Madam, Please Behave

These days, the tuition fees weren’t even on Liu Changqing’s radar anymore. He handled it easily and chatted with the other party for a bit afterward.

It was mainly An Yuanyao doing the talking. Liu Changqing and Feng Qian just listened from the side, both with serious expressions.

Professional terms kept popping up between An Yuanyao and the other person, leaving the two completely lost. They hadn’t done their homework, so they had no clue what was being discussed…

The whole time, they were in that “I don’t understand a word, but it sounds really impressive” mode.

About half an hour passed like that—after the usual pleasantries, the three adults and two kids stepped outside.

Liu Xiazhi and Feng Shuyan were clearly fascinated by the new environment. While the adults kept chatting, the two girls had already started checking out the surroundings.

Every now and then, they leaned into each other, whispering.

Until... Liu Xiazhi, with a big bright smile, caught sight of three figures in the large room… who were struggling to stretch their legs.

In that instant, some not-so-pleasant memories came rushing back. Her expression changed.

Like they were facing off against some formidable enemy, she muttered under her breath.

“It’s those three.”

“Yeah… it’s them all right…”

Liu Xiazhi mumbled, and in her mind, the scene played out again: those three girls outside her classroom, yelling over and over how she liked to play with poop...

Thinking of that, her fists clenched tightly.

It felt like a showdown.

At that moment, Liu Changqing hadn’t noticed anything off with the two kids. He was still watching his wife chit-chat away with the other person. Bored, he glanced around casually—

And just happened to spot three girls who stood out from the other students.

They were wearing dance outfits. Just from their build, it was obvious that their parents had never let them go hungry—each of them looked round and well-fed. But that wasn’t what surprised Liu Changqing.

What surprised him was that their faces looked exactly alike. If not for their different postures, he might’ve thought something was wrong with his eyes.

He blinked, double-checked, and once he was sure he wasn’t seeing things, curiosity kicked in. After all… it’s not every day you see triplets.

He tugged on Feng Qian’s sleeve.

Feng Qian noticed the motion and looked over too. When he saw the three chubby girls who looked practically identical, he was just as shocked.

He blurted out in surprise, “Triplets?”

He wasn’t exactly quiet about it, either. An Yuanyao, who had still been chatting, paused mid-sentence and followed their gaze. When she saw the three identical girls, she was also intrigued.

The woman who had been hosting them smiled gently and explained,

“Those three just joined last week. Triplets are pretty rare—I was shocked too when I first saw them.”

“Triplets, huh… that’s amazing…”

An Yuanyao said with a bit of wonder in her voice.

The conversation wrapped up soon after, and the group prepared to leave. The host walked them to the door, said a quick goodbye, and they all headed back the way they came.

Once they got back to the car, Liu Changqing started it up and commented,

“I used to think twins were rare, but I never thought I’d get to see triplets in person…”

“I’ve never seen them either. Honestly, I’m curious how their parents tell them apart. Just looking at their faces, I couldn’t do it.”

Liu Changqing chuckled as he replied from the driver’s seat,

“Well, they’re their own kids. No matter how similar they look, there’s always something different. Parents should be able to tell.”

“This world is so weird… If I ever had twin daughters…”

“Keep dreaming. You think twins are that easy to have?”

“Fair point.”

Feng Qian agreed with a nod, but then noticed something off—both kids sitting beside him had gone oddly quiet.

They hadn’t said a word since leaving the dance studio.

He thought about asking, but after a pause, he decided against it.

Liu Changqing drove Feng Qian and his daughter home, stopping in front of their building.

Feng Qian opened the door and got out. Feng Shuyan followed closely, but before she left the car, she turned and said something a little unexpected to Liu Xiazhi, who was still inside.

“Don’t worry. We’re not scared of them.”

That line hit Liu Xiazhi, who’d been quietly upset, like a jolt. She blinked, turned to look outside at Feng Shuyan—

Their eyes met.

