Everything had happened too fast, too suddenly. The little one’s eyes instantly turned red. The straw grasshopper was very fragile. It was crushed underfoot, its eyes, nose, and wings all twisted out of place. It had become a very ugly little thing, not at all resembling a grasshopper anymore. The little one’s eyes were full of tears. He couldn’t stop sobbing, his little shoulders heaving.
Seeing Su Youli cry from being bullied, Cen Yuankai was initially quite pleased with himself. But then the director, who had been following them all along, stepped forward and sternly told him to apologize to Su Youli. There was no way Cen Yuankai would apologize. The two sides were deadlocked for quite a while. Su Youli picked up the little grasshopper, put it in his backpack, and crouched on the ground with his back to everyone, clutching something in his hand.
The cameraman and several staff members took turns comforting him for a long time, promising to weave him an identical one when they got back, before Su Youli finally stopped crying. When the group was halfway back, they saw the adults who had gone to do tasks in the fields that morning. As soon as Su Youli saw his big brother, he immediately snuggled up to him. Shen Yan scooped him up.
Su Youli wrapped his arms around his brother’s neck, not saying a word. His little face rested on Shen Yan’s shoulder, his eyelashes lowered, his little mouth pouting—he looked deeply wronged. Feeling that the little one was downcast, Shen Yan bounced him up and down a bit to cheer him up. But the little one just clung tightly to his big brother, not saying a single word, sticking to him like glue.
The group went down the mountain and gathered at Grandma Zhang’s doorstep. The children had been in the mountains all morning and were all dirty. Grandma Zhang was very warm-hearted; she brought over two thermoses and poured water into a basin.
“Hurry up and wash your faces. Look at how dirty your little faces are.”
After Grandma Zhang turned and left, Cen Zeping was the first to carry Cen Yuankai over, sitting him on a stool to wash his face. Cen Zeping’s washing method was very rough. The whole basin of clean water was quickly dirtied. Seeing the black mud under his son’s fingernails, Cen Zeping turned and asked Grandma Zhang to bring out another thermos of hot water. Mi Huan had a good temper and didn’t want to bother Grandma Zhang. He himself took the empty thermos and went to boil some hot water.
“Brother, Cen Yuankai made Youyou cry just now.” As soon as they were in a place without cameras, Mi Le couldn’t wait to tell his brother about Cen Yuankai’s ‘crimes.’
“What happened?” Mi Huan put the water on to boil and got to the bottom of the incident.
No wonder Youyou had looked so unhappy today. He had been bullied.
“You did the right thing. In the future, you must tell me about things like this. Don’t fight.” Mi Huan patted his brother’s head and praised him.
But Mi Le wasn’t very happy. He felt sure he could beat Cen Yuankai and get revenge for Youyou. When the water boiled, Mi Huan filled the thermos and had Mi Le find a clean towel from his suitcase. Cen Yuankai was already clean and taking off his dirty coat. Su Youli was being held by Shen Yan as he washed his face.
Mi Le handed the new towel to Shen Yan. “Shen Yan gege, here’s a towel for you.”
Shen Yan didn’t stand on ceremony. He took it and thanked him. After the children were clean, they were sent off to play. Grandma Zhang’s house was spacious, giving the children plenty of room. Soon, the four children started playing hide-and-seek. The three children didn’t like the domineering and rude Cen Yuankai. Cen Yuankai didn’t want to be the seeker. Whether he won or lost, he only wanted to be the hider.
It happened to be Su Youli’s turn to be the seeker. The little one covered his eyes, faced the wall, and started counting.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5…”
After counting to one hundred, Su Youli slowly uncovered his eyes. When he was at Yunshui Street, he often played hide-and-seek with Yang Yang gege, and he had his own ways of finding people.
As he walked, he called out, “Niu Niu jiejie, Lele gege, I see you already~”
His little voice was very certain, with none of the guilt of someone telling a lie.
The pile of rice in the corner moved. Su Youli covered his mouth, his eyes narrowing, then tiptoed over. Hidden under the rice was Niu Niu. When she heard Youyou say that, she thought she had really been spotted and couldn’t help peeking out. Su Youli then went around Grandma Zhang’s house. In the living room, by the corner of the curtain, he saw a pair of blue sneakers.
The little one stood there for a few seconds, then went around the other side of the table, stood behind the blue sneakers, and suddenly pulled back the curtain, placing his little hand on Cen Yuankai’s body, giving him a huge fright.
Cen Yuankai felt his heart pounding in his throat. He said viciously, “No fair! You, go out. I want to hide again.”
Su Youli looked at him for a moment, then silently turned and left the living room.
Seeing him obey so readily, Cen Yuankai was pleased with himself.
He must have been intimidated by me in the mountains. Such a coward.
For the next ten minutes, no matter where Cen Yuankai hid, no one came to find him. When he finally couldn’t stand it anymore and came out, he saw that the other three had switched to a different game. Mi Huan had taken a burnt stick from the stove and drawn squares on the ground. The three children were happily hopping and playing.
Shen Yan had, of course, learned that his little brother’s grasshopper had been destroyed. He thought that after lunch, he’d borrow Grandma Zhang’s electric scooter and take Su Youli to find Grandpa Bai, to have him weave another one. The three children had completed their task, so each would receive lunch. Today’s lunch was chicken wings, which the children all loved. Each child got two. Su Youli used his chopsticks to pick up one wing and put it in his brother’s bowl, then looked up at Shen Yan with a sweet, beaming smile.
Shen Yan’s heart melted. He patted the little one’s head. “Brother doesn’t want it. You eat it.”
The adults’ lunch was also earned through their morning labor, all the same boxed lunches as the production crew. Cen Yuankai, who had come in last, saw the fragrant chicken wings in Su Youli’s bowl and started throwing a tantrum again. Du Ze took a chicken wing from Niu Niu’s bowl and took a big bite.
As he chewed, he said, “Kai Kai, boys shouldn’t act like this. A loss is a loss. If you can’t eat it this time, just try harder next time.”
Cen Yuankai watched him eat, his face greasy, and wrapped his arms and legs around Cen Zeping. “Papa, I want chicken wings too.”
Cen Zeping tried to soothe him, promising to give him some when they got home tomorrow. But a spoiled child like that wasn’t so easily appeased. Cen Zeping felt like participating in this variety show had peeled a layer off him. He couldn’t eat well, couldn’t sleep well. Taking care of a child was usually his wife’s and the nanny’s job. Now he knew how hard it was.
Cen Zeping had acted in many dramas and had a certain level of fame. He had grown up in a privileged environment. Manual farm labor was not his forte. He couldn’t do farm work, and he couldn’t take care of his child well either. Cen Zeping was starting to regret signing up for this show. Halfway through the meal, Cen Yuankai, who had been refusing to eat, suddenly started crying.
“Papa, my back is so itchy.” Cen Yuankai’s face was covered with snot and tears. He reached into his clothes and scratched incessantly.
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