The next day, a Saturday, was a perfect day for traveling with clear skies and a gentle breeze.
Ren and his little daughter, Yuta, stood in front of the bathroom mirror, both brushing their teeth with identical movements and expressions.
"Daddy, help me," Yuta handed her toothbrush to Ren.
Ren took over and helped her brush her teeth again, taking care of every detail.
"Yueyue, have you got everything ready?" Ren asked while brushing.
"Alm—" Before Yuta could finish, she accidentally sprayed toothpaste foam all over Ren's face. Seeing Ren's embarrassed look, Yuta giggled.
"Oh no," seeing Yuta's mischievous expression, Ren pretended to be angry and scolded her in the style of Peking opera before playfully pinching her nose.
After a moment, as Ren looked at the tousled hair on Yuta's head, she looked at him with a face full of toothpaste foam, and they both burst into laughter.
After she finished rinsing her mouth, Yuta stood at attention and saluted, saying, "Dad, I'm all set!"
Then she asked with a pitiful look, "Is Mom not coming? Isn't she feeling left out?"
"No, she's not coming," Ren sighed.
He had asked Jada if she wanted to come, but it was a crucial time for her company, and she couldn't afford to leave. Who knew what might happen if she went away at this time.
But seeing Yuta's disappointed expression, Ren pinched her nose and said, "After your mom is done with her work, I'll take you and her together. How about that? I recall there's a theme park ad on TV. We'll plan a trip when there's time, okay?"
He remembered how excited Yuta was a while ago when she saw an advertisement for a theme park on TV, so it would be a good opportunity to take her there later on.
"Wow, Dad, you're amazing!" Yuta's face lit up with joy, and she clapped her hands in excitement.
Soon, Ren and Yuta prepared everything and took a taxi to the train station.
Though it wasn't a holiday, the train station was always bustling with people, but fortunately, it wasn't too crowded.
After a short wait at the self-service machine, they got their train tickets. There was still some time before the train arrived, so Ren found a less crowded place and sat down with Yuta. He took out a magical girl-themed water bottle from his backpack and handed it to her, saying, "Yueyue, take a sip."
Yuta obediently took a few sips of water. Then, Ren crouched down, took out a small towel, and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Unfortunately, Yuta insisted on carrying her own small bag to show her strength in front of him.
After she finished drinking, Yuta handed the bottle back to Ren and started playing on her phone from her bag in a well-behaved manner.
At first, Ren kept an eye on her, but soon he got bored and took out his own phone. He earnestly reminded Yuta, "Don't wander off. If anyone touches you, call out loud."
As he said this, Ren was quite serious because even with a child beside him, he couldn't be lax. Even in this world, there were still human traffickers, and they were more audacious now, snatching children in broad daylight, with one person causing a commotion while the other swiftly grabbed the child and escaped.
Seeing Yuta's cute reaction, who knows if the traffickers would target her too?
"Okay, okay," Yuta nodded, then reached out and held Ren's hand, looking up at him with a smile, saying, "As long as I'm holding your hand, I won't be afraid."
Ren smiled, holding Yuta's little hand tightly while also looking up some information.
Although this was a field trip, they planned to have some fun while they were there.
They were headed to an area near the ancient southern city of Huangcheng, where there was a small mountain called Bu Zhou. This was once a place where ancient emperors held sacrifices, and it had a very long history and cultural heritage. Unfortunately, it had been ravaged by war in later years and lost its cultural significance.
If not for the recent trend of searching for cultural artifacts and the like, Ren might not have known about the place.
Because there, he would find some of the ritual music and court music he wanted to see.
After about half an hour, the announcement for the train sounded. Now Ren held Yuta's hand and queued up.
Once on the train, he took Yuta to their assigned seats. The two-person seats were on one side, and the three-person seats were on the other.
Ren had bought the three-person seats.
"Daddy, Daddy, I want to sit by the window!" the little girl said expectantly, pulling Ren's hand.
Ren looked at his ticket, but unfortunately, their seats were not by the window. It's quite fortunate to get a window seat on a train. You can enjoy the scenery along the way when you're tired of using your phone, and there's even a small table for resting.
"No, we're not seated by the window," Ren smilingly said, patting the little girl's head.
"Oh," the little girl made a disappointed sound. However, she was well-behaved and didn't insist, so she prepared to sit in her own seat.
"Um, if you don't mind, I can switch with you," a voice suddenly came from beside Ren, startling him. He looked to his side and saw a tall, slim lady in a white shirt standing there with a suitcase. When she noticed Ren looking at her, she smiled and waved her ticket in front of him, "I'm the one with the window seat in your area."
"Ah, thank you," Ren said graciously. Then he looked at his daughter, "Yueyue, say thank you to the lady."
"Thank you, sis!" The little girl looked at the kind lady with her cute big eyes and smiled.
"No problem," the kind lady's eyes formed a crescent moon shape when she smiled.
Seeing the lady's luggage, Ren quickly offered to help, "Let me take that for you."
After all, the lady had just helped them, and he couldn't let her struggle with her luggage.
"Thank you," the girl thanked Ren with a smile.
"It's nothing."