When Niannian woke up groggily, the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was her old father's worried face.
Because Niannian had been in a coma, Yu Shanhe hadn't closed his eyes all day.
Finally seeing his daughter open her big, bright and watery eyes, Yu Shanhe was overjoyed.
"How do you feel, Niannian? Is there anywhere in your body that feels uncomfortable?"
Her father's concern left the little girl momentarily dazed.
During her coma, she had an extremely chaotic and long dream.
The content of the dream was strange and heart - wrenching.
After opening her eyes, she suddenly felt as if she had been separated from the world for a long time.
But when she saw her father, that feeling instantly dissipated.
A sense of steadiness and peace filled her heart.
The important pictures she had forgotten in the dream seemed so insignificant at this moment.
"I'm okay, Dad!~"
Niannian's eyes curved into crescent moons. With a bright smile, she stretched out her chubby little hands from under the quilt and opened them, asking for a hug.
She wasn't usually a clingy child.
On normal days, although she was mostly being carried, it was the adults who were vying to hold Niannian in their arms.
The little girl rarely took the initiative to ask for a hug like this.
Seeing his soft little daughter acting coquettishly like this, the old father's fatigue from staying up for a day and a night instantly vanished.
It was all worth it at this moment!
Hug her!
He would hold his daughter for as long as she wanted!
Yu Shanhe gently picked up Niannian and slowly walked downstairs.
Mom had already prepared the sweet and glutinous pumpkin porridge, which had been kept warm on the stove, waiting for the little girl to wake up so she could eat it at any time.
Niannian picked up the small spoon and ate the porridge mouthful by mouthful. For some reason, her vision became blurred with tears.
"Is it not delicious? Why are you crying?"
Seeing his little daughter suddenly start to shed tears while eating, Yu Shanhe asked nervously in a soft voice.
Niannian buried her head in the bowl, hiding her eyes that couldn't stop the tears from falling, and shook her head repeatedly.
"No, I'm just too hungry."
"Then eat more. There's still some in the pot. Mom made a lot for you."
Yu Shanhe patted his daughter's little head. Suddenly, he had a feeling that his child seemed to have grown up overnight and suddenly had her own little secrets.
Since the little girl didn't want to say, he didn't want to force her. He just went along with the child's words and tried his best to give his daughter the sense of security from an old father.
"Dad, where's Third Senior Brother?"
Niannian sniffed. After pinching the spoon tightly and finishing all the remaining porridge in the bowl, she asked.
"Ah, he's in the guest room. He said he'd wait for you to wake up and hasn't left."
Yu Shanhe slapped his head. If Niannian hadn't asked, he would have almost completely forgotten about this important guest.
"I'll go find Third Senior Brother first!~ Mom's porridge is delicious. I want to eat it again tonight!~"
Niannian put down the spoon, jumped off the stool, and walked quickly towards the guest room. When she was about to turn the corner, she turned back and said with a big smile.
Seeing his little daughter, who had regained her vitality and become very lively, Yu Shanhe felt both helpless and relieved. He smiled gently as a response.
After getting the response, the little girl continued to rush towards the guest room.
Bang, bang, bang.
She suddenly knocked on the door of the guest room a few times. When the familiar face came into view, the smile on the little girl's face immediately faded.
She directly threw herself into the person's arms. Her tears fell like broken beads.
Shen Weixun felt the little one in his arms shaking from crying. He quickly closed the door and carried Niannian to the bed and laid her down.
When he really saw what Niannian looked like at this moment, he couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Pfft... Hahaha..."
It was really...
Ugly - cute.
Niannian was crying with snot and tears all over her face. Her whole face was like that of a little cat. Because she was crying so hard, her delicate facial features were all scrunched up.
When she took a breath and sniffled, there were even bubbles coming out of her nose.
It was really a bit silly.
Being mercilessly laughed at by her third senior brother, Niannian instantly forgot all her troubles.
She wiped her face messily with her chubby hands, stared at him with her red - rimmed eyes, and said angrily, "Third Senior Brother is bad! Stop laughing!~"
"Okay, okay, okay. Third Senior Brother is a big bad guy. Third Senior Brother won't laugh anymore."
Seeing that Niannian was about to fly into a rage from embarrassment, Shen Weixun held back and finally stopped laughing.
He squatted down, leveled his eyes with the little girl, and carefully wiped the remaining moisture on her face with a handkerchief. He asked, "What's wrong? What happened? Why are you crying like this?"
Hearing this, Niannian felt a little sad again.
Tears welled up in her eyes again. This time, it wasn't the loud wailing like before, but a silent kind of sorrow.
"I... I dreamed about Mom and Dad, and Big Brother and Second Brother. We lived in a small village. Mom and Dad were so kind to me. But suddenly one day, a group of bad guys broke into our house and killed Mom and Dad, and my brothers. Mom hid me in a well. I didn't dare to climb out for a long time."
"They're all dead. I was the only one left, wandering on the street. I don't know who killed them. These people were wearing black clothes with their faces covered. They only had a tattoo like a sun on their hands."
Hearing Niannian's description, Shen Weixun's hand that was wiping her tears paused. He lowered his eyelids, making it hard to see his emotions.
After a while, he said softly, "It was just a dream. Dreams are all fake. They're all alive and well now, aren't they?"
"No."
Niannian shook her head firmly.
Although those were all images that emerged after she fell asleep.
But she was sure that it wasn't a dream. It had really happened.
In other words, those images were her memories.
The sealed memories of her past life.
"At that time, the house I lived in with Mom and Dad wasn't the current one. There was no Master, no senior brothers, and no Taoist temple. I didn't get lost. They were really dead."
The little girl lowered her head, her voice muffled.
Just thinking about those pictures made her feel a tearing pain in her heart.
It was as if a piece of her soul had been torn away, leaving a void.
Surprisingly, Shen Weixun didn't respond to Niannian's words immediately.
He was silent, not knowing how to speak or how to comfort her.
"They're still your parents and your brothers in this life. The past is over. You've already avenged them. We're all still here in this life. It's a happy and fulfilling reincarnation."
Only the two of them could understand Shen Weixun's words.
He didn't try to persuade the little girl to regard the memories as a dream. Instead, he implicitly acknowledged Niannian's memories.
The air was stagnant for a moment.
When the childish voice rang out again, the emotion was no longer as calm as before.
"No, there's no past. They still won't let my family go. Xiaonan won't have a next life either."