Liu Xiazhi clenched her fist and gave a firm nod.

“Yeah!”

“See you tomorrow, Xiazhi!”

The girls said their goodbyes, and Feng Qian shut the door behind them.

In the front seat, Liu Changqing and An Yuanyao exchanged a glance. Then both turned to look at the backseat, where Liu Xiazhi was hyping herself up.

They had no clue what just happened.

An Yuanyao couldn’t hold it in anymore. She turned around and asked,

“Xiazhi… just now, when you told Shuyan not to be scared of them… who were you talking about?”

Hearing the question, Liu Xiazhi quickly looked up at the two in the front, opened her mouth to speak—

But then a memory flashed in her mind. Something her dad had told her last time…

With all eyes on her, something shifted. The words that were about to come out… didn’t.

Instead, she gave a small shake of the head.

And said, “It’s a secret between the two of us!”

“…”

“…”

The car went silent again.

Liu Changqing glanced at An Yuanyao, then turned back toward the windshield, a little wistful.

His daughter was growing up… and now she had her own little secrets.

He let out a long sigh, then reminded An Yuanyao to sit tight. He shifted gears, and the car smoothly rolled out.

He hadn’t forgotten what he promised her before they left. Since signing up hadn’t taken long, he figured they could swing by the mall before heading home.

In Liu Zhiyue’s room.

He was just now starting to realize that something was off. When he woke up that morning, he’d only felt a little weak.

But after his dad and the others left, his whole body started feeling heavier, and there was a dull throbbing in his head.

It only got worse when Zhao Xuanwen showed up.

After a quick checkup, she immediately declared he had a fever—and forced him into bed in her usual pushy way.

And then… she held him down and tucked him in.

Liu Zhiyue licked his lips, which were feeling kind of dry.

Zhao Xuanwen, who was tucking the blanket around him, noticed right away. She leaned in, squatting next to the bed, her face close to his, and asked quickly,

“Are you thirsty? What do you want to drink?”

“Hot water…”

“Oh—right! You told me before, drink more hot water when you’re sick!”

Muttering that to herself, Zhao Xuanwen suddenly snapped back into action. She got up from her crouch and hurried out of the room.

She stood in the living room, scanning the place.

It had been a while since she’d been here. The place looked different. It took her a while to even find where the teapot was kept.

Next, she needed a cup.

She couldn’t find one at first, but then she spotted a glass with goji berries floating in it on the coffee table.

She unscrewed the lid, dumped the berries out, then went back to the teapot and filled the glass halfway with hot water.

Just as she reached for it—

The moment her fingers touched the glass, she flinched. The water was way too hot.

Even through the glass, her palm could feel the heat.

There was no way he could drink this.

She frowned, thinking hard. Then a lightbulb went off.

She put the cup down and jogged to the bathroom, rummaging around until she found a plastic basin.

Back at the sink, she adjusted the faucet until the water ran cool. Then she placed the basin under the stream and started filling it.

Her plan was simple.

Fill the basin with cool water, screw the lid on the glass tight, then set it in the water to cool down. It was just like what people did in summer with ice and buckets—only this time, no ice.

Same principle.

Watching the basin fill halfway, Zhao Xuanwen felt a little proud of herself. All that classroom knowledge was finally useful.

Science—so practical!

The basin was nearly full when she reached to turn off the tap. She gripped both sides of the basin with her hands.

But the thing was heavy.

She struggled to lift it. After a bit of effort, she managed to get it up—only to lose her grip a second later.

She instinctively pressed her belly against the basin to hold it steady, but it wobbled—

And water sloshed out.

A cold splash soaked her.

She looked down. Her shirt and pants were wet, especially around her stomach and thighs. But she didn’t care.

She brought the basin back to the teapot, screwed the lid tight on the hot water glass, and dunked it in.

Only once that was done did she let out a breath.

Then she tugged at her damp clothes with a mildly annoyed expression.