Using Force Is Necessary

Zhou Shuling sent a message to Mi Gaoming to decline the invitation, and then prepared to return to the store.

"Zhou Dongdong, I hope you can grow up to be as ladylike as Miss Zhu." Zhou Shuling glanced at Zhou Dongdong's posture—leaning back and watching TV with her short legs crossed and her belly rubbing—and felt utterly hopeless.

Liu Chang'an asked in confusion, "Aren't you her biological mother? Why are you cursing your own daughter like that?"

"What is a lady?" Zhou Dongdong asked, equally puzzled.

"A lady is a well-behaved and quiet girl."

"Can a lady eat as well as I do?"

"Definitely not," Liu Chang'an said firmly. This child, who insisted on using a basin to eat just because he heard that the pig ate, was far more gluttonous than any lady when it came to eating.

"I don't want to be a lady anymore!" Zhou Dongdong was very disappointed. She didn't want to be a lady at all. She couldn't eat a lot of food. If she could only eat one bowl of rice at a time, she wouldn't be clever or brave.

"I'll help Brother Chang'an sweep the floor later." Zhou Shuling wanted to give Zhou Dongdong some exercise.

"Woof!" Zhou Dongdong indicated that he heard it.

Zhou Shuling went out the door and went into the store.

Zhou Dongdong climbed off the sofa, circled around the living room until she found the broom, then stood in front of the TV, holding the broom and sweeping a spot in front of her without moving.

"You swept this area very clean," Liu Chang'an praised.

Zhou Dongdong quickly moved two steps to the side and moved to a new spot to sweep.

Liu Chang'an was very pleased. After all, he was a primary school student now, unlike kindergarten children who would grab a broom and charge around the living room as if they were People 'People's Liberation Army soldiers cleaning up a battlefield.

Liu Chang'an sat on the recliner reading a book. Zhou Dongdong swept the floor little by little, finally coming to Liu Chang'an's side. She glanced back at her brother Chang'an's engrossed look, dropped the broom, climbed onto him, and slowly lay down. Her head slowly stretched between Liu Chang'an's arms, the book, and his stomach. She glanced at the book her brother Chang'an was reading. There were no pictures at all. Suddenly, she felt sleepy and closed her eyes.

When Zhou Shuling returned home in the evening, the TV was still on in the living room, and the two children, one big and one small, were asleep on the recliner. She first carried Zhou Dongdong back to the bedroom, then went down to the bedroom to get a blanket to cover Liu Chang'an. She placed a footstool under his feet before taking off her shoes, turned off the TV, and tiptoed out of the living room.

Liu Chang'an woke up at four in the morning.

I stretched while hugging the blanket. The warm air felt comforting in the cool morning air. I could hear the soft patter of rain on the sycamore leaves. Since that thunderstorm that tore many branches and leaves, the sycamore tree has been working hard to grow more healthy branches. At a time when more leaves should be falling, some leaves that were originally yellowed have instead turned a vibrant green.

Junsha is not a rainy city in autumn. At this time of autumn, the rainy night should be more chilly. Liu Chang'an threw off the blanket, kicked off his shoes and walked to the balcony. Feeling the dampness in the air, he turned his head and saw a white figure lingering downstairs.

The drizzling rain seemed to blur the boundaries of space; in many stories and films, rainy nights always set the stage for an atmosphere of unrealism.

The fine rain, like the prelude to a ghostly arrival, avoided the white figure, drifting haphazardly and landing in front of Liu Chang'an's eyelids.

Liu Chang'an jumped down and walked to Shangguan Dandan.

Shangguan Dandan wore a white silk robe with a golden pattern of phoenixes soaring through the sky, which could not be concealed even in the darkness of the night.

"Morning."

Shangguan Dandan's long hair was draped over her shoulders, her bangs were damp from the air, and her fair face showed some tension. She bit her lip and stared at Liu Chang'an with wide eyes. She did not expect to be seen by Liu Chang'an when she came out.

"This neighborhood is mostly inhabited by elderly people. If they see you standing here at this time, they'll have to hold a funeral today." Liu Chang'an thought for a moment. The last time a funeral was held in this neighborhood was not long before the Qingming Festival.

"Why?"

"Ghosts are scary."

