Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Ji Lingyao had been smarter than average children since she was young, and her psychological age was slightly older. During the innocent age of youth, she never looked twice at the boys who pursued her. Ji Lingyao found them childish and naive.

After starting middle school, Ji Lingyao began to grow taller, adding a few centimeters every so often. An Xin was always delighted when this happened.

In An Xin’s eyes, Ji Lingyao was virtually a child she had watched grow up.

In the beginning, the little girl wasn’t even as tall as her waist. Six years later, she was as tall as An Xin. An Xin believed that in a few more years, she would certainly be taller than her, growing into a beautiful woman who would attract countless eyes.

So, when Ji Lingyao confessed her love, An Xin’s first thought was that she was joking, just saying it casually.

“How can you like women?” An Xin looked at Ji Lingyao in confusion and said in surprise, “Especially someone like me.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Ji Lingyao grabbed An Xin’s hand and told her, “Sister is the best person I’ve ever met in my life. I like you, and I want to be with you forever.”

An Xin was troubled. She thought Ji Lingyao probably mistook dependence for love because she lacked parental affection.

Just as young birds mistake the first bird they see for their mother, Ji Lingyao’s feelings for her must not be love.

In truth, anyone hearing a confession from a 14-year-old girl would assume it was merely a child’s temporary infatuation. The innocent age of emotional awakening often leads to impulsive acts, such as liking the same gender or liking the person who has constantly been by their side.

An Xin thought the same. She was 26 years old, a 12-year age gap with Ji Lingyao.

“Forever” is just one word, but it requires decades to achieve.

Ji Lingyao knew she was young, but once she decided on a person, she wouldn’t change. She always thought that if she worked hard and allowed An Xin to slowly accept her, the two of them could eventually have a perfect ending.

Therefore, after the confession, Ji Lingyao was particularly devoted to An Xin, to the point that everyone knew Ji Lingyao liked her.

This included Ji Lingyao’s father.

An Xin was not surprised when Ji Zhong came to see her. She was only surprised that the resourceful Mr. Ji came to her so late.

An Xin brewed a cup of green tea for Ji Zhong and placed it in front of him.

“Xiao An,” Ji Zhong said, “You have taken care of Yaoyao for six years now. Children’s minds are always incomplete. She can like you today, and she can like someone else tomorrow.”

An Xin sat opposite Ji Zhong, looking up at him.

“Mr. Ji,” An Xin said, “If Yaoyao’s feelings were merely childish, why would you suddenly come to me? If you wait for her three minutes of passion to pass, everything will be fine, right?”

Ji Zhong’s face turned cold. Just yesterday, Ji Lingyao suddenly ran to him and declared that she liked women and deeply loved An Xin, hoping her father would bless their union.

How could he tolerate this?

Although Ji Zhong was naturally a womanizer, he could not tolerate his daughter being a lesbian and so publicly in love with the little nanny who served her.

No, this was absolutely unacceptable.

“Ji Lingyao likes you entirely because you have been with her for six years. Even raising a dog for six years will result in affection, let alone a person,” Ji Zhong looked at An Xin with sharp eyes, his tone cold. “An Xin, you are an adult. There are some things you should understand. Ji Lingyao is a daughter of the Ji family and is different from someone like you who came from the countryside.”

“Her feelings for you are just a temporary whim. She is only 14. How can she truly be willing to spend her entire life with you?” Ji Zhong said, “If she gave you unrealistic fantasies, then I apologize to you as her father.”

Ji Zhong took a card out of his pocket and placed it in front of An Xin.

“There is 300,000 yuan on this card. Consider it payment for your six years of care for Yaoyao,” Ji Zhong said. “From now on, I hope you will not appear in front of her.”

An Xin looked at the card, then slowly curved her lips into a smile.

“That’s too little, Mr. Ji.”

“What?”

An Xin looked up at Ji Zhong and said, “The Ji family has vast assets. To dismiss me with 300,000 yuan is far too little.”

Ji Zhong laughed out of anger: “You woman…”

An Xin said, “Your daughter is a lesbian, and she deeply relies on me. I can certainly take 300,000 yuan and leave, but don’t you want a better solution?”

Ji Zhong looked at the woman in front of him with interest. He never knew she was so intriguing.

“Tell me,” Ji Zhong looked at her. “What better solution do you have?”

“Give me 3 million yuan,” An Xin said calmly. “I can not only make Ji Lingyao deeply despise me, but I will even make her disgusted by the sight of homosexuals, thus ensuring she grows up to be a ‘normal’ person, and… I will never see her again in this lifetime.”

Ji Zhong agreed readily. He was never short of money. If 3 million yuan could turn his lesbian daughter into a normal person and make the former “stain” disappear forever, it was a very cost-effective transaction.

“I will transfer the 3 million to you when the matter is concluded,” Ji Zhong said to An Xin before leaving. “But I hope you don’t treat me lightly. I expect to see results in a month, or you won’t get a penny and will be kicked out of here.”

