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Xiang Changge: "..."

Is there any logical connection between the first half and the second half of that sentence? Why would you put them together?

As the thought crossed her mind, the phone Xiang Changge had left in the car gave a soft chime. Xiang Changge didn't pay it any mind, responding to the system aloud: "Alright, alright, I'm heading back now."

Xiang Changge started the car as she spoke, preparing to leave.

The system was silent for a moment before suddenly saying in an excited tone: "Wait a minute, it's a message from baby Yu Qing, hurry up and reply to her!"

A message from Yu Qing?

Amidst the roar of the car engine, Xiang Changge picked up her phone, feeling a bit puzzled.

She opened it to see a WeChat message from a contact with a simple cat doodle avatar, asking a short and overbearing question.

Y: "Where are you?"

-

The rain that had been brewing all day finally began to fall. Yu Qing sat on the balcony, watching the mist of rain shroud the world, the streetlights of the villa below refracting into fragmented halos of light through the curtain of rain.

The rain grew heavier. It was past nine o'clock, and that person still hadn't returned.

What on earth could be so important that she had to be out for this long? Could something have happened to her? Otherwise, why wouldn't she be back yet?

Yu Qing lowered her head to fiddle with the shawl over her shoulders, her mind filled with chaotic and restless thoughts.

Should she... give her a call?

Maybe she ran into some trouble out there, like her car breaking down, getting pulled over by the police for speeding, or having her car towed for illegal parking... or something like that.

But if she called to ask about this and that, would it make her seem like she was being too controlling?

Although she worked without a day off, she wasn't the type of employer who would exploit people. If there was nothing to do at home, it was fine for her to go out for a walk. After all, she had come to work at her house immediately upon returning to the country, and she probably hadn't been out at all these past few days.

After thinking it over, Yu Qing decided that sending her a message to ask was the best approach.

This way, it wouldn't sound like she was urging her to come home, yet she could still confirm whether she was actually alive and well.

With that in mind, Yu Qing opened her blacklist and unblocked the person she had just added to it not long ago.

How should she phrase the message?

Yu Qing deleted and typed in the chat window repeatedly.

"Where did you go... No, that seems like I'm... being too controlling."

"Why aren't you back yet... That won't work either, it makes it seem like I care about her." They were still arguing this morning, after all.

"Are you coming back..."

Forget it, what if she just replied with "I'm not coming back" as a result?

"Did you run away from home..."

That didn't work either, it felt weird.

In the end, after struggling for several minutes, Yu Qing only sent two characters.

"Where?"

Xiang Changge looked up out of the car window. Where was she again? She had followed the navigation provided by the system and hadn't paid close attention to her location.

The system sounded exasperated: "You foolish host!"

"Where are you? You're in the old district of City A!"

Xiang Changge: "...Oh."

She had hoped it would say something more useful.

Xiang Changge quickly replied: "Old district."

Then she sent another message: "Heading back now."

Before she threw her phone aside to drive, she added one more line: "I brought you a gift."

On the other side, in the villa, Yu Qing pursed her lips as she watched the messages pop up one after another.

The old district? What was she doing over there?

She brought her a gift... a gift? What could it be? Did she happen to pick up a gift while she was in the old district, or did she go to the old district specifically to get her a gift...

Forget it, it didn't matter. She said she was coming back, which proved she hadn't run away from home.

As long as she hadn't run away, that was enough.

To show that she didn't care all that much, Yu Qing only replied with: "Oh."

"Miss."

While Yu Qing was still looking at the rainy weather outside, Aunt Gong came up from downstairs and advised: "It's windy now that it's raining, why don't you head back to your room?"

"It's getting late, shall I draw your bath?"

Yu Qing thought for a moment and agreed.

By the time she finished her bath, Xiang Changge should be back.

Yu Qing had a comfortable milk bath, and when she emerged from the bathroom, the steam had added a touch of rosiness to her habitually pale face.

She pulled her bathrobe tight and surveyed her room.

It was very quiet, and there was no sign of anyone else.

Yu Qing frowned as she glanced at the time; it was past ten-twenty.

Had Xiang Changge not returned yet?

