Before Baozhu could sort out the relationship between the sisters, a hand landed on her shoulder.
Chen Miaochun hugged a bolt of cloth and questioned Qiuqiu, "Fine. Since you said you'd treat everyone equally, tell me who this bolt of cloth should go to. Why does she get it but not me?"
"This bolt of cloth has a bright color. It doesn't suit you. Big brother bought it specially for me. You even want to fight me for this? If you want cloth, I'll buy some for you with my monthly allowance next month. How about that?" Chen Ruxia had a gentle nature, and there was a faint sob in her voice.
If it were something else, she'd just give it to Chen Miaochun. But this cloth was bought specially for her by her brother...
Since Chen Miaochun came to the Marquis's Mansion, people's attitudes towards Chen Ruxia had been rather delicate, which made her feel insecure. She had learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting since childhood and had no means of making a living. If she left the Marquis's Mansion, what would she do?
Chen Ruxia didn't know, but this inner unease made her care a great deal about her elder brother Chen Linchun and younger sister Chen Wanqiu.
And this bolt of cloth was bought by Chen Linchun through someone.
Seeing that Chen Ruxia was unwilling to give it to her, Chen Miaochun hugged the cloth in her arms even tighter.
Why should this person who had taken her identity enjoy special treatment? She wouldn't allow it!
She ignored Chen Ruxia and looked straight at Qiuqiu. "Tell me!"
Qiuqiu was in a very difficult situation. This wasn't the first time she had been a judge.
Judging between her two elder sisters was a very difficult thing. So Qiuqiu always avoided them. Whenever she saw them together, she'd run away. She had been quite successful in doing so in the past few days, but unexpectedly, she was exposed by Lingdang today.
Compared with the overbearing Chen Miaochun, Qiuqiu actually sided with Chen Ruxia. It wasn't because of their years of friendship, but because Chen Ruxia was about to cry.
The simple - minded Qiuqiu didn't want anyone to cry. She stammered, "Sister Miaochun, how about you..."
Chen Miaochun stared at her in disbelief. With the scar at the corner of her eye, her face looked a bit ferocious. "Good, very good! Since I can't have it, no one can!"
Qiuqiu was so frightened that she took a few steps back and didn't dare to say a word.
Just as Chen Miaochun was about to throw the cloth on the ground and stamp on it a few times, she suddenly heard a strange voice.
"Well... If we want to treat everyone equally, how about giving the cloth to Qiuqiu?" Baozhu remembered that Qiuqiu had an outer robe of the same color as the cloth, and it looked quite nice on her.
Give it to Qiuqiu...
Chen Miaochun stopped what she was doing. Actually, she didn't like this cloth. She just wanted to compete with Chen Ruxia. As long as Chen Ruxia couldn't get the cloth, it didn't matter who got it.
Chen Ruxia also fell into deep thought. She was reluctant to part with the cloth because she cared about her brother, and the cloth was her brother's token of affection. She didn't want Chen Miaochun to snatch away the last thing she had. But if it was for Qiuqiu, she had no objections.
The two sisters reached a consensus, and the gunpowder smell in the air dissipated a bit.
Just as the big stone in Qiuqiu's heart finally fell to the ground, Chen Miaochun and Chen Ruxia started arguing again.
Since Qiuqiu's maid wasn't around, they started arguing about who should take the cloth to Qiuqiu's storeroom.
[These two are quite childish.]
Qiuqiu was exhausted. She coquettishly said to Baozhu, "Baozhu, think of another way."
Under her friend's plea, Baozhu hesitated. "How about you give the cloth to me, and I'll ask my big brother to take it to Qiuqiu's storeroom?"
This method was once again approved by the two sisters.
So Shen Heqing, who was reviewing his schoolwork, was hit in the face by a bolt of cloth. He frowned and looked up, only to see his younger sister smiling at him, but there was a bit of guilt in that smile.
Baozhu said with a smile, "Big brother, please take Qiuqiu's cloth to the storeroom. Thank you!"
Since she had betrayed Shen Heqing, as soon as Baozhu finished speaking, she pulled Qiuqiu and ran away.
Qiuqiu looked at her friend with shining eyes. "Baozhu, you're so amazing!"
She had been tortured by her two elder sisters for a long time. She didn't expect Baozhu to be so capable and solve the problem so easily.
[Baozhu is really amazing. When neither of the two options was good, she simply came up with a third one. Baozhu is so smart.]
[No wonder she's such a cute girl. She's smart!]
[Very good.]
Baozhu was so flattered by the praise that she tried to be modest. "Just so - so."
After solving the problem between her two elder sisters, Qiuqiu pulled Baozhu to the kitchen to eat pastries. She specifically asked for that extra - large pastry.
