It was as if even the air had stopped circulating.
“……”
There were three exits in the concert hall: a, b and c. Sinai and Alfonso took exit c.
Today’s performance was by a well-known band on this side of the O Continent, and there were quite a few people coming to watch, so naturally there were many people at the exit.
Once again, the combination of the two, Norton and Sinai, attracted the attention of the others.
Alfonso’s face is not bad, though, and even more successful.
But sandwiched together, they inevitably dwarfed each other a little.
Especially with the three men standing.
The world famous painting, the white school stand.
The scene of the monastery.
Sinai felt like she had died socially once more.
Only this time it was somewhat complete.
After all, yesterday she had been shoved into a child seat and could barely explain that the child seat was designed to be large and she was thinner and able to fit in it.
But today?
At those words, Norton slowly raised his eyes, his eyes and voice devoid of warmth.
He repeated slowly, “Daddy?”
Instead, Alfonso breathed a sigh of relief and volunteered, “Miss Sinai, this is your father?”
He looked at Sinai, then at Norton.
Both had similar hair colours.
It was not a resemblance, but the face was high enough to say they were father and daughter.
But Sinai is twenty-seven years old, so isn’t this “father” a bit too young?
Even if he had taken good care of himself, he wouldn’t have no fine lines at all, would he?
He looked even younger than him.
Alfonso couldn’t tell how he felt.
Norton didn’t even spare a second glance.
His eyes fell on Sinai, his brow faded.
He had the air of “if you don’t find a good reason to leave today, you won’t leave”.
Sinai paused and then added, “Did father ask you to take me home, cousin?”
At these words, those pa*sing by were inevitably a little disappointed.
It turned out to be the family who were uneasy about coming out to pick up the man, and they had expected some kind of big show.
Alfonso looked left and right and was even more confused.
A cousin’s family, minding their cousin’s business?
What kind of world was this?
Norton’s eyes narrowed.
He raised his hand and easily tossed the cigarette in his hand into a bin five metres away.
Then he raised his eyes, smiling, his mood uncertain: “Yes, cousin.”
Norton took two steps forward, lifted his hand and took her shoulder, “Father told us to go home early.”
When he was so close, he smelt that very faint, light fragrance of his body.
Like a flower blooming after a rain, with a few icy notes.
It was also laced with the faint smell of cigars.
It was as mysterious, cold and inscrutable as he was as a person.
For a moment, Sinai was once again under the illusion
“Excuse me.” Norton finally looked to Alfonso, faintly, “She has to be home by eight o’clock.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Alfonso hastily apologised, “I was ill-considered, it won’t happen next time.”
Norton didn’t say anything.
Sinai didn’t make a sound either.
He just took her in his arms and turned to leave.
It was only after he was out of the shopping street that he let go of his hand.
There weren’t many people outside on this tree-lined lane, and the evening breeze blew, dissipating Sinai’s body heat.
Despite the extreme embarra*sment, Sinai had no emotion on her face.
She had always been a face.
Even if she was really shy, her face wouldn’t blush.
After a few seconds, Sinai found her voice: “How did you know I would be at exit c?”
“Wasn’t it on Father’s orders to pick you up?” Norton looked sideways and smiled, “If I didn’t even know where my cousin was exiting from, wouldn’t I be scolded by my father when I got back?”
“……”
This stunt couldn’t go on any longer.
Sinai’s face was expressionless, “I’m going back to the experimental base.”
She had just turned around when her wrist was intercepted.
His palm was warm, but his fingertips were cold.
Sinai’s body lurched and she turned her head slowly: “What for?”
“What’s the hurry?” Norton lifted his chin, “It’s evening, go for a late night snack.”
“I’m not hungry, I don’t eat at night in the first place.”
“I’m hungry.”
Sinai was about to say, “If you’re hungry you can cook your own food,” when he added idly, “Wait until you’re hungry.”
“……”
Thirty minutes later, the two sat down in front of a barbecue stall.
Smelling the grilled meat, Sinai noticed that her stomach growled too.
After thinking about it, she decided she’d better have a couple of skewers.
This was also a barbecue stall owned by a Chinese.
As far as food was concerned, no one knew how to eat better than the Chinese.
Since she had eaten the local cuisine a few times in the Imperial City and Shanghai, Sinai’s appetite had been spoilt.
But fortunately, with the venus group around, 80% of the restaurants here are Chinese to cater for Ying’s tastes.
Norton leaned back in his chair, “No explanation, cousin?”
“Oh.” Sinai looked back, “Didn’t I tell you that I went on a date?”
“I told you too, come back early.”
“Nine o’clock is early enough.”
“I heard it’s not safe over here, there’s some kind of serial killer, it’s pretty scary.” Norton was nonchalant, “Specializes in picking on pretty young girls before skinning them and making them into dolls.”
Sinai: “……”
Even if she wasn’t a Sage or an Ancient Martial Artist, she still knew basic fighting.
The fighting training in the World City was also very advanced.
Not to mention, she had an extremely high tech weapon on her.
