After midnight

When Xiao Su got out of school, An Yan and Su Zi Ling went to pick her up together. At this time, An Yan would never leave Su Zi Ling alone at home, and Su Zi Ling naturally didn't want to stay at home. As for the only one left at home, Qi Qi, who had just arrived, if he was so nervous about such a small matter, he would be in trouble in the future.

"Xiao Su!"

Su Ziling spotted her among a group of children rushing out of the school gate with his sharp eyes. Xiao Su also caught Su Ziling's voice and immediately looked over here.

"Xiao Su!" Su Ziling waved his arms vigorously, and sure enough, Xiao Su immediately ran over here.

"Dad, Brother Ling, why are you two here to pick me up again?"

"Yeah, are you unhappy?" Su Ziling said as usual and took Xiao Su's heavy schoolbag. An Yan was stunned for a moment, as if he and Su Ziling always came to pick up Xiao Su when something happened.

"Happy!" Xiao Su shouted, his bright smile in front of An Yan, making An Yan squat down involuntarily. He took Xiao Su's hand and asked, "Xiao Su, a big sister has come home, it's a bit dangerous. Can Xiao Su go to Sister Wuying's place to live for a while?"

"So Dad and Brother Ling are going to live back home?"

"Back."

"Then why should I live in someone else's house?"

An Yan looked at Xiao Su's serious face and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"Dad and Brother Ling will protect me, right? I can protect myself too."

"But Dad doesn't want you to be in any danger."

"If I was really in danger, how could Dad stop it?"

"An Yan, I think we should go home as soon as possible." Su Ziling looked at the two of them talking to each other and said with a smile.

"Okay." Su Ziling didn't stand on his side, so An Yan had to give up. He deliberately ruffled Xiao Su's hair, then stood up, held Xiao Su's hand and went home.

As soon as he got home, Xiao Su looked into the house curiously, and saw a pretty woman leaning on the sofa in a daze. Qiqi was the only one in the room, and she lost her sharp edges and became calm and gentle. When Xiao Su looked over, Qiqi was still in that state, so at a glance, Xiao Su liked her a little.

"Are you the Qiqi sister that dad was talking about? You are so beautiful, cute and charming."

When they came back, Qiqi's eyes immediately became more alert, but Xiaosu had already come closer. She spoke sweetly and smiled at Qiqi. Qiqi looked at her and had no choice but to agree. "Hello, Xiaosu."

"Hello, by the way, this is for my sister." Xiao Su said, and took out a large bunch of purple and pink lisianthus from behind his back with both hands.

"It's so beautiful, thank you." Qiqi took it and smiled. Then, she saw An Yan and Su Ziling standing aside and looking at them. After meeting her gaze, they walked straight to the kitchen.

"Then sister, I'm going upstairs to do my homework."

"Ah."

After Xiao Su picked up Su Ziling's schoolbag and ran upstairs, Qi Qi looked down at the bouquet again. Xiao Su, seeing is believing, is indeed a very special child. She was also abandoned by her parents, but she is much luckier than herself.

"An Yan, I don't think that Qi Qi is that scary." After witnessing the whole process, Su Ziling whispered to An Yan as he walked into the kitchen. At this moment, the footsteps of Xiao Su going upstairs happened to sound behind him.

"Su Ziling, are you here to help me pick vegetables or go upstairs to help Xiao Su with his homework?"

"I'll go up! Call me when the meal is ready!"

Su Ziling hated peeling garlic, so he immediately rushed out the door. An Yan shook his head. Can you tell with your naked eyes whether a person is scary or not? However, being able to live in peace is the best state at the moment.

As soon as Su Ziling entered Xiao Su's room, he lay on his back on the bed, not showing any intention of helping Xiao Su with his homework. He lay quietly for a while and then sat up. "Hey, Xiao Su, what do you think of that woman?"

"Sister Qiqi? I like her very much." Xiao Su said without raising his head.

"You like her so quickly?"

"Well, I don't think she's a bad person. Besides, I think she looks a bit like her dad." Xiao Su put down her pen and raised her head, but she couldn't figure out what the similarities were after thinking for a long time, so she finally said, "Just a bit like her dad."

"Really? I also think they are a bit similar, but Qiqi is more like Anyan whom I met at the beginning, but she is more... self-centered than Anyan. Yes, self-centered. And don't you think Qiqi has very special feelings for Anyan? It's so obvious. But why? They don't know each other, right?... Forget it, you little girl, why am I telling you this." Su Ziling stopped talking.

"Brother Ling, don't disturb me while I'm doing my homework. I have a lot of homework." Xiao Su was unhappy when he heard the last sentence.

"Homework? Let me show you." Su Ziling remembered An Yan's instructions and leaned over to take a look.

While eating, Su Ziling observed Qiqi who was sitting opposite him. Qiqi was not picky about anything. She would eat any of the four dishes An Yan cooked. She would eat beef with potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, braised eggplant with oil, and broccoli with garlic. She would eat them all, even if she occasionally got garlic and chili. Qiqi also ate very seriously, not at all reserved, but ate slowly and cleanly. She was obviously a very cute girl.

