CH 187

Chapter 187 – 1992-2020

Lian Qiao returned to the house with RenDong in his arms and locked the door.

“Are there honeysuckle flowers in the yard of your orphanage?” Lian Qiao asked.

Little RenDong frowned, showing a thoughtful expression. After a moment, he shook his head.

“No? No wonder…” He seemed to remember something very interesting. He couldn’t help but rub RenDong’s hair with a smile, “No wonder you didn’t respond when I called you HuaHua.”  {Hua means flower.}

Unexpectedly, RenDong still frowned. His face was tightly locked, with an adult look on his small face, which seemed quite disobedient.

He mumbled “ah, ah” twice and shook his head again.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Lian Qiao didn’t understand.

RenDong tried to make gestures for him and Lian Qiao tried hard to think for a while but still couldn’t understand. He had no choice but to sigh and said, “Forget it, you can’t speak clearly right now. Maybe you can talk tomorrow?”

Little RenDong sighed and nodded.

Lian Qiao glanced at the time. It was already three o’clock in the morning. This is the most tiring time of the day, not to mention that they have been tossing around all night, and RenDong has just turned one year old. Their physical strength can’t keep up at all. At this moment, even their eyelids have begun to droop. So he carried him to the edge of the cradle and bent down to put him in.

“Ah, ah…” Little RenDong struggled lightly, his soft little hands grabbing his sleeves tightly.

“What’s the matter?” Feeling his attachment, Lian Qiao picked him up again, moved closer and rubbed his soft little face with the tip of his nose.

“…” The corners of Little RenDong’s mouth slightly raised and, instead of calling out, he touched his face with his small hands.

Lian Qiao said: “Do you want to sleep with me?”

Little RenDong nodded.

Lian Qiao was really elated but he remembered what Aunt Long-Hair once told him: the child is still young and shouldn’t sleep with adults, otherwise it is easy to be accidentally crushed to death by a sleeping adult.

After thinking about it, he still carried Little RenDong to his bed, lay down and slept side by side with him.

In order to avoid crushing Little RenDong, Lian Qiao rolled the quilt into a long strip and stuffed it between him and RenDong. In this way, even if he fell asleep and turned over unconsciously, at most he would be pressed by the quilt and wouldn’t squash RenDong. Unexpectedly, RenDong was not very happy. He was like a little panda, crawling over chubbily, insisting on getting into his arms.

Lian Qiao’s heart is almost melted by his cuteness.

Little RenDong lay quietly on his chest and soon closed his eyes and fell asleep. He is so small, soft and warm, it seems that he will be hurt if he exerts a little force. Lian Qiao hugged him carefully, his heart was sweet and soft and he felt his heart was trembling.

So happy.

Is it such a happy thing to have children?

… No, he felt so happy because his beloved RenDong was on his chest.

How can ordinary children be so obedient? What’s more, even if they were really so obedient, it was not his RenDong.

It’s not that he likes children, he likes RenDong.

Lian Qiao sighed contentedly, reached out and turned off the light. After turning off the lights, the room was plunged into darkness but he wasn’t afraid at all. He only felt warm and peaceful, and even had the illusion that he had returned to reality.

The little thing in his arms purred like a kitten, apparently already fast asleep. Listening to the even breathing, Lian Qiao felt extremely at ease.

He couldn’t help but bow his head and kiss the little guy’s soft hair. For some reason, he changed his mind and suddenly remembered what happened just now.

Just now, after the hungry ghost left, a disappointed expression flashed across Little RenDong’s face…

What was he disappointed about?

Lian Qiao frowned unconsciously in the dark.

At that time… If one had to guess, the only answer that Lian Qiao could think of was—RenDong felt that too few people died.

But how is it possible? RenDong was not that kind of person.

Although RenDong appears to be aloof, he actually has an almost paranoid moral code in his heart. He’s the kind of guy who puts more emphasis on the spiritual world than anything else. It is impossible for him to take pleasure in the suffering of others, much less to be indifferent to the death of others.

But now he showed a “disappointed” expression after five of his teammates died.

…was he really disappointed that so few people died?

Or are you disappointed because…someone didn’t die?

Thinking of this, Lian Qiao was a little relieved. It would be better if RenDong’s “disappointment” was only for one person. Probably there was something wrong with that person.

But who is it? Among the players this time, does RenDong know anyone?

…Has RenDong seen them in other dungeons?

That’s not right. How many instances has RenDong experienced?

