"When on earth have I ever been without hair?"
And starting off by calling him an uncle—little girl, where are your manners?
Chen Hao looked at Xu Yan with an intensely aggrieved expression. "Did you teach her that?"
He had every reason to suspect that Xu Yan had somehow filled this "cousin's" head with weird ideas.
For instance, the idea that Chen Hao was a strange, bald uncle.
Xu Yan wore a look of utter astonishment as he gazed at the thick, lush hair on top of Chen Hao's head.
Only he knew how much gold Tongtong's words actually carried.
Middle-aged baldness? A bald head?
Tsk... Haozi really was a powerhouse.
"A cousin?"
Li Youyou looked over at Xu Miaotong with a trace of curiosity.
She looked like a doll kissed by an angel—every inch of her was adorable, instantly stirring an urge to scoop her up into one's arms.
"Yeah."
"Doesn't really look like it."
Li Youyou shook her head.
Xu Yan froze for a moment, meeting her gaze, which carried a faint hint of scrutiny.
This was his first time bringing Tongtong out to meet friends.
Besides, Tongtong's reactions made it clear that in the future, he, Chen Hao, and Li Youyou would remain close friends.
Because of that, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
He was afraid that the observant Li Youyou might notice something amiss.
"What's wrong?"
"This has got to be your biological sister."
Li Youyou said with absolute certainty.
Xu Miaotong had inherited all the best traits of both Xu Yan and Wen Ning, yet her face clearly bore the distinct shadows of both of them.
Xu Yan let out a sigh of relief and openly admitted, "True, but she's not my biological sister, either."
He squatted down and wrapped his arms around Tongtong. "She's my daughter."
"Of course Tongtong looks like Daddy!"
Xu Miaotong happily wrapped her arms around Xu Yan's neck.
"......"
Li Youyou's expression went completely blank.
Oh, get lost.
"Alright, hurry up and let's go eat."
Chen Hao rolled his eyes. "What kind of nonsense are you teaching a kid all day long? Won't her real dad beat you up?"
He simply assumed the brother and sister were teaming up to mess with them for a laugh.
Xu Yan looked completely serious. "She really is my daughter. Don't you think we look alike?"
"That's enough out of you."
At this, even Li Youyou couldn't hold back anymore.
While it was true that being hugged by such an adorable, pretty little girl made people envious, bragging was one thing—were they really going to keep playing house with a kid endlessly?
"Believe what you want."
Xu Yan couldn't help laughing.
It was entirely expected that they wouldn't believe him.
People really were strange creatures.
If he had been evasive and secretive about Tongtong's identity, they probably would have suspected something.
Yet when Xu Yan came right out and stated it so openly, they refused to believe it.
The place Li Youyou had chosen was a newly opened shopping mall.
Since it had just been built, there were promotional events going on, making it extremely lively. Most of the people walking back and forth were students.
Tongtong held tightly onto her daddy's hand, her bright, curious eyes darting all around.
It had been a long time since the little girl had been out with her daddy, and she was skipping and hopping, practically glowing with happiness, her eyes curved into crescents.
"Daddy, I want that!"
Xu Miaotong pointed at a claw machine, her feet coming to a halt as she refused to move another step.
Xu Yan glanced over. Inside were tiny, fluffy white rabbit plushies, looking utterly adorable.
"After we eat, Daddy will bring you back to win one."
"Yay! Win two! One for Tongtong, and one for Mommy!"
Xu Yan vaguely remembered that Wen Ning's schoolbag also had a tiny rabbit doll hanging from it.
Whenever she walked, that little rabbit doll would sway back and forth.
Today on the bus at noon, she had occasionally and unconsciously reached out to pinch the toy rabbit's ears.
That exact habit was identical to Tongtong's.
It seemed even mother and daughter shared nearly the same tastes.
Walking ahead, Chen Hao turned back with a smile and asked, "Little girl, who is your mommy?"
"Mommy is just Mommy, Uncle Chen Hao asks such strange questions..."
Xu Miaotong's little milky voice was soft and sweet.
Having been called "uncle" for the second time by an eight-year-old girl, Chen Hao stiffened. "Call me big brother. Big brother will win a doll for you later."
"No."
Xu Miaotong was having none of it.
"Little sister, don't pay any attention to him."
