Little Taotie sat in front of the desk, her eyelids drooping heavily, her little head nodding bit by bit, even the words before her eyes seemed to be floating.
"Ha~" The little one yawned widely, revealing a pink and tender mouth and white teeth, deeply yawning.
——Today is Monday (erased)
Little Taotie shook her little head to make herself a bit more alert.
Teacher Yuan had already told her that a weekly journal was different from a daily journal; it didn’t need to be written clearly day by day.
A weekly journal was to record the most profound events of the week.
Her eyelashes fluttered up and down, and then the upper and lower eyelids stuck together; Little Taotie’s little head tilted, and she slumped onto the desk.
"Hoo hoo hoo..." It wasn’t long before even breathing sounds could be heard.
Cheng Guodong and Qin Xin sneaked into the room, saw their sister who had fallen asleep on the desk, exchanged glances, and both shook their heads with amusement.
Cheng Guodong picked Little Taotie up and took her to bed, removed her shoes, covered her with the blanket, and tidied up her slightly messy bangs to reveal Little Taotie’s smooth and plump forehead.
Qin Xin flipped through the journal and noticed a missing page, his brows slightly knitted.
They turned off the table lamp, tiptoed out, and gently closed the door.
Seeing the journal in his hand, Cheng Guodong asked in confusion, "Why did you bring the weekly journal out?"
The two had agreed before entering the room that Cheng Guodong would carry Little Taotie to bed, and Qin Xin would check the journal; they would then leave together afterwards.
"There’s a problem, so I brought it out."
Qin Xin opened the journal, pointed to the place where a page was missing, "The page for Sunday is gone."
"I remember now, Hua Jinyan asked me about Little Taotie’s weekly journal, asking if I had erased anything."
"Why would he suddenly ask? What did you erase?" Qin Xin acutely sensed something was amiss.
"She wrote about the Ancient Castle, which is to say, the Special Department’s business. I was afraid of attracting attention from the wrong people, so I erased it."
"You just erased it, with an eraser?" Qin Xin’s expression became serious.
"Yes, she wrote with a pencil, of course, I used an eraser; what else would I use?"
Qin Xin strode toward the study, with Cheng Guodong following: "What’s happening, explain clearly, how am I being foolish?"
Qin Xin closed the door of the study, found a pencil, and pointed to the spot where Little Taotie had erased, "She wrote here and then erased it."
Cheng Guodong began to feel that something was wrong and listened quietly.
Qin Xin shaded the barely visible traces with the pencil, and soon it revealed —— Today is Monday
Looking at these five words, Cheng Guodong fell into a long silence, his face gradually covered with remorse.
"Big brother, you forgot one thing, Little Taotie is strong, she surely left deep indentations when writing, and anyone intent on it could just shade it with a pencil to reveal the original content."
"I..." Cheng Guodong slapped his forehead hard: "You’re right, I have been foolish!"
"Hua Jinyan must know something." Qin Xin closed the journal, heading toward Hua Jinyan’s room.
Cheng Guodong: "It’s quite late, shouldn’t he be asleep by now?"
"The matter is important, even if he’s asleep we’ll have to wake him up." Qin Xin sighed.
The door was knocked on and Hua Jinyan’s very alert voice came through, "Who is it?"
Qin Xin: "It’s me and big brother."
The door opened, and Hua Jinyan’s gaze fell on the weekly journal in Qin Xin’s hand, instantly understanding their purpose, and he stepped aside to let them in.
Qin Xin placed the journal on the table and asked, "Do you know who tore out this page?"