151 New Neighbor, Cat Xiaoq

Ah, this is a young girl.

Or rather, she should be a young girl, Lin Xia thought with some uncertainty, judging by her height.

The girl had long, seaweed-like hair, straight bangs, and braided pigtails. She wore a well-fitted white short-sleeved shirt on top and a gray-and-white horizontal striped knee-length skirt below. The hem of her shirt was tucked into the skirt, making her slender figure look even more delicate.

At this moment, she was hugging a cute, roguish rabbit doll, her round eyes sparkling with pink peach-like hearts as she looked up with teary eyes at Mama Lin.

Mama Lin's hands were already pinching the girl's snow-white, tender little cheeks. "This belongs to your Xiaxia Sister. She doesn't usually care much for it anyway. Since you like it so much, take it home and play with it."

Lin Xia: ……

Although it was just a decorative piece, it was still something she had carefully chosen, alright?

"Mom, who are you talking to?" Lin Xia asked.

Mama Lin turned around and smiled. "This is our new neighbor, Little Q. Little Q, this is your Lin Xia Sister. Didn't you say you like reading? She doesn't have much else in her study, but she has plenty of books. Come over and play with your Lin Xia Sister often, and just tell her whatever books you want to read."

"Really?" Little Q shifted her gaze from Mama Lin to Lin Xia.

Hearing her voice, Lin Xia shuddered. This was practically a fatal ultimate technique! Could this be the legendary baby voice?

Meeting the gazes of this older woman and the young girl, Lin Xia smiled warmly and said, "Of course you're welcome. By the way, I wonder how old Little Q is now? I'm guessing you must still be in middle school, what grade are you in?"

"I'm fourteen this year, and I'm in the third year of junior high," Little Q said with a sweet smile. "Xiaxia Sister can call me Little Q or Little Kitty. All my classmates call me that."

Lin Xia thought to herself that this girl certainly wasn't shy. Seeing Little Kitty's silly, smiling expression, Lin Xia felt a twinge of awkwardness—was this child missing a screw or two?

Of course, it was later proven that appearances can be deceiving, and one should never be fooled by her innocent (?) exterior. While this child might indeed be missing a screw in some areas, in other aspects, her sense of smell was sharper than a paparazzi's. Utterly shameless and absurd, to say the least!

"The third year of junior high? Shouldn't you be in class today? Why are you still at home!" Lin Xia asked with a smile.

"Oh, right! I need to go home for lunch. Little Kitty forgot." With that, she scratched the back of her head while giggling sillily.

Lin Xia and Mama Lin both broke out in a few drops of cold sweat. She could even forget about eating lunch—truly a divine being.

Just as they were talking, the door of the opposite apartment opened, and a middle-aged, elegant woman walked out. The moment she saw Little Kitty hugging a doll inside Lin Xia's apartment, she knew her daughter was acting up again.

She hurriedly walked over and apologized to Mama Lin, "Big Sister, I'm so sorry. Has my Little Kitty been causing you any trouble?" At the same time, she scolded her daughter, "You don't even go straight home after school, don't you know your mother would worry? Hurry up and put the thing down. I'll buy you an identical one later."

Little Kitty pouted, but obediently put the doll down.

Mama Lin was a shrewd woman, and since she had just arrived here, her top priority was to build good relationships with the neighbors. Seeing this, she quickly pushed the doll back into Little Kitty's arms. "Hey, isn't it just a doll? My dear sister, don't stand on ceremony with me. My daughter doesn't care much for these things, and whatever toys we have at home were gifts from others. This doll is just a decoration at our place anyway. Since Little Kitty likes it so much, let her take it. The child is still young, just teach her slowly, no need to scold her."

"How could I possibly accept this?" The middle-aged woman's initial awkwardness faded somewhat, and the smile on her face became a bit more genuine.

"Oh, talking like that means you're treating me like a stranger, looking down on your Big Sister here, aren't you?" Mama Lin waved a hand. "This is my daughter, Lin Xia. Xiaxia, hurry up and say hello to the auntie."

Lin Xia walked over with a gentle smile. "Hello, Auntie. Let Little Kitty keep the doll. I heard she likes reading; I don't have much else, but I have plenty of books. Auntie, you can let Little Kitty come over to play often in the future."

As soon as Lin Xia finished speaking, Mama Lin chimed in, "Yes, we're all neighbors now, and our whole family has just arrived here. If there's anything we need, we'll still have to trouble you, dear sister."

The woman smiled and said, "Big Sister, what are you saying? Just come to me if you need anything. But since you just arrived today and still have things to unpack, I won't disturb you any longer."

Knowing that it was lunchtime for the little girl and that she had classes in the afternoon, Mama Lin nodded, exchanged a few more polite pleasantries, and then the mother and daughter left.

Seeing them leave, Lin Xia glanced around the living room and saw that most things had been tidied up, with the large items properly placed, leaving only a few small miscellaneous objects scattered about.

"Where are Dad and Linhui?" Lin Xia asked.

