The rain didn't stop, and the cold wind was blowing. Especially on the tarmac of the capital's Dou Jiao Airport, the autumn wind and rain were even more depressing. The cold wind and rain poured into people's sleeves, instantly cooling people's eagerness to return home.
The passengers sitting on the self-transit express train looked at the two figures walking on the tarmac, one big and one small. They wondered if they wanted to walk back to the building in such cold weather. At first, the passengers thought that they were a father and a daughter, but when they saw the young face of the officer, they had to overturn this conclusion. They couldn't help but feel very strange.
The cold autumn rain didn't stop, and the cold wind blew horizontally.
In the wind and rain, Xu Le held the big black umbrella in his left hand, and held the little daughter of the Zhong family's hand in his right hand. They walked to the side of the tarmac. Because he was worried that the little girl would get wet, he leaned most of the umbrella to the right. The left side of his body was already wet, and the dark green military uniform looked like it was painted with ink.
The little girl's left hand tightly held his hand, and her right hand was holding the old doll. She silently followed Xu Le and walked forward quickly. Although it was hard, she didn't say anything. Her beautiful long eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes were smiling like crescent moons.
Her white socks and black shoes under her little blue dress were running quickly in the shallow pool of water. Only then did she have time to keep up with Xu Le's speed. With her broken and laborious footsteps, the little school bag she brought from home jumped up and down, and the neat black hair on the top of her head also jumped up and down. It was just like the child's mood at this time.
Xu Le finally reacted and slowed down. At the same time, he tilted the black umbrella in her direction. The two of them didn't talk much along the way. They just walked in silence like this. There was a tacit understanding and a wonderful sense of rhythm, just like three years ago in the 32nd district of the spaceship.
They didn't walk far before Major Lan Xiaolong came down from the black car and welcomed the two of them to the car. He sat in the dark green military vehicle behind them.
It was very warm in the black car, and it was completely isolated from the cold rain and autumn wind outside. Xu Le took out a towel and warmed it in front of the heater. He then covered Zhong Huashan's little head and rubbed it casually. He wanted to explain the military vehicle behind them and the identity of the men in Group 7, but looking at the little girl's eyes, she didn't seem to be very interested in these things.
That's right. Every time the little miss of the Zhong family went out, she would be followed by a group of special forces soldiers. A formation like this, to her, was very common.
The school bag and the old doll lay quietly in the back seat. Xu Le quietly dried Little Watermelon's wet hair, but his mind was thinking about something else. A bitter smile appeared on his lips. He didn't know if it was because he was obsessed or because he was shattered by the little girl's expression when she looked at the raindrops outside the window, but he unexpectedly asked Mrs. Zhong on the other end of the phone to take her out for two days. What was even more inexplicable was that Mrs. Zhong actually agreed to this absurd and irresponsible request after some consideration.
It was important to know that Little Watermelon was the only heir of the Zhong family in the West Woods. She had always been under extremely strict care in the capital ring. How could Mrs. Zhong agree to let her leave with Xu Le?
"Are you satisfied now?" Xu Le threw the white towel in the back seat and looked at the little girl helplessly.
Zhong Huoyan's ink-black eyes looked up, as if she was thinking. Then, she nodded vigorously, and the word "yes" came out of her straight and cute little nose.
She rubbed her hair vigorously and shook it around with a giggle. She was like a puppy that had just returned home from a rainy day. She was extremely cute.
…
…
Downstairs at Wangdu Apartments, Xu Le carefully instructed the people in the military vehicle, mainly Lan Xiaolong. He wasn't used to the men from Group 7 following him around like bodyguards every day, but today, he was bringing Little Watermelon home. It was the first time the little miss of the Zhong family had left her parents' protection to go out and play. If he didn't have such a security expert by her side, he wouldn't be able to rest assured. Even if Mrs. Zhong said on the phone that the security forces to protect the little girl would follow them to the capital.
"Call Uncle Li," Xu Le said to Zhong Huoyan as he pushed open the door of the apartment and pointed at Li Wei on the sofa.
Zhong Huoyan glanced at the man on the sofa, nodded, and called, "Uncle Li."
There wasn't much respect or intimacy in this call of uncle. The little girl's delicate and pretty face had a faint pride and indifference that kept people thousands of miles away. She didn't have the kind of intimacy that Mrs. Zhong had hidden deep in her heart, but she had learned her external expression perfectly. Although she was young, she already had a bit of a noble aura.
Li Wei was sitting on the sofa and watching television in boredom. He had a cigarette in his mouth and a wine glass in his hand, looking like a gangster or scum. Suddenly, he saw Xu Le bring home a little girl carved out of ice and jade. He was shocked and quickly brushed away the cigarette ash on his body and asked, "Whose child is this? She's really pretty."
Xu Le let out a wry laugh. He couldn't possibly tell the truth that this was the little princess of the West Forest Region. He shook his head and sighed, "The child of a friend in Xixia wanted to come to the capital to play, so I brought her back."
"That's good. This is also my first time in the capital as a country bumpkin. I wanted to ask you to accompany me for a stroll, but I was afraid that you would be busy. Coincidentally, I'm with this little girl …" Li Wei suddenly stopped talking because he saw the indifference on this little girl's face. He sensed that she was definitely not a country bumpkin.
Zhong Huoyan didn't do what Xu Le thought she would do — run around the various rooms curiously, admiring the simple yet genuine happiness of the lower class of society. Then, she would become intoxicated by it and jump on the sofa while laughing. That was something that little girls in television dramas would do. It was obvious that this little girl didn't have such a boring hobby. She just quietly walked around the living room with a trace of caution and curiosity in her eyes.
