Chapter 73: Comfort
Large patches of dark clouds filled the sky, and the light rain showed signs of gradually getting heavier, pattering against the windowpanes. In this stuffy weather, it couldn’t help but make one feel irritable.
Lei’s mother silently helped Gu Ze tidy up the messy room. Looking at the silent and motionless Gu Ze, a hint of worry appeared in her eyes.
Gu Ze’s back was tense and straight from beginning to end. It was only when Nuonuo walked towards him that his lowered head finally lifted slightly.
“Gu Ze, are you cwying?”
Nuonuo bent down and saw that there were no tear tracks on Gu Ze’s face, but for some reason, he always felt that Gu Ze was crying at this moment.
In the damp air, it was as if the bitter taste of coffee was spreading. It wasn’t very strong, but it made one afraid to even breathe deeply, afraid that with one breath, even their lungs would be bitter.
“I cwied yesterday too.”
Nuonuo wrung his hands, blinked his eyes lightly, like a clumsy little mouse, and quietly peeked his head out, trying his best to comfort Gu Ze in his own way.
Gu Ze did indeed react. His throat was so dry and hoarse. He looked at Nuonuo with his dark eyes and, after opening his mouth, asked, “Why did you cry?”
At the mention of this, Nuonuo was a little embarrassed. Two blushes appeared on his little cheeks, and he stammered in a small voice, “Because I didn’t wisten to Papa. I wasn’t a good child.”
Gu Ze’s lips were pressed into a straight line. His little hands, calloused from picking up bottles, lifted and rubbed Nuonuo’s head. “It’s okay.”
His tone was very light, like a wisp of wind, as if he were not only speaking to Nuonuo, but also to himself.
The death of his only relative was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Gu Ze.
Fortunately, there was still a silly little dumpling who would carefully take a step and step into Gu Ze’s gray world.
This made Gu Ze feel that life wasn’t so bad after all.
The gloomy sky would clear, and the endless rain would also stop.
The sun would arrive as scheduled, just like Nuonuo, always appearing by Gu Ze’s side at the most critical moments.
Relief was also a matter of an instant. It was as if, all of a sudden, Gu Ze’s tense shoulders relaxed, and the barrier that separated him from the world also silently dissipated.
His fingers tightened around the stone again. A glimmer of light appeared in Gu Ze’s dark eyes. He got off the sofa, took Nuonuo’s little hand, and said, “Do you want some little cookies?”
This was what they had agreed on last night, to eat cookies together the next day.
Hearing the words “little cookies,” Nuonuo’s mouth couldn’t help but water. He nodded his little head and said foolishly, “Okay, okay, ya.”
Like a little tail, Nuonuo followed behind Gu Ze, tugging at his clothes. Afraid that he would continue to be sad, his little mouth chattered on. “Now, I can eat two wittle cookies in one go…”
Nuonuo was not a very smart cub to begin with, and when it came to comforting people, he seemed even more dazed. He wracked his brains, thinking about what to say, and didn’t even watch where he was going. As a result, with a thud, he bumped into the kitchen doorframe.
“Aiya!”
Covering his bumped red forehead, Nuonuo stumbled back two steps and sat down on the floor with a plop.
Gu Ze was startled and quickly went over to help Nuonuo up. “Nuonuo, are you okay?”
Nuonuo’s eyes were filled with tears from the pain, but he still sniffled and shook his head, saying he was fine.
Gu Ze furrowed his brow, ran to get some safflower oil, and carefully applied it to Nuonuo’s little forehead.
Nuonuo’s big eyes couldn’t store tears. As Gu Ze was applying the medicine, tears fell like beans onto the back of his hand. “I’m not cwying. I’m a wittle villain. I have to be bwave.”
Gu Ze was applying the medicine to Nuonuo. Hearing his words, he tilted his head strangely. “A little villain? Why do you want to be a little villain?”
Nuonuo sat on the sofa, unconsciously taking a breath, and said, covering his little forehead, “I am a wittle villain, ya. When I gwown up, I’ll be a big villain!”
Gu Ze frowned in confusion and put the medicine bottle back. “Alright then. What do you do as a villain?”
Nuonuo whimpered a couple of times and then continued in a small voice, “I have to do wots of things. Fow exampwe, eat all youw wittle cookies!”
In Nuonuo’s world, eating all of the other person’s little cookies was already a very, very bad thing. Probably only the worst villain in the world could do such a bad thing!
Hearing this, Gu Ze pursed his lips and smiled. He took out the little cookies from the kitchen and gave them to Nuonuo. “Then you eat them.”
His little cookies were meant for Nuonuo to eat anyway.
Gu Ze had almost no interest in little snacks like cookies. It was only after Nuonuo came to his house and he found that the other liked them that he had specially bought some.
Seeing that Nuonuo couldn’t resist the charm of the cookies and reached out his little hand to take a piece and put it in his mouth, Gu Ze also couldn’t help but squint his eyes with pleasure.
Whether it was their first meeting or their later interactions with Nuonuo, it always seemed to be accompanied by all sorts of sweet tastes.