"Su Ziling? What are you thinking about? Eat quickly. Don't you like beef with potatoes?"

"Oh." Su Ziling said as he picked up a piece of beef and ate it. Then when he looked up, he saw Qiqi staring at him.

"An Yan, I'm done eating." Qi Qi said suddenly.

"Hmm." An Yan hummed briefly and continued eating. Qi Qi finished eating but did not leave her seat. Seeing that An Yan didn't pay much attention to her, she just stared at him nakedly without any scruples.

Su Ziling and Xiao Su looked at each other, finished their meal quickly, sent the dishes to the kitchen, and quickly fled the first floor area together. When they left, An Yan was still eating without looking away.

Ten minutes later, An Yan stood up to clean up the dishes, and Qi Qi also stood up and followed his movements. An Yan said nothing. This strange situation continued until ten o'clock in the middle of the night, when An Yan was going upstairs.

"An Yan, where should I stay tonight?" Qi Qi called him, standing two or three meters away from the stairs.

"Wait a moment." An Yan said as he went upstairs. Two minutes later, he brought down a quilt and took Qiqi to Jiu's room. Jiu's room was clean, with thick bedding neatly spread on the bed, which looked unusually warm. An Yan walked in and put the quilt on the bed, then opened the closet and took out a set of folded clothes from the closet. The clothes were not big and were obviously boys' clothes.

"Okay, you take a rest." An Yan said.

"Is this the room of the boy named Jiu?"

"Ah."

"Don't you know when he will suddenly come back and yet you are prepared in advance?" Qiqi sat on the edge of the bed, stroking the fluffy fabric that was spread flat on the bed with her hands.

"I'm going out first."

"An Yan, if what I said was not clear, I can say it again. I won't run around, jump, move around or make any noise. I promise that my activities will only be on the first floor. As for your personal safety, you can rest assured." Qi Qi stood up.

"I understand, thank you."

"So, can you please..."

An Yan interrupted her: "You said three months, and I agreed. But this doesn't mean anything else."

An Yan closed the door and left. Qi Qi sat back on the bed in a daze. After a while, she stood in front of the window, looked out at the bustling world gradually brightening up, and then closed her eyes. She leaned her head against the window and silently said, "An Yan, An Yan."

"An Yan, why are you here?" Su Ziling asked while eating while sitting on Xiao Su's bed.

"Aren't you supposed to help Xiao Su with her homework? Let me see, why are you still eating her snacks?"

"It's not good for children to eat too many snacks. Right, Xiao Su."

"I think Brother Ling, you didn't eat enough just now." Xiao Su said as he flipped the paper.

"I'm full, An Yan. I think Qiqi is cute and not as scary as you say. It's just that she doesn't seem to like me very much." Su Ziling said as he crumpled up the snack bag and threw it into the trash can.

An Yan was stunned for a moment and thought about it carefully. Indeed, Qiqi had never spoken a word to Su Ziling since she met him.

"Maybe you're not good-looking." An Yan said.

"Did I hear it right? An Yan, are you telling a joke?" Su Ziling was shocked.

"Xiao Su, have you finished your homework? Let me take a look."

"I finished writing it a long time ago. It's just that Brother Ling stayed in my room and refused to leave."

"It would be so boring if I go back to my room alone." Su Ziling glared at Xiao Su and opened another bag of snacks.

He finished his meal slowly and then sat quietly for a while until An Yan helped Xiao Su put away his homework. "It's not time to go to bed yet, An Yan, Xiao Su, let's play a game?"

"playing what?"

"Flying chess!"

An Yan and Xiao Su took a look at it, and Xiao Su took out the chessboard. Once, Su Ziling went to Yin's place and saw Yin and the others playing this, and he became interested and became addicted to it. Yin was very good at chess and Go, but unfortunately, no matter how Yin taught Su Ziling, Su Ziling could not learn it.

They played for about an hour and then Su Ziling lost.

"One more round."

An Yan glanced at the alarm clock on Xiao Su's desk and knew what Su Ziling was planning.

"It's getting late, time to go to bed."

"Okay." Su Ziling pursed his lips and compromised. The more An Yan said it lightly, the more scared he was. Maybe if he delayed it a little longer, he could sleep more peacefully.

"Xiao Su, you should also go to bed early." An Yan said again before leaving, and Xiao Su nodded obediently.

After An Yan left, Xiao Su secretly read some extracurricular books for a while before she went to wash up contentedly. She was a little girl who could easily forget about other things when she was doing her own things. So, until she fell asleep sweetly, she didn't think about the fact that there was a stranger in the room.

But this is destined to be a sleepless night, because the night will make all the suppressed emotions during the day stir.

Su Ziling lay in the soft quilt, which was very comfortable, but he had no desire to sleep with his eyes open. The room was quiet and dark after the lights were turned off, and he could neither see nor hear anything. But he still turned sideways to the door, staring vigilantly without blinking.