An Xin looked at the steaming tea and let out a long sigh.

In truth, Ji Zhong was right. Ji Lingyao was a wealthy young lady, and An Xin was just an ordinary person from the countryside who came to the city to work. The two were worlds apart, so how could they be together?

Moreover, An Xin never believed Ji Lingyao would love her forever from the start. Rather than having a relationship with Ji Lingyao for a few years only to be dumped, it was better to crush that idea right at the beginning.

Ji Zhong gave An Xin one month. During that month, An Xin accepted all of Ji Lingyao’s rebellious demands and responded warmly to her declarations of love, so much so that whenever Ji Lingyao recalled that month, she felt it was a world away.

When the deadline was approaching, An Xin told Ji Lingyao a few things.

“Mr. Ji came to see me,” An Xin looked at Ji Lingyao, her eyes deep, and said, “He offered me 3 million yuan to become one of his many mistresses. I agreed.”

Ji Lingyao froze, and after a long time, finally found her voice: “Sister, you’re not serious, are you?”

“It is true,” An Xin said. “My purpose for coming here was to marry into a rich family and live a life of wealth and prosperity. I just didn’t expect you to fall for me.”

Ji Lingyao looked disbelievingly.

“Who would want to be a nanny and serve people for a lifetime?” An Xin looked at the pale child and continued, “I initially thought being with you would be my ticket to the top, but then I realized you were just a child. Becoming your father’s mistress is a better deal than being your same-sex partner. At least I can secure more money that way.”

“Yaoyao, don’t blame me for being heartless,” An Xin touched Ji Lingyao’s face, closed her eyes, and said to her, “Be a normal person. Just pretend you never met me.”

“No!” Ji Lingyao grabbed her hand and said, “My dad is lying to you! He knows I like you, so he’s trying to lure you with money!”

“What does that matter?” An Xin looked at her calmly, saying word by word, “At least he can give me 3 million yuan. What can you give me?”

In that instant, Ji Lingyao seemed stunned, opening her mouth but unable to utter a single word.

Since then, An Xin took the money Ji Zhong gave her and left the Ji family. She bought a second-hand apartment in the city and used the remaining money to open a porridge shop.

In a city of tens of millions of people, it is almost impossible to run into someone if you don’t want to. So, for the past four years, An Xin worked diligently every day, then returned to her second-hand apartment, living a quiet and peaceful life.

When Xu Wentao occasionally asked about the house, An Xin would mumble vaguely.

The truth was, An Xin felt guilty because both the house and the shop were bought with the money obtained by exploiting Ji Lingyao’s affection.

They were all ill-gotten gains.

So, whether the shop was smashed, or she was scolded or insulted.

An Xin always felt that she deserved it.

Shan Ling and Xu Wentao came to visit An Xin after getting off work. An Xin’s face was still pale, and her forced smiles made her look especially tired.

An Xin seemed to have aged significantly in just half a day.

“Sister An Xin,” Xu Wentao comforted the person next to her, saying, “Your complexion is so bad. Why don’t you not open the shop tomorrow and get a good two days of rest?”

An Xin clenched the corner of her clothes, nodded, and said, “That’s good. I also wanted to look at new storefronts. I haven’t had the time before, but now I finally do.”

“Sister An Xin, don’t say that. I happen to be off tomorrow. I’ll go with you.”

“Won’t that trouble you?”

“No trouble at all, no trouble. I’ll go with you to see the storefronts tomorrow.”

An Xin’s face brightened slightly upon hearing this. She nodded and smiled: “Thank you, Tao Tao.”

Shan Ling was simmering porridge in the kitchen. She looked back at the two on the sofa, then turned back, scooped out a bowl of porridge, placed it on the coffee table, and said, “Sister An Xin, I made some porridge. Have a taste.”

An Xin was filled with gratitude for being looked after by so many people. She drank the porridge Shan Ling made and said, “It tastes so good. Xiao Ling, your cooking is wonderful.”

“Is it?” Xu Wentao said curiously. “I haven’t even had Xiao Ling’s cooking yet.”

Shan Ling smiled: “If you want to eat, I’ll serve you some. It’s a bit hot, so be careful when you eat.”

After eating the late-night snack and chatting with An Xin for a while, Shan Ling and Xu Wentao returned to their dorm past midnight. Xu Wentao quickly got into bed to play on her phone. Shan Ling had just finished washing up and changed into her pajamas when she received a call from Shen Qingyi.

It was the middle of the night. Was Shen Qingyi still awake?

Shan Ling answered the phone and heard the sound of wind howling on the other end, suggesting the caller was outside.

“Did you… go to sleep?” Shen Qingyi’s voice seemed to be mixed with the wind, making Shan Ling feel chilly just listening.

“Not yet,” Shan Ling held the phone. “Where are you? Why does the wind sound so strong?”

Shen Qingyi was silent for a moment, then looked up at the only light on in the residential building, and said, “I’m downstairs at your dorm.”

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