Chapter 122: Extra 21: both felt a sense of déjà vu
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Shortly after, Luo Songran successfully graduated.
Perhaps it was during the graduation exhibition, where he hadn’t seen so many classmates together creating a musical theater, researching works, and then working together to make the presentation perfect for a long time, which suddenly made him find his direction.
He wanted to continue his studies.
It was during this summer after graduation, with Uncle Zuogu’s reminder, that he once again participated in the Paganini International Violin Competition. It was the second time he participated in this international competition since becoming the youngest champion in history at the age of fifteen.
So he began intense practice.
But this kind of intense practice, which almost abandoned sleep and food, also made Duan Yizhou a bit worried. This little fellow usually lazed around more than anyone else. Suddenly being so diligent, he was a bit unaccustomed.
Even Piglet couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
“Is this really dad? Did they swap our dad?” The father and sons stood at the door of the music room. Piglet looked up at Duan Yizhou and poked the stiff thigh of his father, asking in a slightly threatening tone, “Dad, did you drive away the silly dad and replace him with a diligent dad?”
“Dad, although dad is usually a bit silly, he shouldn’t be replaced, right?” Pipsqueak also said seriously to Duan Yizhou.
Duan Yizhou was amused by his two sons’ remarks. He bent down to pick up the two little ones. “Honestly, dad has never seen such a dad. From the time he knew him until now, he just likes to lie down. It’s been a long time since he saw him standing for so long.”
Even though he had seen Luo Songran practice the violin before, it was definitely not this crazy. Except for sleeping, he spent all his time practicing the violin, as if he wouldn’t get tired, full of energy from head to toe.
It also showed him a different side of Luo Songran.
This kind of energy, this state of forgetting everything for the sake of love, reminded him of his past self in the research institute, giving his all for something he loved.
The father and sons watched the dad immersed in practicing the violin in the music room together. Although they thought such a dad was great, they were still a little unaccustomed. Suddenly being so hardworking made them miss the silly dad who liked to lie on the couch during holidays.
“Dad, why don’t you let dad rest for a while?” Piglet whispered to Duan Yizhou.
“Didn’t we just say that? Your dad said he would rest again but got kicked out by him.” Duan Yizhou thought of this little fellow being so serious and couldn’t help but smile, then looked at the piglet in his left hand. “How about you, big brother?”
Piglet remained silent for two seconds, then shook his head. “I’ll also get kicked out.”
Duan Yizhou chuckled. “Dad isn’t that fierce, is he?”
“He’s pretty fierce.” Pipsqueak whispered to Duan Yizhou, “I’ve been losing to dad recently. Both Pig and I lost miserably.”
Piglet heard his little brother say this and remarked, “…stop calling me Pig.”
Pipsqueak awkwardly stuck out his tongue. “I whispered so softly, and you still heard it.”
Duan Yizhou was used to these two brothers always arguing over their nicknames, so now he basically called them Big Brother and Piglet. He knew his eldest son had some thoughts about being called Piglet, which was natural, as children would always feel embarrassed as they grew older.
Looking back at Luo Songran practicing the violin, Duan Yizhou suddenly thought of something.
“It’s possible that dad wants to study abroad, then you two will have to go to kindergarten abroad.”
Pipsqueak’s reaction was particularly big. He exclaimed in disappointment, “No, I can’t. What about my friends? I have good friends now, you know, big brother doesn’t even have good friends.”
Piglet said, “Which good friend? Xinghe?”
“Yeah, it’s my foreign friend, Lu Xinghe.” Pipsqueak puffed up his cheeks and crossed his arms, a little angry. “If my good friend knows I’m leaving, he’ll definitely cry. What should I do then?”
Duan Yizhou smiled. It was quite a coincidence. He had recently had international cooperation with Lu Xinghe’s father and only then knew that Lu Xinghe’s father was Felix’s cousin, a duke of the D kingdom’s royal family, who settled here after marrying a Chinese.
“It’s okay, we won’t be gone for long. Dad will come back after finishing his studies, and if you miss your friends, you can video chat.”
