"Umm, Benard?" Zayn coldly stared at him.
"I dare not." Benard hurriedly bowed his head in apology, somewhat reluctantly.
Sensing its victory, Dori shook its hips triumphantly, fluttered its wings, and flew over once
more to Benard's head. Raking his hair with its claws and treating his head as its nest, it
promptly perched down after a while.
Such a flaunting display of arrogance and dominance – coming from a mere parrot!
Benard's face darkened, unhappy to be defeated by a mere bird. He rolled his eyes upward and
stared at the blasted bird perched comfortably on his head, wishing to throw it into a nice
pot of hot stew…
Witnessing the whole episode in front of his eyes, Brandy could barely contain his guffaw,
and let loose his laughter with a loud snort. "Bwahahaha! This little parrot is quite a human.
Hahahaha!"
"One of these days…" Before Benard could finish grumbling, Dori perked up and postured itself to
squawk a complaint once more.
Taking a deep breath, Benard had no other choice but to swallow his pride and his gripe. No
matter what, the blasted bird was now his master.
Better not mess with it!
After changing into their isolation gown, Zayn and the children stepped out of the
decontamination chamber into the isolation ward.
"I'm already fully awake. Why am I still locked in this accursed ward? Just transfer me out,
stat! I'm not that vulnerable, you hear?"
Just as they stepped in, they heard the unhappy complaint of old Jombo.
Although he had not been fully healed from his serious illness yet, and his voice was not as
energetic as before, he was still filled with quite the vigor.
The doctor and the health specialist standing next to him hurriedly comforted, "Don't worry,
Mr. Giblo. We've already done a full-body detailed scan on you this morning. When the
results of the scan come out, as long as all the parameters are okay, I assure you we will
immediately transfer you to the general ward."
"Why bother with all the troubles. Now listen, y'all, when I said I want to get transferred, I
expect y'all to get it done right away…"
"Grandpa!" Little Venus's cute voice rang out, interrupting Jombo's sentence halfway.
Old Jombo was jolted from his grumbling. Turning to look, he was overjoyed at the pleasant
sight. "Venus! Randy! Josh!…"
"Grandpa!"
"Grandpa!"
The trio shoved Zayn's hands away and rushed over excitedly to Jombo's side.
"Grandpa, you're finally awake…" Randy's eyes were red and he nearly choked with tears.
"Every time we dropped by to see you, you were always sleeping. We're so anxious and really
hoped for you to wake up soon."
"I'm awake. I'm awake. Dear old me ain't be sleeping no more." Shaking Randy's hand
excitedly, the old man said, "It's a glad ol' thing to see y'all the first thing I wake up!"
"Grandpa, you promised to take me to play soccer last time." Josh's eyes were red, but he
had a big and bright smile on his face. "Now that you're awake, you'll fulfill your promise,
yes?"
"Of course, " the old man uttered with a smile as he asked, "How's your tiny foot doing?
Better?"
"Almost healed, " Josh raised up his leg to show the old man. "The cast has been removed,
along with the splint. I'm healed enough to climb the stairs unassisted."
"Hahaha, awesome!" Old Jombo laughed heartily. "The moment I'm discharged from this
blasted place, I'll take Josh along for some ball-kicking."
"Hey, Grandpa! You've said you're going to take me to Disneyland to see the princesses." Not
wanting to be left out, Venus grabbed old Jombo's hand and squeaked childishly. "Your words
still count, yes?"
"Hohoho! Of course, my dear!" Old Jombo nodded repeatedly. "The minute I'm outta' here, I'll
whisk dear Venus away to the good ol' magical world of Disneyland in a jiffy!"
"Thanks, Grandpa…" Venus said as she raised up her chubby small hands and cheered, "All hail
Grandpa! Long live Grandpa!"
"Hahaha. If I were to live a thousand years wouldn't I end up an old geezer later, aye?" old
Jombo remarked in a jocular fashion.
"Naw, Grandpa won't be an old geezer. Grandpa will always be the best! Hip hurray!" Tilting
her head, Venus said with a serious face, "Grandpa must watch us grow up, okay? We still
want to honor you for years to come!"
"Good, good! Good kids, y'all are!" old Jombo nodded joyously, feeling his eyes slightly wet.
Due to aging, or perhaps having gone through life and near-death experiences, he had
become a more sentimental person. Whenever he would see children, he would be easily
touched. I've become a big ol' softie, haven't I?
"Gee, grandpa. Playing favorites now, are you?" Zayn sourly noted before continuing in
feigned jealousy, "The moment you have great-grandchildren, you don't care about your
grandson anymore!"
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