Uncle Shui, How Old Are You?

Before returning to the Dream Protection Bureau, Uncle Shui stopped by a cosmetics store and purchased several bottles of high-end hair conditioner.

Watching him place the expensive-looking boxes into the trunk, Xu Feng couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “Uncle Shui? Are those for your significant other?”

“No, they’re for Miss Duyun at the front desk.”

“Eh? Really?” Xu Feng’s eyes widened slightly.

“Yes, I brought them specifically for her.” Uncle Shui offered no excuse, telling Xu Feng with complete and open frankness.

“Oh… I see.”

Xu Feng nodded as she processed this. She couldn’t help but recall how the fox lady at the desk always seemed exceptionally respectful and attentive toward Uncle Shui.

Could they have feelings for each other? This happens in novels all the time!

With a sudden urge to dig for gossip, Xu Feng looked at Uncle Shui’s face and asked playfully, “Uncle Shui, do you like fluffy animals?”

“Not particularly.” Uncle Shui’s answer was the last thing Xu Feng expected.

“Huh? Then what kind of animals do you like?”

“Water buffaloes. When I was a kid, my family raised quite a few. They’re very gentle creatures. If you grab onto their horns and climb up, you can see quite far from up there.” The corners of Uncle Shui’s mouth tightened slightly, seemingly nostalgic for the past.

Xu Feng was floored. She had assumed Uncle Shui liked Miss Duyun because he had a thing for foxes, but it seemed there was a completely different reason!

“Then why do you like Miss Duyun?” Xu Feng asked bluntly. Since she didn’t view Uncle Shui as a stranger, she didn’t filter her words.

Startled by the question, Uncle Shui froze for a moment. He looked at Xu Feng’s expectant face, closed his eyes to think, and suddenly realized what was going on.

This kid was overthinking things.

“Feng, do you think… that I’m in love with Miss Duyun?” Uncle Shui laughed, his voice carrying a steady, honest maturity that felt at odds with his youthful face.

“Aren’t you?” Xu Feng suspected he was just covering it up. His poker face was good, but she figured that came with being a professional at the Bureau!

“Hahaha…” Uncle Shui was genuinely amused by her directness. He turned his gaze back to the road ahead, resting his hands naturally on his lap as he explained. “I’m simply on good terms with her. I once looked after her when she was finding her way out of a dream world. Besides, I’m already married. I know where the line is.”

“Ma… married? You, Uncle Shui?”

Xu Feng scanned him up and down in shock. While his expression lacked a certain youthful spark, he looked incredibly young! He looked like a college student—maybe a recent graduate at most. Definitely no older than twenty-five!

“Yes, I’m married. I have my wedding photo in the car; want to see?” Uncle Shui pointed toward the glove compartment right in front of the passenger seat.

“No, it’s just… you got married that early?” Xu Feng remained skeptical.

“Not really. I’ve been married for over a decade now,” Uncle Shui mused, squinting as he calculated the time.

“Over a decade!” Xu Feng was dazed, counting on her fingers. Was it some kind of extreme child marriage? That’s way too exaggerated! What kind of local custom is that?!

Seeing her bewildered reaction, Uncle Shui gave a resigned smile and decided to reveal the truth.

“Don’t let this appearance fool you. If you look closely at this white hair, I really am an old man.” He pinched a lock of his hair to show her.

“It’s not dyed? I thought you were just being trendy…” Xu Feng realized she had completely misunderstood his image.

“It happened later. It turned white from grief.”

“Grief? Uncle Shui, how old actually are you?” Xu Feng pressed urgently.

“Forty-five,” he answered, his expression as calm as still water.

“Eeeh? Uh… what?!” Xu Feng’s expression flickered between doubt and pure shock. She couldn’t believe this young-looking man was actually a forty-five-year-old “Uncle”!

Wait, Uncle Shui? No wonder everyone at the Bureau calls him that!

Xu Feng patted her cheeks to calm her racing heart. She checked the windows, then cupped her hand over her mouth and leaned in toward him.

“Uncle Shui, does the Bureau have some kind of immortality elixir? Or maybe a Youth-Preserving Pill? The kind you get as a reward for finishing missions?”

This sudden shift into “immortal cultivation” tropes made Uncle Shui burst into hearty laughter.

“Haha… you young people really do have wild imaginations. The Dream Protection Bureau isn’t a sect for cultivators. If you want medicine, Doctor Daoyan has some for illnesses, but ‘immortality’ doesn’t exist. My appearance is the result of a disaster.”

Uncle Shui’s grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly. He looked at Xu Feng, his eyes reflecting a weathered weariness buried beneath old waters.

“Could you tell me about it? I’m not in a hurry…” Xu Feng sat up straight in her seat. The car was now parked under the shade of a tree by the roadside.

“Sure. I’ll start from the first day I stumbled into that disaster.”

Uncle Shui adjusted his tone, his voice growing deeper and more resonant, filling the car with the atmosphere of a somber tale.

“It was a Saturday night. After work, I promised my daughter I’d bring home some spicy hot pot that she’d been craving. The rain was heavy and it was pitch black outside. As luck would have it, my electric scooter broke down about a kilometer from home. I was pushing it back when my phone suddenly rang. I picked up, and all I heard was my child screaming for me. ‘Daddy, where are you?! Mommy was taken by a monster!'”

Uncle Shui’s fists clenched with a tense energy, as if he were still blaming himself. Xu Feng remained silent, playing the part of a quiet listener.

“When I heard that call, I dropped everything I was carrying. I was terrified! This was no child’s prank. I ran—I sprinted the whole way! When I reached the front door, I saw it had been torn open. There were broken toys and clothes scattered everywhere. I knew something was wrong, but I was too late.”

Uncle Shui raised his left hand, lightly brushing his brow before continuing.

“I saw it—another door within the crack of my own door. It looked like a giant mirror with edges carved from gaudy stones. A crimson ghostly hand was reaching out from that door, grabbing my daughter and pulling her in! I kicked the door open, grabbed a cleaver from the kitchen, and started hacking at that hand! I chopped and sliced, but it grabbed me too and dragged me into the dream world. I fought it, trying to save her, but it was too strong. I was knocked unconscious by a single blow. When I woke up, members of the Bureau were standing over me. They handed me my wife and daughter’s belongings and told me to accept my loss. Later, I understood why they called me ‘young man’—it was because the monster’s world had made me young again. My hair turned white shortly after.”

Uncle Shui fell silent, a trace of moisture lingering at the corners of his eyes from tears that had dried a thousand times before.

Xu Feng looked at him and let out a sympathetic sigh. “I’m so sorry, Uncle Shui.”

“I’ve come to terms with it,” he said softly. “Perhaps this is just the price I had to pay for this ‘youth.'”