As expected, and yet unexpectedly, nothing happened.
Fan Li had planned to swap back with Su Yi and then ask Su Shiye for Xing Hai’s life pearl two thousand years later. However, the experiment with the second bottle of the reverse soul-swapping potion failed as well.
Following that, she searched the library like a madwoman for books on military-grade mimicry life. To her disappointment, she could only find detailed descriptions of high-level mimicry octopuses: most of an octopus's neurons are not in its brain but in its tentacles, allowing them to react much faster than creatures whose brain neurons dominate. When a mimicry octopus is being tracked, it can disguise itself as a lionfish or the fiercest predator, the barracuda; or it can bury itself in the sand, mimicking a peacock mantis shrimp, a starfish, or a sea snake. After life arcanists modify natural mimicry octopuses, they can make them simulate the appearance of the Sea Race. The duration of this simulation is short; not only is it impossible to share consciousness with another person, but the consciousness itself cannot even be modified. Furthermore, once it simulates a member of the Sea Race, it becomes a physical, living creature, unlike Xing Hai, who could transform into a beam of arcane light and be stored in a pearl.
It made sense. This likely fell under the highest military secrets of the Light Sea; she certainly wouldn't find what she wanted in a public library. She called Su Shiye several more times, asking if he was certain there was no way to extend Xing Hai’s lifespan. The answer remained the same: "There is no way to extend it. I can only create a new mimicry life. However, the memories you shared with Xing Hai will not be preserved."
"It’s fine if they aren't preserved. Can you make another one?" Fan Li said, refusing to give up. "I talked to him about this. If we were ever separated one day, we would just pursue each other all over again..."
"I know," Su Shiye interrupted her. "As long as you are willing to work for the Holy City Party, I can grant this meaningless request. But I must tell you, this kind of mimicry life must exist as an attachment to an aetherial body. No matter how many Xing Hais are recreated, all of his sensations will be fed back to me in real-time."
"Can't you choose not to listen or watch?"
"No. When the Lord of Aether created this body of mine, he only intended to build a war machine. Therefore, the link between the host and the mimicry life is only suited for military espionage. It cannot become the romantic doll you desire."
"Then can you tell me where the real Xing Hai went?"
"He is already dead."
The expected answer. Fan Li had sensed this long ago.
"Then, Lord Su Shiye, where was the real Xing Hai’s hometown? What was his sister’s name? What was his real family like... and all those things he didn't tell me? Can you tell me?"
In truth, she didn't know why she was so obsessed with the traces of Xing Hai’s existence. Even if she found them, what then? That wouldn't be *her* Xing Hai.
Su Shiye was silent for a long time. She could only hear the faint sound of flowing water over the phone; his breathing was so steady he seemed to be lost in thought.
"Lord Su Shiye?"
"The real Xing Hai... you wouldn't like him. Stop looking into it and look forward." With that, Su Shiye hung up.
So, Xing Hai really only had 173 hours left, and Su Shiye had no way to extend that time. Whether he was telling the truth or not, the result was the same.
In an instant, Fan Li completely lost her sense of purpose. Before this, she had believed she had fallen in love with life in the Light Sea and had begun to form new dreams in this world. But now she realized that all of it was built on the premise of having Xing Hai. She had stayed for him in the first place; now that he was gone, she had no desire to remain.
After receiving the call from Su Shiye, she simply asked him to return the pearl containing Xing Hai’s life to her, then hung up listlessly.
At school, her classmates knew that Fan Li had called Xing Hai away for a private talk, after which neither of them had returned to Saint Yegana with the group. Everyone had assumed they had reconciled, but after the trip to the sinkhole ended and Xing Hai failed to return to class, new and strange rumors began to spread—that Xing Hai was skipping class just to avoid Fan Li.
Of course, the original source of the rumors was Ryuka. She made several cynical remarks about Fan Li and Xing Hai, but Fan Li could no longer find the energy to be angry. She simply lived her days in a daze.
With final exams approaching and the deadline for her marine biology paper looming, she couldn't write a single word.
In the past, she had always been certain of one thing: study must be balanced with rest; continuous battle was unsustainable. If she used the weekend to rest, her spirits would be high by Buk-day, and she would wake up early, full of drive to complete all her tasks. This drive would dwindle as the work week progressed, and by Sephi-day, she would be so exhausted she'd want to flip her desk, her efficiency dropping below 50%. So, every time, she would think: *Well, there are still two weekend days left, I'll just finish it on Mise-day or Jante-day.*
But when the time meant for rest actually arrived, her work efficiency plummeted to 0%.
