QTIMP -Chapter 308 Character Persona – Vain (Part 2)

The voices of the father and daughter echoed in the earthen house’s kitchen, accompanied by the clatter of pots and bowls and the curling smoke rising from the stove, creating an incredibly warm and cozy atmosphere.

The next day, she was sent to kindergarten again. Si Qiu guided Si Yangui in doing her hair. After helping her tie a beautiful hairstyle, she was sent off to kindergarten.

Along the way, she kept imagining the envious looks her classmates would give her when they saw this hairstyle. After all, this was something she had obtained after losing a lot of hair.

After all, in the beginning, Si Yangui’s hands had been as clumsy as a few wooden sticks. He simply couldn’t braid hair properly. But now, after a little guidance from her, he could braid it beautifully, with just the right amount of tightness and looseness.

Unfortunately, enemies were bound to meet. As soon as she arrived at school, she ran into her arch-rival, Juanjuan, again.

The moment the little girl saw her, she ran over and showed off her newly bought schoolbag charm.

“Si Qiu, look quickly! Is my charm pretty? My aunt brought it back for me as a gift.”

Si Qiu glanced at it and turned her face away.

“Seriously? It’s so ugly. And it’s childish too. Your aunt’s taste is exactly the same as yours—she has absolutely no sense of style.”

Du Juanjuan was a real child and didn’t understand such sophisticated words. The moment she heard this, she immediately felt like she had lost the argument, and her eyes filled with tears.

Si Qiu didn’t care about her reaction at all. Carrying her little schoolbag, she trotted into the kindergarten.

She was also a baby now. She wasn’t going to do the things adults were supposed to do.

Instead, the teacher who was welcoming students at the entrance quickly hugged Juanjuan and began comforting and persuading her.

“Alright, students, stop arguing now. Write each of the numbers I taught you today in one line. When you finish, hand it in. Just like before, the student with the neatest handwriting will receive a little red flower as a reward.”

Being able to receive praise and admiration in front of so many people was exactly the kind of thing Si Qiu wanted. Of course, she had to get first place.

Besides, with an adult’s soul inside her, she quickly finished her work, and every line was neat and tidy. It wasn’t like she was bullying children—she was a child herself now.

She raised her hand high to signal the teacher, then handed in her workbook.

The teacher gave her an exaggerated amount of praise. Si Qiu didn’t feel embarrassed at all. She stood beside the podium and accepted the compliments and applause from her classmates.

A strange sense of satisfaction rose in her heart.

When she returned to her seat, the chubby boy sitting beside her quietly stuffed a bag of Mimi shrimp strips into her hands.

“Si Qiu, don’t be angry with me anymore. I won’t play with Du Juanjuan again in the future. Don’t move to sit with someone else, okay?”

Si Qiu reluctantly accepted the snack. Frowning, she lectured him.

“Zhai Mingyao, you need to understand that there are plenty of people in our class who want to sit with me. I chose to sit with you, not because you’re especially great, but because I’m kind-hearted. You must cherish my good intentions, understand?”

The chubby boy, Zhai Mingyao, nodded blankly.

“I understand.”

Then he rummaged through his schoolbag again, took out the crispy noodles inside, and handed them to Si Qiu.

Si Qiu accepted the snacks and deliberately showed them off to Juanjuan sitting behind her, making the little girl puff up with anger.

Unable to resist, Si Qiu reached out and pinched her cheek. The little girl immediately burst into tears and went to complain to the teacher.

“Teacher Zhang, Si Qiu pinched my face.”

Si Qiu blinked her big, dark eyes. The braids on her head bounced up and down.

Teacher Zhang first comforted Du Juanjuan, then squatted down to look Si Qiu in the eyes and asked: “Si Qiu, did you pinch Du Juanjuan’s face?”

Si Qiu shook her head.

“I didn’t pinch her. I was just squeezing her cheek. Who told her to be so cute? She kept puffing out her cheeks and tempting me.”

Teacher Zhang was left speechless by her response. Just as she was wondering how to handle the situation, Du Juanjuan unexpectedly decided not to pursue the matter.

She shyly said: “Y-you can’t pinch my face just because you think I’m cute! If you really want to pinch it, you have to tell me beforehand.”

After hearing her words, Si Qiu nodded. “Alright then. Next time you’re being this cute, just tell me when I’m allowed to pinch you.”

Du Juanjuan lay on the table. “But how am I supposed to know when I’m being cute?”

Si Qiu tilted her face slightly upward and looked her over from top to bottom. “You’re the cutest when you obediently listen to me.”

This left Du Juanjuan in a dilemma. She did want to become cuter, but she also didn’t want to listen to Si Qiu. What should she do?

Si Qiu waved her hand generously. “It’s fine. Just do whatever you want. I’m not important to you anyway.”

Hearing her say that, Du Juanjuan suddenly felt that this person was actually quite nice.

So she stammered awkwardly, “You’re not important anyway. I just suddenly realized that you’re not too bad. Although I won’t let you become my friend just because you want to.”

“But I’ve decided that from now on, I won’t dislike you anymore.”

Seeing that the two children had truly made up, the teacher stood up and went over to comfort the other children.

Si Qiu didn’t think her classmates were childish at all. After all, she was able to use an adult’s intelligence, emotional awareness, and life experience in this childish environment to gain a great deal of admiration and attention.

This was simply wonderful!

The entire day’s spotlight had been focused on her, so when school ended in the evening, she left happily and excitedly.

When Si Yangui saw his daughter running out cheerfully, his heart instantly softened. He became even more determined to work hard, earn money, and develop his own career.

However, this was an era when money was easy to earn, but it was also an era when money was easy to spend. Saving money was truly not easy.

“Dad, let’s go visit the night market. I want to eat lamb skewers from the night market.”

“Sure, let’s eat.”

He immediately let Si Qiu sit on his shoulders and carried her toward the night market. From this unprecedented height, Si Qiu looked down at all the children below.

“Hmph, none of you are as tall as me. A bunch of little nobodies.”

The children didn’t understand the exact meaning of her words, but the contempt in her tone was obvious.

So a group of children grabbed onto their fathers’, mothers’, grandfathers’, and grandmothers’ legs, wanting them to carry them too.

Although many parents felt troubled, they were their own children after all, so they prepared to carry them.

Who would have thought that Si Qiu would proudly say at this moment, “Even if they carry you, it’s useless. Everyone here, without exception, who is taller than my dad? Who is stronger than my dad? Who has more strength than him?”

The children looked and realized that what Si Qiu said was indeed true.

Putting aside everything else, Si Yangui was 1.8 meters tall. Because of his training and years of heavy labor, his body had well-proportioned muscles.

Looking at Si Qiu’s father’s face, it was obvious that he was not bad-looking either. The only possible disadvantage was that his circumstances might not be as good.

But because Si Qiu had such a strong sense of vanity, she had high standards for him.

Every time he came to pick up Si Qiu, he would wash himself thoroughly and put on his only decent set of clothes. Because of this, the children were temporarily unable to tell that their family conditions were actually poor.

After this comparison, the other parents felt like their children had stabbed them right in the heart.

Thus, a group of children who had originally left school happily suddenly burst into tears.

Looking down at them from above, Si Qiu gave another contemptuous look and said, “Cry, cry, cry. All you know is crying. If you can’t adapt to the environment, then change the environment. What use is crying?

It will only make you look even more incapable.”

Si Yangui quickly pretended to scold his daughter, then turned around with an apologetic smile toward the parents.

The children immediately stopped crying as if someone had flipped a switch.