My Family Is Very Odd

Things got better after they squeezed into the amusement park.

The park was filled with vendors selling balloons, cotton candy, and all sorts of knick-knacks. People dressed in mascot costumes were handing out flyers.

Shen Chen bought two sticks of pink cotton candy for Li Xiao Gui and Chen Yuanyuan. Even though he was all grown up now, Shen Chen didn’t have much of a sweet tooth.

Li Xiao Gui had short hair and didn't tie it up today. The wind blew her stray hairs around her face as she ate her cotton candy. It was hard to tell if she was eating her hair or the sweet treat.

A few times, Li Xiao Gui tried to pick her hair out of her mouth. Her hands were getting sticky from the cotton candy.

To make matters worse, her hair kept flying towards the cotton candy. She had to be very careful.

Chen Yuanyuan had the same problem with her long hair. Li Xiao Gui wanted to tie her hair up, so she turned to Shen Chen, who had his hands free. “Shen Chen, can you get the hair ties from my backpack? I need two.”

“Sure.” Shen Chen frowned, watching Li Xiao Gui struggle. He walked behind her.

“And some tissues, please,” Li Xiao Gui added. She was carrying a white backpack. “They should be in the outermost pocket.”

“Okay.” Shen Chen rummaged through her bag and pulled out two black hair ties.

He handed one to Chen Yuanyuan and then naturally reached out his long fingers to help Li Xiao Gui gather the hair by her ears. He smoothly gathered it upwards.

As he was doing this, he felt Li Xiao Gui's headband getting in the way. He took it off her head, hung it on his arm, and continued to gather her hair. He even pushed her bangs back.

“There,” he said seriously.

Li Xiao Gui touched her forehead, which felt empty and cool with only a few strands of hair remaining. She was about to pull her bangs back down when Shen Chen stopped her. He took her small hand and wiped it with a tissue.

After cleaning her hand, he put the little chick headband back on Li Xiao Gui.

As soon as he let go, Li Xiao Gui naturally reached up and quickly pulled her bangs back into place. Finally, she could eat her cotton candy in peace.

They ate and played, trying out the roller coaster, pirate ship, bumper cars, and haunted house. Finally, it was time for a break.

Li Xiao Gui and Chen Yuanyuan's hair was a complete mess. They had already taken out their hair ties and put them around their wrists.

They sat on a bench while Shen Chen went to buy them drinks.

Chen Yuanyuan was now sobbing as she complained about Li Xiao Gui and Shen Chen. Apparently, they hadn't shown any fear in the haunted house and had remained completely expressionless the entire time. Only she had been scared out of her wits.

She had almost frozen in fear several times.

Li Xiao Gui had ended up carrying her out of the haunted house.

Li Xiao Gui hugged Chen Yuanyuan on the bench and comforted her in a low voice.

Shen Chen came back with their milk tea and handed them their drinks.

Just then, someone wearing a bear costume and handing out flyers came up to them.

She took off the head of the costume, revealing a flushed face. “Hey, Xiao Gui, Shen Chen! I didn't expect to see you guys here!”

The girl pointed to herself. "Oh, right, do you remember me? We went to that school together for that ghost hunting thing! Xiao Gui, I was even on the same team as you!"

Li Xiao Gui nodded and stood up. She remembered her; she was the fifth person on their team, the girl who was too scared to wait outside for them.

Her light brown eyes were soft as she smiled. "Of course, I remember you, Xili."

Shen Chen also looked at the girl.

Xili laughed shyly.

Looking at her costume, Li Xiao Gui asked, "Xili, are you working here part-time?"

"Yeah, I'm handing out flyers," Xili replied.

She handed them each a flyer. "There's an event at the amusement park tonight at seven. There will be fireworks! It'll be super lively. You guys should come if you can!"

Li Xiao Gui's eyes lit up at the mention of fireworks. "Okay!" she agreed.

"It's from seven to nine tonight. It's going to be so much fun, you have to come! I'm going to continue handing out flyers now!"

"Okay, we will!" Li Xiao Gui responded.

Xili put her bear head back on and disappeared into the crowd.

Li Xiao Gui looked at the flyer. It was for a "Fireworks Wishing Ceremony" being held at the central fountain in the amusement park. At seven o'clock sharp, you could write your wish on a wooden plaque provided at the fountain, and the fireworks would help your wish come true.

"That sounds pretty romantic," Li Xiao Gui remarked.

