Reborn in the 80s: My Whole Family Secretly Hears My Thoughts and Goes Wild with Success! - Chapter 154

“Yesterday was so annoying. It rained so heavily we couldn’t go out to play.”
“But luckily the weather is nice today.”

Tan Bei chattered away beside Huo Jiusi like a little sparrow.

Seeing Huo Jiusi was planning to take Yaya, Tan Nan spoke up: “Jiusi, are you bringing her?”
“Yeah.” Huo Jiusi placed Yaya in her stroller.

Tan Nan stopped him. “No, no, she’s too little. If you bring her, how are we supposed to play?”

Tan Bei crouched down and teased Yaya: “Brother, just let Jiusi bring Yaya. You used to bring me along when I was little, didn’t you?”
“You could at least walk by then; I could carry you on my back. But Yaya, how old is she?”
“Jiusi, Yaya is still too small. It’s too dangerous to bring her.”
Tan Nan tried to persuade Huo Jiusi. “The adults at your house wouldn’t let you take her out either.”

Huo Jiusi used actions to show Tan Nan that the adults at home trusted them completely.

To be honest, Wan Jiayin and Ye Zhiqiu were also worried. But they had both heard Yaya’s inner thoughts and knew it was Yaya who wanted to go out and play.
Naturally, they wouldn’t stop Yaya from doing what she wanted. Plus, they trusted that Huo Jiusi could protect her.

Arriving at the entrance of the air-raid shelter, Huo Jiusi left Yaya’s stroller to the side. He picked Yaya up and followed Tan Nan and Tan Bei inside.

Tan Nan turned back to instruct the two: “This air-raid shelter is huge. You absolutely must stay close to me, don’t go running off.”

Besides them, there were quite a few other children.

Tan Nan was considered one of the main child leaders in the compound and could always gather a large group of kids to play together.

Huo Jiusi looked down at Yaya. Her big, round eyes were wide open, looking here and there, her little face full of excitement.

“Meow—”
“Ah—!”

The child at the very front, upon hearing a stray cat’s cry, suddenly turned and ran back out, causing many other children to follow.

Tan Nan remained relatively calm. He immediately positioned himself in front of them to block the way and comforted the remaining children. “Don’t be scared, it’s just a stray cat.”

[Little Demon, tell them not to go any further. That tomcat is guarding its territory.] Yaya shook the little hand that Huo Jiusi was holding.

Huo Jiusi stepped forward. “Brother Nan Nan, let’s go play somewhere else.”
“Okay.”

After the danger last time, Tan Nan had become extremely cautious. Even if Huo Jiusi hadn’t said anything, he wouldn’t have continued forward.

“Come on, let’s go explore over there.”

The air-raid shelter in this compound was massive, almost spanning the entire grounds.

They had entered through the entrance near the Yue family’s place, and when they emerged, they were already near the training field.

For the children of the compound, the training field’s horizontal bars, parallel bars, training frames, and climbing chains were all play equipment.

They often came here to play and generally knew their way around. Of course, the most popular items were naturally the chains that could be used as swings.

The older, bolder kids would climb up high, while the younger ones would wrap the chains around a few times higher up and sit on them to swing.

Tan Bei loved playing on these the most. She tugged on Huo Jiusi’s arm. “Jiusi, let’s play together.”
“No thanks, you go ahead.” Huo Jiusi, noticing Yaya’s curiosity, gestured with his chin towards a spot further away. “I’ll take Yaya over there to have a look.”
“What’s so interesting over there?” Tan Bei was puzzled.

“Tan Bei, come play!”

Hearing Tan Nan call her, Tan Bei stopped worrying about Huo Jiusi’s strange behavior and ran off to find her brother.

[Little Demon, there’s a stone block ahead. You should sit down and rest for a bit.] Yaya raised her little hand and gently brushed Huo Jiusi’s face, which was covered in sweat.

Huo Jiusi had a pale, fair complexion. Right now, his little face was flushed pink. Yaya was close enough to see the fine peach fuzz on his cheeks. She couldn’t help but swallow. [Little Demon, you look like a peach.]

She really felt like taking a bite. He looked like he’d be incredibly juicy and sweet.

“Little greedy-guts.”

After sitting down, Huo Jiusi gently tapped Yaya’s little nose. “If you call me something else, I’ll make two peaches appear for you when we get back.”

[Hmph! You really underestimate this mighty cat. Do you think I’d lower myself for just two peaches?]
“They’ll be very big and sweet.” Huo Jiusi coaxed Yaya in a soft voice.

[What if you’re tricking me?]
“I’d be a dog if I lied to you!”
[If you dare trick me, I’ll ignore you from now on!]

Huo Jiusi immediately panicked. He tightened his grip on Yaya’s little hand. “Yaya, I won’t trick you. And you mustn’t ignore me, okay?”

Yaya’s little face was very serious. [Little Demon, you must never, ever lie to me. I hate being lied to the most. If I find out you’ve lied to me, I really will ignore you forever.]

Huo Jiusi immediately raised three fingers. “I swear, I will never lie to Yaya. If I lie to you, then let me…”
[Stop! Don’t swear oaths so easily. They’re useless. I only care about what you actually do.]
[Also, don’t swear oaths in the future. It’s really annoying!]
“Okay.”

[You don’t like me calling you Little Demon?]

Huo Jiusi scratched his head, embarrassed. “It’s not that… I just thought maybe you could call me by some other name too.”

[Xiao Huo? Jiusi? Sisi? Xiao Jiu? Xiao Jiu is good. How about I call you Xiao Jiu from now on?]
“Yaya, why can’t you ever call me ‘brother’?”

Every time he heard Yaya call the twins or Qin Feng ‘brother’, he was incredibly envious. He really wanted Yaya to call him brother too.

Yaya refused outright. [No!]
“Why not?”
[It feels awkward.] Yaya couldn’t quite explain where the awkwardness came from, but it just felt awkward.

Huo Jiusi couldn’t help but feel dejected. “Then… call me whatever you want.”

Yaya laughed happily. [You said it! Little Second Dog! Hahahaha, I’ll call you Little Second Dog from now on!]
“That one’s no good. Let’s stick with the previous one.”
[No! I want to call you Little Second Dog. You said I could call you whatever I want.]
Yaya teased Huo Jiusi. [Little Second Dog, tsk tsk tsk, come here, let this mighty cat pat your head.]

Huo Jiusi looked at Yaya, his gaze full of affection and helplessness. He obediently lowered his head, and Yaya raised her little hand to give it a pat.

She knew when to stop, and she knew Huo Jiusi was humoring her.

[Little Demon, I’m getting a little sleepy.]

Yaya yawned. Huo Jiusi gently patted her a couple of times, and she fell asleep.

Huo Jiusi said goodbye to Tan Nan and Tan Bei and started carrying Yaya back home. Two stray dogs followed them the whole way.

The Yue family lived at the very back of the compound, while the training field was located near the main gate. Huo Jiusi’s arms ached terribly from carrying Yaya, as if countless needles were pricking them.

Huo Jiusi didn’t even have a free hand to wipe the sweat from his face. He looked down at the sleeping Yaya, and yet, he couldn’t help but smile.

Too weak. He was still too weak. When he got back, he needed to drink more milk and exercise more, to make himself stronger!

That way, he could protect Yaya better, and not be unable to manage even the short distance of carrying her.