It seems that the villain is targeting me.

What surprised people the most was her left shoulder - with the shoulder blade as the dividing line, bird and animal wings suddenly grew on her human torso, hanging gently at her side.

Those were not chemical products manufactured by modern industry. The wings were extremely beautiful, and each feather was soft and shiny, so harmonious as if they were born that way.

Is that really a Xiao bird? Chen Xiaoya was confused. How could she have wings?

What's so strange about that? There's a strange voice in my head telling me that birds should have wings.

Really…

Chen Xiaoya was thinking in a daze, and he absurdly felt that what the other party said seemed to make some sense.

"Gwen?"

As if he noticed someone watching him from behind, Xiao Niao stopped changing his clothes and turned his head slightly to look back.

Chen Xiaoya panicked for a moment. The guilt of peeping overwhelmed her in an instant, and she subconsciously wanted to retreat and leave.

Perhaps because it was a dream, the moment the thought of running away arose, her body honestly shrank back - the movement was bigger than she had imagined, and she almost fell headfirst because she was too hasty, landing on her head.

Chen Xiaoya sat down on the ground in shame, supporting his body with only his arms.

Her heart was beating at an unhealthy pace, and she looked up at the bed guiltily.

Not far away, Xiao Niao slowly lifted the cloth wrapped around the bed and stuck half of his body out, as if he wanted to check the situation outside.

Chen Xiaoya's eyes couldn't help but move over

, but found that Xiaoniao had already put on his clothes again - he was obviously in a hurry, and his collar was turned up.

She felt a little melancholy, and couldn't tell whether she was disappointed or what.

"...Gwen, is that you?"

Xiao Niao was calling softly, and she could hear the uneasiness hidden in the voice, just like a lost person subconsciously calling for a companion.

Chen Xiaoya slowly realized that it was the name of a strange woman, whose name he did not know.

But who is that?

Why do you have such an expression?

Chen Xiaoya was stunned. He didn't know how to react for a moment and just sat there blankly.

She looked at the door. No one came in. There was no one else in the room except herself.

The woman named Gwen is not here.

Xiao Niao on the other side had already gotten up from the bed. She stepped barefoot on the carpet. When her feet touched the ground, her body paused slightly, and then she slowly took a step forward.

Her ankles were the smooth white of ivory, narrow circles that looked like some kind of metal covered in light leather.

Chen Xiaoya noticed a very obvious bruise on her left ankle, and she was shocked - it looked like the mark left by something that had been tied up and rubbed for a long time.

The other person stopped in front of her.

Xiao Niao lowered his eyes, as if trying to identify the person in front of him. The girl's confused face was reflected in his pale, almost transparent pupils.

"...Isn't Gwen here?" Xiao Niao's voice was a little hoarse. Rather than communicating, it was more like talking to himself. "Oh, I forgot, I'm dead..."

Chen Xiaoya looked at her anxiously until she slowly stretched out her arm and pulled her up from the ground.

“So, this is a dream.”

She heard Xiao Niao muttering softly, his tone carrying the same confusion as hers.

"I remember this place," Xiao Niao's voice was soft, with a sense of illusion and etherealness, "This is in the capital... I used to live here."

Chen Xiaoya couldn't understand this sentence. She was sure that it was a foreign language and completely beyond the scope of knowledge she had learned.

However, "capital" may refer to a place name.

She guessed, then noticed that something was wrong with the bird.

Some cold sweat broke out on Xiao Niao's forehead, and his two thin lips opened slightly, and then, as if to suppress some emotion, they were tightly pursed together.

"Doctor," she called briefly.

Suddenly, Chen Xiaoya was pulled over - and Xiao Niao almost bumped into her chest.

Chen Xiaoya cried out in pain and involuntarily took half a step back.

She subconsciously reached out and hugged the person in her arms. His face, which was much thinner than she remembered, was buried deeply in her shoulders, and his only arm climbed up his back.

