Chapter 40: Washing Clothes
The warm sunlight danced lightly on the treetops, casting countless bright, light-colored small dots through the gaps in the leaves.
Nuonuo, who had run under the tree, tilted his head up. His cheeks were dappled with light and shadow from the gaps in the leaves, his long, thick eyelashes fluttering as he seemed to wonder why his papa was up there.
“Papa! Why are you in the window?”
Nuonuo looked at Fei Zhiyan behind the second-floor window. His hands, which had been held up for a hug, had to be lowered, but he still stood on his tiptoes, his little head held high to look at him.
The little ball he had just managed to chase was also ignored, rolling directly behind the tree.
The silver-rimmed glasses Fei Zhiyan was wearing today reflected a small light from the sun. His eyes seemed to melt into the light, indistinct, but one could still feel his gentleness.
Because of the distance, Fei Zhiyan didn’t shout foolishly like Nuonuo. He just nodded at Auntie Wu behind him, signaling her to watch Nuonuo, and then turned to leave.
Seeing his papa leave, Nuonuo pointed his little finger at the window and said anxiously to Auntie Wu, “Papa is gone!”
Auntie Wu picked up the little ball and handed it to Nuonuo, her eyes full of affection. “Mr. Fei went to work. Nuonuo will be able to see Papa at dinner time.”
Nuonuo, being led away, turned his little face, his eyes wide open, still looking at the window. But his papa’s figure did not appear in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window again.
Pursing his lips, Nuonuo lowered his little head in disappointment.
But the next second, when he looked up, Nuonuo saw a small purple flower emerging from the windowsill of Fei Jing’s room on the other side. A green vine peeked out from the window crack, revealing a corner of its tip. Seeing Nuonuo looking at it, it instantly bloomed a cheerful little flower.
Twisting its body, the little thorny vine even swayed happily at Nuonuo.
Seeing the familiar little thorny vine, Nuonuo let out a soft “ya” and turned to tug at Auntie Wu’s clothes. “Yiyi, there’s a wittle fower, ya!”
Auntie Wu looked back but only saw a bare wall. She turned her head back in confusion. “There are no flowers. Nuonuo likes flowers, so how about Auntie takes you to the small garden to see them?”
Nuonuo felt something was not right, but he didn’t know how to say it, so he could only be led by the hand to the small garden.
Because of the incident with that madwoman Wen Yuan yesterday, Auntie Wu didn’t dare to take Nuonuo out to play today. She only took a turn in the villa’s garden before returning inside.
Fei Jing had already been taken away by the butler, Keith, to find a tutor. Fei Zhiyan had also just left in the car. For a while, only Fei Han and Nuonuo were left at home.
Auntie Wu was still a little scared of Fei Han. Seeing Nuonuo wanting to go to the second floor, she could only give him a couple of instructions and then go downstairs to tidy up Nuonuo’s toys.
Nuonuo toddled to the door of Fei Han’s bedroom. He was just about to knock on the door to find his eldest brother to play, but then he suddenly remembered his brother’s clothes that had gotten dirty yesterday. With a little “aiya,” he quickly ran back to his own room.
006, which had been online almost all day these past two days, saw that Nuonuo didn’t go to find Fei Han and even let out a light “hmph.” “That’s right, we’re not going to play with Fei Han! He’s like an ice block. We’re not going to suffer that kind of treatment!”
Fei Han’s dislike for Nuonuo was more obvious than Fei Jing’s and Fei Luo’s. Fei Jing had a high emotional intelligence. Although he had initially disliked Nuonuo as a younger brother, he hadn’t been in the entertainment industry for nothing and had basically never shown it in front of others.
Fei Luo was even less of a problem. In this family, he and Nuonuo played the best and was on the verge of becoming a “little brother-con.”
Fei Han, on the other hand, had a cold aura to begin with, and his emotions were more easily noticed by others. Even the chef at home could probably sense Fei Han’s distance towards Nuonuo.
Only Nuonuo, this little silly egg, thought his brother was especially good.
Sure enough, hearing 006’s words, Nuonuo pouted unhappily. “Liuliu, don’t say that about Eldest Brother. We can’t say bad things about people. That’s not being a good child.”
006 let out a couple of “hmph”s before reluctantly saying, “Alright then, I won’t talk about them. But you shouldn’t get too close to your brothers either. Nuonuo, you have to protect yourself.”
In the original plot, half of Fei Nuo’s dangers came from his several older brothers.
Nuonuo stood on his tiptoes to reach the doorknob, pushed his bedroom door open, and toddled into the bathroom. “I will. Eldest Brother will protect me too!”
Nuonuo, who had been saved from Wen Yuan by Fei Han at their first meeting, had a strange admiration for his eldest brother. Whenever he mentioned him, his eyes would sparkle as if they held stars.
006 was completely silenced. It was clear now that in Nuonuo’s silly little fish brain, there was no one who was not good!
With the Fei family’s brotherly relationship already deviating from the original plot, 006 felt it was powerless to save it. It didn’t even want to struggle and just lay flat on the spot.
“Forget it. Anyway, when you see the little male lead later, Nuonuo, you can’t be soft-hearted. We didn’t even complete our mission last time!”
But it was also because of the accident when they saw little Gu Ze last time that Nuonuo hadn’t completed his mission in time. 006, this biased system, quickly made an excuse for Nuonuo.
“Okay, I… I will twy hawd!”
Nuonuo also cheered himself on. Although he still didn’t understand what his mission was, he muddledly agreed.
