Xu Chen hadn't finished her report when the dorm door burst open, followed by Su Xue’s voice, thick with unshed tears, “You damn money-grubber, you! You disappeared again, and this time it was for half a year! Waaah… Do you even consider me a friend? You wouldn’t even let Qingqing tell us why! I hate you! Waaah…”
A barrage of shopping bags followed, slamming painfully against me. Standing beside Su Xue was Little Xue, looking exactly as she had half a year ago. A century or two made no difference to her. She could never have guessed I had just met her mother. As for Bai, he was merely a stand-in father, since Little Xue wasn’t the result of a joining of sperm and ovum.
Seeing Su Xue’s bags raining down on me, Little Xue cheered and hurled what she was holding at me too. This girl had surprisingly good aim; thwack, it hit the top of my head, making my vision swim as I slumped onto the bed. Though not even a sledgehammer could kill me, the pain felt intensely real.
Su Xue shrieked and dove onto the bed. “Oh, Little Xue, how could you hit your big brother with such a heavy thing? Let me see if he’s alright!”
Su Xue knelt by the bed, bending low to check on me. When I opened my eyes, heavens above, two magnificent peaks were right under my nose! Su Xue always favored scoop-neck tops, and as she bent, her chest opened up a wide chasm, offering my gaze an unimpeded, panoramic view.
“They’ve gotten a lot bigger,” I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“What?” Su Xue didn’t immediately grasp the meaning of my words, but she quickly realized where my eyes were fixed. Blushing furiously, she snatched the comforter and pulled it tightly over my head. “You wicked Zhao Qian! The moment you see me, you act like this! I’ll suffocate you, you big pervert!”
Little Xue quickly jumped onto the bed to help. It seemed mother and daughter were truly of one mind. I tossed the quilt aside. “Stop messing around, stop messing around. Let me take a good look at Little Xue.”
Su Xue looked distinctly displeased. “And you don’t plan on taking a good look at me, your Big Xue?”
I stared pointedly at her chest. “Look? Of course I’ll look, and I’ll look closely.”
Su Xue spat at me, but the smile on her face was impossible to conceal. “Little Xue, say ‘Gege’ (Big Brother).”
“Gege good.”
Thump! I collapsed back onto the bed. “Little Xue can talk!”
Su Xue rolled her eyes at me. “What’s so surprising about that? Can’t you talk?”
“But, but I remember she couldn’t speak before,” I said.
Su Xue got angry. “And you have the nerve to say that! If you didn't teach her before, how could she speak? Look at how you two mistreated my daughter before—you wouldn’t even let her say a word. Poor thing.”
Little Xue tilted her small head toward Su Xue. “Mama, didn’t you say you were going to spank brother when he came back? I’ll hold him down for you, hurry up and spank him.”
With that, Little Xue moved to grab my arm, but Su Xue quickly stopped her. “Alright, alright. You nearly bashed your brother’s head in just now, so consider that revenge settled. We’ll postpone the spanking. Ask him if he brought us any presents.”
“Ah!” I nearly rolled my eyes out of my head. I hadn't thought of this at all! I went to the primeval age stark naked, and I returned from the muddled journey just as naked. How could I possibly have gifts?
Su Xue didn't need to ask; my expression told her the result. She huffed crossly and sat down on the side of the bed, refusing to speak further. At this point, Xu Chen stood up. “I’m going out to get food. I’ll have Qianqian come back at noon so we can all be together.”
Little Xue hopped off the bed and grabbed Xu Chen’s hand. “Sister Chenchen, Mama is mad. What should I do if she doesn’t let me hit brother?”
Little Xue had been staying here for over half a year, so her relationship with Xu Chen was naturally extraordinary. Xu Chen took Little Xue’s hand. “Sister Chenchen will take you to the supermarket. By the time we get back, your mother will have calmed down.”
Little Xue nodded, and the two left the dorm hand-in-hand. I lay on one side of the bed while Su Xue sat opposite me. She didn’t speak or look at me. I gently nudged her thigh with my foot.
“Are you really mad?”
Su Xue huffed back angrily. “How would I dare, Great Hero Zhao? I’m not your person, am I?”
I ventured a question. “Then what person do you want to be to me?”
Su Xue suddenly became cunning. “Can’t I be your senior sister?”
“Then perhaps something a little more… in-depth?”
“Pah! Pervert! What do you think this is, a bedroom? ‘More in-depth’? I won’t do it!”
