You've Finally Got a Brain

Yu Xiaogang was the only one who had grown close to her without knowing who she was, and who didn't care whether she was the Saintess or an ordinary person. He had simply treated her as Bibi Dong.

But... was this really what liking someone felt like?

If all she wanted was to be treated like an ordinary person, then could she get that from someone else who didn't know her identity?

She realized she couldn't bring herself to say without hesitation, "I only like him."

Watching Bibi Dong's expression shift between bright and dark, Deng Tianxin knew his words had hit home.

The fragments inside Bibi Dong were growing more and more agitated, and Deng Tianxin was immensely pleased.

If he pushed a little harder, maybe he could get his hands on the fragments today.

But the problem was, given Bibi Dong's current state, would pushing her any further and making her emotions fluctuate too much cause something to go wrong?

"You're right."

Deng Tianxin blinked. "What?"

"I said, you're right." Bibi Dong lifted her head, a complicated smile on her face. "Maybe... I really just like the feeling of being cared about. From the time I was little until now, no one besides my master has ever truly cared about me. People respect me because I'm the Saintess. The Soul Masters of Spirit Hall treat me with utmost deference because I'm the Pope's disciple. Only Xiaogang was willing to listen to what was in my heart before he knew who I was."

She paused, her voice growing softer.

"But if I think about it carefully, when he listened to me pour out my heart, it was mostly because he wanted to use me to learn about Spirit Hall, wasn't it?"

Deng Tianxin sucked in a sharp breath.

Good grief, so Bibi Dong knew it herself?

Still, Bibi Dong's hang-up was pretty normal. All kinds of young masters and young ladies had the same problem.

Simply put, it was the novelty of it. They met someone like that for the first time, thought the other person was special, then fell for them after spending time together.

Deng Tianxin looked Bibi Dong up and down.

The look in his eyes was hard to describe. It was like he was looking at a block of wood that had finally seen the light, with three parts relief, three parts emotion, and four parts "you finally get it."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Bibi Dong felt uncomfortable under Deng Tianxin's gaze.

Deng Tianxin patted Bibi Dong and said, "Nothing, Auntie. I'm just glad you've finally got a brain."

Bibi Dong's expression instantly froze.

"What did you call me?"

Deng Tianxin's hand was still resting on Bibi Dong. He stood rooted to the spot like someone had hit the pause button.

He'd been so caught up in his feelings that he'd let his mouth run wild and blurted out the word "Auntie."

"Uh..." Deng Tianxin slowly pulled his hand back, his little legs silently retreating a step. "Big sister. I said big sister. You misheard me."

"I misheard you?" Bibi Dong stood up, a smile on her face that made Deng Tianxin's scalp prickle. "In that remark about how you're glad I've finally got a brain, what were the two words before it?"

"Big sister."

"Is that so?"

"Absolutely!"

Bibi Dong said nothing. She simply folded her arms and looked down at Deng Tianxin, as if to say, "Go on, keep making things up."

Under Bibi Dong's stare, Deng Tianxin felt his skin crawl as his mind raced to figure out how to talk his way out of this.

Suddenly, inspiration struck. He put on a solemn face and an expression of deep sorrow. "Big sister, that's not the point! The point is, you've finally recognized your own feelings! That's what we should be celebrating!"

Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Look, even you admitted it. What you feel for Yu Xiaogang is really just novelty," Deng Tianxin continued, seeing that she wasn't responding. "You've been treated like the Saintess your whole life, then suddenly you meet someone who doesn't treat you like the Saintess. You think he's special, you find him refreshing—that's perfectly normal. But is that really love? I don't think so. It's like if I ate delicacies every day and then, one day, had a bowl of plain noodles and thought, 'Wow, this is delicious!' That doesn't mean plain noodles are better than delicacies!"

The corner of Bibi Dong's eye twitched.

Plain noodles? Her first love was just a bowl of plain noodles in this little brat's mouth?

"Plain noodles?"

Bibi Dong repeated the three words, her tone so calm that Deng Tianxin's scalp prickled.

"It was a metaphor! Just a metaphor!" Deng Tianxin hurriedly explained, waving his little hands frantically in front of him. "I mean, I'm not saying he's plain noodles. I'm talking about novelty..."

"Enough." Bibi Dong cut him off, placing one hand on his head. She didn't press hard, but Deng Tianxin instantly shut his mouth.

She looked down at the little runt who only came up to her waist and suddenly found it a little funny.

He was only six years old, yet he was earnestly analyzing her love life, comparing her first love to a bowl of plain noodles, and telling her she'd finally got a brain.

And yet this little brat had made her stop for the first time and seriously think about the questions she'd always been avoiding.

About Yu Xiaogang, about herself, about the complicated emotions she'd always swept aside with the single word "love."

"You're right. Whether it's novelty or a moment of impulse, those are my own problems." Bibi Dong's tone grew unusually serious. Her hand shifted from Deng Tianxin's head to his shoulder. "But you spent ages insulting me—calling me Auntie, a pervert, and a lovesick fool. You robbed me, ran off, and made up a whole pile of lies. How do you think we should settle this score?"

The corner of Deng Tianxin's mouth twitched.

How could this woman dredge up old scores so smoothly?

Hadn't she just been immersed in the sorrowful mood of reflecting on her first love?

How had she suddenly turned back into that petty, nitpicking old auntie?

"Um, Aun—big sister, look, meeting in this vast sea of people is fate in itself. Why quibble over these tiny details, right?" Deng Tianxin laughed awkwardly, trying to smooth things over. "Besides, what I said just now helped you understand your own heart. Isn't that a huge kindness? By rights, you should be thanking me."

"Thank you for calling me Auntie?" Bibi Dong asked with a sweet smile.

"Uh..."

"Thank you for calling me a pervert?"

"Well..."

"Thank you for saying to my face that my first love was a bowl of plain noodles?"

"..."

Deng Tianxin fell silent.

He realized he truly had nothing to say. When he thought about it carefully, he really had done every single one of those things—and more than once, at that.

Seeing him at a loss for words, Bibi Dong's smile deepened.

She crouched down to meet Deng Tianxin's eyes and looked earnestly into his round, bright eyes.

"You little brat, I'm the Saintess of Spirit Hall. I've been doted on my whole life. You're the first person who's ever dared to insult me, make me angry, and call me a lovesick fool—and you're a little runt a full thirteen years younger than me. If this gets back to Spirit Hall, where am I supposed to put my face?"

Deng Tianxin swallowed.

He had a vague feeling that he knew what Bibi Dong was going to say next.