“You’ve hidden me in your eyes.”
For the first time, Yan Xingli was invited to tour the Little Fish. Though it looked small from the outside, the Little Fish was full of surprises. Behind the luxurious cockpit lay a spacious laboratory filled with instruments he couldn’t recognize, along with rows of vessels containing unknown liquids.
The language bracelet and Queen’s Cloak Qi Youyu had made were both completed in this lab.
Inside, the Little Fish was as bright as day, with a pleasant temperature. Yan Xingli followed Yuyu nervously, looking around and asking about the strange instruments.
Yuyu answered every question, but he couldn’t understand a single explanation, so he stopped asking.
Continuing would only expose his shallow knowledge.
Yan Xingli cautiously reached out a finger to touch the wall. It felt cool and smooth, a bit like polished jade.
As he ran his finger along the seamless surface, it suddenly grew warm.
Click.
A protruding button lit up green, popping out unexpectedly.
Yan Xingli’s instincts screamed danger. He quickly pulled back his hand, but it was too late.
The environment around him drastically changed.
The hard floor beneath him became a soft, grassy field. Where instruments once stood, lush trees now took their place. Plump, white sheep grazed in the distance, and the air was filled with the scent of grass and lambs.
Above him was a blue sky with white clouds. Occasionally, flocks of birds flew by. The ethereal chirping of birds and the soft bleating of sheep left Yan Xingli dazed.
He looked up blankly. “Did I travel through time?”
He stood frozen, his expression blank, feeling like a helpless, frightened, pitiful sausage being stared at by someone for no reason.
This is insane. This is insane.
“Uncle.”
The child’s soft voice was like a heavenly melody, pulling Yan Xingli back to reality.
He grabbed Qi Youyu like a lifeline, holding her close. His eyes, wide with a mix of fear and relief, looked at her. “We’re done for, Yuyu. We’ve traveled through time. Do you know how to herd sheep?”
A cartoonish, round hand landed on his shoulder. Xiaohua spoke calmly and methodically: “Brother Xing, don’t be nervous. This is sightseeing mode. Spending too much time in the lab can be stressful for the little scientist’s mind and body. Beautiful natural scenery helps relax the mind and is beneficial for the little scientist’s healthy growth.”
Yan Xingli turned his head and stared at Xiaohua.
“Oh.” After processing this, he forced a smile. “So that’s how it is. You high-tech folks really have a lot of gadgets.”
Qi Youyu stood on her tiptoes, touched his face, and smiled warmly at her startled uncle.
“Don’t be scared, grown-up. The little one is here.”
The holographic technology Yuyu had was far more advanced than Yan Xingli had imagined. It wasn’t just a visual change; his sense of touch, smell, and hearing detected no flaws.
His awe for this hyper-realistic technology peaked when Yuyu switched scenes several times in a row.
Spring meadows of flowers, summer gardens and lakes, autumn rice fields and canyons, winter hot springs and snowy mountains.
Yan Xingli even cupped his hands to drink some of the cool lake water. The feeling of fullness in his stomach made it hard to believe it was just a holographic image.
How was this even possible?
He shook the water from his hands and asked casually, “Yuyu, there are only four scenes here, right?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
The child lay on the grassy slope, swinging her little feet, a blade of grass in her mouth. “But Xiaohua remembers every place it has ever seen. If you have a favorite place, Uncle, just tell Xiaohua, and it can switch to it anytime.”
So this place was like a small world?
Yan Xingli was incredibly envious.
“Oh, Uncle, is there anywhere you want to go?” Yuyu rolled over and sat up, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.
Yan Xingli raised an eyebrow. “You want to take the Little Fish out for fun?”
The child nodded enthusiastically, lifting her head proudly. “I’ll treat Uncle to a ride on my spaceship!”
Yan Xingli immediately refused. “Take it easy. If you use up the energy you just saved, how will you get home?”
“Don’t worry.” The child spoke bluntly. “I’m Uncle version Yuyu right now. I’m very stingy.”
She planned to map out the most energy-efficient route, ensuring every bit of energy was used wisely.
