Chapter 104 (IF) 一 Yōuyōu and Chenchen can grow up together.
The scorching summer day had arrived.
In the narrow alley, people were coming and going.
The Gu family’s courtyard was located in the city. In the courtyard, there were small rocking horses, remote-control toy cars, and a track. In the corner, there were also some dolls piled up. Behind the stone table on the left side of the courtyard, there were two small swings. On the smaller one, someone had used crayons to write a few words, crooked and twisted 一 “口 幺力, 口 幺力.”1
Chenchen practiced privately for a while before he could barely write his sister’s name like this.
This was a children’s playground prepared by Gu Youqian and Ruan Liuyu for Yōuyōu and Chenchen. They were busy with business outside, so both of Yōuyōu and Chenchen were taken care of by their aunt at home.
Mrs. Fu, the neighbor, occasionally came over to glance around.
The Lu family and Jiang family lived not far away, just a ten-minute walk. Children from several families often gathered to play together.
Yōuyōu stood next to a stone stool, her round apricot eyes fixed on the strawberries dripping water on the table, not moving at all. She tiptoed, raising her hand, reaching towards that direction.
Her little hand showed a few dimples on it, looking soft and fluffy, like cotton when squeezed.
She had just turned two years and three months old, retaining the baby fat from birth. Her little face was chubby, dressed in a pink checkered skirt, with hair tied into two small buns. With her adventurous movements, the buns shook along.
Her short legs were too short to reach the round table.
Imitating her older brother, Yōuyōu clumsily climbed onto the stone stool, preparing to step on it to reach for the strawberry when her body suddenly felt light.
“Yōuyōu, it’s dangerous, you can’t do that here,” Auntie’s voice was tense. After confirming that Yōuyōu didn’t fall or hurt herself, she sighed in relief, placed the chubby little one on the ground, squatted down to meet her gaze, pretending to be in pain, covering her hands: “No, fall down, hands hurt.”
Drama queen Yōuyōu quickly covered her hands, twisting her chubby face into a pout.
Auntie chuckled lightly, “Yes, it hurts here. If you want to eat fruit, Auntie will get it for you.”
Upon hearing about food, Yōuyōu’s eyes instantly lit up, and she shouted energetically, “Big!”
Before Auntie could speak, a childish laughter echoed from the other side of the courtyard.
“Small, give her the small one.”
Jiang Huai eagerly dropped the small book in his hand and, along with Gu Fuchen, Fu Jiazhan, and Lu Jin, ran to Yōuyōu’s side. He deliberately teased her, “Adults eat big ones, Yōuyōu is the smallest, eat the small one!”
Although Yōuyōu was just over two years old, her half-year experience as a foodie and the subtle influence of her parents and older brother unconsciously taught her a lesson:
There is a distinction in the size of food.
As a little foodie, when other kids were saying “hello, auntie,” two-year-old Yōuyōu, apart from saying “dad”, “mom” and “dada”, she could only say “no, no” and “big.”
Yōuyōu clenched her little fists, her round eyes staring at Jiang Huai, and with all her might, she shouted, “Big!”
“Small, small, Yōuyōu is a little child, give her the small one.”
“Big—!”
Jiang Huai and Lu Jin said in unison, “Small!”
After several debates, Yōuyōu stared at the two of them blankly. Soon, her head drooped, her small face blushing slightly, and her eyes turned away with a look of grievance. As she emitted a silent whimper, her mouth opened slightly.
Expressing full-fledged grievance on her face 一 “Yōuyōu is so wronged, Yōuyōu is about to cry now.”
Ruan Chenchen had just gone to get toys. Upon seeing his pitiful sister, he hurried over, patting Yōuyōu’s head with his tender little face stern, “Yōuyōu, who bullied you, brother will beat them.”
Yōuyōu’s watery apricot eyes lifted as she shrunk into her brother’s embrace. Her little hand quickly pointed towards Jiang Huai and Lu Jin with a fierce “angry” gaze, immediately retracting her hand in a timid manner, and with a choked baby voice, she said, “Dada.”
She never called him “brother”; it was always “Dada, Dada.”
Ruan Chenchen pushed Jiang Huai and Lu Jin, then picked out the biggest strawberry from the aunt’s hand and handed it to Yōuyōu, saying, “Yōuyōu, eat the big one!”
Yōuyōu happily smiled as both her little chubby hands reached out for the strawberry, but the strawberry suddenly lifted.
She raised her eyes in confusion.
Chenchen’s tender face broke into a brilliant smile, and the corners of his mouth cracked, saying, “Wipe away the tears.”
Little Ruan Yōuyōu sniffled, obediently wiped away her tears, took the strawberry from Chenchen, and turned to sit on a small wooden stool, eating it in small bites. Her hands and the corners of her mouth were stained with a bit of strawberry juice.