Li Youyou couldn't help reaching out to pinch her soft cheek. "This uncle is no good. Make sure you stay far away from him in the future."
"Right, right, I'm no good."
Chen Hao shoved his hands into his pockets and drawled, "Wonder who it was that got bullied in elementary school and came running over in tears, tugging at my sleeve and calling me Big Brother Chen Hao?"
"That was ages ago!"
Li Youyou panicked. "I was young and didn't know any better!"
Back in elementary school, she had been dark-skinned, short, and rather introverted.
On top of that, she'd had a severe case of rhinitis and constantly had a runny nose, making her look like a very messy little kid.
Because of this, the boys and girls in her class were always picking on her and calling her snot-slug.
No one wanted to play with her, except for Chen Hao, who always dragged her around with him.
Back then, she really had been the little girl trailing along behind this guy, calling him Big Brother Chen Hao.
But as she grew older, Li Youyou refused to own up to it.
Either way, whoever brought it up would instantly incur her wrath.
Her form of address had changed from Big Brother Chen Hao to you damn jerk.
"Little ungrateful wolf."
Chen Hao's tone was icy. "When you wiped your snot all over my sleeve, did I ever complain to you even once?"
"Shut up!"
Furious, Li Youyou whipped out a red hundred-yuan bill and slapped it into his palm. "Go buy some mouthwash and wash your mouth out."
"Fine."
Chen Hao nearly laughed out of anger. He reached behind her, grabbed the brim of her cap, and jammed the hundred-yuan bill right inside it. "Next time you get bullied, don't come looking for me."
Li Youyou was yanked sideways, stumbling a step.
She pressed her lips together and let out a disgruntled, chilly scoff.
Xu Miaotong looked back and forth between them, then carefully whispered into her father's ear, "Daddy, do Uncle and Auntie still fight every single day?"
"They're like cats and dogs."
Xu Yan shook his head. "Wait, what did Tongtong say?"
"Uncle and Auntie used to fight every single day."
Xu Miaotong blinked her innocent eyes. "Sometimes they'd even start hitting each other and make Daddy play judge."
Xu Yan felt like something wasn't quite right.
Fighting every single day?
Were these two still glued to each other even after graduating from university?
When they were all finally seated inside a barbecue restaurant, Xu Miaotong asked in a sweet voice, "Auntie, why didn't Minmin come today?"
Li Youyou looked puzzled. "Who is Minmin?"
Xu Miaotong blinked in surprise. "Uncle Chen Hao and Auntie Youyou's daughter, of course."
She was also her best friend.
Chen Hao was in the middle of drinking water and nearly choked to death on the spot.
Li Youyou was startled as well, instantly flying into a flustered rage as she grabbed Xu Yan's face. "What on earth do you usually teach this kid?!"
Xu Yan spread his hands. "I really didn't teach her that."
"Don't disgust me."
Li Youyou imagined the scene and subconsciously shuddered. "If I had to look at his face every morning, I'd throw up."
"Aren't you just full of yourself?"
Chen Hao shot her a sideways glance. "Plenty of girls chase after me. You think I care about your opinion?"
"Oh, well you better watch out then."
Li Youyou nodded. "After all, since you're old and ugly, they're probably just lacking fatherly love."
"......"
Chen Hao wanted to retort, but seeing the little girl sitting opposite them, he swallowed all his curses back down.
He gave a thumbs-up, reigning in his temper. "Brilliant."
Even through dinner, the two of them still hadn't made up, eating their food with frozen expressions.
Xu Yan was used to this routine between the two of them and couldn't be bothered to intervene, calmly picking out the food Tongtong liked and giving it to her.
The little girl's lips were stained with oil, making them look pink, glossy, and utterly adorable.
After they finished eating, Xu Yan kept his promise and took Tongtong to the claw machine to win a rabbit doll.
It wasn't until eight o'clock in the evening that he finally walked out of the mall holding his daughter's hand.
Tongtong was clutching two fluffy rabbit plushies to her chest.
Her eyes beamed with joy, and she couldn't help rubbing her soft cheek against the rabbit's face. "You're so cute!"
Afterward, the father and daughter parted ways with the others, walking home hand in hand.
"Tongtong, is what you said true?"
Xu Yan asked as he walked, gently stroking Tongtong's head. "Uncle Chen Hao and Auntie Li Youyou... have a daughter named Minmin?"
"Huh?"
