were very wary of knocking, and even though Yan Cijin was not worried about so called threats with her powers, she still acted cautious as a way to not scare her mother, looking solemnly at the door. "Mom, keep an eye on LiLi, I’ll go take a look." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Yan Laojin grabbed her daughter’s wrist. "Xiaoyan, why don’t you not go? Didn’t you say our door is very sturdy? Let’s not risk going over there."

Yan Cijin patted Yan Laojin’s hand, reassuring her mother: "Mom, hiding isn’t a good thing, we have to face it eventually."

This was something Yan Cijin had learned from her near death experiences in her previous lives. She had long learned that when danger came, pretending it was not there only made everything worse. If someone really wanted to make trouble, then waiting behind a door would not magically make them go away forever. That was exactly why she wanted to check first. She picked up the dagger and casually brought it to the peephole to take a look, then saw Bai Li’s face. The second she recognized her, the tension in her shoulders loosened a little. Bai Li stood there quietly in the hallway, carrying herself with that familiar calm that always made people feel like the world was a little less chaotic when she was around. "Bai Li? Why are you here? I was just saying I’d come over to change your dressing later." Yan Cijin switched the dagger to her left hand and used her right hand to open the door for Bai Li.

Just as Yan Laojin was about to stop her from suddenly opening the door, she saw her daughter had already let Bai Li in. Seeing it was Bai Li, she was immediately relieved and took a closer look at the girl. The more she looked, the more pleasing the girl looked to her. Bai Li had that kind of clean, striking look that stood out right away, but at the same time she also had a very quiet, grounded way of standing there, like she knew exactly where she was and would not be easily shaken. Bai Li glanced at the knife in Yan Cijin’s hand, a slight smile playing on her lips, but only for a moment. "Using a knife to open the door, not bad."

Yan Cijin’s gaze was still sweeping over Bai Li. Bai Li was wearing a new pair of baggy jeans with a shirt half tucked in today, looking truly glamorous, but Bai Li looked quite good in one. Yan Cijin could not help noticing that Bai Li had a naturally sharp shape, the kind that made even simple clothes look unexpectedly good. Hearing Bai Li’s praise, Yan Cijin smiled at her, "Isn’t this because you taught me well?"

Actually, it wasn’t entirely Yan Cijin teasing Bai Li; Bai Li had indeed taught her a lot yesterday, except that she already knew all of them because of her previous lives, but the experience still gave her a newfound feeling. Yesterday had been messy and stressful and full of ugly voices, but it had also reminded her of a lot of small things she had not touched in a long time. Being cautious. Moving carefully. Knowing how to check a room before letting someone in. Trusting her instincts but still staying polite. Bai Li had not explicitly taught her all of that in a formal way, but the way Bai Li handled things had made a deep impression on her. It was practical, sharp, and a little cold on the outside, but somehow it also felt dependable.

"I came to get help changing the dressing and also to see how you were doing? Were you scared yesterday?" Bai Li asked Yan Cijin.

"I’m fine, but LiLi was really scared and cried because of all the shouting and cursing," Yan Cijin said truthfully.

Bai Li’s face shifted slightly. She did not look surprised, exactly. More like she had already expected that kind of reaction from a little child. She gave a small sigh and said, "Half of this is my fault. If I had not been so high profile with buying things before this apocalypse happened, it would not have come to this."

"It has nothing to do with you. You can’t control these kinds of things from happening. Besides, those people are just hypocrites. Besides, you were the victim though not literally but still, we are not the victims in this but just mere bystanders," Yan Cijin said, looking at Bai Li.

Bai Li nodded, feeling much relieved. "It’s good that you understand this."

"Okay, come in quickly, don’t stand at the door talking," Yan Cijin pulled Bai Li’s wrist, letting her in.

The little girl was very curious about Bai Li. Her aunt was wearing a dress and looked very pretty. Most importantly, the large transparent bag her aunt was carrying seemed to be full of delicious food. She saw it at once. The child had sharp eyes when it came to anything that looked like snacks, and Bai Li’s bag was practically calling her name. Lili’s family did not have many snacks. Yan Cijin was worried that the child would be greedy and eat too many snacks, so she only bought a few bags of snacks for the little one once a week. Yan Cijin was especially strict about the little one’s candy intake, limiting it to a maximum of two pieces a day. Therefore, when she saw the big bag of snacks in Bai Li’s hand, the little one’s eyes lit up. There was no hiding it. The child was excited in the way only a child could be, all open and obvious. She tugged at Yan Laojin’s clothes, "Grandma, Grandma, I want to go to play with Auntie~"

"Be good." Yan Laojin winked at the little one. She couldn’t possibly let a bad impression form on her future daughter in law.

The little one, oblivious to the adults’ coded messages, directly

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To be continued.