My Family Is Very Odd

1// Kindergarten

The kindergarten classroom was bustling with children playing with their toys. They were building with blocks, putting together puzzles, playing house, and scribbling with crayons, their chatter filling the air.

In a quiet corner, little Shen Chen sat with his head down, his nimble fingers twisting and turning a Rubik's cube.

"Big brother, can you help me with this? I can't get it apart!" A little boy approached him, holding two stuck-together building blocks.

Shen Chen placed his Rubik's cube on the table and took the blocks. With a simple twist, he separated them.

"Thank you, big brother."

"You're welcome," Shen Chen nodded, turning back to his Rubik's cube.

Just as he picked it up, a familiar "dong, dong, dong" resonated from the iron door. Shen Chen looked up and saw a little girl with short hair and a smile as sweet as a peach blossom.

It was Li Xiao Gui.

Shen Chen's hand paused. He knew she was looking for him.

As expected, Li Xiao Gui's big, amber eyes, full of life, found his in an instant and locked onto him. Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she beckoned him with her hand, her petal-like lips forming silent words.

Shen Chen looked at her with an impassive face. He couldn't hear her, nor could he understand her silent words.

In truth, even if Li Xiao Gui didn't speak, didn't mouth words, or didn't beckon him, Shen Chen would still know what she wanted. Her eyes spoke volumes.

Shen Chen quickly solved the last bit of the Rubik's cube and stood up.

Ever since they became familiar, Li Xiao Gui would always come to the senior class to find him. Sometimes she had gifts, sometimes she wanted him to see the cicadas on the trees, the flowers in the garden, the grasshoppers in the grass, or the colorful bubbles in the puddles after the rain.

She always found countless things to share with him.

"Don't go out with her," the classmate next to Shen Chen suddenly grabbed his hand and said seriously, as if mustering all his courage. "My mother said she's strange, always talking to herself. She has problems with her head. Don't play with her, don't talk to her. She's not a good person."

Another child, as if reminded of something, chimed in, "My mom said the same thing!"

Shen Chen's white, mochi-like face furrowed into a frown.

"Xiao Gui is my friend. You can't say that about her. She's not strange, and there's nothing wrong with her head." Although Shen Chen's face remained expressionless, he wasn't as quiet and reserved as he would be when he grew older. With a childish seriousness, he declared, "She's very cute. I like playing with her."

The child who had chimed in earlier spoke again, "I also think she's very cute! Her face is as white and soft as ice cream. She's so pretty. I also want to play with her! But I don't dare. I'm afraid my parents will scold me." He looked at Shen Chen with envy.

Hearing this, Shen Chen unconsciously raised his chin and shook off the hand holding him.

He took a few steps forward, then turned back, his face serious. "Didn't your mother tell you not to talk bad about people behind their backs? Don't do that again. It's not good, understand?"

The child, seemingly intimidated by Shen Chen, nodded blankly. Finally satisfied, Shen Chen walked out with his solved Rubik's cube.

Li Xiao Gui had been waiting behind the door for a while. As soon as she saw Shen Chen, she fluttered towards him like a butterfly. "Big brother, big brother, you're out!"

Fortunately, the classroom was noisy, and Li Xiao Gui didn't seem to notice what was said earlier. She looked curiously at the Rubik's cube in Shen Chen's hand. "What's that?"

Shen Chen handed it to her. "It's a Rubik's cube."

He watched as Li Xiao Gui held the cube, turning it this way and that. "The squares on top can be turned. You can mix up the colors."

Li Xiao Gui blinked and obediently did as he said.

"After you mix it up, you can solve it like this. That's how you play with a Rubik's cube." Shen Chen demonstrated, effortlessly solving the slightly messed-up cube in a few seconds.

Despite the simple solution, Li Xiao Gui looked at Shen Chen with admiration. Shen Chen patted her head. "Next time, I'll teach you how to play. It's very simple. By the way, what did you need me for?"

Li Xiao Gui's eyes lit up. "Ah, I… I saw a kitten and a big dog by the swings! I'll take you to see them!"

Shen Chen nodded, already prepared. "Let's go."

Li Xiao Gui led Shen Chen towards the playground, where the swings were near the sandbox.

As they walked side by side, Shen Chen suddenly said, "Right, Xiao Gui, don't come up to find me anymore."

