Chapter 2, Part 2: I Picked Up a Child

Pei Yiyan was given a lecture by the police officers at the police station and then released, carrying a small bag that he couldn't shake off.

Pei Yiyan was overjoyed to become a father after school; his head was throbbing, and he dragged his heavy steps with a blank face.

Xi Xi nestled on his gloomy father's shoulder, snoring softly. His warm breath sprayed onto the boy's neck, and the close, intimate contact made him very uncomfortable.

He reached out a finger and poked Xixi's cheek, trying to wake her up, but the sleeping girl ignored him completely.

Pei Yiyan had no choice but to zip up his school uniform all the way up, hoping to cover as much as possible.

Qiu Ming waited in the living room, keeping a close eye on things, knowing Pei Yiyan would return as soon as he heard the door open.

He got up and quickly opened his door, only to bump into a familiar figure as expected.

Before he could even smile, Pei Yiyan turned around, his cold eyes filled with a sinister aura, making him seem like a living person.

Qiu Ming:

Quietly withdraw a neighbor.

Bang! A hand with distinct knuckles gripped the doorframe, and a voice rang out from above: "Is there any food at home?"

Qiu Ming was startled: "Huh?"

"She's hungry."

Pei Yiyan held the baby in one arm. Qiu Ming followed his gaze and buried his little head, which had two pigtails, in the crook of Pei Yiyan's shoulder.

Qiu Ming's eyes widened, then he burst out laughing: "Brother Yan, I didn't expect you to still have such a childlike heart, buying such a big anime figure. Which store is it from? The craftsmanship is pretty good, it looks just like the real thing."

He seems unapproachable on the surface, but he's actually quite secretly passionate.

Pei Yiyan sneered with a sour face, "You should get glasses."

Which anime figure can wake up halfway through a day and start complaining of being hungry?

Qiu Ming exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Yan, how did you know I was going to get new glasses this weekend? There's a new arcade that just opened in the city, wanna go play some games together?"

"I'm not going." The topic had gone off track, and Pei Yiyan interrupted impatiently, "Fine, if there's no food, I'm leaving."

Qiu Ming slapped his forehead: "No, no, there is!"

"Dad, time to eat," the life-size miniature figure suddenly spoke.

Xi Xi, who was holding Pei Yiyan's neck, slowly turned her face, her smiling eyes meeting Qiu Ming's.

The air suddenly became quiet.

"I'm not, don't call me dad." Pei Yiyan corrected him expressionlessly.

"You are, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"

Pei Yiyan closed his eyes, wishing he were dead: "Shut up if you don't want to go hungry."

Qiu Ming stared wide-eyed at the two figures, one large and one small, which looked as if they were carved from the same mold.

If he heard correctly, the child called Yan Ge "Dad"?

dad!

No wonder he's usually so aloof from women; turns out he's having a secret relationship. His child is already so big; she's definitely someone who's more experienced than him.

"You've really kept it well hidden," Qiu Ming said with admiration.

"What food do you have at home?" Pei Yiyan didn't have the energy to care what Qiu Ming thought; he just wanted to feed the child quickly and go home.

"Uh, yes, we do, but only glutinous rice balls." Qiu Ming's eyes were practically glued to Xi Xi. Remembering that Pei Yiyan had said he wouldn't eat glutinous rice balls, he changed his mind and suggested, "I also have a few buckets of instant noodles hidden in my room. Why don't you guys eat instant noodles?"

Pei Yiyan: "Okay."

Glutinous rice balls are sticky and might make children's throats feel dry, but instant noodles should be fine.

"Come in and sit down, I'll go make some soup."

Pei Yiyan waited in the living room with Xixi. It was the little ginseng spirit baby's first time visiting a human's home. She was wide awake and looked around curiously.

She pointed at the light bulb and asked, "Dad, is that a luminous pearl? It's so big and beautiful!"

“”

Then she touched the TV in the living room: "Dad, what's this big black box for? Can it fit you inside?"

Pei Yiyan pretended not to hear her and ignored her, continuing to play his game.

Xi Xi ran over and sidled up to him, wanting to see what he was playing, but Pei Yiyan blocked her way completely.

