Annie's Worldview, You Earthlings Will Never Understand!

Tonight was a clear and beautiful evening. Normally at this time, Annie liked to play by the seaside with her little bear, Tibbers! Although Tibbers protested vehemently every time, it never stopped Annie from dunking both the bear and herself into the cool, clear seawater!

But today was an exception. Right now, Annie was dressed in a pretty little red skirt, sitting in Coulson's equally red little sports car. Because her classmate Angelina Roberts had a birthday tonight, and she had invited Annie and the other classmates to her party.

"What's wrong, Annie? Don't you like going to classmates' birthday parties? You seem a bit unhappy?" While driving, Coulson secretly observed Annie and noticed she seemed a little listless. Could it be she didn't like parties?

"Not at all! It's just that Angelina begged me to play her another song as a birthday gift, and I'm thinking about whether I should do it!" Annie rested her chin on her hand, looking gloomily out the window.

"I remember your teacher said you play the harp very well, and she even gave you an A+! Since that's the case, playing a song for your classmate sounds like a great idea, right?"

When Coulson was a kid, he didn't really like going to classmates' parties either, because you had to bring gifts! He liked receiving gifts, but spending his own allowance to buy one for a classmate wasn't so great. Now Annie just needed to play a song—it should be easy. Why was she unwilling?

"Because the song I play isn't ordinary—it's a magic song! If, um, someone listens to it too much, it's not good for them!" Annie carefully turned her face back to the window, not letting Uncle Coulson see her awkward expression.

"Oh? A magic song? Sounds pretty cool. Why would a magic song be bad for people?" Coulson had heard plenty of music in his time, but he'd never heard of a magic song! He was very curious about it.

"Because, because... if you listen to a magic song too much, it can get you addicted! It has a tiny bad effect on the soul, just a tiny bit! But listening once or twice occasionally is no problem." Annie thought it over and honestly told the truth.

(So! Lady Annie! I've told you many times! You need to practice properly and stop messing around with these crooked tricks! Adding enchanting magic to your music—listening too much not only gets people addicted but can easily cause irreversible damage to the soul! That's why your Valoran Performance Convention strictly forbids it! Can't you learn from Sona and just play from the heart? The way she plays is truly good—even this bear loves listening to her!)

Shut up, Tibbers! I've decided now—I'm not taking you to the party tonight!! Annie grabbed her backpack, stuffed the little bear Tibbers, who had been in her arms, inside, and tossed the bag behind the seat. Talking bad about me! Liking to listen to Sona! Watch me lock you in this little backpack!

"There's actually such a thing?" Coulson found the idea of music getting people addicted very novel. He could understand drug addiction, but getting addicted from listening to music? Unbelievable! Sure enough, things from the magic world were a bit hard for him to grasp!

"But if I remember correctly, you've only played it once before. So playing it one more time later shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"Exactly! That's right! Uncle Coulson, you're absolutely right. Playing it one more time should be fine!" Hearing Coulson's words, Annie's eyes lit up, and she solidified her decision to play another song tonight. After all, it would only be twice total. Addiction? No way! At most, she'd never play it again after this.

"Oh, Uncle Coulson, let me tell you something—I think your sunglasses are totally cool! If only it weren't nighttime!"

"Ha... well, sorry!" Coulson awkwardly took off his sunglasses from the bridge of his nose. It was dark now, and he didn't even realize when he'd put them on. Maybe it was just a habit from being an agent?

"Yeah, wearing sunglasses while driving at night is pretty silly!" Coulson shrugged and admitted his mistake. "But Annie, you used the word 'cool'? Where'd you learn that?"

"Online! What's wrong?" Annie indicated that since she'd learned to use the internet, she'd picked up a lot of things!

"You know how to use the internet?! Who taught you?" Coulson was a little surprised. Could it be the teacher?!

The internet had both good and bad content, and little Annie was only eight years old—the age most susceptible to bad influences. If she were an ordinary kid, he could just educate her, but Annie was a dangerous alien being comparable to a strategic nuclear weapon! If she accidentally learned something bad online, that would be trouble!

That was why Coulson and Melinda had never taught Annie how to use a computer or browsed the internet in front of her—they were afraid she'd be influenced by bad things online. But now Annie had taught herself to go online? Coulson felt this information was very important and needed attention! Where did she learn it? Who taught her? And what was their purpose?

"Fat Jack from class taught me! I bribed him with a few roasted frogs!" Annie grinned proudly, but the next moment she pouted angrily. "Speaking of that fat jerk, he makes me mad! He ate the most frogs, but when the teacher questioned us, he was the first to rat me out! So mean!"