The little girl's gaze fell on a stack of miniature discs under the television screen. She curiously looked at the discs that looked like coins. She lowered her little head and seriously studied them for a long time. Suddenly, she raised her head and looked at Xu Le and Li Wei. She said in an incomparably serious tone, "This … is a pirated version."
Xu Le and Li Wei looked at each other and felt endless shame and embarrassment. When they were young, they were orphans in Dong Lin. Naturally, they had developed the bad habit of buying cheap pirated versions. Now that they were being sternly criticized by an eight or nine year old little girl, they couldn't help but feel their faces heat up.
Who knew that Zhong Huoyan would suddenly burst out laughing!
The little girl excitedly shrieked, "That's great! I've always heard people say pirated versions, but I've never seen them even once! "
She hugged the stack of pirated discs and turned around. She said, "Brother Xu Le, I've never seen pirated versions. The Federation TV station doesn't make my favorite all-metal frenzy discs, so I can only watch replays every time. But that station has too many advertisements …"
She innocently looked at Xu Le and asked in an incomparably serious tone, "I've heard that pirated versions don't have advertisements. Is that true?"
"Uh …" Xu Le opened his mouth wide. After a long time, he cautiously said, "Why don't … you take a look at this legendary pirated version?"
…
…
Little Zhong Huoyan stubbornly and sorrowfully uttered a series of words that broke Xu Le Rou's heart. His fatherly love grew in him, and he resolutely brought Zhong Huoyan back to his home.
He had thought that after leaving the villa, the little girl would scream in excitement, cut up the bed sheets and pretend to be a witch to scare people. She would go to the amusement park overnight to play with heartbeats, go to the fast food restaurant to eat junk food, and play games crazily. He had even mentally prepared himself to accompany her to ride the Snow Mountain Dragon. The Snow Mountain Dragon was the longest and most thrilling roller coaster in the universe.
However, he had never thought that little girl Zhong Huoyan would just sit quietly on the sofa with a plate of freshly fried potato sticks in her hand. She was obediently watching the TV series on the hologram. No, to be precise, she was watching pirated discs.
"Whose child is this? She hasn't even seen pirated versions before. Isn't she too pitiful?" Li Wei looked at Xu Le, who was tidying up the kitchen, and sighed with emotion.
Xu Le didn't dare to look at the little girl in the living room. In fact, he was already dumbfounded. He thought that the upbringing of the seven great families was too serious. Back then, it was acceptable that Tai Zhiyuan had never eaten scallion pancakes, but he had never seen pirated versions … He had the urge to call the young master and ask if he had ever watched porn before Miss Bai Qi took his virginity.
The Early Autumn Festival was only a few days away. Xu Le really wanted to make Little Watermelon happy, so he naturally couldn't let her stay at home and watch pirated versions every day. After thinking about it, he couldn't think of where to take the little girl to play. Suddenly, he remembered that among his few friends, the woman in red in the Xishan Courtyard was already a mother, so he directly dialed a number.
"Drag that Dalmatian back and kill him as soon as possible before I call the guards to shoot him." As soon as the call went through, Zou Yu's voice was extremely cold and angry. It directly made Xu Le's ears go numb.
He held the phone in shock and took two seconds to understand. Dalmatian … She must be talking about that playboy Mr. Shi. He hadn't been seen for more than a day. Could it be that he had run to the Xishan Courtyard?
Xishan Courtyard? An anti-government spy had run to the entrance of the Federal Army's most heavily guarded courtyard! Although the Federation was playing a big game of reconciliation, wasn't Shi Qinghai's approach a little too fierce?
"What's the meaning of him blocking the entrance of the courtyard? He's even calling the sentinels brothers, putting his arm around their shoulders and exhaling smoke … Xu Le, I'm warning you, before those generals come in and out, and before my father comes back, you'd better drag him away and bury him as soon as possible. Otherwise, even if I don't shoot him, there are plenty of people who will. "
Zou Yu's voice on the phone was unusually cold, just like the girl in red in front of the nightclub in Linhai. However, Xu Le could only hold the phone and frown bitterly, thinking that it was useless for him to persuade that young master. He hesitated and said, "He probably wants to see you or the child. What are you afraid of?"
There was silence on the other end of the phone. From the corner of his eye, Xu Le saw the little girl in the living room yawning but still staring at the TV screen. He hurriedly told her about the troubles of a certain daughter. Unexpectedly, the daughter of the Zou family was stunned and simply said,
"Get out."
…
…
(The following doesn't count. This chapter is much more interesting.) When I was writing the first chapter, I was listening to Yang Naiwen. In the end, I still couldn't write well because my mood was a bit messy and I was too short on time. During the day, I was busy with work and other chores like buying tickets.
Actually, everyone should be able to see that I've been in a really good state these past few days. I'm sorry to inform everyone that I can't maintain this state any longer because tomorrow I'll be leaving Daqing and embarking on a journey.
The leader's father, who is also my most respected elder, is hospitalized in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. The two of us will be going to visit him tomorrow and probably won't be back until next Saturday. However, the news we've received is good, so there shouldn't be any major problems. We just don't know how long he'll need to recuperate. I hope he recovers soon.
In fact, I've been waiting for her to ask for leave so that she can leave, so I've been working hard these past few days to write more. However, I didn't expect that she'd just changed to a new unit and leave so suddenly that I didn't have a single chapter saved.
In the next few days, on the road and in Baotou, I tried my best to make time to write. I've been writing intermittently until today. Ever since I promised to keep updating, I haven't stopped. I'm trying to keep it up, but the most I can write every day is 3,000 words. Perhaps one day I'll reach 2,000 words. Perhaps … I'll really stop updating.
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