After that dinner, Wu Shengli had an incredibly favorable impression of Zheng Yang.
However, he also agreed with Zheng Shiqiang that although this young girl was sensible and steady, she was indeed too steady.
She needed someone like Wu Chunchun, a little bundle of energy, to inject some youthful vitality into her.
Thus, from that point on, the two fathers racked their brains for ways to get their daughters to hang out together.
This put Zheng Yang in a difficult spot.
How was she supposed to know what 15-year-old girls liked to play?
Even if she did know, she wouldn’t know how to play those things herself!
So, when the doorbell rang and Zheng Yang opened the door to see Wu Chunchun’s vibrant, smiling face, her first reaction wasn’t to welcome her, but rather—it’s over.
“Sister Yangyang! I’m here to hang out with you!”
Wu Chunchun was wearing a light blue dress, the kind of style Zheng Yang actually liked.
Zheng Yang wanted to greet her with a smile, but the corners of her mouth only twitched.
During that dinner, she had felt uncomfortable with the term “Sister,” she just hadn’t had the heart to say anything about it.
“Chunchun, don’t call me sister. Just call me Yangyang. Once school starts, we’ll be classmates, so it’s a bit strange to call me sister.”
“Alright, then… Yangyang!”
Wu Chunchun immediately changed the way she addressed her, but the look of admiration in her eyes didn’t diminish at all.
Zheng Yang could tell; while the girl called her “Yangyang” on the surface, deep down, she probably still thought of her as that “little adult” sister who could fix plumbing and understood the ways of the world.
To Zheng Yang, however, Wu Chunchun was the same age as her own son, and given the girl’s unguarded, youthful face, she couldn’t help but see her as a little sister.
Zheng Yang led Wu Chunchun into the living room, sat her down, and poured her a glass of hot water.
Suddenly, she realized that this was an adult’s habit of hospitality; kids this age generally only cared about playing and didn’t really drink hot water.
They chatted for a while, and Zheng Yang thought that other than the television, her home lacked anything related to a teenage girl, so it would be better to go out.
Since she was the “older sister,” she had to take some responsibility, but what should they play?
She decided to ask Chunchun first.
“Chunchun… what would you like to play?”
Zheng Yang asked.
Wu Chunchun tilted her head and thought about it.
“I’m fine with anything! You decide, I’ll follow your lead!”
Zheng Yang fell silent.
Her soul, an old 38-year-old man, scavenged through his memory bank, but all he could come up with were ways to have fun like drinking, karaoke, playing cards, foot massages, going to internet cafes, or playing pool…
The only one of those that was remotely appropriate was billiards.
“Chunchun, how about… I take you to play billiards?” Zheng Yang asked tentatively.
Wu Chunchun was clearly taken aback for a moment, then readily agreed.
“Okay, okay! I’ve never played before. You teach me, Yangyang!”
At the pool hall, Zheng Yang skillfully set her stance, aimed, and struck the cue.
Her movements were smooth and fluid—skills she had honed back in the day while entertaining leaders.
The cue ball sent the colored ball precisely into the pocket.
Wu Chunchun stood by clapping and cheering, her eyes sparkling.
Listening to the tone of admiration, the vanity of the man inside Zheng Yang felt a rare sense of satisfaction.
Back when she played with those superiors, she had to rack her brain to figure out how to lose without making it look obvious.
Now, facing Wu Chunchun, she could finally show off her “skills” without a care.
If they had followed the rules, Zheng Yang could have played until the end without Wu Chunchun getting a turn, but she wasn’t that much of a “bro.”
After pocketing one ball, she walked over to guide Wu Chunchun on how to hold the cue, position her feet, and aim.
Wu Chunchun bit her lower lip and studied intently, but pool was something young girls found difficult to get the hang of.
She tried five or six times, but either she missed or didn’t use enough force.
Everything just felt wrong.
“Why is this so hard!”
Wu Chunchun pouted, but she didn’t seem to mind much, turning to praise Zheng Yang instead.
“Yangyang, how come you know how to do everything?”
Just as Zheng Yang was about to be humble, a man from a nearby table walked over with a cigarette in his mouth and gestured toward her.
“Little sister, you play pretty well. How about a couple of rounds with us?”
A wave of cigarette smoke drifted over.
Zheng Yang instinctively blocked Wu Chunchun behind her, her smile vanishing instantly.
“No thanks, we’re just playing for fun.”
The man wasn’t satisfied and took another step forward.
“Don’t be like that, let’s just be friends. We aren’t bad people. After we’re done, I’ll treat you both to dinner!”
“I said no thanks.”
Zheng Yang’s voice wasn’t loud, but her tone was cold enough to freeze.
She realized then that this wasn’t a place for a 15-year-old girl, so without waiting for their time to expire, she quickly pulled Wu Chunchun and slipped away.
“Chunchun, tell me, where do you want to go?”
Wu Chunchun thought about it and pointed toward the distance.
“There’s a DIY craft shop on that pedestrian street. Let’s go paint plaster dolls!”
“Let’s go!”
Zheng Yang answered decisively, though internally she was sighing: Oh my god, plaster dolls…
But in order not to ruin Wu Chunchun’s mood, there was no other choice.
Once inside the shop, Zheng Yang looked at the wall covered in blank plaster dolls—bunnies, teddy bears, unicorns, princesses—and couldn’t help but frown internally: Isn’t this something for kids under eight?
She felt completely out of place, like an old man who had mistakenly wandered into a land of daughters.
But since she was already there, she decided to make the best of it.
She put her old corporate survival skills to work—just imagine she was entertaining a superior.
“Yangyang, which one are you picking?”
Wu Chunchun had already chosen a teddy bear holding a heart and turned to ask her.