Jiang Huai and Lu Jin no longer teased her. After placing the fruit plate in front of her, they ran to the other side to play ball.
Chenchen and Fu Jiazhan did not join the ball game. They moved a chair each, sitting on both sides of Yōuyōu. The two little boys held their faces, earnestly watching Yōuyōu enjoy her meal.
Fu Jiazhan raised his hand, intending to wipe off the strawberry juice from her face. However, Yōuyōu swiftly bent down, tightly hugging the strawberries. At the same time, she wolfed down the remaining big strawberry in her hand, her mouth puffed up, vigilantly looking at Fu Jiazhan.
Fu Jiazhan paused and crisply said, “I won’t snatch your strawberries.”
Chenchen smiled mischievously, “Except for your own brother, they are all bad brothers.”
Yōuyōu nodded approvingly.
一一Yes, Dada was right (nodding like smashing garlic.jpg).
Fu Jiazhan: …
Auntie on the side chuckled while tidying up things.
Summer at the Gu family was a paradise for the children.
Yōuyōu happily munched on strawberries. Lu Jin and Jiang Huai got tired of playing ball and came over, asking, “Let’s play hide and seek!”
“The first-place prize is the candies my dad brought back,” Lu Jin said confidently, holding a basketball.
Yōuyōu’s eyes sparkled, “Bā bā2!”
Yōuyōu loved to eat brown sugar glutinous rice cakes3, but because they were sticky, Ruan Liuyu and Gu Youqian rarely let her have them.
Everyone has a “soft spot,” and Yōuyōu was no exception.
Every time she didn’t want to get up or refused to take a nap but insisted on playing outside, Auntie would use the excuse, “There are rice cakes inside; come and eat, Yōuyōu,” to coax the drowsy little girl back into the house.
Her memory was like a fish’s, often forgetting the reasons for entering the room when she found something interesting inside.
Sometimes, when her obsession was too deep, Auntie and Ruan Liuyu had to hold and comfort her, giving her a little bit to eat after waking up.
Over time, “bā bā” became synonymous with snacks.
Strawberries, apples, oranges, candies, cookies, marshmallows, brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, sugar figurines 一 in her eyes, they were all “bā bā.”
Upon hearing the “bā bā,” Yōuyōu immediately stood up, still holding two unfinished strawberries in her hand.
Generously, she placed the half-eaten strawberry in Fu Jiazhan’s hand 一 the bad brother who had just tried to snatch her strawberry. Swiftly, she rushed towards Lu Jin, “bā bā!”
Completely forgetting the events of a few minutes ago when Lu Jin had teamed up with Jiang Huai, shouting that the auntie should give her only the small ones.
Yōuyōu was very generous.
As long as you give me food, we are good friends!
Fu Jiazhan, who was treated as a bad brother by her instead: …
Gu Fuchen originally had no interest in playing hide and seek. He preferred to go to his room to draw or watch TV. However, seeing his sister so excited, he hesitated and nodded slightly.
He must obtain the candy that his sister wanted.
To get the candy, Gu Fuchen took his sister to find a hiding place.
The key to victory lay with Yōuyōu.
She wouldn’t hide. Every time she played hide and seek with Mom and Dad at home, she either foolishly jumped in front of the “enemy” first or giggled in her mom’s arms.
After some thought, Gu Fuchen decided to let his sister hide in the cabinet outside the yard.
It was a set of furniture just replaced by the Gu family, placed outside waiting to be taken away.
In the main hall of the yard, the TV that no one was watching played several news reports about human traffickers.
Auntie carried a fruit tray to wash and glanced casually, hastily bypassing the main hall to the kitchen.
Halfway there, feeling extremely anxious, she retraced her steps, finding no one in the small courtyard. Auntie suddenly panicked, “Chenchen? Yōuyōu? Jiazhan? Xiao Huai? Xiao Jin?”
It didn’t take long to find them in the yard.
Fu Jiazhan, Jiang Huai, and Lu Jin were the first to jump out.
Lu Jin grinned, pointing outside, “Chenchen and Yōuyōu went outside to hide.”
Aunt recalled the news on TV, terrified, her face turning pale. She hastily ran out and saw Yōuyōu climbing into an unwanted wardrobe with the help of Gu Fuchen.
On the side, a couple of strangers were watching and smiling. When Aunt came out, they immediately looked elsewhere.
Aunt’s heart tightened, and she quickly ushered the little ones into the courtyard. As she walked, she bent down and said to Gu Fuchen, “Don’t play hide and seek outside. Those are unfamiliar people; they might take you away.”
Gu Fuchen replied, “My sister wants to be the first in hide and seek, and I want to help her.”
