Qiguan Yuan's fingers rested on the Dust-Settling Red Cord, the red thread curling up from his wrist, the end pointing towards Lin Yanru and Su He'an.
His gaze fell on the two figures at the other end of the corridor.
Lin Yanru stood in front of the bookshelf, holding a notebook in her hand. Su He'an stood beside her, his hat brim pulled low, looking down at what Lin Yanru was writing in the notebook.
Their shoulders were almost touching. Not quite used to being so close, Lin Yanru pen, then continued writing.
Qiguan Yuan looked at the two Thread of Fate that extended from their bodies.
The color of the thread was perfect, a bright, clear red; he had noticed it the first time he saw it in Village Above the Clouds.
He hadn't seen this color in a long time.
In recent years, when he has free time, he would flip through the Marriage Register, look at the messy threads, and try to find the reasons why there were more and more ill-fated relationships.
True love is becoming increasingly rare, while ill-fated relationships are becoming more and more common. Every year, he consults the Yue Lao Temple to interpret three fortune sticks, and most of them reveal ill-fated relationships.
Pure red thread like that of Su He'an and Lin Yanru is now very rare.
Dust-Settling Red Cord twisted his wrist.
Qiguan Yuan pressed his finger against it, wondering whether he should do something, when footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.
It was the sound of two people's footsteps. One footstep was lighter, the other heavier.
He recognized the heavier one instantly; it was Pei Yubai.
Pei Yubai's voice came from the other end of the corridor. " Yuanyuan."
Qiguan Yuan pressed the Dust-Settling Red Cord back onto Dingchen.
The red thread retracted onto his wrist, obediently remaining wrapped around it, and stopped moving.
He turned his head in the direction of the sound.
The corridor was dimly lit, with insufficient light coming through the windows, leaving most areas shrouded in a gray shadow.
But this had no effect on him; the Nine-Tailed Fox's eyes could see even more clearly in the dark than in the light.
He saw Pei Yubai standing at the corner of the corridor, wearing a thin black jacket, his hair even shorter than yesterday.
Standing next to him was a woman, wearing a dark blue dress and a light gray cardigan.
Her eyebrows and eyes bore a resemblance to Pei Yubai's.
Qiguan Yuan looked at the woman; she was trying hard to look in his direction, her eyes slightly narrowed, and her head leaning forward a little.
The light was too dim for her to see clearly, but her gaze remained fixed on him, never wavering.
Qiguan Yuan guessed who she was: Pei Yubai's mother.
The word "mother" was somewhat unfamiliar to him.
He was born under the Tree of Fate, without a father or a mother.
Yun Yin only appeared because of his existence; their relationship wasn't just kinship, but something deeper and longer-lasting than kinship.
Over the years, he has read many books and knows what mother means, and that a person has a father, mother, brothers and sisters, and that these blood relationships constitute a person's initial world.
Pei Yubai now also possesses these qualities.
Qiguan Yuan switched the mask to his left hand and tidied his hair, which had been messed up by the mask.
When his fingers touched the top of his head, they touched something furry; the ears were still there.
Very well, he didn't even notice; he forgot to take it back.
Its tail hung down from under its robes, swaying slowly behind it.
Shen Lingyi walked ahead of Pei Yubai.
Her steps were longer than before, the hem of her cardigan fluttering behind her.
The corridor was dimly lit, and she almost tripped over a crack in the floorboards as she walked quickly. Pei Yubai reached out and steadied her arm, and she continued walking without stopping.
The photographer followed behind, carrying his equipment.
He had just circled the mansion several times, but he hadn't seen a trace of Qiguan Yuan.
Finally, he ran alongside Cheng Yanqiu and Shen Yuzhou for a while. Shen Yuzhou turned around, glanced at him, and said, "It's no use you following me. Brother Yuan isn't here with us."
He ignored him and continued following.
The main problem is that he can't find Qiguan Yuan either. What would it look like if he, a photographer, carried a camera around everywhere without following them?
