Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Damn that TV station.
Every time it’s about to reveal who the real villain is, they cut to a “see you next episode.”
Now I have to wait another week.
I was radiating resentment.
It was so palpable that even Ji Shu noticed.
The two of us were sitting on side-by-side swings, swaying back and forth.
He asked, “Who upset you this time?”
I was fuming. I launched into a tirade against the TV station.
Ji Shu said, “I think it’s him too. He looks just like a big rat.”
We looked at each other and high-fived.
“Best friends!”
“Last time you went back, did your mom scold you?”
“No,” I said.
His face was full of envy. “Your mom is so nice.”
I didn’t say anything, but something felt off.
Just then, Ni Jiajia came back from her extracurricular class-probably piano. She was wearing a beautiful pink mesh dress with sparkly clips in her hair.
Mom was holding her hand, walking toward the house in the distance.
I shouted at the top of my lungs, “Mom! Big Sister!”
Mom waved from afar and called back, “Don’t stay out too late!”
Ni Jiajia glanced back once before following Mom further away.
When I turned back, Ji Shu’s popsicle had fallen onto the ground, covered in sand.
“What are you doing?”
Ji Shu’s mouth was hanging open as he pointed at Ni Jiajia’s retreating figure.
“That’s your sister?”
I said, “Yeah.”
He looked at Ni Jiajia, then at me, then back at Ni Jiajia.
“Are you a stray they picked up?”
I got angry. “You big stupid pig!”
Ji Shu said, “Your sister looks like a princess.”
Actually, I thought Ni Jiajia looked like a princess too, but right now, I really didn’t want to agree with him.
Seeing that I was ignoring him, he added, “You and your sister don’t look like sisters at all.”
“What do we look like then?”
He thought for a moment and said, “Like a princess and her maid.”
What kind of friend says that!
I shoved Ji Shu.
He tumbled into the sand, getting it all over himself. “Hey, I’m just telling the truth…”
“You dead pig!”
I shook him off and ran away.
“We’re over!”
I was so angry I was on the verge of tears.
When I got home, I tore the little cards Ji Shu had given me into tiny shreds.
Ji Shu is a big stupid pig.
We’re supposed to be friends. Even though his older brother is handsomer than him, I would never say that to his face.
The shredded paper was scattered all over the floor.
Mom saw it and barked at me, “Ni Xiaoxiao! What are you doing now?”
“You’ve got trash everywhere!”
“You have no sense of cleanliness!”
I talked back while picking up the scraps and putting them in the trash can. “Last time, Big Sister spilled soup everywhere! Why didn’t you scold her?”
“That was an accident.”
“This was an accident too!”
In my agitation, tears started streaming down my face.
“Just because hers was an accident, does that mean I did this on purpose?”
Mom stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at me. “You’ve learned how to talk back now! Why can’t you be more like your sister? she’s much better behaved than you.”
“Stop crying. It’s embarrassing.”
I said, “That’s because you’ve never scolded her!”
Mom let out a frustrated laugh. “So now you’re turning around and blaming us?”
She reached for a clothes hanger.
I quickly ran back to my room and slammed the door.
She didn’t chase after me.
A little while later, I heard the sound of the front door closing.
Mom had taken Ni Jiajia out again.