Chapter 21
On weekends, Shang Che always slept in a bit longer to catch up on rest.
The clarity after the medication wore off still carried that familiar sense of sluggish discomfort. He furrowed his brows, his fingers instinctively pressing against his temples, rubbing them slowly yet firmly before he gradually opened his eyes.
The thick curtains blocked out the sunlight. The instant his consciousness returned, Shang Che’s gaze drifted involuntarily toward a tiny, softly glowing “island” not far away.
On the cozy doll bed, the cotton doll was lying in a strange pose.
Unlike its usual posture of sitting obediently, it was tilted slightly onto its side, half of its body pressed against the doll bed. Its round head rested sideways on a neatly placed tiny pillow, one soft little arm stretched out straight, while the other was slightly bent, lightly resting against the money-pouch-shaped nightlight.
This posture looked remarkably like a human toddler curled up, hugging a plush toy to sleep—except what the cotton doll was clutching in its arms was the faintly glowing tap lamp, alongside its own self that couldn’t fall asleep at all.
Its golden eyes were squirted shut, its cat-like mouth motionless. If not for the tuft of ahoge hair atop its head fluttering ever so slightly, it would genuinely look like it were fast asleep.
Cotton Doll: zZzZ…
Shang Che maintained his waking pose, watching it quietly for a few seconds.
So, this little creature’s idea of ‘sleeping’ is mimicking him—lying on the doll bed with its eyes closed?
…It was both absurd and amusing, to the point where a patch of soft warmth involuntarily melted in his heart.
Shang Che didn’t get out of bed right away, nor did he make a sound. He merely raised his arm and gently tapped the switch on the headboard, then waited in silence for the curtains to draw open.
Sunlight seeped in inch by inch through the gap in the curtains, falling onto the desk, across the rug, and gradually drawing closer to that tiny doll bed in the corner, until it finally bathed that pink figure in its glow.
The moment the light touched the cotton doll’s cheeks, those squinted eyes slowly opened. It moved its tiny arms, rubbing its round head against the soft tap lamp. Just as the warm yellow light faded out, those signature golden eyes slowly fluttered open.
It blinked, its gaze instinctively turning to the keeper on the bed at the very first moment.
Almost instantaneously, the cotton doll’s eyes lit up brilliant and dazzling, far outshining both the sunlight and the lamp.
It released the nightlight in its embrace, using hands and feet together to sit up from the doll bed. That tuft of pink ahoge hair swayed along with the movements of its head, and its cat-like mouth split open into an extraordinarily bright smile as it called out in a soft, cheerful voice:
“Human! You’re awake!”
It was just like every single morning before, yet something seemed subtly different.
Looking at its unreserved, joyous cheering just to greet his waking moment, the soft warmth in Shang Che’s heart spread even more fiercely.
Instead of merely offering a cold “mm” or getting up directly as he usually did, he lay lazily on the pillow, turning his head to look at the little creature sitting on the doll bed and staring up at him expectantly. For the very first time, he offered a proactive response:
“Mm, awake.”
Shang Che’s voice still carried the slight rasp of someone who had just woken up, sounding lower and gentler than usual.
Hearing its keeper speak to it, the cotton doll grew even more excited. It raised its small round hand, pointing at the light filtering in from outside the window, then pointing at itself, its tone brimmed with wonder: “Human! Look!”
“The light is awake too!”
What ‘light is awake’? What a silly Cotton…
The corner of Shang Che’s mouth couldn’t help curving upward.
“That’s called the sun coming out.”
“…Su… n?” The cotton doll learned another new word. Its big eyes blinked as it looked at Shang Che. “What is that?”
Shang Che raised a hand lazily, drawing a circle in the air with his fingertip, gesturing for the cotton doll to look out the window: “That round, bright red thing up in the sky is the sun.”
“Sun…” The cotton doll turned its head, its mouth opening and closing as it repeated the word.
Shang Che sat up in a unhurried manner, leaning against the headboard. His gaze swept over that round cotton head, then looked toward the sun hanging high in the sky, seemingly making an unconscious comparison.
Both were round; there didn’t seem to be much of a difference.
Shrugging his shoulders, he threw off the blanket and stepped out of bed. Just as his feet touched the rug, the cotton doll’s voice rang out again, “Human, where are you going?”