Zheng Yang scanned the shelves and picked what she thought was the simplest: a round, chubby cat.
“I’ll take this one.”
The two sat down.
Wu Chunchun couldn’t wait to open the paint box and start mixing colors.
Zheng Yang held her brush, staring blankly at the cat mold for two minutes.
A 38-year-old man, painting plaster dolls?
It wasn’t that she couldn’t; she just had no interest in it.
But Wu Chunchun kept checking her progress, so Zheng Yang took a deep breath, picked up the brush, and started painting.
Wu Chunchun seemed like a regular; she was quite adept.
Her teddy bear’s blush was soft and pink, the heart was painted in a gradient, and she even added layers to the folds of its dress.
As for Zheng Yang’s cat, it looked like an abstract traffic accident… well, at least the color didn’t go outside the lines.
“Yangyang, is this your first time painting? It’s really not bad for a first attempt!”
Wu Chunchun comforted her sincerely.
In her previous workplace, such words would likely have been sarcasm, but judging by her many years of experience, Chunchun’s words were pure.
Looking at Wu Chunchun’s untainted smile, Zheng Yang suddenly felt that if she could see such a smile, what did painting a doll matter?
Anything was worth it.
It turned out she had always been judging everything through a lens of “pragmatism.”
But in reality, when you like being with someone, it doesn’t matter what you do; the companionship itself is the greatest meaning of all.
The shop also offered engraving on silver jewelry.
After finishing the dolls, Wu Chunchun excitedly chose a heart-shaped, floral-patterned set—two rings—and had their names engraved in the same position with the same font.
Just as Wu Chunchun was about to pay, the owner said, “Your sister already settled the bill.”
Zheng Yang only felt a sense of superiority in moments like this—rushing to pay the bill was her specialty.
Although, these rings… were a bit ugly…
She had never liked wearing rings because they weren’t practical.
Even if she had to wear one, like in the two years after she first got married when her wife, Bai Jie, requested it, she preferred something simple and elegant, not something gaudy.
Forget it, it was Chunchun’s gesture; she couldn’t take it lightly.
She would wear it…
As the day went on, Wu Chunchun talked incessantly on their way home, mentioning new anime, the pirate ship at the amusement park, comic conventions, escape rooms, shopping for clothes (Wu Chunchun liked a more mature style), as well as claw machines and dance dance revolution machines… Zheng Yang only then realized how much of a frog in a well she had been.
She realized once more how ridiculous it was that she had taken Wu Chunchun to play pool.
Seeing Zheng Yang in a daze, Wu Chunchun carefully tugged on her hand.
“Yangyang… Sister, do you not like these things?”
Zheng Yang couldn’t bear to say “yes,” so she gave an apologetic smile.
“No, no! I just… I’ve never been exposed to them. Everything you mentioned sounds so interesting!”
“Hehe, that’s good! If you don’t know how, I can teach you.”
Wu Chunchun held up a finger.
“Oh, I’ve got it! The dance machine! That suits Sister Yangyang! I’ve seen so many older sisters dancing on them… How about this? We pick a few dances, I’ll go to your place, we can practice together, and when we’re ready, we can go to the mall and dance!”
Zheng Yang felt like crying.
She had indeed seen many young girls on short video platforms pouring their youthful charm into those dance machines, drawing crowds of boys to stop and watch.
She certainly enjoyed watching them.
But that didn’t mean she could do it herself! Wouldn’t that be humiliating?
If a crowd of men were to surround her and watch her dance, she would rather crawl into a hole in the ground…
Wu Chunchun observed the subtle reaction on Zheng Yang’s face.
She was frank, perhaps even a bit naive, but she wasn’t stupid…
“Yangyang…”
“Yes?”
“Do you know why my dad wants me to hang out with you so badly?”
When Zheng Yang heard this, her heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that her performance today had made Chunchun unhappy?
Wu Chunchun linked her arm with Zheng Yang’s and continued.
“My dad said that Sister Yangyang is very mature. He said the thing he values most about you is the courage and open-mindedness to have faced major setbacks, seen life for what it is, and still love it, but…”
But what?
Was it—”But I don’t think you’re as good as my dad says”?
For the first time, Zheng Yang took this young girl’s words very seriously.
If that was truly what Wu Chunchun meant and she stopped being close to her, she deserved it, because Principal Wu’s evaluation was indeed too high.
She hadn’t lived up to it.
Wu Chunchun seemed to hesitate, but Zheng Yang’s curiosity was piqued.
Even if it was something that would hurt, she wanted to hear it.
“But what? Tell me~” Zheng Yang rarely coaxed her, shaking Wu Chunchun’s arm slightly.
“If I say it, you can’t get mad.”
“I swear, I swear!”
“Hmm… I just wanted to say, I see you doing everything with such caution, so I feel that, to a certain extent, you’re still trapped by those past setbacks and haven’t fully walked out of them…”
Zheng Yang froze.
She never expected that this naive girl she saw as immature would be so sharp, seeing through her so clearly.
-It was a truth she herself was afraid to face.
“I’m sorry, Chunchun… I…”
“Yangyang, you don’t have to apologize to me. I really admire you, but I also sympathize with you. I don’t know exactly what you went through, but you made it through. Now that you’ve made it through, let it go. Of course, that’s easy for me to say. If I had gone through your story, I definitely wouldn’t have been as strong as you. I just… I really like you, and I don’t want to lose you…”
“Thank you… thank you, Chunchun!” Zheng Yang squeezed Wu Chunchun’s hand even tighter.
From that moment on, Zheng Yang knew she could no longer underestimate this girl, and she could no longer put so much weight on her own worldly experience.
Children… sometimes really did understand more than adults.