My wife is a witch princess.

Song Che shook his head and followed Xia Li, who was standing in the living room looking for food, but found that the table was gone.

"Xia Li, I moved the table to the balcony; it's not in the living room."

"Oh."

Xia Li walked to the balcony. There were several half-dead green plants on the ground. Her gaze fell on the small square table: two bowls of white porridge and a plate of golden scrambled eggs.

Her eyes lit up, and she pulled out a chair and sat down. Song Che sat down next to her as well. She suddenly turned around, quickly grabbed the plate of scrambled eggs in front of her, and held it up to him with her arms, saying, "I'm hungry."

The way the child was so possessive of their food startled Song Che. Who did they learn this from?

“I’m not hungry, you eat.” He turned his phone sideways, found the playback page for “A Chinese Odyssey,” and propped it against a book. “Watch it while you eat. I remember you got to the part where the Bull Demon King gets married…”

As the video was scrolled to the middle, Xia Li quieted down and watched the movie attentively. She forgot to eat while watching the movie, and it wasn't until the end of the story that she suddenly remembered and scooped up a spoonful of the now-cold porridge and put it in her mouth.

"The food...it's getting cold." She swallowed, picked up another piece of egg with her chopsticks, her eyes still fixed on the receding figure of Sun Wukong on the screen, and whispered, "That liar. He kept lying to people, and in the end, he even lied to himself. He broke his promise."

“Yes.” Song Che took a sip of porridge. “Sometimes, even you don’t understand what you’re thinking. If she could really see through someone’s heart at a glance, she probably wouldn’t have been willing to be deceived even knowing it… But then again, even if you had mind-reading abilities, it might not be useful. The premise is that the person’s heart only holds her.”

Song Che made a few comments and then turned off the movie.

Xia Li probably understood the story, but she didn't truly feel the emotional entanglements that belonged to humanity. Song Che felt a strange emptiness in his heart. Xia Li's emotions had always been like this; if you said she didn't feel anything, she would sulk; if you said she did, it was like being separated by a layer of glass, vague and confused. Even if she really had mind-reading abilities, she probably couldn't understand those complex and nuanced emotions.

He looked out the balcony window. He had originally planned to eat on the balcony, watch a movie, and look up to see the stars, but the stars refused to come out today. He treated Xia Li as a girl, but Xia Li still seemed to be that witch princess.

He took a sip of porridge, feeling depressed. After finishing his meal, he cleared the table, turned off the light, and went to bed.

……

The next day, Song Che curled up in bed for several minutes before struggling to pull out his phone. Song Che had always felt that not sleeping until he naturally woke up was an anti-human behavior.

The bed is so warm in winter, I don't want to get up at all.

I put on my coat and went to wash up.

Xia Li got up even earlier than him and was already sitting at the small table in the living room, staring blankly at a piece of draft paper with a calculation error.

After Song Che finished washing up, he bought breakfast as usual. The two of them sat facing each other and ate, then each occupied one side of the table.

Xia Li flipped through the few remaining magazines, occasionally scribbling and doing calculations on scrap paper. Song Che reviewed his high school studies from the beginning. The two of them would sit for an entire morning, playing blues when they got tired of studying. Xia Li would rest her head on the table, sometimes peeking over to see what Song Che was doing. Seeing the string of formulas, she would leave dejectedly and continue reading the magazine, or drawing some conceptual diagrams of magic circles, mimicking their movements with a practiced air.

On Thursday, the school held a test review session, but Song Che didn't go and continued studying at home. This routine continued until the weekend. Song Che felt like his brain was about to be emptied out, but Xia Li was still full of energy, getting up early to read magazines—the stack that Song Che had bought was almost finished by her.

Song Che slumped on the sofa, his mind blank, taking stock of the week's progress: he had picked up some theoretical knowledge, but things that required rote memorization were simply too much to learn in a week. He roughly estimated his scores: Chinese might be okay, math was a close call, science... he could probably give up on physics, and he'd be lucky to get even a passing grade in chemistry and biology.

