The Cen father and son appeared at dinner, sitting next to Du Ze and Niu Niu. After an afternoon, not only had Cen Yuankai not gotten better, but he looked even worse. His eyes were lifeless and swollen from crying. Cen Yuankai was both naughty and domineering. The other three children didn’t like him. His father, Cen Zeping, was similar, except that adults, unlike children, put on a bit of a show.
Mi Huan and Du Ze exchanged polite greetings, asking how Cen Yuankai was feeling. Cen Zeping held Cen Yuankai and sighed repeatedly, saying he hadn’t expected that filming a show would make his son suffer so much. Mi Huan gave a dry laugh and didn’t engage further. The little one was busy eating. His bowl was piled high with food from Grandpa Bai, Grandpa Tian, and Grandma Zhang, all giving him food. He couldn’t finish it all.
Mi Le ate while glancing over at Cen Yuankai. He asked his brother quietly, “Ge, aren’t cockleburs non-poisonous?”
“Yeah, they’re non-poisonous.”
“Then why does Cen Yuankai look so sick?”
Mi Huan shook his head and guessed, “Maybe it’s a physical thing. Some children really aren’t suited to country life.”
The little one, sitting in his seat and obediently eating with chopsticks, saw Cen Yuankai staring at him, his expression fierce. He couldn’t even eat properly. He reached out and tugged at Shen Yan’s sleeve. “Big Brother.”
Shen Yan smiled at him, patted the back of his head, and then looked coldly over at Cen Yuankai. Cen Yuankai immediately shrank back into his father’s arms, his body trembling. A few seconds later, he burst into tears. A bratty child’s wails were very annoying. No one comforted him except his father.
Cen Yuankai felt his back was terribly itchy. He reached inside and scratched hard, removing all the freshly applied medicine. The on-site doctor lifted his clothes and saw obvious scratch marks on his back; he had even drawn blood with his fingernails.
“Don’t scratch anymore. If it gets too torn up, it will be hard to heal.”
Cen Yuankai couldn’t help himself and tried to scratch again, but his father grabbed his hand.
“…Papa, I’m so itchy. There are bugs crawling inside. It’s so itchy.”
Cen Zeping frowned. “Nonsense. There are no bugs.”
Cen Yuankai sobbed. “There were bugs on those cockleburs…”
He kept crying about bugs. The director had no choice but to send them back to rest and had the doctor give him a thorough check-up. At the long table banquet, Shen Yan curled his lips into a smile.
With so little courage, he still wants to bully my little brother.
After dinner, the three children played on the threshing ground while the other guests chatted with the village elders. Grandpa Tian knew they were leaving tomorrow and was a bit reluctant. His somewhat cloudy eyes rested on Su Youli. He had lived his whole life alone, unmarried, tending his few acres of land. In his old age, he had met such a fairy-like child. But no matter how reluctant he was, Youyou wasn’t his.
“Niu Niu, why is there still mud in your hair?” Mi Le pinched a clump of dried mud from Niu Niu’s ponytail.
Niu Niu clutched her head, frowning in embarrassment. “I didn’t see it.”
It wasn’t strange for a five-year-old to be able to bathe themselves, but the three children had gotten so dirty in the afternoon that they definitely needed adult help. Mi Le had been scrubbed clean by his brother after an hour in the water.
Niu Niu blinked. “Mama said I’m a girl, so I have to bathe myself.”
Mi Le nodded. “But your papa didn’t help wash your hair either?”
At this age, a child bathing themselves usually meant a quick rinse under the water, a blob of shower gel roughly rubbed on, and then another rinse. You couldn’t tell if they were actually clean. Niu Niu was clean by nature. Now that she knew her hair wasn’t clean, she immediately became unhappy. Su Youli was younger than them, but he was very smart.
He took a deep breath, ran back to the long table banquet, and placed his hands on Grandma Zhang’s knees. “Grandma Zhang!”
Grandma Zhang smiled at him. “What’s wrong, Youyou?”
The little one cupped his hands to make a small megaphone and leaned in. “Grandma Zhang, can you help Niu Niu jiejie wash her hair?”
Mi Le was waiting with Niu Niu. Soon, he saw Youyou leading Grandma Zhang over. Grandma Zhang crouched down, felt Niu Niu’s hair, and led her inside. The two children followed like little tails. The countryside kitchen had a large stove with a fire still burning inside, giving the whole kitchen a faint, pleasant smoky scent. Mi Le and Youyou sat on small stools, watching Grandma Zhang wash Niu Niu’s hair.
“The hair underneath is still wet. Why didn’t your father untie it and blow-dry it for you?”
Grandma Zhang’s tone was full of complaint. If the child’s hair stayed wet all night, she would definitely get sick. Niu Niu lowered her head, her hair covering her face, listening to Grandma Zhang scold her father for being irresponsible.
The little girl couldn’t help it. Her eyes reddened, and she sniffled. After washing Niu Niu’s hair, Grandma Zhang still wasn’t at ease. She checked Youyou’s ears and head to see if they were clean.
“Very clean. Go play outside,” Grandma Zhang said, waving her hand. She thought to herself that in this day and age, a father wasn’t as good as a brother.
The three children helped Grandma Zhang pour out the water, wiped up the puddles on the floor, and only then went outside. Grandma Zhang felt so warm inside. After the children left, she called her son and daughter-in-law, who were working far away.
—
The first stop was almost over. The production team didn’t arrange any tasks for them tonight. After dinner, they sent the adults and children back to rest. Shen Yan carried the little one on his back along the country path, feeling the soft, small body pressed against him. He really felt that over these two days, Youyou had become much closer to him, and he had gained a deeper understanding of Youyou.
The little one, exhausted from playing, fell asleep, not even knowing how his big brother had washed him and put him to bed. But before falling asleep, he had mumbled that when he got home, he wanted to call his fathers. The little one lay on the bed, sleeping soundly, his little hands clenched into fists on either side of his head, occasionally letting out a soft whimper.
Shen Yan would stop fanning and lean his ear in to listen. The little one was calling “Daddy,” then “Kunkun.”
Shen Yan’s heart ached again. He felt sorry for Youyou, having to be separated from Uncle Su and Uncle Qin at such a young age. Then his thoughts drifted back to that winter three years ago. At that time, he was busy with schoolwork and pursuing his dreams. His mother was of advanced age, and her pregnancy symptoms were severe. She was very weak throughout the pregnancy.
Shen Yan had even resented the baby in her belly, wondering why he had to put his mother through so much pain. Of course, Shen Minyan was also on his blacklist. At sixteen, he was full of pent-up anger, no less than Shen Lin was now. But Shen Yan wasn’t as outwardly expressive as Shen Lin. He wouldn’t voice his dissatisfaction, no matter how upset he was.
His gaze fell on the peacefully sleeping little one’s face. He tried hard to remember what exactly had happened the night his mother gave birth to Youyou. Cicadas chirped, frogs croaked, and the moonlight was bright. Shen Yan’s gaze softened. He stroked the little one’s hair.
Now he was an adult. What was there to be afraid of? No matter what happened, he would protect Youyou. Shen Yan lifted the blanket, turned over to embrace his little brother, and slept soundly.
Heyyy loves, do check out the QT novel I’m translating. It features a very cute Mc and silly system. Direct linkhttps://novels.space/the-guide-to-unrequited-love/
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