Xi Xi ran to the other side, tiptoed, and peeked around.

Pei Yiyan was extremely annoyed, so he covered her head with his large hand, freezing the noisy child in place.

"Ugh, Daddy, I hate it, let go."

"dad!"

Xi Xi swung her arms like whirlwinds, but Pei Yiyan, busy operating the game with one hand, remained unmoved.

Xi Xi got anxious, her pretty almond-shaped eyes puffed up with anger, she ground her little milk teeth, and then a clever idea came to her.

The two little tufts on his head suddenly turned into two ginseng whiskers. He chuckled and started tickling Pei Yiyan's palm.

The effect was immediate. Pei Yiyan immediately let go of her hand and looked at Xixi with a surprised and strange expression.

The little girl was very proud; her father, who was fearless, was only afraid of her mother and being tickled.

Only she knew this secret.

Pei Yiyan was clearly hesitant to speak when Qiu Ming came over with two buckets of instant noodles and said to the two of them, "Come on, choose either flavor."

The aroma of instant noodles was so irresistible that even a ginseng spirit, who had lived deep in the mountains for over 300 years and whose staple food was the essence of the sun and moon, was instantly captivated.

She swallowed hard, her eyes shining, she wanted to eat!

The little girl's greedy look amused Qiu Ming, who nudged Pei Yiyan's arm and asked, "Brother Yan, what's the little girl's name?"

"I think her name is Hua Xi." I heard this when the police station was taking my statement.

"Hua xi? Which Hua, which xi? Is her mother's surname Hua?" Qiu Ming searched his memory for any girls around him with the surname Hua, but unfortunately, he couldn't find any.

Pei Yiyan replied perfunctorily, "West of east, west, south, and north."

"Hey, Xixi, that's a cute name." Qiu Ming teased, stroking his chin. "Brother Yan, you're really tight-lipped. When are you going to let me meet your wife?"

"I don't have a sister-in-law."

"What do you mean? If you don't have a sister-in-law, where did your child come from? Don't tell me you adopted him."

Qiu Ming secretly thought to himself, "They've already brought the child to see him, what's the point of hiding it? It's like taking off your pants to fart, completely unnecessary."

Pei Yiyan paused for a moment, turned off his phone, and habitually reached into his pocket for a cigarette, but his movement faltered halfway.

"I found it." He said sullenly, hands in his pockets, and briefly explained the situation.

Qiu Ming knew Pei Yiyan well; he was a person with absolutely no sense of humor, a typical old cadre who never smiled.

Although but

"Believe it or not, even if you don't say a word when you take her out, people will know that you two are related by blood."

Pei Yiyan paused, his dark eyes wide with surprise.

Qiu Ming said helplessly, "Brother, you don't know you two look alike, do you? Why don't you look in the mirror now?"

Pei Yiyan knew there were no mirrors in his house, but even if there weren't any, surely he wouldn't be so clueless about his own appearance?

That's outrageous.

Without saying a word, Pei Yiyan picked up Xixi, who was slurping her noodles, and stood her in front of the full-length mirror.

He was stunned when he saw his face clearly in the mirror.

Xi Xi slurped the noodles from the corner of her mouth, struggling with dissatisfaction: "Food, food."

He was so anxious that he stopped calling his father.

As soon as Pei Yiyan let go, the little girl ran back and continued to eat her instant noodles with her little fork.

He eats noodles exactly the same way he did when he was a child.

It was just a coincidence, Pei Yiyan thought to himself, but the subtle change in his eyes did not escape Qiu Ming's notice.

As the only friend of Pei Yiyan who could talk to him and had a personal relationship with him, Qiu Ming peeled an orange and offered his suggestion:

“It’s not difficult to verify this. Just do a DNA test. My aunt is a teacher at the orphanage. If she’s not your child, we can send her to the orphanage.”

Pei Yiyan thought this was a good idea and decided to skip class tomorrow to take Xixi there.

Qiu Ming placed the peeled orange next to Xi Xi and said with a smile, "Xi Xi, come on, eat the orange your brother peeled, see if it's sweet."

Xi Xi was overjoyed: "Thank you, brother."

Ganzhou blood oranges are considered a delicacy among oranges, sweeter and more nutritious than regular oranges.

