Chapter 371

One Hundred Seventy-Fourth Page Back to Temporarily

[December 7th, Sunday]

[12:22 PM]

Xiāo Bìnyì recounted the story of how he met Yǐn Tiānjié.

But Xiǎo Qiǎnxià did not realize that Yǐn Tiānjié’s encounter was related to her mother’s research institute, and continued happily hugging Little Yǐn Yǐn…

Even though she could potentially become an older sister, why does she keep turning into a baby every day?

Júzi crossed her arms and confirmed, “So À Jié staying by your side is to prepare to go see… that Tāo Gē?”

She also knew Tāo Jiàng.

But she didn’t want Xiāo Bìnyì to know that she recognized Tāo Jiàng.

Xiāo Bìnyì replied, “That’s what I think too. Could it be that she likes me? If she joins the Tǎ family, there are dorms for employees. I can take care of her if she’s in my group.”

Júzi retorted, “No, I think she doesn’t need you to take care of her. After all, you seem to be the least reliable one in the group.”

Xiāo Bìnyì just shrugged and said nothing more.

Then someone knocked on the door.

“Cough! Everyone, Sister Wēi’s lunch is ready. She asked me to call you all for dinner!”

Yòu Zi peered around at the door but didn’t remove her shoes to come in.

I reminded them, “Why still calling her Sister Wēi? You should call her Mom now, Yòu Zi.”

The little creature glared at me and ran away, as if she was only there to call them for dinner.

Ā Jié also looked at Xiāo Bìnyì.

“Xiǎo Xiāo, you guys should join us for dinner too. Eat well first, then clean up in the afternoon. Líng Qīng, let’s get Miss Yǐn back to normal first.”

Yǐn Tiānjié hurriedly said, “Ah! That would be too much trouble. We have work meals in the car…”

Ā Jié picked up Little Yǐn Yǐn and went upstairs, with Xiǎo Qiǎnxià following closely with Yǐn Tiānjié’s clothes.

Xiāo Bìnyì wanted to go up too but was stopped by Júzi at the stairs.

“What are you doing going up there? She called you to eat. My Sister Wēi’s cooking is excellent! As a nanny from the home service company, you must know how to cook. Want to give it a try?”

“I do know a bit.”

À Huò nodded and followed Júzi out, seeing that Xiāo Bìnyì was hesitating, I also advised, “If you go up now and catch her changing clothes, she might hold a grudge against you again. Don’t worry too much, Ā Jié won’t do anything to her.”

Leaving a small clump of notebook material to sneak upstairs and listen, I dragged Xiāo Bìnyì home for dinner.

Yǐn Tiānjié had seen Ā Jié at the research institute before, so she recognized her when they met here. That’s why she kept pressing down the brim of her hat to cover half her face.

Following Ā Jié to the guest room on the second floor, Xiǎo Qiǎnxià asked, “Mom, are you going to turn Baby back into a big sister?”

“Yes.”

“How sad~”

Xiǎo Qiǎnxià pouted, and Ā Jié lovingly stroked her daughter’s head.

Gently comforting her, “Hehe, you have so many sisters now. You’ll have a chance to hold babies in the future.”

“Oh! Can a sister help Xiǎo Qiǎnxià have a little sister?”

“Dumb girl, your sister’s child will call you younger aunt.”

While teasing Xiǎo Qiǎnxià, Ā Jié didn’t stop. She placed Little Yǐn Yǐn on the sofa and pulled out the crown of the mechanical watch, twisting the hour hand counterclockwise by half a circle to adjust Yǐn Tiānjié’s age to around fifteen or sixteen.

Click—

The little person on the sofa started glowing and swelling.

During this time, Ā Jié flipped over the mechanical watch to check. The liquid magic inside the back cover slot was almost full, clearly indicating that she had been replenished by Miss Kē Màn.

“Xiǎo Yīng, this is a prop made by your mother. If something breaks, can you fix it?”

Ā Jié’s question meant that my hiding place was exposed once again.

I flew out from under the sofa, turning into a round, pink fruit bat and landing on Xiǎo Qiǎnxià’s head.

About the size of a coin.

“Haha! Xiǎo Yīng is so tiny!”

Xiǎo Qiǎnxià stretched out her finger to poke me. I answered Ā Jié’s question, “I can’t do it. Maybe we need to ask Grandpa. There are fragments of the Heavenly Path and Lord Hái in my mother’s body. Through the soul of a superior being, she has mastered knowledge we don’t understand. So, I can’t comprehend her creations… But Grandpa should be able to fix it.”

Grandpa also liked tinkering with small gadgets. In a way, my mother’s hobby of making useless inventions was inherited from him.

“Mmm…”

The white light dissipated, and Yǐn Tiānjié sat up on the sofa, noticing she was naked and quickly put on her clothes.

Ā Jié smiled, “Don’t rush. I’ve seen it before.”

Since Xiāo Bìnyì wasn’t here, Yǐn Tiānjié’s shyness was unnecessary. She sighed and slowed down her actions.

She asked while dressing, “Are you the director of that research institute?”

“Yes, I won’t be the director for long.”

Zǐ Jiàng was the one Ā Jié designated as the new director.

