"Huh? What do you mean 'the real 11 years old'? Xiao Xuan obviously looks taller than a normal 11-year-old girl!" Lin Xiaolu argued firmly.
"So that means you're shorter than a normal 14-year-old, right?" Xia Liang said, looking quite pleased with herself.
"Height isn't something... There's no uniform standard for height! Emerald Sparrow is even shorter than me, and she's an adult!" Lin Xiaolu pointed at Emerald Sparrow.
"Little senior... um, that seems to be true," Xia Liang said, her face showing difficulty.
"Hold on a second, you two, stop," Emerald Sparrow interjected just as the topic of their banter somehow turned to her. "Don't forget where you stand. Even though I'm only a senior to you now, I still expect you to show basic respect to the person involved when you make a mistake."
Xia Liang drawled her acknowledgment, but hadn't been quiet for even two seconds before she changed tack again, "Then I have one last question. After I ask, you can chop me up however you want."
"I'm not some brutal executioner, don't make it sound so scary."
Emerald Sparrow frowned slightly: "Ask."
"I want to know the truth, little senior, how did this thing get to you?"
Xia Liang, propping her chin, looked at Emerald Sparrow with a probing gaze: "Xiaolu only told me, Xiao Xuan, and Moke. Xiaolu and I definitely wouldn't gossip, and Xiao Xuan is such a good kid, she probably wouldn't either. Could it be Moke who played the traitor?"
"Right! How would Emerald Sparrow know!"
Lin Xiaolu, who was slow to catch on, suddenly became furiously angry: "That jerk Moke! To suck up, he sold us out! I'm going to drag him down and confront him!"
Having said this, she stood up from the couch and was about to go upstairs in search of Moke.
Emerald Sparrow quickly reached out to pull her back, slightly helpless: "Don't go upstairs and cause trouble for Nini, it's not Moke."
Lin Xiaolu, who had been looking angry, suddenly calmed down, blinking in confusion: "Then who could it be?"
Her gaze swept past Xia Liang, who shook her head. Then she looked toward the distant Bai Jingxuan, but before Bai Jingxuan could react, she withdrew her gaze; finally, she pointed at herself, her lips parting in surprise to reveal her pearly white teeth: "Could it be—"
Bai Jingxuan raised her hand, interrupting Lin Xiaolu.
She held up her right hand, signaling her presence, and with a small but clear voice said: "I was the one who told."
After a moment's thought, as if she felt her explanation wasn't specific enough, she added, "I accidentally mentioned it to my dad."
At this, everyone's gaze focused on her.
Lin Xiaolu first repeated the word with some confusion, clearly perplexed by it. She knew Bai Jingxuan had been living in an orphanage, and although it was harsh, the word "dad" seemed out of place coming from her at this time.
However, as she slowly came to her senses and made some deductions based on her guesses, she quickly understood who "dad" was in Bai Jingxuan's mouth.
Shocked, her mouth, which had already been agape, opened even wider: "The 'dad' you're talking about, could it be... Ah? So you've already secretly planned everything to this stage?"
Realizing that this posture might not be very dignified, she quickly covered her mouth, but the astonishment in her eyes remained fully intact. She looked at Emerald Sparrow, her feelings a mix of happiness and concern: "Does that mean..."
Emerald Sparrow didn't refute her.
It wasn't that she didn't want to; she simply hadn't heard what Lin Xiaolu was saying.
Bai Jingxuan's words were no less impactful than the shock she had received in the Director's Office earlier, and this time, saying the word in front of Lin Xiaolu had far greater damaging potential than before, so much so that her breathing momentarily stopped.
"... Can you explain how he is your father?"
She turned to Bai Jingxuan, trying to ask as calmly as usual, but her tone had imperceptibly gone off.
"Because, when I call him that, dad didn't deny it!"
After speaking up with courage, Bai Jingxuan's voice grew substantially louder; she raised her volume so everyone could hear her clearly: "Dad accepted it! And he even asked gently who said what! So, I told him!"
This time, both the volume and the content reached Emerald Sparrow's ears completely.
She stood there like a statue, her expression still serene and indifferent, but whether it be her movements or her gaze, both were completely frozen.
After a long silence, she finally turned her head slowly to the side, her eyes moving toward Lin Xiaolu, and at last, met Lin Xiaolu's intense gaze.
"Things are not what you think," Emerald Sparrow said dryly.
"I understand! I understand completely!"
Lin Xiaolu exclaimed a bit excitedly: "Emerald Sparrow, you don't have to worry about what I think, I support you!"
"Although I didn't really wish to have a stepmother, but if you, Emerald Sparrow, have those feelings, I'm not completely opposed to it!"
"My mom also appeared to me in a dream a few days ago. She handed me over to you in the dream, which I think means she supports you becoming my mother!"
—What on earth is this girl talking about?
Emerald Sparrow's mouth twitched slightly, but she knew that being emotional was useless at this moment, so she continued in a steady tone: "No, it's really not what you think, I have no intention of getting married..."