“Cicada, cicada—!”
Cicada chirps rang out incessantly from outside the window. He Hong sat on the sofa in the living room, chatting with her daughter and son-in-law.
The conversation among the adults left ten-year-old He Anning utterly unable to sit still.
She glanced at Jiang Lekang, who was sleeping soundly like a little pig, then hopped down from the sofa since she could not fall asleep.
“Grandma, I’m heading out to play!”
Seeing her granddaughter’s restless, monkey-like antics, He Hong shook her head helplessly.
Such a pretty granddaughter, yet her personality was just like a boy’s.
“Go on, go on, but no bullying the other kids.”
He Anning pouted in protest at her grandma’s words, but she did not dare talk back. After all, if Grandma did not let her go out, that would be disastrous.
“I know~!”
With that, He Anning dashed off like a puff of smoke and vanished from sight.
Watching her granddaughter’s speedy retreat, He Hong looked amusedly at her daughter, then at her son-in-law, and said helplessly, “I don’t know who Ningning takes after with that personality.”
“She definitely doesn’t take after me. I wasn’t like her when I was little, scampering around like a little monkey.”
He Yingzi said with clear disdain.
Faced with his wife’s disdain, Jiang Zheng good-naturedly replied, “Ningning might be a bit wild, but she’s a good kid.”
“Good kid? In this military district compound, she’s a little overlord. ‘Good kid’ has nothing to do with her.”
As she spoke of her wild monkey of a daughter, He Yingzi thought of Qiao Shu, who was only nine years older than He Anning.
“A good kid should be like Shushu. If I had a sweet, sensible daughter like Shushu, I’d wake up laughing from my dreams!”
Hearing He Yingzi say this, He Hong rolled her eyes speechlessly at her daughter.
“What are you saying? That’s a generation gap—she’s your little brother’s fiancée.”
“What generation gap? A Xiao was the one acting like an old cow eating tender grass from the start…”
He Yingzi huffed lightly. After mentioning her little brother, she grew dissatisfied with Feng Xiao.
“And A Xiao too. The family wrote to him about picking up Shushu, but he still hasn’t come back…”
Seeing her daughter stand up for Qiao Shu, He Hong sighed softly.
“Sigh, it’s our family that’s let Shushu down. But this isn’t your brother’s fault…”
With that, He Hong confessed how they had filed the marriage report without telling Feng Xiao.
The moment He Hong said this, He Yingzi grew even angrier.
“Mom! How could you do that? Grandpa might be old and muddled, but you can’t just confuse right and wrong! Turns out A Xiao never agreed to this marriage at all—you forced it on him! This is so unfair to both A Xiao and Shushu!”
Thinking of Qiao Shu’s innocent, sweet, pretty face, He Yingzi said firmly, “No way! This marriage absolutely cannot happen!”
She had never approved of this union and had wanted to sabotage the absurd childhood betrothal.
Now, hearing her mother’s words, she felt even more resolute.
“What are you talking about? The marriage report is already filed. And after your brother found out, he agreed to it. Don’t stir up trouble.”
Seeing her daughter’s strong opposition, He Hong regretted confiding in He Yingzi.
“Besides, Shushu and your brother haven’t even met or spent time together yet. How do you know they’re not a good match?”
He Hong patiently persuaded her. Deep down, she believed her blockheaded son would definitely fall for Qiao Shu.
If the two kids ended up liking each other and gave her a granddaughter like Qiao Shu…
At the thought, He Hong smiled. Her resolve strengthened—she absolutely could not let her eldest daughter ruin this marriage. Her son had to marry Shushu!
While He Hong and He Yingzi, this mother-daughter pair, clashed over Qiao Shu and Feng Xiao’s marriage, He Anning clashed with the other kids in the military district compound…
“You’re talking nonsense! My little aunt is the prettiest in the compound! Everyone here agrees on that! If you don’t believe me, go ask Xiao Feng and the others!”
“Exactly! Little Tong’s aunt is the prettiest in the compound!”
“Chu Sister is the prettiest in the compound!”
…
He Anning, who had run out to play with the compound kids, took offense the moment Gao Yatong started bragging about her pretty little aunt again.
After all, in her eyes, the prettiest person in the compound was her family’s Fairy Little Aunt.
Gao Yatong’s aunt, who did not even live in the military district compound but visited every few days, could not hold a candle to her Fairy Little Aunt—not even one finger’s worth!
But the moment she spoke up to question Gao Yatong and declared her own Fairy Little Aunt the prettiest, Gao Yatong and the group denied it.
Worse, someone even badmouthed her family’s Fairy Little Aunt!
“Huh? Anning, when did you get a little aunt? I never heard your uncle has a girlfriend.”
“Is this little aunt something you made up???”
“Oh! I remember now—my parents said Uncle Feng Xiao does have a fiancée, but she’s some country bumpkin wife!”
“Wow! Anning, your little aunt is from the countryside? Why would your uncle marry a country bumpkin?”
“I heard country folk are all dirty and smelly. How could your country bumpkin little aunt be prettier than Chu Sister? Chu Sister’s a city girl, after all!”
“Anning’s lying! Her nose is gonna grow!”
“He Anning’s a lying brat, shame shame shame!”
…
He Anning was already annoyed that her friends did not believe her. Now these idiots dared to mock her family’s Fairy Little Aunt.
With her bad temper and reputation as the compound’s little devil king tomboy, how could He Anning hold back her emotions?
Of course, she threw her parents’ and grandma’s warnings to the wind and threw punches!
“Don’t you mock my little aunt!”
“Who said you could mock her!”
“My little aunt is a fairy! Prettier than Gao Yatong’s aunt!”
“My little aunt is the prettiest in the world! No one’s prettier than my Fairy Little Aunt!”
