Chapter 133

Page Twenty-Six: Rain

If I wanted to send Xiao Qianxia back to the Candles’ house, I had to go downstairs. To go downstairs, I needed to cancel the clone, but since Xiao Qianxia was here, I couldn’t cancel the clone.

Although it was somewhat convoluted, I was indeed trapped in an endless loop.

To avoid being discovered by Old Dad and Wu Qinglan, I didn’t even turn on the lights in my room. I held Xiao Qianxia on the bed, chatting idly by the moonlight seeping in through the window.

**’s hair smells so good.

“Sister, will I have sisters’ big柰子 when I grow up?”

Who taught her the word “柰子”?

“Cough, cough, girls shouldn’t talk about柰zis,” I corrected her.

The innocent Xiao Qianxia, like a blank sheet of paper, must not be corrupted by dirty adults.

“A more tactful term would be chest, and the proper name is breast. Just don’t say柰zi, okay?”

“Say chest?”

She repeated it, nodding slightly, as if understanding.

I looked down at **’s flat chest. A ten-year-old girl had just started developing. Although she looked this way now, there was still hope for her.

“The size of chests varies among girls. Some are as flat as boys!”

Most of our conversations were like this, with Xiao Qianxia asking questions and me answering them to satisfy her endless curiosity.

Around half past eight, things finally took a turn. Wu Qinglan left in her red sports car. That meant that besides Xiao Qianxia and me, only Old Dad remained at home.

After Wu Qinglan left, Old Dad hurried upstairs. He twisted the doorknob of my room, found it locked, and started knocking.

“Son? Are you awake?”

It seemed he mistook my clone for the real me.

I deliberately lowered my voice, pretending to be male.

“I’m awake. What’s up?”

“You haven’t eaten dinner yet, right? Xiao Wu came to check on you earlier and said you were sleeping.”

“Mm-hm, but it’s better if you don’t come in.”

Xiao Qianxia laughed, finding something odd about my lowered voice.

“Is… Is someone else here?”

“That’s why I told you not to come in. The neighbor’s child is playing here… That’s my dad. Call him Uncle, Xiao Qianxia?”

“Uncle, hello!”

“Oh, hi… Wait, when did you get up?”

Upon hearing Xiao Qianxia’s voice, he became flustered and spoke incoherently.

“Do you want to meet her? She’s very well-behaved.”

“No, it’s fine… Don’t come down. There’s some leftover food downstairs. If you want to eat, come down. I’ll return to my room first.”

He actually considered such a cute Xiao Qianxia a disaster. What a terrible adult.

“Has Xiao Qianxia eaten dinner?”

“Yes.”

How nice, my real self must be starving, having only eaten a cup of instant noodles all day… Guess it counts as dieting.

“It’s late today. Let me take you home.”

She seemed reluctant but obediently followed me downstairs.

“Can I play with Sister tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow, it’s only Brother. But if I’m home, you can visit anytime… Just don’t climb through the window. It’s too dangerous.”

If anything happened to Xiao Qianxia, my life would be in danger.

Holding Xiao Qianxia downstairs, I watched her run into her own yard, then grabbed the clothing bag hidden behind the bushes and went back upstairs.

“Hungry, my stomach hurts. If this continues, I might get a perforated ulcer…”

After wiping off the bookmark’s name, I crawled out from under the bed. The first thing I saw was a black dress on the floor, dirty because of climbing through the window. I had to clean it and return it to Fei Jie, which made me feel very guilty.

…

The next day, Sunday.

The sky was dark, heavy clouds covering the sunlight like a canopy, hinting at an overdue heavy rain—after all, it was September, the rainy season. Summer was coming to an end.

“Sister!”

Right after breakfast, Xiao Qianxia rang the doorbell. Coincidentally, Old Dad wasn’t working today, and the sudden appearance of a little girl scared him.

“Xiao Qianxia, go upstairs to Brother’s room.”

“Okay!”

“Son, I’m going back to my room. Tell me when she leaves.”

“Sir, that’s just a child. Your behavior is quite inappropriate… We’re just playing in the room, not coming downstairs. You don’t need to hide in the bedroom.”

Back in the room, Xiao Qianxia reached out to grab the figurines on my shelf.

Fortunately, she gave up on the figurine and ran towards me as soon as I entered.

Though Old Dad’s behavior was strange, Xiao Qianxia didn’t seem to care much. Instead of wondering why this uncle was hiding from her, she was more concerned about my chest.

“Sister, can you show your chest?”

Hey, she talked about it like it was detachable, not a missile.

“Now I’m Brother. Only when I have a chest can you call me Sister, understand?”

“Sister~”

She never budged on this point.

The rain started falling quickly, moisture rising in the air. Rarely, I opened the curtain of the balcony door.

Watching Xiao Qianxia skillfully maneuver the characters on the TV, I enjoyed the rain outside.

Fine raindrops pattered against the branches, roads, and eaves, creating a symphony of sounds, heavy or light, noisy yet tranquil. After a while, the rain drowned out other noises, bringing a unique serenity.

Especially the rain on the eaves, flowing down through the drainage gutters, forming long silver threads, their sound like a gentle stream, clear and pleasant, yet also urging my bladder… oh, I need to use the restroom.

Lunch was Old Dad’s homemade noodles.

Old Dad knocked on my door, but when I opened it, he wasn’t there. There was only a large and small bowl of noodles on the tray.

After lunch, Xiao Qianxia rubbed her eyes from drowsiness. Since it was raining outside, I let her sleep on my bed.

She fell asleep within three seconds of touching the pillow.

Just as Xiao Qianxia fell asleep, my phone rang. I pulled it out to see that it was Lin Hua calling.

Not wanting to wake the sleeping angel, I used crutches to leave the room and answered the call in the hallway.

“Lin Hua?”

“This voice, Kai-chan has returned to normal…?”

Her tone sounded regretful.

“Oh, it changed back last night. Is there anything wrong?”

“You mentioned before that Fei Jie can still change back, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Next Sunday, Fei Jie plans to change back to meet Xiao Jing.”

Yesterday, Fei Jie mentioned meeting her ex-wife and daughter.

“Sure, what happened today when Fei Jie met her daughter?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

“Kai-chan, if you saw your missing mother now, would you feel angry?”

Lin Hua suddenly threw the question at me, catching me off guard.

“That depends on the reason for her disappearance… After all, I’ve never met her.”

A sigh echoed over the phone: “Yes, you and your cousin’s situations are different… That child once felt paternal love, once possessed it, hence the disparity, leading to this situation.”

“What kind of situation?”

“Frustratingly, during dinner, the child said in front of Fei Jie that her father was a murderer, that she hated her father the most.”

I was stunned and understood why Lin Hua asked me such a question.

“How is Fei Jie?”

“She cried.”

Fei Jie’s frozen emotions shattered upon hearing her daughter’s heart-wrenching words.

Reality is truly cruel.

When Old Feng lived in the rented house under the bridge, there was a framed children’s painting. Without a doubt, it was done by this cousin.

It was Old Feng’s treasure, and his ex-wife and daughter were once his pillars.

“Fei Jie held on until dinner ended, waiting for your aunt to take the cousin away before crying… I didn’t know how to help, but Fei Jie made a decision.”

“Help her. She wants to change back to meet her daughter again as a father.”

The rain continued, the clouds lowering, making the air and mood increasingly restless.

“Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything to Xiao Lei. Just comfort Fei Jie well.”