Li Xiao Gui's big eyes turned to him. Shen Chen continued casually, "I'll come to find you instead. The senior class is on the third floor. I have to climb the stairs."

"From now on, I'll come to play with you every day during the second break after class."

"Okay," Li Xiao Gui readily agreed.

"Also," Shen Chen added, "if you see anyone with black energy, don't talk to them. At least, don't talk to them when there are other people around… or if you want to talk to them, I need to be by your side."

At least with him there, it would look like she was talking to him, not to thin air.

"Not even Mom and Dad?" Li Xiao Gui asked.

Li Xiao Gui's parents were powerful ghosts who could freely manipulate the magnetic field between humans and ghosts. In the eyes of many, Li Xiao Gui had normal parents, so there was no need to worry about being seen talking to the air. "Mom and Dad are okay," Shen Chen confirmed.

"What about Grandpa and Grandma?"

"Grandpa and Grandma are okay too."

"What about big brother?"

Shen Chen patiently replied, "Big brother is okay too. As long as it's Xiao Gui's family, it's okay."

Although he didn't understand why the human Li Xiao Gui had a ghost family, his father said it didn't matter. And his father also said that Xiao Gui's family would be their helpers in the future.

Having received all the affirmative answers, Li Xiao Gui smiled and nodded. "Okay."

×××

A small gray cat lay curled up on the swing, while a large white dog rested beneath it. Shen Chen and Li Xiao Gui crouched down, watching them bask lazily in the sun, seemingly asleep.

"So cute," Li Xiao Gui whispered, her hands cupping her cheeks, afraid of waking them up. The big white dog's ears twitched but it didn't wake.

Shen Chen looked at the dog with an impassive face. Beneath its large, fluffy body lay a familiar jacket.

"That jacket?"

Li Xiao Gui glanced at it. "Oh, that's mine." She covered her mouth with her hand and whispered, "The big white dog seems to have a thing for cleanliness!"

When she first saw the dog, the kitten was asleep, but the dog wasn't. It noticed her looking and, unafraid, looked at the cat, then at her with its tongue lolling out, its eyes glancing at the ground. After a few rounds of this, Li Xiao Gui understood and fetched a jacket to lay on the ground for it.

The big white dog immediately went over to the jacket and settled down with a happy wag of its tail.

Li Xiao Gui recounted the scene to Shen Chen with sparkling eyes.

Shen Chen: "…"

"That dog seems to have an owner. It has a collar around its neck."

"Really?" Li Xiao Gui looked at the dog's neck, then at the cat. "The kitty doesn't have one."

"Then it must be a stray," Shen Chen concluded.

The school bell suddenly rang, startling both the cat and the dog awake. The cat instantly darted away, and the dog, upon seeing this, chased after it.

With the cat and dog gone and the bell ringing, Shen Chen and Li Xiao Gui returned to their classrooms.

Unexpectedly, on their way home from school, Li Xiao Gui and Shen Chen saw the dog again.

"Big brother, big brother, look, isn't that the white dog we saw on the swing this morning?" Li Xiao Gui asked, pointing at the dog's collar.

"It seems to be," Shen Chen replied.

Li Xiao Gui pulled Shen Chen towards the dog. The dog, which had insisted on having Li Xiao Gui's jacket as a cushion that morning, now had several dirty patches on its fur. The gray kitten was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you lose the little gray kitty?" Li Xiao Gui asked the big white dog in her soft voice.

The dog couldn't understand her words, but it recognized her as the human who had given it the jacket that morning. It wagged its tail excitedly and circled around her.

Li Xiao Gui giggled.

She remembered Shen Chen saying that the dog had an owner, but after a whole day, it was still wandering the streets alone, its fur dirty. Worried, she asked the dog, "Why are you still wandering the streets alone? Aren't you going home? Are you lost?"

The big white dog barked happily, its tongue lolling out.

Li Xiao Gui instinctively looked at Shen Chen and the young ghost behind him. "Dad, big brother…"

The big white dog, seeing her gaze, followed suit and looked at the young ghost and Shen Chen with its big, doggy eyes.

The man and the ghost, who were usually overwhelmed by even Li Xiao Gui's solo acts of cuteness, were speechless.

They could only nod in resignation.

However, after two hours of searching, no one recognized the big white dog.

Helpless, Li Xiao Gui and the dog turned their pleading eyes to Shen Chen, hoping he could temporarily take the dog in.

