A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!-Chapter 69: A Gentle Day

"I wonder what kind of voice he makes when he cries."

Just imagining that it would surely be cute made him suddenly realize what he was saying, and he hurriedly shook his head, dispersing the delusions forming in his mind.

Qiong Xing was already that cute in everyday life; surely he would be even cuter then but he sternly reminded himself that he would never see that happens.

"I just hope it wasn’t too much for him since it was his first time."

Even though, considering they still hadn’t returned even after the date had changed, it was probably already too late to worry about that.

After that, since Qiong Xing and the others didn’t return until nearly noon the next day, Joa didn’t know what kind of face to show them and deliberately avoided running into them.

"Boss! Dinner’s ready!"

"Yeah, I’m coming."

Realizing it was already evening, he left the room and headed for the dining hall, but Cari and the others were nowhere to be seen.

When he asked, he was told they still hadn’t come.

Leander and Elias were apparently still tied up with work for a while longer, so, telling himself vague excuses like how it probably wouldn’t be good for Cari’s upbringing, he headed toward their room to go get the two of them.

"Joa!"

"You can’t move, right? I’ll carry you. Come on, Cari, let’s go."

When he lifted up Qiong Xing who was trying to say that he himself couldn’t move and that Cari alone would be fine the way Qiong Xing struggled in a flustered manner didn’t sit well with him.

Why would he try to resist when someone was going to carry him for him?

When Qiong Xing finally seemed to give up and leaned his head against his chest, Joa looked down at him and nearly found himself rejoicing at the reality that Qiong Xing was now in his arms.

But when Qiong Xing called his name with a puzzled expression, Joa reflexively replied in an irritable tone.

Just like that, they headed to the dining hall. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Joa ignored the surprised looks from everyone and Fei’s annoying smug grin.

He just sat down while still holding Qiong Xing in his arms.

Not to immediately brought over their meal.

"Here, eat."

"Um, you really don’t have to do this... I can manage on my own..."

"Don’t lie. You’re barely steady on your feet. Come on, Cari is hungry too, so hurry up and feed him."

He practically forced the spoon into Qiong Xing’s hand and told him to hurry for Cari’s sake.

Qiong Xing who is flustered began to bringing food to Cari’s mouth.

On the other hand, Joa stuffed food straight into Qiong Xing’s mouth when he tried to decline, saying he didn’t have much of an appetite.

He’d done the same for Cari before, but for some reason, doing it for Qiong Xing made him far happier.

Maybe it was because Qiong Xing allowed it. Or because he was able to be involved with him like this at all.

Joa pressed his lips together hard to suppress the grin threatening to form.

The tension made his brow naturally furrow, giving him an irritable look, but while Qiong Xing might not notice, the long time companions around them surely knew it was fake.

"You’re way too skinny. Eat more. At this rate, not only me, Cari will pass you up before long."

"What!? That would be... unpleasant. Then I suppose I’ll have to eat more meat? Cari, how about a super muscular me?"

"?"

Whether he didn’t understand or simply couldn’t imagine a muscular Qiong Xing, Cari tilted his head in confusion.

"Surely Cari wants a reliable mama too, right? Just wait. Soon I’ll become a big, muscular and dependable mama like Joa—"

"No way!"

Everyone who had been listening immediately shot that down.

"Besides, Cari never said anything like that," Joa added.

"No, Cari is a boy. One day he’ll surely awaken to the splendor of muscles and say he hates a scrawny mama like me."

So he was aware that he was scrawny.

"Cari really, really loves Mama."

"Oh! You don’t have to force yourself to say that. Leave it to me. It won’t happen right away, but someday I’ll have muscles so amazing that even Cari will want to brag about them—"

"Impossible!"

Once again, everyone denied it outright.

Seeing Qiong Xing slump his shoulders in defeat while Cari gently patted his head to comfort him, Joa couldn’t help but laugh.

Why was he so obsessed with muscles, anyway?

After several days had passed, Qiong Xing was finally able to get out of bed.

He came to town with Cari and Mayo, and Leander tagging along as well.

Along the way, they gathered some medicinal herbs, so after quickly finishing a request at the guild, they headed to the market where all kinds of food items were lined up.

"Do the three of you have any foods you don’t like?" Qiong Xing asked.

"I don’t," Leander replied.

"I dunno," Cari said.

"Mayo~?" Mayo chirped.

Qiong Xing had expected that answer from Leander, but as for Cari and Mayo, it seemed that even they themselves didn’t know yet.

"Leander aside, if Cari or Mayo eats something and thinks it tastes strange, make sure you tell me right away, okay? Eating something that doesn’t agree with your body can, in the worst case, even kill you."

When he told them to speak up immediately if they felt anything was off, both of them nodded obediently.

"So I’m fine, huh?" Leander said.

"Well, you said you don’t have any foods you dislike, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

Deciding that was good enough, Qiong Xing ignored the sulking Leander.

He took Cari’s hand and started looking around the various shops.

"Since we were eating mostly bread over there, let’s buy some rice. And if we can get sugar and red beans too ah, there they are!"

Among the shops filled with vegetables, he keenly spotted a small store tucked away at the edge that had a modest supply of red beans.