Chapter 41
The cold air had unknowingly invaded the entire land, and the sunlight seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, casting down rays of light without warmth.
Inside the villa, the butler, catering to the guest’s taste, brought over a cup of strong coffee.
“Please, enjoy.”
Qin Bailan was secretly sizing up the Shen family. She smiled and nodded a couple of times, saying thank you.
“I searched that mountain many times before, but I didn’t expect that by a strange twist of fate, Qin Ye had already been found.”
Qin Ye had been with a summer camp group, passing by this mountain on a bus.
Unexpectedly, they encountered a heavy rainstorm halfway and had to temporarily stay in a farmhouse. The road was slippery from the rain, and Qin Ye had slipped and fallen down the mountain.
Fortunately, he was found by Grandpa Qin, who had come up the mountain to dig for yams. Seeing that the child was still breathing, he quickly took him home and sent him to the hospital as soon as the rain stopped.
Shen Xiuze sat on the sofa opposite her, his expression cold and distant, a very faint smile on his lips.
“We didn’t do much. It’s all thanks to Grandpa Qin and Tiantian’s grandma.”
Qin Bailan smiled and said:
“Yes, we should thank the two elders properly. It’s fate, really. The grandpa who found Qin Ye also has the surname Qin. If you go back a few generations, they might even be from the same family.”
Shen Xiuze remained silent. He lowered his eyes, held his teacup, and took a light sip of tea.
While they were having a lukewarm conversation on one side, on the other, Qin Ye’s eyes were filled with tears, and he had cried into a little mess.
It was the first time Shen Tiantian had seen Qin Ye cry so miserably.
In the past, Qin Ye always had the appearance of a steady little adult. His eyes were a light lead-gray, which always made him seem calmer than his peers.
Even when he was extremely happy, Qin Ye would not bare his little white teeth like Tiantian, but would only smile with his lips pressed together.
Tiantian had thought that this little follower was just a quiet and reserved person.
Now, seeing Qin Ye cry so miserably, Tiantian quickly patted his shoulder and coaxed him in a soft voice.
“It’s okay. Your forehead isn’t ugly from being hit. It’s not swollen. It’s not ugly at all.”
Tiantian thought that Qin Ye was crying because he had been hit on the head.
Qin Ye shook his head and said in a low voice:
“Tiantian, I… I won’t be able to see you in the future.”
The Qin family’s business was in a chaotic transition. Qin Bailan was a decisive person and had already started preparing to develop abroad two years ago.
She would definitely take her only son with her.
Tiantian tilted his little head, thought for a few seconds, and patted Qin Ye’s shoulder.
“It’s okay. I’m a little star now. You can see me on TV.”
Hearing this, for some reason, Qin Ye became even sadder.
His wet eye sockets were red, stained with a layer of tears, and his gray eyes were as light as a small piece of sparkling amber.
“But… but that’s not good at all.”
Qin Ye couldn’t say what was not good, but he just felt that nothing was good.
Tiantian’s baby-fat cheeks puffed out. He shook his head and sighed like a little adult, patting Qin Ye’s shoulder.
“Qin Yezi, you’re a big kid now. You can’t be so willful.”
He was never willful, Tiantian thought.
“I’m very well-behaved.”
Shen Xiuze had just finished his polite conversation with Qin Bailan. He turned his head and heard the little one praising himself. A gentle smile instantly appeared in his sharp eyes.
Qin Bailan even smiled and said:
“Tiantian is quite interesting. No wonder my son likes him.”
Hearing this, Shen Xiuze took a sip of his teacup, hiding the coldness at the corner of his mouth.
Many people like Tiantian.
Why would he need Qin Ye?
After lunch, the light was still shrouded in a layer of gray mist, and it was not bright outside the yard.
It was time for Qin Ye and Tiantian to part.
Qin Bailan helped Qin Ye pack his small bundle.
There was a sweater that Grandma had knitted for him, a few pieces of clothing that the Shen family’s butler had helped to add, and most importantly, a small plush toy that Shen Tiantian had given him.
Shen Tiantian stood at the door, waving his small hand to say goodbye to Qin Ye, who was sitting in the car.
“Goodbye~”
Through the car door, Qin Ye suppressed his tears, his eye sockets red. He took a few deep breaths and shouted at Shen Tiantian:
“Tiantian, don’t forget, I’m your number one little follower!”
The car gradually drove away. Qin Ye poked his little head out of the car window, staring at Tiantian, who was gradually shrinking into a small black dot in the distance.
It wasn’t until he was completely out of sight that Qin Ye sat back down, wiped his tears, and stared at the little bear doll in his hand without a word.
Qin Bailan saw Qin Ye’s sadness, ruffled his head, and said:
“There will be many partings in life. Most friends are just for a certain stage. You will meet more good friends in the future.”
Hearing this, Qin Ye asked with his red little eye sockets:
“Will Tiantian also have many good friends?”
Qin Bailan nodded. “Of course.”
Qin Ye immediately turned his little face away, shrugged his little shoulders, and started to sob again.
He was not the type to cry his heart out but would hide in a corner and cry silently and secretly.
