Richie led Anya to a corner, then crouched down and sat on the ground, ready to wait for Twilight to finish beating up the bad guys so they could go home together.
Anya crouched on the ground, tracing circles with her finger, while Richie sat beside her, thinking through the plot and sorting out his thoughts.
He had wanted to ask Anya what was troubling her, but after carefully recalling the plot, he figured Twilight must have been thinking about making a new plan and abandoning the two of them.
Richie sighed and leaned against the wall.
Poor Anya had been abandoned four times in a year. If Twilight abandoned her again, she would surely be heartbroken.
If Richie hadn't known in advance that Twilight would keep them both, he would have felt rather sad himself.
The two children didn't have to wait very long-only about as long as Richie needed to sort out his thoughts.
As the sun sank in the west, Twilight dragged his exhausted body out of the flour mill.
Anya spotted Twilight first. Her feet pattered as she ran up and hugged his thigh, and Richie followed her example, hugging his other thigh.
On that warm, peaceful evening, the family of three boarded a tram and moved to their new home.
The next morning, Anya and Richie entered the examination room together.
Richie knew that Anya would barely pass this exam, earning just enough points to qualify for the next round.
The questions before him were roughly middle-school level, with some at high-school level.
For a real six-year-old, they would have been all but impossible.
In reality, Zhang Si was eight years old and excelled among his peers at music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but Eden Academy's entrance exam still exceeded what a child his age could understand.
With his own intelligence, Zhang Si could only understand part of it. He had to rely on Richie's previous knowledge and his perfect test-subject brain to answer the questions.
Eden Academy's entrance exam was frighteningly difficult, but for Richie, it was a piece of cake.
Richie didn't want to stand out too much, so he carefully controlled his score. An average result would do.
Richie finished the paper in no time, then went to sleep until the exam ended.
Eden Academy marked the papers quickly, posting the results the day after the exam.
Twilight, the anxious father, stared at the sea of candidate numbers until his eyes nearly popped out. "K212, A319..." A319 was Richie's candidate number. "K212, A319, K212, A319..."
Richie wasn't nervous at all. He could guarantee with his toes that he would pass.
Anya, however, was both nervous and hopeful. She was afraid that if she failed, her father might send her back to the orphanage and keep only Richie to carry out his plan.
Twilight was nervous enough to die, too, constantly muttering the children's candidate numbers. "K212, A319... Found them! You both passed-"
Twilight scooped up one child in each arm, then fell backward onto the lawn.
The sudden relief left Twilight unable to support himself any longer, just like Fan Jin collapsing after passing the imperial examination.
After they returned home, Twilight slept on the sofa in their new place until a knock came at the door.
Anya opened the door, and Richie stood beside her with his little arms folded.
"Excuse me, is this the Forger residence?"
Anya poked her adorable little head out through the doorway and said sweetly, "I'm Anya Forger."
"Please give this to your father or mother."
Anya accepted the envelope with a perfectly earnest expression. "Anya's mama doesn't exist."
The postman looked shocked, his face filling with remorse. "Sorry, I'm so sorry."
Richie watched from the doorway in amusement. Then he put on a stern face and said to the postman, "We don't have a mama. I'm so sad. Mister, after saying something like that, won't your conscience hurt when you go to sleep tonight?"
Then he turned away, pretending to sob, "Boo-hoo-hoo," and slammed the door with a bang.
The postman was left standing alone, utterly flustered. "I really... How could I hurt a child's feelings like that?"
Inside, Anya ran around the room holding the envelope.
Richie stood in front of the sofa and pinched Twilight's nose shut.
Twilight jolted awake, instantly on guard. "What are you doing?! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Once he was fully awake, Twilight held his head and muttered to himself, "How did I fall asleep? I actually fell asleep in front of other people. I need to stay sharp."
Anya held up the envelope. "Papa-there's a letter."
Twilight took the envelope from Anya and opened it. "It's a notification from Eden Academy."
Anya knelt on the sofa to Twilight's left, watching him, while Richie knelt to his right.
The two adorable little bundles sandwiched Twilight between them.
Richie knew exactly what the paper said, so he wasn't curious.
Anya craned her neck to look at Twilight's deeply troubled face and asked, "What's wrong, Papa?"
Twilight began to read. "The second round will consist of a three-way interview. The child must attend accompanied by both parents."
The more Twilight read, the darker his expression became. "No exceptions will be permitted!"
Anya leaned over, her eyes wide as she stared at Eden Academy's notification in bewilderment. "But Mama doesn't exist."
"And... what about Big Brother Richie? Will he go with Anya, or..."
Twilight frowned, looking thoroughly dismayed. His family's situation really was difficult to handle. What if Richie and Anya were assigned interviews at the same time?
As Twilight stared at the notification, wrestling with the problem, he noticed some small print at the bottom of the page:
"Note: The Forger family's situation is unique, as it has two candidates. Please attend separate interviews for the two candidates in the morning and afternoon on the examination day, in the following order: candidate K212, then candidate A319."
After reading the small print, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. With the scheduling conflict resolved, only one urgent matter remained: finding the two children a mother.
Anya cheerfully raised her little hand. "Yay! Anya goes first, before Big Brother Richie."
Richie smiled wryly. Anya, you won't be smiling once your interview is over.
"Going on an ooting, going on an ooting! Anya loves ootings!" Anya bounced around excitedly, occasionally winking at Richie and making a silly face.
Richie felt he should act like Anya, so his eyes lit up. "Finding a mama, finding a mama! Richie loves finding a mama!"
Twilight looked serious. "There's no need to go out."
"Oh!" Anya's enthusiasm fizzled out.
Twilight made a phone call, and before long, someone arrived.
Mophead came to Twilight's home wearing lipstick and blush, with a coquettish expression on his face.
Twilight folded his arms in thought. Anya's eyes widened, her pupils shrinking, and Richie swallowed.
Richie covered his face. He could hardly bear to look.
"This won't work at all," Twilight rejected him.
Anya pointed at Mophead and looked at Twilight. "Anya doesn't want this kind of mama."
Then Anya turned to Richie and shook her head. "Big Brother Richie doesn't want this kind of mama either."
Richie confirmed Anya's words. "Richie doesn't want a man-mama."
"Looks like this was still too much to ask of you, Franky." Twilight turned and sat back down on the sofa.
Mophead picked up a mirror, hiding his face behind it, and quietly said to Twilight, "With your skills, shouldn't you have given me a more convincing disguise?"
"There are limits to what I can do about height and build," Twilight said bluntly.
Mophead was so furious that his head practically steamed. "And here I came all fired up to help you!"
Mophead lowered the mirror, and Richie consoled him. "Humans have limits. Don't be angry, mister. If you want to become part of our family, you'd have to stop being human."
Richie blinked his big eyes and brought out some sunflower seeds, ready to comfort Mophead.
Anya blinked her big eyes too. "Mister, have some peanuts."
Mophead stormed off in a fury, lumbering away like a gorilla with his feet splayed outward.
Before you continue