Chapter 534: The Two Children Who Refuse to Get Off the Train

Lu Cheng scratched his head; the little boy finally spoke, his voice a babyish tone, but his diction was clear.

But the child's words about looking for his father made Lu Cheng shake his head.

What kind of parent is that, unable to watch even a child, so irresponsible.

At the same time, Lu Cheng had a doubt: the child couldn't read.

"Then how do you two know this is a train bound for Capital City?"

The little boy hadn't spoken yet when the pigtail‑haired girl spoke first, though not to Lu Cheng.

"Guoguo, he's so dumb, ha."

The little boy hissed, signaling not to speak carelessly.

But Lu Cheng was inexplicably called out, and couldn't help but frown.

Waving his hand toward the girl, he said, "Come, come, come, you seem chatty; come over and tell me how I'm dumb. If you can't say it, I'll throw you out."

Lu Cheng's tone was somewhat stern, frightening the girl into hiding behind the boy.

The little boy stepped forward, spreading his arms, clearly intending to protect the girl.

"You mustn't scare my sister; she's still young."

That sentence made Lu Cheng laugh; from this brief exchange it was clear they were a pair of Dragon-Phoenix Twins.

Since they're Dragon-Phoenix Twins, they must have been born one after the other; though they're the same size, she says the sister is still younger.

Lu Cheng understood the boy's meaning; it was simply out of protection for his sister that he involuntarily said that.

It reminded Lu Cheng of his own childhood, when his older brother had protected him in the same way.

He couldn't help feeling a hint of admiration for the boy in front of him; at least when his sister was being bullied, he could stand up bravely.

Perhaps because of the brother's protection, the girl hiding behind became a bit bolder, poking her head out and speaking in a babyish tone.

"Grandma said, there's a mouth under the nose; I asked it out. Don't you have a mouth?"

Hey, they're not old, but their speech is so choking.

Lu Cheng, with his short temper, brushed his sleeve as if to reprimand, but after the girl finished speaking she hid behind her brother, while the boy kept his arms spread.

The two children moved nimbly; when Lu Cheng reached out to grab, he couldn't catch them, it felt more like playing an eagle‑catch‑chick game with the kids.

Annoyed, Lu Cheng simply gave up and threatened, "You two be honest with me; at the next stop I'll drop you off and let your adults pick you up."

Sure enough, this time had a great effect, even better than previously saying he'd throw them out.

The little boy stood there: "Sorry, Uncle, my sister is a bit mischievous, she didn't mean it; please don't send us off the train."

Hearing the boy's sincere apology, Lu Cheng's mood eased considerably.

"That attitude early on would have been enough, but you still have to get off the train. Sneaking onto a train is something else; I haven't even asked you to pay the fare, letting you ride for free this long is already good enough."

The girl stuck her head out again: "We're kids; we don't need to buy tickets!"

Lu Cheng inhaled; after an afternoon of silence, the conversation started up again.

The boy's temperament was the opposite: "Uncle, please, don't force us off the train; take us to Capital City."

Lu Cheng shook his head slightly; first, he disagreed, and second, faced with the boy's pleading, he felt a bit helpless.

"Missing your father?"

Lu Cheng guessed that the children's father probably worked in Capital City.

Sure enough, the two children nodded.

"Hmm? Then why doesn't Mom take you? It's far from Capital City; aren't you afraid of meeting bad people who might sell you?"

The boy pursed his lips: "My mother is too busy; she doesn't want to take my sister and me to find Dad, and she won't let us go looking for him."

Lu Cheng thought how long it must have been since they last saw him, that the two kids missed their father so much.

But not letting the children see their father is a bit incomprehensible.

Probably because of work, fearing the children would disturb their father's duties.

Lu Cheng asked again: "What does your father do for work in Capital City?"

This time the boy fell silent for a moment, his little face twisted in a conflicted expression, as if he didn't know.

Lu Cheng raised an eyebrow; after all, the child was too young to even know what his father does for work.

"Then there's nothing I can do. Even if Uncle wanted to take you to Capital City to find Dad, I don't even know his workplace, how could I take you there!"

Lu Cheng lay down on the Iron Bunk Bed, casually pulling the blanket over himself.

"So at the next stop, just get off the train honestly, and wait for your family to pick you up…"

The little boy stood there, bowing his head, as if straining to recall.

The girl beside him leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Guoguo, Dad flies planes."

The boy's eyes lit up, remembering that last time he and his sister argued about looking for Dad.

At that moment a plane flew overhead, and Mom said Dad was already up in the sky watching them.

Back then he and his sister were hopping, waving excitedly at the plane.

"Hmm, my dad is a pilot; I said it out loud, Uncle can take me to Capital City now."

Lu Cheng didn't respond; now that he's a pilot, it made sense.

Being in the military and often flying, it's normal for him to be away from family often.

Indeed, the two kids are pitiful; they probably hardly see each other even once a year.

Lu Cheng gestured to the adjacent bunk, telling them to go to sleep, then closed his eyes.

After a while without any movement, Lu Cheng lifted his eyelids and was startled again.

The two children stood at the bedside, staring straight at him like guardians of a spirit.

"You two aren't scaring anyone! Ah, hurry and go to sleep…"

The girl spoke first: "Uncle, you still haven't agreed to take us to find Dad."

The boy nodded: "Right, if you agree, I'll give you a candy."

Saying that, the boy pulled a White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket.

The girl continued: "Guoguo and I couldn't bring ourselves to eat it; we saved it especially for dad."

Lu Cheng was momentarily quite moved; for a child, a single candy is the most precious thing.

What was originally meant to be kept for dad is now willingly offered to share with him.

But Lu Cheng didn't accept: "Then just keep it for your dad; this is not up for discussion, you must get off at the next stop."

Lu Cheng thought it was funny; with two kids whose teeth aren't even all grown in, what's there to negotiate?

So Lu Cheng didn't want to deal with them any further, pulled the blanket over himself and prepared to sleep.

The Bunk Car was quiet for a while; a few minutes later, Lu Cheng finally heard movement from the neighboring bunk.

He cracked open an eye and looked over, only to see the boy cradling his sister onto the bunk, then pulling the blanket over and spreading it slowly, half draped over his sister.

Then the boy also took off his shoes and slept beside her.

Perhaps because he was so young, such simple actions exhausted the boy.

Lu Cheng was quite surprised; he hadn't expected the boy to be so caring toward his sister.

He just thought about it casually, then Lu Cheng closed his eyes and fell asleep.

When dawn was near and he was about to wake, he opened his eyes again and saw that the two children, having not slept properly, had their blanket fallen onto the floor.