After I left the house, I tailed Bai Yu from far away, out of S City’s southern district—the area where I lived.

I watched her get on a bus. I flagged a taxi right after.

“Sir, please follow that bus.”

The middle-aged driver with a horseshoe bald spot looked me up and down, then floored it and sped off.

Damn it! I’m not suspicious at all.

Luckily there were plenty of cabs at this hour. I caught another one and got in. We tailed the bus to S City’s western district.

I saw Bai Yu get off, paid in a hurry, and hopped out too. I think the driver was calling the police as I left. I was in a rush, so I didn’t look closely. Hopefully I imagined it.

She moved cautiously, glancing around to see if anyone she knew was nearby. My disguise skills are just too good, though. She never noticed me.

“Mom, that guy hiding behind the utility pole is weird.” A snot-nosed brat stopped, pointed at me, and said that as his mom tugged him along.

“Xiaonan, don’t stare.” His mom scooped him up and hurried away from me.

Kids these days are such brats...

Bai Yu entered an apartment building. She checked the area before going in, which scared me into jumping straight into the shrubs.

Seeing nothing wrong, she took her small bag upstairs. I slipped in after her and entered the building.

Inside, she stepped into the elevator.

Crap.

There weren’t many people. If I got in with her, she’d spot me. But if I didn’t, I’d lose the floor she went to.

While I hesitated, the doors shut. The elevator began to rise.

I rushed to the doors and watched the indicator above the buttons, tracking each stop. Thankfully it was empty, so it only stopped at three floors.

Third, sixth, seventh.

No time to wait. I bolted up the stairs to the third floor.

I pressed my ear to each door, listening for movement. If it wasn’t Bai Yu, I moved to the next.

It was a singles’ building, rooms small, so the floor had around twenty units. Checking them one by one took effort.

She wasn’t on three. I headed to six...

No luck on six. Up to seven...

Finally, in a room near the back on seven, I heard her laugh.

“Ah, really... don’t... hehe.”

The soundproofing was decent. Even with my ear glued to the door, I only caught fragments.

But even that was enough to make my blood boil.

Damn it. What scumbag could make my daughter laugh like that? She never laughed at me like that.

A strange loneliness crept in. I thought I’d only feel this on her wedding day, when I placed her hand in someone worthy’s palm.

I was... unwilling to accept it!

I took a deep breath, then knocked—bang, bang, bang.

The noises stopped. After a moment, Bai Yu called out, a little flustered, “Who is it?”

“Food delivery.” I dropped my voice on purpose so she wouldn’t recognize it.

I heard a rustle inside, then the handle turned. She peeked out. “You’ve got the wrong place. I didn’t order anything.”

She hid her body behind the door, but I could see her light makeup. She was already cute; now she looked like an angel sent to save the world. She wore something I’d never seen on her—a black lace frilled dress.

The hem didn’t even reach her knees. Tell me that’s not sexy. The neckline framed her collarbones on purpose. Tell me that’s not sexy. The dip showed a faint line of cleavage. That’s super, super, super sexy!

I slowly took off my cap and mask. Bai Yu’s eyes went wide.

“Y-you... why are you here?”

Her voice cracked from surprise. It sounded nice, but I wasn’t in the mood.

She tried to shut the door at once. I reacted fast and held it.

“Mm—” She yanked the handle so hard her face flushed bright red. But she was still a girl; she couldn’t match my strength.

I pulled the door open and pushed my way in.

“Wait, you can’t come in!” She blocked me, panicking, shoving hard to push me out.

“Bai Yu, I’m mad. I’m really mad!”

I shouted. Veins stood out on my forehead. She probably hadn’t seen me like this; she flinched with her eyes shut. I used the opening to slip past and enter.

The room was cute. Pink wallpaper. A pretty Western landscape on the wall. Plushies all over the floor. A bed, a sofa, and a computer.

“Where’s the man?”

I was like a rabid dog guarding its food. If there was another man here, I might actually take a bite out of him.

I looked carefully. Unless he jumped out the seventh-floor window, this simple room couldn’t hide anyone.

Then I saw the computer was on. A terrible guess hit me. “Bai Yu, don’t tell me you’re... doing... nu... nu... with someone...”

No, no. She had clothes on.

But it wasn’t what she wore when she left home, damn it!

I lunged to the PC. No nude old man like I imagined—just a barrage of on-screen chat flying by.

“Stream scuffed! Stream scuffed!”

“Is that the little streamer’s boyfriend? Kinda handsome!”

Did the boyfriend misunderstand and come to catch them? Spicy.

“Greetings from City B!”

“City M checking in!”

One window on screen showed this very room. Across it, the chat kept exploding. The most common message was “666.”

Bai Yu rushed in and told the mic, “Sorry, everyone. That’s it for today.”

She shut the computer down, not even waiting—she yanked the power cord.

With the stream off, she stood there in silence. I said nothing either. Time just bled away.

Awkward.

I stole a glance. She kept her head down, face bright red. Hands before her belly, index fingers poking circles. I didn’t know her thoughts. My brain just couldn’t keep up.

So that was “live streaming,” huh? I’d heard of it, but I was busy. I never had time to watch.

You can make money just by singing, dancing, and chatting with people online?

But when I realized her nights were just streaming, not what I feared, I let out a long breath. I’d been ready to explode. Suddenly, my heart went calm.

Honestly, guilt hit hard. A father who thinks that of his own daughter is scum.

“Um...”

“Um...”

We spoke at the same time, froze, and fell silent again.

“I’ll go first,” I said. I owned up quickly, voice so sincere I almost knelt. “Sorry. I misunderstood you.”

“Ah, it’s fine.” She sounded distracted.

She wrapped herself tight in the bed quilt, cheeks still flushed. She clearly didn’t want me seeing her in those clothes.

“I don’t object to you streaming, but at least about school...”

I started nagging like some old aunt. As expected, she made a face.

“You’re so noisy, Zong Jun.”

“Hey, I’m still your guardian. Even if you won’t call me Dad, at least call me your big bro, right?”

“Zong Jun, Zong Jun, Zong Jun, Zong Jun...”

She kept repeating my name, like she wanted to rile me on purpose.

Of course I didn’t take the bait. That would be petty.

“Anyway, why’d you come back here?”

She scrunched her brow, cute and light. She shifted her gaze to me and waddled over wrapped in the quilt. “Were you stalking me?”

“Haha, it’s just—the teacher said you’ve been skipping evening class. And those, uh, sexy clothes...” I chuckled awkwardly and tried to explain.

“Sexy clothes?”

She narrowed her eyes and leaned in close, then suddenly shouted, “How is this ‘sexy clothes’?”

She threw off the quilt, revealing the black lace mini. I hadn’t gotten a good look before. Up close, the design was unheard of and finely made.

“This is—” She paused hard, then declared, “my favorite character Elisa’s cosplay outfit! It’s not ‘sexy clothes’!”

Elisa? That sounded familiar.

“It’s Elisa from my favorite author, Chidori’s, best work, Zero-Time Logbook, and she’s my favorite character! Don’t call it that. You’re the worst, Zong Jun!”

She used “favorite” three times in a row. That said enough about how much she loved that character, that work, that author.

But I said nothing. I stood there, dumbstruck.

Chidori... Zero-Time Logbook... Elisa...

Aren’t those my pen name, my series, and my heroine?!