Lian Qiao suddenly felt that his memory was a little confused. He tried to recall but a sharp pain suddenly came from the depths of his brain.

“Oh!”

The stinging pain was like concentrated hydrochloric acid dripping on the circuit board and it burned with a stinging sound. He gritted his teeth, covered his head and it took him a long time to recover.

What happened? Why did he have a headache? Forget it, just leave him alone. RenDong seems to have said that before meeting him, he had never experienced a dungeon, which meant that the matryoshka was his first…

“Uh!” This time, the pain was much worse than before. Lian Qiao was forced to interrupt his thoughts and curled up covering his head.

He didn’t want to make too much noise to wake up RenDong, so he bit his lip, trying to endure the severe pain.

What exactly was going on? It’s never happened before… Is there something growing in my head?

No, his mother took a full-body CT for him when he was in the ICU last time and the report didn’t say there was any problem in his brain. It has only been one or two months since he was discharged from the hospital, even if it is cancer, it is impossible to grow so fast.

And why did it happen in the instance…

Hopefully  it’s just an ordinary headache.

Lian Qiao rubbed the back of his head, feeling the burning sensation gradually subside. He carefully put the little RenDong on the bed, tiptoed out of bed, and went to get the painkillers in his backpack.

After taking the medicine and returning to bed, he took Little RenDong into his arms again. Fortunately, his movements were gentle and RenDong was not woken up by him.

Feeling the even breathing of the little guy in his arms, Lian Qiao felt a little sleepy.

Forget it, I’ll ask again tomorrow…

He thought about it in a daze and just fell asleep like this.

In the early morning of the next day, Lian Qiao, who was exhausted, was awakened by a crisp “pop”. The sound was so close that he trembled in fright and opened his eyes suddenly.

It turned out that RenDong had split in the middle again.

Although it was the second time he saw it, Lian Qiao still found this scene a bit exciting. He rubbed his eyes and saw the subtitle “1994” rising in the air. Knowing that RenDong had grown to two years old, he felt another burst of joy in his heart.

Little RenDong had also woken up and was looking up at him with his little face raised. His eyes are black and shiny, like two pills of black mercury.

Little RenDong said: “I wanth…”

Lian Qiao: “What are you looking for?”

RenDong: “.. I wanth it!!”

Lian Qiao: “?”

He was stunned for three seconds and then he realized that RenDong’s teeth were not fully grown. The words were lisping and he couldn’t help laughing.

Lian Qiao wanted to check the condition of his teeth, RenDong opened his mouth obediently, and let him count how many teeth he had. When he finally finished counting, RenDong closed his mouth, licked his slightly red and swollen gums, and said, “I want something to grind my teeth. No shrimp crackers.”

“Okay, okay.”

Lian Qiao squeezed his cheek with a smile. “I’ll dress you first.”

Lian Qiao brought the small clothes and trousers that he had prepared in advance and put them on for him one by one. Little RenDong said: “Actually, I can do ist…”

Lian Qiao: “Huh?”

Little RenDong pursed his lips and said helplessly, “I can do ist myself.”

Lian Qiao: “Hahahahaha!” The words lisped. It’s so cute!

When he had laughed enough, he suddenly remembered that he had something to ask RenDong, so he said: “That’s right…”

As soon as the words came out, he got stuck.

Little RenDong tilted his head and looked at him questioningly. Lian Qiao showed a thoughtful expression, recalled for a while, scratched his head and said: “I want to ask you about…”

RenDong: “Is it about the honeysuckle flower?”

“Oh, yes.” Lian Qiao sat up straight and said, “Did your orphanage harvest honeysuckle and sell it for money?”

RenDong shook his head slowly: “I don’t remember that.”

“I thought so. After all, you misunderstood me because you didn’t know that honeysuckle was the same as a lonicera flower and were jealous for a long time.” Lian Qiao laughed again after thinking about it. {I think RD didn’t put his name and flower together and didn’t realize HuaHua was him at first.}

RenDong frowned again: “Why…”

“Huh?”

“Why did the instance distort reality this time?”

“…Huh?” Lian Qiao didn’t understand. Little RenDong seemed to want to explain, but when he opened his mouth, his expression froze as if his mouth had been filled with paste.

He hesitated for a moment and changed his words: “This instance basically restores my real life. Since the entire orphanage has been restored, why lie about the details of picking honeysuckle?”

