“A ntally unstable S-level dark sentinel,” Xiao Zhenyun sighed, looking at the mission briefing on the screen, his gaze lowering. “You guys are brave—one daring enough to take the job, the other to accept it.”
Xiao Jiali stood by the hospital wall like a quail, wearing a patient gown with a bandage around his neck. He hung his head, ready to admit his fault, while his dads took his bed.
Xiao Zhenyun was furious, speaking sternly, “Xiao Jiali, do you have a death wish? Do you think you’ll get another chance at life with a soft-hearted administrator to bring you back? No! Not again! We all know the price Xiao Nian paid to leave you his body. Is this how you repay him?!”
Xiao Jiali remained silent, tears streaming down his face, as the gray-white eagle obediently stood at the bedpost, receiving the scolding.
Si Di quietly sighed, like every caring mother, handing Xiao Jiali a tissue, while Xiao Zhenyun patted his back to comfort him.
“This makes
so mad,” Xiao Zhenyun groaned, holding his heavy antlered head. “Is there any QTA left? Give
ten doses, I’m going to kill that damn Hedgehog.”
“The original QTA formula was archived long ago. The ones in circulation are improved brain tumor treatnts,” Si Di said, steadying Xiao Zhenyun’s antlers. “Don’t be so angry. Hedgehog did protect Xiao Jiali at the critical mont. He’s still in the ICU… And our son, standing here full of spirit, taking his scolding.”
Xiao Jingfeng wearily pushed the door open, imdiately understanding the scene. “Zhenyun, calm down. How’s Xiao Jiali’s injury? It’s not serious, right?”
“Not serious, just minor injuries,” Xiao Zhenyun replied, sitting back in the chair, waving for the Little Bird to rest. “What about Han? He was brought in covered in blood, I thought he wouldn’t make it…”
“He’s not that easy to kill. Troublemakers live long,” Xiao Jingfeng laughed lightly, rubbing his temples. “You know, I barely survived this long, doing ntal grooming today… It was so painful, I almost wanted to end Hedgehog with one whip for both his and my sake.”
The chairman’s tone was relaxed, indicating that Hedgehog’s condition was stable and his life was not in danger. Xiao Zhenyun smiled, his antlers mostly retracted, leaving only two sharp golden tips. He approached Xiao Jingfeng and squeezed his shoulder. “Uncle, you’ve worked hard. Once Hedgehog is better, we’ll have him clean your office… No, let’s make Xiao Jiali and Hedgehog clean together; two troubleso kids.”
“Imagine soone walking into your office and seeing two S-level dark sentinels, one big and one small, bent over with rags, cleaning your office?” Xiao Jingfeng closed his eyes, enjoying his nephew’s touch. “That would be too decadent.”
The visual was too strong, prompting laughter from Si Di. “That’s a sight indeed.”
Si Di had once made Hedgehog Xiao Jingfeng’s secretary just for fun, but this ti, the task of cleaning the chairman’s office and bathroom wasn’t a joke. Xiao Zhenyun, in his role as vice chairman, even issued an official docunt, publicly posting it on the notice board with all the details clearly outlined.
Xiao Jiali, feeling the weight of his mistake, reported promptly every morning. After cleaning, he would serve the chairman hot water, water the plants, or move them into the sunlight. Since the chairman often forgot to eat breakfast, Si Di tasked Xiao Jiali with bringing a packed breakfast every day, ensuring his uncle finished it before Xiao Jiali went off to his classes.
In contrast, Hedgehog, whose skin was as thick as his spiritual barriers, didn’t feel he had done anything wrong. He would appear late in the morning, donning the standard gear for spiritually impaired sentinels—mouth guard, neck brace, and restraining rings—reluctantly helping Xiao Jingfeng washing the breakfast dishes, drying and putting them away, and refilling the chairman’s tea, often deliberately overfilling and spilling it onto freshly printed docunts, resulting in the chairman increasing the power of the restraining rings to pin him down and physically reprimand him.
When passing the dishes to Si Di, Hedgehog would cheekily ask if the captain could prepare another breakfast for him.
Si Di would tell him to get lost.
On an ordinary day, Xiao Zhenyun received a wedding invitation from Duan Pei, the other groom being Harold Xiu. The two of them looked blissfully happy, embracing each other in their wedding photos, smiling brightly.
Thanks to the QTA treatnt and conservative care, Duan Pei’s brain tumor was completely cured. However, instead of returning to his old, predictable life, he resolutely decided to follow his heart and be with his lover.
Duan Pei, having gone through so much, expressed gratitude for his illness, which allowed him to understand his younger brother, move past confusion and obsession, and fulfill his wishes—a simple flower shop, a cat, a dog, and two people.
While Duan Pei’s life seed smooth and fulfilling, Xiao Jiali faced so complications.
“Dad,” he called softly. “The invitation ntions ‘Xiao Nian.’ Should I go? If I do, I’ll definitely run into Duan Fei… Should I tell him the truth about my identity?”
“My silly child,” Xiao Zhenyun lovingly patted the feathers on his arm. “Duan Fei is sharp. When he sees that your spiritual form is an eagle, he will likely sense sothing is off.”
Xiao Jiali was skeptical, vaguely recalling so mories from junior high school. Back then, Duan Fei’s achievents were clearly not as good as his own…
In the hotel’s garage where the wedding was being held, Xiao Zhenyun bumped into Duan Fei, who was dressed in casual attire. Duan Fei’s childhood friend, Lily, greeted them with a smile and excitedly approached Xiao Jiali, who was hiding behind Si Di. “Xiao Nian! It’s been so long. Co here, let’s catch up!”