Tongtong's mind was still entirely on her rabbit dolls. Tugging on a rabbit ear, she replied brightly, "Yeah, Minmin is my best friend."
"I see."
Tongtong knew about many things that hadn't happened yet.
At the same time, however, a sense of worry crept into Xu Yan's mind.
Would those futures change because of Tongtong's appearance?
Like him and Wen Ning meeting earlier because of Tongtong, or Chen Hao and Li Youyou finding out ahead of time that their future daughter would be named Minmin...
There was a concept known as the butterfly effect.
Yet, upon second thought, time travel itself was already such an absurd thing to begin with—why bother stressing over all the rest?
Other people got systems and golden fingers when they time-traveled; a loser of a time-traveler like Tongtong would probably get kicked out of the chat group if she were in any other story.
The February air was biting cold, and Xu Yan couldn't help pulling his jacket tighter around himself.
"Tongtong, time to go home."
"Okay, Daddy carry me!"
"Alright."
The next morning.
At eight-thirty sharp, Wen Ning arrived at the doorstep of Xu Yan's apartment.
Since it was the weekend, she wasn't wearing her school uniform. On top she wore a simple beige knit sweater, and on the bottom a pair of blue jeans, making her legs look long and straight—the picture of youthful vibrancy.
She had the typical look of someone from the Jiangnan region: pleasing to the eye and fresh no matter how you looked at it.
She wasn't even smiling, yet the corners of her eyes curved upward with a captivating and incomparably pretty arc.
When Xu Yan opened the door, his gaze paused on her face for a split second.
He scratched his slightly messy hair. "You're early. Tongtong isn't awake yet, come on in."
With that, he turned and strolled unceremoniously into the living room.
Wen Ning always felt this guy was just a bit too laid-back.
He hadn't seemed particularly nervous when she came to his place yesterday, either.
After changing into slippers and stepping into the living room, she saw Xu Yan pouring a glass of water in the kitchen.
On the coffee table sat two white rabbit dolls—fluffy, with short little tails, leaning against each other in a goofy, oversized and undersized pair.
Wen Ning's gaze was instantly hooked.
She stared for a long while before finally holding back the urge to scoop them up and play with them.
With a hard swallow, she slowly dragged her gaze away.
Only to find herself locking eyes with Xu Yan as he walked out of the kitchen holding his glass of water.
"Did you buy these for Tongtong?"
"What did you say?"
Xu Yan let out a yawn, only then registering what she had asked.
He casually picked up one of the rabbit dolls and handed it straight to Wen Ning.
"For you."
Looking sleepy and nonchalant, Xu Yan added, "Tongtong said you liked rabbits too and kept nagging me to win one for you."
"F... for me?"
Wen Ning stood there in a daze, holding the rabbit, looking slightly at a loss.
Rejecting it didn't feel right, but accepting it didn't either, leaving her with no choice but to grip the rabbit tightly in her hands.
The truth was, the moment she laid eyes on the rabbit doll, she had fallen in love with it.
"I'll go wake her up, have a seat."
Without paying much attention to her expression, Xu Yan walked straight toward the bedroom. "Tongtong, time to wake up, Mommy's here."
"Hmph... stupid Daddy!"
From the bedroom came Xu Miaotong's groggy yet deeply disgruntled voice.
Her tone carried a hint of pouting defiance, the tail end of her words lifting slightly.
Clearly, she was taking out her morning crankiness on her father.
Only then did Wen Ning lower her head to look at the rabbit doll in her hands.
The little rabbit looked a little silly, round and soft.
It really was cute...
So cute that even Wen Ning couldn't help cradling the rabbit doll in her hands and secretly rubbing her cheek against it.
A soft, gentle warmth filled her eyes—an expression of joy almost identical to Tongtong's. "You're so cute..."
It had been a very, very long time since anyone had given her a little rabbit doll.
The little rabbit plushie hanging from her schoolbag was something her mother had bought her from a street vendor when she was in preschool, personally hanging it on her bag herself.
It cost five yuan, but it was Wen Ning's favorite and most precious possession growing up.
She had changed many schoolbags over the years, but that little rabbit doll had remained hanging from her bag for a very long time.
So long that nearly a decade had passed, yet every time Wen Ning pinched the rabbit's ears, she could still picture her mother's face.
She loved rabbits. She loved them dearly.