Words I Was Afraid To Hear

Manta was hopping as they entered the manufacturing plant. They were made to wear hard hats, eyeshields, and laboratory coats.

Midori gave Dan a grateful look as the little guy was sporting the attire as if every piece of it was made for his size.

A man in his 30s wearing the same personal protective equipment walked towards them.

"CEO Zhou, CEO Xiu, Little Man. Welcome to the world of Cerealz!" He declared smiling. "Little Man, I am Uncle Tony. Are you excited to see how Cerealz is made?"

"Yeah!" Manta held out his empty box.

"Oh, you already have a box! Let's fill it up with Cerealz at the end of your tour. Okay?"

"Yeah!" Manta jumped up. Then, he turned to Midori. "Mommy, can you hold onto this box for me?"

Though confusedly reluctant, she took the box from him. "Sure."

To their surprise, the little guy's chubby hands held Midori's hand in one, while taking Dan's hand on the other. They would indeed be a picture of a happy family.

They were first led to the revolving pressure cookers.

"Why are the big drums spinning?" Manta asked.

"They are cooking the wheat which will become Cerealz." Dan explained before Tony could recite his technically practiced speech.

They went on inside the factory. Tony thought he would be like Willy Wonka, but it seemed that he was just demoted into an oompa loompa.

"Hey! Mommy, look! They have big rolling pins!"

"Yes, Honey." She gently patted his hat.

"That's for the frosted variant. The choco balls will come from there." Dan pointed towards a machine which extrudes beads of chocolate balls, which were a bit flat if one looks closer.

"How come they are not round?" Manta has keen observation.

"They need to be puffed out. Come, I'll show you where the round cereals are." Dan started walking.

"Woah!" Manta was delighted to see the cereals tumbling from the machine.

"They would be coated here..." Dan was about to go to the next machine, but he noticed that Manta seemed tired. He and his long legs again.

He picked the little guy up in his arms, then they went to look at the chocolate-coated cereals.

Tony furrowed his brows. 'Is this boy the CEO's son? But I heard him call him 'uncle' so is it not the case?' He skeptically looked for resemblance.

Just then, Midori whispered to him. "Tony, is it?"

"Yes, CEO Xiu?"

"Can you tell me where the restroom is?" It seemed she did not want the two to notice her absence.

Tony gave her a few directions and she nodded. She left him the cereal box.

Dan noticed that she went away but pretended not to.

While Midori was away, Dan took his opportunity to talk to Manta.

"Hey buddy. I need to tell you something. Can you keep a secret? You're a little man now. It will be a secret between men, alright?"

Manta nodded, totally interested. He was swearing his allegiance by tapping his chubby fist on his c.h.e.s.t, his face serious.

"Good. I'll marry your aunt today, but dangerous people will put us into trouble if they know. So I'm only telling you. Are you okay with that?"

Manta whispered, "Did Mommy agree to marry you?"

"She did...but she did not know that we will have a secret ceremony today. She thought we will only register our marriage."

"Register?"

"It means to put it on paper. I want a small ceremony so I could give her a ring, okay?"

"Okay. Do I need to do anything?"

Dan smiled. "You shall hold our rings."

"Okay." The little guy smiled back.

Though he could not hear their conversation, Tony's suspicions were building up due to the expression the two exchanged.

Midori walked in to pull him back to really. "Thank you for holding this."

She walked towards the two who had just picked up a sealed bag of cereals.

"Mommy, look! I can now put this in the bag!" Manta had a big smile while holding the bag of chocolate cereals.