night

Brilliant fireworks rose in the roar of breaking the sky, bursting and blooming in the starry sky at the top, like epiphany blooming at night, and huge petals scattered in the night sky, causing the crowd below to let out a sigh of surprise.

Jiqi took Chu Xue's little hand and walked through the noisy and crowded streets, which were lined with stalls buying all kinds of snacks, and the mixed fragrance and the smell of barbecue smoke permeated the whole street, attracting several little girls who followed their own admiral to look at it here and there, and kept swallowing, as if they were looking for snacks that suited their tastes.

"Admiral, I want to eat takoyaki! Takoyaki! Hatsuyuki, who was led by Jiqi, pointed to the takoyaki stall lined up in front of him and shouted. Because she is the naughtiest and easiest of the four sisters to get lost in the crowd, after voting by a show of hands, she became the girl who was led by Jiqi. And this did not affect her enthusiasm for shopping, bouncing along the way like a girl who got a beloved bear doll.

"Okay, let's go eat takoyaki." Ji Qi smiled indulgently, and walked forward to the last of the crowd under the pull of the first snow, while the ship girls behind him seemed to have the same expectation for this novel snack, and followed the Admiral's footsteps and waited behind.

"Admiral, will we still live in the church later?" Hatsuyuki, who was standing beside her, asked curiously.

"No, we'll go back to the Admiral's Mansion later, and that's our home from now on." Jiqi rubbed the girl's little head and said softly. He had actually answered this question once when he was in church, but for these girls who had been hurt, there were some things that could not be comforted by saying them once, and they had to tell them over and over again that they would pray to protect them and give them care and love. Of course, these things are not just words, but must be put into action.

"Will there be a lot of big puppets in my room? It's the kind of bear doll in the window of a toy store. Chu Xue gestured with her little hand, and suddenly she stopped her movements and said in a panic: "Admiral, I didn't say anything just now, we don't need any dolls at all, and we don't want any superior life, as long as we ...... As long as the Admiral doesn't leave us, it's fine, because I'm afraid that the Admiral will leave us, and we'll ...... We're really hopeless. She hung her head and bit her lip with a look of frustration. She felt that the request she had just made was a bit excessive, obviously a weak ship like herself, there was no admiral who would want her four sisters at all, and finally a gentle admiral took us in, and she made such an excessive request, so I don't know how to meet my own really annoyance. She whispered in her heart, not daring to look up at Jiqi's expression, for fear that he would show an angry look.

Sighing, Jiqi squatted down in front of her and whispered in her ear: "I know I know, I swear that I will not leave you, and I will definitely give you everything you want, any big doll and any delicious snacks will be bought for you." As for me, I don't have any other advantages, but I'm very gentle with my own ship, and I'll give you whatever you want. As he spoke, he stretched out his white hand hidden under the kimono, gently climbed the girl's cheek, and transmitted the warmth of his palm to her.

"That'...... Will the Admiral buy us a bear doll too? Chu Xue whispered, her smart eyes peeking from time to time.

"Yes, yes," Jiqi replied with a chuckle, "not only will I buy you big bears, but I will also buy you cute clothes, take you to amusement parks, buy you delicious food, and give you whatever you want." ”

"That'...... What can the Admiral ...... Hug me? Chu Xue was stunned and stammered, as if it took her a lot of effort to say every word, she looked up at Jiqi, her eyes were full of longing.

In fact, when she was wandering with her prestige sister, she saw many admirals doting on their own destroyer girls, and the ship girls happily hugged their own admirals' necks, but she and her sisters had never felt such warmth, and every time she could only look at those favored ship girls, her eyes showed envy. She also secretly imagined in the bed at night that if she had a commander in the future, she would be able to comfortably huddle in his warm arms, hugging his neck and laughing happily, and even dreamed of such a scene. But every time I woke up, I didn't see the large and tidy room in my dream, but the mottled ceiling and crumbling yellowing walls. And she has always kept these secrets in her heart and never told anyone else, because she is the most lively of all the sisters, and she must not show her weakness.

