Xiu Jin was furious beyond measure, and mixed into that anger was a hint of grievance.

The anger was directed at the game’s prompts; he still felt that the game was picking on him.

The grievance was like a doting father lovingly sewing his beloved toy bear for his precious daughter—how could his little girl not appreciate it?

“Why 50?” Xiu Jin snapped at the game. He certainly couldn’t blame the kid. “You better give me a reason why you turned my 10 into 50 in an instant, and you still have the nerve to play dead and not say a word?”

After a long while, the system popped up a line: Why -50? You didn’t spend *points?

Xiu Jin: “…….”

This system is insulting him, right? It’s insulting him, isn’t it?

The royal family’s most favored seventh prince, of exalted status, raised from childhood in a honeyed life—no one dared to scold him, not even the emperor wanted to. And now he’s being scolded by a game system.

Xiu Jin wanted to keep arguing with the system, but a flash at the corner of his eye caught a horn icon appearing above Bianbian’s head. He couldn’t ignore it and hurriedly tapped it open. His precious daughter’s soft, syrupy voice sounded.

“Huīhuī, I feel like there’s someone at home I can’t see.”

Xiu Jin was startled, then overjoyed, proudly saying, “As expected of my precious daughter—so clever.”

So quickly she knew that “there was someone” present.

The little girl now knew there were invisible people around; after that, whatever he did, the kid certainly wouldn’t be afraid anymore.

Perfect

The Seventh Prince, in a cheerful mood, was too lazy to keep arguing with the game system; he was going to start grinding intimacy points.

Once he reached the passing threshold, he could buy all the tasty treats for the child.

Baby, wait for Daddy to bring you something to eat

The next second, he heard his little daughter’s nervous, trembling voice: “Will he… will he eat me?”

Xiu Jin “…….”

Is Daddy really that scary?

But the little one only said that one sentence, then fell silent, sat still on the bed with her head down. Xiu Jin couldn’t see Bian Bian’s small face and had no way of knowing what Zaizai was thinking right now.

What to do.

What could he use to undo the huge misunderstanding his precious daughter had about him?

The system, probably afraid Xiu Jin would “act up” again, popped up another prompt: Bian Bian is currently extremely frightened. For her sake, please do not take any actions.

The two words “Don’t” were even capitalized and highlighted in red, making them particularly eye-catching.

Xiu Jin “…….”

Bianbian picked at her little hands, calming the fear in her heart by herself.

She had arrived at the conclusion “there is an invisible person in the house” only after very careful consideration.

Bianbian wasn’t some newborn who understood nothing; a five-year-old already has a unique way of thinking, and Bianbian had always been very clever.

That invisible person had caught her when she fell, then given her a big apple, kept her from seeing Grandpa, and now had even sewn up Huihui’s gray hand.

Bianbian was very frightened.

She felt that the person was watching her right there in the house.

Bian Bian remembered that once he and his grandfather encountered a strange fat uncle on the road. The man gave Bian Bian tasty candies and even tried to hug him, but his grandfather drove him away.

Grandfather said that person was not a good man; some bad people specifically snatch children to eat them, and that fat uncle was one of those child-eating villains.

Giving candy and acting kind was to trick her into trusting him.

So Bian Bian firmly remembered: no stranger would be kind to someone for no reason. If a person suddenly treats her well, they must have ulterior motives.

From this, Bianbian calculated in her head and concluded that the invisible person wanted to eat her.

She didn’t dare to look up or speak; she silently watched her own hands, thinking that if she were eaten, no one would bring food to Grandpa, and he would go hungry.

What could she do to stop that person from eating her?

Bianbian carefully pinched at her hand, and suddenly understood why that person had given her a big apple and forbidden her from giving the apple peel to Grandpa.

He was too thin; he wanted to fatten him up so he’d taste better.

Just like the little chick Bian Bian used to raise.

By luck, last year because of the cold, Lu Yu was taking Bian Bian south and passed a farm; inside it was a mess, with some white bones—obviously there had been a struggle here before.

