The children’s paint on the stones was very easy to clean. Under the faucet, the colorful outer layer came off quickly, revealing that each stone had a mark made with yellow acrylic paint.
Xiao Shitou’s spirits lifted. He quickly dried the stones and put them back in his pocket. Lin Zhizhi, seeing him come out of the restroom, jumped up: “Come, come, try on the new clothes I bought! My camera is itching to take pictures!”
“…”
Xiao Shitou touched his pocket, met Lin Zhizhi’s expectant eyes, and sighed inwardly. The clothes in the bag were all chosen by Lin Zhizhi. As a designer, her taste was exceptional. Spending time with Xiao Shitou daily, she could almost tell at a glance if something suited him. She hadn’t even gone into a fitting room during their shopping trip.
The first set was a British-style trench coat with casual pants. When Xiao Shitou came out of the room, Lin Zhizhi covered her mouth, showing an expression of encountering something stunning.
“Ahhh, so handsome! At such a young age, you already have the aura of a male god! How is this so perfect?! My damned aesthetic talent~~”
After saying this, she held up her DSLR and snapped away at Xiao Shitou, becoming a professional photographer, constantly directing him to change poses. After a set of movements, she held the camera and laughed foolishly.
Xiao Shitou’s facial muscles were almost frozen from smiling. Lin Zhizhi walked over, putting her arm around his shoulders: “Look! So handsome! My goodness, if you wore this to school, wouldn’t the girls be fighting to give you chocolates every day?”
“…I don’t go to school.”
“Nonsense, you can’t avoid school forever!” Lin Zhizhi pushed him toward the bedroom, “Hurry up, second set, second set!”
Two minutes later, Xiao Shitou came out wearing an Ultraman hoodie set. The overall color was dark blue, and the hood was designed to look like Ultraman’s face, with the eyes cut out. The zipper extended to the top of the hood, perfectly forming a complete Ultraman when fully zipped.
“Wow, not bad, you look great in it!” Lin Zhizhi clapped non-stop, “Want to zip it up and try? I’ve seen many kids online wearing it as cosplay. Come on, do a few classic poses, like the Zeperion Beam!”
“…Isn’t it the Dynamic Light Wave?”
“That’s for Dynamic Ultraman. I’m talking about Dyna.”
Xiao Shitou was forced into a series of embarrassingly cringeworthy poses, feeling somewhat disoriented. What kind of middle-school game was he playing?
Well, if she’s happy, that’s what matters.
The third set was a highly designed work jacket, with a black base and randomly splattered high-saturation colors, and metal chain decorations. The pants were distressed and ripped. Xiao Shitou was familiar with this style from his past experiences; while wandering outside, he had to discard clothes that were worn out to the point of being just lines.
“This set should be styled like this.” Lin Zhizhi led Xiao Shitou to sit on the bay window, having him sit sideways with one leg bent up, the other leg casually resting on the floor. She then ruffled his smooth black hair vigorously, applied lipstick and eyeshadow, touched up some bruises at the corners of his mouth, and even addressed the knuckles on his hand, finally adding a bandage on his cheekbone.
Lin Zhizhi examined him: “Something still seems missing… Ah yes, some accessories!”
She rushed back to the room, grabbed the jewelry box, and made adjustments, placing her hands on her hips with satisfaction: “That’s better, tragic, and decadent. A primary school bully is born! If you were a bit older, I could shoot a dramatic, powerful film!”
“…” Was this the result of losing a fight? He couldn’t see the beauty in it, though it was quite tragic.
“Xiao Shitou, your expression needs to be icy. Raise the corners of your eyes, maximum anger!!! Get furious, your favorite toy was taken by the chubby kid from the next class! That snot-nosed brother of his even ripped up your summer vacation homework! Doesn’t that make you want to hit something?”
Xiao Shitou’s expression gradually settled. His dark eyes became somber and sharp, and his delicate brows furrowed into a small mountain. He thought of the old beggar stabbed in front of him, the missing glass jar, the kidnappers’ threats, and Gardenia being pushed onto the operating table…
Lin Zhizhi’s words were about the small troubles of ordinary children, but what he had experienced was the dark and painful aspects that were worth being angry about and beyond ordinary people’s reach.
