Chapter Thirty-Two: Lingering Fear

“Little Bunny, Little Bunny, now you’re going to live here,” Fubao stood on tiptoe beside the small bed she had slept in as a child, tucking the quilt around the little rabbit.

This was the small room that Lin Sanlang had chopped out for his daughter! Under the pretense that their daughter was growing up and needed her own bed, Lin Sanlang was really just scheming for some time alone with his wife. What a sly man!

Still, Meng Yun, though she felt sorry for her daughter and decorated the room to be adorably cute, had to admit it was rarely used. Her daughter always found comfort in her arms, sleeping soundly there. So apart from naptime, Fubao usually clung to her mother.

Fubao tucked the little rabbit in, copying Meng Yun’s usual bedtime routine, patting the rabbit’s bottom with a gentle, childish hand.

“Bunny, sleep now. This is your little bed!” she whispered in her soft, babyish voice.

The rabbit: Too weary to respond!

Meng Yun noticed her daughter sneaking into the side room and not coming out for quite some time, so she decided to check in.

“Bao’er, what are you up to?” Meng Yun saw her daughter standing on tiptoe at the side of the small bed—wait, when did that bed get there?

“Mama, I wasn’t doing anything!” As soon as she heard Meng Yun’s voice, Fubao slipped away from the bed, obediently standing there, her little fingers twirling in circles. Meng Yun knew this scene all too well—her daughter had brought something home again!

When they’d gone with her mother to Ci’en Temple to meet Master Wuneng, the master had said Fubao’s fate was unusual, attracting all sorts of oddities. This left Meng Yun anxious every day, afraid something terrible might show up. But no one told her that these strange things might not just wander in—they might actually be brought home by her own daughter! Meng Yun found it maddening.

But still, the so-called “odd things” always turned out to be birds, rabbits, fish, turtles, and all sorts of messy creatures.

She was a clean freak; nothing from outside was ever clean enough, and every time Lin Sanlang had to wash the critters several times over.

Lin Sanlang: I am nothing but a heartless washing machine!

Meng Yun had given up on her daughter’s peculiar constitution. Every time Fubao brought something home, it was either released or eaten—courtesy of her father.

Watching her bashful daughter, Meng Yun knew there was something new in the house again.

“Bao’er, tell Mama, what did you do on the mountain today?” Meng Yun asked gently, picking Fubao up.

“Mama, today Aunt took me and Haige up the little hill…” Fubao babbled in her childish voice, recounting the day’s adventures as best she could—though whether Meng Yun could understand was another matter.

Listening to her daughter’s rambling, Meng Yun pieced together the gist of it—she’d gotten a rabbit.

“So where did you put the rabbit?” Meng Yun asked.

“On the little bed! I used to sleep there too!” Fubao replied, pointing at the bed with her chubby hand, her voice sweet as ever.

Meng Yun: …So the rabbit’s on the bed?

Meng Yun felt her temper rising, but turning to see her daughter’s sparkling eyes, she resolutely decided—she would not touch that little bed, absolutely not!

Fubao was soon called away by Cen Hai, who said Grandma Lin wanted her.

Meng Yun set Fubao down and both left. She glanced at the bed holding the rabbit and thought Lin Sanlang could deal with it when he got home. With that, she left the room—Lin Sanlang: So I’m just a heartless cleaning maniac!

As soon as Fubao arrived at the old house, Grandma Lin scooped her up into her arms. Grandma Lin had already been carried inside by Mrs. Wu and was lying with Grandpa Lin.

Fubao: ????

“Bao’er, tell Grandma, where did you get this?” Grandma Lin asked, grinning ingratiatingly as she held the lingzhi mushroom in her hand.

Grandpa Lin watched her closely.

Cen Hai: …Grandma is acting so strange, it’s scary.

Fubao: Oh—Grandma is scary, I want Mama!

“Ahem, old woman, you’re frightening Bao’er,” Grandpa Lin coughed, pretending to scold.

“Ahem... Bao’er, tell Grandma, where did you find this? If you tell Grandma, tomorrow Dog Egg will take you fishing!” Grandma Lin coaxed, knowing her granddaughter loved outings. Dog Egg had the day off tomorrow.

“Grandma, you promise? Pinky swear!” Fubao’s eyes lit up, her chubby little hand hooking her pinky around Grandma Lin’s.

Grandma Lin, Grandpa Lin, Cen Hai, and Mrs. Wu at the door: …Where did this child learn that?

When Grandma Lin discovered the lingzhi mushroom had nearly become pig feed, she nearly fainted. Thank goodness she was quick-witted; otherwise, such a treasure would have been wasted!

In the end, Grandma Lin stored the lingzhi as the family’s house treasure, and while eating dinner, proudly showed it off—though only to her family, making each swear not to tell a soul.

The Lin family: …A bit over the top!

Next door, the Tian family had been quarreling all afternoon. By evening, things quieted down. The Lin family was used to it; nine days out of ten, it was like this, and they enjoyed the drama.

But the next day, something major happened at the Tian household. After learning the cause, Grandma Lin felt a bit gleeful, followed by a deep sense of dread.