Chapter 521

Each group consisted of ten families. One parent would team up with their child to pick tomatoes. Within the time limit, the family that picked the heaviest haul would be the winner of their group and receive a certificate.
Julian glanced at the sneakers Penelope was wearing and nodded in satisfaction.
“Don’t hold me back later.”
Penelope scoffed. “I’ve been an athlete since I was a kid. You’d better not hold me back.”
“I was born a great athlete. I probably inherited my mom’s genes.”
“Ahem.” Penelope cleared her throat. This kid was like a bee, stinging her every so often. “I suppose that’s possible.”
“Too bad my mom passed away.”
“Uh
Can you stop jinxing me? she thought. It’s creepy.
Penelope looked around. Some fathers were participating, but it was mostly mothers, all rolling up their sleeves. It wasn’t a formal competition, but the kids were taking it seriously, so the parents were too.
The only exception was the mother-daughter duo next to them. Maria was scolding her young assistant for not bringing her a pair of sneakers. Queena was also pouting and angry, yelling at all of Maria’s staff.
“You, give my mom your sneakers!” she ordered, pointing at a female assistant.
Before the assistant could reply, Maria spoke up. “I’m not wearing someone else’s shoes. They’re filthy.”
Queena wouldn’t let it go. “How are you going to help me win in those high heels!” “Maybe we should just skip it. It’s not that interesting anyway.”
“No! I have to compete, and I have to win!”
Maria sounded exasperated, but she doted on her daughter, so she finally swapped shoes with the assistant.
“Stop buying such cheap things in the future. These are really uncomfortable,” she complained after putting them on.
Out of Maria’s sight, the assistant rolled her eyes several times. Maria had taken her shoes but wouldn’t let her wear the high heels, claiming they were expensive and a lowly assistant couldn’t afford to replace them if they got damaged
Now that Maria was in sneakers, Queena’s confidence soared. She turned to Julian and declared, “When I beat you, you have to promise to marry me!”
Julian couldn’t be bothered to respond to Queena and instead turned to Penelope. “Some people are just plain dumb-a total lost cause.”
Penelope nodded in agreement. “True. She can’t even understand plain language.”
“Yet she thinks everyone adores her.”
“Genetics are definitely important.”
“Of course!”
Seeing Julian ignore her and whisper nonsense with the woman beside him, Queena put her hands on her hips and said angrily, “Julian, all the boys in our class like me if you don’t like me, I’ll have them beat you up every day!”
Julian finally lost his patience and shot Queena a disgusted look.
“Scared now?” she taunted.
Resigned, Julian turned to a little boy on his other side. “Bob, Queena says you like her!”
Bob, who was exchanging words of encouragement with his mom, almost tripped when he heard that.
“Why would I like an ugly girl? I like chicken legs!”
Julian was very satisfied with this answer. He turned back to Queena. “I’d advise you to stop spreading Tumors about the boys in our class or you’ll be the one getting beaten upt

Queena’s eyes reddened with anger. “Julian, I… I’m definitely going to beat you!”
Julian returned a cold smirk, acting unconcerned, but then he turned back to Penelope and said, “We don’t have to get first place, but we have to beat them!”