CH 42

Little Parrot Returns Home (Will Mom and Dad recognize me?...)

At that moment, something clicked in his mind, like a thread finally connecting two points. The memory of that one particular night, the one he had been avoiding mentioning, came flooding back to him all at once.

As he opened his eyes to the world and really started to see the people and things around him, the once mundane and sparse aspects of his life transformed into sharp swords that ruthlessly hacked and slashed through his mind.

Just yesterday, he had found solace in his father's words. He reminded himself that, at 24 years old, he still had plenty of time to open his eyes to the world. He didn't need to put too much pressure on his 23-year-old self to have everything figured out just yet.

Now, he finally grasped the meaning behind his father's advice: to live life to the fullest without causing harm to anyone else along the way.

The little parrot flapped his wings twice and flew over to rub against the child's hand. "Hello boss, hello boss."

Each word cut into his heart like a knife.

For the first time in his life, President Kang felt regret. "You...don't need to call me that."

The little parrot seemed confused, tilting his head and looking at the boss.

"What did you have for breakfast?" At that moment, a few children walked in through the door.

The little parrot immediately resumed his role as a mature teacher, flying up onto the nearby shelf.

The afternoon activity class was about "My Mom and Dad," a traditional theme about filial piety towards parents.

Teacher Liu was a bit surprised. It was the first time she had seen Kangkang daydreaming, staring at the little parrot. There seemed to be a thick layer of darkness surrounding the child.

Teacher Liu was sensitive enough to sense that something must have happened to the child.

But she was no match for Kangkang.

"Kangkang, what did you have for dinner yesterday? Were you happy?" Teacher Liu asked.

"Teacher, I want to be alone for a while," the child's resistance was particularly evident.

All of Ms. Liu's attempts were blocked. "Alright then, you can sit here alone for a while. If there is anything, you can come to the classroom lounge to find me or talk to Teacher Little Parrot."

After Ms. Liu left, the child sat beside the playground. He didn't know how to face the parrot.

What should he do if he did something wrong?

This was not something he had experienced in his life because he had never felt that he had done anything wrong before.

With a fluttering sound of wings, a green figure flew over and landed on his shoulder.

The little bird rubbed his head against the shoulder, and Kang gently reached out his hand. The little parrot then hopped into his palm.

President Kang looked at the little parrot who showed no signs of anger towards him. It was as if what had happened before wasn't something to be condemned.

Looking at the little bird, Mr. Kang whispered, "I'll help you get back to your own body."

As soon as he finished speaking, the parrot, who had been squatting in his palm, suddenly ruffled the feathers and pecked him.

"Huh?"

"I can talk, I can talk!" The little parrot spoke up.

He flew out of his hand and circled around the child, chirping happily. "I can fly."

It was as if he was proud of himself for being able to talk and fly now.

Mr. Kang paused, recalling the child's drawings, which had only ever depicted two people, the sky, the sun, and a bird.

He had been wondering why the child didn't draw pictures of a family of three.

Suddenly, he realized that the child might have thought of himself as a bird.

If he remembered correctly, there was a condition called cognitive impairment. Patients with cognitive impairment could also experience aphasia1. Perhaps the child was too young to be detected at the time?

Mr. Kang looked at the parrot and found it hard to fathom that such a tiny bird housed the soul of a four-year-old child, forced to live all alone.

Ironically, his own soul was 24 years old and living with the child's parents.

"Don't you miss your mom and dad?" Mr. Kang asked, holding out his hand for the little bird to perch on.

The little parrot nodded his head.

"Do you want me to take you back to your mom and dad?"

The little parrot shook his head again.

"Are you afraid they won't recognize you?" Mr. Kang didn't know how to tell parents that the child they saw before them was not their son, but this parrot was.

And he didn't dare to say it. He had his own selfish reasons. He didn't want the couple to know that he wasn't their child, and he certainly didn't want them to know his true identity. He wanted to secretly let the little parrot return to his body, to go back to his own body, and not let those two people find out.

But could the other party believe this?