“Uh, are you quitting? What exactly is your institute researching? Is there any way for me to return to my original state… Oh!”

Yǐn Tiānjié’s questions were cautious, but she didn’t notice that Xiǎo Qiǎnxià had been staring at her since earlier and finally couldn’t resist lunging forward.

Although she had recognized Ā Jié, this child hadn’t changed at all. She had a particular fondness for certain female features, especially those larger than standard.

“Director, what’s wrong with your kid… Eeek! Don’t bite! I’m not your mom, and I don’t have milk!”

“Yǐn Jiejie, Xiǎo Qiǎnxià likes you~”

Xiǎo Qiǎnxià launched a cute offensive, which Yǐn Tiānjié found baffling. She turned red and covered her mouth to prevent herself from making odd sounds until Ā Jié intervened and stopped Xiǎo Qiǎnxià’s increasingly aggressive behavior.

“Alright, Xiǎo Qiǎnxià, wait for your sister to finish dressing.”

At this point, tears were forming in Yǐn Tiānjié’s eyes.

“That’s too much! What are you planning to do with me!”

Ā Jié sat next to her, and Xiǎo Qiǎnxià insisted on squeezing between them.

“I want to ask you, how is your current life compared to before?”

“It’s okay, but the salary at the home service company is surprisingly high. I never expected it and didn’t even think about it.”

These days, hiring nannies and postpartum caregivers was expensive, so their corresponding income was also high. There were plenty of postpartum caregivers earning over ten thousand yuan, although these positions became more valuable with age. Therefore, Xiāo Bìnyì and his team only handled cleaning or high-altitude cleaning services.

But with Yǐn Tiānjié’s looks, doing these jobs seemed like a waste. She had the opportunity to find better work, yet she insisted on staying with Xiāo Bìnyì, and no one knew why.

Ā Jié said, “Changing identities and looking at the world from a different perspective, you’ll discover things you didn’t notice before. But what I want isn’t an answer about work… I mean, do you think it’s better to be a woman or a man?”

To make sure Yǐn Tiānjié understood, Ā Jié asked very directly.

“This is a difficult question to answer. If you want my honest opinion, I feel like I’m still a man, at least internally. However, there are many conveniences and privileges for young, beautiful women, and I enjoy such privileges.”

Ā Jié pressed further, “Since you’re enjoying being a woman, what’s your basis for insisting you’re still a man?”

As the conversation delved into self-awareness, the topic became philosophical.

Yǐn Tiānjié replied, “I hate men now, but I still like women.”

“Then you might be a lesbian.”

“It depends on how I define myself. As long as I believe my inner self is still male, I haven’t changed. I think maintaining my male identity and having a young female body is the best state. It’s possible to maintain youth as long as I have that… right?”

She pointed at Ā Jié’s mechanical watch, which the latter casually tossed over. Yǐn Tiānjié caught it in a panic.

“Dangerous! What if it breaks!”

“Props always break eventually. By the way, the person who can repair this watch is currently unaccounted for.”

“So I need to take extra care of this watch.”

Yǐn Tiānjié put on the watch and frowned.

“It wouldn’t be suitable for me, a test subject, but even the researchers are unaccounted for… Your research is too dangerous.”

She seemed to imagine her mother as an injured researcher due to an accident.

“Don’t worry about the research. Just go see Director Kē regularly for health check-ups and provide us with long-term observation data.”

Ā Jié asked again, “Regardless of whether the body can stay young forever, how do you plan to maintain your supposed male identity?”

“Are you here to give me psychological counseling?”

Yǐn Tiānjié twisted her lips but still answered, “I just want to be myself freely. I know I have some feminine traits, but that’s just to please my inner self as a man. If my inner self is eventually influenced by my body, I’ll just go with the flow.”

Perhaps she was used to living day by day, she didn’t think long-term, so her mentality was quite good.

Ā Jié teased, “Going with the flow and marrying Xiāo Bìnyì?”

“No way, that guy is the worst among men, even worse than I originally was.”

Seemingly recalling something infuriating, Yǐn Tiānjié strongly objected and puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

I asked, “Since you dislike him so much, why do you stay by his side?”

“That’s because… the head ornament spoke!”

I accidentally made a sound, and Yǐn Tiānjié looked over in shock.

I had been lying on top of Xiǎo Qiǎnxià’s head, and she mistook me for a round hair accessory.

“You’ve seen people transform into animals, but you can’t accept that animals can talk?”

“Are you human? What kind of animal are you, like a steamed bun?”

“Honduran white bat.”

“White bat? But you’re pink.”

“I’m a mutant.”

Yǐn Tiānjié stared at me, her expression shifting from confusion to relief, and finally, a hint of enlightenment.

“Whatever, I’ve already accepted it. There’s nothing surprising anymore.”

“So why do you stay by Xiāo Bìnyì’s side?”

Miss Kē Màn sent money to her bank account every month, theoretically allowing her to live comfortably without working, and avoid sharing a small youth apartment with two men.

“Uh, do I really have to answer that?”

“The neighbors are already eating. Are you planning to starve?”

Yǐn Tiānjié sighed and turned to look out the window.

“Bìnyì only told you about our meeting? Actually, something else happened after that…”