Chapter 111: Middle Finger

"What human trafficker?"

Shu Shu asked softly while boiling eggs, without turning back, she reached behind and precisely snatched the rolling pin from her son's hand, placing it back where it belonged.

There's only this one rolling pin at home; we can't let the child develop a bad habit of randomly damaging household property.

Shu Lingchen shouted indignantly: "It's that bastard who teamed up with a quack doctor to kidnap my sister! That bastard didn't have the teacher call my sister away, did he?!"

Shu Shu paused, then realized Shu Lingchen's train of thought was quite unusual.

Oh, she still hadn't figured out how to explain this to her son.

To be precise, she hadn't even thought about it, because she didn't plan to mention it specially.

Would she have to abruptly tell her son, who's used to having no father, that his father isn't dead but alive, merely adding worries to his adolescence?

Let things take their natural course.

Anyway, whether the child finds out or not later, the fact that the child is hers and will only live with her won't change.

…

In the living room.

Shu Shu wrapped a hot egg in a washcloth that had been dampened and wrung out, and placed it on her daughter's eyes.

She boiled four in total.

Two were for the eyes, the remaining two——

Beside her, Shu Lingchen's cheeks moved as he chewed: "Chew chew chew…"

The boy, while gnawing on the egg, looked worriedly at his sister; Mom reassured him that the sister was fine, but the sister had been crying, so how could she be fine?

Pei Muyin softly told Shu Shu she could do it herself, and Shu Shu replied with a "good~" before letting go and heading back to her room to wash up.

Shu Lingchen took the chance to move close to his sister and asked: "Sis, tell me the truth, bro—has someone been bullying you? If so, even without a rolling pin, I'll crush him for you!"

Pei Muyin, who had been obediently holding the egg on her eyes, blinked at the words, shook her head, and said: "No."

Shu Lingchen didn't believe her, silently pointed at Pei Muyin's reddened eyes, and asked cautiously: "Then what's going on with this——"

Pei Muyin felt that since she had told her sister about her father, she should also tell Shu Lingchen, because the latter wasn't just listening to her call him 'brother' for nothing—he genuinely cared about her.

Thus the girl began to tell Shu Lingchen about her father from childhood to the present.

"Just now, my father came to the school to find me…"

Dad?!

Shu Lingchen jumped to his feet, a flare of fire rising atop his head, eager to tell his sister that it wasn't really a father at all.

That's a shameless, damned, brazenly despicable human trafficker!

However, just as the words were about to leave his lips, the boy caught sight of his sister smiling sincerely after clearing up the misunderstanding and grudges with her 'dad,' and he unconsciously held back his voice.

He wasn't unfamiliar with seeing his sister happy.

During the time the three of them lived together, all of his sister's happiness was genuine, but digging deeper, perhaps it's truly as the elders said: siblings of the same blood may share a certain degree of mutual feeling.

Shu Lingchen often felt that his sister always had something weighing on her mind.

But now, that worry seemed to have vanished; since returning to the classroom, all of his sister's emotions have begun to be built on a foundation of cheerfulness.

It was as if the gloom had been swept away, and the whole sky brightened.

That bastard trafficker really knows how to act; having deceived his sister, he didn't want to expose the matter directly, lest he inadvertently hurt her.

He had to be tactful!

The boy nodded to himself, having formed a rough plan in his mind.

…

The next day, it was a clear sky.

Pei Du had left An Shi the previous night, going abroad to handle a large project that had already been delayed for many days.

Perhaps because seeing his assets transferred one by one into his daughter's name gave him a satisfaction that still wasn't enough; if previously Pei Du felt numb and indifferent about money coming in, now he felt for the first time that making money wasn't actually a boring thing.

Once he finishes this, after tidying up his work, he will return to An Shi and then begin a new life together with his daughter.

Where his daughter is, that's where his home is.

The flight was in the early morning; Pei Du, worried about disturbing his daughter, specially sent a message to inform her.

"Muyin, on the way to country m, the trip is expected to take about ten days, after which I'll return to An Shi."

Pei Muyin opened her eyes in the morning, saw her phone, and quickly replied: "Good~"

At that time it was 6:30 a. m., which was afternoon in country m.

The message Pei Muyin sent got an instant reply.

"Muyin, good morning."

Seeking to extend the conversation, Pei Du then asked his daughter: "What should we prepare for breakfast later?"

"Sis said she'd make sandwiches today—sis's sandwiches are super delicious~"

"Sis?"

Pei Du lowered his gaze, his eyes landing on those two characters.

Unconsciously, a pair of beautiful peach-blossom eyes appeared before him.

Oh, that girl.

He could also make those delicious sandwiches.

The aloof, upright man silently pondered that he would also make sandwiches for his daughter when he returned, and he specially added this to the "Important" red section of his notes app.

…

Just like that.

Pei Muyin and Pei Du exchanged messages back and forth.

It was always just cold transfer notifications, or a chat box with only a few words—until finally the father and daughter had a genuine conversation.

The two seemed to have lost the thirteen years of unfamiliarity and restraint, as if it were just an ordinary day in peaceful times; two family members naturally began sharing their mundane daily lives.

The bell rang for the last morning class, and they were in the cafeteria.

Pei Muyin received a photo of dinner from Dad Zhang—not particularly lavish, just a simple work meal, and since they were eating at this hour, she guessed he had just finished work.

Pei Muyin also turned on her camera, aiming it at her still‑untouched plate, ready to take a photo.

Shu Lingchen watched his sister bustling about opposite him like a tiny sparrow, and he felt a sigh of anguish and heartache.

That silly sister must be taking pictures for human traffickers!

Thus the black‑line‑faced boy couldn't hold back; at the moment the camera froze, he seized the chance and lifted his hand onto the table.

In the frame, he decisively flipped the middle finger.

Meanwhile, Pei Muyin was only concerned with whether her lunch was fully in the shot; after confirming it was, she directly sent the photo to her dad.

At that time.

Near eleven at night in M Country, somewhere.

Pei Du gazed at the middle‑finger gesture in the upper left corner of his daughter's lunch photo, his brows faintly furrowed as if sunk in some contemplation.

…

After lunch, they returned to the classroom.

Shu Lingchen grabbed a draft notebook and walked to his mother and sister's desk.

"Which problem don't you understand?"

Shu Shu thought her son had come for help with a problem, so out of habit she reached to take the notebook, but the boy dodged backward, avoiding her hand.

He stammered, "I‑I'm looking for my sister's problem."

Shu Shu narrowed her eyes at him, "You little brat, you're all cutesy——"