Chapter 132

Page Twenty-Five: Something Must Have Gone Wrong If I Had to Climb Through the Window to Get Home

“I’ll pick this dress; it’s perfect for Huaying.”

Fēi Jiě chose a sapphire blue silk dress as payment and a gift for her ex-wife. I, on the other hand, was more interested in money. In the end, I still took the agreed-upon one thousand yuan.

Actually, I originally wanted to pick out some clothes for Lǐn Huā, but there really wasn’t anything suitable in this store.

Tony·Yang personally packed the dress for Fēi Jiě, then carried the large bag full of clothes and left the shop with us.

“I had planned to treat everyone to dinner, but now I need to take these clothes to the clothing factory and send the photos to the printing shop, so I’ll have to skip it.”

After he said that, I realized it was already close to dinner time.

“Oh, it’s fine. We still have Sister Fēiyuè, so we can go eat together~”

“Ah? Can I come too?”

Sister Fēiyuè seemed to be planning to go straight home, but unexpectedly, Lǐn Huā wanted to pull her along for dinner. She was looking at her brother with an inquiring gaze.

“If you want to, just follow us. Eat whatever you like, and your brother will cover the expenses.”

Thus, Sister Fēiyuè naturally joined our shopping group.

“Sister Fēiyuè, do you know where I can find stuffed toy bears in the Balance Commercial District?”

Lǐn Huā was asking on behalf of Fēi Jiě, who wanted to buy a gift for her younger cousin. Old Fēng’s daughter was thirteen years old, not much older than Xiao Qianxia. She must be a cute little girl, right?

“Teddy bears? If you don’t mind waiting, I could make one for you. It would be better than what you’d find in stores.”

“Thank you, Sister Fēiyuè, but this sister has to give it to her younger sister tomorrow. Even if we start working on it now, it won’t be ready in time, right?”

When Lǐn Huā mentioned the word “sister,” Fēi Jiě slightly lowered her head. The transition from daughter to sister must have been emotionally complex for a father.

Fēi Jiě’s expression went unnoticed by Sister Fēiyuè.

“Oh? Then let me lead the way. There’s a large toy store upstairs. They should have what you’re looking for.”

Sister Fēiyuè guaranteed with confidence, then she looked at Fēi Jiě closely with sparkling eyes.

“It’s great to have a sister. My idiot brother rarely gives me gifts. He didn’t even bring any souvenirs when he returned from studying abroad.”

Her brother certainly lacked common sense, but it was nothing compared to having reliable brothers like me and Fēng Wǔ… Wait, am I not a brother?

Crazy! Aren’t Tangerine and Xiao Qianxia both my sisters!

Sister Fēiyuè’s words stirred Fēi Jiě’s heart again, and the still lake rippled with emotion. She had a hint of sadness in her eyes, making her look even more charming.

Such a weak expression would never have been shown by the old Fēng before.

“I haven’t seen her for many years. I owe her so much, and I don’t know how to face her properly.”

Fēi Jiě always blamed herself for everything, as if her daughter had suffered so much over the years.

Though single-parent families often struggle, Xiao Qianxia is also part of the Huángfǔ family! Her life must be much better than Old Fēng’s, who has been drifting alone—harshly speaking, the child was so young when they divorced, and after all these years, she might have forgotten what her father looks like.

The toy store Sister Fēiyuè took us to was indeed huge. Fēi Jiě finally got her full-size teddy bear, which stood almost as tall as Sister Fēiyuè. Carrying it would be inconvenient.

Moreover, with this teddy bear, eating a heavy-smelling dinner would be difficult. So, we ended up choosing a revolving sushi restaurant.

Revolving sushi restaurants charge based on the color of the plates, so I usually picked the cheaper ones, which made Sashimi rolls or Nori rolls. Eventually, Lǐn Huā couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Don’t just grab the cheapest ones! Idiot!”

She grabbed a piece of salmon sushi from her plate and shoved it into my mouth. Unfortunately, there was too much wasabi between the rice and salmon, making me almost cry from the spiciness.

Actually, being frugal was only part of it. I not only disliked spicy food, but I also disliked raw food. Even though the salmon didn’t have much of a fishy taste, I still couldn’t help feeling nauseous.

