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But she didn’t seem to mind this.

As a child, she liked to join in wherever she went, to make friends with everyone, and to follow those most popular kids. However, in most cases, her enthusiam wasn’t reciprocated, and sometimes she was even bullied.

Back then, she always felt inferior, questioning whether it was because she wasn’t good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not cute enough, not talented in singing or dancing, lacked talents, that made the other kids not like to play with her.

Or maybe she had done something wrong, angered the others, leading them to exclude or bully her.

But after focusing on practicing magic, preparing to help Uncle Bald fight monsters and protect the world in future, she didn’t care much about the opinions of people who weren’t related to her.

Though strictly speaking, her aunt was not a “unrelated person”, but since it was their first meeting, there was not much difference from a stranger in her perception.

Little Fatty Girl carried her little backpack into the room with her grandmother to put her things down. Of course, she didn’t have her own room, she would share a room and bed with her grandmother.

The room was small, with various boxes piled up besides a bed.

After putting the bag with the change of clothes on the bed, grandmother left with the cat package, saying, “I’ll put the cat on the balcony, okay?”

Just as Liu Shiling was about to say something, her aunt carrying her cousin came to the door and frowned, “You can’t put a cat on the balcony, what about the cat hairs and feces being rubbed everywhere, getting the washed clothes dirty, and Xiaohui often playing on the balcony. What if he gets scratched or bitten by the cat?”

Liu Shiling hurried over, held the cat bag up with the transparent side facing her aunt, so her aunt could see Custard Pie’s appearance. Then she looked up with her little face and said, “Aunt, Custard Pie is really lazy and won’t jump around. Also, he’s too timid to scratch or bite people.”

Then she looked at her grandmother and said, “Grandma, can I keep Custard Pie by my side? We will stay in the room and I will watch over him. Custard Pie doesn’t smell bad. My mom and I often give him baths. When he needs to use the toilet, I will take him to the restroom so that it won’t make the room dirty.”

As if to prove his owner’s words, Custard Pie in the cat bag looked at Shiling’s grandmother and aunt and meowed softly, then squinted his eyes slowly. He indeed looked cute and adorable, even her cousin wanted to jump down to see the cat.

Shiling’s grandmother hesitated for a moment, and eventually left the cat bag in the room, reminding Shiling, “You can play with cat in the room for a while. I need to talk to your aunt.” Then, she closed the door and left for the living room.

“What are you doing? Shiling is just going to stay for a few days. And it’s not like you need to take care of her. We had agreed on this before, so don’t make things difficult for the child now,” Shiling’s grandmother frowned and told her daughter-in-law.

“We just discussed her staying, we didn’t talk about bringing a cat!” Shiling’s aunt said.

“What’s the problem with bringing a cat? You’ve raised one before.”

“Anyway, I don’t want Xiaohui to play with that stray cat brought from who knows where.”

“You…” Shiling’s grandmother choked with anger, sighed, and said, “Then let the cat stay in my room for now.”

Before turning to go back into her room, Shiling’s grandmother paused and added, “I know you’re upset because Ah Xue didn’t lend you money a few years back. But remember, she put in a lot of money when you two got married and bought this house. She never treated you two poorly.”

Shiling’s Aunt scowled, “She only put in a little over two hundred thousand when we got married and bought the house! This is nothing to her. I heard she made a lot of money outside… Well, she made enough to buy a house in Shenhai, not in the tens of millions, but several million for sure. She wouldn’t even lend her own brother a hundred thousand when he needed it… Now with this new trouble, she might lose all that money. Tell me if she’s stupid or not!”

Shiling’s grandmother lowered her voice and scolded, “Watch your mouth! Be careful! Don’t say these things in front of the child! Ah Xue sent her here so she wouldn’t know about her father’s predicament. It’s certainly not for you to chatter about! And don’t forget, Ah Xue is my daughter. I don’t care what you think of her privately, but I don’t want to hear any of this nonsense in front of me!”

Shiling’s Aunt was taken aback by her mother-in-law’s stern words and realized she’d made a mistake. She muttered a few words in a whisper, “I was just saying all this for your son and grandson…” before walking away.

In the room, Liu Shiling took out Custard Pie, then took out some cat food from her backpack. Not having a bowl, she poured a bit into her hand to feed Custard Pie.

Custard Pie was cooperative, curling up beside her and eating in a much quieter and more genteel manner than usual.

“Custard Pie, if you need to make poop, tell me. I’ll take you to the bathroom. You cannot poop in the room, otherwise we’ll be kicked out, understood?” As Liu Shiling fed Custard Pie, she gave him a quiet reminder.

Custard Pie lifted his head and blinked two times, then went back to eating the cat food. Liu Shiling understood that this was his way of indicating that he understood.

