“Besides that, I also want to know the circumstances of the day he passed. What did he do that day, and who did he see? Ever since my mother passed away, he lived alone, with only this little bird to keep him company.”
“On the afternoon he had his sudden myocardial infarction, I had just finished a phone call with him. I keep thinking, if I hadn’t forced him to install surveillance cameras at home, if I hadn’t had that big argument with him, if I hadn’t made him so angry… would he, would he still… I’m sorry.”
Chunhua Qiushi spoke incoherently, her voice choking up at the end. She turned her back to the camera, and it took a few seconds before she turned back around.
She was a woman in her thirties with short hair and a professional aura—clearly a workplace elite.
Even though she was wearing sunglasses, a deep sorrow was visible on her face.
It was obvious that she was not only grieving her father’s death but also felt immense guilt, suspecting that her phone call had caused his passing.
“Please accept my condolences. I believe your father’s spirit in heaven would not want to see you so heartbroken,” Su Yi offered a few words of comfort before redirecting her attention. “May I have a chat with the little bird?”
“Alright.”
There was the sound of fluttering wings, and then a small, dark-brown bird was brought forward, cage and all.
“Chirp chirp! Big sis, I’m telling you, don’t waste your energy. Why do you insist on knowing what the old man did that day or what his last words were? When a person dies, it’s like a lamp going out. There’s no point in digging into the past.”
“Besides, the truth hurts. It’s better not to know for your whole life. There’s a saying: ‘Lies don’t hurt, the truth is the sharp blade.'”
The thrush bird let out a sigh that sounded far too old for its small body.
“Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Besides, even if I said it, what would it matter? You humans can’t understand me anyway.”
Regarding the old man’s passing, its tone was worlds apart from Chunhua Qiushi’s.
There’s a story here, Su Yi thought, smelling a familiar scent.
She waved her hand at the bird. “Hello, little bird. I understand you. You can tell me about the old gentleman’s situation at the time, and I’ll translate it for your big sister.”
The thrush bird nearly fell off its perch, staring at her in a daze. “You, you, you… are you for real?”
“I’m for real, realer than pearls,” Su Yi promised with a grin.
Upon hearing this, the bird fell silent. Suddenly, it hopped down to the bottom of the cage, tilted its body slowly to the floor, closed its eyes, and stopped moving.
[What’s wrong with the bird? Is it in shock? Resuscitate it, quick!]
[Could it be that knowing someone can understand Bird-ish made it so excited it fainted?]
[This reaction looks so familiar. It’s exactly how I reacted when I was abroad, talking loudly to a friend in Mandarin about how hot the white guy in front of us was, only for him to turn around and say ‘Thank you’ in perfect Chinese.]
[Hahahaha, can birds suffer from second-hand embarrassment too? It was just chirping a storm, probably thinking it could say whatever it wanted because no one understood. It didn’t expect Little Su to decode it.]
“Streamer, what… what’s happening to it?” Chunhua Qiushi asked anxiously. She immediately tried to poke the motionless bird with her finger through the cage bars but couldn’t reach it. “I’ll go find the bird-teaser wand.”
Before Su Yi could speak, she stood up and hurried away.
“Is there something you’re finding hard to say, little bird? You just said the truth is ugly—how ugly? Elaborate.”
“…You misheard. Or maybe your understanding is off. Anyway, I never said that,” the thrush bird flipped over, rolled twice, and then kicked its legs to stand back up, looking at her seriously. “Your Bird-ish isn’t proficient enough yet, Streamer. I suggest you go for further studies.”
Su Yi raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Then, she repeated the bird’s words back to it, word for word, causing its beak to drop wide open.
Human and bird stared at each other for five seconds before the bird conceded.
“Don’t ask. I’m not saying a word,” it flew back up to its perch and spoke earnestly. “Look, just tell my big sister that the old man’s death was an accident. A sudden heart attack—no one wanted it. He was just watching TV at home when it happened. He went quickly without suffering. He just told her to live well with my brother-in-law and nephew, and not to be too sad.”
It paused, then added a solemn postscript: “Oh, right, remember to tell her not to forget to take me with her when she goes back.”
