Not obedient.
Not obedient, not obedient—extremely disobedient.
Gao Hongyi’s fists slowly tightened.
From childhood until now, she had never experienced such chaotic, stinging emotions as she did today.
This must be what people call anger.
She slammed her pale fist down onto the pillow.
The soft stuffing instantly sank deep where it was struck.
This feeling was truly unpleasant.
Whether it was earlier downstairs—when he rashly went around her and took the initiative to speak to that exchange student from Seoul…
Or after they returned home—when he tried to pull his hand away from hers, and the faint reluctance written almost plainly on his face about sharing a room with her.
Right.
Thinking about it now, even when they kissed, he seemed to instinctively try to dodge.
It was only that, in the end, she had firmly captured his lips.
Ah…
Gao Hongyi slowly lay down.
Her crimson hair spread across the bedsheets in a disordered web, like delicate strands of spider silk.
Some dogs, some cats—when they are first brought home—always retain quite a bit of wildness.
At times like that, the beast tamer must patiently train them, step by step.
Only then will they become sensible and obedient.
Only then will they understand that they shouldn’t relieve themselves anywhere they like, and shouldn’t bite the hand their owner extends.
From then on, they live peacefully and willingly as adorable pets.
Uncle Bai would surely be the same.
But…
How exactly should she train him?
Gao Hongyi turned her head and looked at the boy sitting on the sofa.
Her gaze gradually sharpened.
In any case, his tastes must be reshaped.
His lifestyle habits also needed to be guided personally by her—from the clothes he wore to the food he liked.
As for friends at school, it would be even more impossible for him to decide on them without her permission.
Only those approved by her would have the right to socialize with him.
First of all, among those friends, there absolutely could not be any girls who were too pretty.
Besides that, even his male friends absolutely must not know any beautiful girls either…
So troublesome.
Perhaps it would be easier if Uncle Bai simply stopped socializing altogether.
But the problem was that having no social life at all would be difficult.
The most ideal situation would obviously be to keep him at home and not let him go out.
That would be the safest.
But her parents would definitely never agree.
In the end, he still had to go to school.
So annoying.
Really annoying.
“Hongyi?”
Gu Yebai noticed that Gao Hongyi was stamping her foot in place as if trying to suppress some emotion.
She looked unusually restless.
Out of concern, he couldn’t help stepping a little closer.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uncle Bai, come to our room first and take a good look.”
“I still feel like…”
Gu Yebai paused.
But when he saw Gao Hongyi’s gloomy expression, the slight pout on her lips, and the tight frown between her brows, the words that had already reached his mouth were eventually swallowed back down.
“You must sleep in the same room as me. There’s no room for discussion on that!”
“Or… does Uncle Bai want to share a room with that Korean guy we met downstairs just now?”
“Korean…?”
Gu Yebai paused.
“That sounds a bit rude. He seemed pretty friendly.”
“So instead of taking my side, you’re siding with that outsider, Uncle Bai?”
“You don’t like me anymore, Uncle Bai?”
The moment she said that, Gao Hongyi’s eyes instantly reddened, as if she might start crying at any moment…
“Ah… I see. In this family, I’m the unnecessary one.”
“I know. When Mom and Dad come back, I’ll leave.”
“I’ll let Uncle Bai become the only child in this family.”
“That’s not it, Hongyi! Really, don’t misunderstand!”
Gu Yebai felt that Gao Hongyi was subtly shifting the topic.
Because what he had just been talking about was a matter of politeness, yet Gao Hongyi had instantly elevated it to the question of whether she even belonged in the family.
“First of all, we’re a family.”
“And secondly, I don’t want to lose Uncle Bai either.”
Gao Hongyi suddenly rushed forward, her body trembling like a small animal afraid of the cold.
“I’m strange, right? I know I’m strange. Ah, yes—I’m a strange child! But even if I’m strange, I still deserve love, don’t I, Uncle Bai?”
“I like you. I like you very, very much. I would even die for you.”
“And I’m not asking Uncle Bai to die for me. If we were standing on a cliff, and only one of us could survive if the other died, then I would choose Uncle Bai without hesitation and give up my own life.”
“Do you know, Uncle Bai? At the beginning, my life was gray. It was only after I read your novels that it gained color.”
“Because of one of the characters in your books, I fell in love with playing the piano.”
“I read in your novels that the world isn’t gentle, but kind people can gather together and keep each other warm. From that moment on, Uncle Bai became my prince on a white horse!”
“How could I possibly lose to just some exchange student from Seoul?”
“She smiled at Uncle Bai just now. Ah, she really is beautiful, I admit that. But I’m beautiful too! I’m cute too!”
“Uncle Bai, could you look only at me?”
“I… I only have you. Only you.”
“If I didn’t have you, my world would fall back into darkness again.”
“Uncle Bai, don’t avoid my gaze, okay?”
“Uncle Bai… Uncle Bai… Uncle Bai… Uncle Bai…”
“I worked so hard to keep living until today—for you.”
“I want to become your only one.”
“I hope Uncle Bai will see me as the only one in his life too…”
“Love me, love me, love me, love me… okay?”
Gu Yebai was already drenched in sweat.
Just now Gao Hongyi had spoken too quickly.
In truth, he hadn’t really understood most of what she said, even though she had spoken with such intensity.
In the end, the only thing he clearly grasped was this: Gao Hongyi truly loved him.
And his behavior just now had hurt that love.
That was probably the situation.
“Hongyi, I need to tell you something seriously.”
Even if he was being controlled, he had to stabilize her for now.
Gu Yebai felt as though an invisible hand was clutching his heart, squeezing tightly.
Even breathing had become difficult.
“What is it, Uncle Bai?”
“I love you too, Hongyi.”
“You’re my only one. Do you know? My pen name is Baiye Duxing—‘Walking Alone in the White Night’—because my name is Gu Yebai.”
“Actually, I’ve also read a book called Journey Under the Midnight Sun. That book was what inspired me to start writing detective novels. There’s a line in it that goes—”
“Uncle Bai, don’t say it—I know!”
Gao Hongyi raised her hand like an elementary school student eagerly trying to answer in class.
“In my sky, there is no sun—there is always night. But it isn’t dark, because something else has taken the sun’s place. Though it isn’t as bright as the sun, it’s enough for me. With that light, I can treat the night as if it were day.”
“Uncle Bai, did I say it right?”
“You did. That’s the line.”
“Uncle Bai, you love me, right?”
“Right.”
“Then kiss me.”
Gao Hongyi closed her eyes and stood on tiptoe.
When she wasn’t speaking those absurdly long, gravity-defying sentences, she was actually extremely, extremely charming.
Well… even when she spoke those long sentences, she was still charming.
Just a little terrifying.
Gu Yebai stepped forward and gently touched her deep cherry-colored hair.
“Sorry.”
“I refuse.”