Who was the pervert here? My remark hadn’t been pointing in that direction at all! I leaned back on the bed, staring at the nail on the wall. “I can’t believe the nail I helped you put up is still there. Heh, this perfectly clean wall—maybe I should pull it out in a minute.”
“You dare! Watch Ouyang Qian and I take your life! We like having them stay right there!”
The fact that they cherished our past time together deeply touched me. “I couldn’t bring anything back from where I went. If I told you I went naked and came back naked, you probably wouldn’t believe me.”
Su Xue, however, just smiled. “I absolutely believe it!”
“Ah!” I was momentarily speechless. This girl was truly special.
Su Xue continued, “So, since you didn’t bring any gifts for us few, aren’t you planning on compensating us?”
I readily agreed. “Fine, tell me how you want compensation. I promise I won’t argue.”
Su Xue counted on her chubby little fingers for a moment, thinking. “I can’t think of anything right now. We’ll discuss it later.”
I simply kicked off my shoes, climbed onto the bed, and settled comfortably. Then I patted the space beside me. “Come sit over here. It would be nice just to smell your scent.”
“Go smell Qianqian. I don’t smell good,” she said, but Su Xue still got up and sat next to me.
“Whose bed is this?” I asked. Considering the major upheaval that had occurred here, I wasn’t sure if the three of them still kept their original sleeping arrangements.
“Mine. What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable sleeping?”
I hugged the pillow and inhaled deeply. “No, it’s very comfortable.”
Su Xue laughed and nudged me with her foot. “Go sleep in your wife’s bed! Don’t hog mine, or Qianqian will see and say I’m seducing you.”
I immediately grabbed Su Xue’s foot and slipped her shoe off. “Then it’s okay if I seduce you, right?”
Su Xue seemed flustered that I had caught her foot. “Don’t, don’t mess around! Qianqian isn’t here, I’m scared.”
No way? Did Su Xue only dare to fool around with me when Ouyang Qian was present?
Seeing my hesitation, Su Xue swiftly yanked her foot free from my grasp. She grabbed the TV remote. “Let’s watch TV. You behave, don’t let Chenchen see when she gets back.”
Frustrating. Wasn’t Su Xue supposed to be quite open? Why was she acting so traditional when it was just the two of us? I had been unhappy about the Dragon Girl situation and came back to school hoping to relax, but now she was being so timid. I couldn't forget who had been daring enough to secretly play with my little thing half a year ago.
The television was showing a dreadfully boring soap opera; neither of us was paying attention. Seeing that I was silent, Su Xue lightly nudged me with her foot. “Hey, are you mad? Don’t be so petty. You don’t have any manliness at all. I don’t like that kind of man.”
I didn’t care much about having manliness, but I was being honest with Su Xue. “I missed you terribly these last six months. Even if you find it funny to hear me say it, I genuinely thought of you often.”
Su Xue secretly wiped at the corner of her eye, deliberately acting nonchalant. “You missed the noodles I cooked, didn’t you? I’ll go down and cook some for you later. My cooking has improved a lot during this time.”
I corrected her. “I missed you, not the noodles.”
Su Xue lowered her head. “I’m fat; I’m not worth missing. You should save your thoughts for them. Even thinking of Chenchen would be better. She murmurs your name in her sleep; don’t tell me you haven’t felt her feelings for you at all.”
“I just like your plumpness. If you weren’t so chubby and adorable, maybe I wouldn't have thought of you so often. Missing you is a different matter than missing Chenchen; do you understand? Our relationship can’t compare to Chenchen’s, do you understand?”
(Friends who pay close attention may have noticed that over 200,000 characters of this book were deleted, and it was simultaneously withdrawn from recommendation lists. I suppose this is the case of the bird that sticks its head out gets shot. Alas, our book was just too daring. After all this turmoil, the book is essentially done for. To ensure this book sees a proper conclusion, I transferred it from Qidian to Zhu Lang, and now this new setback has occurred. I have profound feelings about this; being a writer isn't easy… I won’t ramble on here. I guarantee, on my personal honor, that this book will absolutely not be abandoned or hastily wrapped up. It will continue according to the outline submitted at the time of signing. I do not allow a single abandoned book in my writing career. I also mentioned in an author interview that a large part of the reason I started writing was seeing so many books without endings. Therefore, I will not allow such a book to exist in the world. To the friends who have supported me all along, I bow my head in reverence. This book is written for you! Thank you for your continuous support!!!)