Mama Lin was bent over with a small knife, trying to pry open a large box, and replied without turning her head, "I sent them downstairs to buy lunch. None of us want to cook at home this noon. We'll roughly clean up the place this afternoon and go out to a restaurant for dinner tonight."

Lin Xia nodded; that was the only option.

Pouring a glass of water for herself and Mama Lin respectively, Lin Xia took her cup and returned to the study to continue organizing. These books were the ones she was accustomed to using, and she never let anyone else handle them. No one knew better than she did where every single book belonged.

A few days later, Lin Xia accompanied her father to complete his enrollment procedures. Looking at her father, who already seemed capable of handling matters on his own, Lin Xia couldn't help feeling a trace of amazement. Coming out of the admissions office, she asked, "Dad, no wonder people say 'one should look at a scholar with new eyes after three days apart.' I think you're completely different from before. When dealing with those teachers, your back was much straighter than usual."

Father Lin chuckled with a hint of pride. "That's only natural! During the few days your dad spent supervising our home renovation project, I've completely gotten the hang of this area in City B. Your dad is no longer the ignorant country bumpkin I used to be."

Lin Xia smiled faintly. "Indeed. Now, Mom looks at Dad with completely different eyes, filled with quite a bit of admiration."

Once a person has money, their back straightens—that saying certainly wasn't false.

In just a few short years, the current Father Lin was completely different from the memory Lin Xia had of him.

Yet, as the old saying goes, when people get rich, they change for the worse—especially men.

Although Father Lin was a good man, he couldn't withstand the dizzying intoxications of City B! Lin Xia began scheming in her heart: money naturally had to be given to the family, but how much to give and how to give it required careful planning.

She wasn't reluctant to part with a little money, but if a few coins were to tear a family apart, the loss would outweigh the gain.

In an era that mocked poverty rather than prostitution, some women would do anything for money. They even found a wonderful excuse for such behavior, claiming it was true love and that they simply adored such mature, considerate, and affectionate older men.

Bah!

If you had no money, no matter how considerate and affectionate you tried to be, they probably wouldn't even deign to give you a second glance.

Lin Xia glanced sideways at her father. Linhui growing up to look as enchanting as he did was inseparable from Father Lin's genetics.

Linhui had inherited their father's good looks, while she resembled their mother more. Coupled with the space spring water Lin Xia had let her family soak in back at Xishui Town, and her intention to save Zhao Xin's spiritual fruits for her family members, both Father Lin and Mama Lin looked much younger than their actual ages.

As men grow older, they become more mature. Coupled with having a small stash of savings and standing tall, they naturally exuded a unique demeanor. Back in Rongcheng, stuck guarding that small grocery store every day, it hadn't been noticeable.

Coming here, Father Lin had somehow manifested a sort of personal charm, conversing fluently and smoothly with teachers and the dean of admissions, which prompted Lin Xia's earlier remarks.

Hearing his daughter praise him like this, Mama Lin no longer constantly berated him as a good-for-nothing like she used to. Father Lin laughed and said, "With a clever and sensible daughter like you, how could your dad possibly turn out to be a failure?"

"Alright, Dad, stop fishing for compliments from your own daughter," Lin Xia said with amusement. "If you keep going, I'm going to blush."

Surveying her surroundings, Lin Xia smiled and said, "This school is really huge, and the scenery is lovely. I never expected they could connect the junior high and senior high divisions together, and even keep them in the same school—truly impressive."

Indeed, in her past life, she had never attended a school that encompassed both junior high and senior high divisions.

Father Lin laughed. "Of course. Dinghai High School is ranked pretty high in City B no matter what. It took your dad a huge amount of effort to cram both you and Linhui into it."

Lin Xia asked in confusion, "Eh, didn't our family not know anyone in City B?"

"It's Uncle Guo, the one who went house-hunting with us last time. Didn't we exchange phone numbers back then? Later, halfway through the house renovation, before I even went looking for him, he took the initiative to call me," Father Lin smiled. "Such a warm-hearted person."

Lin Xia smiled. No doubt this was all thanks to Jin Ye.

Sigh, she had no idea how to repay this favor. Even though he did it for the sake of Sister Miao, she had still been the one to actively seek him out.

Never mind, once things settled down in a couple of days, she would invite him to a meal!

Just a single meal really wasn't enough to show appreciation; she had to think of a proper gift to give as well.

The residential complex Lin Xia bought was called Dinghai Garden, and Dinghai Middle School was the closest school to this community. That little neighbor she had a brief encounter with the other day attended Dinghai Middle School.

However, entering the senior high division of Dinghai High School wasn't so easy, after all, the school needed to maintain its college admission rates. Once Father Lin heard that this school sent dozens of students to Tsinghua University and Peking University every year, he completely relaxed.

With such an impressive teaching standard here, it would be just the right place to test his daughter's abilities.

Because she was transferring in mid-term, she couldn't enter the school's experimental class and was instead placed in a regular class.

Every regular class had a few spots obtained through paid admissions. After all, such a large school had expenses to cover, and certain favors simply couldn't be refused—clear prices, convenient for others, convenient for themselves.