"Your father and... mother?"
On hearing what the little girl said, the old woman felt an inexplicable pang of alarm. Although she was in the dark regarding the girl’s parents’ identities, she was well aware of who the little girl was.
The old woman asked tentatively, "Are they in the Human World?"
"Yep, Little Hei told me," the girl responded.
"Little Hei?" The old woman was evidently clueless about this Little Hei and a look of doubt crossed her face.
"Elder sister, Liuli is hungry. I want to eat wontons," the little girl pleaded.
"All right, please wait a moment."
The old woman seemed very attentive towards the little girl, and when she spoke, there was not the slightest hint of treating her as an ignorant little girl; instead, she addressed her as an equal or even a higher presence.
Thus, her words always carried a hint of reverence.
As the old woman was making wontons, four people walked side by side down the street not too far away. Yang Kai’s raucous voice could be heard before they even got close.
"Kai Zi, with that voice of yours that sounds like sawing wood, could you just stop singing? You’re gonna make me walk away, brother."
Xiao Feng warned, flexing his fist at Yang Kai.
"Enough, you two, stop bickering. Grandma’s stall is up ahead. Are you afraid she’ll laugh at you?"
With that, Wei Shuxian hurriedly stepped forward, keen to distance himself from the pair.
"Grandma, we’ve come to bother you again."
From a distance of ten or so meters, Glasses gestured respectfully towards the old woman who was busy with wontons.
"You’ve come?" The old woman’s face brightened with a kind smile. "What would you like to eat?"
"Four bowls of dumplings."
Right then, a bowl of freshly-made wontons was ready. As the old woman was occupied, the little girl in a black princess dress turned around leisurely, curious as she watched the four of you.
"Wow, what a cute little sister!"
Yang Kai exclaimed and quickly walked up to the little girl, asking with a beaming smile, "Little sister, what’s your name?"
"Hello, uncle, my name is Liuli."
Yang Kai touched his chin, where no whiskers grew.
Still hopeful, he turned on a youthfully handsome smile for Liuli, "Little sister, you should call me brother; brother isn’t that old."
Liuli tilted her head and looked at Yang Kai, but still called out, "Uncle."
The result had Xiao Feng bursting with laughter. He grabbed Yang Kai, chuckling, "Little sister Liuli, why are you here alone? Where are your mom and dad?"
Liuli tilted her head again, her adorable manner almost too much for Yang Kai and Xiao Feng to handle. They were tempted to hoist her onto their shoulders and immediately set off to find her parents.
Seeing Liuli standing there, dumbfounded and silent, Xiao Feng couldn’t help but turn to Yun Yun and sigh, "Little Yunyun, it looks like we’ll need your help to find her parents."
At that moment, Yun Yun was also somewhat stunned because, for some reason, upon seeing Liuli, a peculiar sensation had spontaneously arisen. Looking at her, Yun Yun felt no sense of unfamiliarity. On the contrary, there was a profound sense of kinship, as though she was a very close relative.
Hearing Xiao Feng’s words, you stepped forward as well, crouching in front of Liuli, "Little Lui An, are you here by yourself?"
Liuli stared at you blankly, and all of a sudden, she threw herself into your arms, while sweetly calling out a name that shocked everyone — "Daddy!"
You didn’t react at first, and now looking at Liuli clutching tightly to your neck, you couldn’t help but laugh and cry, "Little Lui An, you’ve mistaken me for someone else, I’m not your daddy."
"Daddy, daddy, Liuli has finally found you!"
Liuli clung to your neck desperately, and having no choice, you let her hold on as you stood up, with her hanging onto you, her expression of immense joy clearly not feigned.
What left you puzzled was that, for some reason, when Liuli called you "Daddy", your heart didn’t reject it at all; instead, you readily accepted it as if she were indeed your daughter.
Of course, that was impossible.
Liuli’s age, she must be six or seven years old. If she were your daughter, you’d have had to "plant the seed" at eleven or twelve, and more importantly, who would her mother be?
"Little Yunyun, never would have guessed, turns out you’re such a beast!"
"Exactly, denying your own flesh and blood right in front of you! You’re scum!"
Ignoring the nonsense from Xiao Feng and Yang Kai, you turned your head to the old granny, asking, "Granny, did you bring this child here?"
You obviously knew the old granny’s true identity and figured Liuli must be someone she brought out of the Underworld for fun.
The old granny smiled and said, "She has nothing to do with the Underworld, but considering her very special identity, I can only advise you... it’s best not to anger her. Just play along with her."
In fact, the old granny had no idea who Liuli’s parents were. Not to mention the old granny, probably no one in the Underworld besides Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva knew who her parents were; as for Liuli’s true identity, not many were in the know, and she happened to be one of them.
"Daddy, Liuli is hungry, Daddy feed."
Seeing Liuli in such a cute state, you really couldn’t bring yourself to refuse, so you simply took the wontons and fed her, one bite at a time.
As for Xiao Feng and the others, they ate their dumplings while watching you and Liuli with great interest.
"What a perfect picture of father-daughter bliss." Even Wei Shuxian started throwing in some sarcastic comments.
"Hey hey, Madman, Glasses, did you notice that? I just realized something about Little Lui An, she bears a striking resemblance to Old Shu in her expressions."
Xiao Feng quirked his mouth, "You’re just noticing now? Brother saw it a long time ago. I’m even starting to suspect that this little girl traveled here in a time machine from the future world; she and Old Shu look so much like father and daughter."
Yang Kai said with a grin, "Hey, how about we make a bet?"
"Bet on who the kid’s mom is."
At that, Wei Shuxian immediately pushed up his glasses and said, "I think it’s Zhao’er."
Xiao Feng, frowning, said, "I feel like it should be Er Ya."
"I also think it’s Zhao’er," Yang Kai stated with an ill-intended demeanor, "Among these two, the one who guesses wrong has to wash the other’s underwear for a week."
"Wow, that’s vicious!" Wei Shuxian immediately creased his brow, but then he relaxed, "At least it’s not washing Yang Kai’s."
After taking a few more glances at Liuli, Xiao Feng suddenly regretted, "Uh, I feel like I agreed too fast just now. Can I take it back?"
Wei Shuxian and Yang Kai looked at each other and shook their heads in unison, "No way!"