My wife is a witch princess.

The sound bounced off the wall in the narrow corridor, sounding particularly lonely.

There was no response, only the sound of her own calm breathing.

Song Che said it was just a game, and that the Witch Princess was not afraid of war, let alone games. But she looked at her childish hands and wondered how she could push open the dark maze.

She discovered... she had something she was afraid of.

Xia Li leaned against the corner of the wall, like a wounded little animal; this was not how His Highness should behave.

"Song Che," she called again, her voice a little louder, "Where are you? I can't find you."

She stood up, leaning against the wall, her blue eyes searching around.

Her usually straight back had relaxed at some point, and her shoulders unconsciously tucked in. She subconsciously hugged her arm with one hand, while the other hand reached forward in the darkness, her fingertips touching the wall in front of her, then curling back as if burned.

“Song Che…” she called him in the syllables that belonged to the contract, “I can’t find you, can you come out?”

Unbeknownst to her, at this moment, she was hunched over, her hands clasped helplessly in front of her, turning her gaze futilely in the darkness. Every movement revealed a different kind of bewilderment than when she was exploring before.

The word "fear" didn't exist in Xia Li's mind. But her actions and increasingly hushed calls pieced together a clear meaning—

She is afraid.

On the screen, the certainty on Song Che's face gradually disappeared completely.

He stared at the figure on the screen, gently calling his name over and over again, and realized that he might never have truly understood her.

"Brother Che, how could a girl really not be afraid of the dark?" Jiang Shuo said from the side, puzzled. "Zhang Hanyu was so scared when she went in just now that she kept pinching my arm."

Zhang Hanyu, unusually, didn't refute, nodding and looking at the screen with concern: "Yeah, brother. It must be very stressful for a girl to navigate a maze like this by herself. Xia Li must be lost, she's a little panicked."

Song Che's gaze never left the screen.

On the screen, Xia Li was no longer looking for a new door. She just stood against the wall, head down, chanting a transcendental spell. She wanted to blow up the maze, but she had lost her magic, like a lion without its fangs.

“She’s not afraid of the dark, nor is she afraid of getting lost,” Song Che said in a low voice.

"Then what is she afraid of?" Jiang Shuo pressed.

Song Che didn't answer, but turned to the staff member who had just come in and said, "I admit defeat on this. Please bring my girlfriend out. She's afraid to be alone."

Chapter 52 Looking into his eyes

Xia Li raised her hand and tapped Song Che's head, not out of anger, but just because she suddenly wanted to hit him. After tapping him, she didn't say anything, just stared at him for a while before finally speaking: "My scarf is messed up, I don't know how to fix it."

As Song Che reached out to help her rearrange her scarf, he sighed inwardly. She was so clumsy. He had taught her so many times, yet she truly knew nothing about magic.

The final score wasn't zero; the two sets were converted to 16 points and 33.3 points respectively.

The "Guess What I'm Looking For" segment was played in pairs. Seeing that Xia Li hadn't said much, Song Che suggested taking a break and letting Zhang Hanyu and Jiang Shuo go first.

They stepped aside to watch.

The crowd on the first floor saw that another couple had arrived and came to watch and have some fun.

As for who should watch and who should guess, Jiang Shuo said that his comprehension ability was better than Zhang Hanyu's, so he volunteered.

He regretted it after guessing the first word.

This game is in advanced mode, where both players can see the picture, but Jiang Shuo sees only a part of it, while Zhang Hanyu sees the whole picture. Jiang Shuo has to guess the complete answer based on that small part of the picture and his partner's description.

That sounds reasonable.

Jiang Shuo doesn't laugh.

This is what he saw:

Jiang Shuo bluntly stated, "There are eyebrows and eyelashes on the table."

He didn't see Zhang Hanyu's face turn red with anxiety as he gestured "big".

"Big what?"

Jiang Shuo nodded in understanding, "There are eyebrows and eyelashes on the big table."

But in reality, that's the whole picture.

"What the hell is this? There's a person on the ocean holding a table with eyebrows and eyelashes on it!" Jiang Shuo protested. "I'm asking you, have you even played this game yourself? Who planned it? If the damn planner doesn't play games, I won't accept it..."

"Protest invalid."

As expected, Jiang Shuo and Zhang Hanyu both scored zero points, and the most they received was friendly ridicule from the audience. After all, no one could possibly answer this question. Playing is just for fun, and watching is just for fun. Humans can only solve questions created by humans, not questions created by geniuses.

Jiang Shuo left the game cursing, but Zhang Hanyu was alright. She hadn't had high hopes anyway; if the game were easy, someone would have already finished it.

"Brother Che, this is so unfair! It's completely messing with my mentality," Jiang Shuo said, panting. "I'm so angry!"

"I feel sorry for you for three seconds." Song Che shook his head, but thought to himself, what kind of boss is he if he's not ruthless?

However, he was thinking about whether he could take advantage of the situation to gain some benefits, which was not a difficult question for him.

