Having found a demon, I've decided to raise her.

Chen Ming, lying on the other side, looked at her shy, curled-up figure and felt... increasingly wanting to tease her.

So cute.

The landlady lay between the two, looking slightly helpless, feeling a bit like a parent sleeping with a child...

Chapter 192 He is a Beacon of Light

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very important day for everyone.

An important tradition, embodying everyone's longing. People typically return home at this time to reunite with their families. There are only a few exceptions.

Either they were working too far away and too busy, or something unexpected happened.

It is rare for someone to be unable to return home.

Not to mention a girl like the landlady, who should be a pampered princess at home, but has been alone for several years.

She looked out the window at the scenery, her small body bearing so much on its own.

Until he came into her life, and then many more older sisters followed... there were still some complaints about that. But the house was definitely much more lively now.

He truly gave her a home, a place she could return to in times like these.

Instead of lying alone on the bed in the room, numb and blank, until the holiday ends.

Humans can adapt to loneliness.

At first, the landlady would cry and feel scared of living alone.

But later, she gradually stopped crying and making a fuss. Anyway, she was all alone, and no one would feel sorry for her or pat her head...

Jingle Bell……

The bell rang, and the class meeting was about to end. The teacher had already finished explaining the precautions for the holiday and knew that going overtime would be pointless, so everyone's attention was elsewhere.

"get out of class dismissed."

Goodbye, teacher.

After a simple farewell, there's an eight-day holiday, with the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day combined – it's fantastic!

Of course, I estimate I'll need to catch up on two weeks of classes when I get back...

The landlady picked up her small brown schoolbag and put all the necessary study materials inside. The teachers, wanting them to keep up with the others, had kindly prepared a little bit of homework.

"Xiaoying, Xiaoying!"

A dark-skinned girl skipped and hopped over, her dark feet clad in white sandals. Her bare legs, without socks, created a striking contrast, but it looked quite nice.

The landlady glanced at her, then continued tidying up, saying—

"What's wrong? Spit it out."

"...Xiaoying, are you getting colder and colder towards me?"

Zhou Siqi puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms, and said—

"You don't love me anymore."

"If you don't love someone anymore, love will disappear... or rather, it was never meant to be?"

The landlady tilted her head seriously.

The dark-skinned girl punched her head with her pink fist and cried out—

"Damn it, Xiaoying is such a fickle woman! She's a bad thing!"

"Alright, alright, what's up?"

The landlady smiled slightly and raised her hand to block her attack.

The dark-skinned girl puffed out her cheeks and said—

"Xiaoying, would you like to come to my house for Mid-Autumn Festival this year?"

"Hey?"

The landlady was somewhat surprised, not expecting her friend to make such a suggestion.

Zhou Siqi scratched her head and said—

"I was thinking, since Xiaoying lives alone, why doesn't she come with us? At least it would be more lively."

"..."

The landlady looked at her friend, gave her a genuine smile, and said—

"Thank you so much, but right now... I'm not alone."

"Hey?"

The dark-skinned girl blinked.

"Xiaoying, someone is looking for you."

One of the students said something, and both of them looked over.

At the entrance, a man in a white shirt and black pants stood there, his face looking somewhat indifferent, but with a very gentle smile.

He waved in this direction.

The landlady was somewhat surprised, waved to him, and murmured—

"Didn't you say you didn't need to pick me up?"

"Xiaoying...actually, I wanted to ask this when school started: is that your brother?"

The dark-skinned girl looked at the man outside. He seemed robust and young; surely he wasn't Qin Ying's uncle's generation? And...

"He seems kind of handsome..."

The dark-skinned girl smiled quietly at the landlady.

"..."

The landlady glanced at her and said—

"anthomaniac."

"Oh? As the saying goes, a graceful gentleman is sought after by a virtuous lady."

"..."

Putting aside the issue of misrepresenting historical allusions, you're hardly a lady. The landlady rolled her eyes at her and said—

"Never mind, I'm leaving. Why don't you go and ask Yuqian to celebrate the holiday together? She probably won't be going home."

"She... took leave and ran away a long time ago."

The dark-skinned girl shook her head and said—

"I don't know what he went to do, he looked very serious."

"...I see."

The landlady nodded.

……

Chen Ming waited for the landlady in the hallway. He saw her carrying a schoolbag, wearing a uniform, and still sporting white stockings and small leather shoes.

Walk up to him.

She was wearing a very standard school uniform, with her hair in pigtails, looking both well-behaved and adorable. He couldn't help but smile and pat her head, saying—

"Can we go now?"

"...Didn't I tell you not to come pick me up?"

"Forehead……"

Chen Ming glanced around, then scratched his head and said—

"I see there are quite a few kids picking up their children, so you're not ashamed that I'm here, are you?"

He also took special care to tidy up his outfit, trying to make it clean and neat so that people would find it pleasing to the eye, unlike his usual somewhat sloppy appearance.

He didn't want others to come pick him up, but he didn't. He didn't want his landlady to have things that others didn't, and he didn't want her to feel disappointed.

"..."

The landlady felt safe and secure as he gently rubbed her head.

I've clearly gotten used to being alone, and living alone has become commonplace. It's not a big deal anymore; I've stopped crying.

She should just keep living strong. There are so many people in this world who are struggling, and she's not the only one who's unfortunate. She should keep living.

Originally, when I was planning to do this...

He appeared.

It's like telling her she doesn't need to be strong, and it's okay to act like a child and be spoiled. When she's a little confused, slowly approach her and gently envelop her with love.

...What?

That's really unnecessary.

I had already accepted my unfortunate situation and didn't want to complain or ask for anything more. I was already able to live on my own.

But why did you appear?

They softened her resolve, allowing her to become a pampered child again, and tried their best to make up for the happiness she had lost.

It's like someone painstakingly dons a whole suit of armor to protect themselves, only to later strip it all off and put on a princess dress instead...

She lowered her head and tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"It's all your fault..."

"Hmm? What is it now?"

Although Chen Ming knew that girls could sometimes be a bit strange, he still blinked innocently.

The landlady held him tightly and said—

"I'm finding myself increasingly dependent on you."