At the campsite, the little ones picked up the small baskets on the ground and marched toward the woods with the imposing air of a mighty army, never to return.
The moment they left camp, they were stumped. They had no idea which way to go, and the trees before them made them want to turn back.
They huddled nervously together, trembling.
Chaochao asked with a miserable face, "Xiaoxiao, what should we do?"
[The only reliable one, Xiaoxiao. (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)]
Chaochao and the others all looked at Xiaoxiao. In their eyes, although Xiaoxiao was the same age as them and a little quiet, he looked very reliable. In fact, he was pretty reliable, too. They couldn't go wrong listening to him.
Xiaoxiao frowned, his little face somehow managing to look a little speechless.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Tongtong, do you remember the place you went to before?"
Tongtong answered him with a bewildered expression.
All right, no need to say anything. He got it.
Xiaoxiao said, "Let's look up ahead first."
Xiaoxiao took the lead, and the other little ones followed closely behind him.
After walking for a while, they gradually relaxed and began looking around.
Mi Tu suddenly said, "There are pretty flowers over there!"
The little ones all turned their heads at once. A clump of wildflowers grew behind a tree. They couldn't tell what kind they were, but they looked a little like small yellow daisies.
Sensing the little ones' gazes, they even swayed shyly.
Stars immediately appeared in their eyes. "Such pretty flowers!"
Mi Tu said, "I'm going to take some back for Mommy."
Hearing this, Chaochao immediately said, "I'll take some back for Daddy, too."
Not to be outdone, Tongtong and Zuozuo said, "We'll take some, too!"
Xiaoxiao sighed behind them. Did these guys even remember what they had come here to do?
Seeing them start arguing over the same wildflower, he knew they definitely didn't.
The little ones argued over that flower until their faces and necks were red. Finally, they came to Xiaoxiao and asked him to decide who should get it.
Xiaoxiao stared blankly at the flower thrust into his hand. (°ー°〃)
[Xiaoxiao looks so cute when he's confused.]
[Xiaoxiao: what happened? QAQ]
The little ones folded their arms. "Xiaoxiao, tell us whose flower this is."
Xiaoxiao: "..." What if he didn't say anything?
The others stared at him like tigers eyeing prey, and the flower in his hand made its presence keenly felt.
[Poor little Xiaoxiao. ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ]
Suddenly, inspiration struck Xiaoxiao, and he blurted out, "It's mine. I want it."
The little ones froze, exchanged looks, and nodded firmly.
Chaochao said, "If you want it, you can have it."
With that, they made up again and went off to pick other pretty flowers.
Xiaoxiao called them back. "Do you still remember what we came here to do?"
They looked completely blank. Only after Xiaoxiao reminded them did they remember their goal, casting reluctant looks at the remaining flowers.
After neatly arranging the flowers in her basket, Mi Tu said, "Let's go find the veggies."
And so they set off in search of shepherd's purse again.
Gu Wancheng looked at the sky, his thoughts drifting. "I wonder if Chaochao and the others can finish their task."
Zhao Chengyu answered while picking wild blueberries, "It should be fine, right? Xiaoxiao looks pretty reliable."
Gu Wancheng's brows knitted together. Really? You don't sound certain either.
Jian Yue said, "It's such a little task. How could they fail?"
With that, he tipped the handful of wild blueberries he was holding into his mouth in one go.
Gu Wancheng still couldn't relax. He was a little worried that Chaochao would get carried away playing.
Zhao Chengyu said, "It shouldn't be much of a problem. Let's head back once we're done picking wild blueberries."
Gu Wancheng nodded lightly.
They picked up the pace and soon filled more than half a basket. Gu Wancheng said, "That should be enough. If we pick too many, they'll spoil."
Zhao Chengyu stopped picking and nodded. "Then let's head back."
Jian Yue said, "We can finally go back. I'm getting a little sleepy. I'll carry it. You look too weak."
With that, he picked up the basket of wild blueberries, and Gu Wancheng silently withdrew his outstretched hand.
[How dare you! Doesn't Chengcheng have his pride?]
[What's wrong with our Chengcheng being delicate and soft? (◔‿◔)]
He mentally flipped Jian Yue's retreating back the middle finger. No personal attacks, okay? How do I look weak?
Carrying the pot, Zhao Chengyu passed Gu Wancheng and gave him a puzzled look, wondering why he wasn't moving.
Gu Wancheng stepped forward to follow. Forget it. Weak it is. I don't really want to carry it anyway.
Gu Wancheng thought indignantly.
"I see it!" Chaochao suddenly shouted, startling the birds in the trees into flight.
Tongtong asked, "Where?"
Chaochao pointed proudly at a patch of bushes not far away.
Xiaoxiao looked over. (°ー°〃)
Little red fruits dotted the bushes Chaochao was pointing at.
In that moment of distraction, Chaochao ran over, picked a red fruit, and popped it into his mouth.
Xiaoxiao's heart lurched at the sight. His expressionless face instantly cracked, and he hurried over to grab Chaochao's hand. "You can't just eat random things."
Chaochao blinked, chewing the fruit with an innocent expression. "I'm not eating random stuff. It's Bubble Fruit."
Only then did Xiaoxiao look at the bushes beside them. Once he saw clearly that the red fruits on them were indeed the Bubble Fruit they had eaten before, he breathed a sigh of relief.
[Only Chaochao could scare little poker-faced Xiaoxiao out of his poker face.]
Chaochao asked, "Can we pick some Bubble Fruit?"
Xiaoxiao frowned, torn. Mi Tu's eyes lit up when she saw the Bubble Fruit.
She wheedled cutely at Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, let's pick a little, okay? Just a tiny bit."
Faced with their hopeful gazes, Xiaoxiao sighed deeply and agreed with a helpless expression.
Zuozuo gave Xiaoxiao a huge hug. "You're so nice, Xiaoxiao!"
Being hugged by a little friend like this for the first time, Xiaoxiao froze. His ears reddened slightly, and he felt a little shy, but that shyness soon vanished without a trace as the others came up to hug him one after another.
He was just like Mr. Duoduo Bear at the amusement park.
[Sure enough, a direct approach is the cure for a poker face.]
[Xiaoxiao really is getting an early taste of looking after children.]
Xiaoxiao awkwardly wriggled out of their hugs. "Go pick them."
Basket in hand, Chaochao was the first to get started.
Xiaoxiao reminded them, "Don't pick too many, or there won't be room."
Chaochao nodded hard. "Mm-hmm."
Since they could only pick a tiny bit, they specifically chose large, unblemished Bubble Fruit.
Once they had picked about enough, Xiaoxiao called out to them.
They set off in search of shepherd's purse again.
'Lu Keran: I'm waiting for your explanation.'
'Lu Keran: you'd better think it through.'
'Lu Keran: (╯-_-)╯╧╧'
Lu Xuanran looked at his phone, his brows tightly furrowed and his gaze slightly dark. Finally, as though he had reached a decision, his brows relaxed.
'Lu Xuanran: come back tonight.'
'Lu Keran: what for?'
'Lu Xuanran: don't you want to know?'
'Lu Keran: ...'
'Lu Keran: eight.'
'Lu Xuanran: okay.'
After messaging him, he swiped across the screen and opened a contact saved as Xia Wang.
'Lu Xuanran: you'd better watch yourself.'
'Xia Wang: ???'
'Xia Wang: what the hell? Have you lost it?'
'Lu Xuanran: =_='