Free Web NovelChapter 345: Chapter 266: The Two Little Ones Peeking from the Shadows
"Yes, it’s very pretty. My Tongtong has such good taste..." Xia Qing said with a smile, glancing at the cartoon schoolbag on her daughter’s back.
The mother and daughter walked hand-in-hand into Ping’an Garden District. The old security guard on duty at the gate greeted them with a smile.
"Miss Xia, just back from the market with your daughter?"
Xia Qing, carrying a bag of groceries in her left hand and holding her daughter’s small hand with her right, replied with a smile, "Yes, we just came from the market."
They exchanged a few pleasantries, and then Xia Qing led her daughter by the hand toward Building Three, where they lived.
"Er..."
Suddenly, Xia Qing stopped in her tracks. Zhou Tongtong, holding her mother’s hand, stopped too.
She looked up, her big, round eyes gazing at her mother as she asked in confusion, "Mom, why did you stop?"
"I think we’re almost out of salt at home. Tongtong, wait here for a moment. I’m going to run out and buy a bag," Xia Qing said to her daughter, placing the large bag of groceries on the ground.
"Mom, how about I carry the bag upstairs first!" Zhou Tongtong volunteered eagerly.
Hearing her daughter’s offer, Xia Qing just smiled and shook her head. "This bag is very heavy; you can’t carry it. You should just wait for me to get back with the salt, and we’ll go home together."
"Mom, don’t underestimate me! I can carry it." Zhou Tongtong felt she was already quite strong, and she decided to show off her strength to her mother.
"Tongtong, be careful! There are eggs in the bag. Don’t break them..." Xia Qing quickly reminded her when she saw her daughter trying to lift the bag.
Wearing her small schoolbag, Zhou Tongtong reached out and lifted the plastic bag full of groceries. She tried to walk forward, but after just a few steps, she put the heavy bag back down on the ground.
’Alright! Just like Mom said, I really can’t carry this bag full of groceries.’
"See? I told you you couldn’t carry it, but you didn’t believe me and just had to try," Xia Qing said with a smile, seeing her daughter put the bag down.
"Next year, when I’m a little taller, I’ll be able to carry it." Having wanted to help her mom but failed, Zhou Tongtong wrinkled her little face and said.
"Yes, yes. When my Tongtong is a little taller, you’ll be able to carry it," Xia Qing comforted her daughter, then turned to leave the district and head toward the roadside convenience store that sold cooking supplies.
In a green belt along the path inside the district, two little creatures were hiding behind a leafy bush.
Through the gaps in the leaves, they stared with wide, round eyes, secretly observing the human cub not far away.
After Xia Qing left, Zhou Tongtong stood under a large tree by the path and started jumping in place. She repeated this more than twenty times until she got a little tired and stopped.
The two little creatures hiding behind the bush watched Zhou Tongtong’s strange behavior from a distance, their eyes full of confusion.
"Huu..." After jumping in place over twenty times, Zhou Tongtong was panting slightly, muttering to herself under her breath.
’My classmate Wang Xiaohua said that if I keep jumping in place every day, I’ll grow taller quickly. I’ve been doing it for... for how many days now?’
During her swimming class, Zhou Tongtong had met a girl her age who was half a head taller than her.
Zhou Tongtong had asked her if there was any way to get as tall as her, and the girl said that jumping in place every day would make you grow taller.
Wanting to grow up and get taller quickly, Zhou Tongtong immediately took her words to heart and put them into action.
"One, two, three... five, six..."
Zhou Tongtong counted on her fingers, trying to figure out how many days she had kept up with her jumping exercises.
Suddenly, she felt two pairs of eyes secretly watching her. She immediately turned her head, following her gut feeling to look in a certain direction.
The two little creatures secretly observing Zhou Tongtong from their hiding spot saw that the little human girl had actually spotted them. They instantly pulled their little heads back.
"It’s you!" Zhou Tongtong saw two figures, one black and one white. A brilliant smile immediately blossomed on her small, round face, and she waved at them.
"Come on out! Don’t hide, I see you."
Behind the leafy bush, the two hiding creatures heard the little human girl call them out. They hesitated for a moment, then scurried out from the shrubbery.
"Meow..." The two little cats, one black and one white, came up to Zhou Tongtong and meowed, their gazes falling on the plastic bag of groceries beside her.
For some reason, Zhou Tongtong found she could understand what the two little cats were trying to say. "Oh, you’re hungry! But I can’t give you anything from this bag."
"Meow." Disappointment flashed in the eyes of the Little Black Cat and the Little White Cat, and they turned as if to leave.
Seeing the two little cats about to leave, Zhou Tongtong quickly called out to stop them. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"Don’t go yet! I can’t give you anything from the bag, but I have a pack of sausage sticks that my mom bought for me. You can have this."
"Meow..." Hearing this, the Little Black Cat and Little White Cat immediately stopped, turned around, came back to Zhou Tongtong, and sat down, looking at the little human girl with eyes full of anticipation.
"Wait just a second, I’ll get the sausage sticks for you." Zhou Tongtong took off her small schoolbag, unzipped it, and took out a pack of sausage sticks.
"Here, eat up!" She placed a peeled sausage stick in front of the Little Black Cat. Seeing this, the Little White Cat wanted to lunge forward and snatch it.
Seeing this, Zhou Tongtong said to the Little White Cat, "There’s one for you, too. Don’t fight it for it."
The Little White Cat heard her, glanced at the Little Black Cat who was baring its teeth, and retracted its little paws. It sat down obediently, waiting to be fed by the little human girl.
"Here, this one’s for you..." Zhou Tongtong said, placing a peeled sausage stick in front of the Little White Cat.
"NOM, NOM..." The two little cats ate the sausage sticks with great relish. Zhou Tongtong squatted down, propped her chin on her hands, and watched the two little creatures with a beaming smile.
"Meow..." After finishing the sausage sticks, the two little cats looked up at Zhou Tongtong and meowed in unison.
"One wasn’t enough? You want another one?" Zhou Tongtong nodded, then peeled another sausage stick for each of them and placed them in front of the two little cats.
"Meow..."
The two little cats first glanced at the sausage sticks in front of them, then looked up at Zhou Tongtong and meowed again.
"You’re welcome, go on and eat!" Hearing the two little cats thank her, Zhou Tongtong said happily, "Oh, right. You two haven’t been fighting anymore, have you?"
"Meow..." Hearing this, the two little cats paused their eating. With small pieces of sausage dangling from their mouths, they looked up at Zhou Tongtong with helpless expressions, thinking to themselves.
’We’d love to have a proper showdown! But now, whenever we even think about fighting, your voice pops into our heads and stops us. It makes it impossible for us to even want to fight anymore.’
"Fighting is wrong. Is there anything you can’t just talk out nicely?" Zhou Tongtong said, perfectly mimicking the way her kindergarten teacher would lecture the class about not fighting.
"Meow..." The two little cats meowed, indicating they understood and wouldn’t fight anymore in the future.
"Hee hee, that’s great! As long as you don’t fight, we’re friends from now on. You can come find me when you’re hungry."
Zhou Tongtong thought the two little cats had stopped fighting because they understood the great principle she had taught them, and she was so happy her face looked like a blooming flower.
"Meow..."
"Mhm, I know."
"Meow..."
"Oh, is that so!"
"Meow..."
"You want to eat more? You’ve already had two each, are you still not full?"
"Meow..."
"Alright! One more for each of you."
...