Pipsqueak frowned as he listened, looking a bit resistant. “What if he forgets me? He can recite sixty-eight Ultramen!”
Piglet, “…I can too, I’ll recite them for you.”
“That’s different. You know he can recite them, but he’s the first, and you can only count as second.”
Piglet said, “I’ll recite the Maxwell equations, which he can’t.”
“My friend doesn’t need to know that. Reciting sixty-eight Ultramen is super cool! Right, dad? You don’t know, right?” Pipsqueak hugged Duan Yizhou’s neck and asked in a boastful manner.
Duan Yizhou was helpless. Why did he also have to be hurt? Is reciting sixty-eight Ultramen a standard? Seeing his eldest son looking a bit awkward, he signaled with his eyes to his younger son not to say anything more.
At this moment, Pipsqueak also felt that his brother seemed a bit unhappy. He leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, saying in a loving tone, “Are you upset, Pig? Don’t be angry. Anger is the devil, it will make you ugly.”
Piglet raised his hand to wipe the saliva from his face, feeling quite awkward. He pretended to want to get down from his father, saying, “I’m going to read.”
Duan Yizhou could only let his eldest son down.
Seeing the situation, Pipsqueak also wanted to come down. Seeing his brother leave, he became a little anxious. With short legs, he ran quickly. “Pig! Don’t be angry. You’ll really become a devil when you’re angry.”
Luo Yuduan heard his brother calling him again, and he felt a bit annoyed. He glanced at his brother and said, “If you call me ‘Pig’ again, I’ll turn into a devil.”
“Brother, brother, brother…” Seeing his brother getting a bit angry, Pipsqueak, being indecisive, immediately backed down and bounced after his brother, saying, “How about I teach you to recite Ultramen? Lu Xinghe taught me. He said there are Showa Ultramen, Heisei Ultramen, Retro Ultramen…”
“I don’t want to know. You go recite with him.”
“Oh, come on, brother, learning to recite Ultramen is super cool!”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s super cool! Then I’ll reward you with Ultramen stickers if you recite with me.”
“…”
The corridor echoed with the childish bickering of the two, adding liveliness to the spacious villa.
Duan Yizhou watched the small figures of his two sons with mixed feelings, feeling deeply moved. Indeed, there were two lively little kids in the house.
Just then, downstairs, a child’s voice suddenly rang out, childish but full of vigor.
“Beep beep beep, I’m here as a guest. Is anyone home?”
Duan Yizhou leaned against the railing of the corridor, looked down at the hall on the first floor, and saw his younger brother, Duan Yifan, wearing superhero sunglasses, driving a toy car to visit.
Because they were the same age, Duan Yifan was two months older than Piglet and Pipsqueak. The three little ones were about to go to kindergarten together. Perhaps it was instructed by their parents to let Duan Yifan take care of his two nephews as a little uncle.
However, the children were still young, and the concept of a same-age but different-generation little uncle was not strong, so they mostly still called each other by their names.
“Duan Yifan, your superhero sunglasses look great!”
Sure enough, Pipsqueak, being a passionate Ultraman fan, saw Duan Yifan wearing Ultraman sunglasses and forgot about teaching his brother Ultramen. He rushed to Duan Yifan, eager to get his sunglasses.
Duan Yifan was very pleased to hear the compliment. He stopped the car and held the sunglasses with both hands, looking at Pipsqueak. “Do you want to try them on?”
“I want, I want!” Pipsqueak nodded eagerly.
“Call me little uncle.”
“Little uncle~”
On the sidelines, Luo Yuduan… He suddenly worried about his brother. How could he be so easily deceived?
“Hehehe, here you go.” Duan Yifan readily took off the sunglasses and handed them to Pipsqueak, then patted his toy car. “Pipsqueak, look, this toy car of mine is a customized Ultraman car. Anyone who has this Ultraman car is super awesome.”
