Chapter 47: I Object!

“Mama Lu?” Xiao Hui walked over, looking at Lu Qingqiang with a puzzled expression.

“Xiao Hui, I heard from your aunt that you sing very well and are great at mimicking different sounds.”

“Can you try imitating the sound of a rabbit?”

“I… I don’t know what a rabbit sounds like,” Xiao Hui said nervously.

He did love singing and mimicking voices.

But up until now, he had always done it in secret, hiding away to sing and imitate quietly on his own.

Now that Mama Lu was asking him to perform in front of so many people, he couldn’t help but feel… nervous.

“It’s okay. Just listen first, then give it a try, okay?”

“Okay.” Xiao Hui nodded.

He couldn’t bring himself to say no to Lu Qingqiang.

Lu Qingqiang walked over and gave the gray rabbit a few playful rubs until it finally woke up.

The rabbit opened its eyes in a daze, only to be met with one, two, three… countless pairs of human eyes staring back at it.

Startled, its eyes turned red as it tried to bolt.

Only then did it realize… it couldn’t run.

It was tied up with a rope and held in someone’s arms.

No escape. There was no way to get away.

The gray rabbit immediately panicked and began making hissing, snorting, and grumbling sounds…

To Lu Qingqiang and the others, all the noises sounded more or less the same.

But to Xiao Hui’s ears, the differences were clear.

He could even pick up on the emotions behind the sounds.

When the rabbit hissed, it was issuing a warning, trying to tell Lu Qingqiang and the others to stay away.

When the warning didn’t work, it began snorting.

Snorting meant the rabbit felt threatened or uneasy.

But when it realized the human holding it wasn’t doing anything harmful, it started making grumbling noises.

Those grumbles expressed its displeasure at being held and teased without being let go.

Once he understood all this, Xiao Hui closed his eyes and began trying to replicate the sounds.

And surprisingly, the moment he opened his mouth, not only were Lu Qingqiang and the others stunned, even the rabbit in her arms was shocked.

Ahhh! This damned human actually made the exact same sounds as it did!

At that moment, Lu Qingqiang couldn’t help but chant silently in her heart:

“Come, rabbits, come, lots and lots of rabbits~”

Thanks to her good luck buff, it wasn’t long after she muttered that when another rabbit, then two, then three of various sizes were drawn in and captured.

Looking at the string of rabbits all tied together, Lu Jianshen was completely dumbfounded.

Seriously.

He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

He saw it with his own eyes, and still couldn’t understand.

It felt like his entire worldview had just been shattered.

This was absurd.

“Here, Mom, you hold the rabbits. Let’s keep climbing.”

“⊙?⊙!” Madam Lu took the rope from Lu Qingqiang and nodded.

Ooh, she could finally pet the rabbits.

And she could pet them as much as she wanted.

Not bad at all.

Qingqing really understood her.

She was happy.

The mountain climbing race continued.

Yuan Yuan and Doctor Feng were in the lead.

The kids followed closely behind, quickening their pace.

No one wanted to be last.

Lu Jianshen stretched his long legs and kept chasing from the back.

The mountain wasn’t very tall.

The bamboo house was built on a flat area halfway up.

As Lu Jianshen climbed, he started to fall behind, panting heavily.

When he looked up, he found all those little radish heads had already passed him.

And none of them looked nearly as tired as he was.

He was instantly like: “!!!!”

Ahhh, so frustrating!

Just a measly mountain, and it had him completely worn out.

Being tired was one thing—that was just a normal physical reaction.

But the problem was, he couldn’t even keep up with a bunch of little kids!

The youngest of them was barely over three years old.

The oldest was maybe seven.

And him? A grown man in his twenties?

He couldn’t catch up to them?

This… this was utterly humiliating!

No way. Even if it killed him, he had to push ahead!

Finally, they reached the bamboo house!

The view suddenly opened up.

Standing on the wide, flat slope halfway up the mountain, the scenery all around was breathtaking.

Lush greenery, mountains like ink paintings, the dense skyline of Jiang City below.

The blazing sun in the distance, the chirping of insects in his ears, the bamboo house and hot spring nearby.

And the wind—free and wild—seemed to whisper around them.

Beautiful. Truly beautiful.

Far from the bustle and noise of the city, this place had its own peace and serenity.

“Wow, Mama Lu, the mountain is so beautiful!”

“Mmhmm, look at the sun. Doesn’t it look like a giant egg pancake?”

“That house is really made of bamboo! It looks so cool!”

“I was the first to get here! Brother Lu, is there a prize for first place?” Su Chao asked cheerfully.

“I’m second, I’m second!” Song Zhao waved excitedly.

“Hehe, I’m third.” Xu Kai covered his mouth and giggled.

“Ahhh, I was so close! Just a bit more and I could’ve beaten Xu Kai for third!”

“Too bad, you couldn’t beat me.” Xu Kai stuck out his tongue at Wu Feng.

“Eh? Where’s Brother Lu?”

“Ahem, I’m here.” Lu Jianshen took a few big gulps of mineral water before speaking.

After using every ounce of strength he had, he finally made it to the halfway point.

At least he wasn’t dead last.

His parents were.

“For the first, second, and third place prizes, I’ve decided… they’ll be a pair of sneakers, a toy set, and a big gift pack of Wangwang snacks.”

Lu Jianshen spoke after some thought, borrowing a bit from Yuan Yuan’s suggestions.

“Sneakers? New ones? Sister Chao, you’re amazing! You’re getting new shoes!”

“Toys? What kind of toy? Zhao-ge, can I borrow your toy later?”

“A Wangwang snack pack? Wow wow wow, I’m so jealous! If I’d known, I would’ve run harder too.”

“…”

After this race, some were happy, some regretful, some envious, and others made up their minds.

Once they got back, they were going to train hard, improve their running and climbing speed.

Hmph, missing out on the prize this time didn’t matter.

Next time, they’d definitely win!

“Now, let’s have the last place step forward and accept their punishment!” said Lu Jianshen.

At that, the usually quiet Song Li silently took two steps forward.

Gu Cheng saw this and spoke up.

“Brother Lu, weren’t you behind Song Li?”

“So technically, you’re the one who came in last!”

“Oh yeah, Sister Pear wasn’t last, Brother Lu was.”

“Brother Lu said whoever comes in last has to get a little turtle drawn on their face as punishment.”

“But we didn’t bring any markers.”

“What if I don’t know how to draw a little turtle?”

“I’ve got it. I know how.” Song Li said, then pulled out a box of colored markers from her little bag.

Everyone immediately swarmed over, excitedly picking their favorite colors.

Lu Jianshen: “…”

Ah, someone save me!!

Seeing this, Lu Shenlin and Madam Lu stood to the side, laughing uncontrollably.

Lu Jianshen caught a glimpse of the smiles on their faces and was like: “???”

In the next moment, he shouted loudly,

“I object! My mom and dad were clearly the last ones!”

“…” Lu Shenlin and Madam Lu.

This second son of theirs really was a filial one.

Truly, what a good boy.

Hah!

— Translator’s Notes —

– Wangwang snacks: Wangwang is a popular Taiwanese snack brand known for its rice crackers and sweet treats. It’s widely recognized in Chinese-speaking regions.