Wanting to play with Big White for a while, Kanna was disappointed when it just lay flat on the ground, not daring to move an inch.
Combined with the half-hour time limit Shi Xiaolei had set.
After returning home from the Ark, Kanna face showed lingering excitement, though her heart was filled with regret.
"Xiaolei, Xiaolei."
Harboring some unwillingness and hope, she ran a few steps and hugged Shi Xiaolei leg as he was about to head to the bathroom for a shower.
The little girl looked up and asked.
"When can we go again? Can we go tomorrow night?"
"You want to go again?"
Patting the little girl head, Shi Xiaolei smiled and said.
"That depends on your behavior. If you're well-behaved tomorrow and perform well, I'll take you again."
"Mm-hmm, I'm the most obedient."
she nodded enthusiastically.
"That's good."
Nodding, Shi Xiaolei withdrew his right hand.
"Off you go now. It's bedtime, and remember to be good like you promised."
After sending Kanna to 2B side, he headed to the bathroom.
When he finished showering and came out, the little girl had already fallen asleep under 2B care, gently making adorable little snoring sounds.
"Where are your dirty clothes? Give them to me."
Hearing movement from the bathroom after tucking the little girl in, 2B walked out of the room.
"I'll wash them now, and they should be dry by tomorrow morning. The forecast says it will rain tomorrow afternoon..."
"They're in the laundry basket. Don't rush, let me mop the floor first since there's water everywhere."
"Oh, okay."
Acknowledging with a sound, 2B stood at the bathroom doorway, waiting for Shi Xiaolei to clean up the water on the floor.
With nothing else to do, remembering Shi Xiaolei promise to Kanna earlier, 2B couldn't help asking.
"Rock, you told Kanna you'd take her to play again tomorrow? Will that be alright?"
"Hmm? What would be wrong?"
Shi Xiaolei paused, turning his head in confusion.
"Won't it scare it?"
"It should be fine."
He said while continuing to move the mop.
"Even if it gets scared, that's okay. You know what they say—familiarity breeds comfort. Eventually, after being scared a few times, it will adapt'.
"We can't just stop Kanna from playing there because we're worried about scaring it, right? It's rare to find a place where she can play so happily without worrying about attracting unwanted attention."
"Haha, I promised her earlier that I'd set up a secret base for her. As a parent, I need to keep my promises. Can't go back on my word."
"But Kanna is still young. What if she accidentally tells someone..."
"That's where you come in."
Having finished mopping, Shi Xiaolei straightened up, leaning on the mop handle as he turned around with a pleading look at 2B.
"What I say, she might forget soon after. You should remind her more often, tell her to be careful not to mention it casually."
"..."
What else could she say? 2B could only nod.
"Alright, I'll remind her frequently."
Facts proved that 2B reminders were indeed effective, and Kanna was truly an obedient child.
She was even obedient to a point that made one heart ache—one day, a classmate of hers came to the restaurant with his family.
Since they were just passing by during a walk, the family had brought two pet dogs with them.
Watching her classmate play with the dogs and hearing him proudly talk about the funny things these dogs did, Kanna eyes were filled with envy.
But even so, she didn't do what other children might do—comparing and saying "I have a pet too, much better than your dogs." Instead, she bit her lip and held back the impulse to share and show off.
Shi Xiaolei witnessed the little girl expression when he came out to serve the complimentary dish to this family.
Honestly, seeing her small eyes filled with suppressed disappointment, he felt quite heartbroken.
Perhaps he should get a smaller dinosaur from the Ark to keep at home to keep the little girl company?
The Ark biological catalog had many small, easily concealable species, such as Mei Yan dragons, Injury-toothed dragons, Microraptor, Double-jawed dragons, Pachycephalosaurus, Amargasaurus, Gallimimus, Oviraptor, and so on. (T/N: Truthfully idk some of this, so maybe you may know which they are actually)
Setting aside the carnivorous ones that might harm people, something like a Pachycephalosaurus or Mei Yan dragon seemed quite suitable for home raising.
Or, instead of dinosaurs, buying a couple of dogs from the pet market was also an option.
'Looks like I need to speed things up.'
For keeping pets, their current home was far too small.
To fulfill the little girl wish, Shi Xiaolei tightened his resolve and began inquiring more frequently about real estate in the surrounding area.
To focus on this matter, he even shortened his usual business hours, moving closing time to 3 PM and temporarily giving up evening operations.
That day, after cleaning up the store and waiting for 2B to pick up Kanna from school, Shi Xiaolei once again took the two of them out.
Not planning to move to another district, and considering Kanna education, Shi Xiaolei intended to find another house nearby.
The real estate agency was just two streets away, and the three properties they were going to view weren't far either.
Thinking it wasn't a long distance, and considering the evening rush hour would soon begin where driving might get them stuck in traffic, the family of three opted to walk.
Buying an ice cream cone for Kanna to have, the little girl didn't mind walking a bit further.
Well, it wasn't a weekend, and she rarely had the chance to go out after school on weekdays.
For the little girl, just being able to go out shopping already made her very happy.
Besides, she didn't have to walk herself.
One of his steps equaled three of the little girl.
Unwilling to see her trotting along on her short legs trying to keep up, Shi Xiaolei simply picked her up in his arms.
"Xiaolei, here~"
Proving his affection wasn't wasted, after a few licks, the little girl suddenly held the cone to Shi Xiaolei mouth.
"No need, you can—"
Before he could finish, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
Taking it out and answering, it turned out to be Stark calling.
"Rock, what are you up to?"
Perhaps because of some good news, Stark tone on the other end sounded much more excited than usual.
"Are you free tonight? I'm thinking of throwing a party. Come over and join us~"
"Tonight? What time? I still need to go look at some houses."
Shi Xiaolei asked curiously.
"Why the sudden party?"
Come to think of it, Stark hadn't been seen for a while as he was working on technical challenges in new energy research.
Not having seen any gossip news about him, Shi Xiaolei thought he might have completely changed his ways under Pepper influence, just like in the original storyline.
Unexpectedly, Stark suddenly called and said he wanted to throw a party. Shi Xiaolei was indeed surprised.
"You should know what I've been working on recently, right?"
Stark tone became even more proud.
"Hehe, I've succeeded, buddy. Do you know what that means?"
"Money to be made?"
"That's right, and a lot of it."
Stark laughed and said.
"To celebrate the bright financial prospects, and also to reward myself, I've decided to throw a party tonight and have a good time. How about it, buddy? Want to come and join the fun?"
"I'll come if I can bring my family."
"For others, I might have to think about it, but since you're my friend."
"Alright then, I'll come after looking at the houses."
Shi Xiaolei replied.
"You know, I've been looking for a house recently, planning to move to a bigger place."
"Why bother looking? Come right now."
Being someone who never treated money as a big deal, especially now that he had just finished developing new energy technology with billions in potential profits at his fingertips, Stark generously took over the matter.
"I'll have someone arrange a house for you, definitely better than what you'd find yourself. The party is more urgent, come earlier. Oh, and bring plenty of lamb meat with you, preferably two or three hundred kilograms."
"...Tell me the truth, you're actually doing this for the lamb meat, aren't you?"
"Am I that kind of person? Alright, that's it then. I have other things to do, gotta hang up now."
(T/N: Like the story fellow daoist?you can read 20 chapters ahead on my P@treon [[email protected]/DaoistRongyi] Thanks for your support! 😊)