"I..."
Chi Xiuke thought about it seriously.
After a while, she gave up and shook her head.
"I don't know."
The girl ate several mouthfuls of food in a huff.
Her puffed-out cheeks made her look like an adorable little hamster.
Xiao Xiao couldn't help laughing.
"It's okay if you don't know."
"I don't know either."
Huh?
Chi Xiuke stopped chewing altogether.
She stared blankly at Master Xiao.
Xiao Xiao gave a slight shake of his head.
"Come back to us."
Chi Xiuke jolted.
She swallowed the food in her mouth.
After a few more seconds, she finally spoke.
"...Huh?"
"You don't know?"
Xiao Xiao smiled.
"That's right."
"I don't know."
"If you're curious, we can go back to the movie theater later and take another look."
"We might find the answer."
The disappointment and regret Chi Xiuke had felt at Master Xiao's answer vanished at once.
Her eyes lit up.
"Can we?"
"If you want to."
Xiao Xiao's lips curved.
"Thank you, Master Xiao."
After spending so much time with Master Xiao, Chi Xiuke no longer felt awkward or overly polite around him.
She really was curious about how the shoes had disappeared.
Master Xiao was willing to help her solve the mystery...
She had no reason to refuse.
"You can eat in peace now, right?"
Xiao Xiao gave another slight shake of his head.
Chi Xiuke's eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Mm."
"Master Xiao, have some more."
She knew that, contrary to the impression his appearance gave, Master Xiao had quite an appetite.
Not that Master Xiao was scrawny.
He had a great physique.
It was just that the only people she'd seen eat as much as Master Xiao were burly guys with particularly imposing builds.
She