“…Xiao Shitou, Xiao Shitou?”
His shoulder was nudged a few times. Xiao Shitou came back to his senses, and Lin Zhizhi, bending down, softly asked, “Did it make you think of something unpleasant?”
Xiao Shitou was stunned for a moment and quickly shook his head. Lin Zhizhi poked his cheek: “Lying again. Your expression was clearly not right just now, not the kind of emotion a child your age should have.”
Hearing this, Xiao Shitou mumbled, “What should I have at my age?”
He had nothing. He often woke up, doubting if his current life was just a stolen dream.
Lin Zhizhi brought over a comb and makeup remover wipes. Xiao Shitou asked, “Aren’t you taking pictures anymore?”
“Not taking pictures. I’ll return this outfit tomorrow; we’re not wearing this.” Lin Zhizhi smiled, her eyes showing an unmasked guilt. She tidied Xiao Shitou’s black hair, wiped off the bruises drawn on his lips with the makeup remover wipes, and said softly, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. This is the last time.”
“No…” Xiao Shitou explained, “I don’t mind.”
“I do mind. Your expression just now broke my heart,” Lin Zhizhi said, pulling him into a hug. “I want to treat you like family, the kind that’s on the household register. My brother is too busy and doesn’t have time to take care of you, but I’m different. I have plenty of time.”
She smiled brightly: “If you’re willing, you can live with me all the time. What do you think?”
Xiao Shitou was stunned and blurted out, “If you take me with you, getting married will become difficult.”
“What’s difficult about that? Didn’t you ask Uncle Sheng about it the other day?” After saying this, Lin Zhizhi’s expression became awkward, and she quickly explained, “No, what I mean is that if he’s out, the next person can handle your situation the same way.”
Xiao Shitou was reluctant to answer easily. The people he met now were too kind to him—Miaomiao’s family, the Lin siblings, and so on. He wasn’t so innocent. Even at his young age, he was always cautious, anticipating the conflicts and mismatches he might cause in the future. If he were rejected later, where would he go?
“Don’t look so serious. Think about it slowly. Auntie will treat you well. It’s a good deal,” Lin Zhizhi winked. “Originally, I planned to practice my cooking skills after getting married. To support you, I can start practicing early.”
The photos she took were soon posted as a grid on social media, and quickly, her friends, who had seen it multiple times, liked and commented, expressing their admiration for the little handsome boy.
【Wow, starting today, he’s a beautiful boy [heart]】
【[Tears] Envy tears flowing from the corners of my mouth】
【Wuwuwu, your family genes are so exceptional?? Your brother is a male model, and your younger brother is a little male god. I want to bite a handkerchief!】
【Tsk, he’s too young for me to make a move. Are there any older ice-cold handsome guys at Zhizhi’s place?!】
【I’m different. I can wait! I can wait ten years [dog head]】
Xiao Shitou asked curiously, “Why do tears flow from the corners of the mouth?”
“Because they’re strange aunties who are envious of your beauty.”
Since childhood, Xiao Shitou had never really had a concept of his appearance, somewhat “unaware of his own beauty.” He and Gardenia had always been dirty and disheveled. The first time someone complimented him on being “good-looking” was after Lü Kanshan took him home. It’s true that “people rely on their clothes”—with Lin Zhizhi’s style, his fashion sense had soared, and soon, he would dominate Lin Zhizhi’s social circle.
Lin Zhizhi replied to each comment, occasionally laughing strangely. Suddenly, she saw the latest reply from her dear brother: 【You’re supposed to play with him, not him play with you.】
“Wow, my brother actually looks at social media?! That’s double standards. What do you mean, ‘let him play with me’? Xiao Shitou, are you unhappy today?”
“…Happy.”
“Do you not like the clothes?”
“…Like.”
Lin Zhizhi sent a voice message to Lin Heyu and threatened to report him for slacking off at work, with her little sister’s evidence.
Another friend replied, suggesting that the little handsome boy learn swimming, and Lin Zhizhi immediately asked, “Xiao Shitou, can you swim? Do you want to learn?”
Xiao Shitou nodded. Kids like them, who were raised in the wild, couldn’t do without swimming.