This distance was enough for Chen Xiaoya to observe the slightest changes in the person in front of her. She noticed that Xiaoniao's wing on the other side drooped weakly, and noticed that the lines of her waist and back trembled physiologically due to excessive tension.

When he came to his senses, Chen Xiaoya found that his hand had been embedded in the depression on Xiaoniao's lower back.

No, she didn't mean to. Chen Xiaoya was a little flustered. She didn't mean to... didn't mean to touch... it was her hand...

She wanted to chop off the rebellious arm on the spot to prove her innocence, but the person curled up in Chen Xiaoya's arms didn't seem to notice her offense.

She seemed confused, as if she were in some kind of stress state.

"...I don't want to stay here," Xiao Niao squeezed out a sob from his throat with difficulty, "I have to go...I hate this dream..."

There seemed to be a hint of pleading in the voice. Xiaoniao hooked the girl's back tightly with his only arm, and clenched the fabric of her clothes with his fingers.

She had never seen Xiao Niao so vulnerable.

Her forearm was aching slightly, but Chen Xiaoya didn't care. She stretched out her hand - her body once again went against her will, and she took the little bird, who was on the verge of emotional collapse, into her arms.

"...I want to go back," the voice of the person in his arms was too hoarse, "Doctor, I want to go home."

Some inexplicable intuition told Chen Xiaoya that the 'home' Xiaoniao was referring to here was not the house they had lived in together in He County.

But she made a promise immediately.

"Okay," she said, "I'll take you home."

It doesn't matter where you want to go.

She swore in her heart: As long as you want, I will accompany you no matter where you go, because you have been with me so patiently before.

Chen Xiaoya stroked the soft hair on the back of Xiaoniao's head, closed her eyes and felt the latter's disordered breathing. She hugged him as tight as possible, hoping that Xiaoniao would calm down.

But...something seems wrong.

Well, something is definitely wrong.

I am at least five centimeters shorter than Xiao Niao, so it is impossible for me to just raise my hand and hug him in my arms like that.

Besides, she is not a 'doctor', Xiao Niao would not call her that.

Chen Xiaoya subconsciously lowered her head and spread her palms in front of her eyes - it was really strange, her hands seemed to have become a little bigger, and her five fingers also became much more slender.

Like an adult's hand.

Have I grown up?

As soon as this thought came into Chen Xiaoya's mind, her body no longer obeyed her commands and began to move on its own.

Chen Xiaoya protested with clenched fists, but the protest was ineffective.

Although it may sound a bit infuriating to say it, this body does not belong to Chen Xiaoya... at least not completely.

'She' gently smoothed the messy fabric at the bird's collar, then moved it up until it rested on the bird's slender neck, her movements incredibly gentle.

Chen Xiaoya could feel Xiao Niao's breathing, and his carotid artery was beating rapidly and forcefully under her fingertips. He showed no resistance and no alertness, exposing his fatal weakness under her palm.

"……teacher."

Chen Xiaoya heard "himself" muttering.

She slowly stroked both sides of Xiao Niao's neck, where the muscle bundles were pressed and the pulse beat rapidly.

All the problems seemed to suddenly become unimportant. She lowered her head and brushed her knuckles across the face that looked empty because of waiting.

Her heart was trembling with joy, causing her still ignorant soul to tremble as well.

This is a dream, but sometimes, dreams are the voice of the heart.

-------

-

She slowly realized that this might be one of the few times in her life that could be described as happy.

High school life actually doesn’t have much novelty, and can even be described as unremarkable, but for Chen Xiaoya, it is the unique golden period of her youth.

She didn't have to rack her brains to interpret the emotions of the people around her, didn't have to worry about going hungry or being abused, and even mental neglect and indifference didn't exist. She was well taken care of and felt very clearly that she was loved.

The process of studying at the No. 1 Middle School in the city was very smooth. Overall, there were no major incidents. The classmates and teachers were all very friendly, and there was no clichéd exclusion or bullying in the class.

