Yu Mingxi: “…”

That sounded odd, but somehow, it made sense.

He wanted to ask where Yuanyuan had heard such things.

During her time at the orphanage, she picked up quite a lot from watching TV.

In this new storybook world, most of what she knew came from television and dramas. She often saw the main characters bottling up their emotions, only to have someone come along, pat them on the shoulder, and say, “Don’t pretend to be strong, it’s okay to cry.”

“Do you want to see Mommy?”

“Yes, I do!”

“Well, Daddy does too, but Mommy doesn’t want to see him,” Yu Mingxi explained gently, as if planting a pit of sorrow in her small heart. “When you mention Mommy, it reminds Daddy of all the sad things, and it makes him easy prey for the Bad Temper Demon. That’s why Daddy accidentally got mad at you.”

“Got it!” Yuanyuan nodded earnestly, her little face still streaked like a sad kitten. “It’s not Daddy’s fault; the Bad Temper Demon is doing bad things.”

Now that he had soothed Yuanyuan’s emotions, Yu Mingxi spent some more time with her, helping her wash her face and brush her teeth, even telling her a bedtime story.

Normally, Yuanyuan would be asleep in seconds, off to dreamland before he could even finish the story.

But tonight, despite her eyes being closed for nearly half an hour, she couldn’t fall asleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, she thought of Daddy’s angry face.

She wasn’t mad at Daddy anymore, but there was a lingering discomfort in her heart.

Daddy was upset, that’s why he was mad, but then… she had shouted at him, saying, “I hate you.”

Would that make Daddy even sadder?

Yuanyuan felt like a little stone was lodged in her heart, making it impossible to sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed, rolling around like a little bean.

Sleep wouldn’t come, no matter what!

Frustrated, she threw off the blanket, sitting up in bed with a determined little bounce, staring into the quiet room.

In the dimly lit space, the small figure slid down from the bed, holding a lion plushie in one hand and dragging a fish-shaped pillow nearly as big as she was with the other.

“Little Lion, Fishy, will you come with me to see Daddy?” Yuanyuan glanced to her left and right, nodding as though she’d heard their agreement. “Yes, yes, Daddy must be feeling really sad tonight. What if he’s crying all alone in his bed? That’d be so pitiful.”

A beam of light widened in the dark hallway as Yuanyuan slowly opened the door.

She padded through the darkness alone, making her way to Yu Jinxiao’s room without needing any lights.

Maybe because he wasn’t in the best mood either, Yu Jinxiao had gone to bed early. The room was pitch-black, not a sound to be heard.

Yuanyuan reached for the doorknob and gently pushed it down. The door creaked open—unlocked!

Hehe, success! She’d snuck into Daddy’s room!

Her bare feet silently padded across the floor, leaving tiny footprints behind.

After carefully closing the door, Yuanyuan stared at the large bed that loomed before her, deep in thought.

Was Daddy’s bed always this high?

She struggled and huffed as she tried to climb up, finally managing to flip herself onto the bed from the footboard.

The person under the blanket seemed to be in a deep sleep. Yuanyuan could barely make out a tuft of dark hair on the pillow, the room so still that it felt empty, with even the breathing barely audible.

Just as she was about to crawl closer, a shiver of cold fear ran down her spine.

She remembered how scary Daddy had looked earlier, and her tiny hands froze mid-crawl.

What if… what if she woke him up, and he got mad again? QAQ

The fear took hold, and she slowly retreated, backing away until she was at the foot of the bed again. She placed her little lion plushie in front of her and crossed her arms, laying her head down on top of it.