"Thank you, little girl—and our cutest Douzi!"
An elderly woman in a gray sweater took the apple and gently patted Douzi's head with her weathered hand.
"You're welcome, Grandma. You should take good care of yourself too." Bai Ying thanked the old woman as she had seen people do in films, though her smile still looked a little unnatural.
"Hehe, you're one of those Legion people too, aren't you, little girl? It's been a long time since any outsiders came here." The old woman was both happy and excited. "Are you planning to stay here permanently? If you ask me, you should live with our Douzi. You can look after each other—wouldn't that be wonderful?"
At the old woman's words, Douzi's face instantly turned red, while Bai Ying wasn't sure whether she should tell her that she was only passing through.
"Sato Yu is a man, after all. He's still a bachelor at his age—how could he possibly take good care of Douzi?" The old woman paid no attention to Douzi and Bai Ying's reactions and simply kept talking. "The people living here are all old bones like me, too feeble even to run. Those with children only have little ones, and they can't play with Douzi at all. How can that do?"
Douzi hurriedly waved her hands, seemingly trying to deny her grandmother's words.
"Sigh, if my boy were still here, maybe his child would be about Douzi's age too..." As the old woman spoke, her hand unconsciously drifted back to stroke Douzi's face. "Oh dear, listen to this old woman ramble. All right, you two hurry along and hand out the apples!"
Before leaving, Bai Ying caught a glimpse of the old woman's bedside cabinet through the crack in the door. On it stood a framed photograph of