Zhang Yingxuan was the first to arrive at the station, followed by the young girl Qiu Qiongzh.
Su Xiangli and Simon got off at the same stop, which was quite a coincidence; their two families didn't live very far apart, about a four-bus-stop journey.
Simon, showing his spirit, decided to first escort Su Xiangli home.
They say children should protect themselves when out and about, and while the crime rate in modern cities during the day is less than one in ten million, you can't always rule out accidents.
A month ago, Simon accumulated 999 points of insight and learned modern combat.
At the time, he thought he would receive some sort of remote power transfer, like a flood of combat knowledge appearing in his mind, a warm current flowing through his body, and mysterious, metaphysical operations like pores expelling waste.
Instead, the system pulled him into a training space and made him train for a grueling hundred thousand hours before releasing him.
While this process did indeed make his body much stronger, his young mind suffered a tremendous blow.
This was his first attempt to learn a skill using insight points, and it scared him off.
Although the process was painful, the outcome was at least bright, and Simon didn't regret spending so many insight points to suffer.
Living always requires a certain degree of martial prowess, just like preparing a cheat sheet before an exam; you might not need to use it, but just having it brings peace of mind.
Don't let Simon's current appearance as a four-year-old fool you; if it came to a fight, he could easily deal with a dozen slovenly adults or three large geese.
These days, individual martial prowess isn't really important; when facing dangerous situations, Simon only needs to stall until the mechanical police arrive.
Su Xiangli frowned, "Why are you looking around so much? Mom says you should watch where you're going when you walk."
Simon nodded, "Your mom is right."
This street vaguely reminded him of a dream he once had, where he was an assassin, adventuring in a dystopian cyberpunk world—how exhilarating.
But now, thinking about it, it felt a bit embarrassing.
Su Xiangli reached out to poke Simon's soft spot, "Listen to me properly!"
Simon subtly moved a few steps away, "Don't always poke people with your finger; your finger will get shorter later."
"Ah? Okay, okay, I won't poke, I won't poke anymore."
Su Xiangli's home was indeed more luxurious than Simon's; Simon's family of three lived in an apartment suite, while Su Xiangli's family of five lived in a detached villa.
Simon watched the little girl go back to her front door, open the password-protected gate, walk through the small garden in front of the house, and stand on the white marble steps, turning back to wave at him.
In that instant, he had the illusion of having a rich loli on his arm.
Simon chuckled, and after a while, he couldn't help but laugh even louder.
He also waved vigorously at Su Xiangli, feeling quite emotional.
Of course, he didn't have any strange thoughts about the young Su Xiangli; the little girl was very cute, making one want to tease her.
If there was anything to pay attention to when being reborn as a child, the first thing would be to adjust one's mindset; one cannot forget the past, but also cannot dwell in memories.
Simon knew he would grow up again, fall in love again, go to school, go to work; life had always been like this.
Slowly, he would forget that he came from the early 21st century and become a native modern person; the stories of the past would become a vague dream to him.
Memories too distant become fantasies—this was a truth Simon understood when he was twenty.
However, a rich loli was out of the question, but a rich older woman would be fine.
My brother: (??ω??)? "Kang Kang, you seem very happy?"
"I'm not."
"But my program tells me that your heart rate is accelerated, body temperature is elevated, breathing is erratic, and facial expression is positive..."
"I don't want your opinion; I want my opinion."
My brother froze for a moment, "Understood, you are using a forceful human command on a machine. I will default to your definition of 'not happy'..."
"Alright, alright, I surrender."
My brother: (￣┰￣*) "I interpret that as a command cancellation. Are there any other questions?"
Simon laughed again, "Artificial idiot..."
His mother was working overtime and couldn't come home, so dinner was another father-son affair.
Comrade Lu Jiande was what the older generation called a 'third-degree cripple'—he couldn't lift or carry anything.
Under the premise of safety, the only things he could do in the kitchen were boil noodles or cook rice.
So, by the time Simon exited the apartment elevator, he had already received five messages from His dad.
17:16 "Lu Jiande: Son, be careful on the road, listen to My brother, don't run around. (Read)"
17:17 Reply: "OK."
17:47 "Lu Jiande: Why aren't you home yet? (Read)"
17:47 Reply: "On the way."
18:11 "Lu Jiande: Where are you? (Read)"
18:14 Reply: "Sky train station. (Location sent)"
18:41: Lu Jiande: "(;´д｀)ゞ Hurry home, Dad's hungry. (Read)"
18:51 Reply: ":) Understood."
19:01 "Lu Jiande: Where... are you? (Unread)"
Simon turned his face towards the surveillance camera, and the front door automatically opened.
He changed into slippers in the entryway, and at that moment, he smelled the aroma of food.
"?"
Could it be that the man also had a day where he cooked himself?
Simon walked towards the kitchen, vaguely hearing slurping sounds.
When he opened the door, sure enough, his dear dad was slurping a bowl of fragrant instant beef noodles.
Lu Jiande stood up in a hurry, wiping the rich broth from around his lips with a napkin.
After this action, he naturally exuded a father's sternness, "Why are you back so late?"
"I walked a classmate home."
Lu Jiande nodded, "Hmm, how was kindergarten? Fun? There's another bowl of noodles in the microwave.
Go wash your hands; it's time to eat."
Simon subtly glanced at the microwave; there was no so-called second bowl of noodles at all.
Comrade Lu Jiande thought he didn't know it was instant noodles.
"Wash a little longer; did the teacher teach you the six-step handwashing method?"
Lu Jiande herded his son towards the washroom, with an air like a villager herding a big goose.
The understanding Simon lingered in the bathroom for five minutes until His dad shouted from outside: "Dinner's ready!"
Well, sure enough, instant noodles.
The noodles were egg noodles, the soup was a concentrated broth cube, and the beef was pre-cooked braised meat sold in the supermarket, sliced as thin as cicada wings—clearly processed by My brother.
There was also a soft-boiled egg nestled on the noodles, and two green vegetables perched on the rim of the bowl.
The presentation was good.
This bowl was much better than Lu Jiande's own; the noodles weren't chalky, and the soup's saltiness was just right.
Simon broke into a big smile, "Delicious! Dad's cooking is really delicious!"
Comrade Lu Jiande maintained a straight face, looking as if it were only natural, but the smile in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
Simon lowered his head and ate his noodles, not saying anything more.
His father in his previous life would also cook noodles for Simon.
However, his cooking skills were better than his current father's.
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