Chapter 45

Xiao Man's piggy bank didn't have much money, only about two or three hundred yuan, but it still helped Xu Mo get through the current crisis. For a long time afterward, Xu Mo's life didn't change much until one day, he received a call from Luo Ci.

Luo Ci seemed to have some news about Luo Shi and invited him to meet in person.

Hearing this news, Xu Mo hesitated for a long time. He and Luo Shi had only met once on a bus, and Luo Shi had asked him for a favor. Therefore, he didn't want to get involved in this matter.

But thinking about Xiao Man's father's disappearance, which seemed to be related to the people who had kidnapped Luo Shi, and considering how much Xiao Man meant to him, he eventually agreed.

The situation was a bit strange; Luo Ci invited him to meet at her home.

Luo Ci lived in a residential area in the northern part of the city. Xu Mo took the bus to get there, and Luo Ci met him at the bus stop. They had agreed on a time, and as soon as Xu Mo got off the bus, he saw a girl around eighteen or nineteen years old standing by the bus stop, waving at him.

Xu Mo walked over, and the girl glanced at him and asked, "Are you Brother Xu?"

Xu Mo nodded slightly in response.

Luo Ci's appearance was somewhat similar to her sister's, but there were also significant differences. She gave off a gentle, unassuming vibe, with smooth skin and a slightly flat nose, making her seem a bit clumsy.

This clumsiness, when present in an adult woman, often made men feel more protective and willing to accommodate her.

However, it didn't have much of an effect on Xu Mo. He looked at Luo Ci and asked, "What news do you have?"

Luo Ci's expression was serious. "The situation is a bit complicated, Brother Xu. Let's talk once we get inside."

Hearing this, Xu Mo didn't ask any more questions and followed Luo Ci to her home.

Luo Ci's rented apartment was a single room, slightly better than Xu Mo's but not by much.

The ground floor of the apartment building was a supermarket, and next to the supermarket, on the side of the building, there was a staircase leading to the second floor entrance.

Luo Ci led Xu Mo to the door, reached into her pocket, and suddenly paused.

"What's wrong?" Xu Mo asked.

"I forgot my key," Luo Ci said with an embarrassed smile.

Xu Mo frowned, thinking, "Without a key, how can we get in? This Luo Ci is a bit forgetful."

Luo Ci suddenly looked up and called out, "Sakura, Sakura."

"Ah, so she lives with someone else," Xu Mo immediately understood. "I remember she once mentioned that Luo Shi separated from her because she had a boyfriend. Is this Sakura her boyfriend? But it's unusual for a man to have such a feminine name. Is it Xiao Ying, Xiao Ying, or Xiao Sakura?"

His memory was excellent, and he hadn't forgotten the one time Luo Ci mentioned her boyfriend five months ago.

Just as he was wondering, he heard the sound of flapping wings, and a brown-headed parrot landed on Luo Ci's shoulder.

The parrot is also known as a lovebird, but Xu Mo didn't know much about this.

Luo Ci smiled at Xu Mo. "Brother Xu, this is Sakura, cherry blossom's Sakura, which sounds like 'parrot.' It's very smart, but it can't speak." She paused and then added, "Brother Xu, do you have a key? Can I borrow it?"

"What use would my key be?" Xu Mo thought but still took out his key and handed it to Luo Ci, while looking at the parrot on her shoulder.

The parrot seemed a bit shy and turned its head away when their eyes met.

Luo Ci held Xu Mo's key in front of the parrot and said, "Sakura, I left my key inside. Go get it for me."

She was worried the parrot might not understand, so she emphasized it several times, saying, "Key, key," and kept waving the key.

Xu Mo was surprised. "It... it can understand you?"

It's no wonder Xu Mo was surprised. Parrots can mimic human speech because of their powerful vocal organs, but they don't understand the meaning of the words they repeat. In terms of intelligence, they are far behind dogs.

Luo Ci smiled. "Sakura is very smart. It can understand simple things. I'm not sure if it understands my words, but it definitely knows what I want it to do when I keep waving the key."

As she spoke, the parrot flew up, circled in the air, and entered the room through a window.

Luo Ci watched the parrot's movements closely and finally relaxed, returning Xu Mo's key. "I always keep my key on the table by the window. Sakura often plays there, so it must have understood and gone to get the key."