The bitter smell seemed to never stay around Nuonuo for long. The sweet and fragrant smell of cookies instantly occupied Gu Ze’s heart, and he also picked up a piece of cookie and put it in his mouth, tasting it seriously.
Crispy, with a strong milky flavor. It’s really delicious.
Seeing Gu Ze cheer up, Lei’s mother also couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Chasing the two little dumplings out to play, Lei’s mother began to deal with Grandpa Gu’s funeral arrangements.
In the afternoon, when Grandpa Gu’s body was being cremated, the rain that had been falling for a day and a night finally stopped.
The dark clouds scattered at a visible speed. Half of the golden sun had already sunk below the horizon, but it still shone brightly on the earth.
Gu Ze knelt in front of his grandfather’s tombstone, kowtowed three times seriously, and then was led back to the Lei family’s house by Lei’s mother.
The Lei couple were both straightforward and kind people. They had sponsored many children and the elderly, and they also pitied this child, Gu Ze, from the bottom of their hearts.
Therefore, under the guise of helping, they let Gu Ze continue to live in their house, planning to support him until he finished university.
By a strange twist of fate, the plot had returned to its original position.
Only a corner of the sun was left, red like the yolk of a salted egg. The air was all damp. On the eaves, branches, and window ledges, there were still undried raindrops hanging.
Nuonuo crouched in the courtyard, poking a small puddle with a small branch. With all his might, he managed to lead the rainwater in the small puddle to another large puddle.
Fei Luo disliked this kind of dirty game, just as he disliked cartoonish and flashy clothes. He stood on the grass on the side with his lips pursed, quietly watching his little brother play.
“I dug a wittle wiver!”
Nuonuo lifted his little head, his eyes reflecting the red sunset, his expression lively and enthusiastic, which made one can’t help but smile along with him.
“Little brother is amazing!”
Although he hadn’t participated at all, it didn’t change the fact that Fei Luo was a “little brother-con.” He crinkled his eyes slightly and praised him without any modesty.
Nuonuo shyly lowered his little head, kicked the small stone next to him, and said in a small voice, “Not that amazing, ya.”
Just so-so amazing!
Nuonuo, with his super-confident mentality, puffed out his little chest. Seeing that he had dug ditches for five or six small puddles and gathered them all together, he put his little hands on his hips and let out a breath as if he had completed a great task.
“Let’s eat, ya!”
Nuonuo, with his little face covered in mud, returned to the house. When Auntie Wu saw his dirty little flowery face, she let out a little “aiyo” and quickly took him to wash. “What have you been playing with? Why are your pants all muddy?”
Nuonuo’s fair, soft little face had streaks of black and white, all from his little hands. The funniest thing was his little nose, which had also gotten a bit of black on it at some point, making his whole little face look like a black and white palette.
It seemed that children had no resistance to things like mud and sandpits. Nuonuo had spent the whole afternoon playing with a few small puddles and had had a great time.
His clothes were also very dirty. Auntie Wu simply took Nuonuo upstairs to change into another set, washed his little face and hands, and then came down for dinner.
Returning home with the last rays of dusk, Fei Zhiyan had his black suit draped over his arm, his fingers gently pressing his forehead as he spoke to his assistant while walking. “The development plan for the Jaran region is not good. This is the only region in Daizhou that is under Yunzhou’s jurisdiction. It absolutely cannot be so casual…”
Perhaps because the management of Yunzhou and Huazhou had been too smooth before, now that it came to Daizhou, big and small problems were popping up one after another, which even made Fei Zhiyan doubt whether he should conquer this continent.
Daizhou was located in the very center of the ocean. Before modern times, it was almost unknown to people. The place was remote and poor. If it weren’t for Fei Zhiyan’s strong desire to take revenge on the whole world, he might not have wanted to bother with this continent.
He even felt that he didn’t have to do anything, and Daizhou would probably play itself to death.
Today at the joint council meeting, the proposals put forward by those council presidents from Daizhou were all a mess, which really annoyed Fei Zhiyan.
“Forget it. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Have them rush out the plan tonight.”
The assistant was so scared by Fei Zhiyan’s cold face that he didn’t even dare to breathe loudly. It wasn’t until Fei Zhiyan waved his hand that he let out a sigh of relief and quickly took the documents and ran off.
Fei Zhiyan’s temper seemed not so good today. Although he didn’t like to curse or say rude words, just sitting there with a frown and a stern face was enough to make others lower their voices.
Handing his suit to the butler who had been waiting for a long time, Fei Zhiyan strode towards the dining room.
Hearing Nuonuo’s little milky voice from the dining room, Fei Zhiyan’s steps couldn’t help but pause for a moment before he continued to walk in.
Nuonuo was talking about the great feat of digging ditches in the afternoon. His words were not very fluent, but he stammered on and on without stopping. “I dug and dug, and then that wittle ditch… became so big…”
When he got to the exciting part, Nuonuo quickly opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath before his flushed little face recovered, and he hurriedly continued, “It became a super big wittle wiver…”
As he was speaking, Nuonuo saw Fei Zhiyan walk in. His little mouth instantly opened even wider, and he tilted his little face up foolishly, staring at his papa without blinking.