Shang Che walked over to the doll bed, looking down from above at the little guy who instantly sat up even straighter. He reached out and flicked the tuft of hair that always stuck up on its head with a very light touch of his fingertip.
The tuft felt exceedingly soft to the touch, easily manipulated back and forth without needing any force at all. Flicked by his fingertip, the pink ahoge hair flopped backward, only to snap right back up with a pop the moment he withdrew his hand, looking just like a tumbler toy that refused to give in.
“To wash up,” Shang Che withdrew his hand, his tone casual, showing not a shred of the childish action he had just engaged in. “And then, I might consider taking the ‘Cotton King’ to inspect the human breakfast supply.”
This sudden “coronation” caused the cotton doll’s golden eyes to widen into round circles, its cat-like mouth opening into a small “O”. It seemed to need a moment to process this monumental surprise; even the ahoge hair atop its head went still, resembling an exclamation mark.
Cotton Doll: !!!
Human called it the Cotton King just now! Human acknowledged that it was the Cotton King!
Saying no more, Shang Che turned and walked toward the en-suite bathroom. He could feel that burning gaze behind him, practically burning two small holes into the fabric of his pajamas.
Sure enough, within three seconds, rustling noises echoed from the doll bed as the cotton doll wriggled around on it with flailing hands and feet, muttering something in a small voice.
Shang Che didn’t turn back, though the corners of his mouth curved up once more.
Inside the en-suite bathroom, the marble countertop was pristine and cold. The cool white light shone onto Shang Che’s face, the mirror clearly reflecting his messy hair and somewhat pale, weary face, though the lingering faint dark circles under his eyes seemed to have lightened quite a bit.
The humming sound of the electric toothbrush did a great job of isolating the tiny noises from the bedroom. When he finished rinsing his mouth and raised his head, he caught sight of half a round, pink head poking through the doorway.
The cotton doll held onto the doorframe with its two small hands, slowly poking its round head in at a speed it thought wouldn’t be noticed, its big golden eyes quickly scanning this room it was visiting for the very first time.
Its gaze landed on the object in Shang Che’s hand.
“Human,” the cotton doll asked curiously, “what is this?”
Shang Che: “This is a toothbrush, used for brushing teeth.”
“Toothbrush… brush teeth…” the cotton doll repeated, finally shuffling its entire body inside.
The rug came to an abrupt halt at the bathroom door, replaced by smooth tiles. The moment the cotton doll’s round, short legs stepped onto them, they couldn’t stop slipping. After several failed attempts at walking, the cotton doll rolled over decisively, tumbling “gurgle, gurgle” right to Shang Che’s feet.
Water gushed from the faucet. Shang Che was currently washing his face when he felt something hug his lower leg. He turned off the faucet, lowering his eyes to look down.
Hehehe~
Feeling helpless, Shang Che wiped his face clean with a towel, then lifted the cotton doll onto the bathroom counter, setting it down so it could look at him.
“Human, what are you doing now?” the cotton doll asked, tilting its head.
Shang Che’s voice was laced with the sound of running water, sounding somewhat muffled, yet he still answered every question: “Washing my face.”
“Oh—” The cotton doll dragged out its tone as if it had learned another important human ritual. It spun a small circle on the spot, its line of sight ultimately drawn firmly to the full-length mirror behind him.
In the mirror, not only was Shang Che’s silhouette clearly reflected, but that dazed lump of cotton was captured as well.
“Hmm?” It let out a single note of confusion.
The cotton doll was clearly unfamiliar with this object.
It first looked at Shang Che in the mirror, turned its head to look at the real person beside it, then looked back at the mirror. After repeating this several times, its big golden eyes were brimmed with confusion. Then, it tentatively reached out a small round hand toward the mirror.
The cold, hard glass surface reflected its movement. The cotton doll inside the mirror simultaneously extended a hand, meeting its round palm right against it.
The cotton doll jerked its hand back sharply, its eyes widening.
The “it” inside the mirror jerked its hand back as well, its eyes widening.
“Human! Human!”
It immediately called out to Shang Che, its tone carrying clear panic and urgency, its tiny hands waving around wildly in the air: “There! There… is another Cotton!”
The cotton doll pointed at the mirror, the tuft of hair on its head perking up in sheer nerves: “It’s copying Cotton!”
