Nami and Orange
The sun slowly rises from the horizon, and the morning light fills the hills.
The orange trees sway in the sea breeze, full of vitality.
"I picked another orange!"
"Nami is awesome!"
An 8-year-old little girl with short orange hair was running between the orange trees, her eyes lively and bright, full of energy.
She was wearing an old blue suspender skirt, which was accidentally scratched by a branch, but she didn't care at all and instead smiled mischievously.
The old skirt is snagged. Will Belle-Mer buy her a new one?
"I picked another one!"
Every time Nami picked an orange, she would shout out excitedly, and then throw the orange into the basket on the ground with a satisfied look on her face.
"Yes, yes, I know Nami picked a lot of oranges."
Not far away, Nojigo was standing next to other orange trees. She was two years older than Nami and a little taller. She was wearing a yellow suspender skirt and there was a basket of oranges at her feet.
Hearing Nami's shout, she frowned and muttered impatiently: "There's no need for you to shout it out every time."
"Humph! I'm happy, I'm going to shout it out loud." Nami poked her head out from behind the orange tree and stuck out her tongue in Nokigo's direction. "If I don't shout it out, how will you know I picked more than you?"
"Scared? How could you possibly pick more than me?" Nojigo couldn't help but stamp his feet and said angrily, "You're too noisy and affecting my work."
Nami retorted, "How can you say I'm the one who influenced you to pick the fruits slowly?!"
"Who's slow picking? You're the slow one!"
The two little girls started arguing with each other.
Just as the two were arguing fiercely, Bellmère walked over from a distance.
"Okay, okay, why are you two arguing again?"
"I didn't argue with her!"
"Who wants to care about her?"
Nami and Nokiko turned their heads away angrily, not looking at each other.
"Yes, yes, you're not arguing," Belle-mère walked over to the two of them and patted their heads. "Hurry up and finish picking the oranges. I'll make you orange marmalade omelet rice for lunch today."
"Orange marmalade omurice!"
Nami and Nojigo's eyes lit up, and they turned around at the same time, looking at Bell-mère with burning eyes.
Bellemeier smiled and said, "Finish picking the oranges and selling them early so you can go home and cook."
"knew!"
The two little girls reconciled and continued to help pick oranges while laughing and talking about omelet rice.
"Omurice! Omurice!"
After several baskets were filled with oranges, Bellmère moved the oranges to a cart.
"Let's go to the village."
"Set off!"
Nami and Nojigo walked on either side of the cart, chattering all the way, having completely forgotten their previous bickering and their relationship was very good again.
Bellmère listened with a smile, occasionally interjecting a few words, and the three of them laughed together.
When they arrived at the village, Bellmère gathered the oranges together with other people's oranges, waiting for merchants to come and buy them.
"The oranges are growing well this year, and we have a bumper harvest."
"It's not good to be too good-looking, or the merchants might lower the price."
"There's nothing we can do about it."
The villagers gathered at the entrance of the village, chatting about this year's orange harvest, and sighs rose one after another.
Nami tugged at Bell-mère's corner, looking somewhat worried: "Bell-mère, are we going to make no money from the oranges this year?"
"Don't worry so much about the kids. Be careful not to grow tall." Bellmère smiled and touched Nami's head. He brought the two children to the police station, which was cooler inside than outside.
"Ken-san! We're here to see you~" Nami and Nokiko greeted Ken cheerfully as they entered the room.
"Come here," Ah Jian took out some candy from his pocket and gave it to the two children, "Come and have some candy."
"Thank you, Jian-san~"
"Hey~ Jianjun~" Bellemeier approached Jian, deliberately softening his voice, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "Why don't I have any candy?"
Ajian stared at Bellmère blankly. He had been secretly in love with her since childhood, but never had the courage to express it.
"Ah...you are not a child anymore." Ajian turned around shyly.
"Well~ It seems to be quite big~" Bellmère glanced down.
Ajian followed her gaze and his heart started beating like a drum, with a blush on his face.
The closer Bellmère got, the faster Ajian's heart beat. His mind went blank, and he froze in place as if under a spell.
A hand lightly stroked Ajian's cheek. The fingertips were not delicate, but had some calluses left by labor. The touch was a bit rough, which made Ajian feel itchy.
"Jianjun, you look so cute when you blush~" Bellemere's teasing whisper sounded in Jian's ears. Her breath was warm and sprayed on Jian's ears, making him feel numb.
The two of them were too close, and Ajian's face was so red that blood almost dripped out. He could clearly feel the faint fragrance emanating from Bellemere's body, which was a mixture of sunshine and orange scent, fresh and warm.
