There are no dolphins on the grassland either.

…

But who wouldn’t want to ride a dolphin?

Luo Chi desperately wanted to learn. He squatted on the ground, hugging his stuffed hiking bag, and stared at him without blinking.

Stared at by those sparkling eyes, Ming Weiting also felt a little nervous. He coughed lightly, the back of his ears growing warm.

He squatted down too and asked Huo Miao in a low voice, “Want to learn?”

Luo Chi nodded rapidly.

Ming Weiting couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief and then smiled. “Then it’s settled.”

He pressed on Huo Miao’s hair, ruffling it gently a couple of times. He took the peach candy Huo Miao offered, unwrapped it, and handed it to him.

Luo Chi was still thinking about the dolphins. Smelling the familiar peach scent, he blinked and came back to his senses. “That was for you.”

“I know,” Ming Weiting nodded. “We’ll eat them together, one for each of us.”

Luo Chi loved that idea. His eyes curved as he bent down to take the candy with his mouth. Then, he copied the action, unwrapping the other candy and handing it to Ming Weiting.

When Ren Shuangmei returned after packing, she saw the two boys nestled on the sofa, looking at the travel guide together.

Ming Weiting had studied it all night and had looked up a lot of related information, so he was already very familiar with its contents.

Young Master Ming was already acting very much like an older brother. With one hand supporting the injury on Huo Miao’s waist and propping him up with a cushion, he used the other to slowly turn the pages, telling him in a low voice about the sights and stories inside.

The living room had large stained-glass windows, the colors of which Ren Shuangmei had let Huo Miao help choose two years ago. When the curtains were drawn, sunlight filtered through the colorful panes, bathing the entire room in soft, mystical hues.

A gentle blue light fell quietly, landing right on the edge of the sofa.

The two boys, each with a candy in their mouth making their cheeks bulge slightly, wore matching casual outfits and whispered to each other.

…

They looked perfectly in sync.

Ren Shuangmei, who was just about to contact Yan Yu, saw this scene and decisively took out her phone to snap a picture.

Luo Chi noticed the movement and looked up. His eyes lit up when he saw his mom, and he hopped off the sofa, pulling Ming Weiting over with him.

His hiking bag looked stuffed to the brim, but it wasn’t heavy at all. After all, it was mostly filled with potato chips, shrimp crackers, and crispy noodles, which took up a lot of space but had little weight.

Even so, Ming Weiting took the bag, slung it over his own shoulder, and walked with Luo Chi to Ren Shuangmei. “Ma’am.”

Ren Shuangmei ruffled Huo Miao’s head, pulled the boy closer, and blinked with a smile. “Shouldn’t you call me ‘Auntie’?”

Hearing this, Luo Chi’s eyes suddenly brightened. He looked up at his mom, then at Ming Weiting.

When his mom first brought him back, Luo Chi had always called her Auntie.

Back then, he often had nightmares, and those dreams were much more terrifying than the ones he had now. Nine times out of ten, he would scream “Auntie” uncontrollably in his dreams and wake up in a cold sweat.

The most mysterious part was that every single time, Auntie would rush in at once and hold him tightly in her arms.

When Huo Miao couldn’t sleep, Auntie would stay awake with him. The big one and the little one would hold hands and spend half the night looking at the moon, playing with water, strolling along the beach, eating barbecue, and listening to music at a bar.

The bars by the sea weren’t as lively as those in the city, especially at night when there were few tourists. The regulars were all familiar faces, each with their own reason for not wanting to go home, for not wanting to sleep.

Led by his auntie, little Luo Chi would sit in a corner, lost in thought over his “wine” glass. He’d learn to sip the cup dry like an adult, and after returning home, washing up, he’d fall right asleep.

After more than half a year of this, he finally learned that the full name of the drink in his glass was “Specially Mixed Non-Alcoholic Yakult-Wahaha,” and its ingredients were Yakult and Wahaha.

…

If this had only happened once or twice, it would have been fine, but Luo Chi was constantly being startled awake from nightmares back then, which always disturbed his auntie’s rest. He actually felt incredibly guilty about it. Every night before bed, he would repeatedly remind himself to endure it and not bother her, even if he had a nightmare.

But every time before he fell asleep, his auntie would also repeatedly tell him how grateful she was that Huo Miao was willing to do this.

Auntie told him that because Huo Miao believed Auntie was a hero, Auntie became a hero.