Later, when he saw Pei Yubai and Shen Lingyi walking towards him from the other end of the corridor, he almost burst into tears. He quickly carried his equipment over, pointing the camera at Pei Yubai: " Teacher Pei, I can't find Teacher Qiguan."
Pei Yubai glanced at him, then at the end of the corridor. "Come with me."
The photographer nodded vigorously, carrying his equipment and following behind Pei Yubai and Shen Lingyi.
Waaah, my life is so hard.
The viewers in the live stream had almost the same feeling as the cameraman the moment Pei Yubai appeared on screen; they had been waiting in Pei Yubai's live stream for nearly half an hour.
The cameraman kept circling around the mansion, but neither Qiguan Yuan nor Pei Yubai could be seen.
What's the difference between them and left-behind children?
Now that Pei Yubai has finally appeared, they finally have a parent.
But then they turned their attention to Shen Lingyi, who was standing next to Pei Yubai.
[This... is Mama Pei...]
[Will Mama Pei disapprove of Yuanyuan being with Pei Yubai?]
[I think we can see this coming. Here's five million. Leave my son.]
[+1 Mama Pei asks everyone she meets where Yuanyuan is; she's definitely going to cause trouble for Yuanyuan.]
[I don't think so, right? After all, Mama Pei still calls Yuanyuan " Yuanyuan," it sounds quite affectionate.]
[Come on, Pei Yubai is the heir of Huateng! Aren't all these rich second-generation heirs arranged marriages for business purposes? And isn't he an only child? Would a family like that allow themselves to be without offspring?]
Oh no, I'm a little worried too. Although Yuanyuan is as beautiful as a flower, he's a country bumpkin. [crying]
Regardless of what the viewers in the live stream thought, as Shen Lingyi and Pei Yubai approached...
Shen Lingyi's expected reaction did not occur.
Shen Lingyi walked towards Qiguan Yuan, but halfway there she called out, " Yuanyuan!"
Qiguan Yuan's gaze followed his shout and shifted to her smiling face.
Qiguan Yuan lowered the mask to his side and nodded slightly. "Auntie."
That's probably what it's called, right? That's what the storybook he was reading seemed to call it.
Upon hearing the word "Auntie," Shen Lingyi smiled even more broadly.
She took half a step forward, looking Qiguan Yuan up and down.
She immediately noticed Qiguan Yuan, standing upright in his silver hair, with a touch of light pink at the tips.
"These ears..." Shen Lingyi's eyes lit up. "Was that a prop made by Xiao Xu? It's so realistic."
She reached out her hand, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "May I touch it?"
Qiguan Yuan tilted his head slightly, and his ear twitched gently in his hair.
He thought for a moment and nodded.
The fox could have used her advantages to gain her boyfriend's mother's approval, couldn't she?
Shen Lingyi's fingers touched Qiguan Yuan's ear.
The downy hairs on the tips of her ears were very soft, and when she pressed them with her fingertips, she could feel the temperature underneath, which was different from what she had imagined; it was warm.
Qiguan Yuan's ear twitched slightly in her hand, and Shen Lingyi's fingers also trembled. She quickly withdrew her hand.
"It's alive?" Shen Lingyi's voice was filled with surprise.
Qiguan Yuan looked at her. "Your hearing is quite sensitive."
His tone was very calm.
Shen Lingyi reached out her hand again.
This time she touched the auricle, slowly sliding from the base of the ear to the tip.
Qiguan Yuan's ear twitched again in her hand, but this time he didn't flinch.
Shen Lingyi's fingers paused on the tip of her ear, then gently pinched it. "So soft. Where did Xiao Xu get this prop? It even moves, and it's temperature-controlled, it's just like the real thing."
Qiguan Yuan did not provide an explanation.
Pei Yubai stood behind Shen Lingyi, watching her hand stroking Qiguan Yuan Shen Lingyi's ear.
His lips were pressed into a thin line, his chin was clenched, and his gaze shifted from Qiguan Yuan's ear to Shen Lingyi's hand.
He took half a step forward, then stepped back.
Forget it, if I don't let his mom touch him, she'll definitely nag him.
But he had barely touched Yuanyuan's ears more than a few times.