When the Side Character Gets a System and Travels through Difference Worlds-Chapter 83: Chi Mo 37

Chi Mo’s father was a very witty man, and Gao Jing and the others were all good-natured. While the male guests were awkwardly facing their exes or friends, Chi Mo’s dad, Gao Jing, and the rest were cheerfully busy with the barbecue.

Chi Mo’s dad flipped the skewers. "Paopao usually loves barbecue and fried food too, but she has to watch her figure, so she only ever dares to eat a tiny bit. I don’t trust the stuff they make outside, so I just make it for her at home."

Gao Jing asked curiously, "Why do you call her Paopao?"

Chi Mo’s dad chuckled. "Her original nickname was Hanhan. But then her mom saw that she always blew bubbles after drinking her milk, so she just started calling her ’Paopao, Paopao,’ and eventually, it stuck as her nickname."

Tan You’s face grew warm. ’Even though he’s not talking about me,’ she thought, ’I’m stuck in Chi Mo’s body, after all.’

Chi Mo’s dad continued, "When she was about four or five and started to understand things, she grew to dislike the nickname Paopao. That is, until her mother told her the story of *The Little Mermaid* and she was heartbroken to learn that the little mermaid turned into sea foam."

"Little girls can be stubborn. She thought it was so tragic that the little mermaid just vanished into the sea, with no one to remember her. So she decided she should just keep the name Paopao, so at least *she* would remember the little mermaid."

Tan You poured her dad a glass of water. "Dad, you must be thirsty. Have some water to wet your whistle."

’And talk a little less while you’re at it.’

Chi Mo’s dad took the cup and smiled, and he didn’t bring up any more funny stories from Chi Mo’s childhood after that.

Gao Jing asked, "So, Momo, do you still feel sad for the little mermaid now?"

Tan You laughed. "I was too young back then, so I just thought she was pitiful. Looking back now, I think she was incredibly foolish, really. Just think about how good her life was at home. Why did she have to go and suffer like that?"

"Giving up her parents and family all for some man... If I had a child like that, I would’ve died from anger long ago."

Zhou Wenwen thought about it and agreed. "You’re not wrong. It was brave of her to pursue love, but hurting her family’s feelings in the process? I think that’s getting your priorities mixed up."

Lin Meng chimed in, "Who knows how many girls have been brainwashed by these kinds of fairy tales. And speaking of being love-struck, I think basically every single heroine in those stories is exactly that."

"It’s as if their lives are meaningless without a man. No matter how much they have, or how powerful they are, the moment they meet a man, they have to bow down and submit to them."

Tan You said, "Well, they’re fairy tales written by men. It just shows that men’s belittling and control of women has existed for hundreds of years, regardless of the era or region. That’s why I think reading these kinds of fairy tales really does lower your IQ."

Chi Mo’s dad retorted, "Listen to you, acting like you’re so smart. If you were so smart, why’d you get a 36 on your math test?"

Tan You said helplessly, "That was so many years ago! Who hasn’t failed a test back in their school days? Do you have to remember it so clearly? You’re just afraid my ’ditzy beauty’ image isn’t solid enough, aren’t you?"

’I was wrong. I knew Chi Mo had a great relationship with her parents, but I never expected her and her dad to have one of those "love-hate" dynamics. Of course, I actually find this kind of interaction quite refreshing.’

Gao Jing was incredibly curious. "Please tell us the details, Uncle."

Chi Mo’s dad cleared his throat. "Chi Mo has been careless since she was a little girl. There are a ton of little stories like this. For her first-ever exam in first grade, she came home with a 36."

Tan You hung her head, feeling like life was no longer worth living.

Lin Meng and Zhou Wenwen glanced at the somewhat withdrawn Chi Mo and did their best to suppress their laughter. The next second, they both scooted their chairs closer to her dad. "And then? Uncle, did you scold her?"

"Of course not," Chi Mo’s dad said with a laugh. "Her mother has a short temper and wanted to give her a spanking right then and there, but I talked her down. Kids back then weren’t like they are now, going to cram schools from a young age. Kindergarten was just for playing; they taught very little, so kids barely recognized any words. Her mother and I just comforted her, saying, ’You’re still little, you haven’t learned this stuff yet.’"

"’Once you learn it, you won’t get scores like this anymore. Besides, your score is low now, but that just means you can improve a lot on your next test! We have lots of room for improvement.’ Who can understand what we were feeling? Your kid does poorly on a test, and not only can you not get angry, but you have to turn around and encourage and comfort her."

Zhou Wenwen, Gao Jing, and Lin Meng all nodded in unison, clearly approving of the way Chi Mo’s parents raised her.

Chi Mo’s dad continued, "She was always an obedient kid who listened to advice. Later, we helped her with her studies, and her grades gradually improved. She was doing all her homework well, too. Then came the mid-term exam, and she went into it full of confidence."

"She was so excited when she got home, saying she was sure she did well this time and that she knew how to do all the questions. Her mother and I were really looking forward to it. It wasn’t that we needed her to outperform everyone else; we just didn’t want her to be haunted by that 36. We couldn’t let her get the idea that she was a bad student."

"And then? What happened? Did she do exceptionally well?" Gao Jing asked excitedly, even blurting out her guess.

"Quite the opposite. She came home with a big fat zero," Chi Mo’s dad said, exasperated but also amused. "She came back wiping away tears the whole way, feeling completely wronged."

Zhou Wenwen’s imagination ran wild. "Don’t tell me she forgot to write her name?"

"That’s exactly it," Chi Mo’s dad said, clapping his hands. "She was the only one in the entire class who didn’t write her name. And she’d actually done pretty well, scored over 90, I think? That’s what I seem to remember."

"Ninety-six," Tan You said faintly. "So can you imagine how devastated I was? The teacher even told me to remember this lesson and never, ever make that mistake again."

"Her mother was furious—her temper just flared right up. She had put up with the 36 last time. Her daughter’s grades had finally started to show some improvement, and then she comes home with a zero. But then she saw how much she was crying, and her mother’s anger just... turned into laughter."

"So after that, every time she had a test at school, her mother and I would remind her that the very first thing to do when she got the paper was to write her name. Of course, she never made *that* mistake again, but there were plenty of other little blunders."

"For example, forgetting to wear her school badge or red scarf to school, or forgetting her homework notebooks... there were just too many to count."

Chi Mo’s dad smiled. "Her mom used to have a really short fuse, but over the years, our daughter just wore her down until she had no temper left. Of course, she was also a really sweet kid. Whenever she acted cute with her mom, no matter how angry her mom was, that fire would be extinguished instantly."

Lin Meng asked curiously, "So how would she act cute?"

Chi Mo’s dad said with a laugh, "She knew how to sweet-talk from a young age. The moment she saw her mom’s eyebrows furrow, she’d hug her and say, ’Mommy, don’t be mad. You’re not pretty when you’re mad. Mommy, I love you the most!’ or ’Mommy, I’ll be better next time,’ and so on."

Zhou Wenwen glanced at Chi Mo’s face, then suddenly clutched her chest. "Imagine a face like that acting cute with you. Who could possibly resist?"

"Her mother certainly couldn’t," Chi Mo’s dad said, glancing at Tan You. "The moment she started acting cute, her mom’s defenses would crumble completely."