Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Parent-child Activities
Jason nodded. "I also seem to see in you an old friend of mine who I once had but now no longer have."
"I think you two are really confused." Benjamin rubbed the goose bumps on his arms. "Want some ice cream to calm down?"
Li Hua was just about to say that he would eat after taking a shower, but before he could open his mouth, he found that Jason had already moved to the bathroom door. When he saw him looking up, he immediately dodged and took the clothes on the door, went into the bathroom and locked the door.
Li Hua: ...
"I want to eat, where is the ice cream?"
Benjamin: "It's in the second plastic bag from the left on the table. The spoon is also in it. By the way, I found this wooden table next to a dumpster in Australia. It's a little worn, but it's been cleaned. These chairs are also discarded chairs I collected from all over the world. I've repaired them and cleaned them."
No wonder I found a table and chairs in the living room when I entered the door.
"Wow! Ben, you're my god!" Li Hua happily ran over to look for the ice cream. "It should be almost melted by now. Can I borrow one of your children to cool down for a while? ...Hmm?"
Li Hua took out a cup-shaped ice cream from the bag. It felt like a solid ice ball. It gave off a chilling cold air and was even a little sticky to the touch.
Thinking of the consequences of licking a telephone pole in the middle of winter, Li Hua immediately let go.
"Are you sure this is ice cream and not an ice cube?"
"The kids are really kind, but they're too young to control their strength," Benjamin said. "I thought it would be almost melted, but now it looks like we'll have to wait a while longer... Yeah, the shaved ice probably won't be edible either. The stainless steel spoon we bought is gone, its head and body torn."
Following his gaze, Li Hua found something with dents on it at the other end of the table, which might have been a spoon.
It seems that these babies are more picky about food than their mothers. At least for now, stainless steel does not seem to be to their liking.
Benjamin: "Oh, by the way, I never had time to ask you before. Didn't you say you wanted to record the birth order of these children? Do you remember?"
"I'm sorry, I only know that the youngest child is the maknae."
Li Hua said regretfully.
"Although Jason did record the video, but... because it was backlit and the Ice Ghost was squatting on the nest, the prepared markings were also..."
After that, she was busy taking care of 14 newborn cubs who were screaming and almost killed their parents with their stomachs and wings. She had no chance at all.
Benjamin's emerald eyes dimmed for a moment, but only for a moment: "Is that so? It's okay. I will love them no matter what."
No. 666: [The second one flying to Benjamin's right is the first one born, the one lying in your left arm is the second one, and the one playing invisible through the table is the fourth, fifth, and sixth one... Why are you standing there? Don't you remember?]
For most intelligent species, it is difficult to distinguish between biological individuals that are completely different from themselves in most cases, but this difficulty is often not a problem for machines.
After all, "face recognition" technology is not a human patent, not to mention that No. 666 can do much more than just face recognition.
Li Hua woke up as if from a dream. He searched his pockets for a long time before pulling out a pair of black and white plastic cable ties. "Here, here! Black for tens and white for ones! The end of the white cable tie has a number marked with a stroke. I thought of this specifically!"
Benjamin grabbed the ones with number 666 steadily and accurately and tied cable ties on their wrists.
During this time, several ice ghost cubs may have thought that their parents and elders (the babies did not understand what godfathers meant) were playing games with them, and they squeaked and dodged Benjamin's hands.
At first, when he marked the eighth child, the eighth child hid every time Benjamin reached out his hand. Benjamin thought that it would be the same if he marked the last one, so he marked the ninth one first.
Unexpectedly, the Ice Ghost cubs' little brains seemed to understand this as a decision on the outcome of some kind of competition. The originally obedient cubs hid from Benjamin's hand one after another, and even the cubs with ties on their hands wanted to join in.
So they all became invisible, broke free from the plastic ties, and joined in the game.
Li Hua:......
Benjamin:......
"You guys want to compete with Mommy in stubbornness, right?" Benjamin took a deep breath, turned around and walked towards the back of the house. "Okay, then come on!"
As he spoke, Benjamin took out the fishing net and hand-woven nylon plastic net that Jason had prepared earlier.