…
He Anning shouted at the top of her lungs while swinging her fists, beating up every kid who mocked her Fairy Little Aunt.
Normally, she was one against many, and they thought about fighting back.
But He Anning was taller and sturdier than the other kids, and her Military Boxing was fierce and powerful. Even four against one, she did not suffer much.
She beat the resistors even harder.
Soon, wails of children crying echoed through the compound.
The noise was so loud it quickly drew the attention of patrolling sentries nearby.
From there, things snowballed… and blew up.
By the time the sentries brought the bruised and swollen-faced little victims, along with their elders, to the Feng Family home, word had spread like wildfire. Nearly the entire military district compound knew that naughty tomboy He Anning had argued with others over her little aunt being the prettiest—when they disagreed, she beat them all up.
Apart from pitying their own battered kids, the other compound families found He Anning’s antics amusing.
They also grew curious about this “Fairy Little Aunt” He Anning kept raving about~!
And Qiao Shu, the unwitting “instigator” of the brawl, naturally became a compound celebrity.
Though, aside from the Feng Family members, no one in the military district compound had actually seen her~
“He Anning! What happened to your promise? Didn’t you swear you wouldn’t just hit people anymore? Is this your promise?”
He Yingzi saw the sentries escorting a group of bruised and swollen-faced kids her daughter had beaten, along with their elders. She did not need anyone to explain—she knew her daughter had stirred up trouble again.
After all… this was not the first time her troublemaking daughter pulled something like this!
He Yingzi fumed at the thought. She rolled up her sleeves to spank her daughter!
“Mom! I didn’t just hit people! They deserved it! Who asked them to badmouth my little aunt! Hmph!”
He Anning’s words immediately riled up the victims’ elders.
They could not hold back and started scolding her.
“Staff Officer He! Look at your Anning—what kind of talk is that? ‘My kid deserved it’?”
“Exactly! My grandson is such a good boy! Your daughter is way out of line!”
“You really need to discipline her! She’s ten—a big kid now—and still so immature…”
…
Hearing the accusations around her, He Anning felt utterly wronged.
She had not done anything wrong this time—her little aunt really was the prettiest!
They were the ones in the wrong!
“I’m not wrong! They are! They called me a liar and mocked my little aunt—they deserved a beating!”
He Anning held her little head high like a stubborn calf, unafraid of the elders calling her immature.
Seeing her unrepentant little overlord attitude only made the others angrier.
But oddly, the usual scene of He Yingzi beating He Anning on the spot for misbehaving did not happen.
He Yingzi, who had been ready to strike moments ago, stopped after hearing He Anning’s “they deserved it” explanation.
Not only did He Yingzi hold back, but the other Feng Family members did too. None moved or joined in condemning He Anning.
“Staff Officer He, you’re not going to do anything about your daughter?”
The parent of the kid He Anning had beaten worst said with displeasure.
He Yingzi looked at the kids about her daughter’s age, now bruised and swollen-faced from her daughter’s fists. She sighed heavily, raised her hand high, then gently patted He Anning’s head.
“Mom understands how you feel and why you hit them. But Ningning, no matter the reason, hitting people is wrong.”
“But Mom, they mocked me as a liar and said my little aunt’s a country bumpkin—they badmouthed her…”
If He Anning, this tomboy, had not been born with weak tear ducts and rarely cried, her current grievance would have turned her into a sobbing mess.
“You still shouldn’t have hit them. Mom and Grandpa taught you Military Boxing to build your body and protect yourself—not to hit people willy-nilly.”
He Yingzi said solemnly. Though she felt bad for her daughter being mocked and wronged, hitting first was indeed her daughter’s fault.
“I didn’t hit willy-nilly! They can insult me, but not my little aunt! My little aunt really is pretty! Prettier than Gao Yatong’s aunt! The prettiest in Grandma’s compound!”
Seeing even her mother not side with her, He Anning felt more wronged and shouted loudly.
Hearing this, Gao Yatong took offense too!
“He Anning, don’t push it! Your country bumpkin little aunt can’t compare to my aunt!”
“My little aunt is prettier than yours! A hundred times prettier!”
“You—! My aunt’s a thousand times prettier than your little aunt!”
“My little aunt’s ten thousand times prettier than your aunt!”
…
Seeing the two little girls bicker so childishly, the adults could not help but smile wryly.
But their juvenile spat lightened the tense atmosphere.
At least, the parents who had been mad at He Anning saw her childish arguing and found their anger mostly dissipated.
After all, they were still just kids, so there was no need for them to take it too seriously…
“Sigh, forget it, forget it. It wasn’t a big deal anyway. Everyone, just disperse.”
“Yeah, let’s disperse. They’re still just kids—nothing more than children playing around.”
“But Staff Officer He, you should keep a closer eye on your little Anning. Don’t let her go on hitting people so recklessly in the future…”
Just as everyone was about to leave, a delicate, beautiful, and fragile silhouette suddenly appeared before them.
In that instant, time seemed to freeze, and everyone was petrified in place.
They all stared blankly at the young girl who had just walked out of the Feng Family villa. Their faces showed shock, disbelief, confusion—but above all, stunned admiration.
At that moment, they all shared a single thought: they must be dreaming. Otherwise, how could they possibly witness a fairy descending to earth??
While everyone remained immersed in that indescribable beauty, unable to snap out of it, He Anning—who had felt extremely aggrieved—suddenly felt her pent-up frustration and grievance vanish completely. She laughed happily.
After calling out “Fairy Little Aunt” with delight, she shouted smugly, her face full of triumph.
“How about it! Gao Yatong! I told you, my family’s Fairy Little Aunt is the most beautiful person in the compound! My little aunt is ten thousand times prettier than your little aunt~!”