In the men’s cellblock, Li Zelin, trapped in a nightmare, was groggy and dazed. His dreams were filled with the heart-wrenching destruction of his family and the helpless sorrow of his father’s death. As he struggled, a large hand suddenly began mercilessly fiddling with his head, disturbing his peace.
He abruptly opened his eyes and woke. The nightmare receded. Instinctively, he reached up toward the top of his head, but grasped nothing. All he heard was a rustling sound.
Li Zelin narrowed his eyes and looked up. In the darkness, he saw a black shadow flying high above him. He was about to shout when his mouth was immediately covered.
Who?
Li Zelin was startled and hurriedly tried to pull away the hand covering his mouth.
Chaochao promptly poked her head close to him.
When he realized that the little head leaning toward him belonged to his own daughter, Li Zelin’s eyes suddenly widened, his heart pounding with alarm.
How had his good kid gotten here?
Chaochao had no awareness whatsoever of how badly she had frightened Silly Dad. Seeing that he was awake, she kept the paw covering his mouth in place and raised her other hand to her lips, making a shushing gesture.
Li Zelin understood and nodded. Only then did Chaochao remove her hand, then point with her little paw toward the unoccupied corner at the very outer edge of the cellblock.
Father and daughter silently moved over, with Huahua following close behind.
Chaochao glanced back at Huahua, who was flying along silently behind them. After thinking for a moment, she pointed toward the passage outside the bars.
Huahua understood at once. Unable to resist her master’s authority, the bird obediently flew out to stand guard. Only then did the father and daughter curl up in a corner and whisper into each other’s ears.
“Baby, what are you doing here? How did you get out of the women’s cells?”
Chaochao rubbed the ear that had been tickled by Silly Dad’s breath. She did not answer. Instead, she reached into her empty-looking chest and pulled out two large osmanthus steamed cakes, stuffing them into Silly Dad’s hands.
“Eat.”
Looking at the still-warm osmanthus steamed cakes in his hands, then at his daughter, Li Zelin was speechless.
Girl, could you at least put a little more thought into this? Could you make it look even the tiniest bit more believable? Your dad isn’t stupid!
Chaochao did not care whether Silly Dad was stupid or not. Her large eyes stared straight at him, full of urging.
Unable to withstand her stare any longer, Li Zelin immediately caved. He obediently stuffed the cakes into his mouth and quickly finished them.
Chaochao watched with satisfaction, nodded, then patted her flat chest and pulled out two more cakes.
Li Zelin choked. “Hic! Baby, Dad’s had enough. You eat them.”
“Keep them. Emergency provisions. Be good and listen to Dad.”
Li Zelin…
He suddenly felt that he was a complete failure as a father.
Other fathers protected their daughters, but in his case, his daughter was protecting him instead. But why did his heart feel so sour and swollen?
He accepted the cakes his daughter stubbornly held out to him. Li Zelin rasped out a few words, intending to say more, but his precious daughter suddenly fled from him as though he were a demon, retreating with astonishing speed. Her actions answered the question he had just been wondering about.
Afraid that Silly Dad would start chanting scripture like a monk, Chaochao decided to make a tactical withdrawal. She decisively stood up, braced her head against the bars, and squeezed her body through after it. With a whoosh, she was out.
Li Zelin watched, utterly dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open.
He could only stare as his own good daughter waved at him from the passage. Without taking even a single cloud with her, she disappeared into the dim passage without looking back.
This, this was…
“Second Brother?”
Just as Li Zelin was blinking furiously, still completely dazed, Li Zefeng’s groggy voice sounded from behind him.
Li Zelin hurriedly stuffed the cakes into his robes, turned around, and answered, “Third Younger Brother.”
“Second Brother, you’re still awake? Are you worried about your niece?”
At the mention of his niece, Li Zelin began missing his daughter again. He nodded perfunctorily.
The brothers’ conversation this time was nothing like the father and daughter’s whispered exchange just now. Their voices were not quiet, and they soon woke seven-year-old Li Changmao, who had been sleeping curled up in his father’s arms.
Changmao, who was about the same age as Chaochao, rubbed his eyes and called sleepily for his father. His stomach rumbled loudly as well, making Li Zefeng hurry to soothe him.