Without saying anything else, it was still enough to blast the three underground levels of the experimental base.
“Thank you for the compliment.” Sinai’s hand supported her chin, “Besides, what you said was all a movie plot.”
“I did watch a few movies.” Norton’s voice was lazy, “Not badly made, you can invite your cousin to see a movie if you’re free.”
Hearing this, Sinai decisively refused, “I’m not going to watch a movie with you.”
She had already decided to distance herself from him and treat him only as an elder.
The cinema was one of the holy places of the three big dates.
She was crazy to go with him.
“Kids.” Norton clearly wasn’t expecting that answer, and his dark green eyes narrowed. “I’ve taken care of you for so long, and listen to that, have you no conscience? Not even a movie?”
“I’m not a child, I don’t have a conscience.”
“……”
For once in a rare while Norton was speechless.
Halfway through, he raised his hand and rubbed her hair as he had done so many times before, “Only in your twenties, what are you if not a child?”
Sinai looked puzzled.
She had since learned about the Sages.
Not to mention that compared to his entire career as a Sage, just this one reincarnation of his was enough to be her grandfather’s grandfather.
He often spoke to her in this elder tone.
Yet sometimes the gestures overstepped the boundary between elder and junior.
Sinai slapped his hand away with anger in her heart, “Don’t touch my hair.”
Norton sensed her emotional outburst and his body tensed slightly.
“I’m sorry.” He was silent for a split second, his voice dropping, “But it’s really for your safety.”
Sinai didn’t respond.
She didn’t really want to pay attention to him.
The roast came up and the waiter brought two more drinks.
A soy milk and a fruit beer.
Sinai reached out, for the fruit beer, and once again was cut off.
Norton put the soya milk in front of her, “No alcohol.”
“It’s fruit beer, it’s actually soda.”
“With the word ‘beer’ in it.”
“……”
She couldn’t really communicate with this old fart.
Sinai still brought the fruit beer over.
He wasn’t really her elder, so why should she listen to him?
“You’re a bit grumpy today.” Norton looked at her, “Bad date?”
“I’m already grumpy.” Sinai looked even, “You mustn’t misunderstand anything.”
The roast was eaten in perfect silence.
When it was finished, Norton pointed to the wet wipes on the table, “Wipe your hands.”
Sinai remembered that he had disliked him quite a few times today, then praised him, “You’ll be a good father in the future.”
“Well, I wouldn’t actually mind if you-” Norton wrapped his arms around him, “Called me Daddy again.”
“……”
She really shouldn’t have said a kind word to him.
“And done with the midnight snack.” Sinai got up, “I’m leaving, you can go back by yourself.”
“It’s too late, I don’t know the way to the lab site.” Norton’s tone was diffident but unquestionable, “It’s not safe at night, go back to the villa and leave in the morning.”
Sinai glanced at him, “I think I’m quite safe.”
“Well, so, is the landlord going to keep the tenants safe?”
“……”
Sinai eventually made her way back to the cottage in the town.
Without saying another word to Norton, she went upstairs to her room.
After a brief shower, Sinai flopped down on her bed, her face buried in her pillow.
It had been a terrible day.
**
The next morning, Sinai woke up at six o’clock sharp.
She sat up, still a little confused.
Sinai scratched her hair and looked at her bedroom in confusion.
Since when did she have such a room?
That is, until there was a knock on the bedroom door.
“Awake?” The man’s voice was on the low side of cold, “Wash up and come down.”
Sinai was suddenly awake.
She then remembered that she had gone back to the townhouse last night.
What a nuisance.
Breakfast was sumptuous, with buns and congee, and a few plates of small dishes.
Life seemed like last year all over again.
Sinai took a bite of the meat bun, quietly rubbed her little tummy and sighed silently.
She felt like she was wasted from being fed.
“Eat more.” Norton flipped through the paper, “There’s more in the kitchen.”
“I’m already full.” Sinai put her chopsticks down.
Once again, she left the cottage as fast as she could.
**
The cosmic carrier experimental base.
Ying Ziyi’s office was on the seventh floor above ground.
She was hand-drawing the architecture diagram of the Cosmic Carrier.
The reason why cosmic carriers were difficult to build was because every step required a lot of measurement.
Now there is a great difficulty.
It was the difficulty in finding the overall material for the manufacture of the Cosmic Carrier.
Using only ordinary ores, I am afraid it would be difficult to withstand all other dangers such as violent turbulence and black holes in the universe.
Ying Ziji was also seriously thinking about what materials could be used to make the cosmic carrier perfect against the unknown dangers in the universe.
Because she had been to the Spirit Cultivation World, she clearly understood that even the top powerhouse of another universe could not explore the entirety of the universe.
There was a knock on the door, and a cold-sensitive voice rang out, “Boss.”
“Back?” Ying did not look up, still continuing to draw, “The door is unlocked, come in.”
Only then did Norton push open the door and walk in.
He looked around and raised an eyebrow when he saw that the kitchen, bedroom, study and other facilities were all there, “Boss, are you planning to settle in the experimental base permanently too?”