“Awesome! I often watch swimming competitions. The swimmers all have broad shoulders and narrow waists, their bodies comparable to male models. That hormonal tension, tsk tsk tsk!”
“…” Xiao Shitou seemed to understand what “tears flowing from the corners of the mouth” meant.
Lin Zhizhi pulled away from her crazy laughing and cleared her throat: “Don’t think that I seem to have no aspirations just because I stay at home every day. Actually, I have dreams too. A beautiful love, an ordinary family, a husband who’s just the right kind of handsome, and spirited children. Not needing to be rich and famous, but not having to struggle for a living, occasionally having small conflicts and fights with a loved one, but on the way back, buying the day’s groceries.”
“It’s very down-to-earth and easy to achieve, right?” She looked at him with clear eyes, her smile gentle, and rubbed his head. “If you want to join my dream, you’re always welcome.”
—
After fussing over Xiao Shitou, Lin Zhizhi finally contentedly opened her design software. Xiao Shitou took the puzzle box into the bedroom, and after closing the door, quietly took out the pile of stones from his pocket and carefully identified the letters written on them.
m, e, l, i, r, n, n, h, a
How should this string of letters be combined? Gardenia’s loose Pinyin only covered three syllables, and if it was based on only the initial and final sounds of two-syllable Pinyin combinations, there were dozens of combinations, plus the many characters that could be expressed with four tones. The possible combinations were too numerous, and filtering them was head-spinning.
He took a pen and wrote down all the possible Pinyin combinations, marking all four tones. In no time, the A4 paper was filled with a page of syllables, and Xiao Shitou, dazzled by these sounds, closed his eyes to rest for a while.
Yi Shi said that puzzle games need to be attempted personally to be interesting. Why couldn’t he directly reveal the destination? Why make himself go through the trouble of arranging combinations here? Isn’t this a waste of time?
It would be great to have a map; finding it would be much easier.
“Xiao Shitou, are you hungry?” Lin Zhizhi’s voice suddenly came.
Xiao Shitou looked up and realized it was mealtime. Lin Zhizhi was standing at the bedroom door, waving at him: “Come here, come here. See what you want to eat. The pork cutlet rice from yesterday was pretty good, and the miso soup that came with it was also quite tasty.”
“Okay, sure.” Xiao Shitou nodded without even looking.
“Eh? I was just mentioning it casually. Don’t you want to look at anything else?”
“No need.” Xiao Shitou’s appetite wasn’t strong, and he didn’t have any particular preference for food. As long as it wasn’t moldy, spoiled, or harmful, he didn’t care what he ate.
This child had “easy to raise” written all over him, which made Lin Zhizhi feel heartbroken: “You can eat whatever you want. Don’t make things hard for yourself. How about this? I’ll cook more dishes at home in the future and definitely figure out your preferences.”
Xiao Shitou looked back at her with untainted black eyes: “Auntie, I really don’t have picky eating habits. You don’t need to trouble yourself with cooking.”
Lin Zhizhi was amused, holding his face and kissing him several times. Forget it, you’re like my own child—thoughtful and filial, a treasure boy!
After dinner, Xiao Shitou took the initiative to go downstairs to take out the trash, but Lin Zhizhi found the A4 paper filled with Pinyin. Lin Zhizhi was surprised: “Xiao Shitou, did you write this? Why did you write so much? mǐ lí, méi lín…”
Xiao Shitou immediately became nervous: “Hmm… just reviewing some word spellings.”
“Right, at your age, if you were normally in school, you would have learned Pinyin already. From your current progress, you’ve learned the spelling of m, n, and l, right?” Lin Zhizhi took the Tablet, “How about this? I’ll get you an app so you can learn slowly.”
“No need to go through so much trouble…”
“Necessary, necessary. A colleague of mine recommended an app. Her daughter self-taught Pinyin at home before going to school.” Lin Zhizhi downloaded the app and bought all the Pinyin courses, handing the tablet to Xiao Shitou, “Here, it’s for you. You’re so smart, you’ll definitely learn it quickly.”
Xiao Shitou held the tablet. With internet access, finding the required place names would be easier than comparing them with a map.
“Thank you, Auntie. I’ll study hard!” Xiao Shitou bowed and eagerly rushed back to the bedroom with the tablet.
