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Join the ServerThe man walked over to the sofa and looked down at Su Yutao.
“Isn’t this the little beggar who was wandering around here a while ago? I wasn’t sure before, but I’ve been watching her—that white hair is too noticeable. Now I’m sure. It’s her.”
Lin Qingxue was stunned.
A little beggar?
Wandering around?
The man continued, “I’ve seen her several times, right around here. Sometimes at the entrance to the neighborhood, sometimes on a bench by the road. Blind and mute, poor thing.”
“My wife even gave her food a few times.”
He paused, his voice dropping slightly.
“About ten days ago, when she first showed up around here, she was as thin as a twig. My wife felt sorry for her and bought her two steamed buns. She ate them so fast, like she hadn’t eaten in days.”
Lin Qingxue stood nearby, listening. Her heart tightened.
Ten days ago.
She remembered the morning she found Su Yutao.
When she discovered her in that corner—curled up, trembling all over, her face as pale as paper.
So she had been wandering around here for that long.
The man went on, “Later, my wife brought her food every day. Sometimes buns, sometimes mantou. She can’t see and can’t talk. Every time we gave her something, she’d just nod, over and over.”
“About three or four days ago, my wife said she disappeared. We thought she’d left. Didn’t expect her to end up at your place.”
He looked at Lin Qingxue.
“What are you to her?”
Lin Qingxue opened her mouth.
What was she to her?
The one who picked her up?
The one who took her in?
She said, “I’m her… friend.”
The man looked at her, didn’t press further, just sighed. “This kid’s had it rough. My wife said she used to get bullied by some delinquent teenagers.”
“In that alley behind the complex. Sometimes we could hear them yelling at her—‘Blind!’ ‘Mute!’ My wife wanted to intervene, but those kids ran off fast.”
He glanced at Su Yutao, his voice even lower.
“She often had injuries. Once my wife saw a bruise on her arm and asked what happened. She couldn’t say. She just curled up, hugging herself.”
Lin Qingxue’s nails dug into her palm.
Injuries.
Bruises.
Bullied.
She remembered the dog bite wound on Su Yutao’s arm, the bruise on her shoulder, the way she curled up on the corner of the sofa, trembling.
So it wasn’t the first time.
She had been bullied all along.
The man sighed again. “This kid’s been unlucky. But now that she’s with you, she looks much better. Gained a little weight.”
“And she has a place to stay, sheltered from the wind and rain. No more wandering outside.”
He smiled.
“Sorry to trouble you. Take good care of her.”
Lin Qingxue nodded, her voice a little hoarse. “I will.”
The two of them left.
The door closed.
Lin Qingxue stood in the living room, looking at Su Yutao curled up on the sofa.
The little blind girl hugged the penguin, sleeping soundly, oblivious to everything.
She walked over, sat down beside Su Yutao, and gently reached out to stroke her hair.
Very light, very slow.
Su Yutao didn’t wake. She just nuzzled into Lin Qingxue’s palm, like a small animal that had finally found a warm place.
Lin Qingxue’s eyes reddened.
She remembered that morning when she found Su Yutao in that corner—she had only wanted to show kindness, to help a pitiful little beggar.
She didn’t know that Su Yutao had been bullied, that she had wandered around here for so long, that those injuries had come from something. She knew nothing.
All she knew was that Su Yutao was afraid of her, avoided her, bit her.
She thought she hadn’t done enough.
But that wasn’t it.
It was the world that had been too cruel to her.
Lin Qingxue withdrew her hand and said softly, “It won’t happen again.”
Su Yutao didn’t wake.
She was asleep.
In her dream, she smelled a fragrance, warm, like a sun-dried quilt.
She curled toward that direction and slept even deeper.
***
Su Yutao woke up because she was hungry.
Not the kind of hunger from stomach cramps, but the kind that came from sleeping too long, from her body crying out for food.
‘No matter what time I go to bed, if there’s nothing tomorrow, I sleep until noon. Actually, I could sleep longer—I just woke up because I’m hungry.’
She curled up on the sofa, holding Qiansui, still a bit dazed.
That sleep had been really comfortable.
Not the kind of dizziness from being knocked out, but a real, deep sleep where she didn’t have to think about anything.
Except for the time she slept at Shen Nian’s place, this was the most comfortable sleep she’d had since crossing over.
She moved her fingers and touched Qiansui in her arms.
Dry.
The fur was fluffy, soft, warm, as if it had been blow-dried.
She picked up Qiansui and pressed it to her face.
Warm. There was also a hot, dry smell, like a sun-dried quilt.
The daytime her had blow-dried it for her.
Su Yutao hugged Qiansui tighter.
Then she froze.
Qiansui wasn’t speaking.
She tugged at Qiansui’s wing.
No sound.
She tugged again.
Still no sound.
Su Yutao’s hands began to tremble.
Qiansui? Qiansui!
She pulled frantically, turning Qiansui over and over.
No sound.
Nothing.
Tears wouldn’t come, but panic flooded her.
Was Qiansui gone? Gone again? She opened her mouth, a hoarse sound forcing its way from her throat—“Hah, hah—”
“Hey, hey! Stop pulling! Stop pulling!”
That soft voice rang out, urgent, a little aggrieved. “If you keep pulling, I really will tear apart!”
Su Yutao’s hands stopped.
Qiansui was there.
Qiansui was still there.
She hugged Qiansui tighter.
Qiansui’s voice grew even more aggrieved. “I went to ask my master for an item, but she wouldn’t give it to me… boohoo…”
Su Yutao was stunned. Item?
Qiansui continued, “I just wanted a tool that could instantly kill the villain.”
“That way, I could take out the villain in one shot, the mission would be complete, and you wouldn’t have to get beaten up or live in fear every day.”
Su Yutao hugged Qiansui even tighter.
Instantly kill the villain.
Qiansui was trying to help her.
Qiansui’s voice grew smaller. “She said no, that there’s no such thing, and then she scolded me…”
Su Yutao pressed Qiansui to her face, heart aching.
Qiansui had been scolded by her master.
For her sake.
Just then, another voice sounded.
Not from Qiansui’s mouth, but from Qiansui’s body, like on the other end of a phone call.
A voice like a bratty little girl, fierce and explosive. “Go to hell! You still have the nerve to cry?!”
Su Yutao was stunned.
Qiansui was stunned too.
That voice kept exploding. “What kind of item did you ask for? You came to me asking for a tool that can instantly kill the villain?!”
Qiansui weakly said, “Mm… I just thought my host was too pitiful…”
The voice exploded even more. “Pitiful? That’s no reason to ask for something so ridiculous! Do you think I’m a magic turtle in a wishing pond?!”
Qiansui shrank back, her voice even smaller. “Th-then if not that, how about a Nine-Turn Golden Elixir? To heal her body and strengthen her power.”
The voice on the other end was silent for a second.
Then it exploded even more violently. “Go to hell! Nine-Turn Golden Elixir! This is an urban setting, not a cultivation fantasy! I’m not giving you that! Even if I were a first-level system, I couldn’t give you something like that!”
Su Yutao listened, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.
Qiansui was being scolded mercilessly by her master, but she was still begging for something to help her.
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