As soon as he said this, Lian Qiao understood: “You mean, picking honeysuckle flowers, maybe it’s some kind of hint?”

“I don’t know…” Little RenDong said, with a look of inappropriate age flashing in his eyes . He sighed softly, shook his head and said, “Forget it, don’t worry about it.”

Indeed, further discussion has no result. So the two got dressed and went downstairs to join the others.

A hot breakfast was already on the table. This time, besides the other players, there were children from the orphanage who ate with them.

The day of picking honeysuckle was probably almost a festival for the children and it can be seen that the children are all very excited. From the mouths of the children, Lian Qiao learned that only a few petals of honeysuckle can be sold for money and the yield is very low. And it can only be picked by hand, so the surrounding pharmacies often collect medicines from ordinary people.

At that time, the orphanage was very poor financially and the money obtained from selling honeysuckle could improve the food situation for the children, so everyone was looking forward to this day.

Lian Qiao held little RenDong on his lap and, while checking the temperature of the millet porridge in the bowl, he asked in a low voice: “Do you know these children? Are they from the orphanage?”

RenDong nodded.

Lian Qiao glanced at the children and showed a thoughtful look again.

“Don’t think about it so much. It’s not interesting.” Little RenDong’s eyes flashed that deep look again but this time Lian Qiao was in deep thought and didn’t notice it.

Lian Qiao only thought that he was hungry, so he fed the cold millet porridge into his mouth one by one.

After what happened last night, the rest of the players felt a little emotional towards Lian Qiao and RenDong. Seeing that the two of them didn’t feel guilty at all, Scarface couldn’t help saying: “What the hell did you do? Why did that hungry ghost avoid you from the beginning to the end yesterday? “

Without looking up, Lian Qiao said: “I don’t know.”

It seems that this attitude means that he doesn’t intend to get along with them in harmony. Scarface frowned but, when seeing he was about to get angry, the long-haired aunt and Little Apple hurriedly grabbed him.

Scarface dropped the bowl and chopsticks, and went out cursing.

After feeding little RenDong, Lian Qiao asked Auntie Long-Hair, “By the way, I have a question for you. Is there anything that children eat that can be used to grind their teeth?”

“Has he started to grow teeth? Let me see.” The long-haired aunt smiled softly and was about to open Little RenDong’s mouth as soon as he came over.

Little RenDong opened his mouth expressionlessly and bit down hard.

“Ouch!” The long-haired aunt was bitten unexpectedly. He looked at the incomplete tooth marks on her fingers and couldn’t help crying, “Why are you biting me?”

Lian Qiao narrowed his eyes slightly as if he had noticed something. He then took a step back,  calmly holding RenDong and apologized flatly: “I’m sorry but he doesn’t like strangers touching him very much.”

“Oh, I should be the one who should apologize.” Auntie Long-Hair was kind and walked to the edge of the sink to wash her hands.

After breakfast, the principal took the children and a group of players to pick honeysuckle in the yard.

The season was not right for the past two days and the flowers, plants and trees in the yard were all withered. The seasons have changed today, the temperature has picked up, and all the plants in the yard have begun to grow vigorously and become thriving.

Only then did Lian Qiao discover that there were a lot of honeysuckle planted in the yard. Looking around, almost the entire yard is covered with yellow, yellow and white slender petals. No wonder so many people gather to pick them together.

The children all carried small baskets on their backs, walked to the edge of the flowers and started picking. The players also imitated their appearance and started to work. However, the principal soon came over to stop them one by one, saying that the method was wrong.

It turns out that the whole honeysuckle must be picked off in order to be sold at a good price. Therefore, the work must be done with care and delicacy, and the petals must not be damaged. The principal came over to check the players’ baskets, shaking her head the entire time.

Lian Qiao glanced into his back basket, but was a little dazed.

In his and RenDong’s baskets, most of the flowers kept their long stems. That’s because Lian Qiao knew that the honeysuckle must be whole before it can be sold, so when picking it, he deliberately included some more stems to avoid hurting the petals.

Among these flowers with stems, there are a few complete honeysuckle flowers with only flowers but no stems. Looking at the technique, it is exactly the same as what the principal is teaching the players.

“What’s wrong?” Little RenDong threw another small yellow and white flower into the basket and asked back.

“…” Lian Qiao smiled at him, “It’s nothing. Are you tired?”

***

The author has something to say:

After many years, Lian Qiao finally (picked up) and wrinkled (the script) again after many years, and found the problem.