Chapter 2, Section 2: "I'll take my uncle with me."
In the innocent mind of a child, Yan Xingli, an ancestor who died three hundred years ago, is an ancient person and should be addressed with greater respect.
As big as it can be.
But Yan Xingli wouldn't let her call him either "Grandma" or "Grandpa," so the child racked her brains and came up with "Grandma."
"..."
"Never mind, just call me uncle."
Faced with this child who was three hundred years younger than him, Yan Xingli couldn't bring himself to ask her to call him "brother".
Yan Xingli went back to the dressing room to change his clothes and came out to find the child sitting obediently on the sofa waiting for him.
Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?
"I'm not hungry." Qi Youyu stood up, her eyes bright. "Uncle, are you hungry? I have some food that I can share with you."
Yan Xingli waved his hand: "No need, I'm not hungry."
He frowned as he looked at Qi Youyu. The child was wearing a silver jumpsuit that looked quite form-fitting, but he didn't know what material it was made of.
However, wearing it to sleep would definitely be uncomfortable.
He took out his phone and asked, "Hey you, what size clothes are you wearing?"
Qi Youyu gestured to herself a couple of times: "That fish is wearing such big clothes."
Knowing he wouldn't get any useful information, Yan Xingli made a rough estimate and directly ordered a set of children's pajamas and a pair of children's slippers.
While waiting for the takeout to arrive, Yan Xingli led Qi Youyu to the guest room, saying, "You'll sleep here tonight. If you're afraid of the dark, just leave the light on."
This may sound cold and heartless, but he really doesn't have the patience or interest to take care of children.
At the same time, this was also a test of the child's temperament.
Qi Youyu nodded like a chick pecking at rice, not seeming like a clingy child, which reassured Yan Xingli.
After the takeout arrived, Yan Xingli asked Qi Youyu if she could dress herself, and the child confidently replied.
A short while later, Yan Xingli, who was waiting at the door of the guest room, heard a child's panicked cries for help coming from inside.
"Uncle, something terrible has happened! Please help me."
"I've turned into a radish!"
When Yan Xingli opened the door, he saw a child swaying from side to side, his round head wrapped in his clothes, his two little hands tugging at his clothes haphazardly, as if pulling up a radish.
He jokingly pulled it up himself.
Yan Xingli stretched out his long arm and quickly freed the child from his clothes.
The unfortunate child sees the light of day again and stares blankly at Yan Xingli, who saved her.
Wearing a tank top, Qi Youyu sat there blankly for a while, then touched her messy hair, feeling a little embarrassed.
"My head is a bit big."
"Because it's filled with a lot of intelligence." Qi Youyu pinched Yan Xingli's hand with the hand that had been stroking her head. "Now I'll share some of my intelligence with you, to thank you for saving me."
Yan Xingli's lips twitched, and he pointed to her clothes, asking, "Do you want them washed?"
The little guy shook his head: "No need, the spacesuit will wash itself."
Self-cleaning function?
Yan Xingli looked on with surprise. Not only that, this spacesuit was too lightweight, completely different from what he knew about spacesuits.
"Those clothes can't be left lying around; put them in the closet next to it."
Qi Youyu climbed out of bed, pulled open the wardrobe, and naturally reached out to Yan Xingli:
"I can't reach it, carry me."
"Hmm, I can carry you on my back too."
Yan Xingli, expressionless, told the child to rest and then took the clothes and hung them up.
He glanced at Qi Youyu out of the corner of his eye, wondering to himself, "Is she really three and a half years old?"
It's so small, like a bean sprout, you can't find it at all unless you look down.
To prevent Yu Yu from getting her head stuck again, Yan Xingli simply helped her change into her pajamas.
The pajamas I bought seem to be too big; they look like a sack on the child, and the pants are so long they drag on the ground.
Yan Xingli squatted down and helped her roll up her trouser legs a few times.
He asked casually, "By the way, where did you park the spaceship?"
Is it still on the ceiling?
"Don't worry, the Little Fish has returned to its cabin."
