Chapter 26
The cotton doll inside the backpack was practically beside itself with anxiety, its small hands wringing together tightly.
Cotton was right here! How could the human leave it behind and go eat with another human!
Wait a second…
If Cotton went out right now, wouldn’t that be equivalent to telling the human that it had secretly followed him to school?
No, no! The human would definitely be angry!
He absolutely could not know.
The cotton doll pouted its mouth in dejection, disappointed and unwilling: (== ).
“In reality, your family’s housekeeper just took the day off today, right?” Shang Che said knowingly. Right after, he stood up, the chair scraping lightly against the floor.
Lu Zeming fell unusually silent for a second: “…Just say whether I’m keeping you company or not.”
“Fine, let’s go.”
As soon as Shang Che’s words landed, a flurry of chaotic footsteps echoed as a crowd seemed to surge out like a tide all at once.
Before long, the surroundings fell completely silent. The cotton doll listened again and again, but not even the faintest sound of breathing remained, which actually left it somewhat baffled.
…What was going to happen?
The cotton doll carefully parted the slit of the backpack’s opening, nudging it open inch by inch with its round head, before cautiously poking out a small pink head.
Placing its two small round hands on the edge of the desk cubby, its golden eyes blinked, looking left for a moment and right for the next—there wasn’t a single human in sight!
This was simply heaven helping Cotton!
The cotton doll squeezed its entire body slowly out of the backpack, gradually standing tall. It lowered its round head slightly, fixing its gaze on the chair sitting very close within its line of sight. Raising its tiny hands, it clenched them with force and pumped them in front of its chest as if cheering itself on.
Cotton could do it!
When it came to jumping onto chairs, Cotton was experienced!
Pat.
With a light sound, it landed securely on the chair Shang Che had just sat on.
The surface of the chair was smooth, causing it to slide an uncontrolled small distance. The cotton doll cleverly used both hands and feet to stabilize its body, propping its tiny hands on the seat while sticking out its bottom, standing up with a “heave-ho!”
Cotton was so awesome!
Standing on the chair, its field of view expanded quite a bit. It then took tiny steps toward the edge, poking its head forward to look: So many identical-looking desks and chairs~~
It was just that the items placed on them were different—there were books, test papers, and pens that it recognized…
There were also things it couldn’t name, like that object humans really loved holding in their hands called a phone, except bigger—much bigger than Cotton!
Its big golden eyes blinked, taking in the surroundings with curiosity, when suddenly, its line of sight froze toward the front-left—Eek! It was that chestnut doll!
The cotton doll’s expression turned instantly excited, tossing the tiny bit of guilt and fear toward its keeper far beyond the clouds.
A surge of indignant anger at being “tricked” arose naturally. It huffily tucked its small round hands against its hips, putting on a front of wanting nothing more than to point fingers and demand an explanation.
o(? ? ? x)o: Hmph! Human was lying to Cotton! Clearly Cotton could come to school!
Since human didn’t want Cotton keeping him company, Cotton wasn’t going to keep human company today either!
Clasping the chair leg, it slid down slowly, landing on the smooth floor. Having taken just two steps, it seemed to suddenly remember something, lowering its cotton head to look at the short legs it raised with all its strength: …Mm… not dirty!
The cotton doll turned around, waving its small hand toward Shang Che’s seat with great ceremony:
Goodbye, mean human!
Cotton is off on an adventure!
The first step of the adventure was to explore the surrounding environment starting from its immediate vicinity.
The cotton doll circled the area where Shang Che’s desk was located, its gaze scanning everything with utmost seriousness.
It discovered a blue star sticker placed neatly on a desk leg, reaching out a small hand to touch it: Flat, smooth… not as fun as the stars on Cotton’s pajamas…
Then, it discovered a highlighter lying on the floor under the adjacent desk, with a tiny crumpled paper ball beside it.
Human had said that these colored pens were used to highlight key points, so… was this paper ball the key point?
It walked over with huffing steps, using its small round hands to unfurl the paper ball inch by inch. The crumpled surface was covered in strange symbols and numbers, looking like a secret code…
The cotton doll placed a small hand against its round chin, as if lost in deep thought, then shook its head “heavily”:
Cotton doesn’t recognize them; Cotton can’t read them.
Suddenly—
Tap-tap-tap!
A rush of hurried footsteps approached from the doorway!
A boy ran in like a whirlwind, carrying a gust of air that blew away the little note it was studying toward the near distance. He then flopped his bottom right onto the empty seat beside its keeper, pulling out a crumpled test paper from his bag while gasping for breath.
Terrified, the cotton doll immediately curled into a ball, pressing tightly against the desk leg in an attempt to hide itself in the shadow.
Only after the boy settled down and began diving into the panic of rushing his homework without raising his head did it quietly poke its body out.
The cotton doll patted its small chest, as if comforting itself.
Instead of feeling scared, however, it found it even more thrilling. This feeling of potentially being discovered at any moment and needing to hide added a real weight to its “adventure.”
Hmph! It was the Cotton King after all!
Its golden eyes were drawn to a small potted plant not far away, its chubby leaves bunched together, their edges looking almost translucent under the sunlight.
Good, the next target was this one!
The Cotton King decided to check it out!
Checking the surroundings to confirm it was safe for the moment, it stepped out with its short legs, advancing toward its target.
This distance wasn’t too far, but it was still somewhat grueling for the cotton doll. Especially since its body was smaller now—though flexible, its speed was much slower, wishing it could just roll over on the floor… or crawling over would work too.
