In the ordinary life of Crayon Shin-chan

Chapter 1441 Xiao Xu is Missing (End)

Zheng Nan sniffed, his voice trembling with tears: "Xiao Xu gave me a lot of guidance on my comics, he..."

Ah-Dai had been silently staring at the paper when he suddenly pulled a small, duck-shaped stone from his pocket and gently placed it on the paper. In the sunlight, the stone's texture seemed to overlap with the words "Duck Stone" on the paper.

Xiaoxin didn't say anything, but just clutched the paper tightly, tears falling drop by drop onto the corner of the paper, but they didn't smudge the ink like before—probably because too much time had passed and the ink had long since dried.

But a smile appeared on his face, a smile that welled up from the bottom of his heart, a smile tinged with tears: "I knew it... I knew Xiao Xu was real..."

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, dancing on them and the paper, as if the boy named Xiaoxu was standing in the sunlight, smiling brightly at them.

"There seems to be more to the story on the paper, on the back of Shin-chan!" A-Dai suddenly exclaimed, looking at the paper.

"Yes, take a look!" Kazama and the others said anxiously.

"Okay." Shin-chan nodded, flipped the paper over to look at the remaining words: "If you want to find me, go to the place you know best. I'll be there, waiting for you."

"The most familiar place? Where is that?" The little ones suddenly fell silent.

"Kindergarten." Shin-chan suddenly stood up. "But, kindergarten, I've been there! The boss and Ms. Matsuzaka both said they didn't know Asahi."

“It’s different. Let’s go together now.” Kazama shook his head, pulled Shin-chan along, and the little ones ran towards the kindergarten together.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Futaba Kindergarten, the principal and her husband, Teacher Yoshinaga and her husband, Teacher Matsuzaka and Dr. Tokuro, Teacher Ageo and Kuroiso, and Ai standing next to Kuroiso, with Ai holding the hand of a little girl, Saki.

Behind Saki stood her father, Hiroshi, and Misae, who was holding Himawari. Shiro was squatting beside them. Even Nene's mother was standing here.

Nana stood beside them, her hands clasped tightly, looking worriedly outside the kindergarten. They were all waiting for Shin-chan and the others to come.

For some reason, as the children recalled the events, a corner of their memories was also revealed, and that figure reappeared in their memories.

That child who was always quietly helping them.

A little helper in the eyes of teachers; a matchmaker for Yoshinaga-sensei and Matsusaka-sensei; Kuroiso and Ageo-sensei; Ai's good older brother; Saki's little boyfriend; Hiroshi Misae's good son; Aoi's older brother; and Shiro's little master.

She is also a good child in Nini's mother's eyes.

In Nana's eyes, Xiaoxu is also a well-behaved and sensible child, sometimes so sensible that it breaks your heart.

But why did they forget him?

When the topic came up, everyone couldn't help but ponder this question.

However, at the moment they remembered, everyone walked towards Futaba Kindergarten as if they could find an answer there.

Shin-chan and the others quickly ran over, and when they saw everyone standing at the door, their eyes showed confusion.

"Dad, Mom, Xiaokui, Xiaobai, Nanako-neechan, Yoshinaga-sensei, Matsuzaka-sensei, Boss, Auntie, you..." Shin-chan looked at them, somewhat confused.

“We remembered too.” Misae handed Himawari to Hiroshi, then squatted down and hugged Shin-chan. “We…we had all forgotten about Asahi.”

"Yes, but that won't happen again."

"Let's go see Xiaoxu together."

"Kasukabe Defense Force! FIRE!" Shin-chan shouted, and everyone followed behind the little ones into the kindergarten.

This time, the moment they stepped into the kindergarten, it seemed as if they were suddenly plunged into darkness. Slowly, a light appeared before their eyes, and a figure slowly walked out from the light, smiling at everyone: "Everyone, I've come to take you home."

"Xiao Xu!" Everyone exclaimed in surprise when they saw him.

"Xiao Xu!" Xiao Xin shouted and rushed towards Ming Xu at lightning speed.

"Eeya!" Kui also climbed down from Hiroshi's arms and crawled towards Mingxu.

“Xiao Xu.” Sha Xi looked at him nervously as well.

"Everyone. I've finally found you." Mingxu looked at them with a smile on his face.

He hugged Shin-chan, picked up Himawari, and held Saki's hand. Mingxu looked at Shin-chan and said, "You still managed to find the clues I left behind, Shin-chan. You still haven't disappointed me."

"Yes, yes! I'm the best kindergarten kid!" Shin-chan looked at Mingxu, wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, and his face was full of pride.

"Yes, Shin-chan is the best." Mingxu looked at Shin-chan with a smile on his face.

"Eee-yah." Xiao Kui hugged Ming Xu tightly, afraid that he would disappear again.

The children also gathered around, looking at Mingxu nervously. Misae and Hiroshi were also looking at their eldest son, and for a moment they didn't know how to speak.

"I won't say much more for now." After exchanging a few words with them, Mingxu pointed to the light behind him: "Everyone, let's go, I'll take you home."

"Okay!" Seeing this, the children followed Mingxu without hesitation. The others behind them also followed suit and stepped into the light in front of them.

After a while, the world was spinning.

Our gaze shifts to another place, which appears to be a laboratory.

