mesbooks Chapter 846 Asking
Chapter 846 Asking
"..."
The candlelight on the table in the dim cave flickered for no apparent reason.
The flickering candlelight cast an eerie glow on the old field mouse's face, and Anjie's hands, holding the bowl, began to slowly sweat.
After a long pause, Thumbelina seemed to sense that something was off about the atmosphere, and she cautiously interjected:
"Grandma Field Mouse, can't you eat cookies?"
The old field mouse turned its gaze to the girl standing in front of it and said with a smile:
"what?"
Thumbelina licked her lips and mustered her courage to reply:
"Do you need to soak the cookies in water to soften them before you can eat them?"
"..."
Anjie's hand, holding the bowl, froze.
Soaking in water?
Even Chen Yi and Xu Han exchanged a surprised glance, then subconsciously looked at the old field mouse's mouth.
It was only at this moment that the three of them, including He Lingling who had been sitting in the corner trying to keep her presence to herself, realized that the old field mouse only had a few scattered black tooth roots left in its mouth.
He Lingling's heart stirred.
She remembered what the old field mouse had just said—"I am very old."
An old field mouse that is too old to do housework is comparable to an elderly person in their eighties who has lost all their teeth and has weak legs.
That makes sense, since it has no teeth and can't eat anything hard.
Xu Han glanced back at the steaming kettle beside the stove, and cleverly called out to An Jie:
"An, sis! Get some more chopsticks from the cupboard, let's crumble the cookies and soak them in water for Grandma Field Mouse!"
Anjie moved quickly. She turned around and walked to the cupboard, opened the cupboard door without looking to the side, took out a few pairs of chopsticks, and then closed it again.
This time, Anjie deliberately slowed down her movements when closing the cabinet doors.
The cabinet door creaked even longer than before, and slowly, Anjie closed it completely.
After confirming that the cabinet doors were closed tightly and without any gaps, Anjie withdrew her hand, picked up the bowl and chopsticks, and walked steadily toward the brightest spot in the candlelight.
Where the candlelight shone brightest, the old field mouse took off his reading glasses, wiped them with his apron, and nodded cheerfully, saying:
"Good children, all good children..."
The old field mouse, having taken off its reading glasses, seemed to have lost some of its human-like features. It squinted at the people around it and reached out to touch Thumbelina's hair.
"But you are the best and the most beautiful child among them."
He Lingling, who was in the corner, was not "involved" and saw things most clearly.
She clearly saw the "joy" that appeared on Thumbelina's face after the old field mouse finished speaking.
It was a kind of "joy" that came with being "affirmed" and feeling "needed".
He Lingling had also witnessed this kind of "joy" a few days ago.
It's the smile Thumbelina shows when her foster mother comes to "visit" her every day.
It's fake, a kind of fake smile that's forced on you to appear in order to be needed.
"..."
He Lingling felt a tightness in her chest. She unconsciously pinched her palm with her fingernails, and the sharp pain made her slightly more alert.
The scene in front of me looked so familiar.
It's just that human dwellings have been replaced with animal burrows.
Why do I suddenly have this absurd feeling that I've never been able to escape it?
He Lingling was stunned by the adjectives that flashed through her mind, and a strange sense of dread grew in her heart.
Anjie held the bowl, Xu Han used tongs to pick up the sweet cakes stuck in the oven, and Chen Yi carried the kettle to add water to the bowl.
The three of them each had their own "jobs," but their eye contact with each other always felt somewhat absurd, like playing house.