Chen Annan’s mouth was slightly open, his breathing heavy. The air he exhaled was scorching hot, gusting against Lu Qingyuan’s wrist bone.
After Lu Qingyuan finished saying that sentence, he walked out.
Chen Annan wrapped himself up into a tight little bundle, like a zongzi. But the chill seemed to seep into the very marrow of his bones. No matter how much he tried to warm himself, he could never get warm.
Lu Wenyuan wasn’t home tonight. There was no one to take care of him. The blanket blocked out all the light. He felt as if this tiny world of his had shrunk back down to just himself again.
Lu Qingyuan didn’t care about him at all—just walked out without a word. This made Chen Annan enormously, enormously sad. His little emotions, fueled by his illness, surged upwards. His eyelids trembled. A moment later, he quietly wiped the corner of his eye with the back of his hand.
In the living room, Lu Qingyuan was holding the phone pinched between his ear and shoulder as he rummaged through the cabinets.
“Mm, I know,” he said, fishing out a medical kit. He opened it. Inside were all sorts of emergency medicines, neatly arranged, along with a thermometer.
“If his fever hasn’t gone down by morning, I’ll take him to the hospital.” Lu Qingyuan took out the fever reducer and the thermometer.
“It’s fine, Dad. Just take care of your work stuff. I can look after him.”
The call ended with a click. Lu Qingyuan poured a cup of hot water and went back into the bedroom. “Get up and take your medicine.”
Chen Annan jutted out his lip, turned his back to him, and presented him with only his rear.
“…” Lu Qingyuan was silent for a moment, then said, “I won’t snap at you anymore. Will you please get up and take your medicine?”
Only then did Chen Annan lift his little blanket and expose half his head to look at him. Lu Qingyuan took his temperature and then fed him the fever reducer.
Chen Annan closed his trembling eyes and fell asleep again for a while. Lu Qingyuan watched over him, noticing how thin his eyelids were that he could even see the capillaries.
Taking care of a sick child was truly exhausting. By the time Lu Qingyuan was done with everything, it was already past midnight. He skipped the shower and went straight to his room to get his own little blanket, bringing it back to sleep beside Chen Annan.
When a small child is sick, they can’t be left alone and they love to act spoiled.
Chen Annan didn’t sleep long before the heat woke him up. After taking the medicine, he felt a bit more energetic. He felt for Lu Qingyuan’s hand and placed it on his own head. “Feel and see if I’m still hot,” he asked in a whisper.
“A bit better.”
Chen Annan felt something was missing. A moment later, he asked again, “Is Uncle coming back tonight?”
“No.”
“Will he come back tomorrow?”
“I don’t know.”
“Since I have a fever, can I skip kindergarten tomorrow?”
Lu Qingyuan couldn’t take it anymore. How could this kid talk so much? “Can you just go to sleep?”
Chen Annan was shaken by his impatient tone. He stared at him for a moment, then suddenly said, “You lied.”
“?”
“You said you wouldn’t snap at me.” Chen Annan looked very innocent.
“…” Lu Qingyuan simply pulled the blanket up over his own head.
After a time he couldn’t measure, as Lu Qingyuan was drifting hazily into sleep, he felt a soft, warm sensation press against him. The scorching temperature jolted him awake instantly. In the faint light, he reached out and touched Chen Annan.
At some point, Chen Annan had crawled into his blanket. Eyes closed, he was whimpering, murmuring in a voice that was barely there that he felt awful.
The fever reducer’s effect hadn’t lasted until morning.
Lu Qingyuan hadn’t slept well. Bleary-eyed, he sat up and started getting dressed. Halfway through, his eyes closed in a brief doze again. His hand slipped, jolting himself awake.
He shook Chen Annan gently. “Wake up. We’re going to the hospital.”
Chen Annan couldn’t speak. He burrowed against his brother like a little puppy, his soft, scorching body pressing close, refusing to move.
By now, he was burning up to the point where he didn’t even have the strength to open his eyes, let alone sit up. After Lu Qingyuan finished dressing himself, he started on Chen Annan.
Chen Annan lay very obediently on his brother’s shoulder. Once his shoe strap was fastened, Lu Qingyuan wrapped him up tightly in a thin blanket, picked him up, and went out the door.
A sick child couldn’t be exposed to the wind, so Lu Qingyuan bundled him up until he looked like a tiny cotton ball. But the further he walked, the heavier Chen Annan became.
He kept having to use his hands to hoist Chen Annan up a little higher.
Chen Annan wrapped both arms around his brother’s neck, lying against his shoulder, whimpering softly like a kitten. His hot breaths tickled the side of Lu Qingyuan’s face.
At three in the morning, moonlight hung far away outside their residential complex. The lights in the apartment buildings had long been turned off. Only the dim yellow streetlights sustained the tranquility of the night, casting two long, small shadows.
Lu Qingyuan waited a long time before finally hailing a cab. Once in the cab, they headed straight for the emergency room. Along the way, he called his father.