Shen Chen nodded. Li Xiao Gui was about to show the flyer to Chen Yuanyuan and comfort her some more when she saw that Chen Yuanyuan had already wiped her tears and was fiddling with her camera.

"Yuanyuan, what are you doing?" Li Xiao Gui asked, walking over to her.

Chen Yuanyuan was completely fine now. Her eyes even seemed to be sparkling. "I'm uploading the photos, and then I'll send them to your brother. Oh, I should create a group chat so you guys can see them too!"

Li Xiao Gui looked down at her phone and saw that she had been added to a group chat. She took a sip of her milk tea.

There were many photos: three-person shots, two-person shots, and individual photos.

There were photos of the three of them together, a photo of Xiao Gui with her chick headband, a photo of Shen Chen wearing wolf ears and holding cotton candy, selfies of Chen Yuanyuan, and selfies of Chen Yuanyuan and Xiao Gui. Of course, there were even more photos of Shen Chen helping Xiao Gui with her headband, Shen Chen holding Xiao Gui's hand, Shen Chen fixing Xiao Gui's hair, Shen Chen wiping Xiao Gui's hands...

There were especially many photos of just Shen Chen and Xiao Gui.

Burly Ghost's expression changed from excitement to confusion as he looked at the photos. Something felt off. Why were there so many photos of Shen Chen and Xiao Gui? And they looked so natural, so intimate?

Everyone in the ghost house was gathered around, eager to see the photos that Burly Ghost had taken. But they weren't expecting this. Compared to these photos, the one they saw from the rooftop last time seemed quite ordinary.

Burly Ghost slowly raised his head and asked, "Are Xiao Gui and Shen Chen dating?"

Young Ghost replied calmly, "No way, Xiao Gui would tell us if she was dating."

Burly Ghost looked at the photos again and asked, "What if Xiao Gui is dating behind our backs...?"

"No way!" Young Ghost immediately interjected.

"Absolutely not!" Female Ghost exclaimed.

"That's not okay, our little darling is still so young," Ghost Granny chimed in.

Ghost Grandpa simply said, "..."

Burly Ghost tilted his head. "But what if one day Xiao Gui tells us that she wants to date Shen Chen? What if she asks for our permission?"

The four ghosts imagined Li Xiao Gui blinking her big, brown eyes and announcing that she was in love, seeking their approval.

The four ghosts fell silent. "..."

"And what if one day Xiao Gui says she wants to get married?"

The four ghosts: "..."

They were so used to associating photos with dating, and dating with marriage, that they immediately jumped to those conclusions.

They had never considered that one day they would have to worry about Xiao Gui's love life. They had never even considered the possibility of her getting married. She still seemed so young to them.

Young Ghost slowly turned on the TV and switched it to a channel he had never watched before: a channel about human relationships, specifically mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.

The five ghosts sat in a row, their ten hollow eyes glued to the television screen. Even Female Ghost, who usually couldn't keep her eyes open, was wide-eyed and focused on the drama unfolding before them.

...

Li Xiao Gui looked at the photos and remarked, "Yuanyuan, you took such nice pictures!"

Chen Yuanyuan smiled proudly.

The three of them sat in their little corner, the bustling crowd surging around them.

People came and went, the roller coaster plunged downwards, and people in mascot costumes continued to hand out flyers.

"At seven o'clock tonight, there will be an event at the amusement park fountain where you can make a wish on the fireworks!"

The mascots kept shouting and handing out flyers to passersby.

Suddenly, one of the mascot's hands was grabbed. The bear mascot looked up in surprise and saw a man wearing a mask. "The event has been canceled," the man said. "You don't need to hand out flyers anymore. Just tell your supervisor that this is what the adults said."

The man let go of the mascot's hand and walked towards the next person in a mascot costume.

"The event has been canceled. You don't need to hand out flyers anymore. If anyone asks, just tell them that this is what the adults said."

The man repeated this to each mascot. Just as he was about to leave, his hand was grabbed again.

A muffled voice came from inside the thick costume. "Why?"

The man paused, surprised. He looked at the mascot curiously.

Author's Note:

The five ghosts, after extremely seriously watching the wrong kind of educational material (a long, drawn-out drama about a rich family with a terrible mother-in-law and daughter-in-law), and experiencing a whole series of events like getting pregnant out of wedlock, abortion, marriage, conflicts between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, cheating, framing, car accidents, childbirth, difficult labor... etc.

The five ghosts: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

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