Aunt chuckled, “Helping Yōuyōu get the first place is great, but let’s play hide and seek at home. It’s so big here, you’ll definitely find suitable hiding spots. Outside, with strangers, Yōuyōu alone or both of you hiding there, it’s easy to be spotted by the big bad wolf4.”
Yōuyōu tilted her little head and repeated in a childish voice, “Lang5!”
Gu Fuchen: !!
“Yōuyōu, can you say ‘wolf6‘?”
Jiang Huai, Lu Jin, and Fu Jiazhan approached.
Yōuyōu spoke much slower than other kids of her age. At over two years old, while other kids like Lu Xuan could crisply say “Hello, aunt,” Yōuyōu could only say mom, dad, grandparents, and dada.
Because of this, Ruan Liuyu and Gu Youqian took Yōuyōu to see a doctor, ensuring she had no issues. Only then did the two of them feel relieved.
Back home, guiding Yōuyōu to speak became a significant event for the whole family.
Now, suddenly, Yōuyōu uttered a “Lang” sound, making Chenchen overjoyed.
“I knew it; Yōuyōu is very clever!”
Lu Jin, Jiang Huai, and Fu Jiazhan knew that this little sister had difficulty speaking. Seeing that Gu Fuchen was in such a good mood, Lu Jin took out the candies brought by her father and waved them in front of Yōuyōu.
“If you say ‘I want to eat,’ I’ll give you the candy.”
Yōuyōu’s almond eyes followed the candy’s movement, her small mouth pursed.
Gu Fuchen: “Yōuyōu, say it with me.”
“I.”
Yōuyōu’s little voice was crisp, “Wuo一“
“Want7.”
“Yao——”
“Eat8.”
Yōuyōu swallowed saliva, cautiously looked at his older brother and said, “Ji.”
Three words, two of them were pronounced incorrectly.
But the older brothers didn’t bother with Yōuyōu’s pronunciation issues. It was already quite remarkable for the little dumpling to be able to articulate these sounds so well!
“Here, for you.” Lu Jin stuffed the candy into Yōuyōu’s palm.
Having won the candy, Yōuyōu immediately became arrogant, gripping the candy tightly, placing one hand on her waist, and pouting her mouth in a very arrogant manner.
Coincidentally, Gu Youqian and Ruan Liuyu came back. Hearing that she could say a few words again, and seeing the candy in her hand, they didn’t say anything. They smiled and asked Auntie to bring out the loquats and peel them for the children.
Under the guidance of Gu Fuchen, Yōuyōu repeated the phrase “Wuo Yao Ji” many times, nodding her head each time she said a word.
She also harvested a lot of loquats.
She was very satisfied.
Before bedtime, Auntie told Ruan Liuyu about the two strangers she encountered in the alley at noon and the news she saw on TV.
Ruan Liuyu remained vigilant.
That night, both Chenchen and Yōuyōu insisted on sleeping with Ruan Liuyu. Gu Youqian was driven out of the master bedroom by the two little rascals.
Yōuyōu bounced on the bed with Chenchen, while Gu Youqian sat in the living room reviewing documents. In front of him were oranges and pears for Yōuyōu and Chenchen to eat after dinner.
There was a half-eaten pear on the corner of the mahogany table.
In the master bedroom.
After bouncing for a while, Yōuyōu suddenly climbed down from the bed.
Ruan Liuyu: “Yōuyōu, where are you going?”
No one replied.
Yōuyōu ran barefoot into the living room with pitter-pattering steps.
Upon hearing the sound, Gu Youqian slowly raised his head.
With chubby cheeks, she smiled and looked at him squintingly.
Gu Youqian felt comforted in his heart.
Never did he imagine that his daughter would come to check on him before bedtime.
Just as he was about to pick up his daughter and give her a good rub, the rosy little dumpling picked up the pear she had thrown down ten minutes ago from the corner of the mahogany table.
一一She smiled squintingly not at him but at the pear she had thrown down (?
Gu Youqian was amused and helpless.
Yōuyōu took a bite of the pear, glanced at her dad, smiled at him, and turned back, trotting away with her short legs.
Her right hand firmly held the pear against her chest, and her left hand swung slightly with the running posture.
Adorably inexplicable.
Gu Youqian pinched the documents tightly and chuckled.
From the master bedroom came the joyful laughter of the two children, with a crisp young voice saying, “Yōuyōu, I’ll open a candy company for you in the future, and you can eat every day.”
“Ji!”
- It’s 呦呦 (Yōuyōu). ↩︎
- 叭叭 (Bā bā) ↩︎
- 红糖糍粑 (hóngtáng cíbā) ↩︎
- 大灰狼 (Dà huī láng) ↩︎
- 浪 (làng) ↩︎
- 狼 (láng) ↩︎
- 要 (Yào) ↩︎
- 吃 (Chī) ↩︎