Cherry was taken aback for a moment, seemingly only just realizing that she hadn’t asked the boy for his name yet. She asked, “Hey, what’s your name?”
“My name?” The boy sounded terribly cheeky. He said, “My name is made up of two syllables. The first is ‘grand and the second is ‘dad’.”
Cherry was taken aback. “Granddad?”
“Yeah, I’m here!” The boy responded very quickly. “Hello, my granddaughter!” Cherry: “…” She was furious. “Why are you so mean?!”
“Hahaha! Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. My last name is Yale while my first name is Dad!”
“Dad Yale?”
“Watch the way you’re talking to your dad,
girl!”
II
11
Cherry was furious. She was about to hang up when he said, “Okay, okay, I won’t tease you anymore. I can’t tell you my name—you can just call me ‘big brother’.”.
Pete was pulling a long face. “Haven’t you had enough yet?” The other boy replied, “I have. At the very least, I don’t want to be your brother, I only want to be Cherry’s.”
Nora, who was listening to the conversation next to them: “…”
Nora had thought that Cherry was already very cheeky. She mouthed off all the time and was very mischievous, and was not as well-behaved and sensible as Pete. But compared to the other boy, Cherry was simply too good!
Also, Cherry didn’t use such crude language!
Nora frowned. It stood to reason that she wouldn’t feel any fondness for that little boy, but for some reason, as she listened to the young and tender voice acting like an adult, she actually didn’t feel annoyed or disgusted.
Nora’s voice was very low as she asked, “Boy, has your father returned?”
She remembered that the boy had said the other time that he didn’t have a mother, only a father.
Wasn’t his father going to discipline him when behaved like this?
The boy replied, “He’s back. Who are you?” Cherry immediately said, “She’s my mommy.” “Oh, the queen of sleep?” Nora: “?”
She looked straight at Cherry, only to see the little fellow’s eyes darting about and looking elsewhere.
Hah.
Nora cast her eyes down and said, “Children shouldn’t use such crude language, okay?”
“Yeah right, as if!” The boy seemed a little angry. He retorted, “Do you know why Tom’s grandma lived till she was 108 years old?”
Nora: “?”
“Because she doesn’t ever meddle in other people’s business Do you think you can lecture me when even my father hasn’t said anything?” Nora’s eyes turned cold. She was about to say something when Pete suddenly lost his temper. “Apologize to my mother!” “I won’t! Why should I?!”
Pete snorted coldly. “If you don’t, then Cherry and I won’t talk to you anymore!”
“So be it. I have nothing to lose anyway. Do you think I’m afraid of you?”
Pete looked at Cherry.
Cherry had also gotten angry. To be honest, Cherry was actually the most protective of Nora among the few of them. She immediately said, “If you don’t apologize, then we won’t talk to you anymore!”
“Hmph! Then this friendship is over!”
Cherry hung up on him straightaway when the little fellow said that.
Cherry was a little upset. She stared at the phone for a while before she finally looked at Nora and said, “Mommy, he’s too mean. Don’t be mad!”
How would Nora possibly get mad at a child?
She ruffled Cherry’s hair and nodded quietly. Then, she went downstairs for dinner.
Upstairs.
The boy called again after the phone call was disconnected. Cherry rejected the call. However, the boy persevered and called again. Cherry rejected the call again.
In another country.
In a dim and gloomy room somewhere, barely any light lit up the room. Only the light from a bulb illuminated the basement.
A boy who looked just like Justin sat at a desk. He stared at his cell phone and looked in silence at the screen that indicated that his phone call had been disconnected. He couldn’t help but curl his lips disdainfully. “HmphHow dare she keep rejecting my calls. She must be sick of living!”
He threw the phone aside. Then, he looked at the rabbits, puppies, and kittens in the cages outside.
He got up, walked over, and squatted in front of a rabbit.
The rabbit lay there on the verge of death.
The little fellow kept quiet for a while. Then, he said, “No. 3, are you still alive? You must stay strong!”
The little bunny’s ears moved, but it didn’t get
up.
The little boy sighed. “They’ve gouged out your heart. Puppy No. 3 beside you just so happens to have an extra heart. Say, if I put its heart in your chest, will you be able to live?” The little rabbit remained still and silent, its eyes closed.
The little boy stretched out his arm and stroked its head as he threatened, “You mustn’t die. If you die, I will turn you into rabbit stew! You hear me? No. 3!”
The bunny remained motionless.
The little boy slowly heaved a sigh. Then, he looked at No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 at the side.
He propped his chin on his hand and said, “I’ve done a search on the Internet. The doctor who can perform organ transplants the best now is Anti, a woman. I wonder if I’ll succeed if I learn from her?”
He was babbling continuously to himself when someone suddenly opened the door.
Then, a big and tall figure walked in.
The light behind the man covered his face in darkness, so one couldn’t see clearly what he looked like.
However, the little boy’s eyes lit up. “Daddy, you’re back?!”
“Yeah, I’m back.” The man chuckled somewhat maliciously. His voice also sounded very shrill. He asked, “Xander, do you want to go to the United States?”
The little boy was surprised. “The United States? For what? I don’t want to go, Daddy. I just want to stay here.”
His fifteen rabbits and innumerable dogs and cats were still waiting for him to master medical skills so that he could save them! However, the man said, “Tsk, what am I to do, then? Someone has detained your aunt in New York, and they have demanded that you go over to take her place!”
Xander scoffed and said indifferently, “I’m not going! Whoever wants to go there can go instead!”
—
After her meal, Nora looked at her cell phone and found that Justin had sent her a few messages.
She gave him a call.
Justin answered very quickly. The man’s voice was low and a little raspy as he asked, “You’re
up?”
“Yeah.”
Nora responded. She stretched and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Do you remember who delivered the children for you back then?”
Nora frowned at the question.
Back then, Henry had thought of her pregnancy as a scandal, so she’d never had any maternity checkups done. Even until she gave birth, she had never had any checkups.
She replied, “It’s a small clinic, I don’t quite remember anymore. Why?”
Justin was silent for a moment. He’d initially wanted to hide it from her, but when he suddenly thought of Nora’s abilities and her identity, he came to terms with it. Thus, he voiced his guess. “Nora, is there a chance that you actually gave birth to triplets back then?”
