After nine lifetimes of reincarnation, the yandere villainous heroine descends.

"Brother Shen is such a big liar! Cha Cha hates you!"

Su Chacha snapped back to her senses, her voice trembling with tears, yet she stubbornly gritted her teeth.

After she finished speaking, she turned her head and glared at Tantai Chigu, only to run into the undisguised malice in the child's eyes, a faint, almost eerie smile playing on his lips.

A chill ran through Su Chacha, and without looking any longer, she abruptly turned away.

Her eyes were already red and swirling with tears. She almost staggered as she rushed out of the courtyard gate, afraid that if she hesitated even a step too long, she would lose that pitiful bit of pride.

But as soon as she stepped out of the door, a vendor carrying a bamboo basket suddenly stepped aside and blocked her way.

Wearing a gray cloth short jacket and a straw hat pulled low, he looked utterly ordinary, but his voice carried a deliberately lowered respect: "Miss, the master is looking for you."

"What do you want from me?"

Su Chacha sniffed hard, suppressing a sob in her throat, and said coldly.

With nowhere to vent his pent-up grievances and anger, this sudden summons was like adding fuel to the fire.

"I don't know about these things, but the master instructed that Miss must be invited back."

The vendor kept his head down, his tone devoid of any emotion.

"have no idea?"

Su Chacha suddenly raised her voice, and her pent-up emotions finally broke free.

"I don't know what you're doing here? I don't know what message you're bringing? Get out of my way!"

She raised her hand and shoved the vendor's arm away, her anger still lingering, and rushed forward without looking back.

Several rotten fruits rolled out of the bamboo basket and tumbled a long way on the bluestone road, just like her chaotic thoughts at that moment.

The vendor's face was expressionless as he bent down to pick up the rotten fruit from the ground and put it back into his bamboo basket, not caring at all that his fingertips touched the rotten sap of the fruit.

When he looked up, his gaze peeked through the half-open door, staring intently at the tall figure in the courtyard and the small bundle in his arms.

After a few breaths, he straightened up, picked up his bamboo basket, and silently disappeared into the shadows at the end of the alley.

"Father, why didn't you keep her? I want to eat her."

Inside the courtyard, Tantai Chigu was still thinking about what had just been said, her little face full of a natural longing.

Shen Shuchou's brow twitched upon hearing this. He reached out and pulled her from his arms, gently placing her at his feet: "First, you are not allowed to call me father anymore. Second, the only food you can eat here is what I make."

But the little girl seemed not to hear him, tilting her head back and glaring at him, her defiant look exactly like Su Chacha's earlier.

She pouted and mimicked him in a clear, crisp voice: "Daddy really is a big liar, I hate you!"

Looking at her pitiful expression, Shen Shuchou didn't know whether to be angry or amused. He could only sigh helplessly, turn around and walk towards the kitchen. He couldn't let this little darling go hungry.

In the blink of an eye, the sun sank into the western mountains, and the bright moon quietly hung in the eastern sky.

After dinner, Shen Shuchou sat by Tantai Chigu's bedside and patiently told her the story of the little fox.

He had only mentioned it casually last time, but the little girl remembered it all this time. As soon as she put down her chopsticks, she pestered him to tell him the rest of the story. Helpless, he had no choice but to tell him about the second incarnation of Fox Bai Bai.

When Shen Shuchou recounted how mischievous the fox spirit Bai Bai was in the story and how he punished her with a spanking, he intended to use the story to teach this little devil in front of him a lesson so that she would behave herself.

Unexpectedly, Tantai Chigu fell silent upon hearing this.

In the darkness, those eyes shone with an astonishing light, staring intently at the part of him covered by his clothes.

"Awooo—"

A low growl, mimicking that of a small animal, rang out, and tiny teeth tentatively bit down.

The bites weren't forceful; they were more like playful nibbling. She wasn't looking for pain; she just wanted to pull him out of his dream.

Shen Shuchou was startled and sat up straight instantly.

The way she called out "Father" was both soft and urgent, with a trembling sound at the end. Coupled with her demeanor of willingly accepting punishment, it almost made Shen Shuchou choke on his breath.

He stared at that white and tender little bottom, then looked at her little head buried in the pillow, with only a little bit of the top of her head showing, and felt the veins on his forehead throbbing even more.

Shen Shuchou: "..."

At this moment, Shen Shuchou completely fell into the abyss of self-doubt.

A thousand thoughts churned in my mind, yet I couldn't come up with an answer that would convince me.

Could it be that... that almost pathological, coercive bondage, when it reaches its end, will degenerate into such a humble, begging-for-love?

Seeing the bright, expectant look in the little girl's eyes, he silently got out of bed, walked out of the room step by step, and finally stopped in the courtyard.

The crape myrtle trees cast dappled shadows as he sat down in a rocking chair beneath them and let out a long sigh.

Half-closed eyelashes concealed the confusion in her eyes. A cool evening breeze, carrying the scent of flowers, brushed past her ears and scattered the stray hairs at her temples, but it could not dispel the heavy sense of helplessness that lingered in her heart.