Xiuxiu and Berry, who had recklessly played with fire and cooked outdoors, were rewarded with a luxurious solitary confinement to reflect on their actions.
It was only the second day, and they had already endured so many waves of fright. A few more days like this would be unbearable, so Feng Ci began urging Berry to find a way back.
Berry reviewed the details of her crossing that day and concluded that the problem lay with the Scarletberry.
"Brother Feng, have you ever seen a white Scarletberry?"
"We don't have Scarletberries here."
On Berry’s first day here, Feng Ci had searched online for information about Scarletberries and the Magic World.
As expected, there was no fruit called Scarletberry on Earth, nor was there any so-called Magic World of Nange Town.
The child lay on the floor, propping her chin with both hands, frowning with worry. "The white Scarletberry brought me here, so I need to find a white Scarletberry to go back."
Feng Ci shuddered. Did that mean he’d have to take care of her for a whole month?
No way.
Feng Ci had a sudden flash of inspiration. "What about fruits that look similar?"
"I don’t know," Berry shook her head, "but we can try."
Feng Ci now had a plan. He was eager to send this little troublemaker away as soon as possible, so he hurried back to his bedroom to change clothes.
"Let’s go, I’ll take you to find some fruits."
Berry’s face lit up. "Are you taking me to the forest?"
Where would they find a forest in the city? He couldn’t be bothered to take her all the way to the Greater Khingan Mountains. Feng Ci succinctly replied, "To the supermarket."
Near the residential area was the largest fruit supermarket in City A, covering five hundred square meters on each floor and offering almost every fruit available on the market.
Even without looking, they could smell the fragrance of hundreds, if not thousands, of fruits.
Fresh, high-quality fruits were carefully packaged and displayed on shelves, looking like something a worker earning a monthly salary of three thousand couldn’t afford without even checking the prices.
Berry, who wasn’t even as tall as the shopping cart, clung to the edge, scanning the rows of fruits with wide-eyed admiration, her mouth watering as she swallowed repeatedly.
Feng Ci, acting as the hands-off supervisor, followed at a distance. "Well, have you found any fruits similar to the Scarletberry?"
Berry pointed. "Found it, I want that one."
Feng Ci raised an eyebrow. "Aren’t you looking for something similar to the white Scarletberry? Strawberries are red."
"Oh, right," Berry corrected herself. "That one."
Pear fruit.
Alright.
White peach, also fine.
Then came white pear.
"And that one," she added, placing a box of cream Fuji apples into the shopping cart.
"This one looks similar too."
"Besides the color, how is it similar?" Feng Ci didn’t even bother to expose her little scheme. "They’re worlds apart in size."
Berry put on a serious face. "The white Scarletberry has many relatives. They need to be reunited to make it easier to find."
Feng Ci sighed. "…At most two more types."
"Fine, fine."
When they finally checked out, Feng Ci’s wallet had shrunk considerably—a week’s worth of food money was gone.
He calmly consoled himself: Thankfully, he didn’t have a sister. Thankfully, he only had to take care of her for a month at most. It was fine—just a month of tightening his belt, and it would pass quickly.
"Alright, go wash the fruits."
"No Magic, wash them properly by hand."
Back home, under Feng Ci’s direction, Berry washed a large basin of Scarletberry relatives: pear fruit, white peaches, white pears, cream strawberries, cream apples, white loquats, and sweet melons, all included.
Berry held up a white peach. "Brother Feng, please have one."
Feng Ci looked up from his game, reaching out to take it. His indifferent gaze paused slightly, lingering on those small, tender hands for a while:
"Why are there so many scars on your hands?"
Berry glanced down briefly, her tone casual: "I scraped my skin picking wild fruits in the forest. The scars will fade as I grow up."
A little witch's blood is a precious medicinal ingredient, and every drop is carefully preserved without waste. She is the most clever and resourceful little witch.
Feng Ci had never paid much attention to Berry, so he hadn't spent much time observing her. Now that he had a moment to look, he realized there were issues everywhere.
The little shorty had thick calluses on her hands, and her cheeks were flushed with two patches of highland red. Up close, he could clearly see slightly peeling dry skin. Her face wasn't as smooth and delicate as the human children he had seen, but the excellence of her features overshadowed those flaws, which was why he hadn't noticed before.
For a moment, Feng Ci felt as if he had picked up a poor, suffering child from a remote mountain area.
His 40% dead conscience suddenly stirred in its deathbed and gave him a hard kick.
"You can use magic to wash fruits from now on… Actually, forget it. Don't wash them at all. You can't wash them clean anyway."
