Her Majesty the Empress Dowager Descends Like Thunder to Check Up on Him

"Argh-I lost again~" Lynae said in frustration as she stared at the big "KO" on the LCD screen.

She had clearly underestimated Little Ai's gaming skills. Little Ai was someone who had taken first place by a huge margin in Star Torch Academy's deep-dive gaming room; these games in the real world were far too easy for her.

"That's the twentieth match. You haven't beaten me once since we started, you know?" Aemeath waved her controller smugly. "Still not ready to surrender?"

"I refuse to believe it. Again!"

Lynae wasn't one to admit defeat. She was stubborn, and she refused to believe that even a gaming god like Aemeath never made mistakes!

After choosing their characters again, the two beautiful girls began another round of combat on the screen.

Aemeath had just taken a shower, and her hair still wasn't completely dry. She didn't seem inclined to use a hair dryer, either, and was probably waiting for it to dry naturally while she played.

Her pajamas had a meme version of Miku printed on them, and the top button was undone, revealing her delicate, lovely collarbones. Her two plump legs, smooth as jade, were drawn up against her chest, an appetizing sight at a glance.

Lynae had just showered too, but she had taken care to blow-dry her hair and put it up in a neat bun. Her pajamas were a simpler pale yellow, and her long legs, which rivaled Aemeath's, were crossed beneath her. They were another rare, food-grade masterpiece.

Compared with Aemeath and Lynae, who were happily battling it out in front of the big LCD screen, the two besties, Mandarin Orange and White Peach, were enjoying a peaceful moment.

"Oh my gosh, Yaya, look! This bird called a raven is so smart!" Sigrika marveled at the clever raven in the video and immediately showed it to Dania, who was playing a game beside her.

"Hm?" Dania pulled herself out of her game and glanced at the video Sigrika wanted to show her, then returned to playing as she answered casually, "Ravens are among the smartest birds in this world. They can understand simple physical laws and possess social intelligence. You could say there aren't many birds that have both abilities like they do."

How did Dania know that, you asked? Obviously! You could find out anything with an online search.

"That's amazing...! Yaya, you know so much!" Sigrika didn't hold back her praise, while secretly delighting in having learned another fact about birds.

Dania didn't answer and kept playing, but the smile spreading across her lips showed how pleased she was by Xixi's praise.

The two besties wore similar pajamas, both sets consisting of short-sleeved tops and long pants. The difference was that Sigrika's were printed with all kinds of birds, while Dania's had Winnie the Pooh. Two pairs of little feet, luminous and smooth as porcelain, swung beneath the sofa, looking especially appealing.

And what were Hajiling and Chisa doing?

Over in the kitchen, Xiao Ling scrubbed the last plate until it shone, finally freeing himself to stretch his body, which had grown a little stiff from repeating the same motions over and over.

"Chisa, thanks for your help. Sorry to trouble you with the dishes too," Xiao Ling said to Chisa, who was equally exhausted.

"It was no trouble. I'm happy I could help you, Senior."

Chisa still wore her usual faint smile, but the sweat on her back had plastered her uniform to her skin, faintly revealing the outline of what she wore underneath. Even her normally unruly straight bangs were held firmly against her forehead by fine beads of sweat.

This girl was a textbook case of someone who insisted she wasn't tired when everything about her showed she was worn out. It really did look like they needed to install a dishwasher.

Though Xiao Ling figured Chisa would probably just find something else to do.

Chisa really is the type who'd make a good wife~

Of course, Xiao Ling didn't say that out loud. Otherwise, the quiet, reserved beauty before him would turn bright red again and tell him in all seriousness that he was saying strange things.

"Go take a shower first. I can handle the rest of the housework myself." Smiling, Xiao Ling sent Chisa off to bathe.

"All right, Senior." Chisa knew he was concerned about her and had no intention of refusing his kindness. After carefully wiping the water from around the sink, she obediently went upstairs to wash up.

Once Xiao Ling had finished the last of the cleanup, he also planned to go upstairs and take a shower.

But a pleasant ringtone interrupted his plans to bathe first.

As soon as it rang, four pairs of big eyes turned toward Xiao Ling in unison, then went back to what they had been doing.

