Xia Yu looked toward the door, and what he saw was Xia Keke, the illegitimate daughter of Xia Dongyang.
The girl had previously run off to Kong Hanyue, only to be dropped off at the police station by her. Xia Yu had a clear memory of that incident.
The girl happily walked into the living room, where she saw Xia Yu and his wife sitting on the sofa.
Her smile immediately vanished, and she ran to hide behind Xia Nianhong.
Xia Nianhong thought the girl was just shy around strangers, so she patted her head and comforted her, saying, “These are your older brother and sister-in-law.”
“Brother, sister-in-law,” Xia Keke politely greeted, still hiding behind Xia Nianhong.
“Hmm,” Xia Yu replied indifferently.
He bore no hostility toward Xia Keke for his resentment toward Xia Dongyang, but neither did he have any particular fondness for her.
Noticing Xia Yu’s coldness, Xia Nianhong pulled Xia Keke out from behind her and pushed her toward Xia Yu, saying, “Yuyu, take Keke to play together. Your grandpa and I are going to offer incense to the Buddha.”
“Alright,” Xia Yu agreed reluctantly.
He looked at Xia Keke. The girl hesitated for a moment before standing beside him, waiting for his instructions.
“Sit down,” he told her.
Xia Keke obediently sat down, appearing very well-behaved.
Xia Yu intentionally ignored her for ten minutes, surprised to see that she remained quiet.
For a normal child, sitting still and doing nothing for ten minutes would be nearly impossible.
This girl seemed unusually mature for her age.
Considering she was Xia Dongyang’s child, it wasn’t strange for her to be precocious.
Xia Yu handed Xia Keke the TV remote, saying, “Do whatever you want. I won’t stop you.”
Xia Keke hesitated slightly before asking, “Can I play games?”
“You can,” Xia Yu nodded, curious about how she would play games.
Could it be that her grandparents had bought her a handheld console or a smartphone?
He watched as Xia Keke walked into the master bedroom and came out with a white device.
Xia Yu immediately recognized it as the Xiao Aowang gaming console—the same one he and You Xue had played with as children. He hadn’t expected it to still exist.
Xia Keke skillfully connected the console to the TV, inserting the game cartridge and controller.
She was playing a game similar to Super Mario on Earth, though not as polished or refined.
“What is this?” An Siyao asked.
Unfamiliar with the Xiao Aowang console, she was curious about the low-quality graphics of what appeared to be a game.
“It’s an old game console from when I was little. Back then, the technology was limited, so games looked like this,” Xia Yu explained, knowing she must be wondering.
“Oh,” An Siyao nodded. “I’ve never seen it before.”
Upon hearing this, Xia Keke glanced back at An Siyao while playing.
The Xiao Aowang console was a childhood staple—how could someone have never seen it?
Brushing aside the thought, Xia Keke continued playing.
Bored, Xia Yu stared at the game screen.
Xia Keke’s gameplay was terrible—either she ran into enemies or fell off cliffs because of poor jumps.
Xia Yu grew impatient and couldn’t help but advise her, “Jump only when you reach the edge of the cliff. No need to run; the jump distance is the same whether you run or not.”
“But doesn’t running make you jump farther?” Xia Keke asked in confusion.
“That’s in real life. This is just a game,” Xia Yu replied.
“Oh,” the girl followed his advice and successfully jumped over the cliff.
Excitedly, she raised the controller and looked at Xia Yu: “I really made it!”
“You don’t need to panic when you see enemies either. Their speed is the same as yours—they can’t catch up,” Xia Yu added.
Following his advice, Xia Keke no longer feared the enemies in the game. She smoothly reached the end and completed a level she had struggled with for a long time.
However, Xia Yu, who had successfully guided her, felt no joy—only a sense of heaviness he carefully concealed.
He sensed something was off. Gaming wasn’t something one could master just by being told once. Normally, one would look up a guide and charge in recklessly, only to die repeatedly upon playing.
How could someone grasp the mechanics so quickly just by watching a guide? Xia Yu suspected that Xia Keke was faking it for his benefit.
Thinking further, how could a girl who had the courage to take a bus alone from Afang to Zilang and find someone she had never met—Kong Hanyue—be genuinely shy?
What was her motive for acting?
After a moment of thought, Xia Yu reached a conclusion.
Isn’t it a classic scenario for a shy stranger to gradually become close with a sibling? Isn’t bonding through an old game a classic template?
Could this child really be that calculating?
Xia Yu found it hard to believe his own suspicion, so he decided to test her.
If you can act, so can I.
From then on, Xia Yu pretended to be a caring older brother, continuously guiding Xia Keke. Her gaming skills improved rapidly, and Xia Yu gradually became warmer toward her. Eventually, the two sat side by side, playing together.
Xia Nianhong and Grandpa Xia Ye had just finished offering incense downstairs and came up to see the two getting along so well, smiling in satisfaction.
“Time for dinner. Play after eating,” Xia Nianhong placed the dishes on the table.
“Okay,” Xia Keke put down the controller and gave Xia Yu a sweet smile, as if they had become close.
Xia Yu smiled back and patted her head, appearing like a doting older brother.
Yet in his heart, he thought, there had been no transfer of positive emotions through their telepathic connection. Indeed, Xia Keke had been acting all along.
This wasn’t just maturity—it was scheming.
A primary school student pulling off such elaborate tactics? Impressive.
When she went to Kong Hanyue before, was it really just because she only knew Kong’s address?
Xia Yu stroked his chin. If Kong Hanyue had been slightly more normal, the plot would have gone like this:
A little girl approaches a wealthy woman, calls her “Mom,” and the woman, shocked, takes the girl home to find out more.
The girl reveals her identity—she is the daughter of the woman’s ex-husband, abandoned and now seeking refuge.
While the wealthy woman considers how to handle the situation, the girl plays the pitiful and lovable role, eventually being adopted and living a life of luxury.
If the woman had been Liu Manman instead of Kong Hanyue, the story would have definitely followed that path.
But Kong Hanyue was unreliable—without even asking questions, she had taken Xia Keke by surprise and dropped her off at the police station.
Imagining Xia Keke’s bewildered expression at that moment, Xia Yu couldn’t help but smile.
“Yuxue, come out for dinner!” Xia Nianhong knocked on Yuxue’s door.
Yuxue came out of her room, humming a tune as she entered the living room. She was about to sit in her usual spot to the left of Xia Yu, only to find it occupied!
By a primary school student.
Just as Yuxue was about to ask Xia Yu who the girl was, the girl beat her to it, grabbing Xia Yu’s arm: “Brother, who is she?”
Yuxue’s eyes widened in disbelief at the words coming from the girl’s mouth.
That’s my brother! That question should’ve been mine to ask first!
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