Yan Xingli, understanding her implication, looked blank.
Her words stung his uncle’s heart. He refused to hear such criticism.
Oblivious, Qi Youyu led Yan Xingli into the cockpit and cheerfully showed off her control panel.
The myriad of buttons dazzled Yan Xingli.
A small screen on the control panel switched according to Yuyu’s coordinate previews, rapidly flashing countless images. It was like watching a trailer for a TV series spanning ancient to modern times.
“What are those images?” he asked curiously.
Explaining this was too complicated, so Yuyu handed the task over to Xiaohua.
Xiaohua answered succinctly: “Each coordinate corresponds to a different time and space. These images are real-time snapshots from those different times and spaces.”
Yan Xingli caught on quickly, his breathing quickening slightly. “So the scenery and people I just saw came from the past?”
“Yes, you can understand it that way.”
Yan Xingli’s cheeks visibly flushed with excitement.
At his age, who wouldn’t want an epic time-travel adventure?
Who wouldn’t want to go back to the past and see their younger self?
“Uncle, I’m going to sleep now.” Qi Youyu jumped down from her seat, rubbing her eyelids as she climbed onto Xiaohua’s back. “Good night.”
“…!!!”
No!
Yan Xingli watched the child’s bouncing figure leave, his hand reaching out longingly. His face turned red as he struggled to hold back.
He regretted it. His pride had cost him.
TAT
I want to ride the spaceship.
I want to time-travel!!!
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ
The next day, during the live stream, some netizens keenly noticed Yan Xingli seemed a bit out of sorts.
He had forgotten to ask last night whether Yuyu’s parents would, like her, make an inconsiderate entrance by breaking through the window.
It would be better if they came at night. If they came during the day, it would be terrifying, with cameras both inside and outside the house.
The two kids had agreed to play together today. Xiaohua had disinfected every corner thoroughly; it always went above and beyond when it came to human children.
Yan Xingli wasn’t sure if Zheng Yue was allergic to animal fur, so he put Qianjin and Eleme into the cat villa beforehand.
With more people, it would be livelier. Qi Youyu also invited her only other good friend on Earth, Xiaofu, to come over.
As soon as the three children met, Qi Youyu, the host, took Zheng Yue’s and Xiaofu’s hands and enthusiastically introduced them:
“Yueyue, Sister Xiaofu is a foreign language version kid. She only knows a little Chinese.”
Zheng Yue attended an international bilingual kindergarten with many foreign kids, so she was familiar with children who had blond hair and blue eyes.
Meeting for the first time, Xiaofu greeted Zheng Yue in Chinese with a sweet smile.
“Hello. Happy Chinese New Year. Have you eaten?”
Wanting to make a good impression on her new friend, Zheng Yue responded slowly, enunciating each word: “Th-thank you. I have eaten.”
She lowered her gaze, a little shy to meet the eyes of the doll-like foreign child across from her.
“I-I’m called Zheng Yueyue.”
Zheng Yue’s slow pace was very helpful for Xiaofu, who was still learning Chinese. Xiaofu was delighted to find she understood every word.
“Zeng Yue? Ze Yue?”
Xiaofu struggled with the Chinese sounds and connecting characters to pronunciation. Her sparkling blue eyes looked at Zheng Yue as she sincerely asked her to teach her a couple more times.
Xiaofu didn’t just want to learn pronunciation; she wanted to learn how to write the characters,s too. Her thirst for knowledge touched Zheng Yue but also put Qi Youyu, who barely knew how to write, in an awkward spot.
“Yuyu, how do you write your name?”
Qi Youyu blinked a few times, giggled for a while, and spread her little hands. “I don’t know.”
Zheng Yue and Xiaofu’s eyes widened in surprise. The two children simultaneously looked at Yan Xingli, who was watching the scene with amusement.
Neither girl spoke, but how could Yan Xingli not understand their questioning looks?
He shook with laughter and gleefully revealed the truth: “When I tried to teach her to write before, she was lazy and didn’t want to learn. So now she doesn’t know how to write her own name.”