After half of the ice ghost cubs were sorted by size by their biological parents, Jason came out after taking a bath. "What are you doing? Taking the kids to experience catching butterflies?"
"Number 666 has noted down the birth order of each cub. Ben and I are trying to get them to cooperate."
Li Hua cast a net into the air, and a group of ice ghost cubs scattered and dodged. Perhaps they found that becoming invisible was too much of a cheat for the other two players, so the cubs chose not to become invisible with great martial ethics, and would not stay at a height that the two guardians could not reach.
"Come and help!"
Benjamin was fastening a marking tie around the wrist of a cub that was making frustrated squeaks, and he kicked the dip net at his feet towards Jason.
"Hurry up and catch Lao Jiu—the one that's flying towards your head! It's escaped several times!"
Upon hearing this, Li Hua's eyes swept over the thirteen cubs, all of which looked identical to him, except for the smallest one. After a moment's silence, he put down the net in his hand and asked, "Can you tell them apart?"
Benjamin: “I don’t know, but I think He looks like the ninth one.”
No. 666 announced the answer: "It is indeed the ninth one."
Jason grabbed the cub on his head and pulled it out of the net. He carefully compared it with its siblings flying nearby and couldn't help but admire Benjamin. "I can't tell the difference at all. Maybe this is just Mommy's intuition."
Li Hua: "Can you figure out what we were busy doing here for so long?"
Benjamin: "I'm not sure, but let's label them just in case. Otherwise, how can we name them if we can't even tell which one is which?"
"That makes sense." Li Hua said, handing the net in his hand to Benjamin. "Then you two go ahead and do your work. I'm going to take a shower. I feel so uncomfortable."
"Leave it to me." Jason handed the ninth freshly caught jellyfish to Benjamin, raised the net, rolled up his sleeves, and looked determined to catch it. "Ben, let's catch jellyfish...babies together!"
......
Although the ice ghost cubs are all tough guys, the two young superheroes who don't have to worry about hygiene after taking a bath also have plenty of strength and means.
When Li Hua, feeling reborn after taking a shower, came out of the bathroom, all the ice ghost cubs had plastic cable ties tied around their chubby left wrists. They pulled at each other's ties, and then started playing a chasing game around the house.
Benjamin and Jason were sitting at the table discussing what takeout to order for dinner. When they saw Li Hua come out, they eagerly called him over.
Li Hua felt a warm feeling in his heart. He hadn't taken a few steps when he heard Jason ask him, "What do you think of this pizza-filled bun? They say it's a new product called Baosa!"
“…”
Li Hua raised his hand calmly and pinched his philtrum with his thumb expressionlessly.
He must have been in a bath for too long and lacked oxygen, so he became dizzy, otherwise how could he hear such outrageous things.
He heard Benjamin say again, "I think these chocolate-filled buns and strawberry mapo tofu are also good!"
Li Hua: ...
"Amitabha." Li Hua raised his hand and made the sign of the cross on his chest, then said slowly, "This must be a test from Allah, but he must have sent it by mistake."
Benjamin: "...What are you doing, playing Faith Jenga?"
Li Hua: "I am trying to get gods of different faiths to claim these strange objects and return them to their respective places, thus completing the good deed of lost and found."
Jason: "You look like an Italian seeing a pineapple pizza: confused, helpless, and hopeless."
Li Hua: "Your description is very accurate. So if you want to order those three things, I swear I will not eat a single bite, because it goes against my beliefs and I will go to hell."
Benjamin: "Didn't you say before that you don't believe in God?"
Li Hua said seriously, "My belief is delicious food. Just imagine adding... your grandfather's delicious honey sauce to the slush you bought!"
"Ugh! This is a desecration of the Snow and Mud God!"
For a moment, his grandfather's "delicacies" that were full of vitality - the ones that would run away like cricket cocoons after being served on the table - instantly sank Benjamin's willpower. At this moment, he finally understood Li Hua.
Jason: "What's wrong with you two?"
Li Hua glanced at the order on Jason's phone and saw that he had ordered a spicy hot dog. "Imagine pouring sugar-free iced Americano on a freshly baked spicy hot dog."
Jason shouted angrily, "Heresy! This is blasphemy against chili dogs!"
