"Be quick and tell me all the thirty-six stratagems of Sun Tzu," Ru propped her face on the palm of her hand as she instructed Xiao Zhi Yuan.
Both of them were in the Central Imperial Library which Ru chose as their study spot since she had been avoiding Xiao Zhi Ren for a week now. She had even been staying in her Medicine Hall in the mountains just to avoid Xiao Zhi Ren. If she hadn't promised Xiao Zhi Yuan to help him with his entrance exam, she would have already jilted him.
But in the end, she was a man of her words!
Oh, wait! That oddly didn't sound right...
Perhaps, she was a woman of her words?
Was she really a woman? She literally was questioning herself.
But it wasn't her fault at all that she was even forced to question her own gender. She was born with the body of a female. Raised with the mentality of a male. Her gender was really a confusing matter for her.
"All thirty-six?" Xiao Zhi Yuan asked just to make sure that he heard right.
Ru thought for a second before saying, "Let's start with stratagems for desperate situations."
"Okay." Xiao Zhi Yuan made an okay sign with his hand and put his pen on the wooden table. After that, he started describing each of the stratagems with ease and finished with a smile saying, "Last two are my favorite. 'Beauty Trap'[1] and 'If all else fails, Escape is the best'[2]."
Ru nodded her head in appreciation and patted his head like he was a pet. "At this rate, my little squirrel will definitely top the Entrance Exam." Hearing words of eulogizing from her, Xiao Zhi Yuan felt splendid inwardly.
"Woah! I didn't know that Yuan can actually smile like that." At this remark, both Ru and Xiao Zhi Yuan turned their head to see Ji Caihong walking towards them.
"Oh, look!" Ru gave her a surprised expression as she pointed at Ji Caihong's face saying, "That's the girl who shares the same name as my first pet."
Xiao Zhi Yuan couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Ru's way of acknowledging Ji Caihong while she stood with a scrunched up face. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Xie!" Ji Caihong grumbled and took a seat right opposite both of them at the same table.
"Can you not call me Mr. Xie? I built an empire just so that people address me as Chairman Xie. Don't insult me by calling me, Mr. Xie." Ru told Ji Caihong with a weary look.
"Should I also call you Chairman Xie?" Ji Caihong asked a bit uncertainly.
"Umm... No!" Ru answered her plainly.
"Hmm..." Ji Caihong tapped her chin thoughtfully before saying, "How about Rong Brother?"
"Rong Brother... Rong Brother..." Ru again rolled the name on her tongue before her eyes lit up. "I like the taste of that."
"Huh? Taste? I think you meant to say you liked the sound of that."
Ru shook her head and cleared up, "I exactly meant what I just said. More than the sound of it, I like the way 'Rong Brother' rolls of my tongue. It seems smooth and tasteful."
After staring intently at Ru's face, Ji Caihong could only comment, "You're weird."
"That I already know." Ru retorted impassively and shifted her attention back to Xiao Zhi Yuan. "Little squirrel, let's test you next week. Your Entrance exam is only a month away. So, I'll come up with some sample question paper for you to solve."
"I won't disappoint you!" Xiao Zhi Yuan answered resolutely.
"Little brother, I brought this for you." Seeing that they were done, Ji Caihong pushed a lunch box towards Xiao Zhi Yuan with a radiant smile on her face.
"I told you, I'm not your brother!" Xiao Zhi Yuan snapped at her with a glare but it didn't have the same effect as it used to do. He's been softening up a bit lately especially since Ji Caihong always showed up with homemade delicacies for him. Although he still tried to shun her, it was obvious that he wasn't completely against the idea of having a sister as he used to.
"Looks like you both are still on the phase of 'I'm not your brother'." Ru mimicked Xiao Zhi Yuan as she air-quoted his words.
Ji Caihong giggled at her remark while Xiao Zhi Yuan gave her a disbelieving look. "Oniisan!" He raised his voice but Ru shrugged her shoulders not paying any heed to his childish tantrum.
Ru shot up from the chair to take a seat on the table and leaned over to Ji Caihong's side as she whispered, "Don't worry, we'll soon get to the phase of 'She's my sister!'" Ji Caihong felt reassured by just the way Ru said it to her.