She slumped over her desk and slept for a while. In a half-awake state, a small event from the past resurfaced.
In Luoya, also during the final paper season, Fan Li sat listlessly at her desk, facing a pile of books and papers. Her tail swayed occasionally, sometimes coiling like a cinnamon roll, sometimes stretching straight, and sometimes hooking around the desk leg like a snake, but her face remained pressed against the table, motionless. Meanwhile, her boyfriend, who possessed incredible focus and had finished his paper long ago by staying up late, was lying comfortably in the chair behind her reading a novel, occasionally letting out a soft chuckle—his "aggro" meter was maxed out.
"Is it that good?" Fan Li turned around, looking at Xing Hai expressionlessly.
"Hurry up and write your paper. We'll go out once you're done."
Fan Li had no choice but to face her desk again.
Knowing Xing Hai was waiting for her made her even more anxious. In her panic, she was like a headless fly, not knowing where to start. Finally, she managed to find a bit of inspiration and excitedly wrote over ten pages.
By the time she had over-completed her task, it was late. Her entire body felt like it was falling apart, and her tail was so numb it didn't feel like her own. She stretched, turned around, and said happily, "Xing Hai, I'm done! We can..."
Xing Hai had already fallen asleep.
She immediately silenced herself, got up quietly from her chair, and swam softly to his side. Resting her hands on the edge of his lounge chair, she watched him intently.
*So handsome...*
Fan Li smiled like a fangirl and poked his cheek with her finger.
*The more I look, the better he looks...*
She rested her head on her arms, admiring her boyfriend's sleeping face with intoxication.
*My Xing Hai is just explosively good-looking. He looks like an angel when he sleeps. His skin is amazing too—so fair and translucent without even using skincare products...* Then, she leaned forward slightly, opened her mouth a bit, and like a suction cup, pressed against the skin of his cheek. A bunch of bubbles gurgled out from the gap between her mouth and his face, and then, with a "pop" sound, she broke the seal, nearly dying from her own suppressed laughter.
Xing Hai opened one eye, looking at her with sleepy vision, his voice lazy: "Hmm, Lili, did you finish your paper?"
"Yeah, I was super efficient just now. I wrote a whole..."
He clearly wasn't actually asking a question and didn't expect her to answer. Before she could finish, he cupped the back of her head and blocked the rest of her words with a long, gentle kiss. Then, he wrapped his arm around her waist, using the water's buoyancy to pull her onto him, kissing her with focused, meticulous care.
The memory ended as her consciousness became clearer. Fan Li looked through the window at the dormitory opposite hers. Except for Xing Hai’s room, almost every light in the building was on.
Oh, right. Xing Hai was gone.
In the future she shared with Xing Hai, there was now only her.
Fan Li thought she would wail and cry, but since returning, she had felt almost no sadness. It was just that her happiness had vanished at the same time. So, this was what it meant for the heart to be more dead than death itself...
She stood up numbly, swam to the school library, found books on transformation potions, and went to the lab to extract the transformation components of Su Yi’s potion. The next day, she went to the market to buy the materials and brewed an identical transformation potion, but she omitted the memory-erasing part.
From that day on, she stopped taking Su Yi’s medicine, intending to find a way to change back into Fan Li through Su Yi’s memories. Even without having seen Su Yi’s past, she knew this woman had a story. Once she recovered over two hundred years of memories, her individual self might be swallowed up, replaced by Su Yi, or she might lose track of who she even was.
But now, she didn't even care about that.
Starting from this day, the original host's memories began to pour into Fan Li’s life bit by bit.
***
**Memory Fragment I**
*(Since these memories are obtained from a first-person perspective, the following recollection chapters will be described in the first person.)*
Aunt Mise and I left the Bodhi Sea far behind. After traveling for two days and seventeen hours by vessel, we arrived at the Starry Sea to begin a new life.
The inside and outside of our cabin were printed with a star emblem entwined with a fish tail—the symbol of the Mise Clan—but the scenery outside the window was utterly foreign to me. I pointed outside in confusion and said, "Aunt Mise, look, it's so strange! There are so many trees outside, and they're all soaked in water!"
"This is the most beautiful part of Phili Town. In all of the Light Sea, this is the only place with an underwater forest, and you can only see it during the four-month high tide period each year. Even in the Bodhi Sea or Saint Yegana, we can only see a single tree in the ocean, not a vast forest like this. Is it pretty?"
