Little Hu Qi saw the little black dragon doll's eyes light up, looked up at the man's expression, and after getting his consent, he carefully reached out his hand: "Thank you, Auntie."
Lu Yao happily pushed the pepper stuck to his leg forward and introduced: "This is my little friend, his name is Lu Pepper, he is six years old this year."
Hu Jiao is slightly taller than Hu Qi. Perhaps he hasn't adapted to his new identity yet. He stands there stiffly and doesn't know how to start a conversation.
Hu Qi blinked his big, watery eyes twice and called softly, "Hello, brother."
He is also six years old this year, but he hasn't had his birthday yet, so he calls me brother.
Lu Yao and Jiao Hu did not stay at Hu Qi's house for too long. After giving their gifts, they exchanged a few polite words with the man and then left.
From beginning to end, the hostess did not show up.
Lu Yao didn't ask any more questions.
After coming out of Hu Qi's house, Jiao Jiao was obviously in a bad mood.
Lu Yao asked him to go home first, and he distributed the remaining boxes of snacks to other neighbors one by one.
Room 305.
Hu Qi's mother stood by the windowsill with disheveled hair, eavesdropping on the noise outside the door, and occasionally glanced at Hu Qi standing in the corner.
Hu Qi held the little black dragon doll he had just received in his hands, pursed his lips in secret joy, and did not notice his mother's eyes.
Hearing the door of Room 306 open and close, Hu Qi's mother turned around with a frown, snatched the doll from Hu Qi's hand, and said sternly: "What are you playing with? Go practice the piano!"
After saying that, he threw the doll into the trash can.
Hu Qi could not disobey his mother and returned to the piano room in silence.
But the sound of the piano stopped not long after it started.
Room 306.
Pepper sat on the sofa near the window in the living room, eyes heavy, "When I was a kid, I always obeyed the woman's orders, I thought it was because I loved her. When I grew up, I realized that her ability was activated through language, and people with lower ability values could only passively accept her orders."
Lu Yao was tidying up his clothes and stopped when he heard this: "Word Spirit?"
Pepper: “That’s about it.”
Lu Yao: "Since she has this ability, she should be able to resist your father, right?"
A sneer that didn't match her age appeared on Huo Jiao's young face. "Although her abilities are worth exploring, she herself is not very interested in superpowers. She spends most of her time dressing up and competing with others. Except for me when I was a child, her abilities can't control anyone."
Seeing that Huo Jiao's face was getting darker and darker, Lu Yao secretly considered whether to block some of his memories to promote the tutoring progress. After thinking for a while, he gave up and walked over to hold Huo Jiao's face, whispering: "It's easy to be swallowed by the past. We came back here from the future across time, not to experience pain again, right?"
Pepper came back to her senses and met the shop owner's serious yet gentle eyes. She was stunned for a moment, then she reacted and suddenly raised her hand to break free, shrinking into a corner: "Just talk, you-you-"
Lu Yao said calmly, "I am your mother now, please get used to it as soon as possible. You will go to school tomorrow, and I think your social skills are not as good as the little Hu Qi next door. You should think about your actions tomorrow. Don't be alone and unable to make friends."
Pepper: "I..."
After being busy all day with moving, visiting neighbors, and packing, Lu Yao simply cooked two bowls of noodles in the evening.
The simplest soy sauce noodles are topped with a few slices of crispy green vegetables and a golden fried egg in the middle.
Pepper took a bite and showed surprise. After a while, he said, "It tastes okay."
Lu Yao didn't argue with the child: "Be good."
black pepper:"… "
After dinner, Pepper started packing her schoolbag.
He took a pen and wrote down his name in the notebook solemnly, then turned around and asked Lu Yao: "Why do I have to be named Lu? Are we a single-parent family?"
Lu Yao, who was folding clothes, paused and inexplicably felt that a similar situation seemed to have occurred before.
— “I don’t want the last name ‘Lu’. I don’t want to have the same last name as you.”
— "What last name do you like? Choose your own."
The sound of flipping pages rang in my ears. After a while, a clear young voice said, "I want this 'Lu', Lu... Xiao and Lu Yao, they are both similar and different."
Lu Yao seemed to smile: "Childish."
…
"What are you thinking about?" Hu Jiao jumped off the chair at some point, came in front of Lu Yao, looked up at her, and said, "You're smiling strangely."
