end result? He nearly ended up being captured and forced to become a son-in-law to a bandit chieftain! The intricate plan had failed miserably because it was riddled with flaws, which the outlaws saw through instantly. Ultimately, they had to rely on raw military force to win the engagement. If this man hadn’t fled with incredible speed back then, he would probably be the prized spouse of several bandit factions today.
“Look at your Great-Grandpa Xu, Yiyi. See how stingy he is?” Grandpa Gu chuckled, proceeding to recount Old Master Xu’s old exploits to the toddler, nearly revealing the exact color of the man’s underwear.
Realizing that if he let the old scoundrel keep talking, his deepest secrets would be parsed by a two-and-a-half-year-old child, Old Master Xu slammed his fist down. Even after he passed away, his historical embarrassments would probably live on through this girl.
Resigned, Mr. Xu reached into his uniform pocket, pulled out a solid gold bar, and tossed it directly onto Yiyi’s lap.
Yiyi looked down, her large eyes widening in shock. What a massive piece of gold!
Grandpa Gu’s face split into a broad grin. He immediately took the gold bar—which was as thick as half a finger—and slipped it into her little schoolbag.
Terrified that he would suffer a literal stroke if the guests lingered a minute longer, Old Master Xu barked at his security detail, “Get this lunatic out of my sight! And post a sign at the front gates: Bandits Strictly Prohibited!“
With those parting words, Mr. Xu dragged a disgruntled Xu Jiaming toward the backyard. From the distance, his sharp, demanding voice echoed through the courtyard: “Drop into a horse stance! We are doubling your physical training regime starting today!”
Grandpa Gu escorted Yiyi out of the estate with a thoroughly casual air. Instead of heading back toward the main Gu residence, however, he steered them down an entirely different avenue.
“Go on, sweetheart. Knock on that door.”
Yiyi trotted forward, her little boots crunching rhythmically against the fresh powder as she swayed like a miniature penguin to rap her knuckles against the heavy wooden door. The second she finished knocking, she scrambled back to her great-grandfather’s side, gripping his large hand obediently as they waited expectantly on the porch. Grandpa Gu’s heart swelled with absolute satisfaction. This little great-granddaughter was incredibly perceptive and perfectly aligned with his tastes.
From within the residence, a cautious voice called out, “Who is it?”
“It’s me, Lao Gu!”
The occupants inside fell into a dead silence. What is that bandit Gu doing at our door? Do we even open it?
By one in the afternoon, the grandfather and grandson had still not returned for lunch. Back at the estate, Grandma Gu stared at the clock and let out a cold snort. There was zero doubt in her mind: the old man had taken the child on a systematic extortion tour across the neighborhood.
Left with no choice, the family had waited, reheating the multi-course meal as Grandma Gu’s hunger turned into a simmering fury.
“Tingxiao, go out and drag that stubborn old man back by his ears,” she commanded.
Gu Tingxiao nodded, but just as he reached for the front door, it swung open to reveal Grandpa Gu and Yiyi.
Yiyi’s face was still lit up with a brilliant, triumphant grin, indicating she had thoroughly enjoyed her morning excursion. But the moment she stepped into the warm light of the foyer, the entire family froze, staring at her disheveled clothes and bruised little face.
Gu Tingxiao’s pupils contracted sharply as his gaze locked onto the visible redness and swelling on Yiyi’s cheek. She had departed the estate looking like a pristine little princess, only to return looking like a miniature street urchin.
Sheng Wanyan stood frozen, utterly bewildered. What on earth had happened? How had a doted-on little girl been transformed into a scruffy ragamuffin in the span of a single morning? She checked her watch repeatedly, genuinely wondering if her perception of time was flawed. It had only been two and a half hours, not two and a half years…
“Oh, my goodness gracious!” Grandma Gu cried, nearly fainting at the sight. She knew it! She knew this would happen! The old lunatic had clearly taken his tiny great-granddaughter to pick a physical fight at every single household on the block.
“Gu! Rong! Long!” Grandma Gu roared. She had actively tried to maintain a gentle, refined demeanor in front of the new child, but her patience had officially shattered. She marched forward with swift, determined steps, reached out, and sharply pinched Grandpa Gu’s ear.
“I gave you plenty of face today, didn’t I? The very first time you take Yiyi out, you drag her into a neighborhood brawl!”
Grandpa Gu clutched his ear, wincing in pain as he frantically begged for mercy. “Ow! Ow! Old woman, gentle! Let go before the children!”
“You old scoundrel! Absolutely shameless!” Grandma Gu scolded, her language growing colorful. Yiyi watched the display with wide, fascinated eyes, taking mental notes.
Gu Tingxiao stepped forward, lifting his daughter into his arms while keeping his eyes pinned on her flushed face. “Yiyi, did you actually get into a fight?” he asked, utterly incredulous.
The toddler offered a proud, definitive nod, leaving her father entirely dumbfounded.
“Beat them~” she chirped merrily. “Yiyi won every single time~”
As for the moments she had been pinned down or disadvantaged, she decided it was tactically sound to omit those details from her official military report.
Hearing her tally up her combat victories, Sheng Wanyan and Gu Tingxiao exchanged a long, speechless look. It turned out their daughter possessed a terrifyingly fierce combat drive.
“Does your body hurt anywhere, baby?” Sheng Wanyan asked anxiously, checking her over.
Yiyi shook her head. Her great-grandfather had been supervising from the perimeter the entire time; she had mostly just rolled around in the snow. She was completely unharmed, merely a little tired from the physical exertion.
