What it worried about most was that, without it nearby to remind her, Luoluo might accidentally spill all the secrets about the space and the spirit spring.
And on just the very first day, “Sweet Water,” “Pearly,” and “Big Sister Xiao Hong” had practically all been “sold out” by her already. At this rate, things would definitely go wrong.
“Little Wu Dui, I’m sorry…” little Luoluo guiltily poked her fingers together, her tiny head drooping low. Catching rabbits today had been so exciting that she had completely forgotten about the little turtle.
“Sigh.” Seeing her pitiful look, the little turtle’s heart softened. “Alright, alright, I forgive you! But remember, Luoluo is Turtle’s best friend, so wherever you go in the future, you have to bring Turtle along too.”
It needed to stay close and protect her, ready at all times to remind this little scatterbrain.
“Mhm!” Luoluo instantly perked up and vigorously patted her tiny chest in promise. “Little Wu Dui is also Luoluo’s best friend. Wherever Luoluo goes in the future, I’ll bring you too.”
Hearing her promise, the little turtle finally relaxed. Its tiny green bean-like eyes rolled around as it got to the main point.
“Luoluo, then who are you going to sleep with in the future?”
“Sleep with who?” Luoluo widened her eyes in confusion. Back at the He family home, she had always slept alone, so she had never thought about this question before.
“Luoluo is grown up now, so I should sleep by myself. Ah… no, wait,” she quickly corrected herself after remembering her good friend, “I should sleep with Little Wu Dui.”
The huge weight in the little turtle’s heart instantly dropped away.
After observing all day, it was obvious that Lu Suzhen planned to let Luoluo sleep with her.
How could that work? Luoluo entered the space at night, talked with it, and had all sorts of little secrets. If she slept in the same bed as Grandma, this absentminded little thing would expose everything in minutes.
During the day, it had already investigated the area thoroughly. Beside Xiao Shan’s room and across from Xiao Lu’s room was a small unused room. It was perfect.
“Then Luoluo should go tell Grandma that from now on you want to sleep in that little room by yourself, okay?” the little turtle coaxed gently. “If Luoluo sleeps alone, then at night we can still go play in the little wooden house and see Big Sister Xiao Hong and Big Brother Xiao Huang. We won’t have to worry about disturbing other people or being discovered.”
The moment she heard that they could go play in the wooden house, little Luoluo immediately hugged the turtle and ran off on her short little legs to find her grandmother.
“Grandma! Grandma! Where are you?”
“Oh! Grandma’s in the room making the bed. What’s wrong, little treasure?” Lu Suzhen poked her head out from the main room while patting down a freshly made bed.
“Wow, Grandma made a bed for Luoluo?” Seeing the neat, clean new bed, Luoluo thought it was her own personal bed. Hugging the little turtle happily, she spun in a circle before running back outside to play.
But when bedtime came that evening, after washing up, Lu Suzhen naturally picked up the freshly bathed, sweet-smelling Luoluo and carried her onto the bed.
Luoluo lay there hugging the little turtle, waiting for Grandma to turn off the light so she could whisper secrets with the turtle and then go play in the little wooden house together.
Instead, she saw Grandma lie down beside her too, smiling warmly as she tucked in the blanket around her and kissed her chubby little cheek.
“Be good, little Luoluo. Go to sleep now. Grandma will stay with you.”
Luoluo instantly froze in shock.
Her tiny mouth fell open slightly as her big blinking eyes stared at Grandma beside her, then at the equally stunned little turtle in her arms.
Wasn’t she supposed to sleep by herself?
Wasn’t this her own little bed?
The little dumpling child puffed her lips out pitifully, but seeing the loving smile on Grandma’s face, she was afraid of hurting her feelings and didn’t dare refuse. So she obediently lay there and continued trying to sleep.
Luoluo had always been carefree. Not long after closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep, but the poor little turtle suffered terribly.
That whole night, it was so nervous its shell practically started sweating.
In her sleep, Luoluo smacked her lips and mumbled dreamily, “Rabbity come… sweet grassies… Big Sister Xiao Hong…”
The frightened little turtle hurriedly slapped a paw over her mouth while nervously sneaking glances at the sleeping Lu Suzhen beside them with its green bean eyes.
Feeling uncomfortable with her mouth covered, Luoluo casually waved a hand and nearly flung the turtle off the bed.
The little turtle desperately clung to the bedsheet with all four limbs, barely managing not to fall.
At dawn the next morning, after suffering through the entire night, the little turtle impatiently shook the groggy Luoluo awake.
“Luoluo, quick! Before Grandma leaves for work, hurry and tell her we want to sleep in the little room by ourselves!”
After being urged so anxiously by the turtle—and after experiencing a whole night without the freedom to go play—Luoluo deeply realized how important it was to sleep alone.
Hugging the turtle, she pattered over to the kitchen to find Lu Suzhen and announced in what she believed was her most serious tone:
“Grandma, Luoluo is grown up now! I’m a big kid, so I want to sleep in the little room by myself with Little Wu Dui.”
Lu Suzhen paused in surprise. Looking at her granddaughter’s earnest little expression, she felt both amused and tender-hearted.
“Our little Luoluo is so brave? Aren’t you scared to sleep by yourself?”
“Not scared!” Luoluo puffed out her chest proudly. “Luoluo is super brave! I always slept alone before, and Little Wu Dui protects Luoluo too!”
Seeing how insistent she was, and hearing that she had always slept alone before, Lu Suzhen worried she might not be used to sharing a bed with others.
Since the little room was diagonally across from her own room and perfectly safe, she smiled and agreed.
“Alright, alright. Our little Luoluo is a big girl now. Grandma will clean up that little room later and make it into our Luoluo’s very own bedroom.”
Getting Grandma’s permission made Luoluo overjoyed.
After breakfast, she hugged the little turtle and played in the small open space outside their courtyard gate.
Squatting on the ground, she poked at the dirt with a little tree branch while whispering with the turtle as they watched ants move their nest.
“Well now, whose little girl is this? Never seen you before.”
A lazy, hooligan-like voice suddenly sounded.
Luoluo looked up and saw a boy about two heads taller than her walking over.
He was Tiedan, the grandson of Auntie Li from next door. Eight years old, dark and sturdy, he was the village’s most notorious troublemaker.
The moment he got close, his eyes locked onto the little turtle in Luoluo’s arms with obvious ill intent.
“Hey little girl, what’re you holding? A turtle? Let me play with it.”
As he spoke, he reached out to snatch it.
“No.” Startled, Luoluo quickly hid the little turtle behind her back and shrank away. “This is Luoluo’s Little Wu Dui.”
“Hah! You little brat actually dare refuse me?” Tiedan had always been used to bullying others. Seeing that Luoluo wouldn’t hand it over, he angrily stepped forward and shoved her.
“You little wild girl think you can say no to me? Hand it over!”
How could Luoluo withstand a shove from him? She cried out in alarm and staggered backward several steps before falling hard onto the muddy ground with a plop.
But she still remembered that yesterday she had said the little turtle was her best friend. So even after falling, she tightly clutched the turtle in her arms the entire time.
“Waa…” The pain in her bottom, along with the grievance of being bullied, instantly filled Luoluo’s eyes with tears. Her little mouth trembled, on the verge of crying.
“Hahaha! Crybaby! Serves you right, you stupid brat!” Tiedan pointed at Luoluo sitting in the dirt and burst into loud laughter.
Then he moved closer again, still trying to snatch the little turtle from her hands.