Chapter 9 First Time Meeting Alice

Bruce looked in Minnie's direction, but because he was in a hurry to play, he just cast a glance at her and then said to Alice, "Auntie Alice, she isn't a new maid."

Before Minnie could say anything, he already ran off to try his new console.

Alice raised her eyebrows. "Since you're not a maid, you must be Michael's sex buddy, right?"

Bruce had told Alice that Minnie wasn't a maid, but she obviously didn't care. She still handed her teacup to Minnie, obviously insisting to let Minnie refill her tea. Furthermore, each word that came out of her mouth was extremely scathing. "That's not much different from a maid, though maids can most likely stay here longer than you."

She looked at Minnie and showed a sweet smile. "Don't you think?"

Minnie frowned. Alice was acting like she was the madam of this house and spoke as if all the women around Michael were allowed to remain at his sides at her mercy.

If it wasn't because she wanted to know how this woman had been raising and educating Bruce, Minnie would've lost her temper and ripped into her long ago. Thus, she immediately smoothed her wrinkled brows, took the cup, and smiled back. "You're right, Auntie Alice."

Alice's face darkened in an instant when she heard Minnie call her "Auntie Alice."

Before she could say anything, however, Minnie already turned around and walked away. Alice stared at Minnie's back, seething with anger. She was angry, but she knew she mustn't chase after her and curse her out like a shrew, so she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

There was actually no need for her to argue with a nobody who wouldn't be around for long.

At that thought, the smile on her face returned to perfection.

When Minnie returned with the Earl Grey tea Alice asked, Bruce had finished playing one round and was practically being "interrogated" by Alice now.

"How are you doing these days? Have you read all the books I gave you? Did you write down your impression of each book you read?"

Bruce felt a little embarrassed. He hid his face behind his palms and said, "Not yet. Those books are boring. I don't want to read them."

Minnie, who was walking back into the room, watched their interaction in silence. Bruce was her biological son, but he'd never acted spoiled in front of her. Now, he actually acted spoiled in front of Alice. At this moment, she had to admit that she felt like an outsider and rather jealous of Alice. She was also a little worried to see how close they were because Alice was obviously a bad woman with evil intentions.

Unable to watch such a scene any longer, she went over, put the Earl Grey tea on the table in front of Alice none too gently, causing a loud clunk which made Alice turn her attention to her.

Alice raised her eyebrows and picked the cup up. She then took a sip while looking at Minnie up and down in the most scrutinizing way. It was as if she was using her gaze to taunt Minnie for her rudeness.

By now, Minnie was practically going all out to rein in her temper.

She rolled her eyes at Alice, but Alice had already turned her attention towards Bruce again.

How unperturbed Alice looked really made her suffocate with anger.

She took a deep breath and sat down on the sofa with crossed legs, intending to just watch what kinds of tricks Alice had up her sleeves.

Alice held Bruce's hands in hers and said softly, "You don't have to read them if you don't want to. By the way, I bought you a new phone. Didn't you say that your dad's always been forbidding you from getting one? Well, I've bought one for you."

She then helped Bruce with the fingerprint lock setup and downloaded several games for him. "You can't play these games too often, okay? Otherwise, your dad might come after my blood."

Bruce nodded.

Minnie pursed her lips with contempt. Alice was really a hypocrite.

If she didn't want Bruce to play, why did she go through all the troubles to tell him which games were fun?

Alice continued, "By the way, I'll be in the country for the next half a year at the least. If you're bored or have something troubling you, just tell me, okay? I'll immediately come to you. Moreover, if you want to go out, remember to tell me where and with whom you'll go. It's for your own safety, understand?"

Bruce nodded obediently. "Got it. Thank you, Auntie Alice."

When she heard Bruce call her "Auntie Alice", she couldn't help but recall the sarcastic tone Minnie used to address her. The smile on her face faltered, but she quickly came to her senses and put on another smile. She tapped Bruce's nose intimately and said, "You just need to study hard. We're like a family, so you don't need to thank me."

The smile on Bruce's face was so wide that two dimples on his cheeks showed up.

Minnie wasn't as naive as Bruce. The woman was spouting pure nonsense. What did she mean by "it's for your own safety"? She was just trying to know about Michael, wasn't she? Bruce had to tell her if he had something troubling him? He needed to tell her where he was going and with whom? Humph! Who did she think she was? Even Minnie, who was Bruce's biological mom, didn't tell him to do those, so why on earth did Alice think she could tell him what to do?

Minnie was bristling with rage.

However, the angrier she felt, the wider her smile became. "Auntie Alice, what do you do for a living?"

The way Minnie addressed her almost made Alice lose it. It was okay for the child to call her this way to show respect, but what did that woman mean to call her this way? 'Did she insinuate that I am older than her?' At the thought of this, Alice really wanted to lunge at this uneducated woman and tear her mouth apart! This bitch obviously did it on purpose to annoy her!

Upon hearing what Minnie said and seeing the almost undisguisable anger in Alice's expression, Bruce quickly lowered his head to hide his smile.

'Ha-ha! Jessica called her Auntie Alice? She could really come up with a way to piss people off,' Bruce laughed in his heart.

Alice took a deep breath and squeezed out a smile. "My family owns some businesses, but I'm not working in their company. I like studying-I'm still a college student. Miss, I'm curious-what do you do for a living?"

Minnie felt sick inside. She really wanted to slap the hypocritical smile off Alice's face.

Anyhow, Minnie managed to grasp several important points from what Alice said. First off, Alice's family had some family businesses, and her family should be on par with the Lu family, so Minnie was inferior to her in terms of family background.

