Lin Huahua stared at him as though she had just been struck in the head with a giant wooden hamr.
Her mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened again.
Then she pointed at herself in disbelief. "?"
Lin Zhanshan said, "Yes. You."
Lin Huahua looked around the cave as if hoping that maybe there was another Lin Huahua hiding behind a curtain who was the real target of this cruelty.
There was not.
So she turned back to him and gasped, "Pa, you would not do this to , right?"
Lin Zhanshan remained unmoved.
Lin Huahua imdiately changed strategies.
Her eyes turned glossy again.
Her voice softened. She knew her father’s weakness was her tears so she was really prepared to use it against the old man.
She clasped her hands together and took two tiny pleading steps closer to the hologram. "Pa, I will be good. I promise. I have already learned. Look at . I picked leaves. I walked outside. I even argued with people. I am already a changed person. I feel stronger. I feel wiser. I feel very basic-skilled now."
Lin Zhanshan’s face remained stern even though he was dying inside to hug his daughter and bring her back. He had to do this for her betternt.
Lin Huahua continued desperately, "I can learn the rest back ho. I can practice at ho. I can train there. I can even do chores. I can do... sothing. We can discuss the sothing later."
Nothing.
Not even a flicker.
Lin Huahua was starting to look truly betrayed now.
"Pa," she said weakly, "I am your daughter."
Lin Zhanshan replied, "Exactly because you are my daughter, I know you still need this."
This was an awful answer.
An evil answer.
A father answer.
Lin Huahua nearly choked.
Then, just as she was about to launch into another speech, a noise suddenly ca from sowhere beyond the hologram.
It sounded like arguing.
Loud arguing.
The kind of arguing that belonged to familiar people who were clearly trying to get closer to the communication device.
Lin Huahua’s eyes lit up at once.
Then, before Lin Zhanshan could stop it, another face suddenly squeezed halfway into the hologram from the side.
It was one of her brothers.
His hair was ssy as if he had rushed over at high speed, and his face carried the very obvious excitent of soone who had either escaped security or ignored soone yelling at him to stay back.
"Huahua!" he blurted out. "You really are there! Aiyaa, look at you!"
Another brother’s voice ca from off screen. "Move your head! Let see too! Why are you blocking her face with your ugly shoulder?"
The first brother snapped back, "Whose shoulder is ugly? Yours looks like badly shaped tal!"
Then the second brother pushed in too, crowding into the hologram beside the first.
Lin Huahua’s eyes widened with delight.
"Gege!" she cried.
At once, the whole mood changed.
The two brothers looked at her, then looked at her again, and both of their expressions grew wonderfully dramatic.
"Our little sister looks so cute!"
"She looks even smaller there!"
"Her hair is different!"
"Her eyes look softer!"
"Look at her hide skirt, aiyaa, this is too much, sobody bring her proper clothes!"
"And look at her tail! Huahua, your little tail is moving!"
Lin Huahua imdiately turned red and whipped around to look behind herself as if she could glare at her own tail into behaving.
Sure enough, her tail had begun flicking left and right in excitent without her noticing.
She quickly tried to still it, but the more she tried, the more it twitched.
The brothers saw this and laughed.
Lin Zhanshan’s brow furrowed.
Clearly, the entire communication had now lost all discipline.
One of the brothers leaned closer and said in a softer voice, "We miss you. Ho feels strange without you."
The other nodded quickly. "Very strange. Too quiet. Too peaceful. It is suspicious."
Lin Huahua’s nose went sour again.
This ti it was not fake drama.
She really missed them.
The brothers, seeing her expression, imdiately panicked.
"Don’t cry, don’t cry!"
"If you cry, Mother will tear Father apart."
"We are already trying to help you."
"We told him this training is enough!"
"We even said we would teach you things ourselves."
Lin Zhanshan’s face darkened slightly.
One brother kept talking anyway. "Do not worry, Huahua, we will send you things."
The other added, "Yes! Food, clothes, maybe a heat device, maybe a cleaning drone, maybe..."
Lin Zhanshan turned his head and shot them a gaze so cold and sharp that even through the hologram it felt like a blade.
The two brothers imdiately stiffened.
"Do not try that," he said.
The brothers looked away.
One coughed.
The other mumbled, "We were only brainstorming."
Lin Huahua, however, instantly latched onto the idea like a rat spotting a sack of grain.
"Yes!" she cried. "Send food! Send shampoo! Send twenty things! Send a bed! Send a proper bath system! Send ..."
"No," Lin Zhanshan said.
Lin Huahua nearly wailed.
Her brothers quickly changed subjects before she could break into fresh grief.
"Do you need anything?"
"Have they fed you?"
"Did anyone bully you?"
"If soone bullied you, point at them and we will rember their faces."
"Actually, how are there so many handso people in this simulation?" one brother muttered, squinting as if trying to peek beyond the cave walls.
Lin Zhanshan’s face beca even colder.
The other brother elbowed him at once. "Shut up."
Lin Huahua had already puffed up with grievance again and launched into another report.
"Of course people bullied ! I told Pa already! It has been terrible! There are stones everywhere, there is smoke everywhere, my system is rude, and the people here keep doing things that make not know whether to be angry or embarrassed."
Her brothers listened with great seriousness.
Well, great seriousness mixed with the visible effort not to laugh.
Because although they loved their sister dearly, they also knew her.
Half of what ca out of her mouth during emotional monts had to be filtered carefully.
Still, hearing her complain like this made them feel both relieved and protective.
She was still herself.
Still noisy.
Still dramatic.
Still very much Lin Huahua.
One brother leaned in and said, "You really do look cute there though."
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