Chapter 5: The Girl in Bunny Pajamas

Wang Peizhen had barely slept.

Every time he shut his eyes, the little girl’s voice echoed back in his mind.

"Pa, you finally opened the door. You’re always this slow?"

"I'm Wang Ruoyu, your daughter. From the future."

No matter how many times he replayed the moment, it didn't get any more believable.

Now, as dawn painted the edges of the sky with a muted gray, Peizhen stood in the kitchen watching the electric kettle tremble with boiling water. Behind him, faint footsteps padded on the wooden floor. He turned, finding her the girl who called herself his daughter yawning, arms outstretched.

She wore a pair of oversized bunny pajamas he had randomly picked from a nearby convenience store last night. The sleeves hung past her wrists, and her hair was a fluffy mess. Despite everything, she looked… normal. Human. Real.

“Morning,” she mumbled, blinking up at him. “Is there milk?”

Peizhen blinked. “Uh… no, I forgot.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You live like a caveman.”

“I’m a student,” he shot back dryly. “We live on instant noodles and academic anxiety.”

She giggled, hopping up onto the chair by the dining table. “Do you have bread at least?”

“I bought some.” He handed her a plastic-wrapped loaf and sat down across from her, studying her face again.

He didn’t want to admit it, but she looked… familiar. Something about the shape of her eyes, the way she tilted her head when she smiled it stirred the corners of memories he didn’t even realize he had. Maybe from someone he hadn’t thought about in a long time.

An Ruoran.

He sighed.

Their call last night had been short, awkward. She hadn’t known what to say. Neither had he. How were they supposed to discuss a child they’d never even had?

Ruoran had been quiet after Ruoyu’s bold declaration. Shocked or maybe just in denial.

Just like he was.

“Are you really… from the future?” he asked again, watching her tear off a piece of bread.

Ruoyu nodded cheerfully. “Yup! I time-traveled! You and Mommy didn’t believe me at first either well, future you. But I convinced you eventually.”

“How?”

“I remembered all your weird habits. Like how you secretly eat candy while studying and hide the wrappers under your notes.”

Peizhen coughed. “That’s not That’s That proves nothing!”

She grinned with peanut butter smeared on her cheek. “It was enough for future you.”

He rubbed his temples. “You shouldn’t even be here. You’re just a kid.”

Ruoyu tilted her head. “I’m Five.”

“Exactly. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“I’m not,” she said simply. “I’m with you.”

Peizhen went quiet.

He had no idea how this happened what logic, science, or magic allowed a seven-year-old girl to appear at his doorstep with wild claims and convincing eyes. But here she was, acting like this was her second home. Acting like she belonged in his world.

She chewed another bite, then looked at him curiously.

“Are you scared of me, Daddy?”

He looked up sharply. “What?”

“You keep staring at me like you’re afraid I’ll disappear if you blink. Or like I’ll explode.”

Peizhen let out a slow breath. “I’m not scared of you. I’m scared of what this means.”

Ruoyu nodded like she understood. “That’s okay. Mommy said you overthink everything.”

He stared. “I she said that?”

“In the future,” she added quickly. “Not now.”

He leaned back in his chair. “You keep saying the future, but… it feels so impossible.”

Ruoyu’s voice softened. “You’ll believe it one day. You always do.”

Something about the way she said that made his chest tighten.

He looked at her again, this little girl with spark in her eyes and crumbs on her cheeks, and it hit him she wasn’t just someone’s kid. She wasn’t just a child.

She was his.

He stood up suddenly. “Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

She beamed. “Can I shower in bubbles?”

“I have exactly one shampoo bottle and no rubber duckies.”

She pouted. “You’re a boring grown-up.”

“You say that like it’s news.”

By the time Ruoyu was dressed in slightly less oversized clothes, Peizhen found his phone buzzing with a message.

It was from Ruoran.

"Are you okay? How is she?"

He stared at the message for a long while before typing back:

"She’s… surprisingly calm. Like she belongs here."

Her reply came quickly:

"I don’t know how to feel about this."

He hesitated, then responded:

"Me neither. But she said your name so confidently. As if you were always part of the story."

There was a long pause.

Then:

"Do you believe her?"

His fingers hovered over the screen.

Did he?

He looked over at Ruoyu, who had taken his stethoscope and was now trying to use it on a stuffed teddy bear from his bookshelf.

"You have a heartbeat too, Mr. Bear. That means you’re alive." she whispered to the toy.

Peizhen’s throat tightened.

"I don’t know. But I want to." he typed, and hit send.

That night, Ruoyu refused to sleep in the guest room.

“But your bed’s cold,” she insisted, climbing beside him with her tiny blanket. “I’m used to sleeping beside you.”

“You’re getting too comfortable,” he grumbled, shifting awkwardly.

Ruoyu snuggled into the pillow. “In the future, you tuck me in and read frog stories.”

“I’m not reading any frog stories.”

She gave him a look. “You love frog stories.”

He sighed. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Mommy says the same.”

He didn’t respond to that.

As the silence stretched between them, Peizhen stared up at the ceiling, mind spinning.

Seven years.

Five years from now, somehow… he and Ruoran would end up together? Have this child?

It felt impossible. And yet… there she was, breathing softly beside him.

In her own apartment, An Ruoran lay wide awake, staring at the glow of her phone.

Peizhen’s last message repeated in her head.

"I don’t know. But I want to."

She hadn’t known what to say.

Ruoyu’s face flashed through her mind the smile, the eyes, the strange comfort in her voice.

Why did it feel so… familiar?

And why did her dreams lately keep replaying the days she used to sneak glances at Peizhen in the back row of chemistry class?

She sighed, turned over, and closed her eyes

but even in the darkness, she could still hear that little girl’s voice.

"Mommy."

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