Xu Qiaoqiao wondered if excessive sleepiness was a symptom of the hedgehog's eternal existence, since her sleep time had been gradually increasing these past few days, and she was really afraid that she might fall asleep and never wake up again.
I wonder how Niannian is doing now?
How well do I live living alone?
I still miss him a lot, but I guess I won't see him again.
The temperature suddenly dropped, which meant that Xu Qiaoqiao hadn't even started preparing the things she needed for hibernation. Because of what happened to Niannian, she hadn't had much energy. Every day, she would be taken out by Jun Qi, eat, and then come back with him.
Xu Qiaoqiao hadn't really thought much about hibernation until the temperature suddenly dropped, at which point she started to take it seriously.
At the end of October, the temperature shouldn't be this low, but perhaps this year will be different.
The climate in the forest is really unpredictable, with huge temperature differences between day and night.
"Chirp chirp".
Seeing the temperature dropping day by day, Xu Qiaoqiao asked Jun Qi to help her store leaves. The leaves he found looked even better than the ones Xu Qiaoqiao found herself; they were all from the top of the tree, green, and not completely dried out.
Xu Qiaoqiao looked at the pile of withered leaves she had found and felt that they represented two completely opposite extremes.
"Chirp chirp." This won't do, I want dry leaves.
Xu Qiaoqiao said seriously to Jun Qi, pointing to the group of green leaves. She found it a little funny. Greener leaves are not necessarily better. For hibernating animals, dry leaves are better.
Jun Qi tilted his head, not quite understanding what Xu Qiaoqiao meant. Aren't they all lining their nests with green leaves now?
Why not?
Jun Qi didn't understand, but he would do as Xu Qiaoqiao asked. Since Xu Qiaoqiao didn't want it, he obediently threw away the leaves and then found some dry leaves to cover the bottom of the tree hole with a thick layer.
As usual, Xu Qiaoqiao said "See you next year" to Jun Qi, and then began to hibernate.
Having entered hibernation, the little hedgehog was practically dead, its life index pitifully low. Jun Qi buried Xu Qiaoqiao in the pile of leaves, then lay down beside her, unconsciously rubbing his head against the leaves a few times before falling asleep.
This year, the snow came particularly late; the first snowfall of winter didn't arrive until after December.
Moreover, the snowfall was not heavy, just a thin layer. Compared to last year's heavy snowfall, this year's was like playing house.
In the evening, it was Jun Qi's time to be active. As usual, he greeted Xu Qiaoqiao and then took flight.
However, what he didn't know was that after he flew away, a figure not far away, a dog, flew over furtively in this direction. Looking at Jun Qiyuan's flying figure, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then he quickly flew into the tree hole, brushed aside the dead leaves, and saw the small white animal. Tears quickly welled up in his eyes.
I miss you so much.
By this time, Niannian had grown into an adult, with fine feathers forming a face plate around its face, and its body feathers were a deep brown. It was about 20 centimeters long.
Actually, Niannian was really upset after being separated from Xu Qiaoqiao and Jun Qi that day, and this feeling of sadness lasted for several days. But animals' memories are not very deep after all.
Just as Xu Qiaoqiao had thought, about a month later, he never saw Xu Qiaoqiao and Jun Qi again, nor did he sense their presence. During the month or so he lived alone, he thought of his parents less and less.
Soon, even the two of them rarely thought about it anymore; after all, most memories aren't that vivid, unlike humans.
Perhaps when he encounters the other person again and feels that familiar aura, he will not remember that it is his closest relative, but will only regard it as a strange owl.
But perhaps because Xu Qiaoqiao and Jun Qi left such a deep impression on Niannian, and because she was spoiled by them too much, the only hunting skill that Xu Qiaoqiao taught her was digging for earthworms.
However, the places where they dug for earthworms were all found by Xu Qiaoqiao. After leaving Xu Qiaoqiao and Jun Qi, he lived a miserable life, sometimes eating a full meal and sometimes going hungry, and he was also bullied by those sparrows.
Jun Qi probably never imagined that his previous instruction to find food in human-inhabited areas would make Nian Nian remember it for so long. When he couldn't find earthworms, he would go to human villages to find food.
So, it was at this time that Niannian once again felt that familiar aura. He was engrossed in eating when he raised his head in confusion. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the memory he was about to forget came back to him.
That's right, that's Dad's scent.
Nian Nian quickly dropped the unfinished earthworm and flew towards the source of the scent. Unsurprisingly, he saw the spirited owl. Its white feathers were not as bright as they had become due to its age, and its eyesight was not very good.
I remember this every year.
Then he followed Jun Qi all the way. Sometimes when he lost him, he would stop and try to find the other's presence in the air before starting to search again.
Of course, we lost track of them a few times along the way, but luckily we eventually found our way back to the original location.
Year after year, he squatted down and watched Xu Qiaoqiao sleep. He kissed her affectionately and stayed by her side for a long time until he had a feeling that Jun Qi was coming back, so he quickly flew away.
The heavy snow covered up all the information and diluted the lingering scent of Nian Nian. Perhaps because Jun Qi was old, he did not sense Nian Nian's faint presence.
This winter, every year he would sneak over to see Xu Qiaoqiao, and then after leaving, he would hide in a relatively safe place and watch Jun Qifei return.
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