After speaking, it began preening its feathers with its beak, looking determined not to say another word.
Su Yi rubbed her chin, striking the classic pose of a detective. “Are you saying that Miss Chunhua Qiushi’s father hid some bad things from her and said some ugly things before he died? Things that might be hard to accept and would hurt her if revealed?”
The bird’s preening motion froze.
Damn! It knew humans were the most cunning!
“I didn’t, I haven’t, I never said that,” the thrush bird offered a triple denial.
“Streamer, what did you mean by that? Did the bird tell you something?” Chunhua Qiushi returned with an elegant, light-green bird-teaser wand. she sat down hurriedly, her eyes fixed on Su Yi.
Su Yi looked at the thrush bird. This time, it didn’t play dead. Standing on its perch, it let out a long sigh. “Life needs white lies sometimes. Often the truth is heartbreaking. If you really want what’s best for her, just act like I never said anything and you never heard anything. Thank Q~~”
It was quite the cultured bird, even knowing foreign languages.
Su Yi signaled for Chunhua Qiushi to stay calm, then nodded to the bird. “What you said makes so much sense that I can’t even argue. Fine. Then I’ll follow your lead and tell your big sister that you want freedom, you long for the sky, and you don’t want to live with humans anymore.”
“Right! Exactly… wait! Are you out of your mind?!” The thrush bird’s feathers puffed out in shock.
Su Yi gave a simple smile. “What? Did I say something wrong?”
“You, you, you! You’re a powerful adult bullying and threatening a helpless little bird! Despicable! Shameless!” the thrush bird stomped its feet in rage.
Ahhhh, whose big villain is this! It thought the old man was the ultimate master of mischief, but it turns out someone was even worse!
Su Yi: “Mm-hmm, I’m a big villain. Miss Chunhua Qiushi—”
“Wait a minute… I’ll talk! I’ll talk, alright?” The thrush bird conceded in grief and indignation.
It surrendered, but not entirely. It tried to struggle one last time. “Ask my big sister tactfully first if she can accept something that would shatter her worldview just by hearing it. Don’t be fooled by her being a career woman; if she finds this out, it will definitely be painful. Be tactful!”
“Alright,” Su Yi turned her head to Chunhua Qiushi. “The little bird wants to ask if you can accept something that will shatter your worldview—something that will definitely be very painful if you find out.”
Thrush Bird: “…”
Humanity is a big liar!
Chunhua Qiushi froze. She repeated the words slowly as if trying to process them, her brow furrowing.
Su Yi wasn’t in a hurry; she waited for the woman to make a decision.
[Whoa, this is a warning shot. A ‘shattered worldview’ implies some serious tea is coming!]
[Let me guess: This lady was very close to her father, and the ‘worldview-shattering’ news is… her dad had an affair and didn’t leave her the inheritance.]
[I’ll bet on an affair. Men, you know how it is.]
[Let’s not speculate wildly. Respect the dead, and respect this lady.]
“Impossible! My father wasn’t that kind of person. Don’t talk nonsense.” Chunhua Qiushi had been in a daze, but seeing the chat’s speculation, she couldn’t help but feel angry.
She softened her expression. She hadn’t wanted to say much, but she didn’t want her father’s memory to be maliciously slandered. She explained, “My parents loved each other very much. When my mother got sick ten years ago, until she passed six years ago, my father took care of her personally. He had to manage the factory and look after her; it was very hard. He never looked for anyone else after that. People tried to introduce someone to him, but he’d just scold them. So, there was no affair.”
“Streamer, just say it. I’m not a three-year-old child. I can handle a bit of a storm.” She took a deep breath, her gaze resolute.
Su Yi: “Fine. Little bird?”
The thrush bird looked up and sighed. “Fine. Streamer, tell my big sister that she has a five-year-old brother currently in kindergarten. If she can accept that, I’ll keep going.”
Su Yi: “?”
Is the chat full of prophets?
A five-year-old brother, while the mother passed away six years ago…
She thought for a moment and then said it directly.
Chunhua Qiushi’s first reaction was disbelief. “Impossible! Streamer, did you mishear, or did the bird misunderstand?”
