Qiqi Side Story: This Was Your Home All Along

Liyue, Wanmin Restaurant.

"Qiqi, the food's ready for table two."

After calling out, Xiangling went back to cooking.

By the time her second dish was ready, she realized Qiqi still hadn't taken the first one out.

"Qiqi?" Xiangling looked over in puzzlement and saw Qiqi staring blankly at the birdcage.

"Guoba, take these dishes out to tables two and four."

Noticing something was wrong, Xiangling asked Guoba to serve the food.

Guoba: "?"

Then Guoba eagerly bustled off with the two dishes.

"Guoba, fill in for Qiqi for a while and help serve the food."

Guoba nodded at her words.

Wanmin Restaurant was packed at this hour, but for some reason, Qiqi kept staring at the birdcage.

After a long stretch of work, Xiangling finally wiped the sweat from her forehead and walked over to Qiqi.

"Qiqi, what's wrong?" she asked with concern.

"Little Fluff..." Qiqi pointed at the birdcage.

"Little Fluff?" Xiangling peered closer in confusion and noticed that Little Fluff seemed unusually listless today.

Then she checked the food and water, and her brow immediately furrowed.

The food hadn't been touched, and barely any water had been drunk...

"What's wrong...? Could Little Fluff be sick?" Xiangling took the birdcage down, and Qiqi immediately hugged it, her large pink eyes filled with worry.

Little Fluff usually stayed in the cage during the morning and around noon, then was let out after four or five in the afternoon to fly around and play. By the next morning, Little Fluff would fly back into the cage.

This was clearly out of the ordinary.

"Xiangling... what's wrong... with Little Fluff..."

"I don't know. Let's take Little Fluff to a doctor."

With that, they found a small veterinary clinic in Liyue.

After Xiangling explained the situation, the middle-aged veterinarian began his examination.

As the veterinarian slowly lowered his stethoscope, Xiangling asked nervously, "How is Little Fluff? Is something wrong?"

"How long have you been raising this bird?" Rather than answering right away, he asked them a question.

"Sorry... Qiqi... doesn't remember..." Qiqi replied, shaking her head.

"About four years, I think," Xiangling said, thinking back carefully.

The veterinarian nodded, then said slowly, "That sounds about right. Your bird is nearing the end of its life. That's why it isn't eating or drinking."

"Finches generally live in flocks, and they also have a concept of 'home.'"

"When wild finches build a nest somewhere, they continue living and breeding there, much like fallen leaves returning to their roots."

"When they sense they don't have much time left, they quietly wait at home for that moment to come."

"But few finches die naturally of old age. They have too many natural predators and can easily die young. Very few truly reach the end of their lives."

"Your finch is very healthy. It's simply reached the end of its life. And since you regularly let it out and it always flies back, I'd say it's had a very happy life."

Xiangling and Qiqi froze at the veterinarian's words.

Qiqi took the birdcage and held it in her arms. The two returned to Wanmin Restaurant without a word.

Once they were back at Wanmin Restaurant, Qiqi carefully lifted Little Fluff from the cage and placed the bird in her palm.

"Little Fluff..."

As though sensing her feelings, Little Fluff struggled to flap those wings and flew onto Qiqi's shoulder.

"Chirp... chirp..."

When Qiqi turned to look, Little Fluff rubbed a tiny head against her cheek, as though trying to comfort her.

The sight made Xiangling's heart ache.

They had raised Little Fluff for four years. It would have been a lie to say they weren't attached.

Little Fluff was also remarkably perceptive. Once, an unreasonable thug had come to Wanmin Restaurant. Not only had he refused to pay any Mora for his meal, but he'd also insulted Xiangling, saying her food tasted awful and she was so ugly that just looking at her ruined his appetite.

Although Qiqi had beaten the man half to death, his words had hurt Xiangling deeply.

Only with both Qiqi and Little Fluff comforting her had she finally recovered.

"Xiangling... let's go to the forest... I can sense it... Little Fluff wants to be buried in Xiu Yuan's cabin..."

"Yes, all right."

The two set off for the Forest Cabin at once.

By the time they reached the forest, the sun had already set.

Only when a sky full of stars spread before their eyes did they finally reach the Forest Cabin.

It seemed Little Fluff had finally reached the place the little bird had been holding on for.

The moment they arrived, Little Fluff passed away.

Qiqi cradled the lifeless Little Fluff, her eyes reddened, while tears glistened in Xiangling's eyes as well.

When a firefly landed on the little finch, Qiqi and Xiangling both paused in surprise.

They raised their heads slightly, and their eyes widened at the sight before them.

The entire forest was lit up by fireflies.

On top of the Forest Cabin perched a dozen or so finches of all sizes.

Each tilted its head, looking at Qiqi and Xiangling.

At that moment.

The finches flew toward Qiqi and Xiangling one after another.

They gathered around the two girls, perching on their shoulders and arms and all around them.

Qiqi looked at the dead Little Fluff in her hands, and the veterinarian's words suddenly came back to her.

"Little Fluff... so... this was your home all along..."

Tears streamed down Qiqi's face as she smiled with genuine happiness.

P.S. If you're enjoying the story, please leave plenty of comments! I'll read them all. If you like this work, you can also send me a little gift as a tip. It'll give me even more motivation!