"I am the most revered person, yet even ghosts and demons dare to show themselves?" Shangguan Dandan scoffed.

"You, with your long white robe and flowing black hair, that's the standard image of a female ghost," Liu Chang'an reminded her to be self-aware.

Shangguan Dandan was stunned for a moment, looked down at herself, and was filled with confusion and anger. How could this be the image of a female ghost?

However, she didn't mind and didn't want to stay outside with Liu Chang'an any longer, so she turned around and pushed open the door to go back.

Liu Chang'an took Shangguan Dandan's hand.

"What do you want to do?" Shangguan Dandan became wary, even though she didn't struggle to pull her hand away.

"I'll show you the world."

Liu Chang'an reached out and picked up Shangguan Dandan, then jumped to the rooftop of the building opposite. He knew that Shangguan Dandan's activity range, before he had seen her, was limited to the area covered by the shade of the sycamore trees.

"What are you doing!" Shangguan Dandan was somewhat angry. Liu Chang'an hadn't consulted her at all and had acted on his own initiative.

Liu Chang'an ignored her and hopped away from the residential area. Shangguan Dandan turned her head to look at the outside world, and was so surprised that her face turned pale.

Her pupils dilated, her heart pounded, and she reached out to hug Liu Chang'an's neck tightly, pressing her body against his embrace, bending her legs and squeezing his arms with her knees.

This was the first time she had left the small, familiar neighborhood and truly entered this world of demons and monsters.

The world in the rainy night was filled with a sense of dread and complete alienation; looking around, there was no familiar feeling under the starry sky.

Except for the person I'm holding onto tightly.

Liu Chang'an landed at the intersection not far from the residential area.

He tried to put Shangguan Dandan, but Shangguan Dandan clung tightly to his neck, refusing to stand on the ground and pulling her legs up.

Like a noble monkey.

Liu Chang'an had no choice but to reach under her legs and pick her up again.

Shangguan Dandan, panting, pursed her lips and glared angrily at Liu Chang'an, "I... I want you to hold me!"

Liu Chang'an and she exchanged a glance; her delicate and slender body was not much of a burden for Liu Chang'an.

Holding her like this inevitably brings to mind some things from back then, some memories that were already blurred and confused.

"This is the basic manifestation of the world's legal principles: traffic lights... You see, they turn red and green. Red means warning and prohibition, and green means go. Remember this." Liu Chang'an believes that if others also have such an ancient old lady to raise, in order to help her live a correct and positive life and participate in the country's construction of a stable and harmonious life, they first need to understand this point.

Shangguan Dandan glanced at it and then turned her head away.

"This is the road in front of us now, with the motor vehicle lane in the middle, which is where cars drive... You've probably seen cars in novels, and I've explained them in detail when I lectured on encyclopedias before. On both sides are non-motorized vehicle lanes and pedestrian walkways; you can use the pedestrian walkways from now on."

Shangguan Dandan looked around from Liu Chang'an's arms, her eyes sweeping across the room, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, with a few water droplets clinging to them.

"Once you've mastered these two points, you'll be able to move freely around this city, learn slowly, and gradually get used to it." Liu Chang'an carried Shangguan Dandan to the bottom of Baolong Center.

Shangguan Dandan had seen this building, which resembled a stairway to heaven, under the sycamore tree, just as she had seen it when she peered out in the rainy night; its top was hidden in the clouds.

The sheer size of this behemoth was a shock that modern people like Liu Chang'an could hardly comprehend. Shangguan Dandan gripped Liu Chang'an's neck tightly, held her breath, and stared intently into her eyes as she peered closely at the masterpiece of modern human architecture—the skyscraper.

"Aside from being a bit more crowded, modern cities aren't that different from your time. You'll get used to it." Liu Chang'an carried Shangguan Dandan back.

"I... I need to take another look!" Shangguan Dandan said breathlessly, glancing left and right before staring at Liu Chang'an.

Liu Chang'an smiled. Once you take the first step, there's less hesitation and second-guessing. For Shangguan Dandan, the courage she needed to step out of that small patch of sky under the sycamore tree was something that Liu Chang'an's original coffin cult and the knowledge he gained online could not provide.

Sometimes strong stimulation is necessary, but of course, excessive stimulation is not good.