For the Carl family, who run a cake shop, the preparation of the birthday party is already a familiar thing, but today Hurley and Carol played origami in the room for more than half an hour, and finished today's homework together, and her birthday party still hasn't started.

Confused, Hurley asked her friend to wait in her room for a while, and went downstairs under the pretext of bringing some snacks and black tea back to entertain her, only to hear her father, who had been busy lately, returning home and talking to her shocked mother in the kitchen.

「…… Let him talk about this matter himself when he comes back, the children now have their own ideas, and I will talk to you in advance to let you prepare first!"

"Mom, isn't the birthday party ready yet? I'm hungry!"

Hurley glanced at the two of them with a little concern, picked up a pair of thick leather gloves from the hearth, opened the oven and found it empty, and couldn't help but complain.

"The dishes are ready, including your favorite apple pie and stewed ribs, but the guests haven't arrived yet! Let's grab a few pieces of pumpkin pie and share them with your friends!"

"That's right, Hurley, you kids go and pad your stomachs first!"

Lannie's body trembled when she heard Hurley's voice, and she scooped the stew in the pot into the clay pot with an unnatural expression, and Old John on the side quickly took out a small plate from the plate on the side and handed it to Hurley.

"Is it Brother Harper's not here yet?"

Hurley thought about it, and it should be that Harper was the only one who was closer to her family and would be invited by her parents.

Looking at her mother, who was covering her face and seemed to be a little excited, she went to the table where all kinds of fragrant dishes were placed, took four pieces of pumpkin pie from the plate where the pumpkin pie was placed, took out the teacup, poured two cups of black tea from the large teapot at home, put them in the tray and went upstairs.

"Woo...... This kid is still alive and still let us have his funeral, and now he suddenly tells me that he is not dead......

When Hurley went upstairs, Lanny burst into tears and let out a low whimper, and Old John had to hug his wife and sigh and comfort:

"There's no way around it, Xia Lin doesn't want to run a small cake shop like ours, now that Her Majesty the newly enthroned Empress likes him very much, we parents should not be too harsh on him."

"And when is he coming to the banquet?" It's Hurley's eleventh birthday!"

"It's almost there, isn't it? He's supposed to come with Harper's kid!"

Old John didn't find him in Charlene's office after work, but he heard from Wyatt that Charlene had left for the institute, and he thought he was going to find Harper.

"Jingle Bell ~ Jingle Bell ~"

At that moment, a crisp bell rang in the street outside Carl's cake shop, which could be heard clearly in the kitchen even through the antechamber, accompanied by the surprised voices of Anthony and Bessie.

[In other words, it is the best way to read aloud and listen to books at present, @

"How did you lose so much weight during this time......

After finally letting go, Lanny immediately held Xia Lin's face that had lost a lot of weight during this time with a worried face, but there was no mention of his fake death, and Xia Lin felt even more sorry for his mother when he saw this.

The commotion from downstairs reached the second floor, and Hurley, realizing that Harper had arrived, got up and called out to Carol, who was still eating pumpkin pie with relish and watching her demonstrate origami frogs:

"The banquet should start soon, let's go down together!"

"Hmm...... Okay!"

Carol looked at Hurley and then at the pumpkin pie that was still in her hand, opened her mouth wide and wiped out the rest in two bites, then picked up the teacup and washed the soft and sweet pumpkin pie with fragrant black tea, and hurriedly followed Hurley's steps out of the room.

But in a hurry, she suddenly bumped into Hurley's body halfway up the stairs:

"I'm sorry, Hurley, I didn't have time to stop......

Carol hurriedly apologized, but found that Hurley did not react to her words, and still stopped on the wooden staircase in a daze, her face full of shock and sluggishness, as if she had seen something far beyond her expectations.

Following Hurley's gaze, Carol caught a glimpse of the young man in a neat black and white outfit as he walked into the back hall.

Hurley's tan hair was slightly curly, and there was a kind of cloudy smile on his somewhat handsome face, and the most striking thing was his deep twin children.

Under the white light of Hurley's house, the eyes were as calm and deep as the silent depths of the sea, and it gave the man a mysterious and mature temperament that was very different from that of his brother who was about the same age as him in Carol's house.

This kind of gap in temperament, even Carol, whose Chinese grades are always at the top of the grade, is a little indescribable, if you have to explain, maybe it is more appropriate to use the idiom of the difference between cloud and mud explained by the Chinese teacher.

"Yo, Hurley! Long time no see!"

The young man raised his hand and greeted her, and Carol realized that the man must have a rather deep relationship with Hurley.

"You...... You guy!

Completely ignoring the rest of the room, Hurley took three steps and two steps down the remaining steps, rushing into the man's arms like a frightened little beast, and then burst into tears as Carol looked startled.

….

"Hey, hey, hey! You're ...... Your friends are still watching you!"

Xia Lin didn't expect Hurley to see her reaction so big again, obviously the two of them used to get along quite awkwardly, before hearing from Harper that Hurley cried at his funeral, Xia Lin didn't care too much, and now it seems that his status in his sister's heart is not bad.

But seeing his sister crying so sadly, he could only hug her and comfortingly caress her back that was no longer as choppy as before.

"Woooooooo......oo I thought you were really dead! You promised me to go to the New Year's celebration together!"

"I can't help it...... Next year! I'm sure I'll accompany you to next year's New Year's celebration, okay? It's all such a big person...... That's right! I have already sent you the unique gift I promised you before, so please go out with me!"

Xia Lin, who was already an old fritter in his previous life, was quite accustomed to all levels of social occasions, but he had never been married, but he was a hard hand for getting along with his children.

Now seeing Hurley crying so badly, he didn't know how to comfort him, and hugged his sister in his life with an embarrassed face, so he had to resort to changing the topic.

Hurley didn't care so much, she cried to her chest in Xia Lin's helpless look, and her snot and tears wiped Xia Lin's custom riding clothes for cycling before stopping.

After the family was reunited, the group came to the store and saw the handmade car

Bicycle, and after understanding the use of bicycles under Xia Lin's riding demonstration, Hurley awkwardly accepted this exquisite and unique gift, and everyone sat down peacefully to prepare for the birthday party.

Carol suddenly realized something from the conversation between Carl's family and her, could it be that Hurley's brother Charlene Karl, who suddenly appeared, was the Charlene Karl who founded the industrial park???

Misaka clucking chicken