Qiuqiu saw this pastry when she passed by the kitchen this morning. It was almost as big as Qiuqiu's head!
The pastry was too big, so the servant cut it into small pieces and served it.
"Baozhu, try it quickly. It's sweet and delicious!" Qiuqiu pushed the pastry towards Baozhu, and the two of them took small bites.
Baozhu felt a bit disappointed. "I thought I could take big bites of the large pastry directly..."
Qiuqiu didn't expect her good friend to have such a grand dream. Wouldn't she be able to get the pastry on her nose? Just imagining it made Qiuqiu a bit tempted.
Taking big bites of the large pastry so that even your nose could get some. How wonderful!
It was a pity that the large pastry had already been cut into small pieces.
Baozhu's disappointment didn't last long. Then she saw a pastry even bigger than Qiuqiu's head. "Wow! A pastry bigger than the head!"
The person who brought the pastry was Chen Miaochun.
She rolled up her sleeves and pointed at the pastry on the table. "That one was made by Chen Ruxia this morning. This one is freshly made by me. Since Qiuqiu ate Chen Ruxia's, she should also eat mine."
"Treat everyone equally!"
Chen Miaochun knew she was being unreasonable. Such a large pastry, two kids definitely couldn't finish it, especially since they had already eaten quite a few pastries before.
But Chen Miaochun couldn't help it. She couldn't control herself from competing with Chen Ruxia. She was short, had dark skin, was ugly, and was vulgar and rude. She was also stingy and didn't even want to give others a single copper coin.
Chen Ruxia was tall, had fair skin, was not only beautiful but also had a good temper. When she first returned to the Chen family and targeted Chen Ruxia everywhere, Chen Ruxia never got angry.
Such a comparison made Chen Miaochun feel like a complete failure.
And Qiuqiu's closeness was the only thing Chen Miaochun could win over Chen Ruxia with.
Just as Chen Miaochun was having all these random thoughts and was about to take the large pastry away - after all, Qiuqiu's good friend was still there, and she didn't want to embarrass Qiuqiu in front of her friend, which would make Qiuqiu lose her friend - Chen Miaochun couldn't help but think of herself, and her mood became even more downcast.
"It's a pastry bigger than Qiuqiu's head!"
"A large pastry that can even touch your nose!"
Baozhu sensed something was wrong. She looked at her friend. "Qiuqiu also wants to take big bites directly?"
This idea was first proposed by Baozhu, so Qiuqiu felt quite guilty. "Yes."
Both little girls wanted to hug the pastry and take big bites, but there was only one large pastry. How should they divide it?
Chen Miaochun, who was still feeling inferior, was suddenly grabbed by someone. Baozhu blushed and said, "Hello, Qiuqiu's new elder sister. Baozhu is a guest. Can you give the large pastry to Baozhu?"
Qiuqiu hugged Chen Miaochun's arm and coquettishly said, "Sister Miaochun, please give the pastry to Qiuqiu, okay?"
The two cute little girls surrounded Chen Miaochun, making her feel dizzy. So she was so popular!
Chen Miaochun wanted to give the large pastry to Qiuqiu. After all, Qiuqiu was her younger sister. But Baozhu was a guest... After some hesitation, Chen Miaochun pushed the large pastry towards Baozhu.
Qiuqiu was a bit sad but didn't make a fuss.
Seeing that Qiuqiu wasn't angry, Chen Miaochun let out a sigh of relief, but Baozhu got angry.
She angrily asked, "New elder sister, why didn't you give it to Qiuqiu? She's your younger sister! If Baozhu's big brother didn't side with Baozhu, Baozhu would be angry!"
Chen Miaochun was stunned. Only then did she realize that Qiuqiu was sad. So she was supposed to side with Qiuqiu?
But no one had ever sided with her.
Thinking like this, Chen Miaochun felt a bit sad. She angrily said, "Take it or leave it!"
Chen Miaochun often lost her temper, and Qiuqiu was already used to it. But seeing Chen Miaochun losing her temper at Baozhu, Qiuqiu got angry.
Qiuqiu was very angry. "I'm going to break off my friendship with Sister Miaochun!"
Baozhu tugged at Qiuqiu. "If we break off the friendship, can we still eat the large pastry?"
"Yes." Qiuqiu felt so pitiful. Even after breaking off the friendship, she still wanted to eat the large pastry because they had agreed to treat everyone equally.
Hearing that Qiuqiu still wanted to eat her pastry, Chen Miaochun felt warm inside, but she stubbornly said, "Why should I side with Qiuqiu?"
"Because you're Qiuqiu's elder sister. You should side with her." Shen Baozhu didn't quite understand Chen Miaochun's thoughts. Wasn't it only natural for an elder sister to side with her younger sister, just like an elder brother protecting his younger sister?