I remember now.

"It's almost time to get off work."

Inside the maid café, Mo Bai and Mo Mo squatted near the entrance, each holding a can of Wangzai Milk and sipping it in tiny, cautious sips.

After all, there was precious little of this stuff in a single can.

The cloying, sweet taste lingered in his mouth as Mo Bai looked up at the sky. "Hey sis, don't you think the sky is getting dark a bit too early today?"

It was barely past six, yet the moon was already faintly visible?

"It is a bit early."

"Maybe it's going to rain."

Mo Mo gently scraped the casing of her Wangzai Milk can with her slender, fair fingers. "I wonder how Sister Chu is doing over there. She must still be in interrogation, right?"

"Hey, Brother."

Mo Mo suddenly looked up, nudging Mo Bai's shoulder. "Do you remember eight years ago, right after Mom ran away from home?"

"That night, you cooked for me for the very first time. I forgot what you made, but anyway, you bustled around the kitchen for half a day and finally served up a plate of dark matter."

Mo Mo smiled. "I remember it vividly."

Mo Bai stared with deadpan eyes. "Did that even happen?"

"Of course!" Mo Mo nodded vigorously. "And I ate every last bit of it."

"Hey!" Mo Bai was startled. "Don't go around eating unhygienic stuff like that! What on earth was past-me doing eight years ago, seriously?!"

How dare he let lovely Mo Mo eat his failed dark culinary experiment? Just you wait, kid, I'm going back in a dream tonight to slap you.

Mo Mo blinked. "Of course you tried to stop me back then. It's just that I ate it too fast, and you couldn't stop me in time."

"So, you put me on your lap, gently spanked my bottom, and made me spit it out."

*Ansaier waist drum rhythm.*

Mo Bai scratched his head again. "There was... that too?"

Why couldn't he remember any of this? That didn't make sense.

"Bro, your memory is really terrible. Promise me, next time don't stay up late hiding under the blanket watching those weird anime, okay?"

Mo Bai: "?"

"Wait, how do you even know about that???"

Ignoring Mo Bai's horrified gaze, Mo Mo wore a nostalgic expression. "Still, the dish you cooked that day—honestly, it tasted really, really good."

"Really."

Mo Mo turned her head to look at Mo Bai's face. "Bro, why aren't you saying anything?"

Mo Bai: "..."

"It's nothing."

He ruffled Mo Mo's hair, his gaze turning somewhat distant.

Just now, he felt like he had recalled a few flashes of imagery from eight years ago.

And it wasn't just little-girl Mo Mo from back then; there seemed to also be...

A red figure?

"Big Brother!"

A sudden, soft, childish voice interrupted Mo Bai's train of thought. He and Mo Mo turned their heads simultaneously to see a cute little girl trotting over.

The little girl was around ten years old, her eyes brimming with tears, looking utterly pitiful. "My daddy, something happened to my daddy!"

"He collapsed on the ground and won't move, it looks so scary, sob..."

Mo Bai and Mo Mo exchanged glances, and Mo Bai said gently, "Where is he? Take us to go see, okay?"

"Okay, right over there..."

The little girl pointed in a certain direction and turned back as if to grab Mo Bai's hand, only to find that in those few short seconds, Mo Bai had already grabbed Mo Mo and bolted away at top speed.

Leaving the little girl with nothing but a sharp, receding back view.

The little girl: "?"

She tilted her head in confusion. "Eh? Why did they figure it out?"

"Clearly, everyone loves little girls, right?"

At that moment, Mo Bai, dragging Mo Mo by the hand as they fled, wore a despondent expression.

Out of caution, he had just checked that little girl's composition.

Leaving aside all the messy details, there was one single component that instantly exposed her.

[Mother]

Golden-density, [Mother] component.

How the hell could that appear over a little girl's head? Who do you think you are, Frieren?

It was definitely Qi Lin!

It had to be that woman disguised as a little girl, probably trying to lure Mo Bai back to become her star-thrall!

Good thing he wasn't a lolicon.

Otherwise, he would have been utterly doomed.

"Sis, that thing is Qi Lin! Let's not fight her head-on, we need to contact Sister Chu and the others immediately..."

The fact that she had already been captured yet now appeared right in front of him meant something must have definitely gone wrong at the Bureau of Control.

Even Chu Aoqing had overturned; was he just going to stick around and deliver himself on a silver platter instead of running?

However...

Mo Bai felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked down to see a small hand that had pierced right through his body, gripping