Chapter 173 Tao Xiaoan, the Underachiever

On the last day of 1956, New Year's Eve, Tao Xiaojiu received several gifts.

Her mother made her a festive red cotton-padded jacket, her grandmother made her a pair of red cotton-padded boots, her older brother gave her a cute red hat, and the most unexpected gift was from her brother Zhou Yue, who actually gave her a red scarf. Wearing all red, she made a striking appearance in front of her family, truly catching everyone's eye.

Zhou Yue rarely said anything nice: "Not bad, not bad, your brother has good taste. He said this color suits you, and it really does. So we each chose one. It just so happens that this year is the Year of the Monkey. Look, there are even monkey ears on this hat!"

Her second, third, and fourth brothers didn't have much money, so they looked at her with a forced smile.

"Little sister, I wish you a happy new year, and may you always be smiling! You know I'm broke,"

Seeing Tao Ran's embarrassed look, Xiao Jiu found it a bit funny. "Every time my second brother comes back, he brings me delicious food. Is that a gift? Third brother and little brother, you all bring me delicious food. They are all gifts, so there's no need to be so polite. I don't have any gifts to give you, so I'll just give each of you a sweet kiss!"

As she spoke, she grabbed Tao An's head and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Tao An looked on in bewilderment as she walked toward Tao Qing.

"Mmm~" The loud sound made Tao Qing subconsciously reach out to wipe it, but Xiao Jiu turned her head and glared at him.

"I didn't drool, brother, you're disgusted with me."

Tao Qing's hand froze in mid-air, and finally she changed to touching her hair, which she thought was still very long even though it had been cut short.

"No, I was just flipping my hair. Just kidding. How could I possibly mind my sister's drool? I don't mind at all."

Now, Tao Ran and Tao Zui didn't dare to do anything excessive, and just waited for Tao Tao to kiss them.

Seeing that Zhou Yue was about to stand up and leave, Tao Ran grabbed him.

"Where are you going? You're also my sister's brother, you have a gift too."

"No, no, you're all related by blood, so it's fine if you kiss. But I'm not related by blood, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to kiss you!"

Before he could react, Xiao Jiu grabbed his arm, forcibly pulled him to the side and bent him over, then hugged his head and gave him a hard kiss on the cheek.

"This is my love for you all, and no one is allowed to erase it. I want to thank my brothers for their love and care this past year. I will love my brothers well in the future, so you must study hard so that you can support me in the future. Did you hear me, little brother? Especially you, you actually got 26 points in math and 8 points in Chinese on the final exam. How did you do that? And you still want to teach me? I'm afraid you'll make me hate studying too. You're such a bad student, you'd better take better care of yourself!"

"What the hell? You failed two subjects? Why didn't anyone tell me this? Third brother, go to the kitchen and get me a broom. I'm going to teach him a lesson!"

"Tao Xiaojiu, you broke your promise. I told you that we agreed not to tell anyone else, and you betrayed me."

Tao Xiaoan was looking forward to a hearty meal of meat, but Tao Xiaojiu's words sent him plummeting from heaven to hell. Seeing that his third brother was really about to grab a broom, he quickly pulled Tao Xiaojiu in front of him.

"Dad, Mom, you can't hit me! I'm not last place! There are three people behind me who didn't do as well and scored even lower. I've been studying really hard, but I want to get to know them. They don't know me!"

Listening to her youngest son's unreasonable and sophistical arguments, Zhao Lingli was speechless.

"Look at you, you're just like your father. And look at your brothers, none of them are like you. Even your sister is better than you."

"Mom, my sister hasn't even started school yet. How could she possibly be better than me? Don't try to fool me. You can't just give me an example that's completely ignorant!"

Xiao Jiu grabbed Tao Xiaoan and pulled him close. "Brother, don't say I'm blind. I just didn't go to school. If you don't believe me, give me any question."

Tao Xiaoan scoffed at Xiao Jiu's confident demeanor, "You're lucky you can even write your own name correctly, let alone give me a test?"

As a result, Xiao Jiu dipped his finger in water and wrote the two characters "Tao Tao" neatly on the table. Not only did it look good, but the strokes were also correct.

She raised an eyebrow at Tao Xiaoan: "I wrote my name clearly, much better than your scribbles, right? Little brother, I'm not trying to discourage you, but you probably really don't know as much as I do. If you don't work harder, even I, who didn't go to school, might catch up with you. Do you really want to stay at home farming and herding cattle then? Once we all get into school and have stable jobs, and you're the only one lazing around at home, then you'll know how to write the word 'crying'."

It's not that Xiao Jiu has to be so harsh or say discouraging things, it's just that the little brother is really too playful. He's already 10 years old this year and will be in fifth grade in the second half of the year. How can he not be anxious at all?

If she doesn't provoke him, he might continue his carefree ways until junior high. If he doesn't do well in junior high, he won't be able to get into high school. Getting into high school in this era is incredibly difficult, even more so than the 50/50 academic stream system in later generations. She can't stand his irresponsible attitude, so she's definitely going to teach him a lesson today while his parents are home.

Tao Xiaojiu's lecture, delivered like a little adult, made Tao An very dissatisfied. To be fair, his third brother even gave him a second-grade math problem.

As it turned out, Tao An was not as fast or accurate as Xiao Jiu in calculating. At this point, he panicked a little and even asked her with a puzzled look.

"When did you learn this? Who taught you?"

At this point, Grandma spoke up, "You think your sister is just playing around at home all day? We told her to go to school, but she said she didn't want to. She just studies at home. She flips through all your books when she has nothing to do, and she draws on them whenever she has free time. I thought she was just drawing and writing for fun, but I didn't expect she'd actually learn quite a bit. Looking at it this way, your sister is actually quite talented. An'an, I'm not trying to criticize you, but you, as the older brother, are about to enter fifth grade. If your sister, who has never been to school, catches up with you, that would be too embarrassing!"

Tao Zui and the others looked at Tao Xiaojiu in surprise, and then Tao Zui tapped Tao Xiaoan with her chopsticks.

"You want to know your sister's true level? That's perfect. Starting tomorrow, I'll teach her from first grade and see if your foundation is stronger or if our sister learns faster. If your sister really catches up with you, you should really make up your mind to study, otherwise, won't your parents' money be wasted?"

Tao Xiaoan was provoked by everyone's comments, especially Tao Xiaojiu's ambiguous smile, which made him feel even more unconvinced.

No sooner had Tao Zui finished speaking than Tao Xiaoan fell into her trap, saying, "Fine, I'll learn then. Who's afraid of who?"

Xiao Jiu turned her back and chuckled secretly, then winked at Tao Ran. Tao Ran suddenly understood and helplessly patted her head.

"You're so naughty!"