Chapter 152

Page Nine Dream Tea Party (Part One)

[November 19th, Tuesday, 22:50]

The night was deep, and it was almost eleven o’clock. The village was dark, with most households having already turned off their lights to sleep. The streetlights flickered like swaying ghost fires, extending sporadically towards the other end of the village.

I hadn’t come home this late in a long time.

After leaving Líng Shàojié’s place, the last bus had stopped running. Sister Léiluó and Sister Shān took a taxi, while Lǐn Huā called for a cab that brought her straight back to the village… Recently, I seemed to have been taking taxis all the time, enjoying the convenience of wealth, and I had become quite dependent on Lǐn Huā.

Pushing open the squeaky iron gate, the four of us entered the courtyard. Ahead, Cherry Sauce fumbled for the key to unlock the door.

I turned around and asked, “So, are you two planning to stay here tonight?”

Xiǎo Lěi looked surprised.

“Huh? Isn’t this where I’m supposed to stay?”

“You’re not fooling anyone! You live further inside! Go back and sleep!”

This fool was used to staying here. Not only did she refuse to leave, but she also pushed her face against mine.

“Chairman actually treats me like this! It’s too much!”

Lǐn Huā spread her hands and said, “It’s inconvenient for me. If you make me go back in this state, wouldn’t Xiao Jing and Fēi Jiě be scared out of their wits?”

I pushed away Xiǎo Lěi’s hand and rebutted Lǐn Huā.

“You’ll revert in an hour! Your excuses are too lame!”

“What if… we just like you and want to sleep together? Is that so wrong?”

Lǐn Huā put her hands on her hips and winked at me, and the fool nodded in agreement.

“…Last night, huh!”

In the end, I gave in. There was no way I could say anything else.

We entered the house amidst the commotion, and Cherry Sauce, unaffected by the darkness, turned on the living room light.

To our surprise, Old Dad was sitting on the sofa in his pajamas, holding a newspaper, even though it was dark. He must have been reading somehow.

“Uh… Dad?”

Something similar had happened before.

“You haven’t slept yet?”

“I was waiting for you.”

The sudden brightness made him uncomfortable, and he covered his eyes with his hand.

“At least turn on the light…”

This was a bit scary.

Old Dad raised his head, looking surprised at my and Lǐn Huā’s appearances, but he just scratched his head and continued, “You said yesterday that you hadn’t seen ‘me’ in a long time and wanted to see me, right?”

He was referring to himself as male, and I had indeed said that yesterday.

“That’s no reason to do this…”

“But today is my day as Dad.”

Old Dad’s words sounded strange, but I understood what he meant.

Based on the principle of “on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th days being Mom, and on the 2nd, 4th, and 6th days being Dad,” if I didn’t see Old Dad today, then the next time would be the day after tomorrow, which was why he waited in the living room for me to come home.

“In fact, there’s no need to be so strict… Just follow Old Dad’s mood…”

Cherry Sauce clasped her hands and apologized.

“Sorry, we had something urgent and kept you worried.”

Old Dad sighed deeply, expressing his helplessness.

“Dad knows you’re busy… But Dad has finally recovered from that psychological illness. Shouldn’t we chat more? Find that father-daughter feeling?”

“Yeah, I won’t come back this late again.”

Lǐn Huā lifted me by my armpit and said, “Uncle, Kǎi-Chan is now a daughter, right?”

“Then it’s father-daughter… heh… yawn.”

Old Dad couldn’t hold back a yawn. Usually, at this time, he would have already been asleep.

“I’ve said everything I needed to. I’ll go to bed now.”

He folded the newspaper, got up, and started climbing the stairs, turning back to look at me.

“You look quite cute. It would be nice if you could stay like this for a few more days.”

Unfortunately, it will be undone tonight.

—

Afterwards, it was like any other night—washing up and going to bed, entering the restraint dream as usual.

(I didn’t use a loli body to wash.)

My consciousness passed through the dazzling restraint channel, and I felt myself being thrown onto a soft bed. Before I could even open my eyes, something soft landed on me.

“Sister’s here… Eh?”

It was Qiǎnxià. She pinned me down on the bed and realized that today’s “sister” was a bit different.

Maintaining the posture of being sat on, I pinched her chubby little cheeks.

“I am indeed your Sister Língmèng! Something happened, so I can only meet you like this tonight.”

Hmm, I still look like a mixed-race loli. Qiǎnxià looked at my relatively flat chest and her eyebrows drooped.

“Eh, how disappointing!”

Her reaction was too realistic.

Not only did she show her displeasure on her face, but she also expressed her disappointment verbally!

“Brat, is the meaning of my existence just to be two fat blobs that exist only in dreams?”

Xiǎo Lěi, who had no fat even in the dream, pulled Qiǎnxià away from me from behind.

She asked, “Why didn’t Chairman revert? Lǐn Huā reverted in the dream!”

“I don’t know. My form in the dream shouldn’t change… What does Sister Yīng think?”

Sister Yīng summoned a round table and tea snacks by the bedside.

“I don’t know, maybe your time extension automatically renewed.”

“Really?!”