It wasn’t until he got on the plane that Qin Ye managed to stop crying.
Qin Bailan hadn’t expected this little friend named Tiantian to be so important to her son. She asked the flight attendant for an ice pack, applied it to Qin Ye’s swollen eyes, and coaxed him in a low voice:
“It’s okay, Qin Ye. When the plane lands, you can call Tiantian.”
Qin Ye looked at the few white clouds floating past the plane window and nodded with a dejected heart.
“I used to play with Tiantian and wake him up. Tiantian must be thinking of me now.”
Shen family.
Tiantian stuck his little bottom in the air, let out an “aow,” and excitedly jumped onto the newly bought small trampoline.
He spun and jumped happily, his little feet stomping down hard to make himself bounce up and fly higher.
His little face was filled with immense joy. Shen Tiantian looked at Shen Xiuze, who was standing at the door, and said:
“Big brother, I’m… I’m taller than you now!”
Shen Xiuze looked at the little one’s carefree and silly happy appearance, couldn’t help but lift the corner of his lips, and nodded lightly.
“You are very high when you bounce, but you can only play for a while. It’s already very late, and you have an equestrian class tomorrow. You can’t be late.”
Tiantian was sweating from playing. After he finished, he stepped on the ground and felt as if he were stepping on soft clouds, with a light and unreal feeling.
Shen Xiuze watched as the little one walked in a curve instead of a straight line, as if he were drunk, and wandered around the room in a daze.
Shen Tiantian even held his head and shouted in terror:
“Big brother, big brother, save me. My head has been eaten by a monster!”
It’s completely out of my control!
In the next second, Shen Tiantian, with his dizzy head, bumped into the wall beside him.
Tiantian sat on the floor with a plop, a circle of little stars in front of his eyes. He felt dizzy, as if he were floating in the galaxy.
Shen Xiuze found it so amusing that he couldn’t help but take out his phone to record a video.
A circle of laughter rippled in his cold eyes. He put away his phone, walked over, and picked up the little one who was still touching his head to confirm that his head had not been eaten by a monster.
“Stop touching it. Your little head is still fine on your neck.”
Shen Tiantian let out a sigh of relief, leaned on his brother’s shoulder, and couldn’t help but ask:
“But why did I want to go left just now, but ended up going right?”
He couldn’t help but suspect, “Is my head broken?”
Shen Xiuze tapped Shen Tiantian’s little forehead, making the little one cover his head and glare at him warily.
“Can you still feel pain if it’s broken? Don’t worry, it’s not broken.”
He’s already silly enough. If it were broken, would he still be wanted?
Shen Tiantian was very precious of his smart little brain.
Until he went to bed, he was still letting his imagination run wild.
He really couldn’t fall asleep. Tiantian threw open his small quilt, jumped down, ran to his desk, and took out the homework that his teacher had assigned during his math class two days ago.
Tiantian turned on his small desk lamp and seriously did two problems with a pencil.
In the end, he found that he couldn’t solve them.
It’s over.
His head is really broken! Tiantian thought.
Shen Tiantian was terrified. Now he couldn’t sleep. He took his math problems and ran to Shen Xiuze next door in a panic.
“Big brother!”
Shen Xiuze’s door seemed to not exist. It was pushed open by the little one with a bang, and the wall even trembled slightly.
Shen Xiuze, who had just finished showering, hadn’t even had time to blow-dry his hair. His hair was dripping with water as he watched the little one run straight over and bump into his leg.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Xiuze was knocked back a step and reached out to hold Tiantian.
Shen Tiantian held up his math problems, looked up with his little head, his expression extremely serious and shocked.
“Big brother, my head is really broken. I can’t even do math problems now!”
Shen Xiuze took the math problems and glanced at them.
The little one’s progress was quite fast. In less than half a month, he had already started to learn two-digit addition and subtraction.
Shen Xiuze looked down, saw Shen Tiantian’s panicked little eyes, and couldn’t help but tell the truth:
“Can you do them even if your head isn’t broken?”
Shen Tiantian was stunned by his brother’s words and stood there in a daze.
It seems… that makes sense.
“Hehe.”
Tiantian was happy again. He shyly took his homework from his brother’s hand and smiled very obediently.
“Alright then, I’ll go back to sleep now.”
Having confirmed that his head was still as smart as before, Tiantian bounced back to his bedroom to sleep.
Shen Xiuze looked at his lively and silly little back, couldn’t help but lift the corners of his lips, and laughed out loud.
Really, he always has so many strange thoughts every day.
The night was deep. Early winter had just arrived, and a light snow had already begun to fall from the sky.
The snowflakes quickly melted into water on the ground and disappeared into the soil.
Shen Tiantian pulled his small quilt over himself, closed his eyes, and heard the familiar ringtone of his phone.
He was so sleepy his little eyes could barely open. He crawled to the head of the bed, picked up his phone watch, and answered the call.
“Hello, cousin. I’m sleeping. Goodbye.”
Ye Jiabao, who had been hung up on as soon as the call connected, had three black lines on his forehead.
You can answer the phone while you’re sleeping?!
