"Okay," Rong Doudou said in her childish voice.
Climbing onto her uncle's body, she asked with confusion, "Uncle, what should I do?"
Cristiano picked up the little girl's hand and pointed at himself, "Point like this... Biu, Biu, Biu..."
Rong Doudou understood immediately and happily touched her uncle all over, from head to toe, front to back.
"Biu... Biu... Biu... Biu... Biu..."
Seeing the adult and child having so much fun, Du Ruoxin also smiled.
However, her smile was tinged with a heavy premonition.
She still hadn't been able to contact Rong Jingyang.
He hadn't replied to her messages either.
What was he doing?
Rong Jingyang... he had promised his daughter... he wouldn't break his word, right?
With a heart full of unease, the group entered the farmhouse.
Cristiano, carrying Rong Doudou on his back, passed under a ginkgo tree. Golden, fan-shaped leaves covered the entire path, making it feel like walking through a sea of golden flowers.
The man stopped.
Du Ruoxin, lost in her thoughts, didn't notice and walked past them.
Cristiano: —
His deep blue eyes grew distant, and his mind automatically recalled the yellow "roses" she had given him over a decade ago.
It was a late autumn evening when she called him.
Cristiano moved aside upon seeing her name on the caller ID.
"Brother, where are you? I have a gift for you."
"Where are you?"
"At home."
"I'll be there in 50 minutes."
As soon as he hung up, an explosion rocked the sky.
His car!
"Bang, bang, bang—"
Immediately after, gunshots erupted from all directions.
If it weren't for Du Ruoxin, he would have been killed in the explosion.
More than an hour later, Cristiano, who had narrowly escaped death, dragged his freshly treated gunshot wound, changed his clothes, and returned home.
As he opened the door, he saw the little girl curled up asleep on the sofa.
In her arms, she held a yellow rose.
Was this the gift she had mentioned?
Cristiano carefully took it from her hand. Upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't a yellow rose, but a rose crafted by hand from ginkgo leaves.
She had made it herself?
Cristiano pursed his lips and smiled faintly.
This girl must be an angel sent by heaven.
"Brother?" Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Du Ruoxin rubbed her eyes and opened them. "Didn't you say you'd be here in an hour? I've been waiting for you for two hours."
Cristiano naturally picked up the eleven-year-old Du Ruoxin and walked towards the princess room, "I received the gift, and I like it very much."
Du Ruoxin: "You and Second Brother, Third Brother, each got one. I spent over an hour making them."
...
The memory abruptly ended. Cristiano put Rong Doudou down and sat on the ground beneath the ginkgo tree.
"Doudou, do you want a rose made of ginkgo?" he asked.
Rong Doudou's dark, round eyes were full of curiosity, "How do you make a rose from ginkgo?"
She had never even seen one before.
Cristiano, mimicking how Du Ruoxin had described it when she was younger, picked up ginkgo leaves one by one, looking for leaves that were consistent in size, perfectly intact, and beautiful without any blemishes.
"Watch, Uncle will do some magic for you."
Rong Doudou clapped her hands and cheered, "Yay!"
Cristiano picked up a leaf, "Doudou, can you help me find more beautiful ginkgo leaves like this?"
"You need many."
Rong Doudou replied, "Okay."
Du Ruoxin walked forward with her head down, unable to spot Rong Jingyang anywhere around her. Her heart sank into a state of frozen stillness.
Unable to help herself, she dialed his phone again.