Xie Chuchu crouched down again.
"Are you ready to talk?"
Xue Jiamin met Xie Chuchu's gaze.
He glared at her as if refusing to back down.
Xie Chuchu had no intention of dragging this out with the child.
She wasn't patient.
And the child knew it.
"I'll tell you!"
Seeing Xie Chuchu start to get up, the child blurted out.
Then he bit his lower lip, looking a little annoyed with himself.
"Talk."
Xie Chuchu was brief.
"If you keep stalling, I'm really leaving."
"I keep my word."
Xue Jiamin's expression shifted repeatedly.
He was clearly wrestling with a fierce inner conflict.
"Three..."
Xie Chuchu rested her chin in her hands.
Noticing the child glance over at the sudden sound of her voice, she curled her lips into a slight smile.
"Two..."
Xue Jiamin froze.
A trace of panic appeared on his face.
Th-that...
"One."
Xie Chuchu lowered her head.
Her hands were about to rest on her knees.
"I remember!"
Xue Jiamin shouted.
Xie Chuchu crouched back down.
"You remember?"
She looked puzzled.
"What did you remember?"
Xue Jiamin lowered his head.
His hands twisted together.
"I was walking around the hotel earlier..."
Mm.
Xie Chuchu nodded slightly.
She didn't say anything.
She was afraid she might interrupt the child's train of thought.
It had taken so much just to get him to open up to her.
If things went awry again, she might go crazy.
She really wasn't a very patient person.
"I heard a dog barking."
"It sounded really fierce."
Scenes from earlier came to Xue Jiamin's mind.
He had frozen for a moment.
He couldn't help stopping in his tracks.
The ferocious barking had naturally filled him with fear.
But he was also