Zhao ii squatted next to the small stove in her family's grocery store, warming her feet. The shoes she kicked off earlier were covered in snow and were now starting to get damp.
While warming her feet, Zhao ii kept stretching her neck to look out, staring at the sidewalk that her mom and dad had to pass by on their way back, afraid of missing their return.
After about ten minutes, Liu Xiue hurried back, followed by a person wearing a dark red cotton jacket. As they got closer, Zhao ii recognized them and quickly jumped up from the stove, leaning on the sales counter and calling out, "Mom! Brother Yangyang!"
Liu Xiue rushed back, flung the door open, and ca inside. She shoved all the whole bills from the money box into her pocket and turned to urge Zhao ii, "Quick, ii, help Mama close the shop."
Zhao ii paused for a mont: "Not selling anymore?"
While tidying up, Liu Xiue replied, "Not anymore. We're closing early today."
Zhao ii, adeptly, helped her mother hang the iron panels outside the glass windows and extinguish the stove, finally securing the panels with screws.
Liu Xiue casually grabbed two bags of snacks from the shelf and stuffed them into Zhao ii's hands, ushering them both out of the grocery store while locking the door and saying, "ii, your Grandma Zhao isn't doing well. Your dad and they are taking Brother Yangyang's family car to the hospital. I need to go there to help take care of things. You go ho with Brother Yangyang first, okay?"
Upon hearing that her mom and dad were going to the hospital, Zhao ii hurriedly exclaid, "I want to go too! I can take care of Grandma Zhao!"
Liu Xiue, anxious, for the first ti truly pulled a stern face as she scolded her, "Zhao ii! Listen to ! Is this a ti to ss around? Take the snacks and share them with Brother Yangyang. Mom will pick you up after coming back from the hospital. Stay at Brother Yangyang's house and don't go anywhere! Listen to Brother Yangyang, and if I find out you're being naughty when I co back, I really will punish you this ti!"
After a string of threats, warnings, and reminders, Liu Xiue turned to Shi Yang: "Yangyang, please take care of ii. Don't let her go anywhere, okay? Just keep her at your house. If she dares to misbehave, just let know and I'll handle her."
Shi Yang nodded in agreent: "Auntie, don't worry, I'll take good care of ii."
Liu Xiue truly couldn't afford to worry anymore, waved to the kids, and hurried off.
Zhao ii followed Shi Yang towards the small apartnt building. One tall, one short, Zhao ii's chubby little hand was held by Shi Yang. After just a couple of steps, Zhao ii, feeling cold, pulled Shi Yang's hand into his pocket.
Shi Yang glanced down at her and cooperatively held her small hand, tucking it into his cotton jacket pocket together.
Zhao ii looked up and asked, "Why does my mom want to stay at your house?"
Shi Yang turned his head to look at her: "My mom ca back this morning. I went with her to see soone off, and we ran into your parents rescuing Grandma Zhao, so we drove her to the hospital."
Zhao ii nodded and asked him, "Did your mom go too?"
Shi Yang nodded: "Yeah, if my mom didn't have to co back this morning just to bring food, she would've left too."
Beneath Zhao ii's thin eyelids, her dark eyes turned: "Did your mom go to see your dad?"
Shi Yang was startled and stared at Zhao ii: "How do you know?"
Zhao ii: "I saw you and your mom seeing your dad off before, right by the roadside."
Shi Yang frowned: "I don't have a dad, don't talk nonsense!"
Zhao ii: "Then were you also picked out of a garbage bin by your mom?"
"Huh?" Shi Yang looked Zhao ii up and down: "What do you an?"
Zhao ii said earnestly: "My mom said I was born by her and my dad, but Da Bao, like you, doesn't have a dad. His mom told him he was picked out of a trash bin. You don't have a dad, you must be too."
"You... you little fool!" Shi Yang burst out laughing, his mouth curving up to reveal a row of white teeth, and his voice softened significantly as he insulted Zhao ii, tinged with a new admiration.
Shi Yang had never spoken like this to any kids before, now bent over with laughter at Zhao ii's antics.
This was just Zhao ii, completely unfazed, using her own twisted logic to put ideas into people's heads, challenging anyone she encountered—she certainly had so personality.
Zhao ii pondered, thinking Shi Yang must be lying to her, tricking a kid. She clearly heard that man say he was his dad, and Shi Yang's mom said he was his dad too. Why then wouldn't he admit it himself?
Under her thick lashes, Zhao ii gave Shi Yang a sidelong glance, was he fooling her? Just teasing her?
Shi Yang held Zhao ii's hand, worrying about it being cold, so he blocked the pocket with her sleeve.
Zhao ii's hands, just ward from the stove, were cozy, and Shi Yang found her little palm full and soft, quite nice to hold.
Shi Yang smiled at Zhao ii: "I still have the candy you gave last night."
Zhao ii's eyes brightened and she pointed to the snacks in Shi Yang's other hand: "We'll eat those together later. The chicken flavored rings in the green bag are especially tasty. I can eat a whole bag at once."
Shi Yang teased her: "If you share with , won't you run out?"
"No problem, there's still a bag of shrimp sticks. If we share, it's enough," Zhao ii replied, sniffling. The cold made her rhinitis a bit worse, causing a runny nose.
Hearing her sniffles, Shi Yang frowned: "Geez, you need to blow your nose. If you keep sniffling it'll go right into your stomach!"
Zhao ii, feeling a bit embarrassed from his disdain, stubbornly said, "I'm sniffing lightly, so it doesn't go into my stomach. It's all stored in my nose."
Shi Yang chuckled, biting his lip: "Ah, you want to let it accumulate so you can blow it all out at once and save tissue, huh?"
Zhao ii turned her head away, avoiding his gaze, feeling a bit shy.
Shi Yang let go of Zhao ii's hand and took out a tissue from his pocket to help her blow her nose.
He gently pinched Zhao ii's small nose through the paper: "Blow."
Zhao ii slyly eyed Shi Yang, gave a blow, and as Shi Yang took the paper away, she teased him with a grin.
Shi Yang watched her seriously handso face, Zhao ii's eyes squinted, pondering mischievously as she deliberately blew hard. The thin tissue, already used once, couldn't hold and broke, leaving most of the snot on Shi Yang's hand.
Shi Yang: "Oops!"
Zhao ii: "Ah! Ahhh!!"
Shi Yang quickly tossed the snacks onto the snow-covered ground, wiped his hand with the tissue from his pocket, complaining, "Zhao ii! You got snot all over my hand!"
Zhao ii also yelled: "Ahhh!! My ear, my ear popped, it started singing!"
Shi Yang: "..."
Shi Yang wiped his hand clean, retrieved the snacks from the ground, and saw Zhao ii still making noise like a telegram, her mouth going, "Ah. Ah. Ah..."
Shi Yang asked: "Are you still listening to your ear singing?"
Zhao ii giggled gleefully, looking as if discovering sothing delightful: "It's singing, it's really fun."
Shi Yang was both amused and annoyed, looking at Zhao ii's silly expression, smiling as he scolded, "You little fool, blowing so hard that your eardrum almost broke."
Shi Yang, holding the snacks in one hand, grasped Zhao ii's small cold hand with the other, stuffing it in his pocket, rembering to tug on her sleeve to keep her wrist warm.
The two, one big and one small, walked side by side in the snow, leaving a string of crooked footprints trailing slowly behind them.
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