So that's it! Coulson hadn't expected a little fat kid to ruin his plan to guide Annie into being a good girl! From now on, he and Melinda would have to strictly monitor Annie's internet usage and not let her learn any more bad things online!

"Oh! Speaking of frogs, I forgot to ask the other day. Annie? What made you think of eating frogs back then?" Coulson was puzzled! Could frogs even be eaten? He'd never tried them!

"Well... um... let me think." Annie bit her finger, recalling that day. "Anyway, at the time, I just felt those little frogs were different from the ones in our Voodoo Lands! The frogs back home were big and ugly! These ones were small and cute, and the more I looked at them, the more I wanted to eat them... Yeah, that's it!"

"You want to eat cute little animals just because they're cute? Why?" Coulson was baffled. What kind of logic was that? That worldview was totally skewed! Her words almost made him rear-end the truck in front of him!

"Uncle Coulson, you're so weird! Aren't cute animals supposed to be eaten?" Annie looked at him curiously. Animals were for eating!

Back in the Voodoo Lands, she'd eaten plenty of little animals! Things like crocodiles, little dinosaurs, big tigers, or lions! Whenever Annie got hungry while out playing, she'd roast whatever caught her eye. But those frogs from the school lab were a first—too bad she hadn't remembered to bring seasoning... What a shame. Teacher Maine would never give her a second chance.

I'm weird? Your alien worldview is the abnormal one! Coulson's lips trembled as he turned his head away.

He didn't want to argue with the little girl anymore. Maybe aliens really were like that? Then Earthlings shouldn't go around trying to correct them! He'd need to write this into his report: Valoran customs differ from Earth's, and this point requires attention.

Coulson decided he shouldn't discuss these issues with Annie anymore! Two different worlds—maybe in Valoran's view, any animal could be eaten after cutting off the head and tail? The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Forget it! He wouldn't dwell on it. For now, he'd just drive quickly, drop Annie off at the party, grab a coffee while waiting, and then take her home when it ended. A pleasant day, and he could get through it like that.

Time passed quickly! It was now past 9 PM, and the party was over. Mr. Roberts and his daughter personally saw Annie to the door. Little Angelina stepped forward and gently hugged Annie. Entrepreneur Roberts, with a hint of tears in his eyes, looked at Annie gratefully from the side.

"Thank you, Annie! You're a little angel! I'm truly, deeply grateful to you today."

Roberts had been very close with his wife, but misfortune struck. Since his wife passed away two years ago, he'd never been able to move past the shadow of grief, drowning in the pain of losing her... His daily routine fell apart, he turned to drinking, and he even rarely attended to company matters.

A while back, Angelina came home from school excitedly telling him about her new classmate Annie. According to her, Annie's music let her see her mother—she was above the moon, doing very well, and even hugged her.

Roberts thought it was just a little girl's excessive longing and took note of it but didn't take it too seriously.

But this time, taking advantage of his daughter's birthday party, he held onto a sliver of hope and, with mixed feelings, ordered a beautiful harp from a music instrument company. He knew the girl named Annie would come to his daughter's party. Maybe he should take the chance to hear her play?

In the end, it was proven! His most precious daughter, Angelina, hadn't lied to him.

That night, he not only heard the most beautiful and moving music in the world but also, as the melody drifted through the starry sky, saw her—his wife—on the moon! They gazed at each other for a long time, embraced tightly, and poured out their hearts! It was a spiritual communion! In that moment, he forgot everything and left his sorrow behind...

So heaven really did exist!

By God! Roberts swore that from today on, he would never wallow in despair again! He would pull himself together, not just for her, but for their daughter.

"Thank you, Annie. May God bless you!" Holding his daughter, Roberts said softly, watching Annie climb into Coulson's car.

"How was the party tonight?" Coulson started the car, then turned to Annie in the passenger seat and asked softly.

"Great!" Annie blinked, glanced at Coulson driving, and seemed a bit distracted, not really wanting to answer him. She was thinking about something.

"Good to hear!" Coulson looked at Annie, a strange curve forming at the corner of his mouth. "So, how about Uncle Coulson takes you somewhere fun later?"

"Huh? Somewhere fun? Sure!" Annie suddenly grinned, turned around, grabbed her backpack, and pulled out her little bear Tibbers, hugging him close. She seemed to have noticed something very amusing. Her big blue eyes were full of mischievous glee.

(Stupid Earthling! Tibbers curled his lip disdainfully at Coulson as he drove.)