My wife is a witch princess.

Turn off the phone screen and put it in your pocket.

"Let's go, the driver will be here soon."

Song Che spoke softly, helping Xia Li open the door and go downstairs. The motion-activated light still didn't work, and it only flickered reluctantly after he stomped on it a few times.

The alley wasn't long; it took them ten minutes to walk with Xia Li's help.

Night fell, a cool breeze blew, and there were far fewer pedestrians. Under the moonlight, the silver-haired witch looked like a jewel, her skin glowing with a gentle light. Song Che couldn't help but glance at her a few more times.

Xia Li... is actually quite pretty, but she doesn't smile much, which makes her seem aloof and difficult to get along with. But the more you get to know her, the more you realize that she's actually a very open and friendly person.

At the street intersection, a taxi was quietly parked on one side.

Besides the driver, there was another person taking a nap in the passenger seat.

Chapter 5 The Witch Has Arrived!

The alley had no streetlights, and a few withered trees standing at the street entrance cast a shadow. Construction materials and miscellaneous items were piled up on the road, making it a bumpy walk. That's how the old town is: inconvenient conditions and a mediocre environment, but fortunately, there are many delicious foods, some of which are only sold in the alleys.

The taxi parked at the intersection saw Song Che helping a girl approach and turned on its side lights.

The withered leaves at my feet were clearly visible, and the beam of light stretched deep into the alley, landing at the corner of the alley entrance.

Xia Li's breath rose in the pillar of light. She stretched out her index finger to touch it, her fingertip passing right through it. She looked down at her finger and asked calmly:

"Is this level of brightness... holy light magic?"

"There's no magic here. Wait, where did that little hammer you're holding come from?"

"I have a spare alchemy hammer, which makes sense, right?"

...He reasonably asked his mother to open the door for him, but she refused.

Seeing that Song Che remained silent, Xia Li imitated her earlier action and breathed on him. As the white mist rose, she stared intently at Song Che, waiting for his answer.

"I've never seen this before..."

"...You've definitely seen it before, you just haven't noticed it. This is the Tyndall effect, um, what's the full name again, the Da Vinci effect."

Song Che tapped his head, unable to recall anything; he had forgotten everything he learned in high school.

Before I knew it, I had to pay back a bit too much.

The taxi dimmed its lights, and a middle-aged man opened the door and got out, opening the back door as well.

"Come on, it's warm in the car. Did the little girl hurt her leg?"

“Her knee is swollen and she has difficulty walking. I don’t know how her bones are,” Song Che replied.

"Oh, then be careful to lift your legs when you get on the bus, so you don't bump them and make things worse."

The man reminded them while helping to clear away the clutter next to them.

Song Che saw Xia Li into the car, then sat down next to her, recalling the layout of the area around No. 1 Middle School.

"Driver, go to the small orthopedic clinic behind the No. 1 Middle School, near where they usually set up their stall, at an intersection..."

"Alright, both of you fasten your seatbelts."

The man got into the car, rubbed his hands together, and breathed out warm air. "Nanhui is really cold this year. It's below zero even before the New Year."

The interior of the car was warm and bright. Behind the windshield was a row of nodding sunflowers resembling those from Plants vs. Zombies. Signs hung behind the two front seats, reading:

Hello customer!

If you need anything, just let me know. I'm easy to talk to. Smoking is prohibited in the car. If you want to smoke, please offer the driver one, and he will stop so you can smoke together.

Safety first when traveling. Don't jump out of the car, don't strangle me, and don't scare me. Note that couples can kiss, but the driver is not single. My wife is in the passenger seat; she has difficulty walking and is taking up a seat. Please understand.

Thump thump thump—

The sign swayed precariously as the car drove into the dark night.

Xia Li tilted her head and read the contents. With each sentence, her brows furrowed. Her blue eyes swept across the car, and her cold aura made the uncle observing her in the front-view mirror twitch at the corner of his eye.

Is she looking for a rope to strangle me from behind?

Xia Li's search failed, and she gently shook her head. She thought there was a puppy in the car, otherwise why would the sign say "single dog"?

She stared at the driver in the front seat and noticed that he would occasionally glance at the woman next to him with a tender look in his eyes. Why was that?

Song Che had never looked at himself like that before.

She thought about it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out.

The halo of the streetlights shone through the car window. Xia Li carefully adjusted the position of her legs, but with each movement, her calves stiffened a little more. She secretly glanced at Song Che a few times and, finding that he hadn't noticed, tried a few more times on her own. As a result, she pursed her lips in pain. She reached out and gently poked Song Che's arm with her fingertips.

When he looked over, he spoke in a softer tone than usual:

"Song Che, it hurts a little."

The reasons were simple: firstly, the pain; secondly, everything she saw appeared blurry and double-imaged. She felt that if she didn't speak up soon, she would vomit and faint, which would be disrespectful to His Highness.

Song Che turned to the side and adjusted the position of the cushion for her.