Except if it did that, Cotton would get dirty and be discovered.
Sighing, it accepted its fate and shuffled forward slowly, step by step.
Just as the cotton doll was getting close to the small potted plant, a loud bell rang out in the quiet space.
Ring-ring-ring—
The crisp, continuous sound scared it half to death, almost making it tumble onto the floor out of sheer shock.
Immediately after, the vanished noise gradually returned. Footsteps came in waves, accompanied by voices and laughter drawing closer and closer, surging back like a tide.
Shoes of various colors and styles moved before its eyes—some unhurried, some in a rush, some looking as if they were about to step on it…
It could not be discovered!
The cotton doll, like a pink dandelion swaying in a storm, plunged headfirst into the corner beside the small potted plant. Through the gaps, it could see the legs moving outside.
Once the intense commotion slowly subsided a bit, it quietly raised its head from behind the small plant, revealing two golden eyes as it looked toward its keeper’s seat.
The cotton doll observing in secret.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, Shang Che leaned lazily against his chair’s backrest, resting his elbow on the desk. A black gel pen spun nimbly between his long fingers as he chatted casually with the person beside him, a hint of an unhurried smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
The cotton doll blinked, muttering softly in complaint: Human really… doesn’t miss Cotton at all!
After a while, there were still plenty of people walking around.
The cotton doll knew it couldn’t return to Shang Che’s chair for the time being—the journey was far too dangerous. Touching the leaves of the small potted plant, it decided to explore this unexpectedly discovered corner right where it was.
This place seemed to be a spot for piling up miscellaneous items, strange things mixed together like a secret base. Taking a step forward—
Crack.
A faint crisp sound came from under its foot.
Taking a step back, it lowered its head. On the floor lay a small, square card, its design glinting under the sunlight.
The cotton doll slowly bent its body, wanting to pick up the piece of cardstock, but its small round hands lacked leverage. Every time, it could only manage to nudge the cardstock, pushing the card further into the corner inch by inch instead.
…Even a card picked on Cotton!
Suddenly, a faint, strange “clunk” sound reached its ears, sounding once before stopping, and then sounding again out of nowhere after a short moment.
What was that sound?
Curious, the cotton doll followed the sound to investigate, finally discovering a tiny secret in a corner near the wall that was slightly blocked by a few books.
It was a transparent plastic little house, inside of which lived a creature it had never laid eyes on before—tiny, fluffy, curled into a ball like a brownish-yellow rice ball.
At this moment, it was holding up two pale pink paws, using its tiny black-bean eyes to stare daze-like at this suddenly appearing pink uninvited guest.
The cotton doll drew closer, pressing its round head right against the clear cage, its golden eyes filled with curiosity as it stared unblinkingly at this living little thing.
One doll and one hamster, separated by a clear barrier, gazed at each other in silence.
The cotton doll hesitated for a moment, tentatively reaching out a small round hand to press gently against the plastic wall, wanting to touch this “new friend” met for the first time.
Whoosh—!
The tiny hamster shrank backward abruptly, then spun around rapidly, zipping into the small wooden hut in the corner in a flash, leaving behind only the faint “thump-thump” sound of the plastic house vibrating from its run.
The cotton doll’s tiny hand froze in mid-air. It blinked its eyes, slowly withdrawing its hand.
…It seemed this “new friend,” much like the human, was a bit shy.
“Brother Shang—” A boy’s voice sounded from the seat in front of the clutter pile, “Help me check if Mengmeng is short on water or food—”
And then, the cotton doll heard that voice familiar to the very core of its cotton:
Shang Che: “Check it yourself.”
“Aiya, I’m busy rushing my homework! Life-or-death speed! Please, Brother Shang, just this once!!!”
“Still no.” Shang Che rejected him with equal decisiveness.
“Brother Shang—”
“Big bro—”
“Big boss—”
“Dad!”
After a dead silence, a helpless, extremely soft sigh came through.
Shang Che’s voice sounded: “…Just this once.”
Immediately after came the sound of a chair being pushed back, followed by steady, unhurried footsteps approaching this corner where the cotton doll was hiding, step by step.
Oh no! Human was coming over!
Cotton must hide!
The cotton doll turned around, wanting to hide deeper inside. In its panic, it stepped on who-knows-what, its feet slipping abruptly. Instantly losing its balance, its entire plush body fell backward uncontrollably, making a dull thud as it bumped into a mesh-like object standing against the wall.
This bump wasn’t heavy, but it was far too sudden, leaving it dazed in flustered helplessness. It then shook its small head, scrambling to climb up to continue escaping.
But—
Why couldn’t Cotton move?!
The cotton doll kicked its short legs, using every ounce of its strength, yet failed to move forward a single step. Its body was fixed in place, completely immobile.
Something behind it seemed like an invisible hand holding onto it firmly.
Straining its round cotton head backward to look, it finally spotted the culprit—
It was a small, curved hook on the mesh storage rack, and one strap of its overalls had hooked onto it, dead-on.
The cotton doll wriggled its body, stretching its small hand with all its might to try and unhook its strap, but the hook held fast. It didn’t dare pull too hard either, afraid of tearing its tiny outfit.
—Cotton was trapped!
Anxiously, it picked at the hook restraining it with its tiny hands. Just as the strap was on the verge of slipping off, a steady set of footsteps approached, stopping right in this corner.
Through the gaps of the crisscrossing clutter, the cotton doll saw a pair of clean white shoes—identical to the ones its keeper was wearing today.
Immediately after, a hand reached over—