The hand was like a falling feather, or like a deliberately mischievous cat's paw, gently scratching Ajian's heart.
He felt his throat tighten and he couldn't speak at all. The blood in his body seemed to be heating up and suddenly rushed to his legs and heart, bringing waves of heat.
Seeing Ajian's embarrassed look, Bellmère couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth into a sly smile: Ajian's reaction is so funny!
Nami and Nojigo stood aside, eating candy and whispering to each other.
"Why is Ajian's face so red?" Nami looked at the flustered Ajian, her eyes full of confusion.
"The weather is too hot." Nojigo analyzed seriously.
Although the two children's voices were low, they suddenly woke Ajian up: Crazy! Crazy!
What is he doing in front of two kids?!
A trace of panic flashed in Ah Jian's eyes, and he took several steps back, accidentally bumping into the chair behind him. He fumbled to hold on to the chair, his face even more embarrassed.
The smile on Bellemeier's lips deepened a little. She deliberately took a few steps forward, looking closer at Jian with a playful look in her eyes: "Jianjun, what's wrong?"
Ajian bounced away like a spring, moving quickly to the door, not daring to look at Bellmère directly: "I... I remembered... I haven't gone yet... I haven't gone..." He was so nervous that he couldn't find an excuse and spoke stutteringly.
"Hahaha, I'm just teasing you, no need to be so nervous."
"I'm not nervous, I just have some things to do..."
Before Ajian could find a suitable excuse, panicked shouts were heard from the village entrance.
"Pirates! Pirates are coming!"
The villagers looked at the pier at the entrance of the village in horror as a huge pirate ship slowly approached.
"This flag belongs to the very famous Red Hair Pirates of the Grand Line!"
"Why would such a powerful pirate group come to a small place like our East China Sea!?"
Nami asked with a confused look on her face, "Bell-mère, what are pirates?"
Bell-mère's face was serious and her eyes were stern. She used to be a marine and knew the dangers of pirates very well.
"Pirates are very dangerous. Nami, Nojiko, hide here and don't go out."
After saying that, Bellmère strode forward, pulled out the gun from Ajian's body, and rushed out of the police room.
Ajian hurriedly chased after him, his voice urgent: "Mel! What do you want to do?"
Bellemeier turned around and smiled confidently: "Don't look at me as just an orange farmer now, but I was once a naval officer."
"That's not what I meant. How can you possibly deal with such a terrifying pirate by yourself?"
"That's right, everyone come together!"
Other villagers also took out shovels, sticks and other weapons from their homes and surrounded the village entrance.
Nami and Nojigo ran out of the police station, but were pushed back by the village mother-in-law.
"Good boy, hide inside!"
The two children could only stay in the police station unwillingly, quietly watching the movements at the village entrance from the window.
The huge pirate ship stopped at the dock, and tall figures jumped off the ship one after another.
Bell-mère stood at the entrance of the village, raising his gun at the approaching pirates.
"Stop! Don't take another step forward!" As the words fell, a bullet landed in front of the pirates.
A large group of people stopped in an instant. Shanks, who was leading the group, looked at the villagers who were glaring at him and couldn't help feeling a headache: Why do they have to go through misunderstandings and hostility every time they go to a new place?
Gulixiati was well aware of the overwhelming aura of her companions, so she walked to the front and explained gently, "Don't be nervous, everyone. We were just passing by and saw that the oranges on the island seemed to be growing well, so we wanted to buy some."
Will pirates buy oranges obediently?
Bellmère frowned and did not believe what Gulishati said. She did not put down her gun, but she did not launch another attack either.
She knew in her heart that the difference in fighting power between the two sides was too great. If a fight really broke out, the villagers would definitely be the ones who would get hurt.
Bellemeier pondered for a moment, then turned his head and said to Jian behind him, "Jianjun, please move my oranges over here."
Ajian nodded, turned around with several villagers, and went to carry a few baskets of oranges over.
Bell-Mel said coldly: "The oranges are for you, leave here immediately! Pirates are not welcome here."
Wuta grumbled a little unhappily: "We didn't do anything bad! Why are you so fierce!"
Gulishati smiled slightly and said, "Of course, we'll buy some oranges and leave."
The people who discovered this village were quite excited, so Shanks, Beckman and others did not move forward.
The two relatively weak-looking trainee crew members who used to move the oranges were the two.
"This is orange money." Beckman left a bag of gold coins and turned to leave with Shanks and others.
Meli's gaze fell on the police station in the distance. She saw a little girl with orange hair by the window. She was slightly stunned and couldn't help but look at her a few more times.
That girl...looks so familiar.
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