It Felt Like She'd Figured Something Out

Shasha's dad.

When Su Tianqing first heard those two words together, a strange image sprang to mind:

A hulking, muscle-bound Winged Folk man, with a few token feathers growing from arms thicker than her own tail, standing there like a small mountain.

Or perhaps a polite traveling merchant, or someone dressed perfectly ordinarily. Whatever she imagined, it was definitely not the person before her:

Small and adorable, he wore the distinctive shawl-like coat of the Winged Folk. Unlike Shasha's plain colors, though, his shawl was covered in glittering ornaments. Most were cheap colored plastic rhinestones or thin fabric ribbons, but together they made a riot of color that caught the eye.

At first glance, she might even have mistaken him for a human child wrapped in a pretty cape. He looked nothing like the healthy, athletic Shasha. He was adorable in an entirely different way.

Shasha's dad. Adorable.

Could those two descriptions really apply to the same person? Su Tianqing struggled to make sense of it.

Even after they entered the temple gate and passed the four guardian Buddha statues, the cat and fox still hadn't recovered from the shock.

"Wow, a big city has a temple like this? It's nothing like the ones I've seen before."

"Dad, you've been to other temples?"

"Chirp, chirp~ Of course! When I travel to sell my wares, I often wander around. It's only natural to burn some incense if I visit a temple." The tiny Winged Folk man smiled, flapping his wings as he hopped and fluttered around Shasha.

Su Tianqing silently watched the two Winged Folk admiring the statues by the temple gate. Nan Jiayu looked over as well, just as unable to hide her astonishment.

Hua Ling walked up beside them and glanced at the father and daughter nearby. With a