Chapter Fifty-Seven: It Seems That Little Lin’er...
Early morning, another beautiful day had begun.
Out of concern for setting a bad example for the children, Jiang Lin had not returned to Twin Pearl Peak that night, choosing instead to stay at the inn. After all, when Jiabao Li and those three disciples from the Solitary Demon Sect discussed philosophy, their voices could get quite loud.
“Daddy... Daddy...”
At dawn, the little girl who had slept on Jiang Lin’s chest the previous night was now sitting astride his belly, her tiny hands pushing at him incessantly.
“What is it, Nian Nian?”
Still half-asleep, Jiang Lin opened his eyes and, as was his habit each morning, gently rubbed little Nian Nian’s head. Nian Nian grasped his broad palm, her small face nestled contentedly against it.
But soon she remembered what she wanted to say and hugged Daddy’s large hand to her chest.
“Daddy, where are we?”
“This is an inn. Don’t worry, we’ll go home soon.”
“Daddy, you still have Mommy’s scent on you… but not just Mommy’s scent, there’s another woman’s perfume too.” Nian Nian looked at her father with worry. “Daddy, did you cheat on Mommy?”
Jiang Lin’s brow twitched. He suspected that “cheat” was another word Fang Ruo had taught her. “Nian Nian, actually, last night Daddy met one of your mommies, and also one of Mommy’s best friends. But don’t worry, Daddy is a good man!”
“But…” Nian Nian lowered her head, her little tail drooping onto Jiang Lin in dismay.
“What’s wrong, Nian Nian? Did you have a bad dream?” Jiang Lin sat up and gathered her close.
Lifting her head, her bright eyes gazed at him as her tiny fists clutched his shirt and her chubby little tail curled anxiously around his wrist as if afraid something might happen to him.
“But Daddy… last night I had a dream…”
“A dream? What kind of dream?” Jiang Lin recalled that the old ancestor had mentioned—dragons possessed the ability of prophetic dreams. Instantly, his heart leapt.
“Nian Nian dreamed that Daddy was surrounded by all the mommies, and in the sky, there was a huge silvery white loach—no, not a loach, more like a snake, but it had horns. That loach was really beautiful.”
“And then?”
“And then the mommies all seemed really angry, and that beautiful loach spat a great ball of fire at Daddy.”
“…”
“Daddy, what’s wrong? You’re sweating so much… Are you ill?” Nian Nian slipped from his arms, rose on tiptoe in her little white socks, and used her sleeves to wipe the cold sweat from Daddy’s forehead.
“Nian Nian, can Daddy ask you a question?”
“Hmm?”
“If Daddy lied to you—just suppose, if Daddy lied to you about something very, very big, would you be angry with him?”
“How big is very, very big?”
“Emmm… as big as a candied hawthorn as tall as our entire Twin Pearl Peak!”
Listening intently, standing on Jiang Lin’s thigh in her little socks, Nian Nian gripped his shirt, bowed her head, and pondered seriously—her adorable little brows furrowed.
At last, Nian Nian lifted her head and looked earnestly at her father. “Even if it really was that big, I still wouldn’t blame Daddy, because Daddy is the best to me.”
“Nian Nian…” Jiang Lin’s eyes grew moist, his heart warmed. He hugged her tightly.
Yes, no matter what, he’d raised Nian Nian himself, feeding and caring for her since infancy. Even if they weren’t related by blood, their bond surpassed that of father and daughter.
“But Daddy…” Nian Nian nuzzled his cheek, her voice soft and tender.
“Yes? Are you hungry? Daddy will take you to breakfast.”
Still moved, Jiang Lin rubbed her head.
Nian Nian shook her head. “No, Daddy…”
She pressed her fingers together, gazing at him with innocent eyes. “I don’t know why, but if that day ever comes, I just feel like I’ll really want to blow fire at Daddy…”
“…”
…
Western Wutong Province—Dragon Gate Sect.
“Wife, I’m home!” A voice boomed across the mountaintop from the horizon.
The disciples of Dragon Gate Sect all looked up, then quickly lowered their heads. They knew—it was that ancestor of theirs, come back again…
“How many days do you think the old ancestor will kneel on the washboard this time?”
“Who knows? Whenever he comes back from a trip, doesn’t he always have to kneel for days?”
“Ah, the old ancestor… With such a beautiful matriarch, why does he keep sneaking out to ‘study foreign languages’?”
“Senior brother, senior sister? What’s ‘studying foreign languages’? What’s wrong with that?”
“You’re too young to understand.”
“Children shouldn’t interrupt when the adults are talking.”
Soon, at the horizon, the colossal figure of a woman manifested in the sky.
“You still know how to come home? Why don’t you just stay out there and keep studying foreign languages forever?!”
With a bang, as the tiny black speck in the sky landed atop the mountain, the giant woman’s foot slammed down, making the earth tremble.
“Ahhh—my wife, such strength!”
In the next moment, a mischievous, rather pleased shout echoed from the heavens.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
“Ahhhh—”
“Ohhhh—”
“Komo…”
The giant female figure lifted her foot and stomped repeatedly, each time accompanied by muffled, nearly censored sounds.
Many disciples of Dragon Gate Sect covered their foreheads. As expected, Junior Brother Jiang Lin was right—the ancestor and matriarch were truly made for each other…
Only after five stomps did the colossal figure sigh in relief and gradually vanish.
“Bring the washboard and get in here!”
As her voice faded, the ancestor of Dragon Gate Sect, now half-buried in the ground, dusted himself off, pulled out a washboard from his storage pouch, and hurried inside.
What was kneeling on a washboard compared to being allowed back into the house? This was a huge win!
“Wife…”
“Enough nonsense! So, how did things go?”
“Don’t worry, dear. With my help, little Lin’er is safe and sound. If nothing goes wrong, in half an hour a bird will bring the news.”
“And how are your foreign language studies coming along?”
“Wife, I’ve explained this already! I absolutely refuse to study them! It was Jiang Lin who insisted on arranging it for me, but I declined! And I gave him a good scolding too!”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s… really…”
Seeing his wife relax, the ancestor quickly got up from the washboard and began massaging her legs as he recounted the story “truthfully.”
“Oh, by the way, little Lin’er also asked me to bring gifts for you and Qing Wan.”
“We’ll talk about gifts later. At least the boy still has some heart. But is he really alright?”
“He’s fine! Absolutely fine! It’s just… there’s one thing… I think we shouldn’t tell Qing Wan.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“I discovered… it seems little Lin’er… has lost his innocence…”
Ping—
No sooner had the words left the ancestor’s mouth than the crisp sound of a teacup shattering came from the back room.
Turning, he saw the girl who had wanted to surprise him, to bring news to Jiang Lin that all was well, and who had been concealed by the matriarch’s magic—she gradually became visible, standing there utterly stunned…
…
…
[Everyone, please remember to keep warm, wear masks when going out, ventilate your rooms often, and wash your hands frequently!
May you all be immune to a hundred poisons!!!]