She said this with confidence, but Xu Mo found it hard to believe.

However, soon the parrot returned, carrying a set of keys in its beak, and landed on Luo Ci's left shoulder.

Luo Ci took the keys and petted the parrot's feathers, praising it. "Sakura is so smart."

She then took out a small glass bottle filled with chocolate beans, similar in size to green peas. She unscrewed the cap, poured a few beans into her palm, and offered them to the parrot.

The parrot lowered its head and quickly ate them.

Luo Ci put the bottle away and smiled at Xu Mo. "Sakura is quite picky. I once tried to feed it parrot food, but it wouldn't even try it."

Xu Mo said, "Oh," not really caring about the parrot's eating habits, but then remembered what Luo Ci had said and asked, "Since it's so smart, why don't you teach it to speak?"

Luo Ci looked disappointed. "I've tried, but I can't teach it." She opened the door and invited Xu Mo inside.

As they walked into the apartment, Xu Mo asked curiously, "You can teach it to fetch things, but not to speak? The former seems more difficult."

Luo Ci looked embarrassed. "Sakura can fetch things, but I didn't teach it. It could already do that when I got it."

"Really?" Xu Mo stopped and looked at her in surprise.

Luo Ci gently stroked the parrot's feathers and continued, "I found Sakura about two months ago. One night, it flew into my room through the window and refused to leave. I thought it belonged to someone nearby, so I put up a lost and found notice, but no one claimed it. Eventually, it became mine."

Xu Mo looked at the parrot again and noticed that it was secretly watching him. When he looked at it, the parrot suddenly turned its head away.

Xu Mo found this amusing and said to Luo Ci, "Your parrot, Sakura... it's very cute."

Luo Ci smiled. "Sakura is a bit shy with strangers, but it gets better once it's familiar with them. You can touch it, it's fine."

She slightly tilted her left shoulder to make it easier for Xu Mo to touch the parrot.

Because of Xiao Qing, Xu Mo had a fondness for small animals. He asked, "Will it be scared?"

Luo Ci explained, "Sakura is easily startled, but it's okay now that I'm here. Just move slowly."

Xu Mo listened to her and slowly reached out to touch the parrot's feathers. The parrot didn't avoid him but kept its head down.

Luo Ci looked at the parrot and said, "That's strange. Sakura wasn't like this before. Why is it so listless today? Did it eat something bad?"

She took out the glass bottle of chocolate beans and tasted one. After a moment, she frowned and muttered, "The chocolate beans are fine, and Sakura never eats anything from others. Could it be sick?"

She clearly had a lot of experience with parrots. She examined the parrot's body, mouth, and feet but couldn't find anything wrong. Finally, she said, "I guess I'll have to take Sakura to the vet."

She looked at Xu Mo and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Brother Xu. I got worried about Sakura and forgot you were here."

Xu Mo said calmly, "It's fine."

They continued talking and soon reached Luo Shi's room. Luo Shi invited Xu Mo in, had him sit on an old sofa by the wall, and poured him a glass of water.

Xu Mo drank the water and looked around the room.

Luo Ci's room was small, only about ten square meters. A large bed took up half the room, and there was also a folding wardrobe, two tables, a small one between the old sofa and the bed, and a larger one by the window.

The room was very clean, with a few calendars and promotional posters for online games on the walls.

The room had a sweet, cloying scent, which could have been from incense, perfume, or shampoo.

Xu Mo glanced at the large bed. It was a double bed, but the bedding was for a single person, leaving half of the bed empty.

Xu Mo asked curiously, "Doesn't your boyfriend live here?"

Luo Ci replied calmly, "We broke up after my sister disappeared."

Xu Mo nodded and didn't press further. After a moment, he asked, "You said you have news about your sister. What is it?"

Luo Ci sat on the bed, took out a bank card from her wallet, placed it on the table, and pushed it toward Xu Mo. "Brother Xu, take a look."

Xu Mo picked up the bank card and saw that it was a credit card from China Merchants Bank with Luo Shi's name embossed on it.

Xu Mo asked, puzzled, "Is this your sister's credit card?" but didn't understand why Luo Ci was showing him this.

Luo Ci nodded and said, "Brother Xu, my sister appeared to me in a dream and gave me this credit card."