It had just gotten dark when the family held an informal criticism meeting. The target was our clever, adorable, three-foot-seven Lilina—at least, that was what she called herself. The host was our wise, mighty, generous, and virtuous Head of State—at least, that was what I called myself.
The topic of the meeting was whether a certain irresponsible little girl who blurted out whatever came to mind and never thought ahead should be punished with a week of pickles and flatbread.
Lilina sat obediently on a little stool, hanging her head and counting her toes like an aggrieved young wife. If she had a handkerchief in her hand, she could have gone straight onto the big screen to play one of those unfortunate little maids sold into a wealthy household as a child, beaten and scolded every day while starving and freezing. In front of her, Older Sister, I, and the other parents formed a semicircle and gave this hyperactive Hairy Girl a full range of reformative education.
The younger ones, seeing that this had nothing to do with them, were tearing around the Living Room. Little Pao Pao held up a bottle of hair gel and chased the Nine-tailed Fox onto the top of a cabinet. At the other end of the cabinet, Anweina clutched her Crow Nest with teary eyes, terrified that the fox's heap of huge tails would accidentally sweep her nest down. Viska had found a long bamboo pole and was trying to poke both the crow and the fox down. Xiao Qi Jing had somehow dug out the magic mirror we had pried off the Icebound Continent in the God Realm and was asking it endless questions. The mirror was nearly insane.
For once, Suigintou was not fooling around with the younger ones. She sat nearby