Chapter 63: Taking Action
The temperature was so high that Zhou Xiaole’s chocolate water quickly dried on him.
And not just on his clothes; his arms were also splattered with a lot of chocolate. Zhou Xiaole sobbed a couple of times and even wanted to lift his little arm to lick it.
It was Auntie Wu on the side who quickly stopped him, letting out a couple of “aiyo”s. “You can’t lick that. Your arms have been exposed outside, so they’re dirty. You’ll lick the dirt into your stomach.”
Nuonuo also nodded his little head and said in a soft, milky voice, “Xiaole, you have to be a clean child, ya.”
Zhou Xiaole was very obedient to his boss. His status at home was low, and when he used to follow Zhao Xiaodong, anyone could step on him. But ever since he recognized Nuonuo as his big brother, his status at home had soared several levels.
To help Zhou Xiaole get along better with Nuonuo, Zhou’s father had even prepared a lot of snacks and candies for him. Zhou Xiaole no longer had to cry secretly in the middle of the night with an empty stomach.
And so, the wailing Zhou Xiaole nodded and tried his best to follow his boss’s example. “Don’t worry, boss. I’ll be clean from now on. I definitely won’t lose face for you.”
Seeing Zhou Xiaole being taken away by Auntie Wu to change his clothes, Nuonuo tilted his little head in confusion.
Lose my face? Why? Isn’t my face on my own body? How can it be lost?
Unable to figure it out, Nuonuo simply stopped thinking about it. He obediently sat in the living room, opened a box of snacks, and was just about to put a little cookie into his mouth when 006 suddenly spoke up. “Nuonuo, your mission is here!”
Nuonuo turned his little head, looked left and right for a long while. “Where? I don’t see it, ya.”
006 said with a hint of excitement, “It’s not here. Gu Ze is still at his own house! But this is a very important plot point. It’s mentioned in the book. You invite Gu Ze to your house while you’re eating snacks, but you deliberately show off how expensive the snacks are, which makes Gu Ze feel inferior.”
006’s missions were very random and usually triggered. But this plot point today did indeed have a great impact on the male lead’s personality. It was because of Fei Nuo’s mockery that Gu Ze had such a great obsession with money. Although his obsession was not small now either.
“Nuonuo, you go and find Gu Ze to come over. Later, eat a whole box of little cookies in front of him!”
Nuonuo nodded, still holding a cookie in his hand. When he ran to the door, he froze for a moment, realized he still had a little cookie in his hand, and then quickly ran back to the living room to put it back.
006: “…”
Why can’t he just eat it? Why does he have to put it back?
006 would definitely not admit it was because the cub at home hadn’t thought of it. It must be that Nuonuo wanted to eat it together after he came back!
The sun in the sky was like a fiery furnace, roasting the earth. The air was so hot it scorched the skin.
Nuonuo huffed and puffed as he ran to the courtyard gate. Then, under the scorching sun, he ran all the way to Lei Xiaoyan’s house.
With his little cookies on his mind, Nuonuo ran with his head down, so fast he didn’t even bother to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He took all the small paths and, in no time, he was at Lei Xiaoyan’s doorstep.
“Is Gu Ze here, ya?”
Standing on his tiptoes, Nuonuo patted the gate of the courtyard with his hand and politely said to the video intercom on the door.
Lei Xiaoyan was lazing on the sofa like a salted fish. Hearing Nuonuo’s voice on the phone, he jumped up with a swoosh, his whole body of fat trembling. “Nuonuo, did you come to find me?”
Lei Xiaoyan quickly ran over and opened the door, letting Nuonuo in.
“No, ya. I came to find Gu Ze. Where is he, ya?”
The moment Nuonuo spoke, he had crushed Lei Xiaoyan’s confidence. He pouted, kicked the pebbles at his feet, and answered in a muffled voice, “He’s at home, I don’t know what he’s doing.”
Nuonuo let out a little “oh.” He turned his little head and saw Lei Xiaoyan kicking the stones angrily. He blinked his eyes and asked, “Xiaoyan, do you want to come to my house to play too? I have a little blue motorcycle. It’s so much fun.”
Lei Xiaoyan’s chubby little face instantly lit up. His previous unhappiness instantly vanished, and his little eyes, which were almost squeezed shut by his flesh, lit up. “Really, ya? Then can I ride the little motorcycle too?”
“You can, ya! You go over first. I’m going to find Gu Ze in the back.”
Nuonuo was still thinking about eating little cookies after finishing his “mission.” He waved at Lei Xiaoyan and then quickly ran to the building in the back.
Lei Xiaoyan had been pestering his mother to buy him a little motorcycle before. He had seen people riding them on TV and was so envious he would roll all over the house. But Lei’s mother had cruelly refused him, saying that with Lei Xiaoyan’s size, any motorcycle would be crushed by him.
At that time, Lei Xiaoyan had been sad for a long time.
Now that his little friend had invited him to ride, Lei Xiaoyan was so happy he was grinning from ear to ear. Without even saying a word to anyone else at home, he anxiously ran to Nuonuo’s house.
Because he was running too fast on the way, he even lost a shoe.
Fortunately, Grandpa Gu, who was coming back from outside, saw him in a daze and went over to help him pick up his shoe. “Xiaoyan, where are you going in such a hurry?”
Lei Xiaoyan put on his sandal and said thank you. “I’m going to Nuonuo’s house. He has a little motorcycle! It’s so cool!”
He hadn’t even seen Nuonuo’s little motorcycle, but Lei Xiaoyan was already praising it, his words tinged with a bit of urgency, wanting to finish talking to Grandpa Gu quickly and go to Nuonuo’s house to ride the motorcycle.