After a while, Su Ziling couldn't resist the sleepiness and fell asleep.

It was midnight, and An Yan guessed that Qi Qi was asleep. Even if she wasn't asleep, it was true that she wouldn't do anything, and it was even more true that she didn't do anything. But An Yan looked at the ceiling and couldn't force himself to fall asleep.

He was too familiar with this feeling. He had been unable to sleep all night. After entering that place, every time he slept, it was because his mind or body was in too much pain and he could not bear it and was forced to fall asleep. It was not until he came out of there that he learned how to sleep like a normal person. When he first tried to sleep every day, he felt the same way now.

But fortunately, everything in the past will never come back. An Yan turned over and closed his eyes.

At three o'clock in the morning, An Yan fell asleep in a daze and woke up in a daze. He dreamed that two children, a little girl and a little boy, suddenly appeared in a dark room full of instruments. The girl stood by the bed and looked at the little boy curiously, lying on the bed, curled up, in extreme pain.

She was still very young and didn't understand anything. She just stood there until the little boy woke up. Seeing him wake up, she was a little happy. She opened her innocent eyes and asked, "Were you also brought back from another orphanage like me and raised here? It's a little dark and cold here."

"Hurry...go!" the boy uttered the two words with difficulty.

The little girl was unmoved. "I don't like it here, so I ran away secretly, but I can't find the way. What's your name? Come with me."

Although he was listening to the girl talking, the sensitive boy still noticed a series of footsteps approaching here. He gathered his strength, quickly turned over and pressed the girl under the bed. The door opened, and the people crowded at the door looked at the boy lying on the bed, closed the door and left.

After they left, the boy sat up. He had to get out of the room quickly, otherwise it would be troublesome if other people came.

"Where are you going? I'm scared."

"Don't come out, don't follow me." The boy didn't turn around.

After closing the door, the boy moved forward step by step. He didn't walk far before he met another group of people. He knew that these people were looking for him. He should have survived again. When those people pulled him and the boy into the darkness, An Yan suddenly woke up. At this time, it was already dawn outside.

What happened next? An Yan wondered randomly, where did the girl go? Did she survive in there?

An Yan knew that he was asleep and it was just a dream, but was it really just a dream? Why did he dream about the situation at that time so vividly? When he was trapped there, the scene in his dream really happened countless times, except for that little girl.

An Yan shook his head, got up from the bed. It was time for him to prepare breakfast for Su Ziling and Xiao Su.

"You get up so early too, An Yan? I slept very well last night." Qiqi was standing in the living room. She had changed her clothes from somewhere and seemed to be in a good mood.

Seeing Qiqi, An Yan suddenly held his breath. That girl? An Yan's heart was beating violently. That was not a dream. What he had done last night was not a dream. It was something that really happened. An Yan turned his face away and walked towards the kitchen.

"An Yan?" Qi Qi called him again. If she didn't get a response from An Yan, she might insist on saying it for the third time.

"Morning." An Yan calmed down. It's different. Not everyone is Lin Nuan.

Not long after An Yan entered the kitchen, Su Ziling walked out of the room with sleepy eyes. He walked up to the third floor in his pajamas, as if sleepwalking. He lay on Xiao Su's door, knocking and shouting: "Xiao Su, Xiao Su, wake up."

After he finished shouting, he turned around and walked back to his room, stretching as he walked. After strolling around like this, Su Ziling seemed to finally wake up a little. He walked back to the room quickly, and ten minutes later, he came out dressed neatly. This time, he walked briskly, jumped up to the third floor, knocked on the door again, and then ran downstairs.

Su Ziling's steps slowed down after he saw Qiqi standing in the living room.

"Good morning." Seeing Qiqi staring at him, Su Ziling said politely.

She must have seen everything just now. Su Ziling scratched his head and moved to the kitchen, feeling a little embarrassed for some reason.

"Good morning." Qiqi responded.

"Morning, um...what do you want to eat in the morning? I'll let An Yan make it."

"It's none of your business what I want to eat."

Su Ziling scratched his head again, turned and went into the kitchen. Everything was fine just now, why did it suddenly happen?

"An Yan, what are we going to eat this morning? My master said that if you made an omelet, bring one for him. It's cold now, and he doesn't want to go out for breakfast!" Su Ziling spoke louder and louder.

"I know. I'll make an omelet. I can hear you talking. Why are you speaking so loudly?" An Yan smiled.

"Nothing." Su Ziling blinked and bent down to take out the bowl from the cupboard.

The rice porridge was bubbling on the low fire, and Su Ziling stirred it twice before turning off the fire. As soon as Xiao Su opened the door with her schoolbag in hand, she smelled the fragrance of rice. As usual, she went downstairs with full energy, threw her schoolbag on the sofa, and followed into the kitchen.

"Sister Qiqi, good morning."

"Good morning." Qiqi sat on the sofa with her eyes downcast. She thought, this home has An Yan.