Learning is a process of screening. Whenever you enter a higher stage, some people will slowly disappear from your life.

Although this law is not absolute, this is generally how society operates.

Those unlearned students she had met in junior high school did not go on to high school, so when she stepped into the gate of the No. 1 Middle School in the city, it was like stepping into the ideal palace of the future.

Her results in the first monthly exam after entering school were not very good, and she was only hovering in the lower half of the class - this was inevitable, because the educational resources in the county were much worse after all - Chen Xiaoya might be an excellent student among the top students in He County, but she was a little bit not good enough in Jiangcheng.

Although his grades fluctuated like this, Chen Xiaoya did not feel discouraged.

Perhaps because of the many hardships she had experienced before, she already had the courage and patience to face difficulties.

What's more, the hardships of student life were nothing more than doing more exercises and staying up late to memorize, which was nothing to her.

During the midterm exam, Chen Xiaoya was able to perform at the top level in his strong subjects such as chemistry and biology.

By the time the final exam was over, her overall grades had returned to the upper middle level.

Then comes the Chinese New Year.

During this year, she spent almost every weekend with Xiao Niao, so when the New Year came, the latter almost took her back to his home as a matter of course, and Chen Xiaoya had no room to object.

Of course, she didn't want to argue—the kid was practically bubbling with joy.

In the past, Chen Xiaoya really disliked the New Year. To her, this festival only meant closing shops and losing income from odd jobs.

And now, she just feels satisfied.

She would have been even happier if that annoying doctor friend hadn't come and interfered.

Chen Xiaoya was indignant about this: How could someone be so shameless as to run into someone else's house and eat for free during the New Year!

And the little bird actually took her in!

It was really inconsiderate, Chen Xiaoya wrote in his diary, and he would never become such a bad adult in the future.

She spent her first year peacefully and successfully entered the second grade.

But occasionally, Chen Xiaoya would feel panic.

She suffered too much indifference and abuse in her childhood, and all that remained in her mind were painful memories.

Even when dreaming, Chen Xiaoya never expected that he would have such a life one day.

Deep down in her heart, she always had some secret worry, feeling that something was lurking in the dark and could take away her happiness at any time.

Children who have lived in happy families since childhood will naturally take being loved and happy for granted - even Xiao Niao was once one of them.

But Chen Xiaoya knows that such happiness is actually not common. In this world, there are parents who are physically together but spiritually apart and blame each other, and there are also people who do not love their children at all.

Growing up in such a family environment, Chen Xiaoya always believed that her life had nothing to do with the word "happiness". She just tried hard to support herself, not wanting to starve or fall into the abyss of no return.

Until she was picked up by a passing bird and taken home. She curled up under its wings for the first time and found the long-lost peace.

The feeling of being loved came too late for her. This was a completely blank area in Chen Xiaoya's life experience. It was the first time she had such an experience, and it was so sweet that it almost took her breath away.

So, when Chen

After the boy realized what he had dreamed about, he even forgot how to breathe.

It felt like even my body was no longer my own, and only my empty soul was left lying on the bed, dazed and not knowing what to do.

The dormitory was quiet and dark. All her roommates were fast asleep. Only she had her eyes open, staring at the empty ceiling.

No sleep for one night.

The next day she went to class as usual, but she couldn't concentrate on anything. She was listless and confused.

Classmates who knew her well noticed that she was not in good condition and kindly asked what happened, but Chen Xiaoya just made excuses to get by.

This incident was simply unbelievable. She couldn't explain her abnormality to anyone, nor could she tell anyone about that strange and beautiful dream.

This absent-minded state lasted for several days. Chen Xiaoya's eyes were all dark. He felt listless and doubted his life. He didn't want to go anywhere and just wanted to be alone and quiet.

She even skipped her meals because she didn't want to meet Xiao Niao in the cafeteria, so Chen Xiaoya always dawdled and left the classroom only last.