Before the little child came to the barren planet, the inhabitants here didn’t have a lively tradition of celebrating the New Year. Each person ate their own meal, at most drinking a little and chatting casually.
Their days were like a stagnant pool, unable to stir up any waves.
Until the little child arrived, everyone gradually began to have something to look forward to. The little child loved excitement, so they would gather more often, even starting to take the New Year seriously.
On New Year’s Day, they would eat dumplings at home in the morning, prepare New Year’s items together at noon, and in the evening, after completing the New Year’s rituals, they would have a good meal together.
After dinner, they would set off some fireworks, including those that children could play with, which the little child could also handle.
On New Year’s Eve, the little child would receive New Year’s money one by one.
The little child remembered this process very clearly, counting on his fingers, eagerly awaiting the New Year. Before the New Year, he repeatedly plotted with Wagner and Savi on how to collect the most New Year’s money.
Wagner, regrettably, said, “My dad doesn’t have a wife, so I can only get one New Year’s money.”
Wagner, coming from a single-parent family, always received one less share of New Year’s money than others.
The little child thought about the single marshal and hesitated, asking, “Wagner, will your mom come back in the future?”
Wagner shook his head. “She won’t come back.”
By the time the New Year was over, Wagner would be four years old, but in these four years, he had never seen his mother.
Having also never seen his own mother, the little child shared the same sentiment. He comforted Wagner, “Wagner, it’s okay. When our moms come back, they’ll make up all the New Year’s money for us!”
“Mm!”
The two little children waiting for their mothers chatted a bit more about other things.
There were many common topics among the little children. They talked about New Year’s money, games, and videos, having endless things to say.
After the little child finished his video chat with Wagner, Savi also talked with Lele.
Savi, who had a habit of sulking and a bad temper, was well known to the other children.
They understood, but did not tolerate his temper.
Whenever Savi tried to sulk at them, the little child and Wagner wouldn’t indulge him, and the three children would quickly fall out and make up repeatedly.
Time passed slowly in the little children’ anticipation.
Because there were Zerg on the opposite side of the barren planet, patrols in this area became more frequent during the New Year period.
Lele was sitting at home, making dumplings with Uncle Ling Qi.
The little child had been playing with dough in the kitchen, but Ling Qi, seeing the mess he was making, sent him out to play.
The little child didn’t feel bored outside. When he saw Duo Bi going on patrol, he immediately followed.
“Uncle Duo Bi!”
The little child hugged Duo Bi’s leg sweetly. “Take me with you!”
Duo Bi saw him coming and lifted him onto his shoulders with a smile, “Alright, let’s go on patrol together.”
The Zerg were too close to them. No matter how many they killed, the Zerg never gave up trying to invade and take over their land.
Fortunately, the people living on the barren planet were far from being kind-hearted pushovers; they killed every Zerg that came their way.
Even the little child, as soon as he learned to walk, would grasp small daggers and kill Zergs.
“Ningning, do they teach you how to kill Zergs in kindergarten?”
“Yes, they do.”
The little child, sitting on Duo Bi’s shoulders, grabbed Duo Bi’s hair with his chubby hands and spoke in his soft, childlike voice, “The teacher showed us videos.”
Kindergarten teachers taught theoretical knowledge. Unlike the adults on the barren planet, who were so bold, they wouldn’t bring out Zergs for the children to practice on.
The children were still too young, and the kindergarten didn’t dare to let them take real risks.
Duo Bi, hearing the child talk about kindergarten classes, casually asked, “By the way, Ningning, I don’t think I’ve seen you do any homework since you got back.”
“I’m studying hard!”
The little child confidently recounted his supplementary lessons at the palace. “The teacher was very strict. I’ve been studying so hard I’ve lost weight.”
He had been catching up on lessons for so long; it was time for a break.
As for winter vacation homework, the break wasn’t over yet, so he wasn’t in a hurry to do it.
Duo Bi didn’t know if there was any homework from kindergarten, so after mentioning it, he didn’t ask further.
Before long.
The big and small pair reached the edge of the area. The little child had been sitting on Duo Bi’s shoulders the whole way. He wriggled a bit and asked Duo Bi to put him down.
“Ningning, did you bring your small dagger?”
“Yes, I did!”
Both the adult and the child were armed. They patrolled together, observing to determine if there were any Zerg lurking nearby.
“Every year during the New Year, these bugs love to cause trouble.”
The New Year was a lively time when everyone wanted to gather together, making it easy for those on patrol to get distracted.
The little child mimicked Duo Bi, carefully observing their surroundings bit by bit.
People on this barren planet were very knowledgeable about the Zerg. Their keen observational skills meant that any traces left by the Zerg would not escape their eyes.
Despite his small size and young age, the little child had become quite adept at catching Zergs by observing the adults.
“Uncle, look!”
The little child pointed to some slime on a rock, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Duo Bi. The slime patch was tiny, not even as big as a fingernail, and very faint in color.
But the little child spotted it with sharp eyes.
Seeing the slime, Duo Bi kissed his chubby face and praised, “Good job, Ningning.”
Happy with the praise, the little child continued to observe. A few minutes later, he forcefully stabbed his small dagger, piercing a Zerg hiding in the rock.
The Zerg twisted in pain, trying to retaliate.
But the little child calmly dodged, then continued stabbing with his small dagger.
Duo Bi stood by with his arms crossed, showing no intention of stepping in.
After the little child took quite some time to kill the Zerg, Duo Bi finally walked over, crouched down, and wiped the little child’s face.
“Ningning, you were a bit slow killing the Zerg this time.”
Duo Bi gently but firmly wiped the blood splatter from the little child’s face, instructing, “Previously, it only took you a few minutes to kill such a small bug. This time, it took much longer.”
The little child tilted his face up, letting Uncle Duo Bi wipe it clean.
He sniffed, acknowledging his slowness. “I haven’t practiced in a while.”
Duo Bi put away the tissue and smiled, “It’s okay, we’ll practice more next time.”
“Okay!”
