Lin Liuxia turned over, buried his face in the pillow, and rolled around irritably twice.
Damn it, he couldn’t think of a solution!
Just as he was fuming helplessly, the phone screen beside him lit up, displaying the time.
5:30.
It was already 5:30!
His daughter’s alarm was set for six.
There was still half an hour…
No, perhaps it wouldn’t even take that long.
That little girl would get up and wash up.
Then, as usual, she would come running over, kick open his door, and yell, “Dad, get up and make breakfast!”
No, he had to do something!
He paced barefoot back and forth across the room, his mind racing.
After thinking it over, Lin Liuxia picked up his phone again and opened his boss’s chat with trembling fingers.
Gritting his teeth, he quickly typed out a leave request.
[Mr. Li, I’m really sorry, but I’m not feeling well today. I have acute gastroenteritis and need to go to the hospital. I’d like to request one day of sick leave.]
Today, he was supposed to accompany his boss to meet an important client.
He had been working on that project for almost two months.
If they could close the deal today, the commission alone would be a considerable sum.
But given the current situation…
Sigh, money could always be earned again, but if his daughter discovered him in this state, that would be a genuine disaster.
He then opened his daughter’s chat and came up with another lie.
[Xingxing, something urgent came up at the company, so Dad needs to go in early.]
[Breakfast money is on the table. I won’t be taking you to school today. Be careful on your way there.]
Sent.
Only after doing all this did he finally breathe a small sigh of relief.
Now, he definitely had to find somewhere to hide.
Staying inside the house was out of the question.
The place was so small that no matter where he hid, he would be found.
His only option was to go outside.
Lin Liuxia walked over to the closet and opened it.
Inside hung the clothes he wore as “Lin Liuxia,” all cheap shirts and casual pants.
He casually pulled out a relatively clean outfit: a gray T-shirt and a pair of black sweatpants.
Then, enduring extreme discomfort and embarrassment, he began putting them on his “Liuli Xin” body.
There was no time to worry about comfort.
He took a 100-yuan bill from his wallet and placed it on the table, stuffed his phone and keys into his pocket, and headed for the front door.
Creak—bang!
He deliberately made plenty of noise when closing the door.
This would undoubtedly wake his daughter, but it would also prove that he really was in a hurry to leave.
The early morning corridor was empty, and a cool breeze drifted in through the window at the end of the hallway.
Lin Liuxia looked around before finally deciding to head upstairs.
Their home was on the sixth floor.
He climbed straight up to the entrance of the rooftop landing on the seventh floor.
Almost nobody ever came up here.
Finding a corner, he flattened a cardboard box that one of the neighborhood aunties usually left there, spread it on the ground, and sat down.
Now, all he had to do was wait for Lin Liuxing to leave for school!
Time passed minute by minute.
The sky gradually brightened, and the sounds of neighbors heading to work began echoing through the corridor.
Lin Liuxia hugged his knees, crouched in the corner, and strained his ears to listen to the sounds downstairs.
Finally, at 6:50, he heard the sound of his own front door opening.
It was his daughter!
He quietly poked his head out and peered down through the gap in the stairs.
Lin Liuxing was carrying her backpack and walking downstairs while yawning.
Success!
As soon as his daughter’s figure disappeared around the stairwell, he immediately slipped out, took the key from his pocket, and prepared to sneak back home.
But just as he inserted the key into the lock, he suddenly heard footsteps rushing upstairs from below.
Lin Liuxia: ?
What the hell? A counterattack?!
Panicking, Lin Liuxia hurriedly tried to pull the key out.
But that damn key seemed to have been welded into the lock.
No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t come out.
The sound of rapid footsteps grew closer.
It seemed the person had already reached the fifth floor.
Damn it, hand! Pull it out!
˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅
Meanwhile, at the other end of the corridor, Lin Liuxing came running back upstairs, panting.
She felt incredibly unlucky today.
First, she’d had a nightmare while sleeping.
Then her dad had suddenly slammed the door, waking her up.
And just now, when she’d almost reached the first floor, a question had inexplicably popped into her head.
‘Did I lock the door?’
‘I locked it.’
‘Did I really lock the door?’
‘Yeah, I locked it~’
‘But did I actually lock it or not?’
‘I locked it.’
The more she thought about it, the more agitated she became, leaving her with no choice but to go home and check.
She took out her key, inserted it into the lock, and turned it.
Mm, it was locked.
Ah, what a relief!
Lin Liuxing turned to leave, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a thin silver strand on the floor.
Curious, she crouched down and picked it up.
It was an exceptionally long silver hair, but nobody in her family had hair of that color.
Could it belong to Sister Lin from yesterday? She’d heard that some wigs shed terribly, so perhaps her dad had accidentally brought one home.
But… could a wig really feel this smooth?
Lin Liuxing frowned, took a tissue from her pocket, carefully wrapped the hair in it, and tucked it away.
Forget it. She’d think about it later. Getting to school was more important.
She turned around and ran back downstairs.
Only after the footsteps had completely faded away did Lin Liuxia emerge from the shadows around the stairwell.
Phew! Fortunately, he’d managed to pull the key out at the last moment. He’d nearly been caught red-handed by his daughter.
After confirming that there was no movement downstairs, Lin Liuxia finally dared to insert the key into the lock again.
He unlocked the door, slipped inside, and immediately locked it behind him.
He kicked off his shoes, sat down on the living room sofa, and took off the troublesome clothes he was wearing.
Finally free of the restrictive clothing, his body relaxed.
He casually grabbed the shark-shaped plush pillow beside him and placed it against his chest. His long legs unconsciously pressed together as his toes curled against the edge of the sofa.
Resting his chin on one hand, Lin Liuxia began thinking about what to do next.
What was he supposed to do?
There was no way he could solve this problem on his own. But if he asked someone else for help…
He absolutely couldn’t go to that little devil, Gong Yuedai. If he did, he would probably be devoured until not even his bones remained.
As for his other acquaintances, most of them had died during the Great Cataclysm ten years ago.
After thinking for a long time, a name he hadn’t thought about in ten years finally surfaced in his mind.
Xiaoxue.
As one of the Twin Stars who had been just as famous as him before the Great Cataclysm, Xiaoxue’s strength was beyond question.
If anyone could figure out what was wrong with his magic circuit, it might be her.
But… Lin Liuxia hesitated.
He was actually terrified of seeing Xiaoxue.
The reason was simple.
If he hadn’t become a Magical Girl, Lin Liuxia might never have discovered that some girls in this world could actually fall in love with other girls.
When she first joined the association, Xiaoxue had been a cold, aloof beauty like an iceberg. Because of her solitary personality and poor social skills, the other Magical Girls had rejected her.
To maintain team harmony, the association’s higher-ups had transferred her to work alongside Liuli Xin, who was known as the “Light of Healing.”
At the time, Lin Liuxia had embraced his duties as a savior and treated his new comrade with meticulous care and warmth.
Then things had developed in an irreversible direction.
Even the hardest ice could be melted by light, but who could have imagined that once the ice melted, it would turn into a spring that rushed straight toward him?!
Lin Liuxia: I raised a lesbian! 😨