Feng Yuan lifted his tear-streaked little face, looking at the person who had opened the door.
With just one glance, he recognized Grandma.
“Grandma!”
The little fellow, seeing the adult he had been looking for, immediately dropped the bag he was dragging with a plop.
His chubby hand clutched the flowers tightly. He buried his head against Grandma’s leg.
“I’m Yuan Yuan.”
With his little face pressed against Grandma’s leg, his milky voice carried a sobbing grievance: “Yuan Yuan is your grandson.”
Feng Yuan repeated these two sentences.
Repeating them was, in truth, his way of saying.
Why didn’t you open the door for Yuan Yuan?
The chubby little fellow flung himself into her, bringing with him a fresh, lively breath of life.
Frida warned herself not to hold any expectations toward the Li family’s children.
When such a child clung to her like this, she still instinctively lifted her hand and touched the little one’s hair.
The little fellow had soft hair, slightly curled.
His hair was beautiful.
Even crying, this little face was still beautiful.
All of the Li family’s children, without exception, had been beautiful from the moment they were born.
Frida loved children.
But time and again, when she poured her feelings into them, what she received in return was—
Her children were never close to her.
They were overly mature and overly distant from her.
They called her Mom or Grandma, and showed her respect and filial duty as children should.
But Frida could still feel that their emotions toward her were different from those of ordinary children.
Ordinary little ones naturally carried a closeness toward their mothers.
Frida had once seen little Yu Yi pouting and leaning in to kiss his mom and dad.
Yu Yi would kiss his parents and act spoiled toward them.
But such tender interactions never happened between her and her children.
Just as Frida was thinking of her own children, Feng Yuan rubbed his chubby little face against her and called out again.
“Grandma, hug me. Yuan Yuan can’t walk anymore.”
After walking all this way alone, his two chubby legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with cement. He really couldn’t move another step.
Stretching out his little hands, he asked to be picked up.
Frida pressed her lips together, then bent down and lifted this small little cub into her arms.
She wasn’t very practiced at holding him.
The moment she lifted him, her arms suddenly sank under the weight.
This heaviness was a little beyond her expectations.
Frida carried the little cub, while the backpack he had dropped on the ground was, of course, picked up by someone else.
Feng Yuan even handed over the schoolbag on his back to the person who had just refused to open the door for him.
“Thank you.”
Even though not opening the door had made Feng Yuan feel wronged, since the other person helped him carry his bag, he still had to say thank you.
Feng Yuan handed over his little schoolbag, then held the flowers up to Grandma’s face.
“Yuan Yuan picked these.”
The little fellow had picked a small bunch of flowers, though he didn’t know how to tie them into a proper bouquet.
Anyway, he just plucked the ones he saw that looked pretty, then used some longer grass to tie them together.
The colorful bouquet, from a professional aesthetic point of view, was hardly harmonious.
But for Frida, this was the first time she had ever received flowers from a child.
She had once grieved over her children not being close to her.
When her children saw her sadness, they chose to give her gifts to comfort her.
But the gifts they gave her were all bought with money they themselves had earned.
They thought that having money was enough.
With money, one could possess ninety-nine percent of the things in this world.
But what Frida wanted wasn’t money. It was an expression of affection.
Unfortunately, her children had never given her that.
“Grandma, do you like the flowers Yuan Yuan gave you?”
Feng Yuan had picked the flowers and handed them over, but he still insisted on getting a response.
Frida moved her lips.
After so many years, she seemed to have grown unaccustomed to saying tender words to children.
But even if she didn’t speak, Feng Yuan could read her expression.
“Grandma likes them.”
Feng Yuan’s eyes curved into crescents. The little face that had been streaked with tears earlier was now beaming with joy again.
One had to admit, a child’s face was just like the weather. It could change in an instant.
Frida’s courtyard was the most beautiful place in the entire villa.
The moment Feng Yuan stepped inside, he was enchanted.
“So pretty!”
Looking at the scenery here, Feng Yuan’s eyes weren’t enough to take it all in.
There were flowers and greenery, and little stone waterfalls.
In the corner of the courtyard, there were also some kittens.
Pointing at them, Feng Yuan softly asked in his milky voice: “Can Yuan Yuan hold the kitties?”
“No.”
Frida finally spoke. The first words out of her mouth were a refusal.
After refusing, without looking at the little fellow’s disappointed face, she added: “These cats might hurt you.”
