Twain fell silent.
Wagner, who had finished cooking, heard their conversation and grabbed his father’s hand. “Dad, let’s go see Lele together.”
There was only the little child who hadn’t finished eating yet. It wasn’t that he ate slowly or ate late, he just simply ate a lot.
“Ningning, you keep eating. We’ll go see Lele.”
“Okay!”
The little child who hadn’t finished eating was really reluctant to put down his bowl. With rice grains still sticking to his little face, he watched as the adults who had finished eating went to see Lele.
His older brother hadn’t gone yet.
The little child looked at his brother, wanting him to go too, but seeing so many people already gone, he felt it would be too crowded if his brother went as well.
“Brother, you go with Ningning later!”
“Mmm.”
Huo Lin naturally knew what it meant to go see that child. He needed to mentally prepare himself again so he could calmly accept Lele calling him uncle.
He was still in elementary school, yet he was already an uncle.
This generational title really weighed heavily on him.
The little child, completely absorbed in eating, was very happy. He happily shuffled his little feet and ate with big bites.
“Uncle Ling Qi’s food is really delicious!”
While eating, the little child also made comparisons. “Even better than roasted bugs!”
When Huo Lin heard him mention roasted bugs, he frowned. “What roasted bugs?”
These past few days, the little child had been sulking with the adults alongside Wagner, so he hadn’t had the chance to complain to the adults about the hardships he had endured.
At this moment, he just had a little time, but he was too busy keeping Lele company and finishing his meal, so he didn’t have time to lodge a complaint.
Seeing his brother ask, the little child said, “Ningning didn’t have any food, so I dug up some veggies. Apart from mushrooms, I also roasted some bugs.”
“The veggies weren’t good, the mushrooms made Ningning sick, and the bugs weren’t good either, but they could still fill up Ningning’s belly.”
Huo Lin felt a twinge in his heart hearing this.
He lifted his hand and wiped the rice grains off the little child’s face, then leaned in and gently tapped the little child’s cheek.
“Ningning, big brother will protect you from now on.”
“Mm!”
The little child lowered his eyes in front of his older brother. He knew that his brother, as well as his father and the other adults, would all protect him.
Although the adults didn’t arrive immediately this time, they would surely come to rescue the little child as quickly as possible next time.
While Huo Lin was accompanying the little child for dinner, on the other side, Lele was facing a circle of adults.
Savi’s language teaching was somewhat useful. Lele could communicate normally with Dad Ningning now, partly relying on the faint knowledge of the Empire’s language and partly on the Star Translator and guesswork.
Perhaps adversity could stimulate learning potential. Lele, who only knew B1 level language, had little trouble conversing with Dad Ningning most of the time.
However, Lele was familiar with Dad Ningning, but not with the other adults.
He was still guessing at the adults’ words blindly.
Before guessing the adults’ words, Lele sat up from the bed, looked at the adults in front of him, gathered his courage, and started calling out one by one.
“Grandpa Twain!”
“Uncle Grandpa!”
“Aunt Grandpa!”
Lele called out one after another, his little face turning red, looking like he might faint again. But luckily, he had been given a nutrient solution, so now his strength had recovered, and he couldn’t faint even if he wanted to.
These few calls Lele had practiced beforehand. After calling out, he even knelt down, as if about to kowtow.
Fortunately, Zhan Xi reached out and held him up. “What are you doing?”
“Dad said, kowtow!”
Lele, who wasn’t proficient in the Empire’s language, had only vaguely heard Dad Ningning mention the word “kowtow.”
So, after calling out to everyone, he was ready to kowtow a few times.
The group of adults: “...”
The group of adults thought about the little child who had kowtowed to Confucius, and then looked at Lele kowtowing to them one by one, each of their expressions resigned.
Alright.
Even kowtowing was so reckless, obviously taking after their family’s Ningning.
Moreover, since the child had already addressed them, they couldn’t just leave him hanging.
According to the customs, the adults each gave Lele a gift. When it was Raphael’s turn, Raphael originally wanted to point at the little gold lock and say it was his.
But An Nuo stepped on him, forcing him to change his tune abruptly, causing him to spend money once again.
He gave Lele a bracelet, although it was also something An Nuo looked down on, it was very valuable.
In addition to this bracelet, Raphael thought he had to give the little child another piece of gold, which made him very distressed.
His own star machine hadn’t been replaced for several years, but now he had to deal with these children. Especially since it’s almost New Year’s, when the little children would definitely come to give him New Year’s greetings.
Then he would have to give out red envelopes.
“Lele.”
Zhan Xi held the translator and spoke to their new family member, Lele: “Our family may not be wealthy, but we can definitely ensure you have enough to eat and wear, and study well.”
“In the future, you and Ningning must study hard. This way, when you grow up, you can take the civil service exam. Being a civil servant is stable, with a stable job, you can then marry a wife...”
Zhan Xi played the role of grandfather well, earnestly teaching Lele to study well and explaining the importance of studying hard.
Lele listened to Grandpa Zhan Xi’s words and vigorously nodded his little head.
“Lele will study hard. Lele wants to study well like Dad Ningning, and get a perfect score!”
As Lele’s words fell, the faces of the adults in the room froze strangely.
If it weren’t for Lele mentioning it, it seemed like they had almost forgotten about the little child’s report card.
However, Zhan Xi slowly asked, “Who told you that your Dad Ningning got a perfect score?”