"Where is the cabin?"
Qi Youyu raised a finger and slid it down, and suddenly a watch-like object appeared on her previously empty wrist.
She tapped it twice more, and the vanished Little Fish instantly reappeared in the sky.
"This is the cabin where the Little Fish is docked."
Yan Xingli was taken aback, his eyes widening slightly.
Holy crap, what kind of incredible black technology is this?
This tiny thing, which looks like a smartwatch, can actually hold a spaceship? If it were a car... wouldn't that save on parking fees?
Yan Xingli's heart was pounding.
"...Wait, do your parents know you took the spaceship out?"
Qi Youyu, like a proud little hen who doesn't look where she's going, tilted her chin up and answered smugly:
"The Little Fish is a spaceship that I built myself. It's my own spaceship, and I can fly it whenever I want."
Yan Xingli glanced at her short arms and legs and sighed that the commonality of cubs really is that they are not limited to any planet; alien cubs love to talk nonsense just the same.
You might as well believe Qin Shi Huang than her.
Yan Xingli didn't respond to her question: "So how many days do you plan to stay here? When are your parents coming to pick you up?"
"..."
The child started to evade the question.
Yan Xingli had a bad feeling. He slowly narrowed his eyes and said, "Don't tell me you snuck out without telling your family."
Yu Yu guiltily looked away.
Yan Xingli closed his eyes and laughed at the brat's audacity. "The saying 'a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger' is really true. You little brat, have you never been beaten before?"
The family must be in an uproar if the child goes missing.
Yan Xingli pressed his throbbing temples and said in a fierce, cold voice, "There's a saying on Earth: 'Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely.' Tell me honestly what else you've been hiding from me."
Qi Youyu shrank her neck, staring at her feet with her big eyes, and spilled everything out.
Throughout the question-and-answer session, the child's voice grew softer and softer.
By the time the final question and answer session ended, Yan Xingli's dark complexion was unbearable to look at.
Qi Youyu's parents are scientists who study time and space, and they built the first time-space spaceship on the planet Cang'ai.
The couple went on an expedition in a time-travel spaceship. Their restless child, who was secretly working on something big, found the data manuscripts of his parents' spaceship construction and built a small time-travel spaceship.
Today was the spacecraft's first test flight, and it was a success!
The problem is that the spaceship doesn't have enough energy for its return journey, and Qi Youyu cannot return smoothly until it is replenished.
The child didn't come specifically to find Yan Xingli; he simply had to make an emergency landing because his energy was running out.
The calm and collected young scientist dug out the coordinates of his ancestors from the family tree and landed precisely.
Yan Xingli remained silent, walked away, and pulled out the WeChat account of a certain master who was lying dormant in his Moments.
You're sitting at home and your child falls from the sky. I've seen people who bring shame to their fathers, but I've never seen anyone bring shame to their ancestors. There must be something wrong with the ancestral graves.
The next morning, the assistant came to deliver breakfast.
When Xiao Lin saw Yan Xingli with two big dark circles under his eyes, he was really surprised. He carried breakfast in and changed his shoes, his eyes not leaving Yan Xingli's face.
"Brother Xing, did you stay up late last night?"
"Would you like me to put a face mask on for you?"
Yan Xingli rubbed his temples as he walked back: "No need, just cover it up casually."
Looking at Yan Xingli's unsteady figure, Xiao Lin thought to himself, "Brother Xing must have been arguing with the haters on his alternate account again last night. He probably didn't win and got really angry."
"You little rascal, are you awake yet?"
Is there someone else at home? Xiaolin looked curiously at the guest room; this was indeed unusual.
Yan Xingli knocked twice, listened closely by the door for a while, and then pushed the door open and went in.
Xiaolin was setting out breakfast in the living room, craning her neck and listening intently. Before long, she saw a man and a child emerge from the guest room.
Yan Xingli, shuffling in slippers, walked with a brisk pace, a stark contrast to his usual lazy and leisurely demeanor, his expression carrying a hint of bitterness and resentment.
"I'm here."