Xiao Jiali felt embarrassed, losing a few feathers as his spiritual body, the eagle, spread its wings to their full two-ter span, looking imposing.
Xiao Zhenyun’s words were no joke.
A few seconds later, Duan Fei’s expression changed.
There was no mistaking it—the spiritual body was Xiao Jiali’s, the eagle that hadn’t even been nad before Xiao Jiali’s passing. Although the young man in front of him looked exactly like Xiao Nian, his every move was that of his familiar old classmate.
Duan Fei exchanged a brief look with Xiao Zhenyun, his pupils trembling with complete disbelief.
“…” Duan Fei tried to explain the situation scientifically, but it seed futile. After a long mont of shock, he asked the question that truly concerned him: “Where is your son? The real Xiao Nian…”
“There is no Xiao Nian,” Xiao Zhenyun replied, patting his shoulder with a smile.
The half-said, half-implied statent left Duan Fei pondering its philosophical undertones for a long ti. Lily, waving chopsticks in front of his face, teased, “Uh-oh, the captain’s gone silly.”
During the wedding, Duan Fei bumped into Xiao Jiali, who had stepped outside for so fresh air away from the noise.
Xiao Jiali’s first reaction upon seeing him was to step back. A ring of gray-white feathers appeared at Xiao Jiali’s temples, giving him a striking and imposing appearance, similar to that of a Tibetan fox.
Duan Fei looked down at Xiao Jiali with an expressionless face. Standing at 1.9 ters tall, Duan Fei was noticeably taller than Xiao Jiali, who was only 1.7 ters tall and thin.
Duan Fei’s gaze flickered over Xiao Jiali’s left shoulder, right leg, and abdon—areas where he rembered Xiao Jiali had been injured during the attack. He couldn’t help but chuckle softly. “You’ve healed well. No lingering scars, it seems.”
Xiao Jiali’s mouth opened slightly in surprise. “You knew? Did my Dad tell you?”
“Do you call Mr. Xiao ‘Dad’?” Duan Fei’s smile deepened. “That’s cute. What do you call Captain Si Di?”
“Dad too… If they’re both around, I add their surnas.” Xiao Jiali stepped closer, looking up at Duan Fei. “Why are you so tall? I rember we were the sa height.”
“You’ve grown shorter.” Duan Fei led him to a quiet balcony to chat.
“Tell
how you figured out my identity.”
Duan Fei found the question unnecessary. “Isn’t it obvious from your spiritual body? Do you think I’m stupid?”
“…Captain Si Chu has co to see
at least ten tis,” Xiao Jiali added.
Duan Fei: “…”
Duan Fei: “Actually, Captain Si Chu probably knew everything. He’s just pretending to be ignorant, acting like a fool.”
“…”
That evening, Xiao Jiali shared Duan Fei’s theory with Xiao Zhenyun and Si Di. Xiao Zhenyun quickly dismissed it. “That’s absolutely not the case. That little dog is genuinely clueless. Your classmate is just saving face for Xiao Chu.”
Xiao Jiali looked at Si Di, wanting to ask about his impression of Si Chu. Si Di frowned, pondered for a while, and couldn’t hold back the truth: “Sorry, Xiao Li, but I think Xiao Chu is really foolish…”
Xiao Jiali: “…” Poor little dog.
Because Xiao Zhenyun once had the task of secretly photographing Si Chu, Xiao Nian’s terminal was filled with various photos, all too ugly to bear, many of them taken by Xiao Zhenyun’s frequent snapping.
There was also a mistakenly recorded video where Xiao Nian was angrily yelling at Xiao Zhenyun for so mistake he had made.
Xiao Jiali eagerly brought it to share with his dads, but Xiao Zhenyun imdiately backed away, saying, “I’ve already been scolded by him four or five tis. It wasn’t easy to endure until he left. Now you want to tornt
with his relics?”
Feeling aggrieved, Xiao Jiali paused the video and asked, “Is Nian Nian really not coming back?”
“…Don’t play with
with those cliched jokes about killing yourself and giving Xiao Nian your body.” Xiao Zhenyun suddenly beca alert. Si Di, who was in the kitchen preparing to make a cake with cream, asked, “Seriously, who’s dumb enough to do that white lotus thing?”
Xiao Jiali, who had once been like that: “…”
Too afraid to tell the truth, he could only say regretfully, “Will I never have a chance to thank Nian Nian?”
Si Di walked over to him wearing an apron, ruffled his hair, saring Xiao Jiali’s head with flour.
Xiao Jiali: “…”
Facts have proven that in the realm of bad ideas, no one can compare to Xiao Zhenyun.
Xiao Zhenyun only thought about it for a mont and ca up with a shockingly poor idea: “Why not make a statue for Nian Nian? Who knows, when you talk to this statue, maybe he could hear your voice in the World Managent Bureau?”
Si Di: “…”
Si Di: “Isn’t that like praying to a Bodhisattva?”
Xiao Zhenyun blinked guiltily.
The next day, Xiao Jiali took Xiao Nian’s terminal and left. A week later, he returned to his room with a trophy-shaped statue of Xiao Nian.
Xiao Zhenyun followed him into his room and saw the statue surrounded by sugar tangerines, a box of mint candies, and a cup of milk tea, all supposedly Xiao Nian’s favorites. It looked so lifelike, as if Xiao Nian himself was there.
Xiao Zhenyun jokingly lit so incense and bowed twice, then set up a morial tablet that read: ‘World Administrator Xiao Nian sleeps eternally here.’
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