Xiao Xue wasn't swapped back by Miss Lin until nearly nine that evening. When she appeared before us, she looked as aggrieved as could be, and the moment she showed up, she clung to my arm and wailed, "Dad, keep your wife in line!"
She made such a commotion that the entire Living Room fell silent, including Little Crow, who was chewing on a sofa cushion. I patted Xiao Xue's head. "Your mother hasn't even married into the family yet—so, what are your thoughts after spending half the day there?"
Xiao Xue flung herself onto the sofa, promptly bouncing the silly bird beside her onto the floor. "I'm never going to Grandpa's house again before I'm born! God, I've never seen anyone so full of nonsense—do you know how many Heads of State Grandpa had supposedly 'spoken cordially' with before he turned twenty-five? Good thing Kennedy died early, or Grandpa would definitely have pinned him down in a café for a chat too..."
Having just learned of Lin Ba's bizarre habit from Miss Lin, none of us found Xiao Xue's complaints surprising. I picked Little Crow up from the floor and dusted her off as I said, "Lin Xue and I were just talking about that. You know, there might actually be a forty to fifty percent chance your grandpa was telling the truth—don't forget, the Lin family is enormously influential. Well, at least on Earth."
Early the next morning, Sandora and I headed to Shadow City. There were no specific matters that required our personal attention for the time being, but there was one thing we needed to confirm—how was Bellavella doing? Each time she was free to move about, she had twenty-four hours. That meant she would remain awake until six-thirty that evening. Sandora and I planned to