Don't touch my Little Wallet!

"..."

A baby barely over a month old had said she wanted to look after her health.

Nobody would have believed it had actually happened if they hadn't heard it with their own ears and seen it with their own eyes.

Suddenly, the ice cream in Tang Xiancheng's hand didn't seem so sweet anymore.

The adults were always telling him to eat less ice cream, or he'd get a stomachache.

He had never really taken it to heart and still ate it every day. After all these years, he'd only had a stomachache a handful of times, and those might have been caused by something else he'd eaten. Naturally, he'd decided the adults were just tricking kids.

And now a newborn baby was lecturing him about it...

"Why aren't you eating?"

Tang Xianqi looked curiously at his younger brother.

Tang Xiancheng looked at him, then at the ice cream, thoroughly embarrassed. "I... I don't want any more."

"Why?"

"I don't feel good... My stomach feels bad when I eat too much."

His parents had taught him not to waste food, and that included ice cream. He couldn't throw it away after only a few bites, but he really couldn't keep eating it either. This was his only way out.

"Can you finish it for me?"

Tang Xiancheng gazed pitifully at his brother with watery eyes.

Tang Xianqi: "..."

"Give it here."

Tang Xianqi took the ice cream. He wanted to eat it, but holding Tang Tang made that rather awkward.

He could only put the little spoon back and shift Tang Tang into a more comfortable position.

Watching his brother struggle to solve his problem made Tang Xiancheng feel guilty. After agonizing for a while, he timidly reached out his little hands.

"How about I hold Tangtang?"

Tang Xianqi was astonished. "Can you really?"

Tang Tang was surprised. Well, well. Bowl Cut is actually taking the initiative on only our second meeting.

Did the sun rise in the west?

Not bad, not bad.

Keep it up! Work on getting over that social anxiety and become a bright, cheerful Bowl Cut!

Tang Xianqi: "..."

Tang Xiancheng: "..."

He was so angry.

Suddenly, he didn't want to hold her anymore.

Tang Xiancheng actually withdrew his hands.

Tang Xianqi: "...What is it now?"

Tang Xiancheng pressed his lips together, looking aggrieved. "She... I don't think she wants me to hold her."

He couldn't exactly complain to his brother that their little sister was bullying him...

So annoying!

"I don't think so."

Tang Xianqi glanced down at the expressionless Tang Tang. "Tangtang doesn't mind."

Tang Xiancheng: "..."

She's been bullying me in her head the whole time. She just doesn't show it!

"Let's ask Tangtang if you don't believe me."

Tang Xianqi set the ice cream down first, then took Tang Tang's little hand and touched it to Tang Xiancheng. "Our Tangtang really likes her third big brother, doesn't she?"

Pretending she understood, Tang Tang affectionately clasped Tang Xiancheng's little hand in response to Tang Xianqi.

I'm a baby barely over a month old. What the hell do I know about liking or disliking anyone?

Just hold me if you want to. What's there to agonize over?

If you get this hung up over every little thing, no wonder you're getting more and more afraid of talking to people.

Tang Xiancheng: "..."

And you said she didn't mind.

See? You're scolding me again!

Tang Xianqi held back a laugh. "..."

Our little sister Tangtang has quite a temper.

Su Xiajing: "..."

You really won't pass up a single chance to poke fun at someone.

"Then help me put the ice cream in the freezer for now."

Tang Xianqi had no choice but to temporarily abandon his attempt to get these two little terrors to get along. "I'll eat it once Tangtang is asleep."

Given how scornful his little sweetie was, even if A-Cheng came around, she would definitely keep tormenting him...

Forget it. We can take it slowly.

"Okay."

Tang Xiancheng fled with the ice cream.

Tang Tang leaned comfortably against Tang Xianqi and sighed with worry.

You're so dependent on your brother. If he really dies, how will you ever cope?

Of her ten lifetimes, only the first few had involved the Tang Family. The unpleasant memories had been worn away by the lives that followed.

Now, apart from the Tang Family's old patriarch and a few others, Tang Tang felt neither love nor hatred for any of them, especially the younger generation, each more useless than the last.

Whether Tang Xiancheng ended up useless or became an overweight shut-in again had nothing to do with her. She might not even live to see that day anyway.

Only Tang Xianqi, who had died young in every lifetime just as she had, could stir a little pity in her.

She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before his short life ended.

Tang Tang had wanted to play with Tang Xianqi a little longer, but a baby's body was far too limiting. She couldn't move or speak. Apart from grinning foolishly at him, there was nothing she could do.