The two of them often walked for most of the night, and the moon would be high in the sky by the time they returned to their room. Auntie would hold him and rock him gently, singing “The moon is bright, the wind is still,” and just as he was about to fall asleep, she would stroke the top of his head and teach him softly.

Auntie taught him that whenever he was scared, sad, or couldn’t find his way home, he should just scream “Auntie” with all his might, and no matter where he was, Auntie would definitely come to get him.

…

As the two talked more and more, Luo Chi gradually stopped hiding or avoiding his past, and he had openly shared all of this with Ming Weiting.

“Auntie” was the most powerful magic spell in Luo Chi’s heart back then. Whenever he was scared, as long as he shouted it, no matter where he was taken or locked up, Auntie would fight her way through and hold his hand tightly.

Ming Weiting clenched his fist slightly. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked in a low voice, “Would it be offensive?”

On the ship, everyone who came and went was polite to the Ming family. Likewise, the Ming family was courteous but distant with outsiders, never getting too close to any one faction.

Ming Weiting had grown up in such an environment and originally had a similar personality. He never felt uncomfortable with it, but it wasn’t until just now that he realized he very much wanted to call her “Auntie” along with Huo Miao.

Once they were flown to that grassland and met his mother, he wanted to learn from Huo Miao too, to be able to call out “Mom” openly.

“Of course not,” Ren Shuangmei laughed. “I would be especially happy—and if one day, Yan Yu hears someone call her ‘Mom,’ she will surely be even happier.”

As if she knew what Ming Weiting was thinking, she said this in a gentle voice, meeting the boy’s startled dark eyes with a smiling blink.

“What are you hesitating for?” Ren Shuangmei told him softly. “She’s your mom.”

Even on the car ride to the airport, Ming Weiting kept repeating these two words to himself.

Life on shore was indeed very different from life at sea.

They were driving on the coastal highway. There was hardly any traffic, and the clean asphalt road was wide and flat, considered the best kind of road condition.

But halfway there, Luo Chi still noticed something was off with Ming Weiting.

He gently touched Ming Weiting’s hand and asked in a whisper, “Not feeling well?”

Today, the driver was driving, and Ren Shuangmei was in the passenger seat looking at a contract. Hearing the boy’s voice, she also turned around.

Ming Weiting paused, then shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

He had looked it up beforehand and knew this condition was carsickness, similar to how many passengers who were new to ships and not used to sea travel would get seasick.

Ming Weiting had lived on a ship since he was a child. When he got on land, he would actually experience slight dizziness and discomfort. The doctor said this was normal because his body had adapted to the ship’s balance system, so it wasn’t used to the stillness of the ground.

On top of that, riding in a car and watching the scenery fly backward multiplied that not-severe-but-hard-to-ignore dizziness.

Ming Weiting had always been in good health, and a certain degree of carsickness didn’t really affect him much. It was only because Luo Chi was so sensitive to his state that he noticed it at a glance.

“Are you really okay?” Ren Shuangmei asked. “Should we stop the car and rest for a bit?”

They had left early to allow time for security checks and any potential issues, so even if they were delayed on the road for a while, they would still make it.

Ming Weiting shook his head. “Really.”

Huo Miao also turned around, held his wrist, and reached out with a serious expression to feel his forehead.

Ming Weiting proactively lowered his head, letting Luo Chi’s palm touch him, allowing Huo Miao to check that he indeed didn’t have a fever or a cold sweat.

“I want to adapt faster,” Ming Weiting explained. “I will be coming ashore more often in the future.”

Huo Miao was on shore.

Mom and Auntie were on shore too.

Luo Chi helped him lower the window on his side, then fumbled in his pocket and found two sour lemon-flavored candies. He unwrapped one and touched it to his lips.

Ming Weiting ate the sour candy with him, and the drowsy, dizzy feeling did indeed lessen quite a bit.

He held the candy in his mouth, thought in silence for a while, and then said in a low voice, “When Mother gets seasick, it must feel much worse than this.”

“You only need to get used to one side,” Luo Chi suggested quietly. “I’ll ride in the car with you, we can train together.”

Ming Weiting nodded, gave him a light fist bump, and then asked Huo Miao, “You don’t get carsick?”

Luo Chi shook his head. “As long as I look out the window, it’s fine.”

Ming Weiting did as he said and looked out the window. After a while, he said, “It’s different from the sea.”