Li Zelin walked back toward them. Hearing his nephew softly say that he was hungry, and thinking of Madam Song’s earlier actions, the hand touching the front of his robe paused. In the end, when he sat down, he took out one piece of the emergency provisions his good daughter had given him and stealthily passed it over.
In the darkness, the sudden warmth in his hand made Li Zefeng freeze.
“Second Brother?”
Li Zelin leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Shh! It’s for the child. I had it on me when we returned to the residence earlier. There isn’t much, so don’t make a fuss.”
Feeling the soft cake in his hand, still carrying his Second Brother’s “body heat,” Li Zefeng, who had never been favored in the residence, could not help his eyes growing hot.
In the silent night, within the frightening prison cage, a warm cake warmed Li Zefeng’s heart.
To keep the smell from escaping and avoid exposing the cakes and putting his Second Brother in a difficult position, Li Zefeng acted decisively. Holding his son, he turned his back on everyone behind him, quickly stuffed the cake into the child’s hands, and shielded him as they secretly ate it. Li Zefeng wiped away the moisture at the corners of his eyes, then held his son close and resolutely went to sleep beside his Second Brother.
Chaochao knew nothing about what had happened in the men’s cellblock.
She tiptoed back past the interrogation hall, and she and the bird successfully returned.
Back in the little corner she had claimed, Chaochao hugged Huahua and curled up, intending to sleep, but she tossed and turned, unable to doze off.
The autumn night was cold, and the dungeon was truly freezing.
Shivering as she curled up her little body, Chaochao could not help trembling and felt somewhat vexed.
She had bedding, and even a bed, but she could not take them out right now. Mom had said that possessing a jade would bring trouble, and Chaochao did not dare to draw too much attention to herself.
But without a quilt, how was she supposed to keep warm?
Chaochao suddenly thought of the piles of straw she had spotted in an empty cell near the entrance to the passage on her way back. Her eyes lit up, and she immediately took action.
As sly as a rabbit, she slipped out again and pattered all the way to the passage entrance. Looking at the tall piles of straw heaped inside the cell, Chaochao decisively pulled out two bundles. Before leaving, she even pushed the scattered straw back into place.
As she left, she carefully looked around. It seemed like—probably—possibly—no one would be able to tell.
After all, every cell had straw. The only reason she had not taken any earlier was because the straw was filthy and damp.
With two bundles missing, surely no one would notice, right?
Chaochao comforted herself. She lightened her footsteps even more, wedged one bundle under each arm, and hurried back.
She tiptoed through the bars again, spread out one bundle and covered herself with the other, then scooped Huahua into her arms.
Mm, perfect.
That was how Chaochao peacefully passed her first night imprisoned.
Early the next morning, Chaochao was awakened from a beautiful dream by waves of coughing.
The groggy little girl frowned unhappily, then suddenly sat up from the pile of straw. Huahua, which had been sleeping on her chest, tumbled off, waking with a start and flapping its wings as it squawked wildly.
“I’m a dead bird! I’m a dead bird!”
“Shut up! Keep making noise and I’ll roast you!”
Chaochao had a considerable temper when woken up. Her threat instantly made Huahua behave.
Birds had tempers too, though. Huahua did not want to pay attention to its stinky master now, but it was afraid of being beaten, so it hurriedly flapped its wings over to the little windowsill in front of the narrow skylight and stood there.
The bird was angry.
Chaochao could not care less about the silly bird. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed.
Mm, good. She had not caught a cold.
However, there seemed to be quite a few coughing nearby. Chaochao glanced around and found that most of them were children. Fourth Son, who was closest to her, had clearly been affected.
Chaochao smacked her little lips and looked at Li Changying, who was being held and comforted by Third Aunt. After thinking it over, she temporarily ignored him. She gathered the fluffy straw together, pulled out several stalks, twisted them into rope, and quickly tied the bundle up, deciding to protect her own straw properly.
Chaochao was busy as could be, honestly keeping out of trouble. But sometimes, not provoking trouble did not mean trouble would not come looking for her.
Leaning against her mother, Li Wenxin was already wearing an irritable expression because the many coughs had disturbed her rest. When she saw Chaochao foolishly busying herself, Li Wenxin rolled her eyes.
“Idiot!”