The first night after the wedding without holding Bai Xiaodie in my sleep, I missed her.
Shen Fu, who couldn't sleep because he missed his wife, wrote about his experiences interacting with Bai Shanshan, her alternate personality, and recorded it in his electronic diary.
Xiaodie always says she can't communicate directly with her other personalities, so her understanding is limited. In the past, she used diaries, and now videos, to learn about the parts they want her to understand, which is quite one-sided.
Now Shen Fu has decided to help Xiaodie get to know her alternate personalities by observing from a bystander's perspective, believing he would have a more comprehensive view.
Plus, he's a novelist, with skills to boot, guaranteeing that he can help Xiaodie understand what she wants to know more clearly and effortlessly.
After writing a 2000-word essay, Shen Fu yawned. It was really time to sleep. He hoped to see his own Xiaodie first thing in the morning. That foodie couldn't just keep mooching, right? It's quite costly.
~
The next morning, Shen Fu didn't see Xiaodie; instead, Wan Ziqian was blinking at him.
"What's up~" Shen Fu asked casually, while feeling around in the sheets. Thankfully, he was wearing clothes today.
"Uncle, Little Butterfly went jogging early this morning. Does she always get up so early?"
"What? Jogging?" Shen Fu perked up instantly, "Where? Where?"
Shen Fu thought of what Xiaodie had said before. Could it be that Bai Shengnan was back?
Although he said he wanted to be buddies with her, the thought of this woman's violent tendencies still made Shen Fu somewhat uneasy, as his head began to ache faintly again.
He and Qian stood by the window, just in time to see a beautiful sight in the park: Bai Xiaodie with her ponytail, running evenly on the park path, surrounded by a group of old men who could only lean against a tree in awe.
From this distance, Shen Fu couldn't tell whether it was Bai Xiaodie or Bai Shengnan, but it certainly wouldn't be Bai Shanshan. If Xiaodie stayed in Bai Shanshan's state, she would have turned into a ball by now.
When "Xiaodie" came back from the park, she also brought with her two sets of pancake fruit, three cups of millet porridge, and a few tea eggs.
"Wan, I'm back!"
She put the breakfast on the table and, seeing Shen Fu's perplexed face on the couch, immediately leaned in and kissed his face, "Hubby, I'm back."
Shen Fu knew then, this was his dear wife!
So he responded warmly, embracing and nibbling on her.
Wan Ziqian, who had just walked out of the bedroom, took ten thousand points of damage, "That's too much, you two, there's still someone alive here!"
Unexpectedly, the usually shy Bai Xiaodie even suggested, "Then we'll go back to our room, and no eavesdropping~"
After saying that, she pulled Shen Fu back into the bedroom, leaving Wan Ziqian dumbfounded. What's this? Early in the morning, right after the morning exercise, time for morning calisthenics?
Wan Ziqian patted her chest, "As a single dog, what did I do to deserve this!"
Then she picked up a pancake fruit with a dog food flavor and started eating. Hey, not bad, it's double sausage double egg.
After shutting the door, Bai Xiaodie said to Shen Fu, "I know Bai Shanshan was here yesterday, but how come Wan is back?"
Turns out she was worried that chatting with Wan Ziqian in the morning might give her away, so she went out for a run early, guessing that Shen Fu would be awake by then, and only then did she return.
"It's because Wan is worried about you, she rushed back from Yunnan overnight, and even brought you some fungi specially," Shen Fu hugged Xiaodie, "Wife, it's so good to see you."
"But I'm not doing well," Bai Xiaodie said, rubbing her stomach with a worried frown, "Bai Shanshan eats too much. Next time you have to keep an eye on her. Before going to the restroom, I weighed myself, and I'm 101 pounds now."
"She left you a video message?"
"Yeah, she did. And even if she hadn't, I'd still know it was her~"
Bai Xiaodie didn't bring up the money matter. Since it was Mrs. Bai who earned it, she could deal with it whenever she arrived. Regarding financial matters, the two had long reached an unspoken understanding.
"But there's something strange," Bai Xiaodie said, "The video I recorded yesterday was deleted. I don't know if it was Bai Shanshan's doing, or someone else's?"
"It shouldn't be Bai Shanshan," Shen Fu explained, "As far as knowing the secret goes, she probably isn't aware of it yet. She spent all of yesterday trying hard to impersonate you."
"Then it seems it must have been someone else, or possibly that ninth personality. Who knows when she emerged and why she would do such a thing." Xiaodie frowned.
"Should we still tell them about it?"
After thinking for a moment, Bai Xiaodie said, "Never mind, since someone doesn't want this relationship exposed, let's not talk about it for now. When you see them again, just pretend to be me."
Shen Fu pondered and said, "How about we come up with a secret code? If I feel something's off, I'll use this code, and if you respond correctly, it'll prove it's really you."
"That's a good idea!" Bai Xiaodie's eyes lit up, "What should the secret code be... Got it!"
She grabbed Shen Fu's arm, "If you think I'm not myself, just kiss my left cheek, and I'll point to my right cheek and say, 'This side too.'"
It was a very sweet secret code.
However, Shen Fu awkwardly scratched his head, "If it's really you, that's fine, but if it isn't you~"
Bai Xiaodie laughed, "If it's not me, do you think they'll just wait patiently for you to kiss them?"
"Haha, that makes sense," Shen Fu laughed heartily. If it were Bai Shengnan, she would probably just throw him over her shoulder and tell him to show more respect.
Looking at Shen Fu, Bai Xiaodie narrowed her eyes, "Yesterday, you didn't happen to kiss Bai Shanshan, did you?"
"No, definitely not!" Shen Fu quickly said, "She was just focused on eating, and we hardly spoke. Oh, right..."
Shen Fu forcefully changed the subject, "I wrote down everything that happened with Bai Shanshan yesterday. It should be more detailed than her video, including the characterization of her personality. After reading it, you should understand this personality better."
Bai Xiaodie hadn't expected Shen Fu to be so considerate, "Husband, thank you."
"Say thank you one more time and see if I don't bury you. That's so distant!" Shen Fu pinched his wife's cheek, "From now on, every time I meet them, I'll record it to help you better understand and control them."
Bai Xiaodie nodded, but inside she felt troubled, as if she was gradually losing control over them.
She calculated a bit. From around noon when Bai Shanshan appeared to when they went to bed, there were at least 12 hours. Previously among the personalities, Bai Shanshan was weaker, nowhere near as strong as Nan or Mrs. Bai.
Shanshan would come out for, at most, three or four hours at a time, just enough to have a meal. But yesterday, she had taken up so much time.
Was it that she had grown stronger, or had she herself grown weaker?
Shen Fu sent his written account to Xiaodie for her to read on her way to work, "Let's eat breakfast first."
Seeing the breakfast on the table, Shen Fu suddenly remembered, "Oh, there's still half of the lobster pizza left."
Bai Xiaodie waved her hands, "I couldn't possibly eat that now, some tea eggs and millet porridge will do for me."
Shen Fu said, "Then later at the studio, give it to Tianpeng. Oh right, Qian will be going with you too. There's something important to discuss with you."