Luo Chi thought about it carefully and nodded. “The sea is vast, so it doesn’t seem to change much. The land has more reference points that are always moving, so the feeling is more obvious.”

He leaned over to look out the car window with Ming Weiting and taught him to look at the more distant scenery that didn’t change as much.

Ming Weiting focused on learning. Noticing that Luo Chi’s twisted posture was uncomfortable, he put an arm around his waist and back, letting Huo Miao lean against him.

Ren Shuangmei didn’t disturb them. Seeing the two boys, who were now stuck together again after talking for a bit, she smiled faintly and quietly turned back around, relieved.

…

The road wasn’t very long, and with no traffic jams, they arrived smoothly at the airport fifteen minutes later.

When her work was previously centered abroad, Ren Shuangmei had gone through a period of almost constantly flying back and forth, so she was extremely familiar with the process.

This time was both a business trip and a vacation with the two boys. Ren Shuangmei didn’t bring an assistant. She had Luo Chi wait with Ming Weiting in the lounge area while she deftly handled ticket collection, ID verification, and luggage check-in.

When she returned to the lounge, Luo Chi was quite professionally mixing a “drink” for Ming Weiting.

The Ming family’s child indeed seemed very unaccustomed to car rides.

It wasn’t obvious on the road, but once they arrived, the dizziness fully hit him. He was a bit unsteady on his feet and his face was pale. He only felt better after Luo Chi led him to the restroom to wash his face with cold water.

Now, Ming Weiting was in his seat, leaning against the large, snack-filled hiking bag, resting in a half-awake, half-drowsy state.

It would still be a while before the security check for the flight. Ren Shuangmei had nothing to do, so she watched her own child concoct his medicine. “Is he really okay?”

Luo Chi was also worried and had already given Ming Weiting a thorough check-up. He was quite experienced in this area and, knowing the situation, nodded. He then stood on his toes and whispered a few words to his mom.

Ren Shuangmei raised an eyebrow slightly, coughed to hold back a smile, and looked at the glass in Huo Miao’s hand: a special mix of iced, non-alcoholic Yakult, Wahaha, and peach-flavored popping candy.

…Putting knowledge into practice.

This was another piece of experience Luo Chi had learned from his mother.

Back when he was at the bar, he firmly believed the glass in his hand contained alcohol, and after drinking it, he really did feel dizzy and sleepy, falling asleep as soon as he got home and washed up, sleeping until dawn.

Luo Chi added two more sour lemon candies, then walked over to Ming Weiting with his hands behind his back, produced a shaker, and performed a couple of tricks with it.

As expected, Ming Weiting’s attention was drawn. He roused himself and sat up. “You know how to mix drinks.”

“A little,” Luo Chi told him. “This one is a special cure for carsickness, and it works particularly well.”

Ming Weiting had seen plenty of flair bartending, but even without the firm filter of idol worship, it wasn’t hard to see that Luo Chi’s technique was actually quite skilled. Even if they were just the most basic moves, it was far beyond “a little.”

Huo Miao gave him a formal bow, one hand behind his back. With his right hand, he expertly flipped the bottle, passed it to his other hand, and set it upright—the shaker seemed to fly in his hands.

Attracted by the display, Ming Weiting propped himself up on his arms and sat straight, watching the cool moves.

Luo Chi grasped the shaker firmly, brought his hands to a steady stop, and presented the poured drink to him. “A special cure for carsickness. It’s an exclusive recipe.”

Ming Weiting said his thanks, took the paper cup, and slowly took a couple of sips.

Huo Miao watched him with sparkling eyes. “Can you tell what’s in it?”

“Yakult,” Ming Weiting thought for a moment. “A sweet and sour dairy drink, peach candy.”

He savored it carefully, closed his eyes to recall the taste. “Lemon candy, rainbow popping candy, and about an ounce of ice.”

Luo Chi’s eyes widened in astonishment.

It was Ming Weiting’s first time tasting this recipe. He committed it to memory and inquired of Huo Miao, “Can it cure carsickness?”

Luo Chi was no longer so sure himself. “…Can it?”

Ming Weiting carefully assessed his condition and found that it had indeed improved quite a bit.

He had absolute faith in Huo Miao. He nodded and drank the rest of the drink in one gulp. “It can.”

“I’m not dizzy anymore,” Young Master Ming asked. “How much is this recipe worth? Can we purchase the license to offer it to seasick passengers on our ships?”