I cupped my face, grinning like a silly fangirl. "So pwe-tty!"
"Then is our little Fan Li looking forward to living here?"
"No!" I flicked my little tail hard. "The underwater forest isn't as pretty as the Musk Bell Valley in the Bodhi Sea. I want to go back! I want Sister Xun-yue!"
"Although Sister Xun-yue isn't here, there’s a brother waiting for you—a very handsome brother. Don't you want to see him?"
"A handsome brother?" I felt my eyes light up for a second, but I quickly lowered my head again. "No, no matter how handsome he is, he can't be as pretty as Sister Xun-yue! And brothers definitely bully people!"
"Alright now, didn't Aunt Mise already tell you on the way here? Aunt Mise has very important things to do and can't continue taking care of you. You must treat the Starry Sea as your home and this family in Phili Town as your own. From now on, they will be your father, mother, and brother, okay?"
I didn't want to accept it at all. I had cried and made a scene before, but my old tricks of acting cute and pitiful didn't work on Aunt Mise anymore. Even Sister Mise Xun-yue told me that for my own good, I had to move away.
"By the way, Fan Li," Aunt Mise stroked my head, "remember, starting today, you have a surname. If anyone asks what your surname is, say it's Xing, okay?"
"Xing Fan Li... that sounds so bad."
"It’s clearly very cute."
I was an orphan and had never known who my parents were. Aunt Mise gave me the lovely name "Fan Li." I originally thought my surname was Fan, but in the Light Sea dictionary, no such surname existed.
I forgot to mention, most kids my age couldn't even read, let alone check a dictionary. I knew from a young age that I was a little smarty-pants. For such a smart child to face the fate of being abandoned was truly, truly tragic.
The vessel passed through the underwater forest and stopped in front of a two-story villa surrounded by coral reefs. From a distance, I saw a couple waiting at the door to greet us.
When the vessel stopped in front of them, Aunt Mise picked me up from my seat and swam out of the hatch. The couple both looked relieved.
"Come, Fan Li, this is your new home. They are your father and mother." Aunt Mise pointed at the couple.
Meeting the woman’s gentle gaze, my face flushed. I turned my head away and buried it in the crook of Aunt Mise’s neck.
"Our daughter is shy." The woman laughed, her voice as gentle as her expression. "Lili, don't be shy. From now on, you are our own daughter and our son’s own sister."
Then, I quietly turned my head to peek at them.
The man was handsome and cold, tall and upright, with neat, silver-gray short hair. His tail had distinct, powerful muscle lines; he was likely of the Blue Shark Race. The woman had beautiful features and a refined, gentle temperament. Thick golden hair covered her back, and she had a glowing Radiance Fin—like Aunt Mise, she was a member of the Sea God Race.
Huh?
This couple... the racial difference was so huge?
A Sea God and a Hunter could get married? How did I remember Sister Xun-yue chatting with so many Sea God sisters about how the Sea God Race couldn't marry outside their kind...
Before I could think further, Aunt Mise carried me to them. I really liked this Sea God auntie, so when she reached out to hold me, I didn't resist much and sat obediently on her arm.
"So good." The Sea God auntie stroked my head. "Hubby, look, our daughter is so beautiful. Xing Hai will definitely like her."
"Hopefully. It’s just that Xing Hai usually plays with boys; we’ll have to help them bond," the Shark uncle said.
Then, I followed the three elders into the villa’s living room.
The living room wasn't very large, but there was purple-red coral grass on the dining table, dolls of a family of three on the TV cabinet, dancing staghorn algae and fresh sea grapes on the coffee table, and a hand-sewn image of a sunrise over the sea on the curtains. Not a single bottle of drink in the wine cabinet was expired... Every detail had been carefully designed and was full of life. It seemed the Sea God auntie really liked plants and was very domestic.
Everything in the room was tidy, except for a messy pile of deep-sea battleship toys on the table. The Sea God auntie led me over and tucked them under the table. The Shark uncle came over and lifted my other hand. I caught sight of a mirror nearby. In the mirror was a little red-haired girl with two braids. Her face was round, but her chin was pointed. Her hair was as frizzy as if it had been hit by a bomb, and her blue eyes were so large you could hardly see the rest of her face. Her blue tail was fat and short, and her small tail fin flapped rapidly with a *patter-patter* sound, like a little bee. Being lifted by the couple at the same time, she looked like she was being held up on a cross; the scene was somewhat hilarious.
Clearly, this was the adorable me.
"Xing Hai, Xing Hai, come quickly! Your sister is here!" the Sea God auntie called out.