Qi Youyu puffed up her face, giving him a fierce, babyish glare. “Don’t laugh at me, or I won’t take you on the spaceship!”
One mo, ve, and Yan Xingli obediently shut his mouth.
The live stream comments exploded with laughter:
“Yan Xingli plays along so well with our Yuyu. He’s so good with kids, he’ll probably be a great dad.”
“Yuyu, I want to ride the spaceship too! Don’t forget your aunt!”
Zheng Yue took Qi Youyu’s hand, a gentle dimple appearing beside her lips. “Yuyu, I-I’ll teach you.”
She was in the last year of kindergarten, and her vocabulary was already comparable to a third grader’s.
If it were anyone else, Yuyu would probably politely decline, but facing the shy and sensitive Zheng Yue, she instinctively swallowed the refusal on her lips.
The little foreigner and the little alien sat on either side. The little foreigner earnestly drew circles and hooks, while the little alien’s gaze grew increasingly distracted.
The character Qi had eleven strokes.
It was too much work.
“Yuyu?”
Qi Youyu turned around. Zheng Yue was standing behind her, bending over with a puzzled look.
Yuyu put down her pen and looked at her intently. “Yueyue, I was wrong.”
Zheng Yue: “?”
The child stated nonsense with a serious face: “My name isn’t Yuyu. It’s Xiao Qi.”
Zheng Yue was stunned, her eyes wide like a cat’s. “You, I, ah…”
Xiaofu, excluded from this coded conversation, was eager to join in. Fortunately, both she and Zheng Yue had grown up in bilingual environments. Zheng Yue used English to explain the situation to her.
“Call me Xiao Qi from now on.”
These two characters had fewer strokes than the one Qi. Yuyu was satisfied.
“She’s just being lazy and making things up,” Yan Xingli came to burst her bubble. “Her name is Qi Youyu. It was given to her by her mother.”
Seeing the child seemed somewhat dissatisfied, Yan Xingli gave a half-smile. “Is Uncle wrong?”
The child stood up and hugged his leg, trying to headbutt his thigh like a little calf.
Yan Xingli held her head down. “Your friends are watching. Don’t you want to save face?”
Yuyu suddenly snapped out of it, let go of her uncle’s leg, straightened her messy hair, and grinned brightly at her two friends.
She grabbed a handful of milk candies from her pocket and handed them out.
“I’m going home soon. These are for you.”
Zheng Yue, who had been happy just a moment ago, froze. The candy in her mouth suddenly lost its sweetness. She asked softly, “You’re leaving?”
“Yes.” The little braids on Qi Youyu’s head bobbed as she nodded. “My mom and dad are coming to take me home.”
“Then, I, we… Can we meet again in the future?”
This was devastating news for Zheng Yue. She looked down dejectedly, her eyes quietly turning red.
“Are you crying?”
Zheng Yue turned her back and shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
The more someone denied it, the more Qi Youyu needed to know the truth. She ran around to face Zheng Yue.
The sturdy little chubby girl was surprisingly strong. Zheng Yue, though slightly taller, couldn’t match her strength. Yuyu pried open the hands covering Zheng Yue’s face.
Zheng Yue’s red, rabbit-like eyes were revealed.
Feeling embarrassed under Yuyu’s gaze, Zheng Yue started to turn away. But Yuyu suddenly leaned in and cupped her face with her chubby little hands.
“You can’t cry. If you cry, I’ll fall out.” Yuyu’s brow was furrowed tightly.
“Wh-what?”
Qi Youyu said, “I’m already hidden in your eyes.”
“If you cry, I’ll fall out.”
She said it with such conviction.
Hearing this, Zheng Yue, whose eyes were welling up, quickly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. “I-I won’t cry.”
She tried to keep her eyes wide open, as if that would make Yuyu stay hidden in them longer.
Qi Youyu stood up straight, imitating an adult, and gently patted Zheng Yue’s head.
“Be good. I’ll come back.”
“??? Is it true? Is Yuyu going to stop filming?”
“I checked the show’s Weibo. There’s no such announcement. Ahhhh, no! Without Yuyu, what’s the point of watching?!”
