"Protect me."
She didn't add the word "please" in front, which seemed a little unreasonable, but when it was said in a little girl's voice, it was full of incomparable trust and the naivety of a child. The little girl's white pajamas looked incomparably delicate under the starlight. Xu Le looked at this scene emotionally, and for some reason, his heart softened for no reason. He clenched his fists and slowly approached the metal cabin wall. His movements were very slow, as if he was afraid that if his movements were too big, he would bring fear to this pitiful little bird-like girl.
The little girl lowered her head, as if she didn't dare to look directly at Xu Le's face. Two drops of tears slid down from her long eyelashes, and she looked extremely pitiful. Her lilac-like lips opened and closed nervously, and her voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. "Please protect me."
Xu Le carefully squatted down and looked at the little girl's small face that was carved from jade. Her slightly drooping eyes couldn't hide her ink-like pupils, and her small and delicate lips. For a moment, he felt a little absent-minded. He felt that the little girl gave him a very intimate feeling, so he didn't notice that the little girl added two words in her second sentence.
"Little girl, what's your name?" Xu Le subconsciously blinked and pursed his lips, not wanting to let his absent-minded appearance make the little girl think of something bad. His gaze finally left the little girl's face and noticed that the little girl's hair was very special. Pure black hair draped straight over both sides of her cheeks, and the middle part was very neatly cut into a straight line above her eyebrows and covering her forehead. It looked like … a piece of watermelon skin?
"My … My name is Zhong … Firework." The little girl was still tightly hugging the doll in her arms. She bravely raised her head to look at Xu Le. Perhaps it was Xu Le's honest face that gave her courage, or perhaps it was Xu Le's straight eyebrows that gave her confidence. She stammered out her name.
"This name … is too unpleasant to hear." Xu Le muttered in his heart. He didn't know what this little girl's parents did for them to give her a name that could easily cause ambiguity. He scratched his head and said, "Why don't I just call you Little Watermelon?"
The little girl named Zhong Firework widened her eyes and felt endless confusion. She cutely tilted her head and asked, "Uncle, why Little Watermelon?"
Xu Le stretched out his index finger and brushed the hair on the little girl's forehead. He smiled and said, "Because your hair is like a beautiful piece of … watermelon skin?"
…
…
Although Xu Le didn't know that this commercial spaceship belonged to the Ancient Clock Company, and that the Fourth Military Region was hiding behind the Ancient Clock Company, he could logically deduce that on such a heavily guarded spaceship, under the glory of the First Charter, at the edge of the universe far away from the Empire's borders, there shouldn't be anything that could threaten such a cute little girl. He also didn't think that this little girl called Zhong Huohua or Little Watermelon needed to be protected. On a spaceship, this little girl should have a family accompanying her.
But no matter how he asked, Little Watermelon refused to tell him what had happened, nor where her family was. Xu Le thought for a while and decided to find the staff on the spaceship. After all, the little girl was a living person, and he didn't dare to take responsibility.
Xu Le's room was in Area 32, which was the most remote area of the spaceship. It had the most backward facilities and was also the quietest area. Other than the noise of garbage being transported from the pipes behind the wall from time to time, no one had come here while the two of them were talking. Xu Le took the little girl's hand and walked outside. He comforted her, "Little Watermelon, you don't have to be afraid when you find your family."
"Uncle, I'm scared." Little Watermelon was a very sensible child. She probably knew that she had brought a lot of trouble to this strange uncle. When Xu Le took her hand and walked out, she didn't make a fuss or struggle. She just held the doll in one hand and lowered her head as she said, "There's a bad guy … who wants to kidnap Little Watermelon and take her somewhere else so that Little Watermelon can never see Father and Mother again."
Xu Le stopped in his tracks. He turned around and looked at the little girl's side profile seriously, as if he was trying to discern whether this terrifying story was just a child's nonsense, or whether there was a dark curtain hidden behind the light. With this glance, he saw the dust and dirt on the back of the little girl's snow-white nightgown and the stain on the doll …
No one came to Area 32. How did this little girl come here alone on such a big spaceship? What about the people who were watching over her? Did the little girl crawl out from those pipes? Otherwise, how could she be so dirty? What kind of horror would make a five or six-year-old girl crawl into those dark pipes?
