"Xiaoxiao, we're leaving. Do well on your exams, and once they're over, I'll send a flying car to pick you up."
"Okay."
"Don't eat potatoes every day."
"Okay."
"Remember to water your sister's flowers."
"Okay."
"Don't grow any taller..."
"Ok—"
The girl stopped halfway through her nod. Just as she had before, she snapped her head up, her expression turning from blank to serious as she stared straight at her brother-in-law.
Her brother-in-law reached over and pinched her cheek, pulling it to one side. "I knew you weren't listening..."
"I wash listening..."
Her words came out muffled through her squashed cheek.
All the while, she gazed at her brother-in-law with utter sincerity—
She really had been listening. She was just thinking about something else, so her replies and nods had been half-automatic. Her brain hadn't filtered out what she heard; it had saved everything for later. Once she finished thinking, she would process it all.
Though by then, her answer might not be "okay" to everything.
Read carefully, handle as appropriate.
Click...
The courtyard gate opened.
The girl stood at the gate and watched them go. Peach poked her head out from Chen Shu's shoulder and waved a paw, and she waved back. Only when they disappeared from sight did she look away and close the gate.
Now she was the only one left.
Wait, what had her brother-in-law just said?
The girl tilted her head against the courtyard gate and thought for a moment.
Do well on her exams. Water the flowers...
She repeated those two things to herself as she walked back through the courtyard, went upstairs, and started playing games.
The wind roared fiercely.
The clouds changed from solid, soft cotton candy into thick fog that blotted out the sky. The two of them flew into