"What did you say to her?" Xiao Zhi Yuan gave Ru a skeptical look.
"Nothing... I just said that since you're not gonna take her in as a sister even when she's bringing you delicious food than she should try her luck on me. This young master would gladly become her brother for the sake of food." Saying this, she even pulled the lunch box from Xiao Zhi Yuan's side towards herself but Xiao Zhi Yuan immediately stopped her.
"That's mine." He argued with a pout.
"Aiyoh! If you don't want the sister, why do you want her food? Be nice little squirrel! Just let me eat it." Ru again tried to take the lunch box but Xiao Zhi Yuan didn't let it go at all.
Ji Caihong could see his reluctance and she realized that Ru was actually tricking him with reverse psychology. The more Ru asked him to let go, the more he wanted to hold on now.
From their noises, the librarian had to come over to shush them. "Let's go out. I don't like that grumpy lady." Ru whispered in a low voice as she glared at the back of the grumpy librarian.
The three of them were silently making their way out of the library when they came across Xiao Zhi Yuan's classmate, Zhang Han. The same teenager who had punched Xiao Zhi Yuan. Zhang Han looked at Xiao Zhi Yuan and then shifted his eyes towards Ji Caihong to see her throwing daggers at him. He reflexively gulped.
"Great Aunt, I have already apologized to him on my knees... Can't you stop giving me such dirty looks?" Zhang Han was talking to Ji Caihong. Seeing the way, she gave him a cold shoulder Zhang Han was left in a dilemma. He turned to Xiao Zhi Yuan and said, "Can't you tell her that I apologized already? Because of her, I have already lost my credit cards, my cars, and my other privileges. Including my chance to go backpacking tour to Europe." He really looked aggrieved and it made Xiao Zhi Yuan give Ji Caihong a strange look.
He was trying to discern what kind of a relationship they shared for Ji Caihong even managed to give him so much grief?
Seeing that Xiao Zhi Yuan was still quiet, Zhang Han again urged him, "Would you say something?"
"Ha? Oh... He really apologized and we are actually good friends now." Xiao Zhi Yuan explained to Ji Caihong.
"You made a friend and that's actually the person who dared to punch you?" Ru asked from the side incredulously. It was ironic for her to question him since she was the person who was keeping the girl who tried to kill her right by her side. But obviously, she didn't consider that fact at all.
"He did it because he was jealous thinking that I had something going on with Shen Yue." Xiao Zhi Yuan tried to explain Zhang Han's reason righteously making Ru shake her head at him.
Ru prodded his head and said, "My little squirrel, you're really slow-witted if it took you such a long time to figure out that the fight was over a girl."
Xiao Zhi Yuan scowled feeling wronged for being called slow-witted.
While Ru was trying to knock some sense into his brain, Zhang Han moved closer to Ji Caihong and whispered, "Aunt... My best and dearest aunt... Can't you ask mom to let me go on that backpacking trip? Please! I beg you!" He implored with a puppy dog eyes.
"It's not up to me... You should have thought of the consequences before you dared to raise your fist." Ji Caihong knocked on his head as she went on, "This is all because of your bad temper."
"Excuse me! Do you mind me asking why is this teenager addressing you as 'Aunt'?" Ru tried not to probe but she couldn't help herself. She was intrigued by the way he addressed her as 'aunt'.
"Rong Brother! This is Zhang Han... He's my nephew." At Ji Caihong's words, Ru choked on air. She darted her eyes between both Ji Caihong and Zhang Han. If one didn't know that Ji Caihong was twenty-six, they'd definitely mistake her to be a teenager as well. Then she turned her gaze towards Xiao Zhi Yuan and grinned.
"That means, my little squirrel is actually his 'Uncle'?" Ru chuckled softly while Zhang Han and Xiao Zhi Yuan stiffened up.
"How is he, my uncle?" Zhang Han pointed at Xiao Zhi Yuan with a wary look. He really didn't understand how a minute ago Xiao Zhi Yuan was his classmate and now, he was his 'Uncle'?
"He's the youngest of our family. That makes him your uncle rightfully." Ji Caihong answered Zhang Han with a sly smile on her face. Zhang Han stared at Xiao Zhi Yuan with disbelief etched on his face.
[1] & [2]: Both are popular stratagems by Sun Tzu