By the time Chen Annan was hooked up to an IV, it was nearly four in the morning. Lu Qingyuan sat in a chair in the IV area, his forehead beaded with fine sweat, his breathing a bit labored.
Chen Annan hadn’t really opened his eyes the entire journey there, so naturally, he hadn’t walked a single step.
The IV area was noisy and chaotic, full of children crying—all there for similar reasons, getting injections. This made Chen Annan seem very quiet. At this moment, he was curled up into a ball, his head resting in his brother’s lap. The little blanket covered him, presenting Lu Qingyuan with only the top of his head and a mop of soft black hair.
The air conditioner overhead blasted warm air, making everyone feel hot and drowsy. Amidst the noise, Lu Qingyuan dozed off lightly, not daring to sleep deeply for fear he wouldn’t notice if the needle slipped and blood started flowing back.
When the first IV bag was finished, Lu Qingyuan touched Chen Annan’s forehead. It was no longer hot. A thin layer of sweat had even seeped out.
Lu Qingyuan wiped the sweat off him. The child’s fever now broken, he was sleeping soundly, his little belly rising and falling peacefully, his condition much better than before.
Lu Qingyuan rested his hand on Chen Annan’s forehead, gauging his temperature, and closed his eyes again in a daze. This time he slept deeply, his head tilted back, leaning against the chair rest. By the time Lu Wenyuan arrived, Chen Annan’s IV had already finished; a nurse had removed the needle for him.
The two children had their heads touching, one higher, one lower, leaning against each other.
Chen Annan was awake now, but he didn’t move. His brother was leaning against him, sleeping very deeply.
A thin blanket was draped over Lu Qingyuan. Chen Annan had put it there.
Lu Wenyuan was about to speak, but Chen Annan pressed a finger to his own lips, giving his uncle a little adult-like signal to be quiet.
At this hour, the noise level in the IV area was already quite high, but Lu Qingyuan had been awake almost the entire night. This level of noise couldn’t wake him. Chen Annan was just afraid that if his uncle came closer, his voice would be too loud.
Lu Wenyuan let out a soft laugh. He crouched down and whispered between the two children, “Is Brother asleep?”
Lowering his voice, Chen Annan said, “Brother is very tired.”
Lu Wenyuan felt his forehead with the back of his hand. Seeing that the child’s fever was gone and his dark eyes were now moist and bright, he knew he was better.
“Are you hungry?”
Chen Annan gave a faint “Mm.”
“Then when Brother wakes up, we’ll go eat.” Lu Wenyuan reached out to straighten Lu Qingyuan’s head, but the rustle of his clothes woke him. Suddenly remembering the IV bag needed changing, his heart clenched and he jolted upright.
But opening his eyes, he saw Lu Wenyuan crouching in front of him. He must have rushed over straight from the university, his entire body cold. He hadn’t even had a chance to take off his glasses. Behind the lenses, his eyes smiled warmly.
Lu Qingyuan blinked, a little dazed.
“Good cub, go back to sleep. Dad’s here now.” The corners of Lu Wenyuan’s eyes and brows were all smiles. He stroked Lu Qingyuan’s hair, then picked him up.
It had been a very long time since his father had held him like this. The long-missed warmth soothed him. Lu Wenyuan’s broad, solid shoulders could bear his entire weight, dissolving all the exhaustion of the night in that embrace.
“Is Little brother better?” Lu Qingyuan asked groggily.
Lu Wenyuan patted his back and said softly, laced with a smile, “He’s all better now. Big brother worked hard, didn’t he? Sleep now.”
Only then did Lu Qingyuan rest his head on his father’s shoulder and drift back to sleep, peaceful.
Chen Annan slid off the chair and followed behind Lu Wenyuan, holding his own little blanket.
Lu Wenyuan bent down slightly, taking hold of Chen Annan’s hand—the one that hadn’t had the IV—and led the two children out of the hospital.
They went to an old eatery on West Beijing Road for breakfast.
That street was the legation quarter during the Republic of China era. Now, it housed provincial-level senior officials and cadres. Ginkgo trees and French plane trees lined the boulevard. Looking at the standalone villas nestled among the lush green trees, Lu Wenyuan felt how quickly time passed.
Spring in the south was fleeting. As soon as April was over, the old white poplars at the entrance of the lane, stirred by the wind, came back to life, vivid against a sky so blue it seemed freshly washed. It was a beautiful scene.
After that last bout of illness, Chen Annan and Lu Qingyuan didn’t have any more petty squabbles for a long time.
However, his poor constitution suffered badly in Nanjing. Come May, he caught another minor cold. His cough was so violent it made his stomach ache. It took him a full two weeks to recover.
It wasn’t his fault. The temperature had been wildly swinging for two months straight, like a roller coaster. Mornings and evenings were cold, but it was unbearably hot for a short period at noon. On the street, you’d see people in short sleeves and people in thick coats—it was just the kind of season that bred illness.
On the way to drop him off at school, Lu Wenyuan didn’t forget to remind him that he could only take off his jacket at noon.