When she was cultivating in the mountains, her mother would go down to the orchard every few days to steal some fruit to satisfy her cravings. She was too young to take human form at that time, so she could only watch her parents eat.

The little ginseng spirit baby has been wanting to taste blood oranges for a long time.

A small orange segment, about the size of half a watermelon, was placed in Xixi's hand. The little girl opened her mouth wide and took a bite, her tiny teeth embedding into the flesh, as the sweet juice squirted into her mouth.

The rich aroma of oranges filled the air, and the little ginseng spirit sitting on the stool had eyes that curved like crescent moons from sweetness.

Pei Yiyan leaned back on the sofa leisurely, glancing sideways at Xixi's silly expression, finding it hard to understand how eating an orange could make her so happy.

As a thank you, Xixi looked Qiu Ming over carefully for a few moments and said in her childish voice, "Brother, have you been feeling dizzy and weak lately?"

Qiu Ming became interested: "How did you know?"

He's been staying up too late lately, which lowered his immunity. He caught the flu and hasn't recovered after half a month.

He gets a stuffy nose and headaches every time he goes to sleep, which makes him feel worse and worse.

"Because you have a little dark cloud here." Xixi pointed to his forehead. "A little dark cloud means you're sick."

Qiu Ming chuckled: "You mean to say I have a dark complexion? Alright, alright, you little brat can even read faces? That's quite a talent. Could you teach your older brother?"

The little girl shook her head seriously: "Xixi is not a little Taoist priest and can't read faces." She can only cure minor illnesses.

"Don't worry, Xixi can brush away your little dark cloud." She patted her chest confidently, then commanded, "Brother, lower your head."

Qiu Ming assumed the child was just being playful and lowered his head in agreement. The child's soft little hand gently patted his forehead twice, and a warm breeze inexplicably blew up.

Qiu Ming's fatigue, nasal congestion, and dizziness that had plagued him for days gradually subsided.

Xi Xi instructed, "Brother, you must rest early every day and be sure to fall asleep before 7 PM, otherwise you will have insufficient Yang energy and then kidney Yang deficiency."

Qiu Ming's smiling face froze. What the heck?

Isn't kidney yang deficiency just kidney deficiency? How come someone with such a small nose and big nose even knows this?

A large hand covered Xixi's mouth, and Pei Yiyan frowned: "What nonsense are you talking about? Don't talk nonsense."

Xi Xi made a protesting "mmm" sound, she wasn't talking nonsense, they little ginseng spirits were born with the ability to heal and treat illnesses.

Seeing that Xixi had almost finished eating, Pei Yiyan prepared to take her back, and Qiu Ming saw them to the door.

Xi Xi held a bag of blood oranges in her arms, her little face flushed with happiness, and her eyes were shining as she looked at Qiu Ming.

Her dimples were sweet and gentle: "Thank you for your hospitality, brother!"

It's really embarrassing to eat and take things away at the same time.

Qiu Ming wasn't originally interested in children, but Xi Xi was so well-behaved, cute, and mischievous that he couldn't resist her charm, and now he really liked this little girl.

He's much better than that younger brother Chaoxiong who stayed in his hometown.

"You're welcome, come visit often."

Xi Xi: "Brother, when my mother comes back, she will definitely thank you very much."

This was the first time Pei Yiyan had heard Xixi mention her mother on her own initiative. He was about to ask her a few questions when Qiu Ming interrupted, "Who is your mother? Where is she?"

“My mother is a heartbreak plant. She used to live on the mountain like Xixi.”

"Mom's flowers are so pretty, brother. Do you like flowers? I can ask Mom to give you one sometime."

Qiu Ming was both amused and exasperated. "No need, no need. You should give these beautiful flowers to your dad."

Don't think he doesn't know that stuff is highly poisonous. Tsk, come to think of it, Yan Ge, this icy blockhead, is quite a good match for a femme fatale.

"Don't worry, the biggest and reddest flower will always be Dad's."

"That's wonderful." That's so filial.

Qiu Ming chuckled to himself.

Pei Yiyan sneered, his eyes sharp and cold, and pulled Xixi towards his home.

"go home."