“Outside, it’s almost midnight. If you haven’t reverted, it means your subconscious has synced with the altar again.”

I looked at my short fingers, feeling bewildered.

Damn, I’m not some metallurgist wanting to become copper. Why can’t I revert?

“Chairman actually wants to be a girl, huh?”

Xiǎo Lěi held Qiǎnxià and sat down, the latter munching on cookies as she said, “Little Sister Língmèng is also cute, but not as cute as Qiǎnxià.”

“Of course, Qiǎnxià is the cutest in the world!”

Agreeing with the little girl, I rebutted Xiǎo Lěi, “I don’t want to be a girl!”

“Calm down, it’s okay to switch things up sometimes. No matter what Kǎi-Chan turns into, I love her!”

Lǐn Huā, who had already reverted, climbed onto the bed, sitting sideways behind me, just like Xiǎo Lěi holding Qiǎnxià. Her arms wrapped around my waist… though a child doesn’t really have a waist, the width from chest to buttocks is about the same.

Lǐn Huā grabbed the soft flesh on my stomach, and as I struggled with the itch, she looked at Sister Yīng and asked.

“Though I really want to get intimate with Kǎi-Chan, there are other matters to discuss today… Sister Yīng, what’s your take on the doubts Sister Shān raised?”

Although Lǐn Huā wasn’t present when we discussed, she had been told everything on the way back.

Considering the possibility of Queen eavesdropping, we decided to leave the topic for the dream…

Thinking carefully, this place is almost becoming a real secret base. We barely had time to chat or play with Qiǎnxià.

Tomorrow, I should ask Lord Hái about the progress.

“First, I can confirm one thing.”

Sister Yīng snapped her fingers, conjuring a mobile whiteboard and drawing a circle around a photo of Líng Shàojié with a black marker.

“When people lie, they experience increased heart rate, higher blood pressure, sweating, dilated pupils, and muscle tremors. I happen to have the ability to notice these changes, so I can guarantee that what she told us in the rental house was true… uh.”

Sister Yīng’s elbow hit the whiteboard.

With the table in the room, the small bedroom felt crowded. She clapped her hands, and the surroundings fogged up, turning into a familiar flower field. The house was still nearby, it seemed…

The sudden change made Qiǎnxià giggle.

“Oh, a human lie detector?”

“And our next investigation focus should be on this person.”

Sister Yīng added another circle on the whiteboard, pointing to a fierce-looking woman and introducing her, “This is Aunt Lín, Líng Shàojié’s aunt.”

“I thought you’d say Lín Yùhuáng.”

Lǐn Huā poked my head.

“Kǎi-Chan, such high-level figures are usually unreachable. Even getting close is impossible. With our current capabilities, we can’t investigate them. That’s why Senior Shàojié hasn’t gathered enough evidence.”

Considering the importance of the Balance Commercial District to the city, even the mayor might have to be polite to Chairman Lin.

Understanding Lǐn Huā’s point, I nodded and asked Sister Yīng.

“Since Lín Yùhuáng is hard to approach, are you planning to start with the café owner?”

Only Sister Yīng had interacted with Aunt Lín.

I didn’t know what kind of person she was, but since she took Líng Shàojié in after her mother’s death, she probably wasn’t a bad person.

Though she seemed quite domineering.

“No, it’s not entirely that simple.”

Sister Yīng tapped the whiteboard, drawing an arrow from Aunt Lín’s photo to Líng Shàojié and said, “Since Líng Shàojié isn’t lying, have you considered the possibility that the information she has might be wrong from the beginning? Everything about the infant swap, her parents’ affairs, were all told to her by Aunt Lín. Even the birth certificate she holds was given to her by Aunt Lín.”

“…Isn’t that too coincidental?”

Aunt Lín provided both the motive and the “fatal weapon” for Líng Shàojié’s revenge, yet Líng Shàojié doesn’t want Aunt Lín to know about it.

Could this be a case of murder by proxy?

Sister Yīng continued, “Líng Shàojié says Aunt Lín and Lín Yùhuáng have a strained relationship. Since she’s Lín Yùhuáng’s sister, could she be trying to topple him for inheritance rights? Or perhaps for similar reasons, as outdated patriarchal ideas are passed down generation after generation. Maybe she was treated unfairly in her family because she was a girl.”

This theory seemed plausible, but it was too subjective. Without sufficient evidence, it’s best not to jump to conclusions… This is what Sister Shān taught me.

“Mmm, so I’m talking about investigation. Since we know where Líng Shàojié lives, many things will be easier… Ah, this kid.”

Qiǎnxià escaped from Xiǎo Lěi’s embrace and dove into the only plump figure.

“It’s still comfortable in Sister Yīng’s arms.”

Xiǎo Lěi pouted and moved closer to me, saying, “We can’t investigate Chairman, but we can still reach that Lin Da Gongzi, right?”

Indeed, he could be a backup investigation target.

I turned around and asked, “Do you know Lín Yùhuáng’s son, Lǐn Huā?”

They were all from prominent families, so there might be some connection.

But Lǐn Huā poked my head again.

“I don’t know. Do you think Grandma’s temper would give the Lin family any good looks?”

…That’s right, this side is extreme feminism.