I was startled and instinctively reached out with both hands to catch it, only to see it was a toy dog. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I looked in that direction and saw a tall, fair-skinned, beautiful woman smiling at me.
I recognized her instantly – Bai Xinyi.
This Bai Xinyi was exactly the unapproachable Bai Xinyi from our class.
If I hadn't known she was ill, I might have thought that smile meant she was interested in me!
She was still so beautiful.
Even when sick, there wasn't a single flaw to be found.
"Bai Xinyi, I'm Wang Xiaolong, do you still remember me?"
At school, I only ever spoke to the ugliest female students; with goddesses like Bai Xinyi, I didn't even dare to look directly at her.
"Give me a strawberry to eat!" Bai Xinyi smiled at me, revealing a row of neat, white teeth.
"Little Master, please sit down and rest for a while, have some tea!" Director Bai said, coming out with a plate of strawberries.
I casually picked up a strawberry and handed it to her.
"Uncle Bai, just call me Xiao Wang. Your daughter, Bai Xinyi, is my classmate!" At this point, I told the truth.
"What?" Bai Dazhu was startled.
"Oh, Uncle Bai, let's not talk about that for now.
First, when was this house renovated?"
"After it was finished in the winter of the year before last, we moved in before the New Year of the year before last," Bai Dazhu said.
"Before she became clear-headed, did she often tell you that she had a headache?"
"She did, indeed. We even took her to see a doctor at the time.
The doctor said it was nothing, just that students at school are under a lot of pressure these days.
He said to buy some gastrodia elata or similar medicine to nourish the brain, and that would be enough.
We didn't pay much attention at the time," Bai Dazhu said, looking a little surprised.
"Which room does she live in?" I asked Bai Dazhu.
"Come with me!" Bai Dazhu led me to Bai Xinyi's bedroom.
I looked at the position of Bai Xinyi's pillow.
"Has your daughter's pillow always been in this position?" I asked Bai Dazhu.
Bai Dazhu nodded.
"Do you have a step ladder at home?" I asked Bai Dazhu again.
"Yes, yes, yes, I bought a step ladder when the house was being renovated.
But why do you need a step ladder?" Bai Dazhu looked utterly confused.
"Bring the step ladder over, and a hammer too," I instructed Bai Dazhu.
Bai Dazhu didn't dare to delay and immediately brought the items over.
After setting up the step ladder, I climbed up and smashed the ceiling directly above Bai Xinyi's pillow with a few hammer blows.
"Oh, Xiao Wang, why are you smashing the ceiling?" Bai Dazhu was bewildered.
I ignored him and continued smashing.
Soon, I had made a hole here, and I reached into the hole for a while, pulling out a portrait.
"Your daughter has been afflicted by a Yansheng Curse!" I stepped down from the step ladder and handed the portrait to Wang Dazhu.
"A White Tiger portrait!
Xiao Wang, isn't this just a White Tiger portrait? How could my daughter's illness be related to a White Tiger portrait?" Bai Dazhu shook his head, looking completely unconvinced.
"Oh, is Bai Xinyi's mother home?" I ignored Bai Dazhu's skepticism.
"She's busy in the kitchen, helping the nanny prepare lunch for us!" Bai Dazhu was even more confused.
"Tell her to hold your daughter.
Soon, your daughter will cry out about a headache, and then she'll faint.
However, after she wakes up, she'll be back to normal!"
Seeing me acting so mysteriously, although Bai Dazhu didn't know what I was up to, he reluctantly told his wife as I had instructed.
After seeing his wife holding Bai Xinyi, I bit my left middle finger, dripped a few drops of blood onto the White Tiger portrait, and then took out the tools my grandfather had prepared for me from my bag.
I took out the Peach Wood Sword, stabbed the White Tiger's head with it, and chanted a few incantations.
Then I shouted, "Burn!"
The White Tiger portrait instantly ignited, turning to ashes in a moment.
At this moment, Bai Xinyi suddenly cried out, "My head hurts!"
She immediately fainted, collapsing into her mother's arms.
After all, it was my first time; having done all this, I was already drenched in sweat.
Bai Dazhu now looked at me with astonished and immensely admiring eyes.
While Bai Xinyi was unconscious, Bai Dazhu's family invited me to eat.
Bai Dazhu asked me, "Xiao Wang, can you tell me what exactly happened to my daughter?"
"Uncle Bai, I don't know who you might have offended. Your daughter was afflicted by a Yansheng Curse."
"A Yansheng Curse?"
"To be precise, when this house was being renovated, someone hid a cursed White Tiger portrait, with its head facing inward, within the beam.
If a man lives in this room, it will attract endless disputes and trouble.
If a woman lives in this room, she will suffer from many illnesses.
Your daughter suffered from a head ailment, and coincidentally, the head of that White Tiger portrait was in the same vertical position as your daughter's pillow.
Furthermore, your daughter's zodiac sign is the snake, and the White Tiger suppresses the snake's head, creating a clash between tiger and snake, which is why your daughter was affected.
I observed your daughter's complexion and confirmed that she had no genuine internal illness, so I concluded that your daughter was afflicted by a Yansheng Curse."
While we were talking, we heard Bai Xinyi shouting from her room, "Mom! Mom!"
Bai Dazhu's wife quickly ran over.
"Mom, I had a nightmare. I dreamed a White Tiger was choking my head. I struggled a few times and then woke up. I'm still trembling now!"
Bai Dazhu also ran over.
"Dad!" Bai Xinyi called out.
"Daughter, you finally recognize your mom and dad?" Bai Dazhu's eyes welled up with tears, and he, his wife, and his daughter embraced.
"Mom and Dad, what's wrong with you? What do you mean I finally recognize you?" Bai Xinyi was bewildered.
"Daughter, get up, I'll take you to meet someone!" Bai Dazhu pulled Bai Xinyi into the living room.
I was comfortably sipping tea at the table.
Bai Xinyi stared at me blankly, then suddenly cried out, "Wang Xiaolong, is that you? Why are you at my house?"
"I know your dad!" I said simply.
Bai Xinyi looked at her dad and me, utterly confused, unable to comprehend.
"Alright, classmate Bai Xinyi, I'll see you at school. I'm going back now."
I knew that in class, she never even looked at me properly.
Because I was just an average student in terms of grades and appearance, but I was also law-abiding.
At this moment, she might still be thinking, 'How could such an ordinary person know my dad?'
Bai Dazhu saw me off, slipping a big red envelope into my bag. I didn't refuse.
After all, his daughter was well now. No matter how much it was, I felt at peace taking this big red envelope.
"Slowly explain it to her!" I told Bai Dazhu, then left.
Bai Dazhu wanted to see me off, but I waved my hand, "I'm not going home, I'm going back to school!"
Bai Dazhu's house wasn't far from school; it would take about fourteen or fifteen minutes to walk there.
All the way, I wondered how much money was in that big red envelope. This was the first money I had earned since starting my career.
This also announced that from this day forward, I could truly earn money independently.
As I neared the school gate, just as I was thinking of returning to the dorm to open the big red envelope and see how much money was inside, I heard a shout, "Xiaolong, I've been waiting for you here for ages, what took you so long?"