Beep beep—

Song Che's phone vibrated, and he opened it to take a look.

[Bro, wanna go to the internet cafe to play games? Jiang Shuo's coming too.]

Song Che replied.

[Didn't we say there would be a short play performance today? Aren't you going to see it?]

[The little troupe has stopped performing. Sigh, they said the lead actor was poached. There's nothing we can do about it.]

[Oh, when are we playing games?]

[Are you coming tonight?]

[OK]

After replying to the message, Song Che lay back down and casually opened his shopping app to check the logistics. The telescope showed it was still en route. It wasn't until Friday, when he was thinking of checking the weekend weather to decide when to take Xia Li to the stargazing aquarium, that he suddenly realized a problem—even the stargazing aquarium required real-name reservations and entry via ID card.

Xia Li's identity is a ticking time bomb; it cannot be exposed.

But this girl takes the promise very seriously and will definitely remember to look at the stars.

Left with no other option, Song Che gritted his teeth and ordered an entry-level astronomical telescope at his own expense. He even crammed for the last minute, searching for user manuals for ages. The tracking information showed it wouldn't arrive until midnight, so he couldn't pick it up until the next morning before his exam.

Turning off his phone, Song Che observed Xia Li as usual. She had finished reading the last magazine and was now sitting upright with her brows furrowed, seemingly deep in thought. But Song Che had a feeling that she was completely bewildered.

"Song Che, ask me a question," Xia Li called out.

"What's wrong?"

"If aliens come to colonize Earth and stipulate that we only work five hours a day, and only get double pay for overtime..." She paused, her expression unusually serious, "then will we still be able to celebrate the New Year in peace?"

Song Che: "..."

Well, she actually believed another weird joke she'd picked up from some scrap of a magazine.

"Don't worry." Song Che rubbed his temples. "Even if aliens came, we'd have to figure out if they were edible first. I'll deep-fry them for you to try."

"Food?" Xia Li's eyes widened slightly.

"Well, theoretically, everything is edible." Song Che replied casually, then suddenly a thought struck him. Looking at her profile, he asked, "Xia Li, what do you want to do in the future?"

Xia Li turned her face and answered in a matter-of-fact tone:

"I want to be a scientist when I grow up!"

Song Che was stunned for a moment, then felt a mix of amusement and indescribable emotion.

Well, I was right after all, but very few people who aspired to be scientists as children actually succeed.

—Because ideals can't fill our stomachs, they all starve to death.

Chapter 44 Xia Li really can read minds!

Once Song Che got lazy, he completely lost the will to study. On the weekend morning, the whole building was quiet and sparsely populated, except for those poor high school seniors, who were probably all huddled in their blankets catching up on sleep.

dong dong dong-

A knock sounded on the door, neither too loud nor too soft.

Song Che put on his slippers and went to open the door. Behind the door, he could only hear the voice, but could not see the person.

"I'm below you, if you look down, you're going to step on me... my foot, my foot hurts so much."

Song Che looked down and saw a short little girl with a label on her head.

Gold Coin Thief

"Go to hell." Without thinking, Song Che instinctively kicked out lightly. By the time he reacted, the small figure had already rolled to the opposite wall and almost fell down the stairs.

The girl scrambled to her feet. Only then did Song Che get a good look at her: black hair with slightly curled ends, and rosy cheeks, making her look quite cute. But her clothes were tattered, as if they had been torn by sharp claws and teeth.

Indeed, appearances can be deceiving.

Song Che bent down, grabbed a small stool from the doorway, and raised his hand, ready to settle scores for the movie theater fire that night. This monster could even transform into human form; its power was probably considerable. He had to rid the people of this menace today.

"Brother! Have mercy!" The little girl hugged his leg tightly, her voice trembling with tears. "My sister did it, and she's already been punished! I'm not a monster, please don't hit me..."

She looks like an innocent girl possessed by a monster. Watch me avenge you!