"I wash them very clean!" Berry immediately retorted loudly, holding up the peach's bottom for him to see. "Look, even the butt hole is scrubbed white."
Feng Ci: "That's not the point."
"Then what is?"
"It's that you don't have to wash fruits with your hands anymore." Feng Ci forced himself to maintain a stern expression. "Do you understand?"
Berry: "Oh, I understand."
Her ten toes, exposed by her flip-flops, dug into the ground as she muttered worriedly: "But my Magic Power is almost used up. I've never washed anything with my feet before. I don't know if I can learn."
Feng Ci: "??"
Berry cheered herself on: "It's okay. The great little witch will try her best. A little witch's toes are the smartest and most capable."
"…" Feng Ci stuffed the white peach into her chattering mouth. "Eat and stop talking."
In Feng Ci's eyes, Berry transformed from a magical little mushroom into a pitiful little cabbage.
Amidst his shopping cart filled with nothing but gaming consoles, children's body wash, baby cream, hand cream, and a children's stool abruptly made their appearance.
His living expenses were cut in half again. Feng Ci felt deeply puzzled and indignant about the pricing of children's products. Such a tiny little thing actually used items twice as expensive as his.
Two hundred for a bottle of body wash, three hundred for a box of baby cream—the reputation of a gold-devouring beast was well-deserved.
But for now, these were secondary. Feng Ci cast a meaningful glance at Berry.
"Change your clothes. We're going out."
Berry trotted over on her short legs: "Are we going to look for Scarletberry relatives again?"
"Yes." Feng Ci smiled, clasping his hands behind his back. "Aren't you happy?"
"Happy, but my tummy is already too full." Berry let out a strawberry-scented burp. "This little tummy is so troublesome."
Little?
Feng Ci glanced at her Doraemon-like belly, which had already stored a box of strawberries and a white pear, and said nothing.
He had long guessed that relying on eating to send this little troublemaker home was futile.
"Troublesome is exactly right. Now I'm taking you to the hospital for a checkup."
The little witch from another world didn't understand modern vocabulary and had no idea what "hospital" or "checkup" meant. Naively thinking Feng Ci was taking her out to pet dogs, she was as happy as a little puppy herself.
Feng Ci had scheduled the afternoon physical exam well in advance. Initially, it was to check if Berry carried any viruses harmful to modern people, but now he was more concerned about the child's overall health.
In the Magic World, Berry had never had enough to eat or wear, leaving her as thin as a bean sprout. If she had any health issues, he wanted to treat them now, so she wouldn’t have to worry about affording medical care when she returned.
Afraid she might fly around the hospital on her broomstick, Feng Ci confiscated her Xiuxiu.
Left alone in the empty room, Xiuxiu watched the two leave: Why is it always the stick that suffers? T_T…
At a high-end private hospital in the city center.
"What a rare guest. It’s not often you visit me here." The door to the examination room was pushed open by a young man in a white coat. The doctor, who was very familiar with Feng Ci, teased him for a moment before suddenly noticing the little girl hiding behind him.
The young doctor exclaimed in surprise, "You brought a child?"
Feng Ci avoided the question: "She’s my sister."
"I can tell. It’s hard for two faces to look so alike unless they’re from the same family."
"Not by blood."
The young doctor rolled his eyes: "Everyone knows you’re an only child."
As soon as he said it, both fell silent for a moment.
Embarrassed, the young doctor sat down, cleared his throat, and got to the point: "Who’s here for the checkup?"
"This one." Feng Ci pulled the child out from under the table. "Give her a full physical exam."
Berry kicked her short legs: "Put me down."
"I can put you down, but only if you promise not to use your Magic Power recklessly."
Since entering the hospital, Berry had been restless, muttering about dark Witches being everywhere and the scent of dark Magic filling the air.
Feng Ci guessed it was because of the disinfectant.
Berry had tried to run off several times, keeping Feng Ci on high alert. Whenever he saw the child seemingly Chanting Spells or performing Magic, he immediately covered her mouth to interrupt the casting.
This infuriated the unlucky child, who headbutted his stomach with all her might.
"You’ve deceived the kindest little witch in the world, and the consequences will be severe." Berry puffed out her cheeks. "You must choose a punishment."
"Alright, then punish me by having no seasoning packets in my instant noodles."
No seasoning packets…
To a little witch, that was like trying to brew a potion without any ingredients. Oh, what a terrifying punishment indeed.
Leaning on Feng Ci’s knee, Berry grinned mischievously, as if her prank had succeeded: "You’re doomed."