They thought they wouldn’t find anything, but Bian Bian, curious, crawled into a dog hole, which made Lu Yu break out in a cold sweat, fearing something would happen to Bian Bian, and as a result

When Bian Bian crawled out of the dog hole, her pale little face had become like a kitten’s. As if presenting a treasure, she fished an egg out of the little pocket in front of her and, in a babyish voice, said, “Grandpa, there’s an egg.”

Lu Yu detected signs of life in that egg. Later, with Bian Bian’s daily careful tending—and actually with Lu Yu quietly sustaining it with his supernatural ability—the chick broke out of its shell.

Lu Yu would cherish his granddaughter’s innocence, striving to give her a complete childhood, but he would also slowly teach Bian Bian basic survival knowledge in the course of their life.

For example, chickens are domestic fowl; they are food for humans.

So once the chick grows up, it can be eaten.

When the chick matured, Lu Yu cooked half of it into soup and braised the other half; the grandfather and grandson ate very happily.

Grandpa also said that the reason chicken tastes good is because it’s usually fattened up.

Bianbian picked up the little bear again; after grandpa left, Huihui was her only friend, even if Huihui’s little hands were sewn up so badly by that person.

Holding Huihui, Bianbian wasn’t so scared anymore.

Grandfather had been gone so many days; at first she was very frightened, but bit by bit she grew used to it.

Her little head quickly decided that the man would fatten her up before eating her, so he wouldn’t devour her right away.

She could find a way to escape.

Bian Bian stayed at Grandpa’s side, having gone through many escapes.

Grandpa said that running away was not shameful; it was taking responsibility for one’s life.

Of course, that was too profound—Bian Bian didn’t fully understand it now—but instinctively she knew what “running” meant.

B-level psychics were powerful in the early days of the apocalypse, but by the later stages, when psychics were everywhere, B-levels weren’t as valued; besides, Lu Yu was an elderly psychic.

His physical condition limited the strength of his supernatural ability.

And with Bianbian by his side, Lu Yu usually didn’t choose to confront head-on; fleeing with Bianbian was a common occurrence.

The last sliver of sunset disappeared over the horizon and the room suddenly grew dim. Xiu Jin, who had been watching silently and wondering why his precious daughter hadn’t turned on the light, saw the little girl sitting on the bed move.

She turned and got off the bed, walked to the bedside table, picked up a small lotus-shaped bowl on it with a fine needle in the center — Xiu Jin couldn’t figure out what that thing was for.

It wasn’t until Bian Bian dragged a cardboard box out from under the bed, full of candles, that he realized the little lotus bowl was a candlestick.

Bian Bian took a candle, pushed it firmly into the tip of the holder, then lit it with a lighter and set it on the bedside table, his movements so practiced they made Xiu Jin’s eyes sting.

“…….”

There isn’t even electricity.

Garbage game, torturing my daughter

Then Biān Biān drew all the curtains in the house.

The curtains had been specially replaced by Lù Yǔ; they were sheets of metal steel that could be pulled down with a switch. Once the curtains were lowered, not a sliver of light would escape the room.

The switch was a bit stiff and needed several pulls to engage. Lù Yǔ hadn’t had much time then and couldn’t fine-tune it, so Biān Biān had to pull several times before it would move.

Xiu Jin’s hands itched to reach over and help his precious daughter pull it off, but the system’s warnings and the glaring “50” in the upper right kept reminding him that staying still was the best option.

It was getting dark; he couldn’t scare his precious daughter any more.

Endure.

He had to endure.

Finally, Bianbian drew all the curtains shut; the room was lit only by the faint glow of burning candles, the light dim.

The room was utterly silent.

Bianbian had already grown used to this dim quiet.

Except for that unseen person.

She kept holding the little bear the whole time and never let go — Huīhuī gave her courage.

It’s okay, she cheered herself on.

With Huīhuī there, she wasn’t afraid.

Biānbiān took the candlestick to the bathroom, carefully placed it on the right-hand shelf, set the little bear on it, stood on the small stool, and, by the candlelight, began to wash her face and brush her teeth.

Even if there were an invisible villain who wanted to eat her, that wasn’t a reason to stop washing her face.

