“Ah la~”
In the art studio, Leila, who was currently acting as Ruan Shuhe’s model, blinked her eyes.
“Shuhe, did you hear that? Even Zhixian is trying to persuade us to have another child. How about tonight…”
As she spoke, the elegantly dressed mixed-blood woman suggestively stuck out her little pink tongue and licked her red lips.
“Wait, wait, wait! I feel like having just Zhixian is already enough. Maybe we should think it over a bit more…?”
On the other side of the easel, cold sweat appeared on Ruan Shuhe’s forehead, and his hand mixing the paints trembled slightly.
“Dad! Mom! What do you think about us adopting An Qing!”
At that moment, with a loud bang, the door was flung open. The golden-haired girl finally burst in, like a little cannonball.
“So that’s what you meant. Turns out, darling, you were talking about adoption…”
Leila sighed in disappointment.
“Yeah, otherwise, what did you think I was talking about, Mom?”
Ruan Zhixian tilted her head, blinking her big eyes with a look of cute innocence.
“Sigh, that’s something for adults. Even if I told you, darling, you wouldn’t understand…”
As she spoke, the woman sighed again, then cast a rather resentful glance at the man opposite her.
“Ahem! Let’s not talk about this for now!”
Sensing the situation wasn’t great, Ruan Shuhe quickly set down his palette and tried to change the topic.
“Zhixian, what was that about adopting An Qing just now? Did something happen at An Qing’s home?”
He turned to look at his daughter, his expression somewhat serious.
“Oh~, so little An Qing is a child from the orphanage, I see…”
After Ruan Zhixian finished explaining the whole story, Leila thoughtfully touched her pretty chin:
“So Zhixian, you think little An Qing is troubled because of her orphan status, so you hope we can adopt her?”
“Yeah! That’s right, that’s right!”
Ruan Zhixian nodded her head like a pecking chick:
“Mom, don’t you think An Qing is very obedient and cute? If she could be our daughter too, wouldn’t that be wonderful!”
“Hmm… That’s true, I feel like I get along quite well with that girl too…”
If little An Qing could become our daughter, maybe she could help Zhixian become a little more like a cute girl herself…
Leila thought back to the day when the little mermaid princess had helped successfully persuade Ruan Zhixian to put on a dress, and she nodded in agreement with a smile.
“Well, Dad?”
Having received her mother’s approval, the blonde girl immediately turned her expectant gaze toward Ruan Shuhe.
“As for adopting An Qing, I also think there’s nothing wrong with that child, and our family’s situation is more than enough to support another daughter…”
“Then—”
“But Zhixian, have you asked An Qing what she wants?”
Ruan Shuhe’s calm words poured a bucket of cold water on the excited Ruan Zhixian.
“If An Qing doesn’t want it herself, we can’t make the decision for her to come to our home.”
He looked very seriously at his daughter, speaking gently:
“Zhixian, I know your intention is for An Qing’s good, and you hope she can live a better life.”
“But whether we adopt An Qing must depend on her own agreement. You have to find out An Qing’s real feelings, and then we can discuss adopting her, all right?”
An Qing’s real feelings…
At night, lying on her soft princess bed, Ruan Zhixian hugged her big teddy bear and tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
An Qing, she would want to come to our house, right?
Staring at the vaguely visible European-style ceiling in the pale moonlight, the blonde girl fell into deep thought once again.
After all, last time she came to our house to play, she was smiling so happily.
And she suffered so much in the orphanage, she definitely wouldn’t want to stay there any longer.
Having immediately come to a conclusion, Ruan Zhixian contentedly rubbed her face against the big bear in her arms, wriggling her small body until she found a comfortable sleeping position.
Okay, it’s decided! In the next couple of days, I’ll find a chance to ask An Qing and see if she actually wants to come to our house!
If An Qing also becomes Dad and Mom’s child, then she would be my little sister!
Hehehe, then I would be Zhixian-jie now—
The blonde girl buried her head into the bear’s embrace, imagining the black-haired girl cutely calling her “Zhixian-jie~”, and a silly grin appeared on her face.
Wait! What do you mean, Zhixian-jie! Clearly, I should be the older brother!
Suddenly, as if something had struck her, the girl flipped over and sat up.
Uh, but, after all, I’m a girl in this life… If I suddenly made An Qing call me big brother or something, wouldn’t she think I was an idiot…?
The girl hesitated again.
Oh, whatever, Zhixian-jie is Zhixian-jie, that’s still better than being a silly big brother!
After a moment of struggling, Ruan Zhixian came to terms with herself, lay back down, pulled the small blanket over herself, and hugged her big teddy bear tightly once more.
“Hehehe, good night, Big Bear…”
She whispered playfully to the big teddy bear at her side.
“Mm, good night, Zhixian-jie…”
Then she raised the bear’s paw and waved it, answering herself in a muffled voice.
“Hehehehehe…”
A new day, in the little park at dusk.
Ruan Zhixian propped her bicycle up with one foot at the entrance of the park, gazing repeatedly toward the street corner.
Today she wore a lemon yellow racerback tank top, her pale legs stretching out from beneath her denim shorts, and the sandal straps playfully hooked around her ankles.
Suddenly, the short-haired golden girl finally saw the person she’d been waiting for:
“An Qing—! Over here, over here!”
She rang the bike bell hard, then pushed down on the pedals, the wheels tracing an arc as she sped up to the other girl and stopped.
“Zhixian, sorry for making you wait, right?”
Today, An Qing wore a simple white dress, the hem just covering her knees, her delicate and adorable little feet clad in a pair of crystal sandals.
“It’s nothing, really, I haven’t been waiting long.”
Ruan Zhixian waved her hand with a smile.
“So, did you get everything I asked you to bring?”
“Mm! I have everything!”
An Qing excitedly raised the little plastic bucket in her hand, with a small shovel lying inside.
“Great, then hurry and get on!”
With that, Ruan Zhixian helped put the tools into the basket at the front of her bicycle, placing them next to her own little bucket, then turned and patted the back seat of the bike.
“Mm!”
An Qing nodded, lifted her skirt, and sat sidesaddle on the back seat.
“Are you ready? Hold on tight~”
It wasn’t until she felt a real hug from behind, two soft little hands carefully encircling her waist, that Ruan Zhixian finally pedaled the bicycle forward.
“Then let’s go—”
“—to the seaside!”
The girls’ laughter spread out on the summer evening breeze, the shadow of the bicycle on the path in front of the park gradually shrinking, slowly turning into a golden dot accompanied by the sound of a bell in the twilight.
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