She almost wanted to laugh. How could it be? Five years old—counting the pregnancy, that would mean her father had a child with another woman the very year her mother passed away? She didn’t believe it!
[Holy sh*t, what did I tell you!]
[This round of netizens is in the atmosphere!]
[Men really only stay honest once they’re hanging on a wall. I feel for this sister.]
[For the first time, I hope the bird baby is the one who’s mistaken.]
[You actually suspect the bird is mistaken but never once suspected Little Su misheard. You’re making me cry.]
“See? I knew that would be your reaction,” the thrush bird flapped its wings and mimicked a human shrug to show its helplessness. “You definitely won’t be able to handle what comes next. Streamer, I think it’s better not to say it.”
Su Yi sought Chunhua Qiushi’s opinion, emphasizing that “you definitely won’t be able to handle what comes next.” The woman was silent for a long time before lifting her head, her tone firm: “Say it. I want to know.”
“Sigh. Since you’re so determined and we’ve come this far, I might as well spill everything.” The thrush bird sighed for the nth time. Suddenly, it tilted its head and went silent.
Su Yi: “…Hello?”
“Don’t bother me. I’m thinking—thinking about how to describe this immoral, bottomless, soap-opera-esque story in one sentence. To talk about what the old man did that day, we have to start from the beginning.” The thrush bird’s tone was heavy as it flapped its wings twice.
“Ah, I’ve got it! We’ll call it: Never Imagined My First Cousin Once Removed is Actually My Biological Half-Brother!“
Su Yi: “???”
Next, she heard a soap-opera plot that was indeed devoid of morality or bottom lines.
Chunhua Qiushi’s father had hooked up with his niece-in-law (his nephew’s wife) at his own wife’s funeral. Very soon, they “created a life,” resulting in a son whom the old man pampered to no end.
To ensure the son wouldn’t suffer, and under the guise of celebrating the family’s third generation, the father bought a house and a car for his older brother’s family and arranged a job for his nephew.
His heart grew more and more biased. He even planned to secretly draft a will leaving the factory, the house, and the car entirely to this child.
However, before the will could be finalized, his heart gave out and he kicked the bucket.
In his final moments, he didn’t have any words for his daughter. What he cried out, over and over, was “Xiao Bao.”
“First, a disclaimer: even though I despise the old man’s actions and cursed him as an ‘old fossil’ while he and that woman were acting like ‘shaking the heaven and earth’ in front of me, I didn’t just watch him die,” the thrush bird emphasized. “He had me locked in the cage; I couldn’t fly out to find anyone.”
It had been scared nearly to death at the time, watching the man collapse and struggle painfully toward the table, reaching for the phone but failing to grasp it. It had hopped frantically in its cage, pulling out several feathers in its panic, and had nightmares for days afterward.
Su Yi: Wait, is that the point?
She looked at Chunhua Qiushi, who was waiting for her to speak with visible anxiety. She wanted to be tactful, but then she thought: How the hell do you be tactful about this? Better a short, sharp pain than a long, dull one.
“The little bird says that your five-year-old half-brother is your ‘nephew’—the son of your father and your cousin’s wife.”
She then quickly but clearly recounted the entire story.
“What nonsense are you talking about!” Chunhua Qiushi blurted out. A surge of anger rose in her heart—toward the streamer and toward herself.
Her father was already gone, yet he was being slandered like this out of thin air. And her cousin’s wife was being smeared for no reason. And she was the one who had caused this situation.
The two families had some unpleasantness years ago, but they had reconciled after the ‘nephew’ Xiao Bao was born. Their relationship had been very close in recent years. While she lived and worked out of town, only able to return for the New Year, her cousin and his wife were the ones who looked after her father.
Because she had been uneasy, filled with guilt and regret, she had desperately looked for peace of mind. Hearing a relative mention a streamer who could talk to animals, she had ended up in this room by some strange twist of fate. And now, she had caused her family to be branded with such scandalous labels in front of over a hundred thousand people!
She wanted to exit and file a complaint immediately, considering the 99,000 yuan fee a total loss. But if she just left, what if people believed it? If an acquaintance saw this… rumors are fiercer than tigers.
