A stranger in a strange land, one thinks of one’s dear ones even more on festive occasions. [1]
One who had never left his or her family would never understand this feeling. Obviously, Lan Xiao missed home too! He missed his wife and son dearly.
“Chengcheng. Time is limited. Listen to me.” Lan Xiao was still very rational and he spoke quickly.
Nan Cheng restrained from sobbing and said, “Go on.”
Lan Xiao said, “I’m fine, don’t worry, everything is going very smoothly at my side. We really found another planet and from the initial observations and tests, this planet might be even better than Heaven Dou and Heaven Luo. It is larger and has an abundance of resources — it is very suitable for humans to live in. Even the oxygen levels and the atmospheric pressure are the same as the parent planet. We have just completed a series of tests and sample-taking. I’ll be returning home soon and the return journey will take one and a half months. So, in another one and a half months, when Xuanyu returns to school, I should be home already. Although it took quite a while this time, it was a successful trip. Our Federation might have a new planet. So, don’t worry, I’ll be home soon, tell Xuanyu that Daddy misses him very much.”
“Daddy, I’m here.” Lan Xuanyu quickly called out.
“But what about me?” Nan Cheng raged.
“Of course I miss you, I miss you very much.” Lan Xiao laughed.
Nan Cheng blushed slightly. “That’s more like it. But… it’s still another month and a half!”
Lan Xiao sighed softly. “There’s no way we could determine a definite time with interplanetary travel, especially since this is an interstellar exploration. I only found out after coming out here that our expedition is already considered quite successful. Alright, I can’t talk any longer, got to leave some time for my colleagues. Wait for my return, I love you guys.”
The call ended. Nan Cheng was in a daze when she gritted her teeth a little, but Lan Xuanyu noticed that Nan Cheng’s eyes lit up and weren’t as dull as before.
Nan Cheng bent over suddenly and cupped Lan Xuanyu’s soft cheeks with both her hands. She planted three kisses on one side of his face and after that, she charged outside excitedly and said, “Mommy is going to cook for you now!”
Lan Xuanyu wiped the saliva off of his face, slightly disgusted. “Seriously, Mommy, it’s all wet… but Daddy is about to come home. I wonder if he got any gifts. If there isn’t a gift, hng! hng! I won’t let him kiss me.”
It was, without a doubt, that this minute-long call brought an immense drive for both the mother and son. This was also the best graduation gift for Lan Xuanyu.
The vacation was one and a half months. Lan Xuanyu also told Nan Cheng about the gifted junior class and had obviously received her support.
Lan Xuanyu had set a goal for himself; firstly, he wanted to break through to rank 14 within this one and a half months, and then, he also wanted to improve in all of the other aspects of his skills.
The cultivation room at home could only provide up to three times their planet’s gravitational force and when Nana was teaching Lan Xuanyu, she had already let him try working with twice their normal gravity. Lan Xuanyu decided that he had to reach at least five times of it during this holiday to strengthen his body.
During the previous semester, he grew taller and stronger, maybe because of those rare ingredients. He was bigger than most children of his age. Therefore, although his Spirit Power didn’t increase rapidly, he could clearly feel that his physical abilities had increased very quickly; especially his strength and speed. Also, he was becoming more and more familiar with his control over the water elements and he could now perform some extremely delicate actions.
He followed the plan very strictly during this holiday and Nan Cheng was in a much better mood after getting an accurate time of when her husband was returning. She brought Lan Xuanyu out a couple of times to play during the holidays and even though the duration wasn’t long, they had a lot of fun.
A month and a half passed very quickly.
Lan Xuanyu had successfully reached the 14th rank in terms of his spirit power and it only happened not long after the semester break. For someone who was only seven years old, this was a pretty good result.
However, school was about to start but Lan Xiao wasn’t back yet. Nan Cheng began to feel slightly anxious as the time went by.
