Stop Squatting

It's over!

Lu Mingfei's vision went dark; there was no explaining this away.

"Could it be a burglar?" Uncle and Aunt exchanged a glance, then stepped forward slowly, opening the bathroom door with wary expressions.

Lu Mingfei clutched his head and followed behind them.

Once the door was open, Lu Mingfei was just as stunned as his aunt and uncle.

What met their eyes was a girl with long, dark red hair, wearing a white off-the-shoulder dress, crouching on the floor with her hands over her head and a Little Yellow Duck perched on top.

She had that look of, "As long as I crouch down and cover my head, no one can see me."

Aunt felt a sense of suffocation, followed by a silent, judgmental stare at Lu Mingfei. Uncle also looked at Lu Mingfei with an expression that clearly said he hadn't expected him to be such a beast.

"Who is she, and where did she come from?" Aunt stared at Lu Mingfei, expressionless.

Well played, Lu Mingfei. You claimed you didn't want to go shopping because you were too tired, but who knew you were actually hiding a beauty in your room!

To think he dared to deceive her; Aunt immediately felt her status in the household was under threat and waited for Lu Mingfei to provide an explanation.

Uncle also looked at Lu Mingfei with heartache, shaking his head, waiting for his explanation as well.

"Alright, Erii, get up. Stop crouching." Lu Mingfei looked at Erii with black lines running down his forehead.

Hearing Sakura calling her, Erii raised her head and peeked at the people in front of her.

Lu Mingfei was both annoyed and amused. What time did she think it was? Did she really think no one could see her!

He stepped forward and took the Little Yellow Duck off her head: "It's alright now, you can get up."

Erii stood up, looking at Lu Mingfei, unsure of what to do next.

"Um, Uncle, Aunt, actually this is all a misunderstanding!" Lu Mingfei was the first to put on a wronged expression as he looked at them.

"How is this a misunderstanding? Explain yourself," Aunt demanded.

"You're in Japan for a vacation and you don't even enjoy yourself properly, you actually went and found that... that!" Aunt was both angry and heartbroken; she couldn't bring herself to say the rest.

"What?" Lu Mingfei was stunned, not understanding what Aunt meant.

"Don't play dumb with me! Did someone slip you a card, and you couldn't help yourself, so you, you called for special services!" Aunt finally spelled it out.

Lu Mingfei nearly choked. What kind of crazy situation was this? So they thought he had called for some kind of special service?

"Please, both of you, calm down. It's not what you think. I didn't call any service; this is Erii, she's my friend," Lu Mingfei explained, caught between laughter and tears.

"Are you telling the truth?" Uncle stepped forward two paces to ask.

"Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"

Uncle and Aunt thought about Lu Mingfei's recent behavior and his past self. Indeed, no matter which version of Lu Mingfei it was, he wouldn't do something like this.

"Then how did you and this, uh, friend meet?" Uncle asked.

"We met playing games. I've told you about Old Tang, right? Erii, me, and Old Tang are all friends in the same group. Old Tang is in America, and Erii is here in Japan, so when I came to Japan, she came to find me to hang out."

Lu Mingfei spun the story with a straight face.

Uncle and Aunt had a vague memory of Old Tang; they remembered Lu Mingfei mentioning he was a Chinese-American.

Uncle pulled Lu Mingfei aside and asked: "This girl trusts you that much? She just came to find you to hang out?"

Lu Mingfei nodded repeatedly, then cleared his throat and walked back to the middle to introduce them: "Uncle, Aunt, this is Erii, my friend. She came to hang out with me today. Erii, these are my uncle and aunt."

Erii nodded obediently, picked up her notebook, and wrote: "Hello Uncle, hello Aunt."

She then showed it to them.

Uncle and Aunt were instantly stunned. They weren't just surprised that this beautiful young girl couldn't speak, but also surprised that she thought they could read Japanese!

"My uncle and aunt don't know Japanese; we are Chinese," Lu Mingfei explained to Erii.

She blinked, then hurriedly wrote in Chinese on her notebook: "Hello Uncle, hello Aunt."

This girl could speak Chinese?

Erii could speak Chinese?

Uncle, Aunt, and Lu Mingfei were all surprised at the same time.

Erii, however, was completely unaware of their reaction. Her brother had told her stories about studying at Kassel College and mentioned that Chinese education was popular there, so she had taught herself.

"Hello, hello," Uncle replied hurriedly.

The young girl was not only beautiful but also seemed very obedient; it was just a pity she couldn't speak.

"She's just here to hang out with me today, you don't need to overthink it. She'll be leaving tonight," Lu Mingfei said to his aunt and uncle with a smile.

Although Aunt still felt her status in the household had taken a bit of a hit, she refrained from saying too much in front of an outsider.

Once they got back, she would let Lu Mingfei know who was the master of the house.

It was a bit strange; the bathroom not only had this beautiful girl but also many boxes. Judging by the packaging, they were quite exquisite—likely designer clothes bought while shopping.

Seeing Aunt's suspicious gaze, Lu Mingfei quickly stepped forward and said: "Her family is quite wealthy; these are things I bought with her today."

Aunt nodded; she figured Lu Mingfei didn't have that much money anyway.

"Alright, let's move the stuff out," Lu Mingfei said to Erii.

Then, the two of them moved everything they had just stuffed inside back out, placing it all into the room.

His aunt and uncle helped out as well; they truly couldn't understand why Lu Mingfei had felt the need to hide things from them. Did he really think they would eat him alive?

"Huh? What is this?" Auntie spotted a body pillow, flipped it over, and saw a girl dressed in a maid outfit.

"Lu Mingfei, can you explain what this is?" Auntie held up the Asahina Mikuru body pillow and looked at Lu Mingfei.

"Oh, that kind of pillow? She bought all of those," Lu Mingfei said, silently pointing at Erii with an expression that suggested it had nothing to do with him, as if he didn't even recognize the pillow.

Lu Mingfei then took the Asahina Mikuru body pillow from his aunt's hands, pulled out a C.C. body pillow from the pile, walked over to Erii, and shoved them into her arms.

"She's the type who likes watching anime and stuff in her spare time," Lu Mingfei explained with a straight face.

Erii hugged the two pillows, looking quite happy. Only then did Auntie believe him; Lu Mingfei had caused so much trouble today that she had become suspicious of everything.

After all that had transpired, Lu Mingfei and Erii successfully left the hotel with Lu Mingze and Jiajia.

As the four of them walked out of the hotel, Lu Mingfei looked weary, as if he hadn't been able to escape his fate after all, while Erii's face was written with joy at the prospect of going out to play again.

Lu Mingze, meanwhile, kept sighing in admiration; his cousin was truly his cousin, always having a girl of this caliber by his side wherever he went. Jiajia glanced at Erii from time to time; this older sister with dark red hair and red pupils looked just like a character who had stepped right out of a manga—she was truly beautiful.