"Big Brother, we need to hurry," Hu Tao turned around, urging Makoto behind her.
"If we go too late, Big Meow and Little Meow will be asleep."
Makoto followed Hu Tao all the way to the entrance of the General Affairs Department.
He was very curious about what kind of pet Hu Tao, with her mischievous personality, would raise.
However, the General Affairs Department was empty at the moment, with only candlelight illuminating the front courtyard.
Makoto did not see any small animals.
At this moment, Hu Tao introduced to Makoto, "Big Brother, the one on the left is Big Meow, and the one on the right is Little Meow!"
"How about it, how about it? Aren't they adorable?"
Makoto looked in the direction Hu Tao was pointing, and saw two lifelike stone lions.
Treating the stone lions at the entrance of the General Affairs Department as pets, that was very Hu Tao.
The little girl was mischievous, and no one could fathom her thoughts.
Immediately after, Hu Tao reached out and stroked the head of a stone lion, then whispered, "Big Meow and Little Meow, this Big Brother is a new friend I recently met."
"He can also recite doggerel, he's really amazing!"
"Of course, as a dark poet of the alley school, the doggerel I write won't be bad either!"
"I just wrote a new 'qiu qiu ballad', and now I'll sing it for you."
Little One seemed to be very interested, her small mouth kept talking non-stop, topics coming one after another, as if she could talk for three days and three nights without stopping.
And opposite her, the two stone lions were silent, quietly accompanying her.
After a moment, Hu Tao looked up at Makoto,
"Big Brother, I want to give Big Meow and Little Meow a bath."
Hearing Hu Tao's words, Makoto raised an eyebrow: "Hmm? Didn't you say you'd go back after seeing Big Meow and Little Meow?"
"Oh, as the owner of Big Meow and Little Meow, I definitely have to fulfill my duties as an owner."
"Don't people who keep pets all have to bathe them?"
Hu Tao paused, and continued, "Besides, look how dirty they are,"
"If I don't help them bathe, they'll be so itchy they can't sleep, that would be so pitiful."
"Just wait for me a moment, just a little bit."
As soon as she finished speaking, Hutao disappeared in a flash.
When she reappeared, she was carrying a small water bucket and a brush.
It was clear that Little One had probably cleaned the stone lions before, so she was very skilled.
She first wet the two stone lions with water, then picked up the brush and meticulously cleaned the dust off the stone lions.
Hutao's technique was very delicate, and a rare look of seriousness appeared in her eyes.
When it came to taking care of pets, Hu Tao would not be careless.
However, Hutao's efficiency was a bit slow.
Because the little girl wasn't even as tall as the stone lions, sometimes she had to stand on tiptoe to barely reach them.
Cleaning like this was time-consuming and laborious, and it might not be finished even by dawn.
Regarding this, Makoto also said to Hutao, "Little girl, let me help you."
As he spoke, Makoto extended five fingers towards the stone lions.
He saw dense An element gather in his palm, and then release forward, blowing away some easily cleaned dust.
Immediately after, he took the brush from Hu Tao's hand and quickly cleaned the remaining stains.
It was much simpler for an adult to do these things than for Little One.
Watching Makoto help with the cleaning, Hu Tao's plum blossom-like eyes gleamed with light.
"Big Brother, Big Meow and Little Meow are thanking you."
As her words fell, the system's voice rang in Makoto's mind,
"Ding! Detected that Hu Tao's friendship has increased from level 0 to level 1. Congratulations to the host for obtaining one intertwined fate."
After the doggerel and cleaning the stone lions, Hu Tao's friendship increased.
However, Makoto did not open the gacha pool to draw, but instead said to Hu Tao, "Since Big Meow and Little Meow have been cleaned, little girl, aren't you going home to rest?"
"If you keep staying up late, you won't grow tall, just like a certain adeptus."
Thinking that Hu Tao would still be flat-chested twenty years later, Makoto once thought it was due to Hu Tao staying up late when she was young.
That's why he kept reminding Hu Tao to rest early.
Makoto paused, and added, "The bigger the light, the worse the Dudou Great Demon King is, so Hu Tao is a good person."
Hu Tao was confused, was this a new doggerel?
It felt quite interesting, and her name was even used in it.
"Alright, alright, I'm going home to sleep now."
"Big Brother, you should also rest early, goodnight~"
Upon arriving at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao waved goodbye to Makoto.
After Makoto's figure disappeared down the street, Hu Tao finally pushed open the door of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and walked in.
With a creak, the warm yellow candlelight inside the house flickered gently.
Hu Tao's grandfather was bowing his head, writing elegiac couplets for a client.
For those in their line of work, many tasks were performed at night.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Master Hu put down the pen in his hand,
"The little girl is back... You look very happy, did you meet something interesting tonight?"
"Mm-hmm, I met a very interesting Big Brother,"
"His name is Makoto, he's the young man we met at Wu Wang Slope last time."
"I learned a few doggerel from him, and now I'll sing them for you!"
"Wishing to buy osmanthus and sharing wine, Arataki the First in the World..."
Hu Tao recounted the doggerel from tonight and the incident of cleaning the stone lions.
Master Hu listened quietly, a peaceful smile on his face throughout the entire process.
Originally, the old man was worried that Hu Tao having no friends would affect her growth.
Now it seemed that this worry could be dismissed.
From Hu Tao's joyful expression when she mentioned Makoto, it was not difficult to see that she had made a good friend.
"Girl, didn't you say that Big Brother had a strange aura about him and you were going to investigate it?"
"What was the result of the investigation?"
Facing her grandfather's inquiry, Hu Tao replied, "Grandpa, that aura came from a girl named Qiqi,"
"The process is quite complicated to explain,"
"Oh, well, she's not a client of our Wangsheng Funeral Parlor anyway."
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