My Bizarre Relatives 07

The next day, Fang Ruoruo happily searched for her new backpack, only to find it slung over her second cousin Jiayuan’s shoulders. She stared blankly as her mother praised, "Jiayuan looks so good carrying it!" Turning and noticing her daughter’s gaze, she immediately understood. Kneeling down, she spoke gently to Fang Ruoruo, "Be good, Ruoruo. Your cousin’s backpack broke, and he really likes your new one. Didn’t Mom teach you to share?"

Fang Ruoruo bit her lip but nodded silently at her mother’s words. She picked up her old backpack again and watched as her mother distributed the new stationery Dad had bought her the day before among her cousins. By the time it was her turn, only an eraser and a pen remained.

On the way to school, Fang Ruoruo’s mood was sour, especially as her two cousins occasionally turned to mock her.

Her mother had always taught her to share and yield to others, but she couldn’t help feeling that sharing wasn’t such a good thing after all.

Fortunately, on her way home from school that afternoon, she spotted her father.

He greeted her, his expression darkening slightly when he noticed she was still carrying the old backpack.

For now, there wasn’t much he could do except pick her up from school every day. As they walked, Fang Zhiyi told her stories, and Fang Ruoruo’s spirits lifted. She stole glances at him, afraid he might suddenly ask about the backpack, but thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice.

She didn’t want him arguing with her aunt over it—that would only upset Mom.

"Do you understand the story about yielding the pear?" Fang Zhiyi asked as they neared home.

Fang Ruoruo nodded. "Yes, but it’s different from what the teacher told us."

"Ah, just remember the version I told you," he said.

Fang Ruoruo was puzzled. In the story, the younger brother gave the big pear to his elder brother and took the small one for himself. But in her father’s version, the younger brother held the big pear while the elder brother quickly ate the small one. When their mother saw this, she immediately demanded the younger brother share his pear. In the end, the younger brother got nothing—half the pear was taken by the elder brother, and the other half was given to their mother, who praised the elder brother for his filial piety.

"This story teaches us that if you’re willing to suffer losses, you’ll never run out of losses to suffer."

Fang Ruoruo half-understood. "But Mom says good children should learn to share."

"Nonsense! Sharing is giving away what you don’t need or have extra of. Giving away what you actually want is just pretending to be generous when you’re not."

"Oh." Fang Ruoruo thought of her backpack, her mood sinking again.

Fang Zhiyi quickly changed the subject. "In a couple of days, I’ll come pick you up and take you to the amusement park."

Fang Ruoruo’s eyes lit up. That night, even when her cousin tore pages from her notebook to fold paper airplanes, she didn’t make a sound.

The next morning, Fang Ruoruo trailed behind her cousins on the way to school, her mind full of thoughts about the amusement park. Suddenly, she saw two figures block her cousins’ path, and fear prickled at her.

"Stop right there! Hand over your... no, your homework!"

Xu Jiaqing froze. So did Xu Jiayuan. They’d heard of bullies stealing kids’ pocket money, but homework? This was a first.

The masked figure sounded impatient. "Hurry up! Or I’ll beat you up!"

Trembling, the two handed over their homework, only to watch as the bully tore it to shreds and scattered the pieces.

"Your homework was stolen? Torn up? Xu Jiaqing, you’ve really outdone yourself with these lies," the teacher snapped, slamming a hand on the desk.

The same scene played out in Xu Jiayuan’s classroom. "Oh, someone robbed you of your homework? Go ask around—who’d believe that?"

That day, both Xu Jiaqing and Xu Jiayuan were punished with standing all day for skipping homework and lying to their teacher.

At dinner that night, the brothers were unusually quiet, which puzzled Li Xue. After some prodding, they explained what happened. Her expression shifted.

"Your homework was stolen? You’re not lying, are you?" It was an unbelievable claim—no one would buy it.

The brothers were in low spirits, too dispirited even to tease Fang Ruoruo.

The next day, they walked cautiously, glancing around at every step. But just before reaching school, they were dragged into an alley again—same voice, same demand.

When they tearfully reported it to their teacher, the man nearly jumped out of his seat. "Do you even hear yourselves? Same excuse as yesterday? Can’t you come up with something new? No homework means no homework! Call your parents!"

Fang Zhiyi paid his workers and waited to pick up his child. Soon, he saw Li Xue and her husband storming into the school. About half an hour later, Xu Jiaqing and Xu Jiayuan were dragged out. The hot-tempered Xu Li kicked his eldest son repeatedly, while Li Xue frantically tried to intervene.

"Someone stole your homework? Out of all the kids, they only target you?"

"You useless brats!"

That night, Li Xue supervised the boys as they did their homework, too irritated to go out and gossip as usual.

Only after they finished did she leave, satisfied.

The brothers exchanged glances, their eyes full of resentment.

Luckily, nothing happened on the third day—or the fourth. Xu Li scoffed, "See? It was just an excuse! Now that you’re actually doing your homework, no one’s ‘stealing’ it!"

The incident became the latest gossip among their aunts and uncles—how the Xu brothers skipped homework and spun ridiculous lies about being robbed. Li Xue, who usually reveled in others’ misfortunes, now found herself the subject of ridicule.

Fang Ruoruo was picked up by Fang Zhiyi, who kept his promise and took her to the amusement park. She spent the whole day in delight. That evening, Fang Zhiyi unapologetically knocked on Fang Yu’s door with her in tow.

Fang Yu opened the door with a cigarette between her lips, frowning at the sight of Fang Zhiyi. But when she looked down and saw Fang Ruoruo, she quickly stubbed it out.

"Auntie!" Fang Ruoruo called sweetly, holding up a small cake. "I brought this for you."

Fang Yu was taken aback. She wiped her hands on her clothes before accepting it. "Thank you, thank you! Come on in."

Faced with her niece, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything harsh. As she hurried to cook dinner, Fang Zhiyi lounged lazily afterward, while Fang Ruoruo stood up and began clearing the dishes.

Fang Yu was stunned. "Ruoruo, what are you doing?"

"Washing the dishes," she replied naturally. "Mom says I should be helpful when I’m at someone else’s house."

"Tell me, Ruoruo," Fang Yu grabbed her hand. "At that mad—I mean, your aunt’s place... do you wash dishes every day too?"