Feng Yuan: “……”
Feng Yuan: “Then Yuan Yuan won’t hold them.”
These kittens looked different from the cats back home.
Feng Yuan didn’t really know much about foreign cats.
He didn’t continue asking to hold them and instead turned his gaze to other places.
Feng Yuan hadn’t rested all afternoon.
By now, the sunset that filled the sky was already slowly fading away.
Feng Yuan wrapped his arms around Grandma’s neck and let her touch his tummy.
Frida: “?”
At first, Frida didn’t know what this meant.
Not until the warm little belly under her palm gave two hungry growls.
Only then did she realize that the little fellow was hungry.
“Mary, prepare dinner.”
“Yes, Madam.”
Mary, who had brought in both the schoolbag and backpack, didn’t stay long inside the room before going back out again.
Feng Yuan sat in the room, watching as Frida went through his bag.
When she saw the books in the schoolbag, and the clothes and daily necessities in the backpack, Frida lifted her head and asked:
“Who brought you here? Where is your father?”
“Dad went out to catch bad guys.”
“Grandpa brought Yuan Yuan here. Yuan Yuan wanted to come see Grandma.”
With just a few words, Feng Yuan explained the situation.
But after hearing this, Frida frowned: “Is your grandpa unwilling to raise you? He should take good care of you, not let you walk such a long way alone to find me.”
Feng Yuan blinked when he heard the reproach toward his grandpa.
He didn’t explain anything.
After blaming Li Heng, Frida’s attitude toward Feng Yuan indeed shifted.
From at first not really wanting to see him, she now seemed willing to let him stay the night.
The reason for her change appeared to be that Li Heng didn’t want to raise the little one anymore.
But the truest reason perhaps came from a certain video, and from some retellings…
Feng Yuan didn’t say much. He just obediently munched on the handmade cookies Frida had given him.
These handmade cookies were made with flower petals.
Feng Yuan tasted the flavor of flowers.
After Feng Yuan finished one piece, Frida had also finished checking through all of his bags.
She carried the bags into the bedroom.
Before entering, she asked Feng Yuan, “There’s an empty guest room here. Can you sleep in the guest room tonight?”
Without even thinking, Feng Yuan shook his head.
“Yuan Yuan wants to sleep with Grandma.”
He definitely didn’t want to sleep alone.
Hearing his reply, Frida then carried his bags into the bedroom.
Feng Yuan’s little clothes were taken out and hung up.
Frida glanced at the clothes he was wearing now. They were already dirty.
“Do you want to change clothes?”
“No.”
Feng Yuan followed along, lowering his head to look at his own dirty little clothes, his soft childish voice sticky as he said: “Still have to eat dinner.”
When he ate, his clothes often got dirty anyway.
“Alright then.”
Frida closed the wardrobe and didn’t make him change.
Soon, dinner was ready.
Feng Yuan was very lazy.
Even for the short distance from the bedroom to the dining room, he wanted Grandma to carry him.
At the dining table, most of the dishes were vegetables, with only two meat dishes.
When Feng Yuan started eating, he no longer asked to be carried.
He sat on the chair by himself, gripping the chopsticks, eating from the plate.
Frida noticed that he only ate the meat.
As for the vegetables on the table, the little fellow acted as if he couldn’t even see them. He wouldn’t pick up a single bite.
Frida looked at the little cub concentrating on chewing meat, then glanced at the green vegetables.
The next second.
She picked up some greens with her chopsticks and placed them into the cub’s plate.
“Yuan Yuan doesn’t eat veggies.”
Using chopsticks was a bit troublesome for Feng Yuan, so he just directly used his hands to grab the meat and vegetables.
The little chubby hand grabbed the vegetables Grandma had given him, wanting to feed them to her.
But Grandma wouldn’t take them.
“Eat the vegetables.”
“Ah… okay then.”
The little cub, who didn’t like veggies, clutched them and popped them into his mouth.
He took one bite of vegetables, then quickly gnawed on two pieces of meat.
Seeing this, Frida could only keep giving him more greens.
By the end of the meal.
The interactions between the big one and the little one seemed to be quite a lot.
After dinner.
Feng Yuan’s mouth was greasy. His two little hands were oily as well.
Frida wiped him a few times with a napkin, then decided to take him for a bath.
As soon as the hot water was ready, Feng Yuan had already stripped himself bare.
Though he didn’t really like bathing, since he was going to sleep with Grandma tonight, he wanted to wash himself nice and clean.
