A doll coated in grease

The welcome dinner for her second brother and eldest aunt was scheduled for that evening.

Tang Beichen came home after work to pick up mother and daughter.

By the time the family of three arrived, the other three families were already there.

The house buzzed with the voices of adults and children.

Tang Youhao had just fought with Tang Youzhen and refused to play with anyone else. An Jie was reasoning with him in the entryway when the doorbell rang, so she went to let the newcomers in.

She took some of Su Xiajing's bags and led them inside, calling out, "Xia Jing and Tangtang are here."

"You're here!"

Tang Nanzhou hurried out to greet them. "Our Tangtang is finally here!"

"It's been so long."

Su Xiajing pushed the stroller inside and greeted Tang Nanzhou.

"It really has."

Tang Nanzhou hugged her and looked her over. "You look a little pale. Haven't been sleeping well lately?"

She looked at Tang Beichen, who followed them in laden with bags. "Beichen, is this how you take care of her?"

Tang Beichen: "..."

They had slept in separate rooms for over a month. Su Xiajing insisted on caring for Tangtang herself every night, keeping her somewhere she could see her and refusing to let anyone else help. He wanted to help, but there was nothing he could do.

Tang Nanzhou had clearly heard about the couple's situation, too. She wasn't really trying to take Tang Beichen to task, and immediately turned back to Su Xiajing.

"Does Tangtang fuss at night?"

"No." Su Xiajing shook her head. "Tangtang is very well behaved at night."

Exactly. I sleep more peacefully than you adults do.

Don't falsely accuse a little baby, okay?

Tang Tang protested from her stroller.

"Hm?"

Tang Nanzhou jolted and looked down at the stroller in disbelief.

That voice had come from there.

Judging by the way she spoke, it had to be her little niece in the stroller.

But...

The baby had a bottle nipple in her mouth and was noisily drinking her milk. How could she have made a sound?

She really is a member of the Tang Family. My aunt was so pretty when she was young.

Tang Tang was also studying Tang Nanzhou, marveling sincerely.

Her aunt was a formidable career woman. Although she had ultimately failed to inherit the Tang Family, she was every bit as ambitious as Tang Tang's scumbag father, flying all over the world year-round.

Tang Tang had met her a few times before. In middle age, her aunt had seemed gentle, smiling at everyone, but her quiet authority had been even more imposing than her scumbag father's at the time.

The first time Tang Tang met her, she hadn't even dared to meet her eyes.

Her aunt had a softer air in her youth, a gentleness that radiated from within. Even as a little baby, Tang Tang wasn't afraid to look her in the eye.

I like my aunt better now.

Her eyes aren't fierce, and she looks easy to talk to.

Not like twenty-odd years from now, when being around her feels like facing a homeroom teacher or a boss, with that suffocating pressure hanging over you all the time.

I like my aunt the way she is now.

Tang Nanzhou: "..."

Tang Nanzhou was dumbfounded.

This little baby holding a bottle and drinking milk was actually comparing her present self with who she would be twenty years later?

No, that wasn't the point.

The point is, why can I hear this child's thoughts?

Her mouth isn't moving, and what she's saying fits who she is. These must be my little niece's thoughts, right?

Tang Nanzhou was utterly flustered.

"Xia Jing, Beichen, Tangtang..."

Despite having weathered plenty of storms, Tang Nanzhou was so shocked by what was happening that she could barely get her words out.

She pointed at Tang Tang in astonishment and looked at Su Xiajing and Tang Beichen. "Your Tangtang, she... she just..."

Su Xiajing and Tang Beichen were already used to it. Besides, Tang Nanzhou had always been career-driven, so their daughter's assessment didn't surprise them.

Their expressions couldn't have been calmer.

Tang Nanzhou froze, then began to doubt herself.

Am I the only one hearing things?

What's wrong with my aunt?

That dazed look doesn't fit her strong, commanding image at all.

Tang Nanzhou: "..."

I think I understand.

This is that so-called mind reading people talk about online.

She just happened to have encountered it today.

"Is something wrong with Tangtang?" An Jie asked, confused.

"No."

Tang Nanzhou looked away and forced a smile. "I just think Tangtang is such a clever child. She's barely a month old, and she can already hold her own bottle."

Judging by everyone around her, it seemed she was the only one who had awakened this miraculous ability.

And it only works on Tangtang?

Tangtang doesn't seem ordinary, either.

A newborn baby actually knows what I'll be like twenty years from now.

This little niece of ours really is something.

I wonder if the old man would regret his original decision if he knew.

"Come on, let's all go inside."

Tang Nanzhou helped Su Xiajing push the stroller. "Jian, come meet your little sister!"

Tang Tang's eyes lit up.

Ooh, my sickly, beautiful second brother is coming!

Hurry, hurry! I want to see what that sickly beauty looked like as a child.

Tang Nanzhou: "..."

Since this child knows what I'll look like twenty years from now, she must know what Tang Jian will look like, too.

Will Tang Jian still be sickly in the future?

Tang Nanzhou's heart sank.

Tang Jian had been born prematurely and had been frail since childhood. Despite all their efforts to nurse him to health and strengthen his constitution, he still couldn't compare to an ordinary person.

She had thought he would improve once he grew up, but apparently he wouldn't.

Growing healthier with age had been nothing more than her hope.

"Coming!"

A blond, blue-eyed little boy ran out of the living room, then slid over in a pose he clearly thought looked cool, dropping to one knee in front of the stroller.

"Hello, little Tangtang! I'm your second brother, Jian."

Tang Jian leaned his handsome face close to Tang Tang's and gave her what he thought was a dashing wink.

Tang Tang: "..."

Tang Tang's illusions shattered.

What the hell? So he'd been a show-off since he was little!

I thought I'd get to see a second brother who looked like a delicate doll... fine, he really is a delicate doll.

Just one coated in grease.

You're only ten!

How can you be like this already?

Oh my God, my eyes are covered in grease.

It's bad enough that you're a sickly, beautiful playboy in your thirties who smokes and drinks without restraint. Why are you like this at such a young age, too?

My delicate doll... forget it. I can do without one.

I really can't bear to look.

I feel like my eyes have been insulted.

Tang Tang actually closed her eyes.

She had come full of anticipation to see a doll, only to be greeted by this thing instead.

Tang Tang felt he owed her eyes an apology.

Su Xiajing: "..."

Tang Beichen: "..."

Tang Nanzhou: "..."

Well, well. So that's why he's still sickly when he grows up.

"You... I..."

Shocked, Tang Jian pointed at Tang Tang, whose eyes were closed, then at himself, unable to believe it.

He was so stunned that he couldn't find the words to describe how he felt.

What?

Did I just hear this little sister insulting me?

No, wait. Why can I hear a little baby who's drinking milk?

No, how can a little baby who's still drinking milk even talk?

Why can I hear her?

"Mom, Tangtang..."

Tang Jian turned to his mother for help, still in disbelief.

Instead, his mother smacked him.

"Who told you to point at your little sister?"

Tang Nanzhou slapped her son on the head and glared at him in exasperation. "Where are your manners?"

Tang Jian: "..."

Why did you hit me?