Chapter 107: The Snow Woman’s Gift

“Lilian! Lilian! Over here!”

As soon as I got out of the car, I saw Xiaoyu waving at me from a distance.

The child was wearing a bright student uniform, the black-and-white tones outlining her youthful figure.

Especially when she stood on tiptoe and stretched her body, her slender waist was exposed like a tender sprout, her fair skin glowing beautifully under the sun.

I looked back, confirming that Chen Yunsong had driven away, and felt a bit more at ease.

For some reason, that last look he gave me had put a strange pressure on this body of mine.

But now was not the time to think about that. My priority was to accompany my daughter—this was the real business.

Calming my mind, I walked over to where Xiaoyu was.

“Hey, why are you so late? We’ll have to queue for ages at the signing!”

The moment we met, she threw herself at me and grabbed my arm.

The scent of youth mixed with the fragrance of her hair drifted into my nose, carrying a sweet candy smell.

“Eh? What are you wearing today…” Xiaoyu circled around me like a puppy.

“Oh, I’ve seen that anime movie. You’re dressed as Amano Hina today, right?”

“Huh? Who’s that? Because I’ve been busy with work, I never had time to watch children’s cartoons, so naturally I’m not familiar with the names of those anime characters. But seeing Xiaoyu’s expression, she seems to be quite knowledgeable.”

Forget it, I’ll just go along with what she says.

“Oh… oh, you mean that ‘Weathering with You’ thing? I’ve seen a little bit of it.”

“Mm, the clothes are quite accurate, but…” Xiaoyu looked sternly at my chest.

“Why are you so OOC?”

“Uh…” I widened my eyes slowly, full of confusion, and whispered, “What’s OOC?”

“It means your personality, or rather, your image.” Xiaoyu said seriously. “You’re failing badly. Even if you don’t want to wear a wig, you could at least dye your hair black and tie it in double ponytails, right? Like this, you don’t look like the character at all.”

“Really?” I said awkwardly. “I’m not very familiar with these things.”

“Seriously…” Xiaoyu put on an expression of ‘I can’t do anything with you.’ “Alright, alright, these are just unspoken rules among fans. It’s not necessary to force everyone to follow them. Anyway, this outfit is pretty casual, so just wear it as normal clothes… Hey, we can go in now. Let’s queue up!”

Halfway through her sentence, Xiaoyu suddenly became very excited and pulled me along into the venue.

The venue was a large exhibition hall. Usually, it hosted international import-export exhibitions and the like, so it was built like a high-speed rail station, mostly with strong steel and glass.

After passing security, Xiaoyu took me on a long detour around her so-called “fellow enthusiasts” and headed straight for a signing area.

Seeing that empty space in my heart, now filled with flowers and honey, the pain was gone.

How wonderful…

Though it might sound old-fashioned, seeing one’s child happy is perhaps the greatest joy of parenthood.

“Hey, it’s your turn.” The staff member ahead suddenly tapped me. “You can go in for the signing.”

“Uh…” I belatedly realized something was wrong. “Sorry, I’m not here for the signing. I’m just accompanying my daughter… ah, no, my friend.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? The line’s very tight. You’re wasting everyone’s time.” The female staff member gave me a disdainful look.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” I felt mortified. “I’ll leave right away.”

“Where do you think you’re going? You can’t go out this way. Just go in, explain inside, and leave through the back door. Honestly…” Without waiting for my reply, she pushed me into the room.

The signing room was very small. As soon as I entered, colorful posters caught my eye.

I didn’t recognize the characters, but just as Xiaoyu had said, the character designs were… quite provocative. Flat-chested white-haired vampires, black-and-white-stockinged androids, twin siblings with identical faces…

This, this, this… After just a few glances, I felt too embarrassed to look further, my face burning hot.

Sure enough, the child must be reading no proper manga.

I lowered my head and walked toward the back door, muttering softly, “Sorry, Mrs. Snow Woman, I was just passing through by accident…”

I intended to leave quickly and then meet up with Xiaoyu. I should probably warn that child—she’s young, she shouldn’t be reading such vulgar stuff. Even for a girl, it’s too…

Wait.

From across the signing table came a voice—a very gentle female voice.

I hadn’t planned to respond, but for some reason, my hand stopped on the door handle.

“Don’t you want my autograph?” The voice asked again. When it reached my ears, it felt very soothing, though I didn’t know why.

I hesitated, thinking it would be better to explain. So I lowered my head, turned around, and bowed. “I’m sorry, I’m not actually your fan. I didn’t buy your comic collection either… I’m just accompanying a friend to look around.”

“A friend?”

“Yes, because she’s your fan, I queued up with her. I’m really sorry…”

“I see…” She was silent for a moment, then chuckled softly. “Then please sit for a moment. I’ll draw an illustration for you—it’ll be a gift for your friend.”

As soon as she finished speaking, I heard the sound of her pen moving. Feeling too embarrassed, I thanked the artist and sat down on a stool, waiting with my head bowed.

While waiting, I secretly glanced at the so-called manga artist, Snow Woman. She was indeed very beautiful—dyed white hair that looked natural, a curvaceous figure, and skin smooth as a young girl’s.

The only difference from what Xiaoyu had said was her outfit. Mrs. Snow Woman wasn’t cosplaying her own character; she was just wearing an ordinary white shirt and thick black-rimmed glasses.

Under the glasses, she had light purple eyes—I didn’t know what brand of contact lenses she used, but they looked very natural.

“Aren’t you cosplaying your own character today?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Family rules are strict—I’m not allowed to for now. Didn’t you say you weren’t my fan? How do you know about this?”

“Because my daughter… ah, my friend told me.”

“Oh… I see.” Mrs. Snow Woman didn’t press further.

The sound of a marker sliding over sketch paper was very clear in the small room.

I don’t know how long passed, but I was sitting on pins and needles when I suddenly heard her voice: “Finally done! Ta-da—”

She held up the sketchbook, revealing the image on the page.

The moment I saw it, my heart felt as if stabbed, and I was startled.

On the cream-white paper, the black marker had outlined a young girl with simple lines. She was beautiful, but for some reason she was tied to a cross, her limbs severed, bleeding, her expression filled with extreme despair and pain.

After just a few glances, I inexplicably found it hard to breathe, the world spinning.

Mrs. Snow Woman smiled and handed the sketchbook over. “Take it. Your friend will definitely want this.”

“What the hell is this! Disgusting!”

I flung the inexplicable sketchbook away, shouted a few curses at her, and then stormed out of the place.

In fact, I’m not even sure what I said to the manga artist. I only remember leaving quickly, as if fleeing…

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