“Temporarily.” Ying put down his pen and stretched, “Forget about the fuel and engine, we have to make the shell first anyways.”
“Hmm.” Norton really didn’t understand the technology, “I hear you already have a child?”
“Yes.” Ying raised his eyes, “Eight months, if I don’t hear from you in a few more months, I’ll consider thinking about fishing you out of the alchemy world.”
“Not so much.” Norton said, “Ran into some troublesome things that have been resolved.”
The Magi are not omnipotent.
Apart from disasters, there are others who can threaten the Magi.
For example, there are ancient martial artists of the level of Feng Xiu, and the first alchemist of the alchemy world.
Ying Zidian nodded: “Your teacher?”
“Yes.” Norton said lightly, “Killed Demon and went deep into the alchemy world to find some rare materials that you should use for your experiments.”
He didn’t say any more, but spoke, “I want to see the two children.”
Ying Ziji looked at the time: “They’ve probably just woken up, I’ll call and ask.”
She dialed Su Wen’s number and the video call was quickly answered.
Normal babies don’t start crawling until they’re eight months old.
But Fu Xiaotuanzi was already crawling on the ground after a month.
Fearing that she might hurt herself, Su Wen had laid a layer of sponge on the floor.
In the video, Fu Xiaotuanzi gets up on her hands and knees and crawls slowly to the side of her brother.
She “babbles” happily and raises her chubby hand to slap Fu Changyu’s face.
Fu Qianyu was sleeping and was awakened by the slap.
He lifted his head expressionlessly and found his sister’s face close at hand.
Fu Xiaoyuanzi’s blue eyes opened wide in innocence, one little chubby hand propping up her soft face, while the other hand struggled to push the cradle.
After half a day of pushing, he started to kick it with his little foot.
Even though he kicked it, it didn’t move.
Fu Xiaotuanzi was a bit distressed.
So she used her whole body.
This almost knocked Fu Changyu out of the cradle.
Fu Shangyu, who was being tossed from side to side: “……”
He closed his eyes, resigning to his fate in general.
“Changle, don’t disturb brother.” Su Wen beckoned, “Mum is calling, say hello to her.”
Fu Xiaotuanzi’s eyes lit up and she scuffed and crawled to the phone.
She pointed to her chubby, soft tummy to show that she had eaten properly.
“Quite good and cute.” Norton commented in a rare moment, “Brother let you be, too lazy to move.”
“……”
Ying pointed to the door, “You can go out now.”
“I’ll see them in the empire next week.” Norton’s eyelashes dropped, “It just so happens that there’s not much going on these days.”
“You like kids?”
“No older than six, any older and they’re no fun.” Norton’s voice paused before adding, “And they have to be good looking and not malnourished.”
That way, it would be easier to play dress-up trivia.
“Is that why you bought clothes for my aunt?” Ying raised his eyebrows, “Ever considered retiring from university to become the director of a children’s home?”
“Nope.” Norton slouched, “One or two is fine, after more I’m afraid I’ll hit them when my temper gets the better of me.”
He got up and went out the door, taking out his phone.
The photo of Sinai getting smaller was still saved in his phone album.
Norton rubbed his chin and let out a tsk.
I’m afraid he’d be exhausted if he raised such a daughter.
Still, it did seem pretty cute.
**
The other side.
The third basement level.
Sinai found out what happened yesterday and even work couldn’t paralyze her anymore.
“Sinai-sensei.” Charlotte greeted, walking in cheerfully, “Good morning, are you not feeling well?”
“No, I wanted to ask you a question.”
“Ask!”
“What would he think if, I mean if-” Sinai, “you called someone who looked your age Dad?”
“Looking the same age as me?” Charlotte scratched her head, “So his actual age is?”
Sinai thought for a moment, “On the lower end of the scale, it’s over three hundred years old.”
“Then you shouldn’t be called Dad, Grandpa.”
“……”
Charlotte continued, “Think about it, a man who’s over three hundred years old, you call him dad, he must think you’re taking advantage of him.”
Sinai was silent.
She felt that she was the one who was being taken advantage of.
Charlotte was quite puzzled.
Then again, who was so old?
A hundred years old was going into the ground, what kind of absolute old bones were three hundred years old?
Sinai.
“Miss Sinai.” Not long after, another voice came, softly, “Sinai-sensei, I heard you didn’t go back to the experimental base yesterday and stayed outside?”
There were footsteps and a woman approached, wearing a white lab coat.
“What are you doing here?” Charlotte was alert, “Annie, aren’t you supposed to be following Celie?”
She had always known about Annie, someone who had gossiped a lot about Sinai behind her back.
Only it had never come out in the open.
Charlotte didn’t feel half as good about Annie.
Sinai looked up too, looking faint.
“I was trying to ask Miss Sinai to teach us how to seduce two men.” Anne didn’t pay any attention to Charlotte as she looked at Sinai with a slight smile, “Did you really do the results of your last experiment yourself?”
Her mouth curved even wider at the corners, “Don’t sell your body for it, do you?”