Bit by bit she had naturally shifted from “that invisible person” to “the invisible villain.”

Washing, she suddenly stopped, her small face sinking into thought.

If she became dirty and smelly, would the villain, disgusted, refuse to eat her?

But

The little girl, raised by Lu Yu to be tidy, anxiously bit her finger, but in the end yielded to her true nature and still kept herself neat and clean.

Because she remembered that if a villain is hungry and wants to eat her, he won’t care whether she’s dirty or not.

Back when they raised chicks, those chicks were dirty too, yet she and Grandpa still ate them later.

So she couldn’t be so foul-smelling.

After tidying up, Bian Bian returned to the bedroom holding the little bear and the candlestick, placed the candlestick on the bedside table, and hesitated for a moment—she did not blow out the candle.

Previously, to save candles, except for the few nights right after her grandfather had first left when Bian Bian kept the candle burning all night, once she got used to it she would blow out the candle before going to sleep.

That way we can save candles.

But tonight

Bian Bian tightened the grip on the teddy bear again, didn’t blow out the candle, burrowed her small body into the quilt, and pulled the covers over her head.

Bian Bian planned in her mind to first run to the supermarket she had gone to earlier that day; that bad person wouldn’t be able to find her and would leave.

Once he left, she would go back home and this time remember to lock the door so the bad guy couldn’t come in again.

Earlier BianBian had been thinking that he must have gone out today to find food, which is why the bad guy quietly followed her inside.

As she thought about it she grew more troubled: she couldn’t see the bad guy, so how could she be sure he’d gone?

Amid the tangled mix of worry, anxiety, and fear, the child’s natural sleepiness took over; BianBian fell asleep uneasily.

Seeing his precious daughter fall asleep, Xiu Jin began to reflect.

Bian Bian is still a child; children are not like adults. Adults can quickly tell right from wrong, but children cannot.

Therefore, his behavior would not make Bian Bian happy; on the contrary, it would make her feel unsafe, then fearful, and misunderstand his actions.

He had to change his approach.

First, let Bian Bian know that he wouldn’t eat her.

Xiu Jin thought and thought, then had a sudden idea and began looking for paper and pen in Bian Bian’s room; in a corner he found a paintbrush.

But there was no paper.

Xiu Jin “…….”

He intended to head to the living room to get some, but when he reached the door he was blocked by an invisible barrier.

Xiu Jin could only touch the area where Bianbian was located.

For example, if Bianbian was in the bedroom, he could only move things in the bedroom and couldn’t access the living room. If Bianbian was in the living room, he could only touch the living room and couldn’t go to the bedroom or anywhere else.

Even when he could reach something, it was as if he were wearing thick gloves—unable to feel the real sensation.

That’s why he sewed the little bear to look so ugly.

Seventh Prince stubbornly refused to admit his poor skills.

This had to be credited to Third Prince’s virtual projection device; anything could be virtually displayed through the projection. It wasn’t ordinary casting—it was a projection you could immerse yourself in.

With this device he could search in the beloved daughter’s room; otherwise, with only the neural interface, he could only make simple gestures with his fingers.

Fine, no paper then.

Xiu Jin glanced obliquely at the white wall—writing on the wall should be fine.

He was about to write “Bianbian, I’m Daddy” on the wall, but his pen paused; that felt wrong. The little one might wake up tomorrow and still be frightened.

He didn’t want to see the “points deducted” notice again.

“Bianbian little treasure, my name is Xiu Jin. I won’t eat you. This one beside me is me. I want to be friends with you, okay?”

Xiu Jin finished that sentence, then drew himself on the white wall beside it. He spent over ten minutes on it, dissatisfied, then tweaked it for another ten minutes; finally, after half an hour, it was done.

He scrutinized it carefully, then glanced at the pen with contempt—the pen was terrible, only barely managing to capture half of his handsome features. He’d have to make do.

With an introduction and his portrait, his precious daughter wouldn’t be frightened when she woke up, right?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the next second the system popped up a message: “Bian Bian cannot read.”

Xiu Jin: “…”

Xiu Jin: “…………”

Xiu Jin: “………………”