Sodlan sighed.
After talking this much, his mood was better than before.
At least everything was out in the open, right?
“Son, I still want to ask you one thing—what exactly happened to make you like this?”
“Uh… that’s a long story.”
When this topic came up, Zhu Qiu’s first instinct was to avoid it.
“It’s fine. Tell me. If it’s too hard for you, you don’t have to. Your father won’t force you.”
Sodlan gave Zhu Qiu room to choose, valuing her opinion even more than before.
“Do you remember a long time ago, when I came back from dragon slaying?”
“Of course I do. You said you weren’t sure if that dragon died, right?”
“Right. Then I suddenly left. Actually, from that moment on, I had already become like this. I suspected all along that the dragon wasn’t dead, that she was the one who turned me into this. To keep you from worrying, I snuck away alone, hoping to find her and find a way to change back.”
“So you haven’t found her all this time?”
“No. Originally, there was still a way to change back, but after that one incident, I completely lost the chance.”
Zhu Qiu didn’t want to elaborate on which incident—mainly because she had been foolish back then, and Zhu Xiaxia had tricked her, leading her to fall into the trap.
“Is there really no way to change back?” Sodlan questioned.
“Really, there’s no way at all. I tried before, but they all ended in failure.”
Zhu Qiu hung her head in shame.
She was helpless and couldn’t give her father an answer.
“You said you’ve been like this for a long time. Then why did I still see you as your original self before?”
“That’s because I had a small prop that could alter people’s perception, making you think I looked that way. But in reality, I wasn’t. That’s why I kept avoiding you—I was afraid of being found out.”
Hearing this explanation, Sodlan was silent for a long time before making a request:
“Son, can you let your father see what you used to look like one more time? I’m afraid I’ll forget when I’m old.”
“Okay.”
Without hesitation, Zhu Qiu put on the necklace without any extra movements.
In the blink of an eye, in Sodlan’s eyes, the little dragon girl vanished, replaced by his familiar, dear son, Soran.
He stared for a long time before reluctantly signaling Zhu Qiu to take off the necklace, then turned and walked into the room.
Zhu Qiu was alone in the living room, feeling very upset.
‘Sigh, I don’t know if Dad has accepted it. If not… maybe I should leave. Let him think I’m dead, that he never had a son like me.’
“No, no!”
Zhu Qiu quickly dismissed this unrealistic thought.
She couldn’t let emotions take over her mind.
She had to be rational.
How could she abandon her father just because he didn’t accept this?
In no time, Sodlan came out of the room, holding an exquisite red box.
“Father, what’s this?”
“Since you’ve become a girl and there’s no turning back, I have to accept it whether I like it or not. I can’t let this affect our lives from now on, can I?”
Perhaps because he realized the matter was settled and unchangeable, Sodlan suddenly became more open-minded.
“Then I guess that’s how it is.”
Since her father could accept it, Zhu Qiu was actually quite happy inside—at least it wouldn’t affect their years of father-child relationship.
“I have a gift for you.”
Sodlan opened the red box, revealing a thin gold bracelet inside.
“Father? What does this mean?”
Zhu Qiu didn’t understand.
“This was originally prepared for my daughter, but unfortunately, your father here wasn’t blessed. In the end, I only had two sons and no daughters, so I’ve kept it all this time.”
Sodlan picked up the gold bracelet.
“I thought this thing would sit here forever, but then heaven gave me a surprise—a huge surprise. And now, it belongs to you.”
With that, Sodlan grabbed Zhu Qiu’s left hand to put it on.
But then he remembered she already had a silver bracelet on that hand, so he had to put it on the right.
Zhu Qiu looked at her hands—one bracelet on each—and her mind short-circuited.
“This?”
“Father, this is too precious. I can’t take it.”
She tried to take off the gold bracelet and return it, but Sodlan refused.
“Hey, this is our family’s blessing for you. You have to wear it. Don’t take it off, or your father will be sad.”
“Then… okay.”
How could Zhu Qiu refuse that?
Sodlan then went back into the room and brought out a small box of gold coins, placing it on the table.
“Daughter, this is the savings your father has accumulated over the years. Take it whenever you need. After all, judging by your appearance now, you’re probably only 10 years old. I understand these things. A girl needs to be raised in luxury. Since heaven has given me a chance to start over, I think I should take it seriously and not just go through the motions.”
“Huh???”
Zhu Qiu thought, ‘Wait, Dad’s acceptance is a bit too much, isn’t it? Should I explain?’
But looking at the box of gold coins, Zhu Qiu’s eyes sparkled.
However, her father said it was his life savings, so she couldn’t take it.
“No need, Father.”
Zhu Qiu closed the box.
“Just treat me the same way you always did. I don’t need any gold coins.”
“How can that be? I’ve never given you much money over the years. Let me make up for it now.”
A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of Sodlan’s mouth.
The reason for this was that he also understood: now his son had become his daughter.
A son without money would only be looked down upon by others, but a daughter without money might become the target of someone with ill intentions—some slick-haired punk might lure her away with a single lollipop.
“Really, no need.”
Zhu Qiu found it strange.
‘Why is Father even more enthusiastic after I confessed? I didn’t see this coming earlier.’
“No, you have to take it. Otherwise, your father won’t rest easy.”
Sodlan pushed the box of gold coins in front of Zhu Qiu again.
Faced with such an enthusiastic father, Zhu Qiu couldn’t think of any way to refuse.
So she simply pulled out the gold coins Zhu Xiaxia had given her to show him.
“Really, I don’t need it. I have money. And these are platinum coins—one rank higher than gold coins. One of these can be exchanged for a hundred gold coins. I’m not short on money.”
Zhu Qiu was speaking nonsense with a straight face.
“Platinum coins?”
Sodlan was puzzled.
There was actually a currency one rank higher than gold coins in the world, and he didn’t know about it?
He felt foolish in front of his daughter.
It turned out Soran was richer than him now.
What a shame—it was his own lack of ability as a father.
But then again, these platinum coins couldn’t have come out of thin air, could they?
He hadn’t seen her doing any moneymaking projects.
“Daughter, where did you get these platinum coins?”
“Of course, they were a gift from someone.”