“But… that long thing,” Teacher Yuanyuan made a gesture with her hands, trying hard to explain. “It’s green… so it must be… a snake, right?”

Her tone lacked confidence as she tried to defend her claim.

“You’ve seen a snake that’s this thick and short?” Yu Yingze couldn’t help but laugh at her reasoning.

Yu Yuanyuan pondered for a moment, fiddling with her fingers before confidently declaring, “Well, people can be tall or short, so maybe it just ate too much and got fat!”

“Pfft!” This time, even Yu Mingxi couldn’t suppress his laughter.

The little one might be small and childish, but when she explained things, she did it with such certainty that even her nonsensical reasoning seemed adorable.

Even her absurd ideas sounded cute.

Yu Yingze held his head, falling into silence.

He couldn’t listen to this any longer—his perception of reality might be severely distorted if he stayed.

“I’m a little tired. I’ll go back to my room and sleep.” Yu Yingze felt like escaping immediately, like a man running for his life. He rushed out of the room as if something were chasing him.

Yu Yuanyuan scratched her little head, still not understanding why he had fled so quickly.

“Yawn…” She let out a big yawn, her voice growing drowsy. “Big Brother, Yuanyuan is sleepy too.”

“Then let’s wash up and go to bed,” Yu Mingxi said, taking her hand and leading her to the bathroom to prepare warm water for her.

Perhaps because of her time spent in the orphanage, Yu Yuanyuan was very obedient, making it easy for Yu Mingxi to help her get ready for bed.

The bed in Yu Yuanyuan’s room was even bigger than the one in the guest room, with a soft mattress and blankets that smelled like sunshine.

As soon as she lay down, she felt like a marshmallow melting into the bed.

“Do you want to hear a story?” Yu Mingxi picked up a children’s book and sat on a small stool next to her.

“Yes! Yes!” she responded enthusiastically.

Yu Mingxi skimmed through the book—it was a simple fairy tale that could be told in about 15 minutes.

Since he was used to preparing in advance, he quickly went over the story in his mind. Clearing his throat, he was just about to start when he heard the soft sounds of snoring.

The breathing wasn’t loud, just the gentle, rhythmic snores of a child in deep sleep.

Yu Yuanyuan, facing him, had already closed her eyes. Her small mouth was slightly open, and her head was nestled into the pillow, her cheeks puffed up adorably.

The story never even got a chance to begin.

He put the book away, tucked her in carefully, and quietly left the room, closing the door behind him.

In her sleep, little Yuanyuan began to dream again.

The dream felt incredibly real.

She saw the same villain from her previous dream—the one who had tried to harm her father. In her panic, she screamed and screamed, but her father couldn’t hear her.

The villain got closer and closer to her father, and Yuanyuan grew so anxious that she was almost in tears.

But this dream felt… different.

The villain passed right by her father this time, doing nothing at all.

Yuanyuan took deep, shaky breaths, drenched in sweat from her anxiety.

Wait a minute—this villain seemed so familiar!

The little girl widened her eyes, desperately trying to remember, trying to think… and then, she realized it!

The villain was ZhouZhou, the little bully from the orphanage who used to torment her!

ZhouZhou had grown up to become an assassin! How terrifying!

But… this time in the dream, he hadn’t hurt her father. Did that mean he had turned into a good kid?

Thank goodness it was just a dream. As long as her father was safe, that’s all that mattered. Even in her sleep, Yuanyuan had scared herself half to death.

But wait! Something wasn’t right.

If the last dream was just an ordinary one, why did her mouth seal up when she tried to talk about it?

In fairy tales, there was a mystical bird with magical powers. If someone discovered its secret of pecking butts, it would cast a spell that made them unable to speak.

Could it be that this world had such a mystical bird too?

That must be it! The events in her dream must be a secret. That’s why her mouth wouldn’t open!

Bingo!

Yu Yuanyuan suddenly understood everything and, even in her dream, gave herself a big thumbs up.