After making a tiny effort, Tang Tang decisively gave up struggling and soon fell asleep.

When she woke again, she vaguely sensed people whispering around her.

"Tangtang is lying on this pouch."

"It looks like there are cards inside. Could they poke her?"

Tang Tang was a restless sleeper. The pouch had shifted behind her neck and was wedged between her neck and the pillow.

Afraid it might hurt her or make her uncomfortable, Tang Xiancheng tried to pull it out.

But the moment his hand touched the cord, a chubby little hand smacked the back of his.

Tang Tang opened her eyes and woke up.

Don't touch my Little Wallet!

Clutching the pouch with all the ferocity a baby could muster, she babbled and slapped Tang Xiancheng's hand.

Tang Xiancheng: "..."

My little sister is so fierce.

Tang Xianqi: "..."

So what she's wearing around her neck isn't a Peace Talisman or anything like that...

Why would a baby wear a wallet around her neck?

I don't get it.

Let's wait and see.

"I wasn't trying to take your things."

Tang Xiancheng withdrew his hand, feeling wronged, and explained, "You were lying on it. I was afraid it would make you uncomfortable, so I just wanted to pull it out for you."

Fully awake now, Tang Tang saw who the "culprit" was.

Oh, it's Bowl Cut.

I misunderstood you. Sorry.

But you can't blame me for that. You're the one who touched my Little Wallet.

Be more careful next time.

Tang Xiancheng: "..."

That apology isn't sincere at all.

"Is Tangtang awake?"

"Yes, she's awake."

Su Xiajing took Tang Tang to nurse her, then called Tang Xianqi and Tang Xiancheng into the living room for afternoon tea.

They had only just sat down when Tang Dongcheng returned.

"That was quick," Su Xiajing said, a little surprised.

Tang Dongcheng hastily came up with an excuse. "A friend happened to tell me on the way that Taoist Master Yunlong was there, so I went to White Cloud Temple first. Once I got the Peace Talisman, I came straight back."

Su Xiajing: "...What a coincidence."

Of all those masters, only Taoist Master Yunlong could help, and her husband had just happened to find him there.

How lucky.

"Exactly."

Tang Dongcheng accepted the juice the housekeeper brought him and took a sip to moisten his throat. "The moment I mentioned A-Cheng's nightmare, the master knew why I'd come. Then he gave me a Peace Talisman and told me to put it on A-Qi. He said it could help him avert a calamity."

He took the Peace Talisman from his bag and personally put it around his son's neck. "The master specifically warned me that you must never take it off. Even when you're bathing, it has to stay within a meter of you."

Tang Xianqi touched the Peace Talisman around his neck and obediently replied, "Okay."

Tang Tang was genuinely delighted. My master rarely intervenes in things like this. Since he gave my eldest brother a Peace Talisman, that means there's still hope for him!

If only I'd been a little nosier back then and found out more about how he died. We'd have an even better chance.

After Tang Xianqi's death, the Tang Family had feared that mentioning him would upset Tang Dongcheng and his wife, so the old patriarch had forbidden anyone in the family from bringing him up again.

After Tang Tang returned to the family, she had met her second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth brothers, but never her eldest brother. Curious, she had asked a housekeeper and learned that her eldest uncle's oldest son had died when he was twelve.

By then, he had been dead for twenty years, and no news about him could be found online. Perhaps because he had been so young when he died, his death had become taboo in the Tang Family. The housekeeper hadn't dared explain in detail either, so Tang Tang had never learned exactly how he died.

Tang Dongcheng: "..."

Having hope was enough.

Su Xiajing thought, What a blessing.

"That's wonderful!"

Tang Xiancheng threw himself straight into his brother's arms. "My brother can be saved!"

If the master is as powerful as my little sister says, my brother will definitely be okay!

"Yes."

Tang Dongcheng stroked Tang Xiancheng's head. "It's all thanks to A-Cheng warning us."

Without that nightmare, he would have had to find another excuse to go ask for a talisman.

Of course, the one he most needed to thank was Tang Tang.

He was grateful to her for bringing them this information.

"But..."

Tang Dongcheng looked apologetically at Su Xiajing and Tang Tang. "The master didn't give me a Peace Talisman for Tangtang."

Su Xiajing froze. "Huh?"

Tang Dongcheng looked at Tang Tang with a troubled expression. "The master said Tangtang doesn't need a Peace Talisman. He also asked me to pass a message on to you and Tangtang."

"What message?"

Tang Tang pricked up her ears.

My master recognized me!

Hurry, tell me! Tell me what message my master sent me!