When Wanwan heard him call her name, she loudly confirmed Xiao Qi's answer, then rushed over and hugged him, "It's Wanwan!"
Xiao Qi was so overwhelmed by her overflowing enthusiasm that he leaned back and barely managed to regain his balance.
The two little ones clung tightly to each other, with Wanwan wrapping her arms around Xiao Qi's neck like a little kitten, rubbing her face against Xiao Qi's face, which was covered in seawater and rain.
Soon, half of her face was wet, and the stray hairs on her forehead were sticking to her face.
"Wanwan, your face is wet..." Xiao Qi's words were cut short by Wanwan's enthusiastic cheek-to-cheek contact.
Wan Suizhou looked at the two little people who seemed to have been apart for three autumns after just one hour, stroked his beard, and smiled with a warm smile that filled his wrinkled face.
Seeing that the two seemed to have a long talk ahead of them, he left the study and went to the next room, leaving the two little ones to catch up alone.
After rubbing her face against Xiao Qi's for a while, Wanwan finally let go of his neck, her little clothes now soaking wet.
Both of their faces were flushed red, as if they were a little shy from Wanwan's affectionate actions, with Xiao Qi's face blushing even more than Wanwan's.
Xiao Qi awkwardly turned his face away, his dark eyes lowered, looking elsewhere. His long eyelashes fell down, casting a light shadow in his eyes, making the crimson under his eyes even more noticeable.
"Wanwan, I'm sorry I couldn't stop you today." Xiao Qi said bitterly, a layer of guilt creeping into his heart.
Wanwan tilted her head in confusion, and even bent down and crouched down to look at Xiao Qi's expression.
Xiao Qi, who was looking down, suddenly saw the curious little face in the eye. His eyes widened and he was a little flustered. He quickly looked away.
Wanwan laughed, "Wanwan is fine, Wanwan is amazing! Master is just fulfilling Wanwan's wish!"
Xiao Qi's eyes flickered slightly, and he turned to look at the happy little dumpling in front of him with a puzzled expression. "What wish did Wanwan make?"
Her curved eyes looked like they contained candy, and her smile was exceptionally sweet. Her long eyelashes curled up resiliently, and when she blinked, they looked like two small fans.
"Wanwan's wish is that Master can help Brother Xiao forget his troubles. When Brother Xiao is thinking about how to rescue Wanwan, are you less troubled?"
As Wanwan spoke, she excitedly jumped up and down twice, looking just like a sweet little dumpling.
I'm so relieved, I'm almost bursting with anxiety.
Xiao Qi suppressed his thoughts, and the two patches of crimson under his eyes widened a little more.
If it weren't for the seawater still on his face, he felt his cheeks would have been burning.
He awkwardly avoided looking at Wanwan, still stubbornly insisting, "I have no worries, and Wanwan, please don't do such dangerous things for these hypothetical things anymore."
"It's not dangerous, it's not dangerous."
Wanwan grabbed Xiao Qi's wrist, "To make Brother Xiao happy, Wanwan can do a lot of things. It's not dangerous for Wanwan to be pulled into the pearl. Master won't hurt Wanwan!"
Her round eyes blinked, and Xiao Qi's heart and palms felt hot.
By the way, Wanwan's master knows about her mother's situation!
Xiao Qi's heart lit up, and he turned to meet Wanwan's gaze. "Wanwan, Brother Xiao has a favor to ask. Could I borrow your seashells for a few days?"
With a slight twitch of her small, curved eyebrows, Brother Xiao must be curious about how she summoned Master using a seashell.
Anyway, Brother Xiao isn't an outsider, so it's fine to lend it to him.
"Okay!" Wanwan readily agreed, reached into her pocket, took out the small and exquisite seashell, and solemnly placed it in Xiao Qi's hand.
Xiao Qi also accepted it carefully.
After the shells were handed over, Xiao Qi repeatedly emphasized that Wanwan was not allowed to do such dangerous things again. Wanwan was given a lecture before being released.
That night, Xiao Qi saw the grandfather and grandson off. Watching the two figures, one big and one small, disappear into the gradually weakening rain, Xiao Qi tried his best to suppress the impulse in his heart, and went to the beach with his umbrella.
He understood how Wanwan summoned Lan Xuerong. If he did the same, could he summon her too?
The young boy stood tall and straight in the rain, like a slender but resilient black silhouette, stubbornly facing the wind and rain on the beach.
The rain was intermittent, sometimes heavy and sometimes light. The oil-paper umbrella could barely withstand the onslaught, and the rainwater pooled on its surface, forming a small stream that gushed down.
The seawater surged and churned in the darkness, like black hills sweeping in from afar. By the time it reached Xiao Qi's feet, it had turned into a puddle of white foam, before finally returning to the sea, barely clinging to life.
With such a strong wind and rain, will Master Lan come?
Xiao Qi's heart was as turbulent as a small boat on the sea, rising and falling with the wind and rain.
He hesitated for a moment, then imitated Wanwan's mannerisms and made the sounds of a mermaid communicating.
To his delight, the woman in blue actually appeared amidst the fierce wind and rain.
She didn't use an umbrella, yet her clothes remained completely dry.
“I heard someone calling me with a curved seashell, but not in a curved way, so it must be her friend.”
Lan Xuerong was not surprised to see Xiao Qi. Her blue eyes shimmered with light, almost able to see through people, yet her face still carried warmth.
"I heard you mention my mother before, and that you and my mother have known each other for a hundred years. However, my mother was implicated because my father was framed, so I don't know much about her. I hope you can tell me more about my mother."
Xiao Qi spoke respectfully and earnestly, his usually icy eyes revealing a rare hint of pleading.
Lan Xuerong did not answer directly, her bright blue eyes seemed to shimmer with light, "Your mother was implicated in the false accusation, so your father must be Xiao Pingshan, right?"
Seeing that he had guessed his identity, Xiao Qi's brows twitched slightly, and a fleeting look of helplessness crossed his eyes.
"You don't need to worry. I'm not a member of the imperial court, so naturally I won't reveal your affairs." With that, Lan Xuerong walked away.
"Master Lan, Master Lan, please wait!" Xiao Qi's heart tightened. He had finally received news of his mother; how could he give up?
He dropped his oil-paper umbrella and chased after her, but he didn't expect Lan Xuerong to be so fast. He ran for a long time in vain and still couldn't catch up. Instead, he caught up with Wanwan and Wan Suizhou, who were still walking back.
"Why did Brother Xiao chase after Wanwan in the middle of the night without an umbrella, and even call her 'Master'?"
Wanwan pouted as she looked at Xiao Qi, who was soaking wet. After a while, her eyes lit up, but then dimmed again. "Brother Xiao, you're not taking Wanwan's seashell to steal Wanwan's master, are you?"
Rain streamed down Xiao Qi's body. When he met Wanwan's slightly aggrieved gaze, he only felt a tightness in his throat and did not explain.
"Brother Xiao, you can't steal Wanwan's master..."
Wanwan's tone carried a hint of earnest lecturing, "Master belongs to Wanwan. It's wrong for Brother Xiao to try and steal Wanwan's master."
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