Morning.
Qiao Sang stood up from her desk, walked to the window, and swiftly pulled open the slightly drawn curtain.
Sunlight spilled into the room.
She opened the window, letting in the cool, refreshing morning breeze.
Taking a deep breath of fresh air, her sleep-deprived brain instantly felt much clearer.
She turned around, about to call Lubao over for a dose of Healing Light.
But just as she turned, sothing in her peripheral vision caught her attention.
A beast was sleeping on the window ledge.
Huh? Why is Chan Chan Stone sleeping here…?
Qiao Sang reached out and picked up the sleeping beast.
It was in deep slumber.
Looking at the peacefully sleeping Chan Chan Stone, she decided to be considerate and tucked it into her pocket, letting it continue resting.
A few minutes later, she opened her bedroom door.
Little Treasure was sitting in the living room playing on a phone. The mont he saw his beast tar erge, he quickly floated over, clutching the device.
"Xun Xun~"
Little Treasure flipped the phone screen toward Qiao Sang and pointed at the 95% battery level, signaling that he hadn't been playing the entire ti.
You think I don’t know you've been charging it while playing…?
Qiao Sang silently looked at him, then took the phone.
Even though she hadn’t spoken, Little Treasure felt the judgnt in her gaze and guiltily looked away-
Only to see Chan Chan Stone sleeping on the couch.
"Xun Xun?!"
Little Treasure imdiately straightened up, puffing out his chest as if he had caught sothing suspicious.
He pointed righteously at the Chan Chan Stone on the couch and let out a firm cry.
He was trying to say, most of his phone ti had been spent watching tragic dramas to feed Old Four's rock pet. This was serious business!
Qiao Sang, however, was frozen in place, staring at the Chan Chan Stone sleeping soundly on the couch.
At that mont, her mind felt completely scrambled.
Wait.
If that’s Chan Chan Stone on the couch…
Then what’s in my pocket?
After a few seconds of silence, Qiao Sang reached into her pocket and pulled out Chan Chan Stone No. 2.
"Xun Xun?!"
Little Treasure's eyes widened in shock.
His head darted back and forth, first looking at Chan Chan Stone on the couch, then at the identical one in Qiao Sang’s hand.
Qiao Sang fell into another long silence.
She had been a bit confused before.
But now, seeing two identical rock beasts at the sa ti, she understood everything.
These were two completely different Chan Chan Stones.
Which ant-
She had just casually picked up a wild Chan Chan Stone and brought it inside.
Staying up all night really fried my brain… How could I do sothing this ridiculous…?
Qiao Sang ntally scolded herself and decided to put the stray Chan Chan Stone back outside where it had been sleeping.
But just as she was about to do so, the Chan Chan Stone in her hand slowly opened its eyes.
"Chan…?"
Chan Chan Stone No. 2 still seed a bit groggy.
It rubbed its eyes, yawned sleepily, then locked eyes with Qiao Sang.
"Chan Chan?!"
A brief mont of eye contact-
In just a few seconds, its expression went through a full spectrum of emotions:
From confused → frozen → absolute horror. An utterly spectacular display.
With a sharp cry, Chan Chan Stone No. 2 leaped out of Qiao Sang’s hand, rolling and scrambling straight into the corner of the room.
Qiao Sang: …
That’s… so next-level cowardice.
At that mont, the Chan Chan Stone on the couch seed to wake up from the noise.
Noticing that both Little Treasure and his beast tar were staring at the corner, he instinctively followed their gaze.
And in the next second-
"Chan Chan"
Its eyes instantly welled up with tears.
It jumped off the couch and ran straight toward Chan Chan Stone No. 2 in the corner.
"Chan Chan!"
Chan Chan 4 No. 2 was also crying now.
It threw itself at the first Chan Chan Stone, and the two embraced tightly-
Tears and mucus running down their faces, crystals falling in large chunks as they sobbed uncontrollably.
Qiao Sang: …
The commotion in the living room drew the attention of Yabao and the others, who erged from the bedroom to investigate.
For a mont, the two stone beasts clung to each other, trembling in fear.
Five minutes later.
With Little Treasure's acting as a translator, Qiao Sang finally understood the situation.
Turns out: Chan Chan Stone No. 2 was actually Chan Chan Stone's father.
After an arduous journey, it had finally found the child that Qiao Sang, this despicable human, had taken away.
And it had been lurking outside the window, waiting for the right mont to rescue its offspring.
So basically… I’m the villain now.
Qiao Sang sighed, watching the two terrified, pale-faced stone beasts, awaiting their fate.
When she had taken Chan Chan Stone in, she had never considered this possibility.
Everyone always said wild beasts had a hard ti surviving in the top ten districts, so she thought she was doing Chan Chan Stone a favor, giving it food and shelter in exchange for its crystals.
That wasn’t too unfair, was it?
Qiao Sang asked, “Do you want to leave?”
"Chan Chan?"
Chan Chan Stone looked up nervously.
Was… that an option?
Qiao Sang nodded.
“If you want to.”
If Chan Chan Stone had been alone, then staying or leaving wouldn’t make much difference.
But now that its family was here, forcing it to stay wouldn’t feel right.
"Chan Chan…"
Both stone beasts stared at her in disbelief, as if they couldn’t believe they were being let go so easily.
At that mont, Gangbao, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
"Gang Gang."
She casually suggested that they could both stay, as food.
Chan Chan Stone Father & Son: !!!
Seeing their terrified expressions, Qiao Sang sighed again.
“Forget it. Forced bonds never work.”
She turned to Gangbao.
“If you really like their crystals, I’ll just rent one long-term instead.”
Gangbao looked at her, eyes flickering in surprise.
She hadn’t expected her to say sothing like that.
The two Chan Chan Stones exchanged glances, then took a few cautious steps forward.
When they saw that no one was stopping them, they lit up with joy and bolted toward the balcony.
Just as they were about to jump off-
“Wait.”
Chan Chan Stones: …
They instantly deflated.
Knew it… it was a trick.
With four powerful beasts present, they turned back without daring to move.
Qiao Sang wasn’t aware of their internal panic.
She walked into her room, ca back a mont later, this ti holding a Purple Lake Crystal.
“Here.” She handed it to them.
“Chan Chan…”
Chan Chan Stone froze.
Its father looked equally confused.
“You agreed to stay in exchange for this.” Qiao Sang said gently.
“Even though you’re leaving earlier than planned, you still worked hard. Take it as paynt.”
“Chan Chan…”
Chan Chan Stone looked up at the human before it.
“Hurry up. I have class soon, so I won’t be seeing you off.”
She nudged the crystal toward them.
After a long pause-
Chan Chan Stone slowly reached out and took it.
---
Later, while heading to training, Qiao Sang suddenly asked Gangbao,
“Are your family mbers in 27th District?”
Gangbao paused, then nodded.
Qiao Sang fell silent for a mont.
“…Do you want to go back?”
Gangbao t her gaze.
For a while, she didn’t answer.
Then, after a few seconds...
She nodded.
She wanted to go back.
---
That entire day, Qiao Sang felt restless.
When she got back to her dorm, still distracted, she absentmindedly flipped through her study materials.
Then-
"Knock knock."
She looked up.
Outside the window, five identical Chan Chan Stones were lined up neatly.
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