[?! Father and niece-in-law? Uncle and nephew’s wife? Together, they had a kid??]
[Indeed explosive. Can those two roles even be combined?]
[Cousin: ??]
[Holy sh*t, this old geezer stole his nephew’s wife? He’s an animal!]
[What was that woman after? There’s a generational gap, so the age difference must be huge.]
[Money, obviously. Didn’t they say there’s a factory, a house, and a car? And the old man was going to leave it all to the illegitimate child. How shameless! Luckily he died before the will was done, otherwise people would die of pure anger.]
“Streamer, you can eat whatever you want, but you can’t say whatever you want. Please clarify your statement and apologize to my relatives,” Chunhua Qiushi’s expression was extremely ugly. “If my relatives’ reputations are damaged because of your baseless words, I reserve the right to pursue legal action.”
Su Yi: orz
The bird was right; once these words were out, there would be pain. But the pain didn’t seem to be Chunhua Qiushi’s—it was hers.
“Calm down, Miss Chunhua Qiushi. Since you paid a high price to find me, you should know that I never speak falsely and I never make up stories,” Su Yi said calmly.
Upon hearing this, Chunhua Qiushi went silent.
It was true. Although she was anxious, she hadn’t been so reckless as to come here without doing some research.
Before the connection, she had watched the replays of the last three streams. Based on her years of experience in the workplace and dealing with all kinds of clients, it felt very real, with almost no trace of a script.
At this moment, a slight flicker of doubt appeared in the depths of her heart. Realizing this doubt, she snapped back: “Impossible! My father and my sister-in-law… absolutely impossible!”
Su Yi opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted: “You must want to know why I’m so certain? I’ll tell you. my parents’ relationship was exceptionally good. On the day of my mother’s funeral, my father fainted from crying several times. Was all of that fake?”
“Also, my father cared about his reputation more than anything in his life; he would never do something so disgusting. As for my sister-in-law, it’s equally impossible. She’s only two years older than me, and she and my brother are a loving couple. There is no way she had any improper relationship with my father.”
It was unclear if she was trying to convince Su Yi and the thousands of viewers, or herself.
Su Yi: “…”
Actually, she didn’t want to know why the woman was so certain. She wanted to say that the bird wasn’t finished yet.
“I see. I can understand your feelings. However, the bird says that on the day your father died—ten minutes before you called him—he was having an ‘intimate exchange’ with your sister-in-law.”
Halfway through the exchange, the cousin had called. The sister-in-law had to leave in a hurry. That’s why Chunhua Qiushi’s father was in a bad mood when he picked up her call. That’s why he flew into a rage when she asked him to install cameras again, instead of laughing it off as he usually did.
“As for why he refused to install cameras, the reason is simple: because he needed to have trysts with your sister-in-law at home.”
After the call ended, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He was angry that his daughter kept saying she wanted cameras because she was worried about him being alone—indirectly reminding him that he was old. He was even angrier that his nephew was younger and stronger than him. He was angry that his niece-in-law, who had been so sweet with him a moment ago, had been called away by a single phone call.
“Jealousy makes people lose their minds. So, despite having stayed up several nights in a row to watch soccer matches and having worked and fished during the day without resting properly, your father hung up and started a high-intensity workout of running and lifting weights. After training for two hours, he followed the example of young men and took a cold shower. Immediately after the shower, he sat down to write his will.”
He had just picked up the pen and hadn’t written a single word when he clutched his chest and collapsed.
“If you still don’t believe me, you can go to management and check the surveillance footage. See if your sister-in-law hasn’t been coming and going from your apartment complex alone every few days, usually staying for an hour or two before leaving.”
“Also, the bird says your father has a mole with hair on his butt, and your sister-in-law has a scar as long as its foot on her ribs under her left breast. It offers this as evidence of their shameless and improper behavior in front of it.”
The thrush bird nodded solemnly. “It was an eyesore! I was a part of their ‘play.’ Six years—six whole years! From the time I was a baby bird, I had to endure this trauma. It’s a miracle I’m not psychologically warped.”
Chunhua Qiushi was stunned on the spot.
[Well, well. This really is a case of ‘the old house catching fire.’]
