Beauty and the Beasts

Wen Lin dashed over and propped her onto his back, shaking his body to stabilize her before running downstairs happily.

Wen Ze was working on his assignments in the living room. Now that their younger sister had found out about their identities, they didn’t have to hide it from her anymore.

Bai Zhenbei went downstairs while riding Brother Lin. Seeing Brother Ze, who was more reserved and quiet compared to Brother Lin using his claws to write, she blinked in disbelief.

“Howl~” Wen Ze raised his head and greeted his younger sister. After writing the last stroke, he also stood up and ran over to them.

“Brother Ze,” Bai Zhenbei called softly. After knowing that the older brother she was riding on could turn into his human form, she couldn’t sit still anymore and slid down from Wen Lin’s back.

“Howl~” [Let’s go and play together.]

Wen Lin’s voice was clearly trying to express this.

Bai Zhenbei shook her head. “Where’s my daddy?”

“Howl~” [I’ll call him for you.]

Wen Ze replied, then climbed up the stairs agilely. It wasn’t long before he arrived at the building used for work and patted on the door with his paw.

The door was quickly opened and Curtis, dressed in leisurewear and with his red hair tied up in a ponytail, walked out. “Huahua’s awake? I’ll go cook for you.”

Bai Zhenbei quickly said, “Give me money, I want to eat outside. I want to eat xiaolongbao[1]. I’ll go to my classmate’s house to do my homework, too.”

“That’s fine, too.” Curtis was used to being sluggish and decisively took out his wallet, handing it to Wen Ze.

Wen Ze smiled and took the wallet downstairs. Bai Zhenbei received the wallet from him and then immediately picked up her bag on the living room’s sofa, stuffed the little snake wrapped around her arm into it, then ran out.

“Howl—”

The tiger brothers exchanged a glance, feeling so bored that they could only go back to working on their assignments.

…

Bai Qingqing only came home carrying big bags of ingredients with her son in the afternoon when it was close to lunchtime. Yet, Bai Zhenbei returned even later than they did, coming back only right before dinner time.

Bai Qingqing was quite happy to see that she could play with her classmate for so long. Bai Zhenbei was actually a little antisocial and would only appear a little more lively in front of her. She didn’t even speak much in front of her daddy and uncles, and Bai Qingqing also didn’t see her interacting much with her classmates.

Therefore, when Bai Qingqing heard that her daughter had gone to her classmate’s home to do homework, she felt quite consoled.

However, on the second day, Bai Zhenbei went out to play for the entire day too.

Bai Qingqing was worried about her and talked to her a little during dinner.

On the third day, Bai Zhenbei didn’t go out. However, it was as if she wasn’t home at all. She stayed in her room the entire day, and no one knew what she was doing. She’d only come out when she was called out to eat.

Only then did Bai Qingqing realize that this matter’s influence on her daughter was quite big. She seemed to have become more like Curtis.

This change might not be noticeable at first glance and would only stand out after a while.

She smiled and talked even less than before. When she stood there without moving, she looked like an exquisite crystal door.

The reason Huahua was like this might not just be due to the changes to her family, but also because she was keeping another secret in her heart. Now, she also had to hide her family’s secret like an adult. With the additional pressure, she became quieter.

However, they were basically helpless toward Huahua’s changes. Because Huahua already had the best mentality, and there was no way for them to talk her around things.

Bai Qingqing tried to console Huahua a few times, but it wasn’t very effective. She then let things take their natural course.

The older people grew, the quieter they’d become, and the older they grew, the more silent they’d become. This might be Huahua’s character in the future, but it was just that this matter had spurted her growth.

The long seven-day national holiday ended in the blink of an eye. It went by so fast that most people had the impulse to jump off a building.

Bai Zhenbei returned to her student life of heading out early and returning late. The three eagle beastmen brothers also couldn’t take the loneliness anymore and requested to enroll in the third year of high school earlier.

[1] A type of soup-filled Chinese steamed bun.