Brother! This is the adoption certificate. I don't want your sister-in-law!

Chapter 96 Be a Dog in Your Next Life

My aunt hadn't realized what was happening yet.

She came today to see what her nephew's shop looks like.

As soon as she entered the door, before she could even exchange two words, the girl with pigtails in front of her had already taken care of her like a whirlwind.

The chair was brought over, the tea was poured, and the girl even pulled out half a bag of pistachios from behind the counter and placed it in front of her, calling her "Auntie" more affectionately than a biological niece.

"Auntie, please sit down. Is this chair hard? Would you like me to add a cushion? Auntie, please have some water. I found this tea in Manager Luo's drawer. I don't know much about it, but please try it."

Wu Mengmeng is as hardworking as a little bee, radiating the enthusiasm of "we are a family".

My aunt was holding a teacup, and before she could say "No need to be so polite," she was given a handful of pistachios.

Wu Mengmeng sat down opposite her aunt, her hands neatly placed on her knees, her back ramrod straight, and her smile so sweet it could max out the sugar level of the entire tech street.

The aunt looked the girl up and down, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Um... how long have you known Su Xiao?"

Wu Mengmeng quickly calculated and said, "We met in the third year of junior high school, so it's been almost a year and a half now!"

Then she added, "He was so loyal back then. When someone in class bullied me, he stood up for me without hesitation. From then on, I felt that this guy was reliable, so we got together."

She was only half telling the truth, but her tone was so sincere and enthusiastic that her aunt's lips curled up in a smile.

The aunt then asked Su Xiao if he was usually good to her.

Wu Mengmeng pouted, shook her head, and sighed, saying, "Auntie, you don't know, Su Xiao is just stubborn on the outside but soft on the inside. He seems fierce on the surface, but he's actually very caring. He's the kind of person who calls you a troublemaker, but secretly cares about you more than anyone else."

Wu Mengmeng rested her chin on her hands, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her aunt, and said earnestly, "Auntie, boys like this are hard to find these days."

Is my nephew really that good?

My aunt was feeling dizzy, but she nodded repeatedly after hearing what she said. She glanced at the brightly lit glass display case in the shop and asked, "Why are you still working in the shop so late?"

Wu Mengmeng immediately sat up straight, her face serious, and said, "This shop is his life's work, it's only right that I help him out. Sweeping the floor or wiping the windows won't hurt me!"

She spoke so naturally, as if it were true, without mentioning at all that she was being forced to do cleaning work or that she had just been cursing about having eight sons.

My aunt silently gave this girl a high score in her heart.

She is good-looking, has a sweet tongue, is hardworking, and is devoted to her nephew.

She put down her teacup, smiled, and said, "That's great. Next time you and Su Xiao come over for dinner, your aunt will cook something delicious for you."

Wu Mengmeng shook her head again and said, "It should be me and him who visit you, Auntie."

After saying that, he even asked his aunt in a serious tone what kind of dumplings she liked, saying he could make them himself.

The two chatted for a while, and then the aunt stood up and said she was going home. Wu Mengmeng saw her all the way to the door and called out to her back, "Auntie, take care on your way home."

My aunt was riding her electric scooter, the wind making her scarf flutter. She thought to herself, "This girl is really nice. Su Xiao has good taste."

As for Su Xiao herself, she didn't even think to verify with her nephew.

Standing at the shop entrance, Wu Mengmeng watched her aunt walk away, jumped up and down happily, then raised her hand high, looking confident and excited.

"Starting today, let's sound the horn of counterattack!"

"Hahaha, tremble, Su Xiao, your queen has returned!"

……

"I do not understand."

That evening, Su Wanning was sitting on the sofa tutoring Su Xiao in math, with a workbook with curled edges spread out on the coffee table.

Su Xiao bit his pen cap and stared at the function problem for a full three minutes, his mind filled with the intersecting parabolas, making him dizzy and lightheaded.

"You don't understand? You're so stupid!"

Su Wanning sat next to her, covering her face and saying helplessly.

Su Xiao scratched his head awkwardly.

Suddenly, my phone rang.

"I'll take this call first."

He felt like he'd been granted a pardon, threw down his pen, and rushed to the balcony to answer the phone, while Su Wan Ning rolled her eyes at him from behind.

Su Xiao stood on the balcony holding her phone.

"Hey, Auntie, what's up?"

"Su Xiao".

My aunt's voice came through the receiver with an air of certainty, as if she knew everything: "I met that girl named Wu Mengmeng today. She's quite nice, and I'm very satisfied."

"What?"

Su Xiao's mouth was agape, her mind like a computer that had suddenly crashed.

Have you seen it? Are you satisfied? What are you talking about?

My aunt continued, "I went to your shop this afternoon and happened to see that girl cleaning. She was diligent and sensible, and she was also fair-skinned and clean-cut. You have good taste."

Su Xiao finally realized what was happening and wished she could stick her head into the phone to explain to her aunt.

"No, Auntie, you've misunderstood. That's not my girlfriend. She's just a receptionist applying for a job. We happened to know each other before, and she insisted on staying to work there."

My aunt paused for a moment, remained silent for a while, and then said "Oh".

That "oh" carried a clear hint of disappointment.

She sighed again, her tone now more earnest: "I think that girl is a good person, and she's sincere towards you. If you really think it's right for you, being together isn't out of the question."

Su Xiao leaned against the balcony railing, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

How come even my aunt has been turned?

Back in the living room, Su Wan Ning asked him if he had figured out how to solve that problem.

Su Xiao sat down and picked up her pen again, but her mind was filled with the image of Wu Mengmeng serving tea and water to her aunt.

I spent ages looking at a problem, and my pen drew several meaningless horizontal lines on the paper.

……

The next morning, it was self-study time.

Su Xiao was hunched over her desk, struggling with the chemistry test she hadn't finished yesterday.

He wrote down three isomers, but they all looked wrong, so he crossed them out and rewrote them, then crossed them out again.

Birds were chirping outside the window, someone in the front row was reciting their lessons, and Fang Yu was secretly eating spicy snacks in the back. The rustling sound of plastic bags could be clearly heard.

He threw the pen on the table, grabbed his hair, and slumped onto it.

Wu Mengmeng's matter is still unresolved, her aunt is still misunderstanding her, and her relationship with her sister is already improving. There is no room for error, as the store is about to open, and Zeng Ran, that bald guy, is probably going to cause trouble again at any time.

He lay there staring at the chemistry exam paper on the table, and couldn't help but sigh, "Life is so hard. If there's an afterlife, I'd rather be a dog. I can wag my tail and bark and get food."

Xu Niannian stopped writing.

She turned her head to look at his profile.

He lay slumped on the table, his brows furrowed, his lips downturned, his hair a mess of self-inflicted pain, radiating an aura of utter despair as if defeated by the combined forces of valence and isomerism.

She hesitated for a moment, then carefully reached out her finger and gently poked his arm.

Su Xiao turned her head and said lifelessly, "What?"

Xu Niannian felt a little nervous under his gaze, her eyelashes fluttered twice, but this time she did not look away.

Her voice was very soft, as if she were telling some very precious secret.

"If you're reborn as a dog in your next life..."

She paused, then finished speaking, "If you see me, bark at me twice, and I'll take you home and give you something to eat."

Su Xiao was stunned.

He looked at her big eyes, which were half-hidden by her thick bangs.

There was restraint, shyness, and a kind of clumsy, earnestness that didn't know how to express itself.

She herself was starving, yet she said she would take him home to feed him.

Su Xiao lay on the table, tilting her head to look at her for a long time.

Then he laughed.