You call this a love game?

"Dad, Dad hasn't been home for a long time because he's been too busy with work..." Bai Jiangzhu quickly composed herself and replied, then immediately added, "But he's very worried about you!"

"..."

Nagisa Momoe: "Really, to be honest..."

"That person won't be coming back, will they? Even you, you don't really want to come, do you?" The woman's face still held sarcasm, but now it held a hint of self-abandonment. "It's fine if you don't come, just abandon me too, and go somewhere with that person."

"not like this!"

Bai Jiangzhu shook his head desperately.

"Everyone's lying. Everyone says I have a bad personality, that I'm a terrible person, that I'm an idiot, that I deserve it! Things like that... You think so too, right? You must have always thought so..."

"You hate me because I do so many annoying things, right? I wish someone else, someone better, could be your mother... I can't be a mother, I don't want to be a mother at all... You don't have to come, just leave me alone..."

The woman seemed to be talking to Baijiang Zhu, or perhaps to herself, muttering incessantly to herself as she faced the empty wall in front of her.

Baijiang Zhu: "Zhu, Zhu is Mommy's child, that's so wonderful. Zhu has always thought Mommy is wonderful."

"...Stop talking! Don't say things like that!" The woman's temper flared up again, and she yelled, "Am I supposed to say 'It's so good to have you'? Am I supposed to pretend it's so good? Are you going to criticize me too?"

Baijiang Zhu: "Zhu...Zhu is just..."

I want my mom to go back to how she used to be...

But she just couldn't bring herself to say it, because if she did, it would make her mother seem strange.

If her mother heard that, it would make her feel like she was wrong, so she couldn't bring herself to say those words.

No matter what kind of life Xiaozhu wanted, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Bai Jiangzhu's fingers were tightly intertwined, clutching the front of her skirt, but she still managed a forced smile as she changed the subject, "Mom, Xiaozhu brought two friends today, they—"

"Friends?" The woman's voice suddenly rose, and she whirled around. "Who told you to bring people here?!"

Her eyes were wide open, and the whites of her eyes were bloodshot.

Even Shiraha and Mami Tomoe outside the ward could hear the commotion inside. Through the slightly ajar door, Mami Tomoe took a step forward with some concern, but remembering the girl's reminder, she had to force herself to stop herself from going in.

“They’re…they’re very kind people…” Nagisa Momoe tried her best to explain, pulling out a small bread roll that Mami Tomoe had given her from her backpack. “They also brought some delicious snacks for Mom…”

The woman suddenly slammed the cookie bag over, scattering the soft, delicate bread all over the floor. "I don't need charity! And you get out of here too!"

Her chest heaved violently, as if she had seen a murderer of her father; her emotions were extremely turbulent, and she glared angrily at Hyakue Nagisa.

Bai Jiangzhu squatted down and silently picked up the bread from the ground, putting it back into the originally clean box.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I made you angry. If you don't want to see your friends, I won't let them in. I'll come see you again next time."

After cleaning up the soiled bread and apologizing to her mother, Nagisa Hyakue decided to leave immediately.

But just as she turned to leave, her arm was grabbed by the woman on the bed.

The woman's thin fingers gripped Bai Jiangzhu's slender wrist like iron clamps, her nails almost digging into her flesh. "You think...you think you can leave like this?"

Bai Jiangzhu winced in pain, but didn't dare to break free. "Mom..."

"It's all your fault!" The woman's voice was terribly hoarse. "If it weren't for you... if I hadn't given birth to you..."

While yelling, she grabbed the water glass from the bedside table with her other hand, raised it high, and slammed it to the ground with force. With a loud crash, shards of glass flew everywhere.

"I'm not sick at all! It's you! It's all of you who are ruining me!"

Bai Jiangzhu shrugged, but stubbornly remained rooted to the spot. A shard of glass grazed her cheek, leaving a thin trail of blood.

Bai Yu, who was outside the door, finally couldn't resist and pushed the door open to enter.

The woman became even more agitated upon seeing strangers intruding, shouting, "Get out! You demons!"

She seemed to want to throw another cup, but after realizing that the only cup she had already broken, she grabbed a pillow from the bedside and threw it at Bai Yu.

Bai Yu easily caught the pillow, grabbed the woman's wrist, and separated her from Bai Jiangzhu.

"Let me go! You demons!" she screamed hysterically, saliva splattering from the corner of her mouth. "Get out! All of you get out!"

Bai Jiangzhu was stunned by this sudden change and stood there motionless.