Lan Xuanyu would often hear Mommy saying the same thing over and over again – why isn’t he back yet, why isn’t he back…
“School will reopen tomorrow, have you packed everything?” Nan Cheng cleaned up the kitchen and went into Lan Xiao’s bedroom.
It was just a semester break but she felt that her son seemed to have grown taller again. This rate of change was really quick indeed!
“All done. Mommy, I plan to meditate in the cultivation room tonight.” Lan Xuanyu rarely slept now. According to Nana’s teachings, the longer one meditates, especially if one is able to enter a deep meditation, it would help greatly with one’s cultivation. He remembered everything that Nana taught him very clearly.
“En, alright. You should start earlier then.” Nan Cheng smiled and stroked her son’s cheek.
“En.”
“Kacha, kacha!” Just at this very moment, there was a sound at the door.
Both mother and son turned to look at the same time, and then, they looked at one another.
In the next second, Lan Xuanyu was already cheering loudly, “Daddy––” He leaped and jumped off of the bed, even Nan Cheng didn’t manage to see what happened and Lan Xuanyu had already run out of the room.
Lan Xiao had just entered the door and he immediately felt a black figure pouncing on him; along with that cheer, he obviously didn’t have to see who it was before he spread his arms wide.
Lan Xuanyu clung onto Lan Xiao like a monkey. Lan Xiao only felt his whole body sunk and he ended up letting out a burst of a laugh. “You, little fella, had grown quite a bit heavier huh!”
“Daddy, Daddy!” Lan Xuanyu clung onto Lan Xiao’s neck tightly. He hadn’t seen him for half a year! Of course, he missed him!
Nan Cheng obviously ran out of the room at this moment and her eyes reddened when she saw Lan Xiao.
Lan Xiao had clearly gone through a lot of hardships, his beard was unkempt and he seemed somewhat sloppy, but thankfully, his eyes were still bright and somehow, it reassured them.
“You’re finally back, huh!” Nan Cheng couldn’t help but complain.
Lan Xiao laughed and revealed his white teeth. “Where else can I go? I only have one home! Furthermore, I have two my babies at home.”
“Tsk, shameless, who’s your baby, huh?” Nan Cheng blushed and said that an upset manner. “You haven’t eaten, right? I’ll go cook something for you. I’ve just cleaned the kitchen and it’ll be messy again now, sheesh.” Although that was what she said, she still strode into the kitchen quickly.
Lan Xuanyu didn’t mind Lan Xiao’s stubble and whispered next to his face, “Daddy, Mommy has been talking about you every day.”
Lan Xiao laughed. “She has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. You’ll be starting school tomorrow, right? At least Daddy could rush back. Daddy will send you to school tomorrow, alright?”
“Sure! Sure!” Lan Xuanyu laughed excitedly.
Lan Xiao placed his son down. He then planted a kiss on his face and said softly, “Daddy will go look for Mommy first, I must console her.”
“En. Go ahead, Daddy.”
Lan Xiao walked into the kitchen and Nan Cheng had already taken out all sorts of good ingredients and was busy preparing.
Lan Xiao paused as he stared at this familiar scene in a daze and his eyes watered.
It has been almost eight months and what he missed most was being able to see this scene every day. What else was more warm and heartening than this?
“Chengcheng.” Lan Xiao called out gently.
Nan Cheng didn’t turn her head and only replied softly, “You’re so mushy.”
“En, and I’m only mushy to you alone.” Lan Xiao walked in and hugged his wife’s waist from behind.
Nan Cheng’s body turned soft immediately. As she leaned against that familiar and firm embrace, her tears rolled down immediately.
“Sorry for making you worry.” Lan Xiao kissed her hair.
Nan Cheng then said, “You’re not allowed to be away for such a long time next time, okay?”
“En en, I can’t bear to be apart from you guys too! Being apart from your family is so tormenting.”
That night, Lan Xuanyu didn’t cultivate because he accompanied his Daddy in his meals.
That night, their house was filled with warmth.
[1]: A poem by Wang Wei