More and more people gathered on the first floor, and when the second couple came on stage, they started jeering again. These days, everyone loves to see others in trouble, especially to see someone go from being full of confidence to being exasperated.

The supervisor raised his hand, signaling to begin the first question.

The audience started discussing which question would trigger their defenses first, and whether the girls or boys would break down first.

"Look at this pair, they look more mature than the previous one."

"That girl was dazed, but I remember she was laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight before."

"You don't understand. Just by looking at their stance, you can tell how incredibly strong they are."

"This is not a question of whether it is strong or not."

"Who says otherwise? The boss already pointed it out last time: you can see the content of the picture by looking at the other person's eyes. If you can't see it, who's to blame?"

"Will you listen to the poet's words you speak?"

The audience was chatting when Xia Li's voice suddenly interrupted them: "A tiger with a fish head is playing the zither on a volcano."

"Correct answer...wait, how the hell did you answer that?"

Xia Li looked at Song Che, and after a few seconds said, "Look into his eyes."

The supervisor was momentarily speechless—the boss had indeed casually mentioned it before, but no one took it seriously.

That's bullshit. If it were true, the people before us would have used it already.

The supervisor suspected the two of cheating and kept a close eye on them during the second question.

But Song Che remained perfectly proper from beginning to end, only making a few simple gestures before Xia Li spoke again:

"The mermaid is having dinner with the kobolds at the Grand Hotel."

The onlookers were filled with astonishment and discussion.

"Were they using sign language? Or were they guessing each other's meanings based on sign language?"

"It doesn't seem like it. Even if it were, it's their skill. You can't say they're deaf and mute, can you? That girl can clearly speak."

The supervisor still didn't believe him: "What exactly is your opinion?"

Xia Li repeated her words: "Look into his eyes."

"grass."

……

The farce finally came to an end. Song Che took the discount card and became the first couple to successfully complete the challenge. Although the boss protested, the protest was ineffective. After a hearty meal, the group left satisfied.

After they separated, Song Che bought cat food and some snacks.

By the time I got home, it was already completely dark.

Xia Li held the two bottles of makeup remover, turning them over and over to examine them: "Will washing my face with this remove my makeup?"

"Yes, it's for removing makeup. I haven't used it, but that's roughly it."

"You said before that I could make money by participating in performances..." Xia Li raised her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering, "...how much?"

"If nothing unexpected happens, it will be around four thousand."

"Four thousand..." Xia Li did the math in her head. She had given Song Che seven thousand in advance, and half of it had already been used for medical checkups, shopping, and daily expenses. At this rate, she would be kicked out soon. If she could earn this money, she could stay longer.

Xia Li's understanding of this world is still superficial, but it seems to have some similarities to Hit. Although magic has been lost, the people here don't use magic, so there's no need to set up protective barriers around their homes, and they don't have to constantly be on guard against bad guys outside.

Song Che was looking for his keys when Xia Li stomped her foot and asked, "You said we had to wear specific clothes and recite lines according to the script. How exactly is that done?"

"I'll ask Xiaoxiao for the lines tomorrow. As for the performance..." Song Che smiled and said, "Just play yourself."

The door opened, and Bruce nuzzled against his leg. Tao Xiang was fast asleep on the sofa. Song Che put out the cat food, grabbed a handful for Bruce, and then gently shook Tao Xiang awake: "Time to eat. Don't steal cat food next time. You're allowed to eat at the table."

Peach Blossom, still half-asleep, suddenly widened her eyes, "It's Peach Blossom who's shameless, Peach Blossom didn't mean it..."

What did you do?

"I... I accidentally broke the sunflower pot..."

Bruce walked over carrying the sunflower in his mouth—the main body was fine, but the base of the flowerpot was cracked, and the sunflower was leaning to one side, unable to stand steadily.

Song Che paused, then looked at Tao Xiang's head. "What happened to your forehead?"

"Um..." Momoka looked remorseful, "I felt I shouldn't have done that, so I hit myself twice as an apology."

"You really hit hard, it's all swollen now."

"This shows that I take my attitude seriously."

"Alright, there's no need. This sunflower belongs to Xia Li. If you really want to apologize... you can let Xia Li hit you a couple of times."

Song Che looked at Xia Li, who seemed to have no such intention; she simply took the book and went back to her bedroom.

Song Che didn't say much, only adding, "The cat food belongs to Bruce. If you get caught stealing it again, I won't be responsible if Bruce bites you. Got it?"

Sometimes he felt a headache coming on—first Xia Li joined the family, and now there was another real little baby, Tao Xiang. He was still a senior in high school, but he was already experiencing what it was like to raise a daughter.

To be honest, if Momoka weren't a cat, she'd be quite cute, with a round, chubby face, but she's a bit of a weirdo.

Tao Xiang nodded obediently: "I'll remember."

After giving his instructions, Song Che called out to Xia Li's bedroom, "Don't stay up too late. Remember to wash your face, remove your makeup, and go to sleep. I'm going to rest now."