Mami quickly stepped forward and pulled her behind her. "Nagisa, are you alright?"

"I...I'm alright..." Bai Jiangzhu's voice trembled with tears, but her eyes remained fixed on her mother, who was being held captive by Bai Yu. "Brother Bai Yu...please don't hurt Mom..."

Bai Yu's hand remained motionless, but he controlled the force perfectly, neither letting the woman break free nor hurting her.

He looked directly into the woman's bloodshot eyes. "Auntie, you've frightened Xiaozhu."

"What's it to you!" the woman screamed, twisting her body wildly. "This is my family matter! What right do you outsiders have to interfere?"

Looking at the ugly face of the woman in front of him screaming incessantly, which was making his eardrums almost unbearable, Bai Yu really wanted to slap her to shut her up, but then he remembered that Bai Jiangzhu was still there, so he had to temporarily restrain himself from using violence against her.

Fortunately, at the same time, the nurse outside the door heard the noise and rushed in, immediately pressing the call button and leading two caregivers and a doctor.

"Hold her down, I'm going to use a sedative."

Upon receiving the order, two caregivers rushed forward and firmly restrained the woman's hands and feet to prevent her from moving around, while the doctor skillfully administered a sedative into her body.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Mami Tomoe quickly pulled Nagisa Momoe out of the ward. The little girl's hands were as cold as stone, and her lips trembled incessantly.

"It's alright, it's alright..." Mami gently wiped away a trace of blood from the girl's face, only to find that her hands were trembling.

A series of chaotic noises came from the ward, followed by the woman's gradually fading curses, before finally subsiding. The woman lay on the bed, closed her eyes, and drifted off into a hazy sleep.

As the caregivers left the room, Bai Yu followed them out.

"We gave her a sedative." He wiped the water stains off his hands. "The nurse said this has been happening frequently lately."

Baijiang Zhu kept her head down, large tears falling onto the floor. "I'm sorry... it's all Zhu's fault..."

Bai Yu squatted down, gently lifted her face, looked at the eerie red on the girl's face, and said with heartache as green light emanated from his hand, "It's not Xiao Zhu's fault, Xiao Zhu is perfectly fine."

Mami Tomoe took out a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully wiped Nagisa Momoe's face clean until her fair skin was smooth and new again.

"Shall we take Xiaozhu home first?"

Bai Yu nodded, his gaze lingering on Bai Jiangzhu's sorrowful face. "Zhu, do you want to go back?"

Bai Jiangzhu pondered for a moment, glanced into the now silent ward, and then nodded.

"Yes, I want to go home, Brother Baiyu."

"Okay, then we'll take you there."

However, when the three of them walked out of the hospital, they found that it had started pouring rain outside. Large raindrops hit the ground and splashed up in waves.

"Oh no..." Mami Tomoe looked at the dark sky with a worried expression. "I didn't bring an umbrella."

Bai Yu then pulled out a frequently used folding umbrella from his backpack. "This is all I have."

He opened the umbrella, barely enough to cover all three people.

"Let's squeeze it in, it's better than nothing."

"Ok."

Mami Tomoe was somewhat unwilling, but she didn't have any better solutions to the current situation.

Mom is probably still busy with community work right now, and she's not very good at driving. Dad is even less so; he usually works overtime until around 8 or 9 p.m. before coming home. It's already very rare for him to be able to get off work and come home on time at 6 p.m. last night.

In other words, she and Bai Yu could only go back by themselves, otherwise their father would have to take leave to pick them up.

However, Mami Tomoe, who has always been very strong-willed, was naturally unwilling to let her father give up his work and trouble him to travel so far. Although she was still somewhat unwilling, she could only accept the current situation.

Suddenly I felt a pang of regret. If only she had listened to her mother and brought an umbrella.

But it was too late; the three of them could only squeeze under the small umbrella.

Bai Jiangzhu was sandwiched between the two. She carefully held onto the hem of Shiraha and Tomoe Mami's clothes. The rain still soaked her skirt, which was now coolly clinging to her legs.

"Um..." Looking at the increasingly unfamiliar road, Hyakue Nagisa couldn't help but ask, "This doesn't seem to be the way to my house?"

The girl looked up at the white feathers above her, which were controlling the umbrellas. She had no recollection of living in the city center.

Bai Yu looked down at the girl who was soaked by the rain, "Because Xiao Zhu's home is too far away, I plan to bring you to our house first, and then take you back after the rain stops."

