Her heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife.
White Li had only ever seen that phrase in novels before, and she always thought the author was exaggerating. What knife twisting? What heartbreak? How could it hurt that much?
Now she believed it.
The vibration of her phone sounded like someone sawing a blunt blade back and forth across her heart. One stroke after another, unhurried, yet it hurt so badly she couldn’t breathe.
She definitely couldn’t answer—her voice would give her away. But if she didn’t pick up, knowing Lin Du’s personality, he might just come knocking at her door any minute.
‘What should I do… sob…’
White Li hugged her knees, burying her face in her arms, her tail sweeping back and forth across the floor. The phone kept vibrating, the screen light flickering on her face, as if urging her on.
She took a deep breath, reached out, then pulled back.
Reached out again, and pulled back again.
Reached out a third time—but this time she didn’t pull back. Her fingertip hovered an inch above the screen, just over the “Answer” button.
Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—
The vibration cut off abruptly. Lin Du had hung up himself.
The screen went dark, and the room fell silent in an instant. White Li stared at the missed call, a strange mix of emotions welling up inside her. Regret? Guilt? Something else? She didn’t know. All she knew was that she could finally breathe again.
Her phone buzzed again—a new message.
【Lin Du: You’re not coming to school today?】
White Li stared at the line of text, her finger hovering over the screen for a long moment before she replied:
【Um… sorry, something came up at home last night and I had to go back suddenly. I might need to take a day or two off.】
【Lin Du: Is everything okay? Want me to ask for leave for you?】
White Li bit her lip, her fingers tapping across the screen.
【It’s nothing serious, don’t worry. I’ll text the homeroom teacher later. Sorry about this.】
【Lin Du: No problem. I’ll head to school then.】
【Okay, bye.】
She covered her face, flipping her phone over and setting it face-down on the table.
Sunlight leaked through the gap in the curtains, falling on her bare wrist. Nothing was there—no bracelet, no disguise—just pale skin glowing in the morning light.
It was the skin of a monster, the skin of the Fox Clan, the skin of the true “White Li.”
‘No, I can’t just waste time like this.’
She pushed herself up from the floor, knees a little weak, stumbling slightly. “I need to search carefully. It might have fallen onto the floorboards or something.”
White Li got down, pressing her face to the floor to look under the bed. Dust, a pair of slippers left by the previous tenant, a bottle cap that had rolled in who knows when—no bracelet.
She stood up and ransacked every drawer, shook out every piece of clothing, even dumped the trash bin and rummaged through it. Still nothing.
“The bracelet really is gone.” White Li plopped down on the bed, the frame letting out a creaky groan. “In that case, there’s only one possibility…”
She stared at the half-open window, a thought flashing through her mind. Someone came last night and stole the bracelet.
But who?
Meanwhile…
In a back alley in A City’s old district, Mao Niang Xiaoyu carefully took the bracelet out of her pocket and held it up in the sunlight. The silver metal gleamed with a soft luster in the morning light, covered in fine scratches.
She turned it over and over in her hands, her heart beating faster and faster. Because of her good sales performance yesterday, her boss had given her the day off. She’d planned to sleep in at home, but after getting the bracelet, she was too restless to wait—she wanted to try it immediately to see if it really worked.
She took a deep breath and slipped the bracelet onto her wrist.
The moment the metal made contact, a strange sensation spread from her wrist through her whole body. It felt like something gently brushed over her, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She closed her eyes instinctively, a thought forming in her mind: Become an ordinary girl. No ears, no tail. Just plain and simple.
The enveloping sensation soon faded. Xiao Yu opened her eyes.
She reached back and felt—empty. Then she touched the top of her head. Her hair fell down smoothly, with no furry ears poking out.
Xiao Yu froze for a second, then crouched down to look at her reflection in a puddle on the roadside. Long black hair draped over her shoulders. She wore the same clothes, but she looked completely different. All the monster features were gone. Most importantly, her eyes—the slitted pupils of a cat—had become round human pupils, dark and shiny like two black glass beads.
“So this is… what a human looks like?”
She raised her hand, and the reflection in the water did the same. She tilted her head, and the reflection tilted its head. She grinned, and the reflection grinned back, the curve of its mouth matching hers exactly.
Suddenly, Xiao Yu’s nose stung, and her eyes grew hot. She quickly blinked back the moisture.
Right, the collar too. She looked down at the silver collar around her neck—the identity tag issued by the Bureau of Anomalies, engraved with her ID number and name. She touched it. Against this human face, it looked especially jarring.
After a moment’s thought, she buttoned her coat all the way to the top and turned up the collar. The collar was hidden, leaving only a sliver of silver edge visible—barely noticeable unless you looked closely.
She checked her reflection in the puddle again. Ordinary face, buttons done up to the collar—like a quiet, well-behaved girl.
“Alright!”
Xiao Yu took a deep breath and stepped out of the alley. The sunlight fell on her, warm and comforting. People came and went on the street. No one gave her a second glance. No one stared at her ears. No one whispered, “Is that a monster?”
She was just an ordinary girl, walking down an ordinary street, living an ordinary day.
This feeling was amazing.
She went to the vegetable market. The vendor auntie greeted her enthusiastically: “Young lady, the greens are fresh today! Want a bunch?”
Xiao Yu froze, looked left and right, and confirmed the auntie was talking to her. So she bought greens, bought tofu, and even bought a chicken. Grandma loved chicken soup; she had wanted to buy one for ages, but every time she went before, the vendor would stare at her ears, making her feel so uncomfortable. But not today.