However, now that they have an Admiral, they are no longer the wandering ship girls that no one wanted in the past, so Chu Xue also wants to try what it feels like to be in the arms of the Admiral. It must have been a very warm thing, as warm as the Admiral's hand now pressed to his cheek, nay, it must be warmer than that. She whispered to herself in her heart, her little face turned red and hot in the brilliant light, like a cuckoo crying blood.

Jiqi looked at the blushing Chu Xue and didn't speak, but just opened his hand, like an angel with open wings, and hugged the poor girl into his arms, and the colorful neon flashing behind him was like a holy light falling from the sky, illuminating the girl's eyes overflowing with water waves.

"Is this okay with the first snow?" Jiqi stood up, holding the girl who barely had any weight, and he turned his head and whispered in her ear, like a spring breeze blowing through a willow branch.

"Yes...... Yes, that's it...... That's enough. Chu Xue, who was held in his arms, stammered, and his face seemed to be smudged by the fire. She raised her hand timidly, and her slender hand like a lotus root wrapped her arms around Jiqi's neck little by little, like a cautious cat, slowly approaching. Is this the Viceroy's embrace? It was as warm as a stove sitting around in winter, like the rising sun on a cold day, and the light emitted penetrated the cold world like a cocoon, like a light cast in the darkness, knocking through the closed window and giving a glimmer of hope to the figure huddled in the corner.

Hatsuyuki smirked stupidly, and gently rested her little head on Jiqi's not too broad chest, and the regular agitation echoed in her ears one after another. Is this his own Admiral? The figure he thought about day and night, although it was not as tall and mighty as he imagined, but it warmed himself like a big brother. She looked up slightly at Jiqi's side face, and a smug and satisfied smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. It's nice that even if you die, you won't have any regrets, she whispered, smiling like a fool.

"How did you spend the first snow?" Jiqi, who was holding the girl, asked softly, and he followed the flow of people a little bit, Lexington behind him was like a wife going out with her husband, and the rest of the ship girls followed quietly behind his Admiral, and Saratoga, who was standing beside her, had a look of resentment and envy.

"Before us?" Chu Xue was stunned and whispered: "Our four sisters were abandoned after they were built, and it was the prestige sister at that time who kindly took us in, otherwise our four sisters might have wandered the streets." ”

"Is that so?" Jiqi didn't ask why they were abandoned by the past admirals, because he could also imagine the reason, mostly because they were not rare ship girls, and they didn't have much combat ability, just a few destroyer girls, this was what most admirals thought, and they would choose to give up if they didn't help much for the war situation. He sighed slightly, lowered his head and whispered in Chu Xue's ear, "What about after that?" What kind of life do you live? ”

"After that?" Chu Xue sighed and said softly: "We followed Sister Prestige to many places, such as Wutuo City, which is close to the sea, we only stayed there for a few months before leaving, originally Sister Prestige planned to open a café there, but because of the deep sea, everyone in Wutuo City was forced to move inward, and we could only leave together. After that, we went to Heidelberg and Marson, and finally we came here, which was already the last stop of our plan, and I thought that we would live here forever, but I didn't expect it to be. I wondered how good it would be if we had an admiral who could protect us, so that no one would dare to bully us, and we wouldn't have to wander on an endless journey. Actually, do you know the Admiral? When my sister brought you back to church, I thought it was a dream, and I used to think about the scene when I had the Admiral, but I didn't expect this dream to come so quickly and it felt unreal to me. Admiral, could this be a dream? Like the fairy tale Cinderella's pumpkin cart and crystal slipper in the fairy tale that Sister Prestige told us at night, it is just a time-limited fantasy that will disappear once midnight, and we will be transformed back into wandering ship wives without an admiral. At the end, her voice began to whimper, and her gaping eyes glistened with tears, like a girl who was afraid of losing was pleading.

Ji Qi looked at such a girl who was suffering from gains and losses, and didn't know what to say to comfort her fragile and easily injured heart, he bit his lip and hugged Chu Xue hard, and said in a small but firm voice: "No, no, Cinderella finally won the favor of the prince, and I will not disappear like a pumpkin cart and a crystal slipper, I will always be by your side forever." ”

"Really, Admiral?" Chu Xue wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and asked seriously.

"Really, it must be true, I won't lie to you, never." Jiqi hugged her and responded vigorously, his voice as gentle as a rippling reed flower.