Chapter 16

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was because he did not have any friends that Dumbo cherished his friendship with Xiao Yun so much more.

Moreover, Dumbo was already looking forward to his next meeting with Xiao Yun.

Since Xiao Yun had accomplished what he needed with Dumbo, the group of four split ways.

Xiao Yun led Chubs and Lin Xi back to their previous spot and briefed them about what kind of recyclables they are looking to collect.

Then, the three of them split up though Lin Xi and Chubs were still within Xiao Yun’s line of sight since he had made sure to assign them to places where they would be safe.

Although he had enlisted their help, Xiao Yun didn’t expect much from them. After all, they were just kids.

The three of them collected recyclables for about half an hour. When Xiao Yun felt that there didn’t seem to be anything left to pick up, he grabbed his haul and walked over to where Lin Xi and Chubs were to see if there was anything around them to be picked up.

But when he got there, he was surprised.

Not only did the two of them pick up all the recyclables around them, but their collection had quite a number of valuable ones too.

It seemed that the two of them had listened well and did a pretty good job.

“You two are pretty good.” Xiao Yun was not stingy with his praise.

“Really? Xi Xi is really good, right?” asked Lin Xi as she hugged Xiao Yun’s arm tightly.

Xiao Yun pointed at the tip of Lin Xi’s nose and said, “Yes, our Xi Xi is the best.”

Chubs smiled helplessly and said, “I’m also very good, okay?”

Xiao Yun looked at the two of them and couldn’t help but sigh in his head. ‘They are really children.’

Xiao Yun decided to shower them with praises again, including words and phrases from his previous life.

The recyclables that they had collected and piled up couldn’t be brought home just like that. There were too many for them to carry with just their hands. So Xiao Yun pulled out a few plastic bags from his pocket

He had gotten them from Lin Xi’s house at noon. He had specially asked Aunt Li Ping for it.

“Quick, let’s pack these up and go home,” said Xiao Yun as he started to delegate the task.

Lin Xi and Chubs were still full of energy thanks to Xiao Yun’s generous praises so the trio only took a few minutes to bag the recyclables based on their respective categories.

Chubs admired the results of their hard work and sighed satisfactorily.

“Let’s go to my house for dinner today,” said Xiao Yun to Chubs.

Offering them a home-cooked meal was the least he could do after all the help they had given him that evening.

Chubs was a little embarrassed by the offer but he eventually nodded and said, “Okay, let’s go to your house for dinner today.”

“Don’t worry. You can call your mother when you arrive at my house. I’ll send you back after dinner.” Xiao Yun’s words appeased all of Chubs’ worries.

The three of them happily carried their school bags and walked to Xiao Yun’s house with the recyclables.

Well, to be precise, only Xiao Yun and Chubs carried their school bags and the trash.

Xiao Yun couldn’t bear to let Lin Xi do any heavy lifting. So he willingly carried most of the bags.

The three of them were already halfway home when they ran into Li Ping, who was in a hurry to pick up the children.

Li Ping saw how many recyclables they had and that Xiao Yun and Chubs were the only ones carrying them, especially Xiao Yun.

Li Ping sighed internally, feeling that Xiao Yun had really grown up. There was just an air of maturity and steadiness around him.

Xiao Yun did not seem to think that he would run into Li Ping on the way. But it wasn’t strange to encounter her there either. After all, who could be at ease with such young children staying outside for such a long time?

When Lin Xi saw Li Ping, she immediately rushed over and gave Li Ping a kiss.

Xiao Yun introduced Chubs to Li Ping. “Aunty, this is my friend. He has been helping me tonight, so I want to invite him back to our house for a meal.”

“Chubs, this is Aunty Li, Lin Xi’s mother,” said Xiao Yun to Chubs.

Chubs politely said, “Hello Aunty Li.”

“Hello, Little Chubs.” Li Ping also greeted him kindly.

“You’ll be having dinner at my place today. It’s too late to go back to your house for dinner. Once we’re back, you can call your father to come over to Aunty’s house too,” said Li Ping to Xiao Yun.

Before Xiao Yun could say anything, Lin Xi had reacted very happily. “Great! Big Brother Xiao Yun and Big Brother Chubs are coming to Xi Xi’s house for dinner.”

Li Ping laughed. “Oh, this child…”

Li Ping was just reaching out to relieve Xiao Yun and Chubs of the burdens of their school bags and the recyclables.

Xiao Yun immediately refused but Li Ping still insisted. So in the end, Xiao Yun came up with a compromise. They would still carry their ownschool bags while Li Ping would help them carry the recyclables.

Li Ping thought about it: since they were only in kindergarten, there wasn’t much in their bags anyway. These things on their backs were more accessories than anything.

So it was decided.

After reaching an agreement, the group walked back. When they reached the door, Li Ping asked Xiao Yun, “Do you want Aunty to bring all these things in for you?”

Xiao Yun shook his head and said, “No need. I’ll come over after I put my things away.”

So Xiao Yun and Chubs took the recyclables from Li Ping’s hands, then gave Lin Xi’s schoolbag to Li Ping. Once more, the group of four split up.

Lin Xi naturally went home with Li Ping first.

Xiao Yun led Chubs to the place where his first batch of recyclables was stored. Surprised, Chubs asked, “Brother Xiao, did you pick up all these?”

“No, just a small part of it,” said Xiao Yun as he shook his head.

“Still, you’re pretty amazing,” said Chubs.

Since they had put away everything they needed to, Xiao Yun led Chubs by the hand and said, “Let’s go. Wash your hands and we’ll go to Xi Xi’s house to eat.”

“Oh, coming, coming.”

The two of them washed their hands and walked toward Lin Xi’s house.

When they had parted ways earlier, Chubs had not paid attention to the direction in which Xiao Yun’s house was from Lin Xi’s. Now that he was being led by Xiao Yun, he was surprised.

“So, Brother Xiao, you’re opposite neighbors with Lin Xi,” said Chubs slyly with an exaggerated facial expression that teased Xiao Yun.

Xiao Yun glanced over, then ignored him. He had slowly gotten used to Chubs’ cheeky personality.

By the time the two kids had arrived at Lin Xi’s place, Xiao He and Lin Feiyang were still at work. Li Ping was afraid that the three children would be hungry, so she cut some fruits for them to eat first.

“Mom, we’re not hungry. When we were at school, Big Brother Chubs bought us fried intestines to eat. They were so good,” said Lin Xi.