In the end, the three of them ordered the most foolproof four-piece set of fried chicken, hamburgers, French fries and cola, and at Benjamin's strong recommendation, they ordered delivery from a slush shop.
After eating and drinking, the sky gradually darkened and the three of them lay down on the newly bought chairs and didn't want to move at all.
They have had too little sleep these days and are always busy. When they finally manage to relax their minds, their bodies feel drained.
Although they were too lazy to move, none of them were the quiet type or the type to tolerate boredom. Benjamin, after slurping up half of his slushie, took the initiative to bring up the topic: "I'm thinking of code names, or nicknames, for the children. Do you have any suggestions?"
Li Hua: "Just call them the eldest, the second, and the third. For the first seven, add 'old' before the order, and for the last seven, just add 'young' before the order."
Benjamin: "I don't think that's very creative. I'm trying to think of 14 names that are both numbered and nice to hear, and not as cold as just numbers..."
"It sounds like our new mom has an idea." Jason scooped a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. The block of ice, filled with the filial love of the ice ghost cubs, finally melted enough for the spoon to scoop. "Why don't you tell us about it and let us give you our opinions?"
Benjamin cleared his throat. "First, 'first.' 'One' is too cold, and 'first' is too common. So I thought 'mono' would be a good name. You see, it has both a numerical meaning and a lot of cool connotations."
No. 666: ???
Li Hua took out his mobile phone and Googled the word, and found that just as Benjamin said, this word has a lot of meanings.
Jason pondered, "Yes, it's true that this word is also on the automatic air conditioning zone button, which is quite appropriate. However, this word... not only means 'single', but also 'lonely'. Isn't this a bad idea?"
Benjamin: "It's okay, just call it a nickname for now. Besides, this word has so many cool meanings, why bother with the one not-so-nice one? Besides, there shouldn't be any problems. What do you think, No. 666?"
"Since you've asked me, then—I object," said No. 666. "Jason has already discussed the meaning of the name. I object because it's the same name as a colleague's. I'm afraid Li Hua and I won't be able to face our colleagues normally in the future."
Li Hua: "That's definitely not going to work. Let's try another one."
But among the men walking on the street, there are countless "Jason", "Benjamin", "George", "John", "Tom"... Some even pass their parents' names to the next generation in Europe and the United States. Benjamin and Jason cannot understand why they have to change their names just because someone has the same name.
Benjamin seemed even more determined. "Your colleague, that person is also a hero who saved the world, right? That's a great name. I'm sure that MONO must be a kind, gentle, kind, lively and cheerful person."
"I'm sorry, but according to regulations I can't reveal the information of other colleagues."
No. 666 said.
"But I can tell you that he's considered a senior to my leader and Li Hua. If you don't understand, you can think of 'Azmis' and 'Batman' as examples. If you're okay with naming your cub these two names, I have no objection."
Benjamin and Jason imagined the scene of each other holding the cute babies named "Azmis" and "Batman" and coaxing them with soft voices... and they felt a chill all over their bodies.
"I think Li Hua's suggestion is really great." Benjamin changed his tone smoothly, "What's wrong with being ordinary? Ordinary is great!"
Jason: "That's right, the simple life is the real life!"
No. 666 breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, it stopped in time. Mono belongs to the Intelligence Department. Li Hua must go over to say hello to him later. If it is not handled well today, the kid will probably be embarrassed when he sees the person with the same name.
After No. 666 sighed, he quickly fell into deep thought again.
Li Hua and it disappeared and lost contact in the dimensional world within the supervised safe zone. Benjamin also came here with the Omnitrix. It is impossible that the Intelligence Department and Dr. Mao Dun did not notice it. If they did, they would not have failed to report it or send someone to deal with it.
What remains at the scene is the fluctuation of time and space. Not to mention the Intelligence Department, even if it is a mobile terminal, even if it is in the world outside the safe zone, as long as it can synchronize with the company network, No. 666 can analyze their whereabouts in real time and find the time and space coordinates of this world.
But why has it been four days since they came here, and Dr. Mao Dun and the Intelligence Department still haven't sent anyone to pick them up?
The time and space lines of this world itself are not so chaotic or fragile that organizations cannot intervene or interfere.
What went wrong?
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