As Shen Xingruo turned to enter the bathroom, Lu Xingyan remained lost in thought for a long while.
—Shen Xingruo kissed him voluntarily.
Although it was just a kiss on the cheek, it was different from the last time when she forcefully collided with his face. As they say in language and literature, actions have emotions and colors. So, this could also be considered an action with emotional color.
For some reason, although it was just a gentle touch, Lu Xingyan felt the soft sensation on his left cheek lingering.
Just as Lu Xingyan was lost in his thoughts, Hanhan suddenly stopped crying silently.
—He was just too tired.
A two-and-a-half-year-old child’s mind was just incomprehensible. When he was at home, whenever he pouted, his parents and grandparents would get nervous and give him whatever he wanted.
But when he came out to play, the adults ignored him.
Feeling tired and aggrieved at this moment, with tears in his eyes, he made a face at Lu Xingyan, then climbed down from the bed and went to get his toys.
The child’s legs were short, and he wobbled as he walked.
When he tried to walk back carrying a bunch of toys, he lost his balance and fell backward with a thud, landing on his bottom.
Just as Shen Xingruo emerged from the bathroom, she happened to witness this scene.
The sound of Hanhan’s fall also snapped Lu Xingyan out of his reverie.
But before Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan could go over to help, Hanhan, showing great resilience, got up on his own. Then, with red eyes, he said in a childish voice, “Uncle, sister, I’m hurt, take me to the hospital!”
“…”
“…”
Lu Xingyan glanced at Shen Xingruo and then stepped forward to help Hanhan pick up his toys. He chuckled lightly and teased, “You’re something.”
He tossed the toys onto the bed and rubbed the little bump on Hanhan’s head before extending his hand. “Come here, call me brother. Big brother will play with you.”
With someone to play with, the tears in Hanhan’s eyes immediately disappeared. He nodded his little watermelon-like head and changed his address without any principle, “Brother!”
After calling out, he smiled, revealing a row of cute little teeth.
This little Hanhan was usually quite pampered at home, especially when playing games, he paid special attention to the sense of ritual and collective participation. The whole family had to be together.
So, after Lu Xingyan agreed to play with him, he was still not entirely satisfied and stubbornly dragged Shen Xingruo over.
Now that everyone was present, Hanhan thought for a moment and then pointed at Lu Xingyan with a somewhat authoritative demeanor, “You’re the monster!”
Lu Xingyan raised an eyebrow, shifted his gaze slightly, and then asked, “Then what about her?”
“She’s Ultraman!”
Without hesitation, little Hanhan looked at Shen Xingruo and answered.
Lu Xingyan: “Why am I the monster and she’s Ultraman? I don’t want to be a monster. Let her be the monster, and let’s defeat her together, okay?”
Hanhan’s vocabulary was still limited, and he had some difficulty understanding longer sentences. After Lu Xingyan’s explanation, he nodded in confusion, but after a few seconds of thinking, he shook his head vigorously, stubbornly insisting, “No, no, no! You’re the monster! Sister is pretty! She’s Ultraman!”
Lu Xingyan raised an eyebrow, pretending to reluctantly agree. Then, without warning, he pulled Shen Xingruo closer and hugged her.
He then turned to Hanhan and said, “Look, I’ve already caught Ultraman.”
Hanhan blinked his grape-like eyes.
He felt something was a little off, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
Although Lu Xingyan had some ulterior motives in taking advantage of the situation, he also feared that Shen Xingruo might slap him, so he hugged her lightly, almost as if it was just a formality, and only gently held onto her waist, not being too intimate.
He quickly let go, not waiting for Shen Xingruo’s reaction. Instead, he picked up Hanhan and used him as a shield, joining him in playing with toy helicopters.
For most of the sunny afternoon, the two of them inexplicably found themselves relegated to being playmates, following Hanhan’s orders.
The child was energetic, and his thinking was quite imaginative.
After finishing a round of playing doctors, Hanhan then instructed them to play prisoners.
He solemnly pointed his toy gun at them, ordering them to lie down on the bed and put their hands up in a surrendering posture.
Lying side by side on the bed, the two of them were very close to each other, with their hands almost touching.
When Shen Xingruo tried to get up, Hanhan pointed his toy gun at her again, sternly ordering, “Don’t move!”
Shen Xingruo: “…”
Lu Xingyan glanced at Shen Xingruo, who was lying down again, and casually remarked, “What’s wrong with lying down? This is the easiest game.”
Seeing Lu Xingyan shamelessly devoid of any dignity and still feeling comfortable, Shen Xingruo pushed his face away. “Shut up.”
After spending the entire afternoon playing, in the evening, Hanhan, the little emperor, was finally picked up by his grandmother, along with their pet peacock.
Before leaving, Lu Xingyan instructed Hanhan to take good care of the peacock, saying it was his precious son.
Although Hanhan didn’t quite understand how a person could give birth to a peacock, he nodded solemnly.
The peacock seemed to understand human language and chirped along.
Lu Xingyan patted its feathers. “Alright, stop chirping. Your voice is worse than a chicken’s. Be quiet in the future.”
With everything arranged properly, Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan packed their bags and moved into Star River Bay two days before the start of the new school year.
They lived next door to each other.