The little parrot shook his head again. From the perspective of the little parrot, his parents would surely be able to recognize him. The child thought that he used to be a bird, and he was still a bird now.

But the parents couldn't afford to raise two children.

Since he wasn't afraid his parents wouldn't recognize him and he still wanted them, but couldn't go back, Mr. Kang ruled out all the options and only one option remained ―

"You don't want to go back because you think your parents will recognize you?" Although this last option was very incredible, the 4-year-old child in front of him had turned into a parrot and didn't dislike him, the evil capitalist, and couldn't reason with normal people's thinking.

Sure enough, the little parrot nodded.

Mr. Kang looked at this confident little parrot. He had grown up and knew what he couldn't say. He spoke, "But you still miss your parents, don't you?"

The little parrot nodded.

"There's a reason why you can't be recognized by your parents, isn't there?"

The little parrot continued to nod his head. If his parents recognized him, they would take him home and raise him. As his father said –-

"We really can't afford to raise two children. Kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school, and university all require money and energy."

Mr. Kang was lost in thought. He couldn't let the parrot roam outside. In fact, he felt a shiver down his spine thinking about the dangers of the animal world, where there were stray cats that hunted birds and raptors that ate small birds.

If something happened to the little parrot, no one would know or care.

Moreover, although there was a human inside the little parrot, it was still a 4-year-old child. He never thought that a 4-year-old child needed special protection.

Because he himself was able to support a family at that age. But now he understood that he was just a child wandering in the world at the age of 4.

Naturally, he didn't want to let the little parrot wander alone outside.

In the distance, Ms. Liu breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the scene. The little parrot teacher was truly a master; see how quickly it had opened up to Kangkang.

The conversation between the child and the chubby green bird was simply cute.

Ms. Liu thought it was adorable and took a few photos to send to Kangkang's parents.

"How about this instead?" Mr. Kang suggested, "We'll give you a disguise so your parents won't easily recognize you. That way, you can go home and see them."

The little parrot suddenly lifted his head, as if saying, "Wow, is that even possible?"

Mr. Kang thought to himself that this was the best plan. It could not only bring the real little Kangkang back to his parents but also protect the little parrot's feelings. After all, the parrot was confident that his parents would be able to recognize him.

If they managed to disguise him so well that his parents couldn't recognize him, it was a testament to the effectiveness of the disguise.

But the problem was, how do you dress up a bird?

"Teacher Liu, when do we have our art show rehearsal?" Mr. Kang never imagined himself asking such a question.

The little parrot perched on the child's shoulder, and looked over with the same hopeful eyes.

Teacher Liu couldn't resist: "We'll start rehearsing this Friday."

"Will we be doing makeup for the performance?"

"Yes, all the children will have makeup on stage, so they look good under the lights."

"Can I see the makeup?"

"You don't need makeup for the rehearsal, so we haven't bought any yet."

After hearing this, the child walked out with a dejected look.

Teacher Liu said in her heart that Kangkang was really a child she couldn't understand. The only thing she could do was to be patient and let the child learn at his own pace.

Teacher Liu has seen many children from different families and has developed her own teaching philosophy. Sometimes, the more anxious adults are, the more counterproductive it becomes. On the other hand, children who are allowed to grow up in a peaceful environment can gradually establish a correct understanding of the world.

Today, Xia Sheng had to work overtime again, so it was once again up to Yue Qin to pick up the child. Yue Qin received a photo of his son with the parrot today and thought he would take a look at the little parrot too.

"The parrot teacher doesn't receive parents." His son put on the red sweater hat on his head and started showing off next to him.

"Okay, then we'll chat with the parrot teacher another time." Yue Qin picked up his son. "Baby, why are you wearing a hat? Aren't you hot?"

"I'm not hot." The child immediately covered the hat with both hands, for fear that he would take it off.

President Kang could feel the little parrot hiding inside the hat, cowering in fear of being discovered.

Since he hadn't yet disguised the parrot, Kang couldn't quite understand why the bird was so insistent on not being recognized by his parents, even though he was certain they would easily spot him.