My attention was immediately drawn to the stairwell. With the sound of splashing water, a *thump-thump-thump* of a tail hitting the handrail came from the stairs. A young boy rushed down, looked at the girl by the door, and froze.
His tail was a miniature version of the Shark uncle’s, but he had the ears of the Sea God Race. His face looked very much like his mother’s—fair and elegant, with a tiny beauty mark on one side of his nose. Just as Aunt Mise had said, he was a handsome brother. However, while this Xing Hai’s looks were handsome, his temper was not.
I looked at him curiously and blinked. He wasn't charmed like all the adults usually were; instead, he frowned with a look of disdain. "Sister?"
The Shark uncle nodded. "Yes, this is your sister, Fan Li."
I swung my tail back and forth like a swing, my tail fin still maintaining its high-frequency bee-like flapping. The big eyes of the little girl in the mirror crinkled into two crescent moons. "Xing Hai, Xing Hai, I'm Fan Li!"
Little Xing Hai looked as if his intelligence had been insulted; he merely looked up at the ceiling impatiently.
The Sea God auntie lowered her head and whispered, "Fan Li, he is your brother, Xing Hai. This is Papa, Xing Hui. I am Mama, Hebe."
My eyes widened, my mouth forming a perfect circle before I pursed my lips tight as if I’d made a huge mistake. I nodded vigorously twice and turned back to smile at Xing Hai again. "Brother!"
However, Xing Hai didn't seem to like me much. He quickly grabbed his battleship toys from under the table, wanting to go back upstairs. But he had only swum two steps before Papa Xing called him back. "Xing Hai, your sister just arrived. What are you doing? Sit down."
Xing Hai had no choice but to sit obediently.
In the Light Sea, a child’s surname and social class are determined by the parent with the higher status in the family. For example, if a mixed-race child takes the father’s surname, the mother is usually of the common Ocean Race. But in the Xing family, the mother was clearly a Sea God, yet the child took the father’s surname. How strange...
So, I boldly voiced my confusion.
"That’s because Papa is a very great soldier. Compared to Papa, Mama has nothing but her bloodline," my new mama pinched my cheek. "Lili is really so smart, knowing so much at such a young age. Your brother will definitely like you too."
I liked my new mama. Since she said my brother would like me, then he definitely would.
She led me to Xing Hai and chatted with the new papa and Aunt Mise for a while before taking Aunt Mise to the kitchen. Then, someone called the new papa’s phone, leaving only us two children in the living room.
Without parental supervision, Xing Hai completely ignored my existence, playing with his toys by himself. I propped my short elbows on the table, cupping my face in my hands, watching him play quietly. Fearing I would disturb him, my tail stopped its "bee-flap" and lay flat against the pink sandstone floor like a dead bat’s wings. Seeing how seriously he was playing, I leaned in closer to observe, only to be startled back by his glaring light-blue eyes.
*Waaa, even as kids, the Hunter Race is terrifying!!*
"Watched enough?" Xing Hai said fiercely.
I shook my head obediently, decided not to be afraid of him, and forced myself closer to stare at his toys. He glared at me a few more times, but it was useless. So, for the rest of the time, he played by himself, letting me keep my quiet vigil beside him.
I was a very self-aware baby. Not only did I know I was smart, but I also knew I was cute. Therefore, on my first day living in the Xing house, I wasn't worried at all about not getting along with my brother in the future.
But facts proved me wrong. This was the year 24500 of the Burning Era. I was 19, and Xing Hai was 26. Until ten years later when we started primary school, this brother was a "jerk" who was gentle to me in front of the neighbor kids but would snatch my toys away in private at the drop of a hat.
But I wasn't afraid of him at all, because I had my own trump card that always kept me undefeated.
And that was: telling on him to our parents.
***End of Memory Fragment I***
This memory left Fan Li in a state of complete bewilderment.
Could it be that this body wasn't actually Su Yi’s, and Su Shiye had made a mistake? No, that was impossible; there had been so much evidence before...
Or was Su Shiye actually Xing Hai? That hypothesis was too insane.
There were too many things she couldn't understand. For instance, the original host in the memory was named Fan Li and her brother was named Xing Hai, not Su Yi and Su Shiye. Xing Hai’s mother was actually a Sea God, not an Ocean Race member. The original host was raised in the Bodhi Sea by a woman of the Mise Clan and was close with Mise Xun-yue...
