Electronic Nezha

Chapter 104 Happy
Aunt Xu and her son Hao Hao were well-known in the neighborhood; they could easily find out their exact location by asking anyone.

It was a middle unit on the first floor, the only one without a security door, so it was easy to find.

There were two pairs of shoes placed at the door, one big and one small.

I knocked on the door, and for some reason, I felt a strange hope that Aunt Xu and the others weren't home.

Footsteps approached, and Aunt Xu opened the door.

"Is this... Mr. Liu?" Perhaps because few people usually come to visit, Aunt Xu seemed even more uneasy than I was. She paused for a moment before letting me in.

This is a 50-square-meter two-bedroom apartment. Forget about a living room; there isn't one. One room is empty, while in the other, a large bed is placed horizontally, and a small bed is placed vertically. There's a small dining table where a mother and son are eating. Hao Hao is sitting on a small stool, holding a spoon in his hand. His expression clearly changed when he saw me.

"What's this, Mr. Liu?" Aunt Xu didn't let me into their dining room, but greeted me in the lobby. She probably thought I could finish what I wanted to say in a minute or two, like I had some cardboard boxes or something to give her.

"Aunt Xu, I need to talk to you about something." I slowly made my way to their room.

"Oh, then Mr. Liu, please have a seat."

Everything in the room was limited to two people, including the small stools. I had no choice but to sit on the edge of the big bed. The quilt was folded neatly, and the sheets and covers reminded me of the furnishings in my childhood home. Aunt Xu sat on her own small bed, with Hao Hao in between.

"Haohao, you eat yours." Aunt Xu saw that Haohao had stopped eating and looked a little strange. She smiled at me and said, "It seems he recognizes you. He usually doesn't care if there's thunder in the sky while he's eating."

Hao Hao had no choice but to start stuffing rice into his mouth with a spoon again. He had a large metal plate as his rice bowl, with rice and stir-fried celery, and very little meat, all of which was on Hao Hao's plate. Aunt Xu herself used a small bowl. Just by looking at the tableware, you would definitely think that this was a strong single father living alone with a little girl. Aunt Xu had only said it casually, but seeing that Hao Hao seemed to have taken it to heart, she couldn't help but give him another look.

"What does Mr. Liu want with me?"

"It's... about Hao Hao."

Aunt Xu hesitated for a moment and said, "Did you notice a lump on his body while he was taking a bath?"

"No."

"Did the neighborhood committee send you?"

"street?"

“The people on the street said that Hao Hao can apply for free orphanage care in his case. If that’s the case, please thank them for me. Hao Hao doesn’t need to go; it’s not like he doesn’t have a mother.”

"Not at all."

Aunt Xu's expression suddenly turned much colder: "Just tell me, are you going to take Hao Hao away from me?"

"Uh……"

Before I could even finish my hesitation, Aunt Xu said, "Then there's no need to say anything. Throughout my life, there have always been people who have advised me to get rid of him and start my own life anew. When I was young, my mother advised me, and now that I'm middle-aged, relatives and friends have advised me. I cut ties with anyone who says such things. Hao Hao is an idiot, and people think he's a burden to me, but he's my own flesh and blood. It's good that we, mother and son, depend on each other."

Hao Hao stuck the spoon into the rice, not daring to lift his eyes even slightly.

"Has Aunt Xu ever read time-travel novels?" To ask that at this moment, I'm a real genius, but I honestly don't know where to begin.

Who is Kawagoe?

That's the problem. Aunt Xu is seriously out of touch with the times. My mom is much older than her, and if pushed too far, she'll use QR code payment. My mom has never read time-travel novels, but if you ask her why, she'll tell you what's so interesting about them, that they're just made up. At least she understands the meaning of the word "time travel".

"So what do you think about aliens invading Earth?" Surely she doesn't not know this; she's not so old that she hasn't even seen a science fiction movie.