The big white dog was terrified of even approaching the young ghost. It would freeze and tremble if it got within arm's reach. There was no way it could go back to the ghost house with Li Xiao Gui.

So Shen Chen could only nod in agreement.

For the next two days, Li Xiao Gui and Shen Chen would take the dog out to look for its owner after school. Finally, they found a "Missing Dog" poster on a telephone pole.

The dog's owner had been searching for his furry companion for a long time. Ever since the silly dog had escaped from home chasing after a stray cat, he had been worried sick.

Now, seeing two children bringing his dog back, he was both touched and overjoyed. He asked Li Xiao Gui and Shen Chen what reward they wanted.

Shen Chen shook his head, indicating that he didn't want anything.

Li Xiao Gui asked if she could hug the big white dog.

In truth, during the days she had temporarily taken care of the dog, Li Xiao Gui had hugged it countless times. But now, in front of its owner, she had to ask for permission.

Li Xiao Gui wanted to give the big white dog one last hug, one last rub, before it went home!

The dog's owner looked at Li Xiao Gui in surprise, then nodded with a smile.

Li Xiao Gui slowly approached the dog and wrapped her arms around its large body. The little girl almost disappeared into its fur. She wrapped her arms around its thick neck and buried her face in its fur, rubbing contentedly.

The dog stood obediently, letting Li Xiao Gui rub it, even turning its head to rub back against her with its large head.

Li Xiao Gui was beyond content.

Shen Chen stood by her side, quietly accompanying her. Perhaps all those days of running around searching were worth it for this moment of satisfaction.

"So soft and comfortable!" Li Xiao Gui exclaimed, rubbing her face against the dog's fur, her head rolling back and forth on its back.

Li Xiao Gui seemed to love hugging and rubbing, whether it was a dog, a doll, or even him. She would always find a chance to hug him.

Sometimes it was just a quick hug, sometimes it was a rub, and sometimes she would come running from afar and jump into his arms.

That last hug was always the tightest.

But no matter how recklessly Li Xiao Gui pounced, even knocking him to the ground a few times, Shen Chen would always catch her when she opened her arms to him.

2// Middle School

Li Xiao Gui stopped frequently pouncing on him in middle school, or rather, at the beginning of the ninth grade.

Because in seventh and eighth grade, whenever she saw him from afar, she would still run towards him and jump into his arms. By then, Shen Chen was no longer knocked down by her momentum.

He could easily hold the soft girl in her school uniform in his arms.

But at the beginning of ninth grade, Li Xiao Gui suddenly seemed to have realized something. She became aware of the boundaries between boys and girls. Or maybe it wasn't that she hadn't realized it before, but because she and Shen Chen had grown up together, hugging and rubbing each other, it was like he was just like Strong Ghost to her. She hadn't consciously applied those boundaries to him.

But they weren't siblings after all. In the eyes of their classmates, filled with fantasies and budding feelings, their interactions were too intimate.

Li Xiao Gui said that some classmates thought it wasn't appropriate, that normal boys and girls wouldn't hug and rub each other like that.

Shen Chen couldn't refute her words. He suddenly realized that if it were Li Xiao Gui hugging another boy like that, it would indeed be unacceptable.

So he couldn't tell her it was okay, couldn't let her misunderstand that casual physical contact between boys and girls was normal.

Thus, Li Xiao Gui, in her innocence, began to differentiate between Strong Ghost and Shen Chen for the first time.

3// Changing Feelings

They were still close, after all, they were childhood sweethearts who grew up together.

They still walked home together, he would pat her head, and occasionally pinch her cheeks, but they no longer hugged frequently.

Most of the time, they were still like they were as children, but they would subconsciously maintain a certain distance.

Shen Chen began to miss the days when Li Xiao Gui would pounce on him for a hug.

When she started keeping a normal distance from him, he would sometimes reminisce about the soft and cuddly Li Xiao Gui from their childhood.

4// The Present

The lights were on in the ghost house on the night of Shen Chen's twenty-fifth birthday.

The TV played the latest movie, and Li Xiao Gui was bundled up in a blanket, nestled in Shen Chen's arms.

It was that time of the month again, and she was feeling weak and listless.

Shen Chen's hand slipped under her blanket and clothes, his large hand resting on her soft stomach to warm her up.

At twenty-five, Shen Chen finally had his soft and cuddly Li Xiao Gui back in his arms, where she belonged.

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