When Frida turned around, she saw the little chubby cub cheeks flushed red, standing there completely bare.
She froze for a moment.
The fair, tender little chubby cub had all his baby fat showing once his clothes were off.
Frida stared at him for several seconds before coming back to her senses.
“You… want me to bathe you?”
“Mm-hm!”
Feng Yuan nodded and stretched out his little hands.
Frida had forgotten that she hadn’t bathed such a small cub in so many years.
Her own children, by the time they were three, were already washing themselves.
“Grandma, is Yuan Yuan chubby?”
The little one, sitting in the water while Grandma scrubbed his tiny body, asked expectantly.
Frida: “…”
She pressed her lips together.
She didn’t answer rashly.
Because she wasn’t too sure what answer this cub wanted to hear.
Under the little cub’s gaze, Frida finally thought it over for a while and gave a vague reply.
“I think it’s just right.”
“The instructor said Yuan Yuan is chubby.”
The moment Feng Yuan heard Grandma say he was just right, he immediately tattled: “The instructor said Yuan Yuan has lots of baby fat!”
At the base, they had body-fat scales.
Every time Feng Yuan got on, his body fat percentage showed as above normal.
The instructor would pick him up and say he was a little meatball cub.
“You’re very little. Even if you have a lot of baby fat, that’s normal.”
Frida was actually very satisfied with Feng Yuan’s small figure.
In her eyes, children were supposed to be plump like this to look healthy.
A child who was too skinny always made her feel as though they hadn’t been raised well.
“Grandma, after Yuan Yuan finishes bathing, can I go out to play?”
“It’s a little late.”
“But Yuan Yuan wants to go out and see.”
“All right, I can take you out for a little while.”
Inside the steam-filled bathroom.
The conversations between the elder and the little one gradually grew more and more.
Feng Yuan’s mouth just couldn’t stop.
He loved talking.
And Frida, who had always lived quietly on her own, never once stopped his chatter from beginning to end, nor did she ever show the slightest sign of being annoyed at the noise.
After Feng Yuan finished bathing and changed into a clean set of little clothes, Frida took him outside to look at the stars.
The scenery here was beautiful, and so was the night sky.
Frida led Feng Yuan to sit in a small pavilion, where there was a bamboo bed.
They lay together on the bed, looking up at the stars.
The sky was full of twinkling lights.
Feng Yuan stared without blinking.
Frida pointed to the stars above and told Feng Yuan the stories of the constellations.
Time slipped by unnoticed under the cover of night.
No one knew how long it had been.
Frida stopped speaking. She lowered her gaze to the little cub nestled in the crook of her arm, fast asleep.
In that instant, it was as if something suddenly filled her heart.
“Yuan Yuan.”
She softly whispered Feng Yuan’s name.
The little one, deep in sleep, didn’t respond. He only buried his small face deeper into her embrace.
Though the mountain villa was still cool at night, Frida’s heart was warm.
She stood up, picked up the little one whose tiny hands were clutching her clothes, and returned to the room.
That night.
Frida did not sleep well.
Throughout the night, she would open her eyes from time to time, turn on the small night light, and check on the little cub lying on the bed.
The little fellow wasn’t very obedient when sleeping.
At one moment, he would fumble his way over and lie sprawled on top of Frida to sleep. The next moment, he would kick with his short little legs, crawl to the side, and sleep with his small hands and feet spread out.
Frida couldn’t stop herself from looking at him.
She had known about this little cub’s existence for a long time, but she simply couldn’t believe it.
Such an adorable cub would actually belong to her.
The next day.
When Feng Yuan woke up, Frida was still asleep.
Sitting up, Feng Yuan rubbed his eyes but didn’t disturb Frida.
He took out the books from his little schoolbag.
“Mm.”
While flipping through the books, Feng Yuan finally thought of Grandpa.
Yesterday, after he arrived at Grandma’s house, he was too tired and seemed to have forgotten to call Grandpa.
The little one, feeling a bit guilty, dialed Grandpa’s number.
“Grandpa.”
Feng Yuan covered his mouth with his chubby little hand, his voice small: “I’m at Grandma’s house.”
Of course, Li Heng already knew he was at Frida’s.
The location from Feng Yuan’s smartwatch was also something he could receive.
“Mm, Grandpa knows.”
“You’re there. Are you doing well? Your grandma, she treats you…”
“Good. Grandma treats Yuan Yuan well.”