The vendor just weighed it, said the price, gave her change, and added, “This chicken is best for soup. Simmer it on low heat for two hours.”
“Okay, thank you.”
Xiao Yu walked out of the market carrying her shopping basket, head down, wiping her eyes. When she looked up, she saw a man in a yellow vest riding an electric scooter toward her. A thermal box was strapped to the back, with “XX Delivery” written on it.
It was that man. The one who had pushed her down outside the cat café, called her a “monster,” and blamed her for him losing his job.
Xiao Yu’s heart clenched, and she instinctively stepped back. But the scooter just passed her by. The man didn’t even glance at her. He just twisted the throttle, hurrying to his next delivery, not even noticing the girl with a shopping basket standing by the roadside.
Xiao Yu stood there, watching the scooter disappear around the corner. It took a while for her to recover.
He didn’t recognize her.
“It’s like a dream.”
She looked down, tucked her hands into her sleeves, and clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. It hurt. So this was real.
She continued walking home, her steps much lighter than before.
…
At dusk, Xiao Yu returned to her place carrying bags of groceries. She fished out her keys and was about to open the door.
“Puff—”
A soft sound, and her ears suddenly popped out from the top of her head, tail sprouting from behind. She looked down at her wrist. The bracelet was still there, but it wasn’t as shiny as in the morning—it looked like it had burned out.
Xiao Yu froze, then quickly opened the door and went inside.
“So… there’s a time limit after all.”
She leaned against the door, took off the bracelet, and examined it from all angles. The silver surface seemed oxidized, covered in a layer of gray filmy stuff. She tried putting it on again, but there was no reaction.
Xiao Yu sighed and put the bracelet in her pocket. Oh well. Having one day was already wonderful.
She put the chicken soup on the stove, simmering it over low heat. Then she ladled out a bowl and carried it to Grandma’s room.
“Grandma, I made you some chicken soup. Have a taste.”
Grandma was sitting on the bed, leaning against an old pillow, a faded white blanket covering her legs. She took the bowl, took a sip, and squinted with satisfaction.
“Mmm, delicious. Xiao Yu, you seem really happy today?”
Xiao Yu was taken aback and touched her face. Was it that obvious?
“Did something good happen? Tell Grandma about it.”
Grandma took another sip of soup, her eyes fixed on Xiao Yu over the rim of the bowl.
“It’s… it’s nothing.” Xiao Yu looked down, twisting the hem of her clothes. “Business was good at the café yesterday, and the manager praised me.”
Grandma didn’t press further. She just set the bowl on the nightstand and patted the edge of the bed. “Come, sit down. Grandma will tell you a story.”
Xiao Yu obediently sat down, draping her tail over her lap. Grandma leaned back against the pillow, gazing at the sunset outside the window, and began slowly.
“A long, long time ago… the gods decided to choose a king for all the birds. They wanted to pick the most beautiful one to be the Bird King. So all the birds went to the river to wash and preen.
There was a little jackdaw who thought his own feathers were pitch-black and ugly. So he secretly gathered the shed feathers of peacocks, parrots, and pheasants, glued them all over his body, and decked himself out in dazzling colors. Then he flew to the gathering place and said, ‘Look how beautiful I am.'”
Grandma’s voice was soft and slow, like a gently flowing river.
“The gods took a liking to him at first sight and were about to declare him king. But then all the other birds recognized their own feathers and angrily swarmed him, pecking off every single borrowed feather. In the end… the little jackdaw was back to his plain black self. He fled in shame. All the disguise was futile.”
Grandma turned her head to look at Xiao Yu. “Xiao Yu, do you know what this story means?”
Xiao Yu didn’t answer, her head bowed, fingers twisting tighter.
Grandma smiled and continued. “That little jackdaw thought he wasn’t good-looking, so he wore other birds’ feathers. But those were someone else’s, not his own. His original form—that’s what no one could take away.”
Grandma reached out and gently touched Xiao Yu’s ear. “This afternoon, Grandma went for a walk.”
“!”
Xiao Yu’s heart lurched.
“Near the market, Grandma saw a girl with black hair.” Grandma’s voice remained calm. “She looked a lot like you. Dressed like you too. Walked like you, even.”
Xiao Yu opened her mouth, then closed it.
“But that girl walked with her shoulders hunched, her eyes always on the ground, like she was afraid of being seen.” Grandma let out a soft sigh. “Grandma watched for a while, wanted to say hello, but worried she might have the wrong person.”
Xiao Yu’s eyes reddened.
“Then that girl walked away, and Grandma stood there thinking for a long time. That child had the same face as you, but…” Grandma raised her hand and gently tapped Xiao Yu’s chest. “She wasn’t like you.”
Xiao Yu’s tears fell.
“Grandma doesn’t know what happened,” Grandma said even more softly, “and she doesn’t want to know. Grandma only knows that you don’t need to become someone else to be worth loving.”
“…Grandma.”
Xiao Yu threw herself into Grandma’s arms, crying like a child.
Grandma patted her back gently, over and over. “You’re fine just as you are. You don’t need to care about what others think.”
The chicken soup was still bubbling on the stove, wafting fragrance throughout the room. Xiao Yu buried her face in Grandma’s shoulder, crying for a while, before finally mumbling softly.
“Grandma, it was the bracelet’s effect… The bracelet belongs to someone else.”
“Mm.”
“I… I’ll return it tomorrow. No, tonight. And I need to apologize to the owner in person.”
“Good. Good child.”
Grandma didn’t ask whose it was, or how she got it. She just patted her back gently, like when she was little.
Good grandma
Grandma the goat