Xiao Ling jogged over and picked up the phone he had left on the dining table. He looked at the screen, and good grief-Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was descending like thunder to check up on him.

Come on, man, you can't do this to me...! Xiao Ling immediately began to despair.

He! Still! Hadn't figured out how to explain to his mother that he'd brought home four more girls as beautiful as Dania!

And now his mother had struck first, calling him directly on video.

This call was very important. Handle it well, and everyone would be happy. Handle it badly, and he'd be going to Jesus to play a resurrection match with Boss Lao.

"Hello? Mom? What's up?" Xiao Ling asked, feigning composure as he answered.

"I didn't say I was calling for you." Xiao Yue ignored her own son's greeting outright. "I want to see my girls."

Xiao Ling had an inexplicable sense of foreboding, but he still planned to tell a lie to get through this first.

"You'd better not try any tricks with me. Tell me the truth." Xiao Yue narrowed her eyes slightly and gave Xiao Ling a sinister look. "I heard you went to Grandma Lin's and brought back a few more pretty girls. What, is one Xiao Ya not enough for you anymore? Are you trying to bring back feudalism?"

"Of course not... They're all Yaya's friends~" Xiao Ling replied with a half-truth. "Yaya was worried about them, so she asked me to bring them back to live with us."

"Give the phone to Xiao Ya and the others. I'll ask them myself."

Xiao Yue: Can I trust what my son says? You don't need to tell me. I'll ask for myself.

Well, there was no need to keep making excuses. He could only hope Dania would help make him look a little less suspicious.

"Yaya, our mom's on the phone." Xiao Ling walked over to the sofa and handed his phone to Dania, who was still playing her game.

"She wants to talk to me?" Dania put down her own phone, with the game still running, and tidied herself up a little before taking his.

"Xiao Ya, how are you doing over there?"

"Everything's good. The food is delicious, and I sleep very comfortably." Dania's sweet smile was quite powerful, making elders happy just to look at her.

"Looks like that little brat is taking good care of you." Xiao Yue approved of Xiao Ling's responsible attitude. "By the way, I heard you brought a few friends home to live with you today. Is that true?"

Well, well. So this Xiao fellow had put all the responsibility for bringing Aemeath and the others back on her.

"Mm-hm, but it wasn't my decision alone. Ling ran into one of them when he went out and asked how they were doing," Dania answered very "honestly." "After we discussed it, we thought it would be better to bring them here to live with us."

"After all, they're from the same hometown as me, and this villa is quite big. There's no trouble at all having a few more people living here."

"Ah, I see. Xiao Ya, you really are a kindhearted girl." After hearing Dania's explanation, Xiao Yue couldn't help feeling even more pleased with her.

"Then could you introduce your friends to me? Is now a good time?"

Dania responded to Xiao Yue's request with action, poking Sigrika beside her.

"Yaya, what is it?" Sigrika, who had been watching bird videos, looked up at Dania, who had just poked her.

And so Xiao Yue saw Little Orange staring blankly into the camera.

"Wow, what a pretty big sister!" Sigrika exclaimed, covering her little mouth. "Yaya, who is she?"

"Xiao Ling's mom."

"Ah! She's... she's Senior's mother?" Sigrika was startled. The woman looked to be only in her twenties; she hadn't expected her to already be a mother.

"Then wasn't I being really rude just now?!" Sigrika grew flustered, her face turning bright red as she held her little hands in the air, unsure where to put them.

"Oh my, look how worried the poor girl is," Xiao Yue said with a giggle. "It's fine. You can call me big sister too. In fact, say it a few more times. I like hearing it."

"What pretty big sister? I want to see, I want to see!"

And so another pink-haired head squeezed into Xiao Yue's view.

"Hello, big sister! I'm Aemeath!" Aemeath greeted her with a lively smile. "We're having a great time at A-Yu's house! He's been really good to us!"

Oh, they were even calling him A-Yu now. It seemed the boy really was treating them well.

"Hello, little Aemeath. You look so full of energy," Xiao Yue praised her with the warm smile characteristic of an elder. "Seeing you reminds me of how energetic I was when I was young."

"And me, and me!"

Xiao Yue saw a little blonde head squeeze into the left side of the frame.