Misae, Shin-chan, and the others are lying in a hibernation pod.

Then, a hibernation pod slowly opened, and Mingxu sat up inside, looking to the side: "How is it? Are there any signs that their consciousness is waking up?"

"Yes, you'll wake up soon." Kusanagi nodded beside him. On the screen, the chubby Saemon was also nervously watching the hibernation pod below; he was also involved.

Beside her, Xiao Ai's parents stood nervously next to her hibernation pod, looking at Ming Xu: "Xiao Xu, are you sure everything is okay?"

The parents of the other children were also present.

“It should be fine now. I’ve crippled that Nightmare guy, and I’ve extracted all his memories. I’ve put these people’s consciousnesses into hibernation so they can only come back when they remember me. That guy is a real bastard. But he didn’t expect that Xiaoxin would also be so unpredictable.” Mingxu looked at Xiaoxin’s hibernation pod with a smile on his face.

"I originally thought it would take more time to guide everyone to break through the memory barrier, but I didn't expect that the Kasukabe Defense Force's tacit understanding and everyone's bond with me would be even stronger than I imagined."

Especially Shin-chan, who usually seems nonchalant, always manages to accurately grasp clues at crucial moments, just like when he helped the lost kitten find its way home in the park. His seemingly casual actions conceal the purest persistence. Although Nene was initially overwhelmed by sadness, her incredibly realistic comment about playing house instantly anchored all her hazy memories.

Kazama's eyes reddened as he recalled the library scene, Masao choked up while clutching the manga manuscript, and Adai silently took out the little duck stone—all of these moments filled me with a warm feeling on the other end of our conscious connection. "Actually, from the very beginning of designing this memory-awakening program, I was worried that everyone would give up the search because of the fog of oblivion created by the nightmare demon. Now it seems I underestimated the bond between us." Mingxu said, still somewhat emotional.

"Whoo~"

At this moment, the hibernation pods around them opened one by one, and everyone slowly sat up from their hibernation pods, looking around with a sense of confusion and bewilderment in their eyes.

"What's going on here?" Everyone looked around, their eyes filled with confusion.

"Here's what happened," Mingxu explained to everyone.

The gist of it is this: a dream demon came to Kasukabe and trapped everyone's consciousness in a dream, making it impossible for them to wake up. Moreover, it seemed to be targeted at them. After Mingxu discovered this, he tracked it down and, with the help of the Heart-Fluttering Iron, managed to smash the dream demon into dust. He also managed to extract the dream demon's memories, which led to a solution.

Using machines to bring them back to consciousness, and relying on these things, he left something in their dreams to constantly guide them back to reality. Of course, Mingxu was actually always by their side during this process, but they couldn't see him.

Just like in the dream, when Shin-chan turned the back of the paper, I was standing behind him watching; when Kazama pulled him and ran towards kindergarten, I quietly followed at the end of the line; when everyone reunited at the gate, I hid behind that old cherry blossom tree, listening to every word you said. It's just that the barrier set up by the nightmare prevents you from seeing the real me for the time being, and you can only slowly piece together the memories through those fragmented clues.

"Now everything is fine, all obstacles have been cleared, look—"

Mingxu raised his hand and made a sweeping motion in the air, and the glass curtain wall of the laboratory slowly became transparent, revealing the familiar streets of Kasukabe outside.

The nutrient tube of the hibernation pod detached automatically. Hiroshi stretched, his beer belly nearly knocking over the equipment next to him, which drew Misae's familiar lecturing beam! How many times have I told you to watch your image!

"I'm sorry, honey~" Hiroshi scratched his head and grinned foolishly, but his eyes couldn't leave Mingxu. Suddenly, his eyes reddened: "You brat... if you dare to play this disappearing act again, I'll cut off your allowance until you graduate high school!"

Xiao Kui babbled and jumped into Ming Xu's arms, her drool wetting his shirt. Sha Xi gently tugged at his sleeve: "Brother, you're not allowed to hide anymore."

The little guys from the Kasukabe Defense Force were already playing around the chubby Saemon.

Nini took out her rabbit doll and started hitting it.

Ah-Dai silently stuffed the stone into Ming-Xu's pocket. Kazama raised an eyebrow: "As expected of me! Hmph, next time, I'll definitely find it before Shin-chan does!"

Before he could finish speaking, Shin-chan blew a sound into his ear, and he collapsed to the ground.

Mingxu chuckled, ruffling Shin-chan's hair before turning to Kusanagi: "Memory synchronization rate 100%, physiological indicators stable." Kusanagi nodded, activating the holographic projection: "The mental pollution left by the nightmare demon has been cleared."

Mingxu looked out the window at the darkening sky, where Xiaobai was wagging its tail at him, holding the leash in its mouth.

The most important thing now is to go home and have dinner!

"I've already booked a restaurant outside, let's all have a meal together," Xiao Ai's father said with a smile, inviting everyone.

“Great! I’ve been looking forward to this restaurant for ages, Uncle.” Mingxu looked at him with a big smile on his face.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry~" Misae said, looking embarrassed.

But the movement did not slow down.

The group slowly walked out of the laboratory.

The laboratory lights were also off, with only the indicator lights on the hibernation pods still flashing gently, reflecting the newly posted slogan on the wall—Kasukabe will never forget any family member.

(*￣︶￣)~