Chapter 5: I’m Afraid

“Do you… want to sleep with me?”

After dinner, Wang Yan looked at Tong Xingyao, who stood quietly at his bedroom door hugging her small pillow, and asked in surprise.

The girl had just finished showering.

The tips of her hair were still damp.

She wore soft pajamas and held tightly to a pillow printed with a little bear.

Under the dim hallway light, her eyes appeared slightly hazy.

Wang Yan did not actually resist the idea.

He even felt a subtle hint of happiness—this meant the child depended on him.

But reason whispered quietly: was it… a bit too fast?

After all, what is obtained too easily is rarely cherished.

Before he could finish wrestling with himself, Tong Xingyao had already lowered her head slightly.

Her voice was softer than usual, carrying a trace of vulnerability that did not match her cool exterior at all.

“Dad… I’m scared.”

Just those four simple words.

Yet they were like a cheat code in a game, bypassing the normal process and forcing the outcome.

“I’ll protect you.”

Wang Yan immediately placed one hand on his hip and patted his slender chest with the other, indicating that it was very reliable.

“Come in.”

He turned around and began tidying the bed.

Behind him, the corners of Tong Xingyao’s lips lifted imperceptibly before returning to calm.

That expressionless face seemed as though it had always been that way.

“Come on, come on.”

Wang Yan was already lying on the bed, beckoning to her.

He shifted his whole body toward the left edge, spreading his right arm out to leave plenty of space.

Pat, pat.

He patted the mattress.

“You’ll feel very safe by my side.”

Tong Xingyao walked over and slowly lay down.

Her head gently rested on Wang Yan’s arm.

“Lights off.”

The entire room was swallowed by darkness, save for faint car lights filtering in from outside the window.

Maintaining that position, Wang Yan gradually drifted toward sleep.

He should have fallen asleep like that.

But the arm being pressed numb made him uncomfortable.

He tried to quietly withdraw it.

In the faint glow from outside, Wang Yan saw Tong Xingyao’s brows tightly furrowed, as though she were dreaming something unpleasant.

He placed his arm back.

The frown immediately relaxed.

It even seemed to carry a hint of joy.

The night deepened.

Wang Yan slept soundly, his breathing steady.

When he had previously tried to cultivate Tong Xingyao’s habit of sleeping early and waking early, he had led by example.

Whether Tong Xingyao succeeded was unknown.

But Wang Yan himself had firmly adopted that biological clock.

Because he slept early every day, he had no idea whether Tong Xingyao actually went to bed on time.

This habit also reduced his resistance to drowsiness.

Even though his arm was numb, after enduring for a short while, he sank into deep sleep.

In the darkness, Tong Xingyao slowly opened her eyes.

She lay still for a moment, confirming that Wang Yan was fully asleep.

Then she quietly sat up.

Moonlight slipped through the crack in the curtains, casting a thin silver line across the floor.

She did not turn on the light.

Using that faint glow, she silently moved to Wang Yan’s bedside table.

There sat an unremarkable small wooden box with a lock.

But the lock had always merely hung there decoratively.

Wang Yan had never truly locked it.

Tong Xingyao gently lifted the lid.

Inside, neatly stacked, were not jewels or gold.

But bundles of banknotes, some new, some slightly worn.

Denominations ranged from one hundred to one.

They were stacked somewhat casually, yet the total amount was considerable.

Wang Yan knew she had a peculiar habit.

In an era where electronic payments were everywhere, she particularly liked the tactile feel of physical cash.

All of this had been specially exchanged at the bank by Wang Yan.

Every Monday, without fail, he would take that week’s allowance from this box and give it to her.

Tong Xingyao loosened her pajama collar and took out several crumpled bills tucked beneath her arm.

She tossed them inside.

Then she gently closed the lid and rehung the lock.

Everything was restored to its original state.

She lay back down.

Turning slightly to her side, she narrowed her eyes, as if observing something.

Deliberately, Tong Xingyao pressed her elbow against Wang Yan’s right forearm.

She waited quietly for a while.

“That should be about enough.”

She dug her fingernails into his arm, forcefully pinching until red marks bloomed.

Then she turned to check.

Wang Yan did not move at all.

Everything was normal.

With a hint of tenderness, she rubbed away the red marks she had made.

Wang Yan’s right arm was so numb it had no sensation left.

In that state, she could do anything with it without waking him.

She lifted his arm from behind his head…

Outside was the cool night sky.

Yet inside the sealed room, wind seemed to rise, rustling the blanket in soft waves.

Tong Xingyao appeared to feel the chill as well, trembling faintly.

“Dad.”

She buried her face against Wang Yan’s chest, not daring to press too firmly, leaving a thin layer of air between them.

“Dad.”

She called softly.

It was so cold.

After an unknown amount of time, the storm-laden wind in the room gradually ceased.

Heavy rain should have poured down.

But this time, it failed.

Tong Xingyao had done it deliberately.

Just like countless times before.

Some rights, in her heart, had forever been handed over to Wang Yan.

Without his permission—

Even though Wang Yan knew nothing about it, Tong Xingyao had never once mentioned it.