Pipsqueak exclaimed in amazement, obviously being convinced. He put on the sunglasses and reached out to touch the toy car. “How much does this car cost? Is ten dollars enough? I have ten dollars!”
Luo Yuduan… He silently turned and went upstairs, leaving behind his silly brother.
Then he heard Duan Yifan say from behind:
“Of course it’s enough. My car only costs one dollar!”
Luo Yuduan looked back and saw the two of them engaged in a virtual transaction. The whole process was very enjoyable and immersive. Nobody noticed him leaving, and he felt a bit lost for a moment.
Beep beep—
Just as he was about to go upstairs, he saw his brother driving Duan Yifan’s toy car to his side, coolly putting the sunglasses on his forehead, then patting the passenger seat. “Hey handsome, want a ride?”
Luo Yuduan thought for a moment and nodded. “Sure.”
“Taking a ride is okay, but you have to tell me which Ultraman has the coolest hairstyle.”
Luo Yuduan… His brain quickly went through the names of Ultramen, but in his mind, each Ultraman had the same face. “Is it Zero?”
“Wrong!” Pipsqueak crossed his arms, solemnly putting the sunglasses back on his nose, “Oops, you don’t have a ride anymore. Let’s go, let’s go~”
Saying this, he drove away in style.
Duan Yifan walked to Luo Yuduan’s side, patted his shoulder like an old man, “The Ultraman with the coolest hairstyle is of course Tiga. He’s the coolest and the most powerful. Remember that next time.”
After speaking, he quickly ran after Pipsqueak, “Wait for me, wait for me~~”
Luo Yuduan… Just then, he heard his dad’s voice coming from the second floor.
“Brother, come upstairs and read with dad.” Duan Yizhou couldn’t bear to see his son being left out.
Luo Yuduan looked up at his dad on the second floor, shoulders drooping in dejection, and walked up the stairs. “But I really don’t like Ultraman. They all like Ultraman.”
“No one said you had to like Ultraman.” Duan Yizhou walked to the stairs, picked up his son, and walked towards the study. “Do you know who dad admires the most?”
“Dad.”
Duan Yizhou chuckled. “Not in terms of liking, but in terms of admiration.”
“Who do you admire?”
“Your great-grandfather, Chu Yiqiao.”
“Why?”
“Because he was the first person in the world to develop inhibitors, and he was also the first omega to achieve such achievements in the medical field. He was the scientist who realized the universal inoculation of inhibitors, protecting omegas and showing everyone that omegas can be so powerful. He also reduced the crime rate of alphas using pheromones to oppress omegas. Since then, omegas are no longer afraid of the suppression of alpha pheromones.”
“Dad, do you want to be like great-grandpa?”
“Yes, dad wants to do something for the secondarily differentiated population.”
“Why?”
“Your grandfather is part of the secondarily differentiated population. This population is very special; they have different genders at different stages and often get sick.”
“So they have to take medicine?”
“Yes, dad hopes they won’t have to take medicine in the future.”
Father and son chatted as they passed by the music room and saw Luo Songran opening the door.
Duan Yizhou looked a bit surprised. “Are you done practicing? I thought you were going to practice until dark.” Holding his son in one hand, he used the other to pat Luo Songran’s sweaty forehead and wiped it with the back of his hand.
“I’ve made up my mind.” Luo Songran leaned against the door, letting Duan Yizhou wipe his sweat. With a determined look, he said, “After this competition, I’m going abroad to study. I’m going to M country.”
“Dad, but little brother will cry.”
Luo Songran looked at his eldest son, puzzled. “Why? I’ll take you guys with me.”
“No, little brother will miss Lu Xinghe.”
“Why would he miss him?”
Luo Yuduan hesitated. He couldn’t believe his brother would be sad about this. “He said he’ll miss the man who can recite sixty-eight Ultramen.”
Luo Songran squinted, “What, Lu Xinghe can recite sixty-eight Ultramen at such a young age?! Amazing.”
Luo Yuduan and Duan Yizhou… They both felt a sense of déjà vu with this inexplicable tone of admiration.
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