Fan Li had always thought Su Yi had chosen the name "Fan Li" for her new identity simply because it was a homophone for her scapegoat "Fan Li." But what was going on now? Fan Li and Fan Li—was it just a coincidence? Or did the original host pick her *because* of the name "Fan Li"?
The more she thought, the more her head ached. She simply let her mind go blank for a day, waiting for another day to pass and for new memories to arrive.
***
**Memory Fragment II**
According to my family, I grew very slowly. Usually, members of the Ocean Race were already quite large at my age, but I still looked like a malnourished, pitiful thing, making them worry about my health. But I felt great, jumping around every day like a dog, with no ill symptoms.
Ers County in the Starry Sea was the county with the most Hunters, and Phili Town was the stronghold of the Shark Race. More than half of our neighbors were Sharks; I was an outlier among them. In my twenty-ninth year, my parents sent me to my brother’s school—Phili First Elementary. Only then did I learn the meaning of a "sea of sharks"...
As a malnourished member of the Ocean Race being thrown into such an environment, you can imagine how much I was trembling. Hiding behind Mama, I entered the school shakily. Under the intense scrutiny of the Hunter children, I crossed the playground and the flag-raising platform and entered the first-grade classroom, still trembling.
As soon as I sat down, two Shark boys came over to grab my ear fins, saying how could a girl wear "ingredients" on her head. Their words made my ear fins actually hurt; I felt like a knife had been driven into my heart. Then, I held my head, trying to shake them off, but they were too strong; I couldn't do it at all.
"Do you have a death wish? This girl is General Xing’s adopted daughter," a Shark girl said.
"Xing Hai’s sister?!"
"Oh my God of the Oda Clan! Sister, I was wrong! I shouldn't have said your noble ear fins were ingredients!"
Still mentioning ingredients. Another knife to the heart.
On the first day of class, besides meeting a bunch of "cute" little companions and hearing my classmates explain the meaning of the word "exam" with expressions like they were telling ghost stories, my biggest gain was seeing another side of my brother. Before, I only thought he was fierce and annoying, but now I discovered that the name "Xing Hai" could be used as an amulet. No matter who wanted to bully me, as long as I shouted "My brother is Xing Hai," it was as effective as shouting "Begone, evil spirit" at a monster.
In the world of the Hunters, I also learned one thing: girls were braver than boys. Because the boys all looked at my brother with fear in their eyes. But when my brother swam across the playground with a group of boys, there were always a few girls behind them, shouting in unison with sweet voices, "Xing~ Hai~ Hai~"
My brother was truly my brother; he didn't give them a single glance. But he did give *me* a glance—our eyes met, and then he gave me a cold glare.
"Ah, it seems this sister doesn't have a very high status at home. How pitiful..." some girls said behind me.
Dammit.
"Does this mean we can keep calling her ear fins 'ingredients' in the future?"
Critical hit x3.
Goddammit, I was so mad.
I flipped over and used my little tail to kick away a cluster of vine-like seaweed being farmed from top to bottom. As a result, the base of my tail fin got hooked by the seaweed. I struggled a few times but couldn't shake it off; I was even starting to get dragged away. I flailed my tail in a panic to rush forward, but the counter-force grew stronger, and I was yanked back. With a *splash*, I flew upward, did a dozen centrifugal rotations, and then got my head and hands tangled in the seaweed. I fell back down, hanging upside down like a piece of dried salted fish, swaying in the water.
I no longer cared what kind of laughter erupted from the crowd. I gave up on life.
My brother swam over slowly, crossed his arms, and looked up at me. "So much trouble on the very first day of class?"
"..." I swayed with the current for a long time with a blank expression. "Xing Hai, you’d better not talk to me. I have a huge temper right now. I want to kill someone."
He let out a snort and actually turned around and swam away.
Because of that traitor Xing Hai, the classmates soon knew that the sibling bond between me and my brother was very weak. After all, I was a "picked-up" child; everyone understood. They kept talking about me behind my back until the first exam ended, and only then did I wash away the shame.
"First place in our class, and also first in the grade: Fan Li, 300 points. Sea Language 150, Mathematics 150."
From the moment the homeroom teacher announced the results, my image transformed. Suddenly, I had many fanboys and fangirls. The boys who had hit me with the "ear fin ingredient" critical hit were promoted directly to "lick-spittles." But I knew they just wanted to copy my paper during exams.
As time at school went on, I slowly learned that in the Light Sea, there were many children without surnames, almost all of whom were "egg-born outcasts." Once, while chatting with the girls in class, they mentioned that so-and-so in class was an egg-born outcast and how pitiful it was. Remembering that I used to have no surname, there was a high probability that I was an egg-born outcast too. So, I told them my thoughts.
