Suddenly, her hand was empty. Half-asleep, Yu Yuanyuan opened her eyes groggily and realized her dad was gone.

She yawned and rolled over, intending to find out where her dad had gone… but as soon as she shifted, a wave of drowsiness hit her like a tidal wave, and her heavy eyelids closed again.

That night, she had a dream.

A terrifying, haunting nightmare.

In the dream, Yu Yuanyuan was back at the orphanage. Her dad refused to take her home, and she was left to live all alone. Soon after, she saw on the news that her dad had been attacked by bad people. He was badly hurt, and two of his fingers were missing.

The bad people were especially cruel—they hid his fingers on purpose, making him miss the best time to reattach them. Only after the time had passed did they send his fingers back to him.

The news even showed a picture of the villain, stating that the person who had hurt her dad was a professional assassin.

Yuanyuan thought the villain looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t remember who it was.

The dream felt so real. Yuanyuan cried and wailed, soaking her pillow with tears.

She remembered overhearing her mom back in the heavenly realm. If Dad died in this book world, everything would restart, looping endlessly, and Dad would never return to the heavenly realm.

The atmosphere in the dream was suffocating and sad. Yuanyuan whimpered and cried, her little face scrunched up in distress… until—

The world shook.

Wait, no. It wasn’t the world shaking—someone was gently shaking her shoulder.

“Yuanyuan? What’s wrong, Yuanyuan?”

It sounded like her big brother’s voice!

Yuanyuan rubbed her eyes. Somehow, everything seemed a bit… blurry today.

Freshly awake, Yuanyuan couldn’t see her own face, but from Yu Mingxi’s perspective, her tear-streaked appearance was both endearing and pitiful.

Who knew what kind of dream she had, but she had clearly cried her heart out. Her face was smeared with tears, her pillow soaked, and her little mouth was still quivering as she whimpered in sadness.

After waking her up, Yu Mingxi noticed her puffy eyelids—she looked just like one of those big-eyed goldfish from TV.

“Come on, let’s get up and wash your face, okay?” Yu Mingxi wanted to ask what she had dreamt about, but he didn’t want to stir up those sad feelings again. Instead, he gently patted her back to comfort her.

Yuanyuan yawned and let herself be carried to the bathroom. She stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror.

“Brother, Yuanyuan’s eyes!!!”

Yesterday, she was a cute, bright-eyed little girl. Today, she looked like a puffy-eyed goldfish. No wonder she was so surprised!

“It’s okay, the swelling will go down soon. Let’s wash your face first, alright?” Yu Mingxi soaked a clean towel in warm water and gently wiped away the tear stains from her face.

Yuanyuan observed for a while before reaching out her little hands. “Yuanyuan can wipe her face by herself!”

“Oh? You can wash your face on your own?” Yu Mingxi pretended to be surprised, his beautiful eyes curving into a smile.

“I’m not very good at it, but I don’t want Brother to get tired. Yuanyuan can do it herself.” Saying this, the little girl took the towel from his hand and tried to mimic his motions, clumsily rubbing the towel over her face.

Her actions were awkward, more like she was pressing her face into the towel than actually wiping it, but she was clearly trying hard.

Yu Mingxi let her continue on her own, and when she was done, he praised her and carried her out of the bathroom.

As they exited the room, the door that had been left slightly ajar was pushed open. Yu Jinxiao stood at the doorway, his face impassive. “You’re up? Come down for breakfast. We’ll leave after we eat.”

Leave…

Yu Mingxi suddenly remembered last night’s plan—soon, they would be sending Yuanyuan back to the orphanage.

“Dad…” Yu Mingxi wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, it was as if something was caught in his throat, rendering him speechless.

What was there to say?

Perhaps, there was no need to say anything at all.

Yuanyuan was only going back to the place she truly belonged.

Yu Jinxiao lowered his gaze and turned to leave.

Yuanyuan, unaware of the thoughts running through the minds of the adults and her older brother, couldn’t understand why everyone seemed so sad, even though it was time for breakfast.

“Yuanyuan,” Yu Mingxi said, carrying her back to the bed. He handed her a small lion plushie. “This is for you. Can you take good care of it from now on?”