Upon arriving home, the child loosened his grip and announced, "Dad, I'm busy today. I can't help you with cooking."

"What are you busy with?"

Kang took out his drawing book and a pen. "I'm going to draw. I want to be a great artist when I grow up."

"Okay, help me after you finish your drawing," said Yue Qin, nodding his head.

Yue Qin went into the kitchen and glanced outside from time to time. The child lay on the floor and seemed to be genuinely drawing.

As Kang gazed at the plump emerald-green parrot before him, he suddenly realized that the bird had grown noticeably plumper, thanks to the good food he had been providing.

But he couldn't just say, "You're getting chubby. Daddy might not recognize you anymore."

He had originally intended to paint the parrot, but the feathers were too glossy and he couldn't apply any color to them.

Moreover... The parrot wasn't a toy bird after all. Kang noticed him fly over to the couch where his mother's coat was lying.

The little parrot immediately burrowed into his mother's coat pocket.

He poked out his little head and looked at Kang, happily wagging it.

Indeed, he was a four-year-old child. How did he manage to hold back and not come back to see his parents?

Yes, this was a four-year-old child. As long as he was convinced that he was well-dressed, that was enough.

Mr. Kang's thinking shifted a bit and suddenly became clear.

Doing these things on the sofa was not very convenient, so Mr. Kang brought his mother's clothes and the little parrot back to his room.

This way, the little parrot could play to his heart's content, and he could do what he needed to do.

Mr. Kang went to the room and searched for a while but couldn't find any thread. Then he looked at his clothes and suddenly realized that they were all made of thread.

So he bit off a piece of thread with his mouth, a thin red one. Would red thread be safe enough?

Although he had decided to keep this little parrot with him until he got his body back, what if the other party flew away? The red thread would be too conspicuous.

The little parrot's body was naturally green, acting as a protective color.

Mr. Kang searched his room but couldn't find any green thread, so he went to his parent's room to look for it.

Still no luck. So the child went to the balcony where clothes were drying.

He finally found some.

Mr. Kang found a bit of green thread on Dad’s clothes and his mom had a dark green skirt.

Mr. Kang started to bite as soon as he opened his mouth. He already had experience in biting off a thread, so he bit the thread with his teeth and pulled it out.

Meanwhile, the little parrot stayed squatting inside his mom's coat pocket, showing no signs of wanting to come out.

"Baby, stick out your feet," Mr. Kang whispered, then realized he used the child's nickname.

Kangkang's parents often called him "Kangkang baby."

The little parrot immediately tucked his head back into the pocket but stretched out his claws.

As expected, the mature and steady parrot teacher at school became a childish bird in front of Mom's scent.

Mr. Kang carefully slipped a green thread over the little parrot's leg and tied it into a short knot, making it look like he was wearing a green bracelet.

"Baby, look, now you have a green thread on you, and nobody will recognize you," he said.

The little parrot bent his head down and saw the green thread on his little claw.

Mr. Kang continued his persuasive talk, "You were still a bird before, but your claws didn't have this thread, right?"

The little parrot nodded.

"Now that you have this thread on your claws, your mom and dad will see you and think, 'Our baby didn't have this thread before,' and then they won't recognize you."

It seemed to make sense.

Mr. Kang thought to himself, "If only the stuffy old men at the board of directors were this easy to persuade, that would be great."

"Baby, do you want to go find Dad with me now?"

The little parrot looked at the green thread on his claw, feeling a bit hesitant.

"Your dad won't recognize you now," encouraged Mr. Kang.

"Let's go find him. He's cooking something delicious. Do you want to try dad's cooking?" Mr. Kang felt like he suddenly had a younger brother.

The little parrot was eager to try and flew onto Mr. Kang's shoulder.

At that moment, they heard dad's voice from outside.

"Who chewed a hole in my overalls?"

Yue Qin had gone to the balcony to cut some garlic sprouts but saw his overalls thrown on the stool, with a hole and a few threads pulled out.

"Well, we can stay in the room for a little while longer. I can teach you how to speak?!"