Shrouded Seascape

Gao Zhiming was undoubtedly terrified to see someone wearing a gray clown mask orbiting him. With the mop in his hands, he instinctively inched closer to Anna, feeling at ease only after catching a whiff of her pleasant, faint fragrance.

The clown extended its right hand wearing a white glove and pointed at the frightened Gao Zhiming, seemingly seeking confirmation from Anna.

"He is our very important key—a key to the place where the IMF doesn't exist," Anna remarked. She reached out with her index finger, coiling a lock of Gao Zhiming's hair around her finger.

The clown nodded in understanding. It tipped its hat toward Gao Zhiming and stretched out its right hand in an attempt to express its goodwill to the latter.

Faced with such a bizarre man, however, Gao Zhiming hesitated for a while, and he ultimately dared not extend his hand.

"Give them the food to eat. I'll take him out to get his hair cut," Anna said. She then grabbed Gao Zhiming's hand and walked away.

The boy's hand was smooth and pleasant to the touch, but Anna knew that the hand would eventually be severed.

Anna pushed open the door, but her steps came to a halt upon being reminded of something. She looked back at the masked figure and asked, "Where is my other body? That thing is important, and it must be safeguarded."

The clown grabbed its mask and peeled it off gently. To Anna's surprise, her own face was actually behind the mask. The clown had taken control of that body. No wonder the clown's chest seemed a bit bigger today.

The clown put on the mask again and pulled out a card with a question mark written on its back.

"All right," Anna said, "You can take control of it for now. Use it as your body for the time being."

Anna had to admit that she felt a bit strange to know that an anomalous mask was manipulating her fleshly body, but she felt relieved rather than worried.

After all, it was better to let the clown take over it than to let her own fleshly body rot as a bedridden vegetable. At the very least, there was no longer any need to assign someone to take care of it.

There was a click, and the door was shut. The clown set down the tray laden with steaming breakfast in its hands and danced over to the mirror with ballet-like steps.

The clown peeled off its mask and studied it intently for a while. Then, with both hands raised, it danced gracefully before the tall, full-length mirror.

"Your hair is so long, boy. It must've been a while since you had a haircut. That's not good. If your hair grows any longer than this, you'll look like a girl," the barber teased.

Gao Zhiming could see the barber's face in the mirror, but his attention wasn't on him at all. Every few seconds, he'd sneak a glance at Anna, who was reading a newspaper on the sofa. He was afraid that she'd suddenly run away.

"Is she your sister? You have such a pretty sister. Girls her age usually don't bring their little brothers to get haircuts. Your sister's hairstyle is crude. I think it could use some perming," the barber with a shamate hairstyle turned to look at Anna.

"Miss, would you like to sign up for a membership with us? I'll give you a twenty percent discount, how about that?" the barber asked.

Anna's gaze shifted from the newspaper to the barber. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she said, "We're in a hurry, so please just be quick."

"Of course, of course." The barber secretly rejoiced. She smiled at me. Could she be interested in me? Maybe I can ask for her QQ when she pays later.

With a few snips of the scissors, Gao Zhiming's shaggy hair was trimmed into a neat, clean cut; he was getting further and further away from what a street urchin would look like.

After his haircut, he carefully shuffled over to Anna. He gripped his hands nervously; he wanted to sit next to her, but he dared not do so of his own volition.

Just then, a warm hand reached out and grabbed his hand.

Gao Zhiming was instantly overwhelmed by happiness. He was so elated that he was almost bouncing with joy as they walked out of the streets.

"Is this what it feels like to have a mother?" Gao Zhiming muttered to himself.

He had never experienced anything like this until now and had only heard about it from Steamed Bun. He couldn't imagine what it felt like despite hearing about it, so he had never really dreamed about it as well.

However, he finally knew what it felt like, and it felt… wonderful.

Gao Zhiming tilted his head up slightly, gazing intently at the face above him as if he wanted to etch it deep into his heart. Although he had known the big sister before him for less than a day, she was already the closest person to his heart.

No one had ever shown him such care until now, and she smelled great as well. He really liked her, and he wanted to stay by her side forever.

"Boss, one more basket!"

"Where's the vinegar?"

"Miss, how much for one of these fried dough sticks?"

There was a lively breakfast stall on their left. There were small wooden stools around it, and they were occupied by students and office workers.

The aroma wafting out from the steamers elicited an involuntary growl from Gao Zhiming's stomach. It seemed that he had already digested last night's bowl of noodles.

Anna heard it and pulled Gao Zhiming over to an empty seat.

"Order whatever you want to eat," she said.

Soon, steaming hot soup dumplings and porridge were served to the two. Gone were the days of constant hunger, but Gao Zhiming still couldn't quite believe it, so he regarded the food with an almost religious reverence.

Perhaps out of habit, but he ate voraciously, wolfing down his food.

Sitting across from him, Anna stared at the boy before her with eyes full of complex emotions. As she reminisced about her time in the Subterranean Sea and the relationship between her and Gao Zhiming, her right hand unconsciously reached out and caressed the boy's cheek.

Gao Zhiming was immersed in his eating, frantically swallowing mouthful after mouthful. Upon sensing Anna's touch, however, he instantly grew a bit tense. He carefully pushed half a steamer of dumplings to Anna.

"Big Sis, do you want some?" he asked.

Anna shook her head slightly and sighed softly. You scumbag, I have a belly full of things I want to say to you, but you don't know anything right now, so what am I supposed to do?

She had imagined countless times what she would say on their next encounter, but words just wouldn't come out of her mouth as she stared at the boy before her.

Anna harbored complicated feelings toward the boy, and she couldn't help but feel like spilling everything to the boy before her.

However, she knew there was no point in telling the boy, as he knew absolutely nothing about the two of them.

More importantly, Anna was feeling extremely conflicted. She had no idea what role she was supposed to assume when interacting with him.

Was she supposed to take on the role of a lover? Or a mother? Both roles felt terribly awkward for her. In addition, Gao Zhiming was growing a bit too dependent on her, which was a dangerous sign, as his memories couldn't contain any interactions between the two of them.

The cogs in Anna's mind turned, and she began formulating a plan to make someone else take her place as his guardian to avoid future complications.

If I have to do this, then I have to do it as soon as possible.

"Try this soup dumpling, Big Sis! It's so delicious!" A soup dumpling pinched between a pair of chopsticks was delivered before Anna.