Beginning with the Ubume Bird

Chapter 357: Chapter 4 Unprecedented Crisis

Chapter 357: Chapter 4 Unprecedented Crisis

“`

Doot~

Doot~

Groggy-eyed, Cha Xiaodao sat up immediately, he picked up the phone on the bedside table and trapped it between his head and shoulder, “Hello?”

“You there?”

It was Li Yan’s voice.

“Yeah, I finished days before you.”

Cha Xiaodao yawned, “It’s past two in the morning, what can’t wait until tomorrow?”

“Come out for me, I’ve screwed something up.”

Cha Xiaodao scratched his head vigorously, “What’s so serious? Where are you now?”

“You come, I’ll give you an address.”

Half an hour later, Cha Xiaodao, with his sleeves tucked in, walked up to the park bench and sat down beside Li Yan.

The cold wind hit their faces, and under the street lamp, two men sat on the bench—Cha Xiaodao with legs crossed, smoking, and Li Yan with a heavy expression.

“Quite a haul this time, huh?”

Although their ratings hadn’t changed, Cha Xiaodao and Li Yan were after all teammates bound by a standard contract; much of their data was shared openly. Not to mention anything else, but the threatening purple-red hue on Li Yan now made Cha Xiaodao realize that the gap between him and Li Yan had widened a bit more.

He had thought that with such a big gain from this solo mission, he could catch up at last.

“I say, did you cozy up to that strong woman in the fruit this time?”

Cha Xiaodao joked sourly.

Li Yan looked gloomy and didn’t respond to Cha Xiaodao’s joke, “I don’t have a place to stay now.”

“…”

The two men looked at each other for a few seconds.

“What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“You had a fight with her? Over what?”

“Originally, everything was…”

The time shifted back six hours.

Having completed the settlement, Li Yan opened his eyes and found himself back in his bedroom.

It was almost ten in the evening, the living room bathed in a soft orange light, and Li Yan could hear the deep singing. He remembered it was the vinyl record he had bought for Lady Dan, by The Carpenters from America in the seventies. However, when he bought it, Lady Dan seemed distracted and not very fond of it.

Li Yan checked his phone calendar and realized that with the strengthening from this settlement, and including the five days he spent in the South Seas, when converted back, it had been about a week at home.

He pushed the door handle and stepped out, the bolt turning with a clear sound.

The record player spun its black disc, and Lady Dan was curled up in a cocoon of blankets on the couch, her ten toes peeking out, arms hugging her knees, and sipping gently from a hot cup.

The TV was playing Tom and Jerry.

Hearing the door, Lady Dan gently lifted her head.

“I’m back,” said Li Yan as he descended the stairs.

“Finished with the fruit, so you spent a few days in the South Seas?”

Lady Dan pointed to the table, where porridge covered with cling film and several homemade dishes sat.

By the looks of it, they had been made around noon.

“Yeah, had some other things to handle.”

“Still worried about your daughter, huh?”

Lady Dan blew on her cup, her upper body gently rocking back and forth within the cocoon of blankets.

“Haha.”

Li Yan changed his shoes and naturally moved to sit on the couch.

“Hey, wait,”

Lady Dan suddenly stopped Li Yan, her face flushing red.

“Ah, what’s wrong?”

Li Yan had never seen Lady Dan with this girlish demeanor since he met her.

“You, you go upstairs and wait a bit,” Lady Dan said more and more quietly, barely audible by the end, “I haven’t changed clothes.”

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Li Yan blinked, turned to the dining table to serve himself some porridge, then casually shook his head, “No need, you look good in anything.”

“You go up first.”

“`

Lady Dan, enveloped in a duvet, showed only her face, speaking weakly.

Li Yan, holding a bowl of porridge, nodded, “Okay.”

About five minutes later, Li Yan knocked on the door at the stair turning.

“Ready?”

“Come down.”

Lady Dan replied crisply. She had tied her hair into a ponytail and slipped on a long-sleeved white sweater, which made her already tall figure seem even taller. The softness of her eyebrows added a touch of prettiness, contrasting starkly with the fluffy duvet on the sofa.

A warm current suddenly surged in Li Yan’s heart on the stairs.

Although their relationship had no substantial progress up to now, it was just one final push short of breakthrough.

“What’s the matter, come on down?”

Li Yan drank the last of the porridge in his bowl and descended the stairs.

Living together these days had deepened Li Yan’s understanding of Lady Dan; she disliked flashy things, preferring white and blue. She wasn’t fond of jewelry but liked high heels and handbags.

She enjoyed the melodious music, but when it came to playing an instrument, she’d pick drums or an electric guitar.

She loved watching old cartoons from MGM and Shanghai Animation Film Studio, like Tom and Jerry and A Chinese Tall Story. In particular, once when watching Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, Lady Dan, playing a fierce Mountain God, wept for over five minutes at the sight of Nezha drawing his sword to commit suicide.

Last month, Li Yan saw an online store that customized plush sweaters and got himself one with a yellow SpongeBob pattern. When he asked if Lady Dan wanted a Sandy Cheeks one, she promptly refused and chose a snow child design instead.

The seemingly gentle and charming Lady Dan actually had a quite childlike side.

But Li Yan, oh Li Yan, he was in the dark, unable to predict. How could such a bright future have been ruined by his own hands?

“Li Yan, I can feel that you’ve changed from before.”

At the dinner table, Li Yan and Lady Dan sat opposite each other.

Li Yan put some food into his bowl, “What do you mean?”

“Tianjia Buddhism says, ‘A fish doesn’t know water until it’s gone; a ghost doesn’t know the earth until it’s left. A dragon sees not all things until it ascends.'”

“What does that mean?”

“If you were a fish in water before, now you are a dragon amongst all things.”

Lady Dan stood up, bent over slightly, and touched Li Yan’s wrist with her fingertips.

“I thought the Fushan Curse would need to stay buried in you for a year and a half. I didn’t expect your progress to be so fast. Now, with your ability, you no longer need this thing’s protection. If it stays too long, it will start to hinder the integration of your spirit and body.”

Li Yan didn’t take it to heart, understanding the implication that Lady Dan had placed a protective charm on him in the past; it wasn’t a bad thing.

Guided by Lady Dan’s index and little fingers, Li Yan felt something unusual and focused his attention subconsciously. A blue silk thread emerged from his wrist and extended to Lady Dan’s little finger.

Lady Dan gave a gentle smile and slightly lifted her pinky.

Unexpectedly, the blue thread snapped and fell onto the table with a snap.

Lady Dan seemed lost for a moment.

Li Yan, who was heartily enjoying his meal, noticed Lady Dan’s expression and stopped eating.

“What’s wrong?”

“…”

Lady Dan lowered her head and flicked her hand, and the blue threads vanished without a trace. She picked up her chopsticks and concealed her expression behind her rice bowl, “It’s nothing, let’s eat.”

“What happened?”

Li Yan put down his bowl.

Lady Dan didn’t speak, just continued to eat her vegetables.

Li Yan lost his appetite and sat beside her, feeling at a loss and suddenly anxious.

…

“So, you were kicked out?”

Cha Xiaodao hugged his arms.

“Right now I’m not worried about not having a place to stay; I’m afraid she’ll leave in anger and never see me again.”

Li Yan furrowed his brow and massaged his temples.

“What exactly did you do?”

Cha Xiaodao was straightforward.

Li Yan looked at him expressionlessly.

He looked back at Li Yan, equally clueless.

“…”

Cha Xiaodao turned his head away, exasperated, then slapped his thigh, “Brother’s in trouble, how could I not care? You can stay at my place first. Wait for Lady Dan to cool down, and you can go back.”