Oh, right, the water faucet on the revolving sushi table is for tea, not for washing hands!

In the end, Lǐn Huā didn’t let me pay.

As the saying goes, if you accept something, you become indebted; if you eat someone else’s food, you feel soft. Today, Lǐn Huā bought me clothes and treated me to dinner. I felt deeply indebted to her, unsure of how to repay her.

Thinking this way, must Sister Qiàn also feel this way?

After dinner, we took a taxi home. Sister Fēiyuè was going to the subway station, so she came along. Only when we passed Mí Fēng Street did they drop me off.

“Goodbye~” I waved goodbye to the departing taxi.

Carrying the bag of clothes back, I noticed the lights were on in the living room.

Oh no, Dad has returned from work, and worse, the red sports car is parked outside, meaning Wū Qínglán hasn’t left. Even if I scared Dad into a blackout, I wouldn’t get past her.

I sneaked through the yard, using the fence’s shadow for cover, and reached the window of my room. I tried to summon the Beautiful Girl notebook to help in an emergency.

There was no response.

The notebook was only enthusiastic about turning people into beautiful girls.

So, I had to climb. The route was straightforward: use the air conditioner unit on the first-floor guest room to reach the windowsill, then step onto the air conditioner unit of my room to get inside.

I hid the bag of clothes behind some bushes, then pushed myself up onto the first-floor air conditioner unit. Since Zhao Zhao and Xiao Lei, even ten-year-old Xiao Qianxia, could do it, I shouldn’t have a problem.

…

But there was a big problem. I overestimated my physical capabilities.

Being physically exhausted was one thing, but the damned chest hindered my climbing. Being squeezed between my weight and the windowsill was painful. Finally reaching the second-floor air conditioner unit, I was panting heavily and needed a moment to rest.

Then I noticed Xiao Qianxia, wearing a martial arts outfit, watching me from the neighboring Zhu family’s yard… This was her usual practice time, wasn’t it?

This situation was akin to adding poison to already frozen wounds.

I put my finger to my lips, signaling Xiao Qianxia to be quiet. Whether she understood or misunderstood, she ran around and entered our yard, standing below and looking up at me with a particularly happy smile.

Clearly, she was very interested in this “sister” perched on the air conditioner. Was she planning to climb up too?

I couldn’t afford to rest. I reached out, opened the window, and lunged onto the windowsill, pushing aside the curtains and stepping onto the desk to enter the room. Turning around, I saw Xiao Qianxia following me, climbing faster than I did, easily flipping onto the windowsill with the agility of a ninja.

I glanced at the notebook, but ultimately decided to bring down the hungry body from the bed and push it under the bed.

The reason for not using the notebook to dispel the doppelgänger was simple: erasing the name and waking up the original body would take time, and during that period, Xiao Qianxia might see the doppelgänger disappear, complicating matters further.

“Sister!”

The athletic child intruded again into my bedroom, jumping and hanging onto my neck.

“Hush, keep it down.”

She was light enough that I could carry her without much effort. I walked to the bedroom door and locked it, giving us a buffer space in case Wū Qínglán or Dad heard any noise and came up. Unlike last time, I didn’t want Dad to see anything embarrassing.

“So, Xiao Qianxia, what brings you up here again?”

She didn’t answer my question, but instead hugged me playfully: “Sister is definitely a sister.”

I held her and sat on the bed, ignoring the dirt on my black dress. She tilted her head and rubbed against my chest, her small hands wandering.

Of course, I pushed them away.

Based on my analysis, Xiao Qianxia, as a child from a single-parent family, lacks maternal love and thus has a natural affection for the symbol of motherhood represented by the chest… But seeing this chest now feels troublesome, extremely troublesome.

“In fact, sometimes I turn into a sister, Xiao Qianxia. You have to keep this secret for me, okay?”

Since she had already seen both my original and duplicate forms, I decided to be upfront with her.

Although a ten-year-old’s promise is hard to trust, it’s also easy to dismiss as nonsense.

“I promise! I won’t tell anyone! Cross my heart!”

She extended her little finger.

She looked serious. This child was like a caged canary, her innocence more pure than other children…

It’s amazing!

“Okay, cross my heart!”

My little finger hooked with Xiao Qianxia’s, shaking gently up and down.