After straightening her legs, Xia Li felt much more comfortable. She parted her thin lips slightly, wanting to express her gratitude several times, but after holding back for a long time, she remembered that she had lost her most valuable gold coin and could not express her thanks with material things.

Lin Xiali in pajamas, hands tucked in, deep in thought.jpg

She remembered that the servants in the witch's castle would bow to express their gratitude and respect, but that wasn't very convenient in this iron box.

Song Che had no idea what she was up to. He waited for a minute and saw Xia Li straighten her back, looking very serious.

"...I need to wash the dishes."

Is washing dishes all you do?

After thinking it over, Song Che realized he shouldn't get angry at an unevolved monkey. Saying thank you would be much more sincere than saying "I have to wash the dishes," or at least smile instead of always putting on a serious face.

Do you think you're some kind of virtuous wife and loving mother who can handle me just by washing dishes?

"Let's take a look at your legs first."

"...You want to see it now?"

"...I mean, see a doctor first. If you have difficulty walking, just lie down."

"You're clearly talking about legs, not an illness..."

Xia Li spoke in a cold tone, sounding aggrieved. She thought the little rascal was being indecent and almost took it seriously.

After she finished speaking, she immediately turned her face to the car window, pretending to look at the scenery outside, but the tips of her ears under her silver hair turned red.

She's just a bit slow on the uptake, not completely clueless.

The middle-aged driver glanced at them in the rearview mirror and said softly, "Does it hurt a lot? I'll drive more carefully."

"……fine."

Xia Li rested her head against the car window, the mist kissing her silver hair. She couldn't see clearly outside the car, nor could she see herself clearly.

My favorite broom broke. Without magic, I can't do anything. The former Song Che was even more fierce and looked down on me.

Having lived for nearly a hundred years, Xia Li realized for the first time that she might be a useless witch, unable to even perceive the laws of this world.

Yes, even so, Xia Li doesn't feel that her language system needs updating, but rather that her magical skills are not deep enough.

The car fell silent, with only the rustling sound of the air conditioning vents. Noticing the silence, the driver turned on the radio and played an old love song.

"The Witch Who Was Buried Has Arrived"

This song is old enough...

"You're students, right? Didn't you tell your parents?" The driver's voice was weary. "It's getting late, it would be better to call your parents."

"Yes, I'm about to contact them."

Song Che told a little lie and didn't want to explain further.

The driver nodded and didn't ask any more questions, only saying, "It's good that someone is with me. When my wife had the accident, she wouldn't tell her family. Later, she disappeared and ran away to a wild lake in Taixi. Luckily, a few air force fishermen stayed and wouldn't leave..."

"Mmm, and then..."

As everyone knows, the only thing in the world that can't be caught is a fisherman; a fisherman can catch anything except fish.

The driver looked tenderly at the sleeping woman. "She complained that she was a burden to her family, that her sisters were unwilling to help, and that her parents were powerless to do anything about it, so she wanted to end her life by committing suicide."

Song Che also glanced at the sleeping woman, whose temperament was somewhat similar to Xia Li's.

"Yeah, those days must have been really tough..."

The driver's lips curved slightly, his gaze still fixed on the road ahead: "In the first few years, the sky was gray, it just wouldn't brighten. She blamed herself for being a burden to me, and I blamed myself for not taking good care of her. We were both resentful and in pain."

Later, we decided to go everywhere together. I would drive, and she would sit beside me. We would look at people, look at the street, talk, or remain silent. Life seemed to slowly begin again.

“Sunflowers,” Xia Li suddenly spoke, pointing to the row of dolls that swayed gently with the vehicle.

"It's cute, isn't it? I can give you one."

"The sunflower seeds...are delicious."

"Oh, that's true, cracking sunflower seeds is quite a way to pass the time." The driver laughed, this time with a more genuine laugh. This girl clearly had never played Plants vs. Zombies; sunflowers are for producing sunlight.

Without sunshine, it's just brains... delicious.

"..."

After a brief silence, the driver continued, his tone as if sharing the most common experience: "Young lady, when you get to the hospital, if the doctor says you need immobilization or something, don't be afraid. Listen to the doctor and take good care of yourself. It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone; being impatient won't help, but time will."

He glanced at Xia Li in the rearview mirror. The girl was restless, and a hint of helplessness and stubbornness was hidden beneath her calm face.

He knew his legs hurt, and when they hurt, he would sometimes want to straighten them and sometimes want to bend them, but Xia Li couldn't adjust her position herself, and she was too embarrassed to say it, or perhaps she didn't dare to say it.

"Actually, I've always thought my wife is a fool. She always feels like she's bothering me, and her good intentions backfire. Sometimes... there's nothing wrong with expressing yourself more. Holding back will only make the people who love you worry."

"Idiot." Xia Li muttered to herself several times before falling silent.

For this taciturn and unsuccessful species, it will take some time to decipher the meaning of this sentence.

Is he yelling at the woman next to him?

Asking others for help or trying to express yourself can backfire...

No, I have a feeling... it's insulting me.

Although she only said the word "idiot," Xia Li felt it was a very vulgar insult.