“The uncle and niece duo are so captivating, great entertainment!”
After comforting the upset Zheng Yue, Xiaofu came over. “Yuyu, why do you have to go?”
Remembering Yan Xingli’s instructions not to reveal she was returning to another planet, Yuyu made up a quick excuse.
“I need to go home and help my dad dig in the dirt to earn money.”
“It’s too pitiful that Dad has to dig alone.”
“Um, is Yuyu’s dad a construction site foreman?”
“There are many jobs involving digging. Maybe he’s a renovation worker. Mixing cement probably looks like digging to a kid.”
Yuyu leaving the show seemed like a done deal.
The production team was collectively baffled.
Zheng Xiaofeng immediately called Yan Xingli. Yan Xingli took off his lapel microphone and went to a corner without cameras to answer.
No one knew exactly what was said, but the staff could see that the director’s expression was serious and helpless.
The three children spent a wonderful time together on Earth.
Xiaofu had watched the live stream with her Chinese teacher. She knew Yuyu’s uncle was poor and would soon be unemployed.
Now, Yuyu’s dad needed the child’s help to earn money. Xiaofu thought Yuyu’s family must be very short on cash.
Xiaofu gritted her teeth. “Yuyu, believe me. I will save you.”
She needed to help Yuyu earn money.
Pacing at home, an idea struck Xiaofu. Her father’s company was looking for a spokesperson. She heard the annual fee could buy a whole truckload of Barbie family sets.
Holding her favorite toy bear, Xiaofu pushed open her father’s study door.
Unsurprisingly, her father, Blorth, was looking at profiles of child actor candidates for the spokesperson role on his computer.
“Dad, I want to recommend my good friend Yuyu as the spokesperson,” Xiaofu said bluntly.
An image of a round, pink, chubby face popped into Blorth’s mind. He responded calmly: “The child you specifically invited to your birthday party last time?”
“Yes, Dad.”
Blorth found his daughter’s sudden suggestion a bit strange,e but wasn’t angry.
“Sweetheart, choosing a product spokesperson requires many considerations. Daddy knows you really like your friend, but this is work. I can’t make a decision lightly.”
“But many other kids like Yuyu, too,” Xiaofu said confidently. “She has lots of fans.”
Blorth: “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Xiaofu nodded. “She’s a shining little star.”
Blorth smiled. “Sweetheart, I’m glad you’ve made a new friend. I’ve noted your suggestion. I’ll consider it when I’m less busy.”
In adult language, “consider” often meant “no.”
Knowing this, Xiaofu grew anxious. “Dad, Yuyu has helped me. She’s a kind and enthusiastic kid. Don’t you want to help a poor child in need?”
Not knowing the full story, Blorth asked, “Sweetheart, what are you trying to say?”
Xiaofu embellished the story, tearfully describing her friend’s situation as extremely difficult and dangerous.
Blorth’s handsome face turned serious. “I didn’t realize Yuyu’s family was facing such hardship.”
“Well…”
After a moment of contemplation, Blorth relented. “Sweetheart, Daddy is willing to give Yuyu an interview opportunity. If she’s suitable, the spokesperson role is hers.”
“It’s a deal.”
Xiaofu’s Chinese teacher was a huge fan of the singer Liu Qin and was very active on Weibo, well-versed in boosting popularity for idols. Following her teacher’s advice, Xiaofu gathered Yuyu’s fans and enlisted Grace and other friends to help boost Qi Youyu’s online presence and engagement.
Grace declared, “I announce that Yuyu’s candy is the most delicious in the world!”
“Look at what I used to do! I foolishly thought Yuyu had poor taste.”
“Averieka, please convey my apologies to her. If you’re willing… I’m willing to donate one month, no, two months of my allowance.”
The little Black girl spoke hesitantly, not daring to hope too much.
After all, among all her friends, Averieka had the biggest allowance. She didn’t need money.
“Okay.”
To Grace’s surprise, Xiaofu’s eyes lit up, and she reached out her hand decisively. “Oh, thank you so much.”