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Lin Yue honestly hadn’t expected things to be this easy. She stared at Huiqian, half-expecting him to suddenly sprout wings and fly away, or at least demand a blood oath or a mountain of gold. Instead, he just nodded and went back to gnawing on his chicken drumstick. Was it really that simple?
But then reality set in. She pinched his furry ears and eyed his silver hair, sighing, “But you don’t look even remotely human right now. How am I supposed to sneak you down the mountain? You’d get more stares than a panda in a shopping mall!”
Huiqian crunched the chicken bone in his mouth like it was a breadstick, licked his fingers, and replied, “To transform, I need spirit energy. But my core is with you.”
It was impressive—after just over a month, he could string together full sentences. If only he could learn not to eat the bones.
“So what do we do?” Yue asked, “Is there any other way to help you transform?”
“There is,” Huiqian said, his golden eyes glinting mischievously. “Borrow your power.”
Yue was about to ask what “borrowing power” meant, when suddenly a shadow fell over her. Huiqian lifted his mask just a little, leaned in, and—before she could so much as squeak—pressed his lips to hers.
Yue’s brain short-circuited. Her first kiss—twenty years in the making—was snatched away by a spirit in broad daylight, with all the subtlety of a wolf raiding a chicken coop. It was wild, bossy, and completely unapologetic.
The morning breeze sparkled with dew, and Yue’s eyes went wide as she felt his warm lips. For a moment, it was like she could see moonbeams and sunlight tangling together in her mind, a cosmic fireworks show just for her.
But soon, she realized what “borrowing power” really meant. She could feel the energy in her chest flowing into him, and right before her eyes, Huiqian began to change: his beast ears faded, replaced by perfectly normal human ears; his silver hair and golden eyes darkened to black; even his claws became neat, regular fingernails.
Standing there in the sunlight was a tall, strikingly handsome human boy with black hair and dark eyes—like a K-pop idol who’d gotten lost on a hiking trip.
They broke apart. Huiqian stared at his hands in wonder, then reached up and tugged his new earlobe, marveling at the change.
Yue, meanwhile, stood frozen, feeling like her knees had turned to jelly. Her face was so red it could have outshone the sunrise. Her heart thudded so loudly she was sure the birds could hear it. And, of course, her chest started glowing again—she looked like a human disco ball.
Huiqian cocked his head, watching her glow like a confused moth. Yue spun around, clutching her chest. “No worries! I’ll… just calm down and turn this off… give me a sec…”
After a few deep breaths, she finally managed to stop glowing. She turned back, trying to look casual, but her eyes couldn’t decide where to land—on his face, his hands, or his (still very questionable) fashion choices. She pointed at his tattered cloth. “Um… can you change your clothes too? Because that rag looks like you lost a fight with a laundry basket.”
Huiqian flexed his fingers, then shrugged. “Not enough power. Need to borrow more.”
He stepped forward, clearly ready for another round of “borrowing,” and Yue yelped, backing away so fast she nearly tripped over a tree root. “No, no, that’s okay! I’ll just bring you some real clothes tomorrow! Promise!” She bolted down the mountain, arms flailing, looking like a startled chicken escaping a fox.
On the day before heading back to the city, Lin Yue marched into the house with a suspiciously good-looking boy in tow. She cleared her throat and announced, “Grandpa, Grandma, this is my classmate Huiqian. He’s here to visit… and, uh, he’ll be going back to school with me tomorrow.”
Huiqian was dressed in Grandpa Lin’s spare tank top and a pair of baggy shorts, with a pair of plastic slippers two sizes too big flapping on his feet. Even so, he somehow managed to look like he’d just walked off a Milan runway, radiating mysterious, brooding energy. If he’d had sunglasses, he’d have worn them indoors.
It wasn’t Yue’s fault—the only men’s clothes in the whole village were either Grandpa’s or the local tractor repairman’s, and she doubted Huiqian would appreciate the oil stains.
Huiqian, for his part, stood stiff as a board. When Yue gave his shirt a subtle tug, he blinked, then shuffled behind her, head down, eyes darting around like a kid at his first school dance.
Granny Zhao pulled Yue aside, whispering, “Yueyue, are you sure this classmate of yours isn’t, you know… one of those city hooligans? He looks like he could bench-press your grandpa!”
“No, no, he’s just shy! Not great with people, that’s all,” Yue whispered back, praying Huiqian wouldn’t suddenly try to eat the sofa.
Just then, the living room TV blared to life. Huiqian, seeing a human suddenly appear inside the “big metal box,” leapt up with the reflexes of a startled squirrel and dove behind the couch. Two golden eyes peeked over the back, wide with suspicion.
Granny Zhao shook her head. “This boy… doesn’t seem too bright. Jumps at everything!”
Yue wiped sweat from her brow and forced a laugh. “Yeah, he’s… special. Thanks for being patient with him, Grandma. We’ll be out of your hair soon!”
She hustled Huiqian upstairs, where it took a full fifteen minutes to explain that the “big box” was a television, not a magical prison for tiny humans.
But dinner brought a new challenge. Huiqian, apparently still in “mountain mode,” grabbed a fistful of rice and started shoveling it into his mouth with his hands.
Yue almost fainted. She grabbed his wrist, plastered on a smile, and told her grandparents, “He’s, uh… from a minority group! They eat with their hands! Very traditional!”
She quickly scooped some food into a bowl and dragged Huiqian upstairs. “Grandpa, Grandma, we’ll eat in my room! He’s… shy!”
Upstairs, under the warm glow of the lamp, Yue sat beside Huiqian, showing him how to use chopsticks. “Look, Huiqian, if you’re going to live among humans, you have to follow human rules. No more eating like a wild animal, okay? Otherwise, people will think you’re weird and won’t want to be your friend.”
Huiqian frowned, clearly puzzled. “If you’re different, people don’t like you?”
Yue paused, staring at her own reflection in the window. Her figure was as striking as ever, and she remembered all the nasty rumors Xu Liuxia and her friends had spread about her. She gave a wry smile. “Yeah, sometimes humans are just… weird like that.”
Huiqian looked at her, eyes serious. “Do you… not like me, then?”
“No! Of course not!” Yue said quickly. “Being with you is easy. You’re… refreshingly simple.”
Huiqian considered this, then attempted to pick up a piece of tofu with his chopsticks. It slipped, bounced off the table, and landed on the floor with a splat. He stared at it, then at Yue, and deadpanned, “I think I need to borrow more power for this.”
Yue burst out laughing, the tension melting away. “No more borrowing! Tomorrow, we’ll practice with dumplings. They’re easier to catch.”
Downstairs, Granny Zhao was still shaking her head. “That boy is either a genius in disguise… or he’s been raised by wolves.”
Grandpa Lin just shrugged. “As long as he doesn’t eat my pickled vegetables, he’s welcome.”
Yue and Huiqian, meanwhile, sat upstairs, practicing with chopsticks and giggling over every failed attempt—two misfits, learning to be human together, one meat bun at a time.
Chapter 05
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