Chapter 84: Arch-Nemesis (Please Subscribe)

  On July 16th, Zhao Juan and Hu Jianmin got married.

  Song Jie had never attended anyone else's wedding in her life, and she didn't expect that person to be her own mother.

  As both were remarried, the two families did not hold a grand ceremony, but only invited some close relatives to have a simple meal. Even in difficult circumstances, Hu Jianmin still bought Zhao Juan a gold ring, and Zhao Juan was moved to tears.

  As there was no program like "dismantling the bridal chamber", Song Jie felt a bit regretful, but others thought it was great, very lively and festive.

  In the evening, after finally seeing off the guests, the couple could finally take a breather and sit together to have a heart-to-heart talk.

  "Jianmin, you come, I'll show you something." It had been ten days since the two of them had dinner together at home that night, due to the pre-marital custom of not seeing each other.

  Zhao Juan took out a box from the trunk, and Hu Jianmin saw at a glance that it was a wedding gift from Song Jie to them. The child is still too young, what good things can be sent? Hu Jianmin didn't pay much attention either, could there be some mystery behind this?

  Two people sat side by side, with their heads together. Zhao Juan's face was hot and she forced herself to calm down and open the box. A pair of mandarin duck 'jade' pendants revealed their true appearance.

  Hu Jianmin's face turned serious: "Is this sent by Nini? Where did she get the money?" The 'jade' pendant looked expensive at a glance.

  "This was the money Nini secretly carved and sold during her vacation, neither I nor my family knew she could do this. She said it was when she saw Dad carving that she became interested and secretly learned, didn't expect to have such a talent, and sold quite a bit of money too. Later I told Dad about it, but he didn't believe me." Zhao Juan covered her mouth and smiled, under the lamp light there was a different kind of charm.

  "That's good, Nini is a good kid."

  "This is two pieces put together. Let's each have one." He said as he was about to put it on Hu Jianmin.

  That piece of 'jade' pendant Song Jie took back home that afternoon, while sweeping the floor halfway. Only then did she remember that there was no defensive array, and secretly entered the space to unwrap the gift, spending a lot of time carving a defensive array before wrapping it up again.

  The defensive spell array was naturally the highest level she could currently inscribe, at least able to withstand a car's collision once, extremely exhausting her mental strength, and she almost failed if she wasn't careful.

  Hu Jianmin saw this 'jade' pendant and couldn't help but admire the thoughtfulness of 'Nü', even if it wasn't that expensive, he wouldn't be ungrateful. Unexpectedly, she also gave him a big gift, which he liked as soon as he saw it.

  He took Zhao Juan's hand. Hu Jianmin said emotionally, "Come on, I'll put it on for you. Such a great gift, from now on we'll wear it every day." This was in line with Song Jie's idea.

  Zhao Juan obediently allowed Hu Jianmin to put it on her. The heavy breathing sprayed on her neck, 'exciting' a warm current on her body, and the two fell onto the couch, the red silk curtains rose with the smoke of the setting sun, and the 'spring' night was worth a thousand pieces of gold.

  The next day, back to 'door'. Song Jie saw Zhao Juan's complexion was not bad, it seemed that the couple got along well. Zhao Juan asked Song Jie again, but Song Jie still didn't want to go with her as a third wheel, so Zhao Juan had to retreat in defeat.

  In September, Song Jie officially became a second-year primary school student and reluctantly put on her backpack again and locked herself in the birdcage.

  Every day is like this going to school and getting off work. Song Jie feels that she is a bit too tired and wasting time, she should recharge again.

  Her calligraphy has already taken shape, and all she needs to do is practice every day. As for carving, that's something even the old master praises, what else can she do? Song Jie, who was idle and suffered from heavenly punishment, felt deeply depressed...

  These days, his granddaughter has been sulking, which makes Zhao father feel strange. Normally, she is as cheerful as a little bird. What's on her mind? Zhao father's curiosity was piqued, and he became a complete old rascal.

  He was suddenly enlightened and realized that he was actually bored to death. This is not a problem, there are many ways to make you so busy that you can't even cry.

  Song Jie felt a chill run down her spine. She had no idea that autumn this year would start so early, and she was completely unaware that she was about to be plotted against.

  It's said that the granddaughter is idle and anxious, Zhao's mother also came up with interest, two old people started to think enthusiastically about teaching Song Jie some more things, letting her be among the old-fashioned and arrogant people.

  While having dinner, Mr. Zhao asked: "Nini, you've become lazy lately, a little girl should have the demeanor of a little girl, how about learning to play an instrument from your grandma? Your grandma still has an ancient guqin stored away."

  "I heard that kids nowadays all go to some kind of youth palace, learning to play the piano and things like that is also pretty good. If not, Nini, why don't you learn embroidery with me?" Zhao's mother began to persuade.

  Song Jie thought to herself, why do people always want her to study? She had already forgotten about the troubles from a few days ago. Besides, learning embroidery? Spare herself the trouble, it's not like she was going to learn how to play the piano or anything. Hmm? How did the conversation end up being about playing the piano again?

  "If you're still bored, you can learn traditional Chinese medicine from your grandfather. Although his medical skills are average, he's good at treating minor ailments like headaches and fever, and it's also useful for health preservation." Zhao's father started to persuade him too, as he was also very bored, after all, there was only one child in front of him who could inherit the family business, and Xiao Bao was still young.