Bai Jiangzhu hesitated for a moment, then, seeing the rain getting heavier, could only nod gently, "Brother Bai Yu—Ah~ Chu!"

She suddenly sneezed, and Bai Yu immediately lowered the umbrella to prevent too much wind and rain from getting in.

The three of them huddled together and made their way through the rain like clumsy penguins. By the time they finally got home, their trouser legs and sleeves were soaked.

Bai Yu's clothes, in particular, were almost completely soaked on the left side of his body, and water was still dripping down his trouser legs as he stood in the entrance hall.

Bai Jiangzhu, who was squeezed in the middle, was relatively lucky. Apart from her skirt being wet by the water splashed up by her heels, she was well taken care of and basically didn't get wet in the rain.

Mami Tomoe received similar treatment to Shiraha. On the far right, the right half of her body was almost completely soaked. Her white uniform top revealed glimpses of the colors underneath, including flesh-colored and yellow bra straps. Her fluffy skirt was also heavy and couldn't lift her head because it was covered in water stains.

"Oh dear! How did you get so soaked!"

Hearing the commotion, Baya Dai ran out of the kitchen, a soup ladle in her hand. "Mami! Didn't I tell you to bring an umbrella?"

Mami stuck out her tongue. "I...I forgot..."

"Never mind, let's wipe it off first, so we don't catch a cold."

Seeing this, Bayadai had no choice but to temporarily abandon those useless arguments, and took towels from the bathroom, giving one to each of the three people present.

When it was Momoe Nagisa's turn, the girl gave a timid bow and said, "Hello, Auntie..."

Baya's expression softened instantly. "This child must be Nagisa, right?"

She knelt down and first used a handkerchief to wipe the rain off Hyakue Nagisa's face, then gently rubbed the girl's wet hair with a towel.

"Go take a hot bath, Auntie will make you some ginger soup."

"Mom is biased..."

Mami muttered to herself, but Baya flicked her forehead.

“The bathroom is over there.” Baya pointed to the hallway. “Mami, go get a change of clothes for your sister.”

Bai Yu wrung out his soaked sleeves. "Then I'll go first—"

"You go take a shower too!" Baya said firmly. "What if you catch a cold?"

Bai Yu scratched his wet hair. "But there are only two bathrooms."

One bathroom is on the first floor, which is frequently used by Mami's parents, while the other is upstairs, which Mami and Shiraha share.

"Boys, wait your turn."

Bayayo gently pushed Nagisa Hyakue towards the bathroom, "Nagisa, go wash first. Mami, go get your clothes. After you get your clothes, go take a shower too. Don't keep Shiraha-kun waiting too long."

Bai Jiangzhu stood there somewhat uneasily, clutching a towel. "Um... Xiaozhu's clothes aren't very wet..."

"No, that won't do." Bayadai squatted down and gently pinched the hem of her wet skirt. "You'll catch a cold, so Nagisa should just go and take a bath. Nagisa doesn't want to catch a cold and then infect her family or your Shiraha-nii, right?"

"Hmm... okay, Nagisa will wash it thoroughly!"

Seeing the girl's determined gaze and resolute expression, as if she were about to sacrifice herself, Bayadai was both amused and exasperated.

"Good, good, Nagisa is so obedient."

Mami Tomoe quickly returned with a stack of clothes.

"These are my pajamas from elementary school, they should still fit me fairly well." She handed the clothes to Bai Jiangzhu, then picked out a pink corner of them. "The panties are new, they've already been washed."

Bai Jiangzhu blushed as she took the clothes, thanked him quietly, and went into the bathroom. Soon, the sound of running water could be heard from inside.

Mami Tomoe also went upstairs and started taking a shower almost simultaneously.

"Bai Yujun, please take off your clothes first, and I'll take care of it for you."

"Oh well."

He wrung out the hem of his soaking wet T-shirt again, water droplets dripping onto the floor. Without further hesitation, he lifted the hem and pulled it off, revealing his bare upper body underneath.

"Wow, I never expected Bai Yu-kun to have six-pack abs~"

Upon seeing the boy's muscular upper body, Bayadai couldn't help but tease him.

"Ahem, Aunt Masaya, could you please find me some clothes first? If Mami-nee sees me like this, she'll get annoyed with me again."

"Hmph~ But wouldn't it be a shame if Mami didn't get to see such a great figure?"

Saying this, Baya Dai had no intention of helping Bai Yu get his clothes from his room. She put the clothes in a basin to soak and then went back to the kitchen to prepare ginger soup for them.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Clothes, Dinner, and Goodnight