Hua Zhao hesitated for a long time before finally getting into the sleeping bag. She didn’t close her eyes for a while. In the darkness, she heard Qiqi turn over and felt the little one in his sleeping bag quietly move closer. Hua Zhao smiled to herself. Forget it. Being too deliberately distant would make Qiqi unhappy. She would just go with the flow.
Hua Zhao got up quietly, careful not to wake the little boy beside her. The cameraman was allowed into the tent and couldn’t help but smile at Pei Qiqi, who was sleeping like a little pig. The cool little one usually acted like a little adult, but when asleep, he looked like a four-year-old, incredibly adorable.
“There’s a wake-up task,” the cameraman said briefly.
Hua Zhao had no choice but to wake Pei Qiqi.
When he woke up, Pei Qiqi first said, “Good morning, Auntie.”
Then he saw the camera. His cheeks were flushed, and his hair was slightly damp.
Pei Qiqi blinked and said, “Hello.”
And then he was back to being the cool little one again. Pei Qiqi got up quickly, put on his clothes, grabbed his task card, and headed out of the tent to start his mission. It was his first time doing a solo task. Hua Zhao was worried and followed behind him in her coat.
“Qiqi, don’t be scared,” she encouraged from her tent.
Pei Qiqi nodded and ran to Youyou’s tent first.
“Youyou, are you awake?” Pei Qiqi stood up straight, a little shy.
A soft little voice came from inside, followed by quick footsteps: “Brother Qiqi!”
The little guy, who was very regular with his sleep schedule, had been awake for a while, but his big brother was still asleep. He had been bored, playing with his toes on the bed and reading his specimen book over and over. The little guy appeared on camera with a mess of curly hair, his face flushed from sleep, his eyes round and bright.
“Youyou, good morning. Do you want me to help you get dressed?” Pei Qiqi stepped forward and was pulled into the tent.
“Brother Qiqi, Big Brother isn’t up yet,” the little guy said, shaking his head as he put on his own clothes.
Pei Qiqi remembered his task: he had to wake up the grown-ups too.
So the two little ones leaned over Shen Yan and started calling out: “Big Brother, wake up!”
“Shen Yan, wake up! The sun is already up!”
Shen Yan half-opened one eye. Good, usually only one little one was making noise, but today there were two. They were determined not to let him sleep in. Shen Yan was very familiar with Pei Xu. The two little ones often played together. He pulled his arm out of the sleeping bag, grabbed one of the little guy’s blankets, and covered both little ones, easily trapping them in his arms.
“Sleep a little longer with your brother, okay?”
Shen Yan’s long limbs were strong, easily rendering the two little ones powerless.
“Ugh, Big Brother, get up!” The little guy refused to give up, wriggling his head against Shen Yan’s chest.
Pei Qiqi didn’t dare move, staring wide-eyed at Shen Yan: “Shen Yan, I, I still have to do my task.”
The little guy had already scrambled up to Shen Yan’s chest, grabbed his brother’s pec, and slapped his other hand, his little palm landing squarely on Shen Yan’s chin.
“Ow! Su Youli, are you trying to kill your big brother?”
Shen Yan sat up, grabbed one in each hand, and dangled them in the air like they were on a rocking chair. He held them by their waistbands, and the two little ones flailed their arms and legs in the air.
“Big Brother, this is so much fun!” The little guy was thrilled to have such an exciting morning activity.
Pei Qiqi shook his head, trying to control his body, and finally turned to face Su Youli. The little guy immediately reached out to grab him, and their small hands quickly clasped together as they played happily. Shen Yan was speechless. These two were having a great time.
Now that he was fully awake, he sat up like a boss and gave orders: “Youyou, help Big Brother put on his shoes. Big Brother is too tired.”
“Okay!”
“Qiqi, help me put on my jacket.”
“Okay.”
Shen Yan enjoyed being waited on by his two little servants without any guilt. After successfully waking Shen Yan, Pei Qiqi took Su Youli’s hand to wake the others. Mi Huan and Wang Zhi were already awake, letting their younger siblings sleep a little longer. Everyone was camping in such a beautiful forest. The air was so fresh. Mi Le had trouble waking up. Mi Huan patted his bottom, but he just grumbled and turned over. Mi Huan shrugged, handing the task of waking Mi Le to Pei Qiqi and Youyou.
The two little ones were full of energy, leaning close to his ear and shouting: “Lele, wake up! Lele, wake up!”
Mi Le didn’t even move. The two little ones looked at each other, ran outside to find a blade of grass, and tickled Mi Le’s face. Mi Le scratched his face, then his ears were tickled, then his feet.
“Brother, mosquitoes are biting me! This is so annoying!”
He sat up angrily, calling for his brother. But instead of his brother, he saw his two friends, who were covering their mouths and giggling. Most of his morning grumpiness faded away. What kid wouldn’t love waking up to see their friends? Mi Le dressed quickly and came out of the tent with his friends.
The three little ones didn’t rush into Niu Niu’s tent. They stood in a row, cupped their hands around their mouths, and shouted: “Niu Niu, wake up!”
Niu Niu jumped, startled. She crawled to the tent entrance, poked her head out, saw her friends, and went back inside to get dressed. The ‘Treasure Hunt Team’ assembled, each brushing their teeth. Their brushing styles varied: some brushed thoroughly, some brushed quickly and rinsed. After washing up and eating breakfast, they walked along the stream and saw some birds drinking water. They hadn’t seen the deer or foxes from the promotional video. Youyou was disappointed, looking back at the forest longingly as they packed up.
“When we came, the deer and foxes hid,” Pei Qiqi whispered.
The little guy didn’t understand why they would hide.
“Animals have a strong sense of smell. They can smell things that don’t belong in the forest. With so many of us, they must have smelled us and hidden, afraid we might hurt them.”
Animals are afraid of humans. The little guy didn’t want the animals to be scared. He stopped searching for them and followed the group out of Lake Ehuli Forest.
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el On AITFYMIBP Chapter 106