“Dad, why do I feel like they’re not even hurt at all?”
“No, no—they are hurt. It’s just that ordinary people can’t see the kind of injuries they’ve got.”
Bai Xiaocha held Xia Xi’s hand as they casually strolled past that group of scumbags, who had completely lost their minds.
Xia Xi wasn’t worried in the slightest that they’d come after him. In their current state, they had bigger problems to deal with.
“My body! You old hag—give me back my body!”
Da Zhuang, who’d been calling her “Mom” just moments ago, had completely snapped after half his body parts were swapped out for female ones.
He grabbed the old lady—who now had a healthy, young body—and shook her violently with his pathetically weak new arms.
As for the old lady, even though she’d gotten a strong body, her elderly brain couldn’t keep up with commanding it. Everything she did seemed half a beat behind.
Er Zhuang and the others weren’t faring any better. Their bodies had been chopped up and rearranged piece by piece. One of them even had half a face that belonged to someone else and half that was still his own—like someone had taken two different masks, cut them down the middle, and slapped them together.
But the strangest part? The passersby didn’t react to any of these changes at all.
“Can’t you freakin’ see?! Half my face is a woman’s and half is a man’s—I look like some demon!”
Er Zhuang grabbed a random bystander by the collar and screamed at him.
The bystander was a sturdy guy with some guts. He wasn’t about to put up with that—he shoved Er Zhuang off and shot back with a cold sneer.
“I think you’ve got rabies, buddy. Half woman, half man? What, you think you’re an alien? A grown man throwing a tantrum in the middle of the street—ain’t you ashamed of yourself?”
“Bro, don’t mind him. These scammers tried to shake down that little girl and failed, so now they’re throwing a fit and playing crazy.”
“Exactly! Good thing that girl’s dad was sharp and got her out of there.”
“If you ask me, they had it coming. A stray dog just happens to charge out and bite them? Probably karma catching up.”
That’s right—none of the onlookers could see the physical changes in Da Zhuang and his crew. All they saw was a bunch of perfectly normal-looking people wailing and yelling nonsense about “giving my body back.”
Only Da Zhuang and his people knew what kind of freak show their bodies had become.
But that was none of Xia Xi’s concern anymore. Evil gets what evil deserves—this was simply their comeuppance.
Xia Xi bought a stick of candied hawthorns and handed it to Bai Xiaocha.
The little blue-haired girl didn’t stand on ceremony. She took it, tore open the wrapper, and popped one into her small mouth.
The sweetness spread across her tongue, and Bai Xiaocha squinted in pure bliss. All the bad mood from the earlier scam attempt melted away.
“Dad, you try one too—it’s super good.”
Don’t get me wrong—Bai Xiaocha could act like a little menace when she was with Xia Yue. But truth be told, she was way better-behaved than Xia Yue. At least right now, with Xia Xi playing her father, she was as innocent and adorable as a real little girl.
Xia Xi bent down slightly and bit off the second candied hawthorn from the stick.
Just as Bai Xiaocha had said—it was sweet.
Shopping with girls was usually exhausting. Like that time Xia Xi went with Liu Jiaying and the others—he’d trailed behind them like a zombie.
But for some reason, shopping with Luo Xinyu and Bai Xiaocha never felt that way.
They always made sure to include Xia Xi. Whenever they bought something tasty at the food street, they’d share it with him.
One candied stick—two people sharing.
One bowl of chilled tangyuan—two people sharing.
One bowl of meatball soup—still two people sharing.
What makes food truly great? Sharing the joy—that’s what turns it into something special.
Back in the day, Xia Yue used to love sharing food with Xia Xi too. But he’d always complain about her saliva in the bowl and refuse to eat with her. Eventually, she couldn’t be bothered to share with her stinky brother anymore.
Beyond food, there was also clothes shopping. Luo Xinyu and Bai Xiaocha loved picking out pretty outfits, trying them on, and striking cute poses for Xia Xi to admire. Sometimes they’d grab sunglasses and hats and drag him into photos with them.
Compare that to shopping with Liu Jiaying and her gang, where he was the one forced into a fashion show. Torture, pure torture.
And here’s another big difference—
Both Luo Xinyu and Bai Xiaocha were stunning beauties, the one-in-a-million type. No matter how many outfits they changed into, Xia Xi never got bored. Each look brought something fresh and exciting.
“Dad.”
Dusk was falling, and they were back home.
Bai Xiaocha sat there, watching the silhouette of her “father” in the kitchen reheating the leftovers they’d brought back. Her voice was soft and gentle when she called out.
“What’s up?”
Xia Xi had had a great day and was in a good mood, so his tone was cheerful.
“Tomorrow, let’s go watch the sunset together, okay? And then we can camp out and catch the sunrise the next morning.”
Xia Xi thought it over and figured it wasn’t a bad plan. He had to spend three days as Bai Xiaocha’s father anyway, and this itinerary would let them make the most of it.
But still…
“Sure, but what made you suddenly want to see the sunset and sunrise?”
Bai Xiaocha rested her hands on the coffee table, cupping her chin with those soft little palms.
“You said that once you made big money, you’d take me to see the sunrise…”
At that, Xia Xi understood. Her real dad had made that promise but never kept it—probably because he was always away working.
Chances are, her father had even forgotten about it. People have limited energy, and Bai Xiaocha’s parents had built their wealth from scratch to make her a little heiress—that must’ve taken everything they had. Forgetting a “minor” detail like that was only natural.
But that was okay. Now Xia Xi was here to do all the things her real family couldn’t—taking photo booth pictures together, watching sunrises and sunsets, riding bikes at a leisurely pace. Consider it his way of making up for taking advantage of her situation.
He put the cold food into the microwave, set the timer, and walked out to sit beside Bai Xiaocha.
As if soaking in a long-missed sense of security, Bai Xiaocha shifted from leaning on the coffee table to curling up on the couch, wrapping her arms around her knees. Slowly, she tilted toward Xia Xi until her head rested on his shoulder.
Ding-dong, ding-dong.
The microwave beeped, signaling the food was ready.
Xia Xi tilted his head slightly, glancing down.
Nestled beside him was a little squirrel—softly snoring.