After feeding Custard Pie, Liu Shiling took out her iPad from the bag where she stored her clothes and started to continue her studies. Even without her physical textbooks, Alice could directly help her find digital versions of her lessons online.

She generally preferred looking at paper textbooks while letting Alice tutor her with the iPad. This made her feel like she was actually in school, a real primary school student. But given their current situation, she wouldn’t stop studying just because she didn’t have physical books.

A regular tablet would need to connect to WiFi first, which would require asking for the WiFi password. But with Alice there, Liu Shiling didn’t need to worry about that.

However, she hadn’t been studying for long when her grandmother entered the room to call her for lunch and promised that Custard Pie could stay in the room.

Custard Pie was very clever; he raised his face and mewed softly, almost as if the words “obedient”, “cute”, and “well-behaved” were written all over his face.

Her grandmother, who had initially been indifferent to the cat, couldn’t help but laugh and went over to pet Custard Pie’s head.

Shiling didn’t know if her Aunt or her grandmother had prepared lunch, but it was far inferior to what her mom or Uncle Bald would have made. Nevertheless, Liu Shiling still ate very diligently and carefully. She made sure not to drop any rice on the table, only picked up food that was close to her, and was mindful not to let anything drop. She fully understood that “food is the source of magic power,” “you need to eat to have the energy to study magic,” and “you can’t be picky about food when you can’t afford to be”.

Of course, Shiling’s grandmother would frequently help her pick up food, and each time she would receive a sweet “Thank you, Grandma”.

Perhaps because Shiling’s Aunt was chastised earlier by her mother-in-law, or perhaps because this little fatty was just too well-behaved, beyond reproach and genuinely cute, Shiling’s Aunt didn’t say anything else to make her uncomfortable.

After lunch, Liu Shiling initially wanted to go back to her room to continue studying. But her grandmother asked her if she could play the “game console” with her cousin- in her grandmother’s eyes, the iPad was purely for playing games.

Liu Shiling naturally felt inclined to oblige, so she took out her tablet to teach her cousin how to play games while her grandmother washed the dishes and did the housework.

Her cousin was a year younger than her, and although he was somewhat spoiled, under the combined influence of IPAD games, various origami skills, story-telling abilities, and the charm of Custard Pie, her cute cat, he quickly began to listen to and obey her.

After taking a nap, however, Shiling’s Aunt was not pleased to see her son playing with the cat. Consequently, Liu Shiling and Custard Pie had to carefully retreat to her grandmother’s room.

Her cousin continued to play with the IPAD. Her mother had only packed story books for her and no textbooks, so she could not continue with her studies.

But Liu Shiling wasn’t bored. She took Custard Pie to the windowsill of her grandmother’s room and, behind the safety railing, looked out at the various buildings. She would quietly read the characters on the advertising boards that she recognized. If she came across any that she didn’t recognize, she would guess based on the radicals and then guess the meaning of the whole sentence. She also practiced her arithmetic by adding or multiplying the numbers on the license plates of cars parked on the roadside. Other times, she would surreptitiously practice magic by trying to control five coins to write five different numbers simultaneously.

Despite being confined to a cramped room, the girl and her cat managed to have a great time without feeling bored.

On the other hand, Shiling’s Aunt and her cousin, who had borrowed Little Fatty Girl’s IPAD, soon encountered problems. The device froze after just a short while, and then went completely black after they attempted to restart it by pressing the power button.

Shiling’s Aunt involuntarily cursed under her breath, thinking that the tablet Liu Shiling’s Mum had bought for her daughter was fake. But she didn’t give the tablet back to Little Fatty Girl, she just tossed it aside.

Liu Shiling initially thought that she would spend the next few days here with her grandmother. To her surprise, however, her grandmother had another argument with her Aunt in the afternoon, which was more heated than the one they had at noon.

In a fit of anger, her grandmother marched into the room, grabbed Liu Shiling’s hand, and said, “Shiling, let’s go. We’re going back to our hometown.” She then took the bag of clothes and Liu Shiling’s red school bag.

Liu Shiling obediently followed her grandmother out of the house. She had vaguely heard the phrase, “Shiling is my dear granddaughter” and guessed that her grandmother might have been arguing with her Aunt because of her. Even though she wasn’t quite sure what she had done to upset her Aunt, knowing that her grandmother was angry because she cared about her brought an inexplicable joy to Liu Shiling’s heart.

However, as she reached the foot of the stairs and saw Custard Pie trotting after her, Liu Shiling reminded her grandmother, “Grandma, we forgot to bring the cat carrier and my IPAD.”

Her grandmother paused, looked upstairs, hesitated for a moment, then said to Little Fatty Girl, “Leave them for now, we’ll come back and get them later.”