"Ah, no wonder your brother bullies you," a female classmate said sympathetically. "Xing Hai is really too much. He can't even have children; what right does he have to bully you?"
That day was also the first time I learned that there was a biological term called "reproductive isolation." When a Sea God and a non-Sea God of the opposite sex mate, the child produced is called a "Sea God Hybrid." Sea God Hybrids cannot have children. My brother was the product of my parents ignoring reproductive isolation to force a union.
For some reason, even though I often disliked my brother in private, as soon as someone else said something bad about him, I felt very, very angry. From then on, whenever someone mentioned his name, I couldn't help but eavesdrop.
The fact that my brother was a Sea God Hybrid was no secret. Most of the boys in school admired him, but there were also some despicable people who spoke ill of him. Once, a Shark boy whose crush had been rejected by my brother went around talking about him being a hybrid. He said such nasty things that I angrily went to refute him, saying he was just jealous that girls liked my brother.
"Pfft, junior, jealous of Xing Hai? There’s no need for that. After all, no one will ever marry your brother, because..." He looked back at the boys around him and suddenly burst into malicious laughter. "Hahahaha!!"
"I think even if you say that, the girl you like still likes my brother. She will never like you."
I hated myself; I had been so good at poking people’s sore spots since I was little. That boy indeed became enraged, swinging his fist as he came toward me. I zipped to the classroom door and made a face at him. "A boy’s jealousy is so terrifying."
"I’m jealous? Jealous of you two siblings?! A brother who’ll die without heirs, and a sister who’s egg-born fish bait!" He was furious.
To be honest, I had quickly accepted the setting that I was an egg-born outcast, so I felt nothing about that remark. But the phrase "die without heirs" being used on my brother... for the first time in my thirty years of life, I felt a rage that threatened to burn my chest to ashes.
Then, the two of us engaged in a two-minute shouting match at the door.
"The girl you like wouldn't want you even if she were to die without heirs!" finally, I shouted in front of the door. "Because you are a bad person! Your character and genes are both too inferior!"
The boy’s pupils turned into vertical slits. He clenched his fists and rushed at me. I continued to hide inside the classroom, but he seemed to have lost his head and intended to enter our class directly...
I ran in circles around the desks in the classroom. My classmates were also frightened by the older boy’s impulsiveness. Just then, a *whoosh* of water sounded, and a lightning-fast figure blocked the classroom door. Before we could see what happened, that boy had already been punched to the ground.
"Fan Li, come out here," my brother’s voice rang out coldly.
The boy looked up and saw that the person in front of him was Xing Hai himself. He didn't resist at all, apologized frantically, and fled in a panic.
I knew I had caused trouble. With my head hanging low, I followed my brother as he swam slowly to a deserted coral reef.
Seeing his back, I wanted to speak several times but didn't have the courage. I didn't want to talk to him about his bloodline at all.
"Never respond directly to other people's hatred. It solves nothing."
I had expected to be yelled at, but his tone was surprisingly calm. However, the calmer he was, the sadder I felt. Rubbing my eyes, I tugged at the corner of his clothes pitifully. "But I don't like it when people say that about you. It’s so unfair..."
"What they said are facts. There’s nothing unfair about it."
I had still held a sliver of unrealistic hope, but after receiving such a certain answer from my brother, I could no longer hold back my tears. Large droplets flowed into the sea. "But, Brother... I don't want you to have no children in the future. I want you to be like everyone else, to have a family, to marry a beautiful wife, and have cute babies..."
"Don't fantasize about things that can't happen. Papa told me long ago that being a hero has nothing to do with reproduction. As a man, there are many other things I can do. For example, upholding justice, academic research, protecting the country..." At this point, he turned around, looking at me against the light, a tenderness in his eyes I had never seen before. "And, protecting my family."
"Fa-family?" I pointed at myself. "Does that include me?"
"Papa doesn't need my protection, and Mama has Papa to protect her. Who do you think I’m talking about? So stupid." My brother used his thumb and index finger to give my forehead a sharp flick.
***
**4.3 Mini Theater**
Fan Li: "Shanniu did a poll in the group. Question: Regarding Su Shiye, which description do you think fits him better? Pick one of two. 1. Overbearing CEO. 2. Tender, romantic bad boy. The result is..."
Su Shiye: "1."
Fan Li: "It’s 2. = = Where do you get the confidence to think you’re a 1..."
***