Hearing this, Grandpa Gu’s cloudy eyes flashed with a hint of cunning. He asked one more question. “A little motorcycle? Then why don’t you call Gu Ze to go with you? It’s more lively for you kids to play together.”
“Aiya, Gu Ze is right behind me. I’m so anxious. I’ll go over and give it a try first!”
Lei Xiaoyan was so anxious his fists were clenched. He stomped his little fat foot on the ground, and as soon as he finished speaking, he ran off in a hurry.
“Hey, Xiaoyan, wait for me.”
Grandpa Gu, feeling this was a good opportunity, waved at him, hammered his aching back, and also quickly followed.
Although choosing this old man’s body could allow him to get close to the male lead openly, no matter how strong and young his soul was, it couldn’t change the fact that the body was aging.
Grandpa Gu was almost seventy years old, after all. He had to bend his back when he walked, and his eyes were often blurry. In just a short while, he was left far behind by Lei Xiaoyan.
Nuonuo ran to Gu Ze’s house. The moment he entered, before he could even speak, he propped himself up on his little knees and let out a long breath. “So tired, ya.”
Seeing Nuonuo come to find him, Gu Ze was so pleasantly surprised he jumped up from his chair. He didn’t even bother with the open box and quickly went to pour Nuonuo a glass of water. “There’s no plum juice at home. Nuonuo, you drink some warm water first.”
Don’t look at how young Gu Ze was, but he was very neat and tidy with his housework. Knowing that Nuonuo was hot, he even ran to turn on the air conditioner for him. Usually, no matter how hot it was, Gu Ze wouldn’t be willing to turn it on.
“Thank you, Gu Ze. Do you want to come to my house to eat little cookies, ya?”
Nuonuo was so thirsty he drank more than half a glass of water in one go. Before he could even catch his breath, he spoke up.
Hearing Nuonuo invite him, Gu Ze’s lips curled up, his dark eyes showing a hint of happiness. He nodded demurely. “Okay, let’s go now.”
Nuonuo’s mind was full of his fragrant and sweet little cookies, and the potato chips he had opened for the first time today but hadn’t had a single bite of. And so, Nuonuo’s voice couldn’t help but become a little rushed. “Okay, okay, ya. Let’s go quickly!”
Without resting for more than a few seconds, Nuonuo took Gu Ze and started to walk back.
But halfway there, Nuonuo couldn’t run anymore. His little legs gave way, and he sat down on the ground, his fair face covered in sweat, panting heavily. “I… I can’t run anymore.”
Exhausted, Nuonuo sat under a big tree, like a soulless fish, so hot his little face was all red.
Fortunately, Gu Ze was well-prepared. He took off the small water bottle in front of him, carefully fed Nuonuo some water, and even opened a small folding fan to fan him.
“Nuonuo, are you feeling better?”
Gu Ze’s dark eyes were full of worry. Seeing that Nuonuo wasn’t speaking, his little hand fanning him became even more forceful.
The bangs on his forehead flew in front of his eyes. Nuonuo couldn’t help but squint. After recovering, he finally reached up and wiped the sweat from his little forehead. “It’s still so far.”
Looking up at the distance to the villa, Nuonuo didn’t even have the strength to get up. He sat there with his little face in his hands, so hot his soul was about to leave his body.
They were actually almost there, but under the scorching, fireball-like sun, that unshaded road seemed both long and hot, making one not want to step on it at all.
“How about I carry you?”
Gu Ze looked at the distance and then squatted down.
Nuonuo’s brain was so hot it wasn’t working. He said dazedly, “You can’t carry me, ya.”
Although Gu Ze was a year older than Nuonuo, he was still just a three- or four-year-old child. He definitely didn’t have enough strength to carry another child.
Gu Ze’s little face showed a hint of stubbornness and seriousness. Although he was only half a head taller than Nuonuo, he looked as steady as a little adult. “I can carry you.”
Seeing Gu Ze so persistent, Nuonuo was so tired and hot he couldn’t say a word. He could only place his little arms on Gu Ze’s shoulders.
Walking out from the shade of the tree, the cobblestone path under their feet was hard and hot from the sun. The flower bushes that had once adorned the path were now all withered from the sun, leaving only their lonely stems and leaves to barely hold on.
Nuonuo felt so hot his little forehead was burning. He was half-carried, half-dragged by Gu Ze across this cobblestone path. His eyes, dazzled by the sun, could only see a large patch of white and the swaying, monotonous flower stems and leaves on the side of the road.
Although Gu Ze was not yet very tall, he was still quite steady carrying Nuonuo. Even though he himself was so tired his little face was red, he still held on and didn’t make a sound.
Nuonuo’s little feet were still dragging on the ground, occasionally propping himself up to walk a bit. After a long while, he finally saw the villa’s gate.
“We’re here!”
Nuonuo let out a small, weak “ya.”
But just as he got off Gu Ze’s back, he saw his motorcycle charging towards Lei Xiaoyan, who had arrived a step ahead of them.
Zhou Xiaole on the car was already stunned, his hand on the brake as if it had malfunctioned, his little round eyes wide with terror as he watched the motorcycle head towards Lei Xiaoyan.
“Ah! Get out of the way!”
Zhou Xiaole’s shout was tinged with a cry. He was so scared his body tilted, and he almost fell off the motorcycle.
Lei Xiaoyan, who had also just arrived, was also stunned. After all, they were both three-year-old children. Faced with such an emergency, they had forgotten how to react for a moment.
And Grandpa Gu, standing at the courtyard gate, was even more shocked when he saw the person on the car.
How could it be Zhou Xiaole?!