"Hello, big sister, I'm Lynae!" Lynae introduced herself enthusiastically. "My hobbies are going for motorcycle rides and doing graffiti. If we get the chance, I'll take you for a ride and we can do some graffiti. It's really fun!"

"Hehe! All right. I'd like to see what going for a ride and doing graffiti are like, and whether they're really as fun as you say." Xiao Yue responded to Lynae's greeting with equal enthusiasm.

"They're all wonderful girls, aren't they, Mom?" Dania leaned in front of the camera to ask Xiao Yue.

"People always say talking to young people makes you younger. I was skeptical before, but after meeting your friends today, I really do feel a little younger," Xiao Yue said with a smiling nod. "I really should make more friends with young girls."

The young women on the sofa chattered away with Xiao Yue on the other end of the call, leaving a certain Hajiling completely out in the cold.

Xiao Ling: Am I a person or not?! Am I a person or not?!

"Senior, I think I heard someone calling someone big sister just now...?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Xiao Ling turned to see Chisa, fresh from her shower. She was wearing pure black pajamas printed all over with capybaras, the animal Bozai was based on. She really did love Bozai.

Chisa was still drying her hair with a towel when Dania suddenly turned the camera toward her.

Xiao Yue then saw Chisa frozen in place, still holding the pose she'd been drying her hair in. She looked rather comical.

"...Hello, big sister?"

Although she didn't know whether the big sister they had been talking about was the beautiful woman before her, she figured she couldn't go wrong calling her the same thing.

"All right, little Chisa, you should dry your hair first. Otherwise, you might catch a cold when you sleep tonight," Xiao Yue reminded her, somewhat amused.

Two red patches appeared on Chisa's delicate little round face, and she silently dried her hair.

And so the sudden, thunderous inspection came to an end in the best possible way.

Late at night was when sleepiness swept over everyone.

After a day of surprises and hard work, everyone's eyelids were already growing heavy, so they each returned to their rooms to sleep.

But most people couldn't necessarily fall asleep the moment they hit the bed.

Aemeath smiled knowingly at the new group chat on her phone.

After that unexpected inspection, Xiao Yue had started a group chat with them and invited the financial backer behind the villa as well. That person had been quite generous, giving each of the five a five-figure sum as spending money.

When Xiao Ling found out, he had fallen to his knees in despair, crying, "Am I really your biological son?! Am I really your biological son?!"

She had originally wanted to give Xiao Ling some, since she probably wouldn't need that much for her own expenses. But Sister Xiao Yue had made it clear that she couldn't give him a single cent, or their spending money would be cut.

Still, she had only said they couldn't give him money directly. She hadn't said they couldn't help him out in other ways, had she? Aemeath thought.

Putting that little story aside for now, Aemeath suddenly remembered the group photo with Grandma Lin from noon and immediately pulled it up.

She framed the photo where she could see it at a glance, then quietly admired it.

Grandma Lin sat in the center, a kind smile on her face, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes more noticeable as she smiled.

Sigrika and Dania sat on either side of Grandma Lin. One beamed as she made peace signs with both hands; the other smiled gently with a peace sign raised in one hand. It was hard to imagine how two girls with such different personalities had become besties who told each other everything.

Lynae and Chisa stood behind Dania and Sigrika respectively. Lynae made a peace sign with her left hand and winked, while Chisa smiled faintly and made a peace sign with her right hand.

Aemeath herself stood behind Grandma Lin, posing with her the same way she had posed for her photo with the Rover at the end of Wooly's fan concert. Mm, very photogenic. Wooly herself was very satisfied.

As for A-Yu, he held both hands high in peace signs, grinning widely. He looked happier than anyone, his tall figure seeming like a pillar of support for them all.

Aemeath suddenly recalled how lost and helpless she had felt when she first arrived in this world. Back then, just as when she had first become an electronic ghost, she hadn't known where her future would lead.

Fortunately, this story had unfolded very differently from the last one. After becoming an electronic ghost, she could only gradually accept her circumstances as time passed. But here, she had met Grandma Lin, the kind folks in the alley, Chisa and the others, and finally A-Yu, who had helped her understand that she wasn't alone.

Even if she returned to Solaris one day, she could never forget these bonds from another world, and she never would.

(Three updates today, and a big chapter tomorrow.)