"Brother, please let me finish..."

"Tell me! Why did you burn down the movie theater?" Song Che didn't hold back, grabbing her by the back of her neck and pulling her up in front of Bruce, who was lazily licking his fur. "If you don't want to get bitten, you'd better tell me the truth."

The little girl stammered, "Actually, I'm really a human. I only become a monster when I turn into a cat, but that's my sister. She's in a coma now and won't wake up for several months."

"Keep making things up. I'll take you to the police station to work as a sewing machine later." Song Che found an old rope and loosely wrapped it around her wrist a few times. "First, answer me, why did you want to arrest me? And why did you set a fire?"

The little girl lowered her head, her voice even softer: "Actually, the fire wasn't that big that day... it was all my sister's illusion. We just wanted to scare everyone else away so we could catch you. We didn't expect... that someone would actually rush in to save you. And we only know a little illusion magic, the kind we can only use once a month..."

She paused, not continuing, and carefully moved away from Bruce. "I... I'm actually afraid of dogs... Could you keep it away from me?"

"Bruce, go up there and spit on her."

"No, no, no! I didn't lie!" The little girl was almost in tears. "But I know you're a good person... I have something important to tell you. I have something I can't tell you, and I only realized today that you're the person I've been looking for."

"Stop talking nonsense. Haven't you noticed how illogical your logic is?" Song Che pulled out a gold coin. "You want this, right?"

The little girl nodded at first, then shook her head vigorously: "No!"

"You just nodded."

"I don't!"

Even if you try to fool Xia Li with those words, she won't believe you.

The little girl said earnestly, “I’ve come here to consecrate your gold coins… Although my sister is a monster, she never harms anyone. She can use illusion magic, and I… am a prophet. I once predicted that a boy with gold coins and a silver-haired girl would take me in. All I need to do is keep consecrating their gold coins.”

"That's so mysterious, then guess whether I'll take you in now or not?" Song Che handed over the gold coins with a hint of skepticism. "Let's see how you consecrated them first."

The little girl hesitated, "First, you have to promise that you won't hit me after I'm blessed."

"I won't hit you as long as you don't lose it."

After receiving the answer, the little girl hesitated, "Then I need to think about it."

"Alright, you think about it first. I'll test your predictive abilities." Song Che smiled. "Guess if I'll take you in now?"

"You will."

"I won't."

"My sister and I came from an orphanage, but now my sister and I share a body... As long as one of us is full, the two of us won't go hungry..." The little girl spoke intermittently, and she herself was not sure what she was saying. It sounded more like she was reciting a script than making a prophecy.

“Okay, you guessed right, I’ll take you in.” Song Che immediately thought of something: identity theft. Xia Li wanted to solve her identity problem, and the orphanage and the dropouts were the easiest explanations. However, Song Che wouldn’t easily believe others. He asked again, “Guess which pocket I have my gold coins in right now. If you guess right, I’ll completely trust you.”

“I…” The little girl’s eyes darted around.

"Can't guess, can you? You little brat."

The little girl lowered her head, tacitly agreeing. After a while, she spoke again, her voice even weaker: "Actually... I'm not a prophet. What I just said was information I already knew. I wanted to find you, bless the gold coins, and then tell you that my sister and I share a body, and that we ran away from the orphanage... That's all I know."

She looked up, her expression pitiful, and added, "I'm so hungry... could you give me a steamed bun first?"

“Orphanage…” Song Che paused.

"Yes." The little girl nodded. "I later found out that my sister was a cat... We've been separated for four or five years. My sister usually takes care of me; she's several years older than me."

"What's your name? What's your sister's name?"

"My name is Taoxiang, and my older sister's name is Taoyao."

"I understand. So, how have you been making a living these past few years? How have you been earning money?"

"If I take a little food from someone else... I turn into a cat when I sleep, and find a place to curl up..."

"steal?"

"Yes... I took it." Momoka emphasized, then lowered her voice guiltily, "I took it secretly."