Qiao Zhen tentatively asked, "Did you feel a little unwell last night?"
Mingli grinned, her thin lips parted slightly. "No, it's just that you suddenly jumped into bed this morning, which startled me, but I don't feel uncomfortable."
Qiao Zhen tilted her head, practically radiating question marks. Was this little one in front of her the one whose face was burning hot and who was half-asleep last night?
Looking at the bewildered Qiao Zhen, Qiao's mother asked, "What's wrong? Are you still half asleep?"
Qiao Zhen shook her head and started eating the fruit that Ming Li had washed.
Mingli simply continued washing the fruit, and even if she chuckled to herself, Qiaozhen wouldn't notice.
In the previous world, he lived alone as the King of Hell for tens of thousands of years. Later, when the demon race invaded, he interfered, causing the destruction of both gods and demons. At the moment of his death, he felt relieved and regained all his memories. Perhaps it's just a few words that are described lightly, but the bitterness in them is evident.
Qiao Zhen: [Waiter, did Mingli feel unwell yesterday? Like, did she have a fever?]
Waiter: [No.]
Qiao Zhen: [Oh.] So the system also helped Ming Li deceive her? That's interesting. The system's goals have always been her and the mission targets, what does it have to do with Ming Li?
Mingli ran over to Qiao Zhen and sat cross-legged beside her, her small body resting on Qiao Zhen's lap as she held fruit from the fruit plate. "Qiao Zhenzhen, I want to eat a grape, can you hand it to me?"
Qiao Zhen deliberately picked out the smallest grape and handed it to Ming Li, saying, "Good girl."
Mingli was a little annoyed, but he didn't show it. After all, he looked so small, but inside he was an old dog who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years. He swung his two little feet in the air and obediently ate the grapes that Qiao Zhen handed him, trying his best to appear well-behaved.
When Qiao's mother saw that Mingli only had a grape skin in his hand, she said with displeasure, "Zhenzhen! Lili is short and has small arms, don't always bully him!"
Qiao Zhen reluctantly handed the fruit plate to Ming Li, saying, "Here, take it yourself."
If Mingli were a teenager or a man in his twenties, Qiao Zhen might be able to get him drunk and extract some information from him. But Mingli is only three years old. She can't hit him, she can't scold him, and getting him drunk risks causing his death. Qiao Zhen felt utterly helpless and didn't want to talk.
"Sigh—" she sighed.
Mingli couldn't help but chuckle. He took a peach and stuffed it into Qiao Zhen's hand to please her, saying, "Here you go."
He's only three years old, and Qiao Zhen's heart softens just from his adorable appearance. She reaches out and ruffles Ming Li's hair, feeling his fluffy, short strands. "It's good that you're not feeling unwell."
Qiao Zhen then noticed that the bag she had taken out yesterday was still neatly placed on the cabinet. She remembered clearly that she had been busy taking care of Mingli when she came back yesterday and had just left the bag on the bedside table.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Mingli innocently looked up and asked, "What's wrong? Zhenzhen, are we going out to play today?"
Qiao Zhen subtly shifted her gaze, tapping Ming Li's forehead with two fingers. "Aren't you going out? Have you finished your homework? Have you finished your craft project?"
Mingli shook his head dejectedly, "No." But he didn't stay dejected for long. Soon he perked up, took his little schoolbag out of Qiao Zhen's bedroom, and wrote his homework carefully and finished it quickly.
As for the craft project, of course, I did it with Qiao Zhen. "We need to make a small house using small matches or sticks. Do you have the materials?"
“Yes.” Mingli took a wooden box out of her schoolbag. Inside were about a dozen plastic sticks that looked like matches, and a dozen flat, long wooden sticks.
Qiao Zhen rolled up her sleeves and, together with Ming Li, lay on the ground building a small house. She was having so much fun that she stopped paying attention to whether Ming Li was acting strangely.
Mingli was also happy to be free, no longer having to pretend to look at Qiao Zhen with innocent eyes, which was too tiring. He would occasionally hand Qiao Zhen a few sticks, or offer some pointers when Qiao Zhen was scratching her head.
By noon, an hour and a half had passed, and Qiao Zhen finally finished. She held up the little house for Ming Li to see, "Ta-da! How is it?"
Mingli looked at Qiao Zhen with admiration, his eyes seemingly shining, "Awesome! The little house is so beautiful!"
Qiao Zhen smugly hummed, "Of course, who am I? I used to be the most beautiful girl in your kindergarten." She carefully placed the little house on the cabinet, "Alright, alright, let's go, let's have lunch."
Mr. and Mrs. Joe had already brought the dishes out of the kitchen, and the dishes on the table were plentiful.
"Wow!" Qiao Zhen reached out to pick up a piece of sweet and sour pork, but her mother slapped it away with her chopsticks.
Mrs. Qiao snapped, "Don't move!"
Qiao Zhen could only dejectedly go into the kitchen to get bowls and chopsticks, and then serve rice to the whole family after she came out.
After everyone was seated, Mrs. Qiao stood up and announced, "On this joyous day, I have some good news to share: I, Mrs. Qiao, have found a job!"
Qiao Zhen clapped enthusiastically, "Clap clap clap." After the applause subsided, she asked, "Mom, what kind of job is it? If you go to work, what will happen to Dad?"
Qiao's mother gave Qiao Zhen a smug look, "A fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy has moved into our building. His parents are busy with work, so I cook three meals a day for him and help him clean his room. It's three thousand yuan a month."
Mingli listened, somewhat bewildered.
Qiao Zhen frowned. "Three thousand yuan is so easy to earn, Mom? You haven't been scammed, have you?"
Qiao's mother glared at Qiao Zhen fiercely, "Don't you also easily make 20,000 yuan a month?"
Qiao Zhen looked at the small Mingli, placed her hand under Mingli's chin, and supported Mingli's head. "Mom, look what this is?"
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