Chen Annan said very obediently, “I know,” and added, “School ends at 5:30 today. Don’t forget.”
The kindergarten had an activity today, so dismissal was late; the teacher had given prior notice. Lu Wenyuan said, “I remember.”
Chen Annan finally confirmed one last time: “Brother is coming with you to pick me up, right?”
After settling him in his classroom seat, Lu Wenyuan said, “Don’t worry. If he doesn’t come, Uncle will tie him up in a sack and bring him.”
Chen Annan covered his mouth, giggling, and waved goodbye to his uncle with a “Bai bai.”
After nearly a semester of interaction, Chen Annan had become close with the other children. To adults, he was a well-behaved child, a tiny little thing just sitting there. To other kids, he was a master of acting cute, his little mouth speaking words so sweet and soft that everyone loved listening.
Chen Annan had one particularly good friend in his class, a boy named Xie Xi, who was a few months older than him. He often brought toys and pastries from home to share with Chen Annan.
Chen Annan really loved the cream puffs Xie Xi brought. When he was happy eating them, he’d even act cute and call him “Little Bro,” since he already had a “Big Bro” at home.
This pleased Xie Xi immensely. He willingly took on the responsibilities of an older brother. Besides feeding Chen Annan cream puffs every day, he would even help him clean up whenever it was their turn for class duty.
Today, when Chen Annan went up on stage to sing, Xie Xi helped accompany him by shaking a little bell, listening to Chen Annan sing, “Where is spring? Where is spring?”
Chen Annan had a good voice. When he sang, he was like a lively lark, so the teacher always made him the lead singer.
At dismissal time, Chen Annan and Xie Xi held hands as they took the little train out the school gate. Before they left, Xie Xi said, “When summer vacation comes, come over to my house to play?”
Chen Annan went “Ah,” thinking it was a bit much to go to someone else’s house. He shook his head. “No need.”
Xie Xi bumped him lightly with his shoulder. “Come on, come on! It’s really close to your place, just on West Beijing Road. My mom is amazing at making pastries. Don’t you love cream puffs? If you come, I’ll have her make a whole tableful!”
Hearing the words ‘cream puffs,’ a little fence-sitting sprout instantly grew in Chen Annan’s heart, swaying in the wind. During summer vacation, with his brother and uncle at home, he originally didn’t want to go anywhere. Just being able to stay in one place all day had already pushed Chen Annan to his limit. Having finally made it to summer vacation, he wasn’t keen on leaving his uncle and brother. Yet, a whole table of cream puffs was truly tempting.
At the school gate, Lu Wenyuan held Lu Qingyuan’s hand as they waited among the other parents. They watched the two little kids huddled together, whispering who knew what secrets.
The children were led out of the school gate by the teachers holding class placards. As soon as Chen Annan stepped out, Lu Wenyuan scooped him up and swung him around in a circle.
Chen Annan let out a startled cry. Everything in his line of sight spun. He loved the novel sensation of weightlessness. Gleefully, he wrapped his arms around Lu Wenyuan’s neck and played with his uncle’s earlobe—a soft, warm piece of flesh.
Lu Wenyuan settled him naturally in the crook of his arm. “Was that your ‘Little Bro’ just now?”
“Mm-hmm.” Chen Annan nodded.
Lu Qingyuan looked up at him, puzzled. How had he never heard of this person before?
Chen Annan spread his arms wide to illustrate. “Little Bro said if I go to his house, he’ll give me a whole table this big of cream puffs.”
Lu Wenyuan asked with a smile, “Since Little Bro invited you over, should we invite him over to our place too?”
Chen Annan tilted his head, thinking seriously. Actually, he hadn’t agreed to the visit yet.
But Lu Qingyuan’s voice drifted up from below first, carrying a hint of light sarcasm. “No need. It’s not like we have cream puffs at our house.”
Chen Annan moved his mouth but couldn’t find a retort.
“We can’t have him over just because we don’t have cream puffs?” Lu Wenyuan ruffled his son’s hair. “If that’s the case, I’ll just buy some.”
Lu Qingyuan didn’t respond. He turned his head and walked off on his own ahead of them.
Children are strange creatures. They won’t bring their jealousy out into the open. They don’t even know what they’re competing over.
During dinner that evening, Lu Wenyuan remembered something and said to Lu Qingyuan, “Ah, that’s right, Cub. Your mother’s work assignment has changed. She’ll be back in China for a while this year and wants to take you to Beijing for the summer. What do you think?”
Chen Annan’s ears perked up. His spoon, mid-scoop of rice, paused.
He had expected Lu Qingyuan to hesitate, to struggle with the decision, to be reluctant to leave him. He hadn’t expected Lu Qingyuan to, without even looking up, say, “I’ll go.”
Chen Annan’s head tilted to the side. He chewed on his spoon and didn’t make a sound.
Go then, just go. He had other good friends to play with anyway.
So the very next day, he found Xie Xi. Hiding his little scheme, he asked, a bit sheepishly, “Is the offer to visit your house during summer vacation still good?”