Lu Yao woke up with a start, raised his hand and gently stroked his forehead, and said casually: "It's nothing, pack your schoolbag and go play by yourself, don't disturb mom from doing housework."
black pepper:"… "
-
Tianshu City, Qianmen Mountain.
The child stood under the eaves of the icy house, looking up at the mountaintop, and muttered to himself: "Hasn't the first snow come yet?"
There is snow on Qianmen Mountain all year round, but the child stubbornly waits for the first snow after the beginning of winter.
He always said that when the first snow fell, it was time to go down the mountain.
Ji Feichen stood by and said, "In previous years, the mountain would have seen heavy snowfalls at this time of year. I don't know why, but this year's first snow just hasn't come yet."
The child looked up at the sky, his eyelashes carved out of ice and snow fluttering gently, and a few rays of joy leaped out of his blood-red pupils: "It should be soon."
The sky on the mountain was always gray, and Ji Feichen could not see any difference from the past.
-
Orange City, Kumquat Community.
Hu Qi ate dinner alone, then fetched water to wash himself, changed into pajamas, climbed into bed and prepared to rest, still thinking about the little dragon doll that his mother had thrown away.
He was delighted when he saw the doll for the first time and wanted to pick it up, but he was afraid of being discovered by his mother.
Hu Qi, who was crawling towards the bed, found a bulge in the middle of the bed. He thought it was a pillow pressed underneath, so he lifted the quilt and was shocked to find that the little black dragon that was abandoned by its mother was actually lying on the bed with its tail coiled.
Alfred was discovered, so he simply got up and greeted: "Hello, my name is Alfred."
Hu Qi was not frightened. He climbed up to the bed and carefully poked Alfred's protruding belly with his hand. His eyes lit up and he said, "It's really a dragon. Why are you in my house?"
Alfred's stubby paws were wrapped around his chest with difficulty. "Have you forgotten? Aunt Lu from next door gave me to you today."
Hu Qi looked surprised: "Are you a little dragon doll?"
Alfred nodded seriously: "But this is a secret, and the adults can't know. You have to keep it a secret for me."
Hu Qi nodded vigorously, with joy in his eyes: "Are you going to live here?"
Alfred took two steps forward and patted Hu Qi's knee: "Yes. I will be your partner from now on. You can tell me if you have any questions."
That night, little Hu Qi, who had nothing, received the most precious gift in life, a treasure that belonged to him alone.
He has a secret friend named Alfred.
In the morning, Hu Qi was worried about leaving Alfred alone at home, so he secretly hid him in his schoolbag.
The man went to work early in the morning, and the woman got up early and spent more than an hour putting on makeup without even asking him whether he had packed his stationery.
When they were going out, they met Lu Yao and Jiao who were also going out.
The two families greeted each other politely and chatted all the way down the elevator.
Knowing that Hu Qi and her mother were also going to Jinju Primary School, Lu Yao offered to give them a ride.
The woman stared at Lu Yao's new car, forced a smile, and got in after a few excuses.
The woman sat in the passenger seat, while Pepper and Hu Qi sat in the back.
On the way to school, the woman kept observing the interior of the car and quietly asked about Lu Yao's work.
Lu Yao smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you? I'm a teacher at Jinju Primary School."
Pepper, who was racking her brains to strike up a conversation with her younger self: “???”
The woman's expression changed, and she became a little restless: "... So you are a teacher."
Teacher Lu was very easygoing: "Don't be too nervous, I'm actually a physical education teacher."
Arriving at Jinju Primary School, the woman hurriedly said goodbye to Lu Yao and his mother, and quickly left with Hu Qi.
Unfortunately, just as she and Hu Qi found the classroom, they saw Lu Yao and Huo Jiao walking in.
Lu Yao greeted with surprise: "Mother Hu Qi, it seems that we are really destined to be together. Huo Jiao and Hu Qi will be classmates in the future."
“…” Hu Qi’s mother laughed dryly and nodded.
Once the children are in the classroom, there is basically nothing for parents to do.
However, before Lu Yao left, he forcefully arranged for Huo Jiao and Hu Qi to sit at the same table.
Hu Jiao hasn't figured out how to talk to Hu Qi yet.
Even though his body had become smaller and his identity had changed, he just couldn't face his younger self with ease.
Hu Qi pulled his sleeve under the table and said softly, "Brother Pepper, do you want to take a look at my little dragon?"