Second, Alice neither needed nor wanted to work. She put it as if there was no way she'd let such vulgar things like jobs obstruct her from pursuing her passion for studying. All in all, she sounded just like a noble lady who was superior to worldly mortals.

Third, she claimed to be a college student. In other words, she was implying that Minnie was both uneducated and older than her!

There was also the fourth point. Minnie knew her name, but Alice didn't know hers. She just casually addressed her as "miss" without even asking what her name was. Evidently, Alice didn't think she mattered enough to ask for her name. Humph! Such a pompous woman!

Minnie was both embarrassed and pissed over Alice's blatant disdain of her.

She put on a fake smile and said through gritted teeth, "Miss Alice, I'm just doing whatever I like. Although that way, I can't come as "noble" as you, at least I'm happy, aren't I?"

The sarcasm in the word "noble" was crystal clear.

Although the smile on Alice's face remained, her gaze became freezing cold. She looked at Minnie up and down as if she was skeptical that Minnie had the ability to live as freely as she said she was.

For the nth time today, Minnie almost lost her shit.

While the two of them obviously loathed each other, neither of them backed down. They each put on a fake smile on their face and continued to chat. Oblivious onlookers might even think the two of them were close friends. Bruce turned around and continued to play his game. He'd better not watch this "catfight" any longer, lest he'd accidentally lose control and burst out laughing.

Once Alice left, Minnie patted the spot beside her and said, "Bruce, come here please."

Bruce looked up from his phone, exited his game, and took a seat beside Minnie. "What?"

Minnie held out her hand. "Could you show me your phone?"

Bruce snorted and handed over his phone. "Since you look pitiful, I'll lend it to you."

Minnie took the phone and checked it several times. However, that phone was completely fine. There were no bugs, no strange applications, nor anything of the sort inside.

But she was still unhappy about this phone. After all, this was something Alice intended to use to get closer to Bruce. Thus, she put the phone away and said, "Well, your phone's been confiscated by me. Don't think about playing with your phone all day long. You have to study."

She then pointed at the PS4 Pro. "I'm confiscating that one too! You may play it after you finish this week's homework!"

"Hey!"

Bruce stamped his feet in anger.

"Auntie Alice gave them to me! Why are you taking them away? I want to play!"

Minnie patted his head patiently. "You can't. At least not until you've studied and finished your homework. I'm telling you this now- if you can't finish reading those books, you can kiss your consoles goodbye!"

Bruce glared at her but said nothing. A few seconds later, he already lunged at her and started a body search on her in an attempt to find his phone.

Minnie was amused. How could something that she, a professional thief, had hidden be found easily? The little guy continued to pat her body for a while to no avail.

"Alright, don't accuse me of mistreating you. We have rules. After you finish reading those books, I'll return the phone and the PS4 Pro to you and let you play with them on the weekend, okay?" Minnie coaxed.

Bruce looked up at her, snorted, got down from her lap, and ran back to his room.

And he went back without taking anything with him.

Once his figure disappeared from her sight, Minnie finally took the phone out and burst into laughter.

"Homework? What's the point of doing these kinds of childish homework?" Bruce, who had gone back to his room upstairs, took out the homework arranged by his kindergarten teacher. "Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd." He was to copy these four letters twenty times each. In addition to that, he also had to solve math questions about addition and subtraction up to ten, as well as make his own leaf bookmark.

He threw the language and math workbooks into the trash can without a second thought, took out a key, and carefully opened his small desk drawer, exposing a blue cartoon diary lying inside.

"Wednesday; today was sunny.

As usual, Auntie Alice came to bribe me with a new mobile phone. It's amazing how she kept using the same trick again and again when it's never worked! How boring! There was a new woman in the house though. She went shopping with me, reprimanded me, and even confiscated my phone. She was very interesting!

My friend told me that a mom was warm but also annoying. I guess this was what she meant."

It was just a little child's diary, but the vocabulary used in it was extensive. In his writing, there wasn't the slightest trace of the infamous fool who only knew eating, drinking, and playing. He was obviously a genius child!

A gloomy glint suddenly flashed across Bruce's bright eyes. He cast a glance at the arts and crafts manual, grabbed it, and brought it downstairs.

"A leaf bookmark?" Minnie asked.

"Yes! It's really boring. There are many pretty bookmarks in the bookstore, but the teacher told us to make one ourselves," Bruce complained contemptuously. Although he was complaining, he kept his eyes on Minnie, who was engrossed in reading the manual, as he tried to not miss any changes in her expression.

Minnie said gently, "Buying the ready-made one is indeed more convenient, but the one you make yourself will feel more special, no?

Think about it. During the process, you can clearly study the leaf's outline, veins, color, and size. You can even get a clear look at any marks it has on it and guess how those marks come about. Won't that be very interesting?

Besides, you can personally determine the style and the shape of your bookmark. When you go looking for the leaves, you might find a lot of unique leaves. Won't that feel good? This kind of happiness is something money can't buy!"

"Okay then, I believe you. I'll do it!"

"That's my boy!" Minnie rubbed Bruce's hair dotingly, but he ducked and escaped her hand.

"Let's go! Let's go and find you some pretty leaves!" Minnie shouted and ran out with Bruce in tow. She didn't look back when she went out, but she could hear Bruce running after her, and it made her smile.

In the past two days, she had thoroughly learned about Bruce's personality. Bruce had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Being authoritarian and forceful didn't work on him. However, explaining things properly and asking him nicely did, most of the time.