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In the guard post before dawn, the security guard poured a cup of hot water and made a pile of sunflower seeds in front of the kid.
“Have some food, your mom will be here soon.” The man’s tanned face seemed very gentle and passionate. It turned out that President Kang’s first impressions were correct.
President Kang watched everything, feeling emotional, but he didn’t move. He couldn’t crack the sunflower seeds.
The security guard grabbed some more sunflower seeds out and began to shell them.
President Kang felt strange. He had seen countless people like him before, but he never stopped to look. From his perspective, all of those people were simply names with a role.
However, now, the security guard felt more lively than any of them, like how all humans were meant to be this way.
He was waiting for the guard to give the shelled sunflower seeds to him when he saw him place it in a transparent container.
President Kang squinted. It was a Nongfu Spring bottle with the top cut off.
President Kang: “...” Is this person feeding a person or a bird?
The security guard continued. “Little boy, look at this. You’ll like it for sure.”
The security guard whistled. “Kangkang, Kangkang, come.”
President Kang wanted to say, “It’s just sunflower seeds, what’s so good about it?” He didn’t want to eat it, not at all.
However, the next second, a green shadow flew in and landed on the table.
It was a completely green-feathered little parrot with a hint of red on its beak.
The little parrot started at the sunflower seeds, looking up at the security guard from time to time.
The security guard thought that kids like him would love colorful little animals like his parrot.
“Doesn’t it look pretty? It can also speak, too,” the security guard said. “Kangkang, say something to this little boy.”
The little parrot seemed to only realize that there was another person in the guard post then. It turned its head around and looked at the other person in the post.
President Kang felt that the little parrot appeared quite stupid, standing dumbly on the table. However, the next moment, he saw it take off from the table, excitedly fluttering its wings and jumping on the table.
The little parrot spoke as it jumped, its happy voice echoing through the room.
“Hello boss! Hello boss!”
“I can talk, I can talk, I am a talking bird!”
“He knows four lines,” the security guard said.
“What’s your name?” he asked the little parrot.
“Kangkang, Kangkang!”
President Kang thought that the parrot was very smart now. He was a bit curious. “What’s the last one?”
The parrot was unexpectedly obedient. “I can fly, I can fly!”
The parrot chirped as it fluttered into the air.
Suddenly, he was split on calling the parrot smart or stupid.
Meanwhile, it repeated the first sentence again. “Hello boss, hello boss!”
The parrot continued to flap its wings, hopping away from President Kang.
“He likes you. I have no idea where he learned it from, but he keeps saying ‘hello boss’ every day for the past few days. It was only yesterday when he started practicing ‘I can talk.’” The security guard was like a parent, excitedly sharing fun stories about their child to others.
So the bird chirping in the neighborhood was also this parrot? And the “I can talk” he heard the other day when he was returning home was this bird, too?
The parrot became more excited as it spoke. “Hello boss, hello boss.”
President Kang felt that the parrot would keep talking forever if he didn’t interrupt.
“Hello,” President Kang said.
The parrot hopped on the table with even more excitement.
“It’s my first time seeing someone so excited to see a person,” the security guard remarked.
President Kang’s mood was quite good, so he started to peel the sunflower seeds in front of him.
The parrot ate the ones he had peeled.
It was his first time understanding why his pet-loving colleagues all loved parrots.
Of course, those people all had large parrots, ones that needed special certificates to be made pets. He had always previously dismissed them as pretentious.
President Kang peeled a few more sunflower seeds. The little parrot’s voice wasn’t very high, even carrying a sweet childish tone. It was magnitudes better than the shrieking birds of his friends.
“Thank you boss.” The little parrot hopped onto his hand.
President Kang suddenly felt fatherly.
“Why doesn’t he say that when I peel him sunflower seeds?” The security guard was confused.
President Kang thought that it was because he looked quite handsome.
He ruffled the little creature’s head. The feathers on its head were unbelievably smooth.
The security guard muttered as he pulled a small barbie backpack from a drawer.
“Kangkang, it’s time to sleep,” the security guard said.
It immediately started to flutter its wings. “I can fly, I can fly!”
And then it flew straight out the window, like a playful kid who refuses to go to bed.
It quickly disappeared in the night sky.