A round-headed child came running over, and the pupa quickly climbed onto the chair, giving the stunned Xiaolin a bright smile:
Hello, Uncle.
"...Uh, hello."
Xiao Lin: "Brother Xing, who is this kid?"
Yan Xingli pulled out a chair and sat down, his voice a little muffled: "It's a relative's child, staying here for a couple of days."
The breakfast he brought wasn't enough, so Xiao Lin took out his phone to order some more, but Yan Xingli stopped him.
"It's alright, I'll just have a boiled egg." Yan Xingli gave Qi Youyu the triangular rice ball, steamed pumpkin, and yogurt.
Qi Youyu picked up a rice ball, took a bite, and her eyes widened immediately: "It tastes like fish."
Kobayashi smiled and nodded: "Because this is a tuna rice ball, it has a fishy aroma. Do you like to eat fish, little friend?"
"I didn't like it before, but now I love it so much." Qi Youyu's eyes lit up like light bulbs: "Is tuna a fish from the sea?"
Yes, that's right.
The child's face immediately turned rosy. After swallowing the rice ball in his mouth, he excitedly whispered, "Ah, I ate fish! A fish from the sea!"
Yan Xingli found Qi Youyu's reaction a bit strange, "You've never eaten seafood before?"
"No."
What adults can finish in two bites is transformed into a behemoth in Qi Youyu's hands.
This shop's rice balls are made with high-quality ingredients; the rice is soft and sticky, and the fish, coated with mayonnaise and seaweed flakes, is fresh, fragrant, and tender.
The child ate it slowly and carefully: "Grandpa and Grandma ate it when they were young, and they said the fish was delicious."
Not long after humans migrated to the planet Cang'ai, a war broke out to seize resources and land, which lasted for more than a hundred years before it ended.
The ocean has been unfortunately polluted, and fish and shrimp have been infected with viruses that are deadly to humans, turning them from food into ornamental animals.
Seafood has since disappeared from human dining tables. Qi Youyu has only seen seafood in documentaries, although scientists have created various seafood-flavored drinks and sauces based on data.
But nothing beats real seafood. Qi Youyu found that even a simple tuna rice ball could taste like a delicacy.
So this is what seafood tastes like! It's not fishy or smelly at all.
No wonder adults always like to travel to Earth in time ships.
In front of Xiaolin, Yan Xingli didn't press the matter further: "Then I'll take you out for a seafood feast at noon. Hurry up and drink your yogurt, we should head out."
Qi Youyu bit the straw and took a big sip, then shook the empty yogurt container: "Uncle, I want more yogurt."
"Can't."
Yan Xingli: "I drank too much and my stomach is bloated."
Qi Youyu gave a disappointed "oh".
*
Since they didn't have a nanny at home, Yan Xingli didn't want to leave Yu Yu at home, so he brought her along to the filming location.
The child didn't want to stay in the RV, so Yan Xingli asked Xiao Lin to watch her and take her for a walk around the neighborhood, and to buy her a couple of outfits.
Before leaving, Yan Xingli led Qi Youyu to a secluded corner, half-squatting down as he gave her instructions:
"Your identity must be kept secret. Don't talk nonsense when you're out. If people find out you're an alien, I can't save you."
Qi Youyu: "Will I be arrested?"
“That’s right.” Yan Xingli threatened her, “We’ll grab him, slice him up, and study him.”
"Then I'll drive myself away." Without hesitation, the child cupped Yan Xingli's face in his hands. "I'll take my uncle with me."
"...No, I don't want to leave this beautiful Earth yet."
Yan Xingli handed over a card: "Use this card to buy things. Uncle Lin knows the PIN. Okay, go have some fun."
Yan Xingli sent Qi Youyu away and busied herself with makeup and discussing details with the director. Just as the filming officially started, Xiao Lin returned with the child.
Yan Xingli immediately noticed that the child was holding a large bottle of yogurt.
He glared at him.
Qi Youyu immediately looked very surprised: "Uncle, Yogurt has grown up."
"..."
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