He wanted Da Bai to play with him for a while, but the creature just lay on the ground, not daring to move an inch.
Coupled with the half-hour time limit set by Shi Xiaolei… Leaving the Ark and returning home, Conna was still filled with a sense of unfulfillment, her heart heavy with regret.
"Xiaolei, Xiaolei." With a mix of reluctance and anticipation, she scurried a couple of steps and hugged Shi Xiaolei's leg, who was about to go shower. The little girl looked up and asked, "When are we going next time? Can we go tomorrow night?"
"Still want to go?" Shi Xiaolei patted the little girl's head and said with a smile, "That depends on your behavior. If you're good and behave well tomorrow, I'll take you again."
"Mmm, mmm, I'm the most obedient."
"That's good." Nodding, Shi Xiaolei withdrew his right hand, "Go on, it's time for bed. Remember to be good."
After coaxing Conna to 2B's side, he turned and went into the bathroom.
By the time he came out of the shower, the little girl had already fallen asleep under 2B's care, letting out cute little snores.
"What about the clothes you took off? Give them to me." Hearing the movement from the bathroom, 2B tucked Conna into bed and walked out of the room, "I'll wash them now, and they should be dry by tomorrow morning. The forecast says it's going to rain tomorrow afternoon…"
"They're in the laundry hamper. Don't rush, there's water on the floor, I'll mop it first."
"Oh."
2B acknowledged, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, waiting for Shi Xiaolei to clean up the water on the floor.
With nothing to do, and remembering Shi Xiaolei's promise to Conna earlier, 2B couldn't help but ask, "Rock, you just told Conna that you'd take her to play again tomorrow? Is that alright?"
"Huh? What's not alright?" Shi Xiaolei paused, turning his head back, a little puzzled.
"Won't it scare it?"
"It should be fine." As he spoke, Shi Xiaolei mopped again, "It's okay if it gets scared. The first time is new, the second time is familiar. It'll get used to it eventually. We can't just stop Conna from playing there because we're afraid it'll get scared, can we? It's rare to find a place where she can have so much fun and not have to worry about being watched… Heh heh, didn't I promise her before that I'd make her a secret base? As a parent, you have to keep your promises, you can't go back on your word."
"But Conna is still young, what if she accidentally tells someone…"
"Then that's up to you." When he was almost done mopping, Shi Xiaolei straightened up, leaning on the mop handle and turning around, looking at 2B with a fawning expression, "What I say, she might forget later. You should remind her a few more times when you have time, to be careful and not just blurt it out."
"…" What else could she say? 2B could only nod, "Alright, I'll remind her more often."
It turned out that 2B's reminders were indeed very effective, and Conna was truly a very obedient child.
So obedient that it was almost heartbreaking—one day, one of her classmates came to the store with their family. Because they happened to pass by during a walk, the family also brought two pet dogs with them… Watching her classmate play with the two dogs, and listening to him proudly talk about interesting things that usually happened with these two dogs, Conna showed an incredibly envious look. But even so, she didn't, like other children, boastfully say, 'I also have pets, much better than your two dogs,' but instead bit her lip, stubbornly suppressing the urge to share and show off.
When he came out to deliver the 'complimentary dish' to the family, he witnessed the little girl's expression firsthand. To be honest, seeing her slightly aggrieved eyes from holding back, Shi Xiaolei genuinely felt a pang of heartache.
Perhaps, he should get a smaller dinosaur to keep at home to keep the little girl company?
In the Ark's creature codex, there were many small and easy-to-hide creatures, such as Compsognathus, Troodon, Microraptor, Dimorphodon, Pachycephalosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Gallimimus, Oviraptor, and so on.
Excluding the carnivorous ones that might hurt people, like Pachycephalosaurus and Compsognathus, they seemed quite suitable for home rearing.
Or, instead of dinosaurs, buying two dogs from a pet market was also an option.
'It seems I need to speed things up.' If he were to keep pets, the space at home was simply too small. To fulfill the little girl's wish, Shi Xiaolei tightened his resolve and began to inquire about nearby real estate information more frequently.
To busy himself with this matter, he even shortened his usual business hours, moving the closing time to three in the afternoon, temporarily abandoning evening operations.
This day, after tidying up the store, and waiting for 2B to pick up Conna from school and return, Shi Xiaolei once again took the two of them out.
He hadn't considered moving to another neighborhood; for Conna's schooling, Shi Xiaolei planned to find another house nearby.
The real estate agency was just two streets away, and the three properties they wanted to see were also not far. Thinking it wasn't a long distance, and that it would soon be rush hour, driving out would only cause delays due to traffic. The family of three simply chose to walk.
He bought an ice cream for Conna to lick, and the little girl didn't mind walking a bit longer… Well, it wasn't a weekend, and she rarely had the chance to go out and play after school on weekdays, so for the little girl, just being able to go out and stroll around already made her very happy.
Besides, she didn't have to walk by herself… One of his steps was equivalent to three of the little girl's. Unwilling to see her tiny legs trying to keep up with him, Shi Xiaolei simply picked her up.
"Xiaolei, here you go~." He hadn't doted on her for nothing; after a few licks, the little girl suddenly offered the ice cream cone to Shi Xiaolei's mouth.
"No need, you…"
Before he could finish, his phone, tucked in his pocket, suddenly rang.
He pulled it out and answered; it was Stark calling.
"Rock, what are you busy with?" Perhaps there was good news, Stark's tone on the other end of the phone sounded much more excited than usual, "Are you free tonight? I want to throw a party, come join the fun~."
"Tonight? What time? I still have to look at houses." Shi Xiaolei asked with some curiosity, "Why do you suddenly want to throw a party?"
Speaking of which, Stark hadn't shown up for a while, busy researching technical difficulties in new energy topics.
Not seeing any tabloid news about him, Shi Xiaolei had thought he had, like in the original plot, fallen into Pepper's hands and completely changed his ways.
He hadn't expected him to suddenly call now, saying he wanted to throw a party; Shi Xiaolei was indeed a little surprised.
"You should know what I've been doing lately, right?" Stark's tone grew even more smug, "Heh heh, I succeeded, buddy, do you know what this means?"
"You made money?"
"Exactly, and a huge sum of money at that." Stark said with a laugh, "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 join the fun?"
"If I can bring my family, I'll go."
"For others, I'd have to think about it, but you're my friend."
"Alright then, I'll come after I finish looking at houses." Shi Xiaolei replied, "You know, I've been looking for a house recently, planning to move to a bigger place."
"Why are you still looking? Come now." He was already a person who didn't value money, and now that he had just sorted out the new energy development technology, hundreds of billions of dollars were within reach. Stark, overflowing with generosity, took over the matter, "I'll find someone to arrange a house for you, definitely better than what you'd find yourself. The party is more important, come earlier. Oh, and bring me more lamb, preferably two or three hundred kilograms."
"…Be honest, it's actually for the lamb, isn't it?"
"Am I that kind of person? Alright, that's it, I have other things to do, I'm hanging up."