Wednesday, October 1 — first day of the holiday

The alarm’s harsh shriek wakes me. I open my eyes — the same familiar ceiling. I glance at the clock: only seven. That’s my usual school wake-up time — who actually gets up at seven on the first day of a holiday?

I’m in that sour half-asleep rage, so I smack the noisy digital clock across the room, wriggle under the covers and try to grab a blissful extra sleep. But as soon as I close my eyes something feels off.

Very off.

Under the thin blanket there’s something else besides me — a little mound, like a big pillow. I reach out and pinch it. Something soft and warm. Definitely not inanimate.

Cold sweat breaks out. I bolt upright, pull the blanket off — and there’s little Qianxia in a pink-spotted white pajama set, curled up beside me with a wicked little grin on her face. She’s definitely not asleep…

Waking up to a little angel sleeping next to me chased all sleep out of me. My heart’s racing and my palms are sweaty.

A thousand questions flood my head.

When did she get in here?
Did I do anything morally bankrupt?
Where exactly did I pinch that soft thing?
Is Brother Zhu going to kill me?

Qianxia sits up and scoots her tiny bottom closer to me. In her soft, syrupy voice she coos, “Big sis, you’re finally awake~ I came to play with you. I saw you were still sleeping, so I waited here.”

“Wait for what — for me to get up?” I say. “Next time just wake me up.”

“I was waiting for the sister with breasts! Isn't it when the no-breast sister is asleep, the big-breast sister will appear, right?” she replies.

Well, she’s only ten, so her idea about the Avatar Bookmark is a bit… off. Still — she must have gotten up before seven. Early to rise, good habits.

I pat her smooth hair and try to act calm. “You come over all the time — did your dad say anything about it?”

“He’s happy if someone plays with me!” she answers cheerfully.

Brother Zhu is a riddle to me. If he was the one who put a camera in my room before, why would he now trust me enough to let his daughter spend the night here when the camera’s gone? They only moved in recently. Letting a teenage neighbor watch his little girl overnight is trusting a bit far. Lucky for them I’m a decent guy; someone else might’ve… well.

I rack my brain and still can’t make sense of it. The truth is, I don’t know much about Brother Zhu. All I know is his underlings call him “Young Master,” he’s covered in scary tattoos, and he’s probably tied to the underworld. He calls himself a businessman, but what kind of “business” he’s in — I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.

Personality-wise he’s oddly gentle — polite, always wearing a faint smile, a real gentleman in manners. Paired with his background, though, that’s terrifying. He’s the sort of guy who probably smiles while doing the dirty work.

I don’t get it, and there’s no point fretting. No matter what kind of man her father is, Qianxia’s an innocent kid — an angel who needs looking after.

“All right, Qianxia, you play by yourself for a while. I’ll go have breakfast and come back up,” I tell her.

“Okay!” she answers, then fishs a controller out from the TV stand and starts gaming like it’s nothing.

Downstairs the congee is on the table — Dad made breakfast and is glued to his laptop on the coffee table. Not a galgame though— he gave up on those. He’s working. My dad is a real workaholic; even holidays get brought home as unpaid overtime. He’s the type — no hobbies, maybe an afternoon at the village chess room with the older men, but he loses at cards and stops going. Work becomes life.

I limp downstairs on my crutch and he looks up. “Up early — going out today?”

“Probably not. The little neighbor came over to play.”

He frowns a bit and nods. “I’m heading back to my room, then.”

“No need for that, she won’t be leaving my room,” I say.

The Lu Le stabbing case — Sis Xi told Haitang, Rinka and the others all about it. Even though most of them only met Lu Le once, they’re angry. He’s out of danger, but still unconscious, and the cops can’t find the attacker, as always. For now the only way is to wait for him to wake up, since he holds most of the intel.

So nothing planned today. I’ll just stay home and spend the day with Qianxia. Even if it’s just playing games, being with a cute little girl like her makes anything fun.

I go back up and find Qianxia sitting on the lap of a big red-haired ape — and they’re laughing together.

“Pervert! How dare you sully my cute little angel!” I shout, raising my crutch like a sword and poking at Zhao Zhao’s skull. He just blocks my strike with one hand and holds it.

“Come on, Commander, you’re so weak,” he teases.

“I’m calling the cops!”

“We were just playing a game! Ss—ha—”

“Ss—ha—what is that? You pervert, you’re always drooling! Do you think the police will buy your nonsense? Qianxia, get off his lap, you’ll rot your butt if you sit there too long!”

“It won’t rot! I only came because Xiao Lei had to work today,” Zhao Zhao defended.

“Working this early?” I say, surprised. I thought Kamehameha opened at ten, and it’s not even eight yet.

“During holidays there are promos. Business gets crazy, the manager wants us there early to help,” he added.

About that Notebook permission feature — since I won’t give Zhao Zhao autonomous transform rights, I’ll try it on Old Yan first. Senior Li Jianlian needs it the most, but he still doesn’t know about the whole God of Bishoujo situation, so I’ll hold off.

I flip open the Notebook. Zhao Zhao reaches to block my pen. “Wait, Commander, can I use the Bookmark today?”

“Hm? You got somewhere to be?”

“Nothing really — I can stay here and keep Qianxia — and you company!”

This pervert wants to crash my day with Qianxia?

“No way!” I snatch the pen and write fast. Zhao Zhao turns into a sparkling, starry ball.

“Oooh!”

Qianxia claps and laughs like she just saw a great magic trick. The sparkles resolve into Xiao Lei. Immediately she squeals, “No! I don’t want to work today — I also want to play with Commander all day!”

This idiot still wants to ditch her shift. I grab her panties and clothes from the wardrobe, fling them at her face, and prod her waist with the crutch until she scurries into the bathroom.

“You’re so ticklish, stop poking me, Commander, you fickle lolicon! Baldy! Big-boobed alien!” she cries.

But I’m a guy now. “Okay, okay. Go change and go to work. Come back after your shift and we’ll play.”

Finally I get Xiao Lei out (through the window), and I wear the biggest grin as I turn back to Qianxia. Nothing can stop my private time with my little angel now.

“All right! What shall we play first?”

“Can big sis you go to sleep? I want the sister with breasts!” she says.

This kid is still obsessed with breasts.

With Dad at home, using the Avatar Bookmark would be risky, but since it’s a request from the little angel…

I’m about to pick up the pen and sign the Bookmark when the door slams open so hard the frame thuds into the wall with a bang and scares me half to death.

“Yo! Xiao Kai, I’m here to play!”