Safe and Sound, Healthy and Strong

Don't ask why he hadn't kept any for himself. He'd eaten so many persimmons as a child that now, even if he saw a persimmon tree on the road, he'd only glance at it. He'd never sneak up the tree and run off with the fruit like he used to when he was little.

After dividing the persimmons on the table into three portions, Mo Jingchun went to the kitchen and found three plastic bags—the kind that cost five cents each when he bought groceries at the supermarket.

Once he'd packed the persimmons into separate bags, Mo Jingchun went to the bedroom window and looked at the sky outside. It was still afternoon.

Mo Jingchun frowned. "We'd better wait until the rain stops before delivering these."

Thinking of the little one, and everyone else, Mo Jingchun decided there was no need to deliver the persimmons today. They kept well, anyway, and tasted even better when fully ripe.

"Ah~"

Mo Jingchun had been ignoring Candy in her baby carriage for ages, and the little one was getting impatient. Her short legs, too small to reach the ground, danced in the air as she warned him: if he didn't pay attention to this adorable little darling, she was going to cry.

Mo Jingchun pinched his little sister Candy's puffed-up cheeks and laughed.

The little one was getting better and better at expressing her feelings.

Recently, though, Mo Jingchun had noticed a problem: his little sister Candy was starting to dislike the baby carriage, and even seemed a little averse to it.

But she was especially fond of her older brother Mo Jingchun's warm embrace. Unless he put her down himself, the little one would never willingly leave his comfortable, warm arms.

Mo Jingchun had only just reached out; he hadn't even picked her up yet, but the little one's legs had already stopped kicking, and she gazed up at him with a goofy grin.

"You little thing. Ever since you were born, your big brother's arms have been getting more and more muscular." Mo Jingchun shook his head and smiled helplessly.

"Gou-ge."

His little sister's pronunciation wasn't quite right, but that didn't stop Mo Jingchun from loving it. Every time he heard her call him "Gou-ge," he felt his heart melt.

"Haha, you're my precious little darling too, sweetheart."

Taking care of a baby was dull and monotonous, but it was fun at the same time. Of course, that was only if you had a sweet, adorable little sister like Candy.

The rain fell all day without stopping. After checking the weather forecast, Mo Jingchun learned that the autumn rain wasn't expected to let up until around four or five in the morning. After that, the weather would turn from heavy rain to cloudy.

In the end, Mo Jingchun and Candy's daily routine could be summed up as eating, sleeping, waking up to eat, playing on the phone and watching short videos after eating, then turning off the lights and falling asleep together.

The next day, Mo Jingchun woke up on his own. He turned to look at his little sister, but she was still asleep.

Mo Jingchun picked up his phone and checked the time. The corner of his mouth twitched. What had he said before? He absolutely couldn't rely on the "Candy" Alarm Clock. Sure enough, the "Candy" Alarm Clock was unreliable, thrown off by things like the weather.

The little one had slept until nine in the morning, and still showed no sign of waking up.

As for Mo Jingchun, who usually woke up to his alarm, he'd slept until he woke naturally today and felt especially refreshed. A week's worth of fatigue had completely vanished.

The curtains were still closed, but Mo Jingchun guessed the rain outside had stopped. Even if it hadn't, it could only be a light drizzle. Unlike yesterday, he couldn't hear the steady patter of heavy rain from inside the bedroom.

By nearly ten o'clock, Mo Jingchun had eaten breakfast and hand-washed a basin of the little one's clothes. As for his own, he'd tossed them into the washing machine.

After finishing everything, Mo Jingchun went to the bedroom. The little one was still sleeping. That wouldn't do!

Time to force a reboot.

"Candy? Candy?" Mo Jingchun patted the little one and called her name beside her ear.

Fortunately, she seemed to have slept enough. Mo Jingchun only had to call twice before she sleepily opened her eyes.

After changing her diaper, washing her little bottom, and putting on a clean diaper, Mo Jingchun dressed his little sister Candy in a new outfit and topped it off with a fluffy little hat.

Once his little sister Candy was dressed, Mo Jingchun sent the class monitor, Yang Xiaoyu, a message on QQ.

"Class monitor, where's your dorm? Which building?"

Then Mo Jingchun sent a picture of the persimmons.

Persimmons.jpg

"Persimmons from my hometown. I brought some for you all to try."

In the women's dorm, Yang Xiaoyu was sitting in a chair, leisurely reading a book and eating an apple. When she heard her phone chime, she quickly picked it up to check.

What could she do? She was the class monitor. If someone messaged her and she was free, she naturally had to reply as soon as possible.

"Hm?"

Seeing that the message was from Mo Jingchun, Yang Xiaoyu let out a curious little sound.

When she saw the picture of the persimmons, Yang Xiaoyu took a big bite of her apple. How could a girl turn down something delicious? And from the sound of it, the persimmons were a specialty of Mo Jingchun's hometown.

Without hesitation, Yang Xiaoyu sent Mo Jingchun the dorm building number and told him that Building 12 was next to Yue Mansion Cafeteria on campus.

Meanwhile, Mo Jingchun received messages from both Yang Xiaoyu and his senior at almost the same time. He replied that he was getting ready to leave and would message them when he arrived. Then he carried two red plastic bags and his little sister Candy out the door.

Mo Jingchun had just locked the door when he turned around and ran into Professor Song, who had just returned.

"Professor Song, you're back."

"Mm." Song Yunqing, wearing his reading glasses, nodded. "Taking your little sister out? It's been cold these past couple of days, so make sure you bundle her up and keep her warm."

"Mm-hm. Thank you for your concern, Professor Song."

Mo Jingchun was now at ease when greeting his neighbor, whom he knew well. He wasn't like he had been at first, when he could hardly wait to hide.

Song Yunqing waited until the elevator doors closed before taking out his key and opening the door.

He'd already asked the Li Family's girl about Mo Jingchun's situation. After hearing about it, Song Yunqing could only sigh at how unfair fate could be.

Misfortune always seemed to find those who had already suffered enough.

He hoped the two little ones would be safe and sound, healthy and strong from now on.

Building 12 was quite a distance from Mo Jingchun's apartment building—a walk of nearly five minutes.

At Jing University, two dormitory buildings were usually connected, with the women living on one side and the men on the other.

Once he reached the entrance to the dormitory, Mo Jingchun didn't go inside.

He stood some distance from the entrance and sent the class monitor, Yang Xiaoyu, a message on QQ.

"Class monitor, I'm here. Come down and get them."

In Dorm 306 on the Third Floor, Yang Xiaoyu received Mo Jingchun's QQ message, grabbed half a box of strawberries from the table, and hurried out in her slippers.

"What happened to her?"

"Why's she grinning like she's in love?"

"Ew~" Yang Xiaoyu's three roommates, who had all let their imaginations run wild, felt their scalps tingle.