  Song Jie's eyes rolled around, and her mind started calculating. Hmm, learning medicine might not be a bad idea, it could come in handy when she can't speak accurately later on. How did another thing get added to the list? She scratched her head.

  Seeing Song Jie showing some movement, the two old men increased their horsepower and began to persuade him. Song Jie was dizzy and confused by what they said, how could he be a match for the two old men? He vaguely signed an unequal treaty with the two old men and started another horse-riding learning career.

  Although she was deceived, Song Jie didn't feel disgusted. Since she had agreed, she must learn well. What's the point of learning half a bottle of water?

  Song Jie's cleverness was already known to her father Zhao, including her talent for memorizing things at a glance. Of course, such good material couldn't be wasted. Fine jade must be carved and polished to reveal its beauty; without refinement, how can it shine?

  Having many skills doesn't burden the body, Song Jie chose to study traditional Chinese medicine and guqin during her free time, and on weekends she goes to learn piano for two hours. Suddenly, her schedule is packed, where would she have time to be melancholic about spring or autumn, or act like a delicate jade?

  Over the weekend, Song Jie went to her teacher's place to learn piano and unexpectedly ran into her old rival, suddenly feeling a huge headache and as if all light had been extinguished.

  Who is that person? Isn't it Zhang Yao?!

  No wonder they say Zhang Yao is talented and skilled, she must have put in a lot of hard work. Zhang Yao also saw Song Jie, some people are just born enemies, seeing each other is always unpleasant, Zhang Yao obviously still remembers the lesson from last time, "Hmph" and turned her head away.

  Song Jie awkwardly rubbed her nose, feeling that bullying a little girl was indeed somewhat excessive...

  When two people study together, they are more motivated, chasing and competing with each other. Adding to that, Song Jie's quirk of teasing the little girl every day made it a joyful experience.

  However, it's not every time that they have the opportunity, Zhang Yao still has to learn dance, and sometimes their classes will be staggered.

  Can't help but say that Song Jie still has some admiration for Zhang Yao's tenacity, when studying she never complains about being tired or exhausted. Once, Song Jie saw Zhang Yao practicing dance, her legs were spread wide apart, sweating profusely, and yet she didn't take a break.

  It's all said and done, who can be like Song Jie, scoring full marks every day without listening to lectures, and no matter how hard they try, they still can't catch up, it's infuriating to the point of vomiting blood.

  Who can understand Zhang Yao's inner bitter 'urge'? Why? How come she's with Song Jie again, intentionally making life unbearable? No choice, just have to work harder, thinking about it brings tears to her face.

  On the weekend, Wang Yiran, who was already in fifth grade, came to pick up Song Jie after school and unexpectedly found Zhang Yifan's granddaughter, Zhang Yao, from the same courtyard. As soon as Zhang Yao saw Wang Yiran, she blushed and lowered her head, saying softly: "Brother Yiran."

  Song Jie mischievously glanced at this and then at that, even a fool would know what she was thinking.

  Wang Yiran was familiar with her occasional 'fits' and let out a sigh, rubbing Song Jie's hair with a helpless expression.

  Song Jie rolled her eyes, and the two of them understood each other at a glance.

  This hurt the little girl's glass heart, shattered into pieces, and disappeared with a gust of wind.

  Zhang Yao was suppressing the anger in her heart at this time. What's going on? Was Song Jie really her nemesis, always appearing in every matter and even being so familiar with her beloved brother Yi Ran? No way, she had to control herself and not lose face in front of Brother Yi Ran.

  The little girl in front of her eyes almost cried, Song Jie secretly rolled her eyes and thought it was better not to tease her. Provoking her would mean putting glue on her own chair again...

  The two of them greeted Zhang Yao and then turned around and left.

  Zhang Yao stared at their lined-up figures and clenched her fists tightly, her fingernails digging deep into the flesh.

  Back home, Zhang Yao threw the bag of clothes onto the sofa and ran back to her bedroom. The door slammed shut with a loud "bang". She lay on her pink princess bed and burst into tears.

  Zhang's mother was in another room knitting a sweater when she heard Zhang Yao slam the door. Except for the last time she called her parents, she had slammed the door once before. Had something happened again? Zhang's mother quickly put down the sweater and went to knock on Zhang Yao's door.

  She knocked a few times but couldn't open the door, so Zhang's mother turned the doorknob and it opened. When she opened it, she saw her beloved daughter crying on the bed. Although she usually looked stern and made her daughter study this and that, in fact, she loved her more than anyone else. Seeing her strong daughter cry, her heart ached.

  "Yao Yao, what's wrong? Have you been bullied? Tell Mom about it and Mom will help you figure it out. Don't cry anymore, your eyes are all swollen. Let Mom take a look, get up."

  Zhang Yao heard her mother's voice and got up, lying in her mother's arms and crying even harder, with tears wetting the collar of Zhang Mu's clothes.

  Zhang's mother was worried sick, she had never seen the child so heartbroken before, and must have been deeply wronged. She quickly patted the child on the back to calm her emotions down.

  "Mom..." Zhang Yao buried her face in her mother's chest, refusing to come out. How could a young girl like her explain her thoughts to her mom? Besides, compared to Song Jie, she would only lose more face, how could she bear to say it out loud.