Walking into the bathroom, Nuonuo stopped chatting with 006 and instead crouched down, poking the white lab coat that had been soaking in the water since yesterday with his finger. The clothes were soft and cool, and a poke would get his hand all wet.
Nuonuo stayed in place for a while, thinking about how to wash it. It was only with 006’s reminder that he ran over to drag out the laundry detergent. The laundry detergent was a bit heavy, and Nuonuo had to hold it with both hands to lift it off the ground.
And so, holding a small bucket of laundry detergent, Nuonuo wobbled towards the basin, swaying with each step, and almost fell on his bottom because the thing he was holding was too heavy.
This scene made 006’s heart tremble with fear, and the operation of its core program slowed down. “Nuonuo, don’t fall!”
Nuonuo shook his head. “I won’t! I walk very steadily now!”
The slightly confident Nuonuo had just finished speaking when, in the next second, his little arms gave out, and he and the bucket toppled to the ground.
006: “…”
Indeed, you shouldn’t speak too soon.
The worried 006 sighed, thinking to itself that it really couldn’t do without it. It seemed it needed to recover some energy as soon as possible and materialize into a physical form.
006’s current energy was only enough for it to occasionally materialize for a short while. If it needed to stay in the real world for a long time, it would need a large amount of energy to replenish.
I wonder when I’ll be able to get a large chunk of energy out of nowhere like last time, 006 thought with a happy hum.
Meanwhile, after Nuonuo fell, a lot of the laundry detergent, which hadn’t been screwed on tightly, spilled out. Nuonuo quickly got up, righted the laundry detergent, and carefully poured it into the basin. But his hands were too small, and he couldn’t hold the heavy laundry detergent properly. When he poured it, he didn’t know how much to pour and ended up emptying a large bottle at once.
“Liuliu, did I pour too little?”
Feeling that there wasn’t as much laundry detergent as water, Nuonuo tilted his head and asked in confusion.
006 had never washed clothes before and couldn’t just look up information on the spot, so it pretended to know a lot. “That’s about right. A bucket of laundry detergent can only wash one piece of clothing. And this piece of clothing is relatively thin, so half a bucket should be enough.”
Nuonuo nodded, not quite understanding. He put the laundry detergent aside and started to rub the clothes vigorously with his little hands. But in reality, his strength was not even enough to tickle, let alone wash clothes.
However, the foam started to increase, and it slowly began to overflow from the basin, gradually spreading to the surrounding space.
In the short time that Nuonuo was busy washing clothes with his head down, the foam had already filled the entire floor.
Auntie Wu finished tidying up and saw Fei Luo coming home from school with his backpack. She smiled and said, “Little Luo is back? How was school today?”
Hearing Auntie Wu’s words, Fei Luo’s hand, which was putting down his backpack, paused for a moment. Thinking of what the teacher had said after school, he couldn’t help but purse his lips. “It was okay. Where’s little brother?”
Auntie Wu looked upstairs. “Nuonuo is upstairs. It’s been a while, and lunch should be ready. Why don’t you go and call Nuonuo down, Little Luo? I’ll go check in the kitchen.”
Hearing this, Fei Luo turned and went upstairs, heading straight for his little brother’s room.
Auntie Wu watched Fei Luo’s figure, slapped her head, and thought to herself that she had forgotten to tell Fei Luo that Nuonuo was in Fei Han’s room. But it was okay, Fei Luo would come down by himself if he couldn’t find him.
And so, by a twist of fate, Fei Luo knocked on Nuonuo’s door. Not hearing an answer, he opened the door a crack. “Nuonuo?”
Fei Luo’s voice was slightly different from his appearance, a little hoarse. But recently, because he had been speaking more often, it was slowly gaining the liveliness and cheerfulness of a seven- or eight-year-old boy.
As soon as his voice fell, he heard a little milky voice from the bathroom at the very end of the bedroom. “I’m here, ya!”
Perhaps because of the distance, Fei Luo didn’t hear clearly, but knowing the direction the voice came from, he walked towards the bathroom.
But when he reached the bathroom, Fei Luo was stunned.
The bathroom floor was completely covered in foam. The foam near the entrance was piled up, almost reaching Fei Luo’s waist.
Opening his mouth, Fei Luo was stunned for a moment before he called out for his little brother. “Nuonuo, where are you?”
Completely unable to find him, Fei Luo didn’t dare to go in. He held onto the door frame and asked from the doorway.
Nuonuo, who was crouching on the floor, thought in confusion, I’m right here. Didn’t brother see me?
Lifting his little head, Nuonuo finally found that his entire field of vision was filled with white foam.
His little mouth opened wide, and Nuonuo let out a little “ya,” using his little hands to push the foam around him away. “I… I’m here!”
His voice unconsciously became a little anxious. Nuonuo stood up and stood on his tiptoes, trying to see his brother.
Fei Luo finally saw Nuonuo… or rather, his head, in a pile of foam.
Because Nuonuo was washing clothes right by the door, the foam that had gathered was also the most. Nuonuo struggled to push it away and didn’t even dare to step out. The floor was already covered in laundry detergent foam, and one careless move would cause him to slip.
Fei Luo was also young and couldn’t carry his little brother out. He could only hesitate for a moment before turning around. “I’ll go find Eldest Brother!”
And so, under Nuonuo’s pitiful gaze, Fei Luo ran to Fei Han’s bedroom.
Fei Han was preparing the things to test Nuonuo’s relationship with his father. Because of the special nature of the merman race, he planned to do this test himself.
But halfway through preparing, he saw Fei Luo running towards him anxiously. “Eldest Brother, Nuonuo is surrounded by foam and can’t get out!”