Feng Yuan’s soft, childish voice was pressed down gently as he whispered, “Grandma is still sleeping. Grandpa, are you coming over today?”
“No, your grandma might not want to see me yet.”
“Grandma didn’t say that.”
When Feng Yuan came here, he had already made up his mind.
He was going to help Grandpa and Grandma make up.
“Grandpa, I’ll ask Grandma to take me out. You should come, too.”
“The two of you can pretend to run into each other. That’s how they do it in TV dramas.”
At home, Feng Yuan didn’t really know what TV he was watching. But in any case, he spoke about his plan with great seriousness.
From the way the little one described Grandma, she sounded like she was doing quite well.
Li Heng was somewhat moved by the idea he came up with.
“Today, your Uncle Yu Yi is going home. You can take Grandma to visit the Yu family.”
Feng Yuan: “!”
His eyes lit up. “That works!”
At that time, Grandpa could pretend to be invited by Grandpa Yu. Then Grandpa and Grandma would be able to meet.
After the grandfather and grandson finished their discussion, Feng Yuan hung up the phone, his little face still full of excitement.
He obediently waited for Grandma to wake up.
As soon as she did, he immediately brought up his request to go out.
“Grandma, let’s go see Uncle!”
Feng Yuan hugged his grandma, his soft, childish voice pleading gently.
He even puckered his lips and kissed Grandma.
After a night of calm, Frida was gradually starting to believe in Feng Yuan’s reality.
This cub, who seemed like one that could only exist in a dream, actually appeared to be real.
She was slowly adapting to this fact.
“Alright.”
Feng Yuan didn’t have to beg for long before he got her agreement.
He let out a cheer, happily bouncing around on the bed.
And just as Feng Yuan was clinging to Grandma, urging her to hurry and go out, Yu Yi also quietly landed with his own precious treasure, Wu Jin.
Yu Yi had originally planned to hide Wu Jin in the apartment he lived in.
But this guy refused.
He insisted on going home with him.
Yu Yi couldn’t talk him out of it, nearly driven to death with anger: “Didn’t you promise me yesterday? The two of us can’t appear in front of my parents at the same time.”
“I can avoid being discovered and sneak into your room.”
Yu Yi: “……”
Yu Yi was utterly defeated by him.
He hadn’t asked the family to send a car to pick him up. Instead, he hailed a cab himself and had it drop him at the gate.
Then, he pointed at his family’s house and told Wu Jin the location of his room.
“That’s the room I live in.”
“If you’ve got the ability, sneak in and hide there without being discovered.”
“If you can’t, then call me. I’ll take you to the apartment.”
After saying this, Yu Yi got out of the car and left.
He went straight on without walking in together with Wu Jin.
A moment later, after Yu Yi returned home, dealt with his parents, and slipped away to his room under the excuse of needing the bathroom.
He saw Wu Jin inside his room.
“Shit.”
Yu Yi’s eyes went wide in shock when he saw him: “How did you get in here?”
This room only had one window leading outside.
But there wasn’t even a single tree outside the window.
He lived on the second floor.
And their house was built tall. The second floor here was as high off the ground as the third floor of other people’s homes.
“Is your side job breaking and entering? Even this kind of setup you can get into.”
After being shocked for a while, Yu Yi finally gave up on the idea of kicking Wu Jin out.
This guy was unbelievably clingy. There was no way to drive him away.
“Forget it. Just hide here. I’ll bring you food and drinks when it’s time.”
His bedroom had a bathroom, so if Wu Jin quietly stayed here, no one would discover him.
Thinking of this, Yu Yi finally felt a little calmer.
He went back downstairs to spend time with his family.
Knowing he was coming home, Yu Lian had long arranged for people to make the food he loved to eat.
Though the old couple complained about him endlessly with their words, their eyes were overflowing with affection.
“Right, Xiao Yi, a guest will be coming to visit you in a little while.”
“Go change your clothes, tidy yourself up, and come meet the guest later.”
“Who is it?”
Yu Yi asked warily, “It better not be some blind date you arranged. If it really is, I’ll turn around and leave.”
“Nonsense!”
Yu Lian’s expression darkened.
Although the guest coming over later wasn’t a blind date for Yu Yi, the old couple really had been arranging blind dates for him.
“Hey now, stop arguing. All of you speak nicely,” Fang Fang quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “The one coming later isn’t a blind date, but a little child.”
Not long after Fang Fang finished speaking, the little guest, dressed in white overalls and wearing a little yellow hat, arrived at the door.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152