Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

Lilly sprinted across the road.

Honk— A car zoomed past, knocking her off balance. She fell, scraping her arm on the pavement, blood seeping out instantly.

She ignored the chauffeur's puzzled gaze or the curious pedestrians asking, "Whose child is that?" Although she didn't recognize the route from school to the Hatcher family's house, an inexplicable sense of conviction guided her through unfamiliar intersections and narrow alleys until she arrived at the residential area.

At that moment, Lilly sensed that her determination might solve some problems.

At last, she stood before the Hatcher family's home.

The house had been sealed off, which was later auctioned in a legal sale and bought by another household.

The woods behind the house weren't originally the Hatcher family's, but they had opened a gap in the fence, treating the woods as their secret personal backyard when they lived there.

The quickest route to the woods was passing through the house.

Lilly was familiar with the path as she squeezed through a gap. Although she heard a reproachful voice from above, she disregarded everything as she had only one thought. Find Polly! The woods remained the same, exactly as she remembered.

"Polly!" Lilly called out in a trembling voice.

She called for a long time without any response. Only the approaching voices of people talking in the distance echoed.

"Whose kid is that? Why is she just barging into someone else's house like that? If something happens to her, we won't be able to explain it." Lilly glanced back and stumbled deeper into the woods.

The prickly shrubs scratched her face, leaving several red marks, but she paid them no mind.

Suddenly, she felt that, at this moment, Polly was her only hope in this whole world. If she couldn't find it...

"Polly..." Lilly's eyes welled up with tears, but she held them back and called, "Polly, it's Lilly. Please come out..." The surroundings were eerily quiet, interrupted only by distant curses from people searching for her.

Tears streamed down Lilly's cheeks.

Suddenly, she thought of a possibility. Polly might be gone because it had died over the winter.

That would be logical. However, if so, what should she do next? Finally, just as despair set in, the sound of flapping wings echoed, and Polly squawked. "Lilly!" Lilly was immediately overjoyed. "Polly!" The emerald parrot landed on her shoulder. Before Lilly could get a good look at it, she was caught by the people behind her.

Polly flapped its wings and shouted, "Squawk! Kidnappers! Kidnappers!" The adult was somewhat irritated. "Whose child are you? How can you just barge into someone else's house?" Lilly's lips quivered. "I..." She was nobody's child. She didn't have a home.

She didn't want to mention the orphanage, nor did she want to go back there.

"I just came to find my friend Polly," Lilly earnestly explained, "Now that I've found her, I'll leave right away." After saying that, she broke free from the person's grip, picked up Polly, and ran toward the exit.

However, the people behind her stopped her.

"Which family lets their kid run around like this?" "She doesn't look like she's from this neighborhood." A woman looked at Lilly's worn-out clothes and suggested, "We should call the police. If this little one gets into trouble, we won't be able to explain.” Lilly clutched Polly tightly and stayed silent.

At last, a distant hum of a car engine permeated the air, and Lilly lifted her gaze to witness the arrival of a man in black.

Instinctively, she rose to her feet, eyes shimmering with hope. "Dad!" Lilly held onto hope, anticipating a twist in the storyline where her father would recognize her.

Yet, she was disappointed once again.

The man in black took her by the hand and said to the villa's owner, "Was she already inside when you found her?" The adults each gave their accounts, and Lilly listened quietly with pursed lips.

Finally, after the man in black finished taking statements and gave some instructions, he took her to his car and drove away.

"Why did you run off?" he asked while driving, occasionally glancing at Lilly through the rearview mirror.

Lilly held Polly close and explained, "I came to get Polly. She's my good friend." The man in black cast a glance at the parrot. "Don’t run away from the orphanage in the future. It's dangerous. You won't always be this lucky." Lilly listened in a daze.

She wouldn't always be this lucky. Her mind drifted to the dream where she was exceptionally fortunate after facing life-and- death situations.

It turned out that in real life, luck didn't always exist.

"l understand,” Lilly murmured, lowering her gaze to the quiet Polly in her embrace.

As Polly sensed Lilly's glance, it squawked. "None of your business! None of your business!" Lilly fixed her gaze on the parrot.

Polly tilted its head. "What's wrong, babe? Why are you looking at me like that? You're making me blush!" Lilly narrowed her eyes.

Something was off! She recollected that when her arm was grabbed earlier, Polly was perched on her shoulder, not flying away but shrieking, "Kidnappers! Kidnappers!" Besides, as it locked eyes with her, it casually remarked, "What's wrong, babe? Why are you looking at me like that? You're making me blush!" Yes, these words were very Polly-like.

However, Polly should be timid in the beginning, just like Lilly.

It was only after they were taken in by the Crawford family, truly experiencing the love and care of a family and finally feeling at ease, that they gradually let their guard down.

When her eight uncles came to pick her up, they had to coax Polly for a long time to calm it down.

At this point, Polly should have been timid and not so eloquent with words.

Yet, when Lilly's arm was grasped just now, it didn't startle and fly away in fright.

When she had just taken it out from the woods, it was already calling her "babe." A mischievous smile graced Lilly's lips as she whispered, "Polly, you have exposed yourself." At that instant, she could sense Polly subtly tensing up in her arms.