President Kang looked at the scene, a bit worried. “Are you sure it’ll be fine for it to fly outside like that?”
“It’s fine. Kangkang can fly very high. It was my first time seeing a parrot fly higher than a building.” The security guard was also amazed. He lived at the top of the apartment, and his parrot would often fly out the window from there.
President Kang didn’t have much of an opinion on the parrot’s name. He thought the security guard came up with it.
The security guard suddenly remembered something. “Little kid, did you say that we’re at the guard post at gate one? Did you mistake it for gate two?”
It had been quite a long time. Even if they lived in building 21, across the neighborhood, they would’ve been here by now.
President Kang said weakly, “I forgot their phone number.”
Would he really memorize the couple’s phone numbers with no reason at all?
He wasn’t a real four year old.
The security guard was staggered. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I’ll call the property management to ask. Do you remember what your parents’ names are?”
Names of parents?
He had gotten himself lost before, and other people have also asked for his parents’ names.
“Parents” just referred to two names, so he naturally didn’t forget what the names were. It was just that the two people with that name would never appear again.
“Kid?”
“Yue Qin and Xia Sheng.”
The security guard took over the phone to dial property management for Yue Qin and Xia Sheng’s phone numbers.
When Xia Sheng’s phone rang, she pressed out the cigarette. “Hello?”
“Oh, my son? Wait a minute.”
Xia Sheng hurried to the baby’s room. It was empty.
“I’ll be there very soon.” Xia Sheng threw a jacket over her back and ran outside.
“Is that your mother?” She was still a few meters away from the guard post when the security guard saw her worried figure.
President Kang said yes and called “mama” to Xia Sheng.
Xia Sheng led his hand more often than carried him. “How come you’re out in the middle of the night?”
“Sleepwalking,” the security guard said. “Luckily the kid’s smart; he asked me for my phone.” The only problem was that he didn’t memorize any of his parents’ numbers, so it was useless.
“Thank you,” Xia Sheng said sincerely.
“Don’t worry about it. Bring him back to bed. He might need to go to school tomorrow.”
President Kang was being led back home by Xia Sheng. He was quite happy, looking up at her from time to time.
However, she wasn’t very happy.
“Mama, where’d you get the coat that you wore today?” President Kang asked.
“Hm?”
“I want you to buy another one.”
Xia Sheng lowered her head and saw his son’s caring gaze. “How nice of you, thinking of buying clothes for Mama.”
“Don’t be sad because you tore your coat. We can buy something more expensive.”
“Mama isn’t sad because of her clothes getting torn.”
“Then why is Mama sad?” You already beat them to hospitalization. Logically, she would still feel quite happy thinking about it no matter how sad she was.
Or was it that artists had different mindsets from ordinary people?
President Kang had a million comments, but he could only speak innocently to his mother, who was beaten by the businessman. He tilted his head slightly. “Mama can tell me anything. I can help Mama solve all her problems.”
Xia Sheng laughed, explaining, “What Mama has done today is like you going to kindergarten, but instead you hit the teacher and principal, so they don’t let you go there anymore.”
President Kang thought for a moment and asked, “Why did Mama hit the teacher and principal?”
Xia Sheng continued. “Because they are bad people. They want to do bad things to Mama, so Mama has to beat them. You will also meet these bad people in the future. When you do, just tell Mama, and Mama will beat them too.”
President Kang shivered, feeling chills down his back. No, he wasn’t the one who met bad people—he was the bad person.
From that, President Kang roughly made out that they also insulted her ability in addition to their malice towards her. As their plan failed, they likely threatened her so that she couldn’t make public appearances anymore, and her spot in the performance likely also went away.
President Kang slid his hands into his pockets, his eyes becoming sharp in the night.
A spot in the charity performance, right?
It was something already in the businessman’s mouth. How could you take it out? Not only would he cling onto the spot, he probably wouldn’t stop until he gets another layer of skin off them.
President Kang squinted into a professional businessman's smile.
“Son, did you pull your eyes? Let Mama have a look.”
Translator’s Note: Hello~ It’s been quite a few years since I’ve started translating here, but unfortunately my new circumstances don't really permit such a job, so this will be my last chapter. Sincerest apologies but hope to see you all again :D