For the past two nights at this hour, she had been sitting by her bedside, chanting scriptures for her.

With this thought, Yu Qing couldn't help but open WeChat again.

The chat history between her and the other party reached the top with a light scroll.

Aside from a few messages from tonight, the only thing further back was a Gomoku game invitation sent by the other party using her own phone; other than that, there was no more chat history.

Even though she was the one who had blocked the other party, seeing how few messages there were made Yu Qing feel a bit sullen.

It was just a trip back from the old district; wasn't that long enough? Why hadn't she returned yet?

Had she returned but didn't come to find her, or had she not returned at all? Didn't she say she brought her a gift? If she had returned, she should have come to find her immediately, right?

It wasn't that she needed any gift; it was just that since she had already said she would give her one, even if it were just a pack of sticky notes, she wouldn't have minded.

Just as Yu Qing was wondering whether to send another message to ask, someone knocked on the door.

It was the familiar rhythm of three consecutive knocks.

Yu Qing lifted her eyes abruptly and quickly tapped the dot next to the light switch.

With a click, the door unlocked automatically.

Xiang Changge walked in, carrying the damp, rainy mist that hadn't yet dissipated from her body.

She looked different today; she was dressed in simple black, as if she had specifically worn night-crawling gear to go do something nefarious.

Yu Qing tucked a few damp strands of hair behind her neck, watching the other party walk from the door to her front—carrying a black... large plastic bag in her hand?

Rumble—

Suddenly, another flash of lightning and a peal of thunder passed by, and a silver light shone in from outside the curtains that hadn't been drawn tight, casting a slanted reflection onto Xiang Changge.

Yu Qing: "..."

Wait a minute, this atmosphere, why does it feel a bit off?

A rainy night, thunder, a person with an expressionless face covered in rain mist, dressed all in black, holding a heavy-looking black plastic bag—it felt like a scene from some suspense drama.

Yu Qing coughed lightly, breaking the silence: "You, what did you go do?"

That large black plastic bag, it couldn't be her gift inside, could it? What could it be? Fish heads to nourish her body?

Yu Qing leaned back toward the bed.

Xiang Changge stopped not far from Yu Qing and didn't speak, just opened the bag under Yu Qing's inexplicably wary gaze.

"A gift for you."

Perhaps because she hadn't spoken for a long time, Xiang Changge's voice was a bit hoarse when she spoke.

Was it really her gift?

Yu Qing glanced at the large black plastic bag, which was so big that even with it open, she couldn't see what was inside from her angle. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

What kind of gift required such a large black plastic bag?

It couldn't be that because she said she was a bit depressed this morning, she ran to the old district to dig up a bag of dirt for her to raise some flowers or plants to cultivate her character, right?

Yu Qing didn't know why she had so many strange guesses.

She figured Xiang Changge wouldn't prepare any terrifying gifts for her.

Thinking this, Yu Qing leaned forward, hooked the edge of the bag with her fingertips, and leaned her head in to look inside.

Under the brilliant light of the ceiling chandelier, amidst her nervous and fluttering heart, Yu Qing finally saw what was inside the plain bag.

After seeing the object clearly, Yu Qing froze in place, remaining motionless for a long time.

Xiang Changge looked at the dazed Yu Qing, reached out, and pulled a soft, cotton-candy-like thing out of the bag.

"Ta-da! The world's cutest puppy—Tongtong Dog, I have arrived!"

Xiang Changge heard the system emit a brilliant entrance sound effect in her mind.

But to her actual ears, there was only a milky dog bark: "Woof!"

"Wuwuwu, baby Yu Qing, hurry and hug Tongtong, hold Tongtong in your arms, hurry, hurry! Isn't Tongtong cute? Who could refuse Tongtong!"

The system, finally held out and able to make a dazzling appearance in front of Yu Qing, waved its four little paws impatiently, almost charging directly into Yu Qing's arms.

In Yu Qing's eyes, it was just a small puppy that Xiang Changge had pulled out of the pitch-black plastic bag, held in her palm with one hand, while the puppy's black bean-like eyes were staring unblinkingly at her, its four limbs paddling in the air as if it were swimming.