Chapter 369, Homecoming

"We really have to go back."

Sa Chiko stood beside the pillar in front of the ticket gate where she had first welcomed the two back home, and muttered with an expression of disappointment.

Shuichi was standing next to her, saying “Okay, okay” to Sachiko, who looked obviously lonely.

After all, the originally scheduled stay period has passed, and the house in Tokyo cannot be left empty forever, so Zhuo and the others have decided to return there...which is their current home.

As expected, Zero was in front of Sayachiko's reluctant gaze. Sayachiko seemed reluctant to part with her lovely daughter (expected).

"I'm sorry, I have things to do over there, and I have other arrangements..."

"Don't pay attention to what my mom said. If you keep listening to her, the sun will set soon..."

"Ha! The Lord God finally got my son back. Who was that person before?"

"I will return this sentence to my mother exactly as it was said. Who told you to prioritize your lovely daughter over your own son?"

"Hehe, that's obvious. Compared to a son who has been treated well for more than a decade and still speaks ill of his parents, of course you should keep a well-behaved and sensible daughter who you don't know when you'll see again."

After hearing this upright rebuttal, Zhuo was too tired to complain.

Although Zhuo understood what Sha Qianzi wanted to express, he felt mentally exhausted and thought that what Sha Qianzi did was not appropriate.

Zhuo secretly glanced at Xiuyi. An expression that said "it's right to listen to your mother" appeared on his face, so there was no way he could expect him to help him speak.

Zero stood there unable to get a word in, but perhaps she didn't even think about interrupting, as her calm eyes kept silently watching the mother and son.

"However, if I have the chance, I will definitely come back to play r..."

"Really? Then why don't we come again during the summer vacation? Or spring break? Anyway, you can come whenever you want! You can come anytime!"

"You let me talk till the end... But, let's just leave it like this for now. What do you think, Zero?"

"Ah."

Zhuo stroked Ling's hair, and she lowered her head slightly and simply let Zhuo touch her. Sa Chiko looked at them with a grin, and Zhuo turned his head away, pretending not to know.

"Then it's settled. I hope Romanov likes our family. To be honest, I was wondering what we should do if he's always too polite."

"She is just like that. I also think it's because her mom is too positive. Zero never had a chance to be polite. It's all thanks to her strong adaptability."

"Haha, that's right. Regardless of whether she's good or bad, Sa Chiko is very tough after all."

"...Are you two insulting me?"

"I think that's Sa Chiko's strength, and that's what attracts me."

"oops--"

"So pretentious."

Seeing Sa Chiko's sudden change from being upset to smiling, Zhuo put on a helpless expression and muttered to himself. But when his mother found out, she frowned and turned to Ling and asked, "Is it really okay to have a child like this, Ling-chan?"

Zhuo could only smile bitterly, then looked up at the clock on the wall of the station.

"Then it's time for us to set off."

"Well, it's almost time..."

Because they wanted to take a seat earlier, they had to say goodbye even though they were reluctant. The parents seemed to understand this. Sa Chiko said with regret, "Zero-chan, come again next time." Zero turned around solemnly and bowed deeply in response.

As for Shuichi, he looked at Zhuo who was watching those things on the side with a gentle gaze, and then looked back at Sa Chiko.

"Romanov, thank you for coming this time. I'm happy that our home has become more lively."

"I am grateful for your care."

"Huhu. If you have a quarrel with Zhuo, just say "I want to go back and complain" and run over here."

"Hey, why did you use the word 'escape'? Is it possible to be so exaggerated?"

Zhuo expressed his disappointment to his father Shuichi with his eyes, and what responded to Zhuo was his father's hearty smile.

"There will always be misunderstandings and disagreements... and there will also be times when you want to be alone or rely on adults. If anything happens, you can always come back. We will always welcome you."

"……it is good."

This time, the person who answered first was Zero.

Hearing the words "You can come back anytime", Zero's azure eyes blinked irregularly, but he responded the next moment.

Zhuo was also happy to see Ling sincerely express her desire to really like this place.

(…I wonder if this will help her understand a little bit about the happiness of family.)
Although Zhuo had never deliberately thought about forcing Ling to "make up for his childhood", he thought it would be great if Ling, who was almost sold by his family twice when he was young, could understand and feel the various happiness that belonged to their people from now on.

Seeing Ian's reserved face with lowered eyebrows, Zhuo also smiled kindly and gently held her hand.

……

The first thing I did the next day after returning home was cleaning.

On the day he got home, Zhuo felt very tired and put the matter aside. However, after the house had been empty for more than two weeks, many places in the room had accumulated dust. Although the accumulation was not much, considering that Ling would also stay in this house, it would be better to clean it as early as possible.

So, Zhuo started cleaning the house with Ling's help.

Well that was a lie, in reality there was zero help in cleaning most of the rooms with 'as much' help as possible from Zhuo.

Despite this, Zhuo followed Ling's instructions and just did some simple cleaning as directed, making the house tidy again.

This time there was only a little dust on the furniture, so it didn't take much time to clean up.

Zhuo deftly wiped off the dust on the furniture, used a vacuum cleaner to remove the ash, wiped the glass by the way, and then looked up at the time.

It's already past three in the afternoon.

Ling was still in the bathroom washing his clothes. He had been in there for over an hour and hadn't come out yet. He knew it would be very busy. The supermarket he usually went to had discounts at 4 o'clock, so it was almost time to go out.

(When I think about this, I become more family-oriented.)
The reason for going to the supermarket was because I emptied the refrigerator before returning home, and there was no material for dinner at home. Although breakfast and lunch were solved by Ling with various fried rice, dinner after a tiring day couldn't be made up like this. Zhuo also wanted to help.

And if you want to replenish your refrigerator, you will definitely buy in large quantities, and you can save a lot of money if you get a discount.

Although it is normal to think about spending as little money as possible...but when a male high school student considers the food expenses, it seems a bit like he has already started a family.

Faced with the changes in himself, Zhuo himself suddenly smiled.

(End of this chapter)