Xu Le looked at her seriously for a while. Uncle Feng admired his ability to read people, but he still couldn't see any trace of the little girl lying. Without thinking for too long, Xu Le turned around and walked back with the little girl's hand. He wanted to go back to his room and think about it. He was a little worried about leaving the little girl in the hands of the spaceship's staff. At least … she would be safe if she followed him. It would be good for him to find out more information before making a decision.
The little girl stared blankly for a moment before immediately understanding the meaning behind this turn around. She walked quickly in small, quick steps in an attempt to keep up with Xu Le's pace. Her movements appeared especially cute. The tears on her little face had yet to dry when she began to laugh. Her laughter was exceptionally happy, and her large black eyes narrowed together like a crescent moon in the night sky of Xilin Star.
"Thank you, uncle."
"Call me big brother from now on … Little Watermelon." Xu Le had always been a straightforward person. Once he decided on something, he would do it to the end. Holding the little girl's hand, he was in a very good mood. His trustworthy eyes squinted, looking very much like the half-lake in the East Woods Nature Conservation Area.
…
…
The Ancient Bell spaceship was still going through its last logistical energy supply. It was set to leave the East Woods Sector at about six o 'clock tomorrow. During this time, Xu Le stayed in his room with Little Watermelon. Perhaps because the budget of the Department of Defense was too tight, the place where he, a retired soldier in name, lived was really a forgotten corner. There didn't seem to be any surveillance equipment in the room.
Even so, Xu Le still carefully paid attention to the movements outside the door. Through this period of chatting, he gradually gained the little girl's complete trust and finally found out some things. The little girl was from the West Woods. For some reason, she left home and was taken to the Ancient Bell spaceship. On the return journey, she would be sent to the Capital Planet. She would be six years old in two months. She was best at piano and painting, but she hated piano and painting the most. She liked to play with mud the most, and it just so happened that she played with mud the least.
Perhaps it was because she rarely had the chance to relax and chat like this. The six-year-old girl chattered non-stop like a little bird. She would often choke because she spoke too fast. Her little face would turn red, and the straight black hair on her forehead would sway in the air.
Xu Le listened with a bitter smile. The little girl's content was too trivial, and there was no information that he wanted to know. The more he listened, the stranger he felt. He wondered if the little girl had misunderstood something, causing him to misunderstand something … But since he had already promised Little Watermelon, he naturally had to continue. People had to be honest, even if it was a six-year-old girl. Xu Le decided to let the little girl hide in her room for the time being before he could find out more information.
When it was time to eat, Xu Le reminded the little girl not to run around. He ran to the spaceship's cafeteria and ordered a meal. He didn't talk too much with the spaceship's staff, but he still paid attention and found that no one had heard anything about which official on the spaceship lost a child. What made him wary was that the soldiers in charge of security around the cafeteria looked much more serious than they did a few hours ago. A somewhat depressing atmosphere surrounded the cafeteria.
Could it be because of Little Watermelon? Xu Le quietly left the cafeteria. He was a person who didn't attract much attention, so he didn't attract any attention when he left with a meal. Most people on the spaceship didn't even know that a retired soldier from the Donglin Region had been arranged to stay in the lounge of Cleaning Area 32.
…
…
Little Watermelon lowered her head and forked a piece of beef. She put it in her mouth and chewed hard, but the expression on her face revealed that the little girl really didn't like the taste of beef stew rice. But she didn't seem to want to make things difficult for Xu Le, so she just ate seriously. Xu Le looked at the expression on her little face and couldn't help but laugh. He said, "If you don't like it, then don't eat it. I heard that the next meal will be good."
"I've been eating beef for a month and a half." Little Watermelon sighed like an adult and said, "Brother Xu Le, I'm afraid the next meal will be beef again."
Xu Le deliberately added a spoonful of white rice to this meal. At this time, he was holding his chopsticks and eating the leftover rice from Little Watermelon. When he heard this, he couldn't help but freeze. After being influenced by the boss for so many years, he had become very picky about food. He said with a bitter face, "Synthetic beef tastes the same, and you can actually eat it for a month and a half? That's amazing. "
After sighing, Xu Le lowered his head and ate again. He didn't have the habit of wasting food. With his mouth full of beef, he said vaguely, "If there's a chance in the future, I'll kill a bison and let you eat real beef."
The little girl's black hair stood straight on her forehead. She looked at Xu Le with a smile and nodded seriously. Although she had eaten a lot of wild dishes stolen from the Empire with her father in the West Woods, she still felt grateful for Brother Xu Le's words. She thought that her brother was really a good person.
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