“Phew… finally got that cleared up, let’s go, Lanhua, I’ll show you your room!”
Xu Fei said, getting up to head to the second floor, with Lanhua trailing behind timidly.
Meanwhile, in a bedroom Xu Fei couldn’t see, Lin Qingxue’s face was all smiles.
“Sis, did you hear that? She admitted herself she wants me to be the big sister!”
Bai Feng, lounging on the bed, swinging her snowy white feet, nodded eagerly.
“Yep, yep, Snow Sis, you’re spot on, I’ve always seen you as my big sister anyway!”
“Don’t worry, though Big Bro Fei’s done us a solid, we won’t try to steal him from you!”
Bai Feng’s words instantly put Lin Qingxue at ease.
“You’re right, looks like Xu Fei wasn’t wrong just now, if I’m the big sister, I ought to have some magnanimity, or you’d all think I’m too petty!”
After saying that, Lin Qingxue’s mood lifted considerably, even starting to mull over how to arrange family life once Lanhua settled in.
“Here’s your room for the night, Lanhua, it’s a guest room, so the setup’s pretty basic.”
“But from now on, it can be yours, if you want any decorations or clothes, tomorrow your Snow Sis and the others can take you shopping!”
Xu Fei pointed at the empty wardrobe.
“Oh… got it, Senior.”
“Stop with the ‘Senior’ this, ‘Senior’ that, it feels weird, just call me Big Bro Fei!”
“Mm, Big Bro Fei!”
With Lanhua settled, Xu Fei finally unwound, heading back to his own room.
“Once Lanhua’s been here a few days and gets used to it, I’ll take her to find her real parents, after all, who doesn’t miss home?”
At first, Xu Fei genuinely thought Lin Qingxue had let it slide, but turns out, for him, it was a case of dodging the death penalty but not the punishment.
For the next couple of days, he was banished to sleep alone in the study.
Xu Fei trudged into the study, flopped onto the bed, and was just drifting off when thunder rumbled outside, followed by a downpour.
“What’s with this damn freak weather, it’s been raining like crazy for days!”
Xu Fei sighed, got up, shut the window, and drew the curtains.
Then he noticed a faint stir at his door.
“Hm? Lanhua, why aren’t you sleeping in your room?”
Opening the door, he found Lanhua crouched there, her little face etched with fear.
“I… ah! I’m scared…”
As she spoke, another thunderclap boomed, making Lanhua yelp.
“Uh… so back at Jinguang Temple, what’d you do when it rained and thundered at night?”
“Jinguang Temple? Back there, I had Master, every night she’d chant scriptures and tap the wooden fish in the main hall till dawn, now without that sound, I’m kinda thrown off…”
Hearing this, Xu Fei was stumped, so he opened the door wider to let Lanhua in.
They lay on the bed, thankfully big enough, Xu Fei keeping a deliberate distance.
Little Lanhua tossed and turned beside him, unable to sleep.
“Ah! Right! Nearly forgot this!”
Xu Fei grabbed his phone, found a Buddhist chanting audio online, and played it out loud.