Aunt Xu's next reaction was to look at me hesitantly, and then at Hao Hao hesitantly. Did she think that the idiot had infected me?

"Boss Liu, I haven't cooked much, so I won't keep you any longer—" This was the truth, meaning: Get out.

Hao Hao said, "Mom, let Feng finish what he has to say."

Aunt Xu stared in astonishment.

At that moment, I felt so stupid. I should have taken Hao Hao's spoon away as soon as I walked in and made him talk to Aunt Xu!

"Haohao?" Aunt Xu stood up mechanically. "Was that you speaking just now?" "Mom, it was me."

Aunt Xu stood there speechless for a long time before finally saying, "Call me again."

"mom!"

The scene of mother and son embracing and crying that I had imagined did not occur. Aunt Xu suddenly ran over, grabbed my arm, and shouted, "Boss Liu, did you see that? My son can call me 'Mom' now!"

I sighed and said, "That's what I wanted to tell you."

However, Aunt Xu didn't hear anything I said. What she had just said was just her proud outburst as a mother. She slowly walked up to Hao Hao, carefully looked at her son, and patted his firm chest twice, as if she were questioning him angrily but also asking with concern: "When did this happen?"

Hao Hao said, "It's been a while."

"Yeah, it probably started after you stopped wetting the bed. I've been saying I felt like you'd changed lately. The other day, your bicycle almost tipped over, and you caught it from behind. And the other day, you plopped down on the snow, and when I went over, I found an unwanted cardboard box underneath you. And that other day..."

Hao Hao said, "Mom, Brother Feng is still here."

Aunt Xu turned around abruptly, her gaze towards me filled with wariness and fear: "How long have you known Hao Hao?"

Of course I knew what "acquainted" meant, and said, "I met you when I went to Ya Xiange for dinner that day."

What did you do to Hao Hao?

"He ate a chip that should have belonged to me—a chip is...high technology!"

"I understand, you work in sales for a pharmaceutical company."

"No, I sell fruit, you know that, but selling fruit is just my cover."

"Actually, it's a pharmaceutical company?"

"No..." How am I supposed to explain this to an old lady who doesn't understand "time travel"? What did people say before this word existed?
Finally, I said, "Aunt Xu, do you think current medical technology can cure Hao Hao's brain?"

"It can't be cured..." Aunt Xu seemed to be lost in some bad memories. "The day the doctor said it couldn't be cured, I never saw Hao Hao's father again."

"So I'm using technology from the future. 75 years from now, humanity will face annihilation, and I've returned from that time, using the technology of that era..."

"Oh, you mean a time tunnel?"

I clapped my hands! Look at the consequences of watching short videos every day, look how impoverished your language skills have become!
"Yes! Just think of me as someone who came back from a time tunnel. My responsibility is to save the Earth."

Aunt Xu looked at me and said, "Did the Earth's leader send someone like you back to save the Earth?" It didn't sound like a compliment...

However, Aunt Xu remained unmoved. She looked at Hao Hao and said, "Boss Liu, no matter who you are, I am grateful to you for curing Hao Hao."

"Don't thank me yet, Aunt Xu. There's something I need to explain to you—the reason Hao Hao can act like a normal person now is all because of the chip in his stomach. He has no memories of his past. To put it simply, there's a completely new person living in Hao Hao's body. He... doesn't actually know you."

Aunt Xu interrupted me, saying, "Whether he recognizes me or not, I'm still his mother. As long as he can run and jump and live like a normal person, I'll be happy—is he in danger?"

"what?"

"Don't you have a mission? Your helping Hao Hao must mean you're short-handed. Is your mission dangerous?"

“Danger,” I said.

"Hao Hao, would you like to go?"

Hao Hao said firmly, "I'm willing!"

Aunt Xu said, "I have conditions." She held Hao Hao's hand and said, "In the future, when you are not busy with tasks, you should try to eat and drink to your heart's content, do more things that make you happy, and make up for all the suffering you have endured over the years."

(End of this chapter)