[What a shameless person! I’m at a family gathering right now, hiding in a corner watching this. I feel so disgusted; I’m starting to look at my dad and my sister-in-law weirdly. Dammit.]
[Leaving everything else aside, that heart to work out and improve himself just to compete for his lover’s attention is actually impressive, even if the method was wrong. If an old man can do that, what excuse do young men who look like pigs have?]
[Why are you praising him? He slept with his nephew’s wife and had a kid with her. Shameless. Trying to secretly leave the entire inheritance to an illegitimate child—even more shameless! Tui!]
[I feel for this girl. If my old man dared to do this, I’d dig him out of his urn and scatter him to feed the fish.]
“This is all just your side of the story,” Chunhua Qiushi’s voice was tight. “Besides, even if my sister-in-law came to our house often, what does that prove? Our families are close; I was the one who asked my brother and sister-in-law to visit my dad more often when they had time.”
However, her heart was not as calm as her face.
When she was a child, she had heard her mother laugh about the hairy mole on her father’s butt. It was normal for the bird to know such a private detail; it could be explained by him being undressed at home.
But what about the scar on the sister-in-law’s ribs? She had only seen it once by chance when they went to a hot spring together. How did the bird know? Surely it hadn’t seen her undressed at home as well…?
The thrush bird paced on its perch. “That’s why I asked: why do you have to know this? It’s pointless. He didn’t have time to write the will, so the house, the car, and the factory all belong to you, right?”
“Yes, the old man promised the inheritance to that woman for the little brat, but it was just a verbal promise. Words carry no weight; does she really think she can come to your door and fight for the estate?”
“She doesn’t even have a DNA test; what can she use to fight you? Even if she had one, would she dare show it? Is your uncle’s family easy to deal with? If they find out their precious grandson is a… I won’t call him a bastard, since the child is innocent… would they let her off? In short, the child is young, and since the old man is gone, she wouldn’t dare expose herself no matter what.”
“So I think there’s no need to tell you these miserable things. Streamer, please translate my heartfelt words for my big sister!”
Su Yi was taken aback by how logical the bird’s reasoning was. It made a lot of sense.
Chunhua Qiushi, however, had no reaction, except for the veins popping on the hand gripping the bird-teaser wand.
Her mind was in a turmoil. She felt as if she’d been struck by a blunt object, leaving her with a splitting headache, yet everything suddenly made sense.
No wonder.
No wonder her father always sighed and said Xiao Bao looked the most like him. She had thought he was just unhappy because she put her child in training classes during vacations instead of sending him back to stay with him.
No wonder her sister-in-law had stopped her from cremating the body.
When she asked why, the woman had been evasive, only saying Xiao Bao wasn’t there because he had gone to his maternal grandmother’s house in the mountains and had suddenly developed a fever, making it impossible for him to travel back quickly. She had said, “Second Uncle loved Xiao Bao the most; how can we not let Xiao Bao see his Grand-Uncle one last time?”
It turns out… it wasn’t to see his Grand-Uncle one last time; it was to see his biological father one last time.
“Miss Chunhua Qiushi, may I ask a question? Has your father been buried yet?” Su Yi thought of something.
“Huh?” Chunhua Qiushi’s lips parted slightly as if she hadn’t processed the question. Suddenly her expression changed, and she stood up abruptly.
A DNA test!
The reason they were stopping the cremation was to do a DNA test!
Knock knock knock—
Just then, a frantic knocking—or rather, a pounding—sounded at the door.
“Hua Qiu, open the door! I know you’re home!”
“It’s my brother,” Chunhua Qiushi explained instinctively, then walked quickly to open the door.
Given the commotion, her heart sank. Does he know too?
She opened the door only to be shocked by the sight. Her uncle’s entire family was crowded at the entrance. Every face was unkind, filled with a mix of excitement and fury that looked almost distorted.
And in her sister-in-law’s arms was Xiao Bao, who was whimpering.
“Hua Qiu, I’m your brother. You’re my sister. We’re cousins, which is as good as real siblings. I don’t want to make things hard for you. But Xiao Bao is Second Uncle’s biological son. Don’t you think you should split the inheritance with him equally?”