At the height of his awkward squirming, Xiao Yan's hand seemed to develop a mind of its own, moving uncontrollably across the paper.
Perhaps he was too nervous, or perhaps his subconscious wanted something familiar to ease the embarrassment. What flowed from his pen was not a tender, heart-wrenching love poem, but a little story etched deeply into his memory, one he had often heard people tell during his childhood in his previous life.
Only after writing the final word did Xiao Yan come to his senses. He looked down, unsure whether to laugh or cry. On the snow-white paper, in the square characters he knew so well from his previous life, he had neatly written four large characters: "Deceive heaven to cross the sea." Beneath them was a brief but lively and entertaining outline of the story.
"What am I doing?!"
Xiao Yan slapped his forehead in frustration. Have I gotten so nervous I've lost my mind? Why did I write down a story meant to amuse children? This is like pointing my carriage south and driving north-completely opposite to the 'elegant love poetry' I originally planned!
Yet when his gaze returned to those lines of square characters, a thought quietly sprouted in his heart. Xun'er may be clever and mature for her age, but she's still a little girl barely past ten. Can she really understand all the profound affection and subtleties in those classical poems, with their lofty imagery and ornate language? Might she find them dull instead?
By comparison, wouldn't a simple little story with a few clever twists be more likely to interest her? After all, don't children love stories? Giving her a fresh, entertaining story as a present seems... pretty good, too.
At this thought, Xiao Yan's eyes lit up again. The more he