Liu Shiling had no objections to this. But when they tried to catch a ride, they encountered a problem. Her grandmother had flagged down a small car to take them to their hometown, but the driver refused to allow them on board with the big ginger cat. No amount of persuasion or offer of extra payment could change his mind.

While her grandmother was contemplating whether to get another car, or find a place to buy a cat carrier, Liu Shiling carried Custard Pie and approached the driver. Standing by the door on the driver’s side, She said to him, “Uncle, I will hold Custard Pie the whole time. He’s a very well-behaved kitty, I assure you. He won’t move around or make the car dirty. Can we please come in?”

In perfect timing with her words, Custard Pie, who was held in her arms with half of its body leaning on her shoulder, turned its head towards the driver and gave a soft meow before slowly blinking its eyes, as if pleading along with its little owner.

The driver paused for a moment, looked at Little Fatty Girl, and then at Custard Pie. Finally, he nodded at Shiling’s grandmother and said, “Alright then, come on in. You’ll have to sit in the back and make sure the cat doesn’t run around, okay?”

“Thank you, uncle!” Liu Shiling said joyfully. Custard Pie also gave a cheerful meow as if it was expressing gratitude too.

The driver couldn’t help but laugh, “This cat sure is clever.”

The “old home” that grandma referred to was not in the town, but on a mountain some twenty kilometers away, a small mountain village.

In the car, grandma told Liu Shiling that this was their old home, Qing Mountain Village, where her mother, uncle, and aunt grew up.

They were going up the mountain just as the sun was setting. Seeing the mountain forests dyed red by the sunset, both Little Fatty Girl and Custard Pie were filled with curiosity, their eyes wide open as they stared unblinkingly at the scenery outside the window.

She was reminded of the conversations she had had a few days earlier with Sister Xiao Pingguo, Sister Beautiful, and Sister Fairy. They had told her about the beautiful scenery of Chongyun Village and Chongyun Mountain, showing her many photos and videos. They also mentioned that they would like to take her there to have fun and stay for a while once her summer vacation began.

She had been yearning to play out in the mountain village, but hadn’t expected to have this experience so soon, and at her own “hometown” too.

Perhaps in the future, she could invite Uncle Bald and company to visit?

The car soon entered Qing Mountain Village, stopping outside the courtyard of a self-built house.

While grandma was still paying the fare, Liu Shiling got out of the car, hugging Custard Pie. As she curiously peeked through the open courtyard gate, a big yellow dog tied inside the yard suddenly lunged towards her, barking furiously.

Despite the considerable distance between them, and the fact that the dog was leashed, Liu Shiling, who had always been scared of dogs, couldn’t help but tremble. Her first instinct was to back away.

Custard Pie, however, leaped out of her arms and darted into the yard, baring his teeth and snarling at the big yellow dog, looking threatening.

The big yellow dog was startled and retreated to the wall, tucking its tail between its legs in fear, whimpering.

Only when Custard Pie returned to Liu Shiling’s side and entered the yard with grandma, did the big yellow dog start panting and wagging its tail by the wall.

Looking at Custard Pie at her feet, Liu Shiling breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat proud:

Custard Pie was not just good at eating and sleeping. While he might not be as formidable as the “Barbie Warrior” and couldn’t outplay “Chocolate” and the other five “Little Spirit Guardians”, he was certainly intimidating when facing other animals.

Grandma introduced her to the family living in the house, where she learned that the residents were her mother’s sister’s family. She was to call the woman “aunt”. Besides her aunt, there were also the aunt’s husband and a cousin.

After the introductions, grandma left her to play in the yard while she went in to talk with her aunt.

Initially, she was somewhat afraid of the yard because of the big yellow dog. However, seeing Custard Pie’s earlier performance bolstered her courage. Now the big yellow dog just sat in the corner, panting and wagging its tail, appearing not at all fierce, but rather cute and naive.

After a while, grandma came out. Liu Shiling noticed her somewhat troubled expression. She seemed to have heard grandma raising her voice inside the house earlier. Remembering what had happened at her aunt’s house previously, she couldn’t help but hold onto her grandmother’s hand and whisper, “Grandma, if Aunt doesn’t allow us to stay… we could go back to my place with Mom. I could prepare oatmeal with milk for you. We also have chocolates and milk cookies at home. They’re all very tasty.”

Grandma was taken aback. Looking at her adorable and well-behaved granddaughter, she felt a strange sense of sadness. Patting Liu Shiling’s head, she said, “Don’t worry, dear. This house belongs to Grandma. Your aunt and her family are only here temporarily. If we want to stay here, we don’t need anyone else’s approval.”