Chapter 34
Shang Che’s simple phrase, “I’m here,” was spoken very lightly—like a casual response, yet also like a promise that required no embellishment. The night breeze ruffled the stray hairs on his forehead, carrying early autumn’s signature crisp chill along with a faint scent of sweet osmanthus.
He withdrew his hand from his pocket, cupping that tiny, soft lump of cotton in his palm, and lifted it up before his eyes.
The cotton doll was tilting its small face up to look at him. In the streetlights, its golden eyes shone bright like two translucent pieces of amber. Its tuft of hair leaned to one side from the earlier excitement, its cat-like mouth splitting open wide, its entire plush body radiating an aura of ‘Cotton is so happy~’.
Looking at its silly appearance, the subtle curve that had just surfaced at the corners of Shang Che’s mouth deepened a bit further. Using the fingertip of his other hand, he gently nudged the lopsided tuft of hair straight, taking the opportunity to stroke its round little head.
Startled by his gesture, the cotton doll froze for a second before the tuft of hair perked up as straight as a rod with a swoosh. Its golden eyes widened into round circles, its cat-like mouth parting into a tiny “O” shape, its tone filled with utter disbelief.
“Human! You petted Cotton!”
“Mm.” Shang Che withdrew his hand, his expression reverting to its usual flat demeanor, though the gentleness and faint smile in the depths of his eyes had not dissipated. He asked in return: “What? I can’t pet you?”
The cotton doll shook its head with force, its starry eyes sparkling: “Human can pet me!”
Bringing its two small hands together to rest under its chin, its cat-like mouth pouted, begging softly and expectantly: “Pet me a bit more~ Pet Cotton a bit more~”
—What a skilled little Cotton at acting cute.
Shang Che didn’t reply, merely lifting the hand cradling it a bit closer before his eyes, taking a close look at it under the light.
This new outfit Lin Zhi had changed it into was indeed pretty and exquisite. The blue-and-black racing suit looked sharp and crisp, shattering his stereotype that this cotton doll possessed nothing but cuteness.
Seeing its yearning-filled gaze, Shang Che bent his knuckle to satisfy this little Cotton’s wish to be petted.
The cotton doll instantly squinted its eyes in bliss, even tilting its small head up to nudge itself forward, exposing a silver necklace beneath the racing suit collar that glinted with fine flecks of light like tiny stars.
Shang Che’s gaze came to a stop as a sudden thought popped up—this cotton doll seemed to really like shiny things. He recalled a yellow-and-blue sapphire sitting in the display cabinet in the storage room, looking remarkably like the cotton doll’s golden eyes, which could be used to make it a necklace.
Shiny and very pretty—this little creature should like it.
“Alright.” Shang Che withdrew his hand, picked it up by the collar, and placed it into his open chest pocket. He intentionally adjusted the angle and position so that the cotton doll’s head poked out right from the pocket, then inquired with a hint of a smile: “Is the Cotton King satisfied with this spot?”
Enjoying this kind of treatment for the very first time, the cotton doll felt its cotton life was so happy it was on the verge of exploding. Its tuft of hair trembled wildly with excitement, so thrilled it could barely speak properly: “Satisfied! Cotton loves it!”
Holding onto the edge of the pocket tightly with its small round hands, its golden eyes couldn’t wait to look around everywhere.
“Human! Where are we going?” the cotton doll asked.
Shang Che: “Home.”
“Hooray! Cotton is going home!” The cotton doll tilted its head, pointing in a direction with its small round finger, “Depart—”
Shang Che’s footsteps paused. Looking down at the little creature in his pocket pointing out directions with total confidence, he suddenly felt a bit like laughing.
This little creature actually knew how to navigate? Even though it was pointing in the completely opposite direction.
“Not that way,” he said flatly, casting a glance in the direction it pointed.
The cotton doll froze in an instant, its small round hand still held high in mid-air, its tuft of hair drooping slowly at a speed visible to the naked eye: How could this be? Cotton clearly tried hard to remember…
“…Did Cotton… remember wrong?” Its voice was tiny, carrying a thread of unbelievable dejection.
“Mm.”
The cotton doll slowly pulled back its raised hand, its two small round hands wringing together, its head lowered, the entire Cotton enveloped in a cloud of “How could Cotton be so silly” self-doubt.
Shang Che looked at its appearance, stayed silent for a second, and then added a line: “Though there’s a road over there too. We can get back by taking a loop.”
The cotton doll snapped its head up, its golden eyes lighting up once more: “Really?”
“Fake.” Shang Che crushed its reignited hope without a second thought.
Cotton Doll: “…”
Under its dazed gaze, the corners of Shang Che’s mouth curved up slightly, and he strode toward the mountain bike parked downstairs.
The cotton doll froze for two seconds, and then finally reacted—the human had teased it on purpose!
Clinging to the edge of the pocket, it muttered in a small voice: “…Mean human…”
The cotton doll’s tone carried zero resentment, only a soft, squishy joy of being indulged.
—Even if he was a mean human, Cotton still liked him.
The small pink head poked around restlessly in his pocket, brushing against Shang Che’s chest until it felt somewhat ticklish. His hand holding the handlebars tightened unconsciously. Just as he was about to tell this little creature to behave and stop moving around recklessly, he heard the cotton doll ask him curiously: “Human, what is this?”
Those golden eyes of the cotton doll were staring unblinkingly at this vehicle that possessed a peculiar shape to its mind.
“A bike,” Shang Che answered briefly.
“Cotton knows it’s a bike,” the cotton doll refuted its keeper on a rare occasion, its small round finger pointing, “but it’s different from the bikes Cotton saw… before…”
It thought for a long while, unable to find the right words, and could only try hard to describe its feeling: “This bike… is skinny and flat!”
Shang Che looked down at it, unable to help marveling—so silly.
Though “skinny and flat” was a remarkably apt description.
“Those were cars; this is a bicycle,” he rolled the mountain bike out of the parking space, answering: “For riding.”
“Riding?” The cotton doll tilted its head, its golden eyes brimmed with curiosity, “How do you ride it?”
Shang Che didn’t answer immediately. Straddling the seat with his long legs, he held the handlebars with one hand, while extending his other hand to the chest pocket, pressing down on the small head poking out.
“Hold tight,” he said.
Before the cotton doll could process what “hold tight” meant, Shang Che pushed off with his foot, and the mountain bike shot forward with a swish.
The sudden gust of wind blew the cotton doll’s tuft of hair backward, its entire plush body leaning back from the sudden force. Its two small round hands instinctively grabbed the edge of the pocket tightly, its golden eyes widening into full circles, its head shrinking back despite itself.
“Whoaaaaa—” The cotton doll let out a brief exclamation.
Shang Che took it down a quiet side street. There were few pedestrians on the road, with only scattered streetlights keeping them company, so there was no need to ask this little guy to stay quiet.
The mountain bike rode smoothly down the tree-lined path, streetlights sweeping past one by one at their side, casting shifting shadows of light and dark.
Before long, the cotton doll’s exclamations turned into awe.
Gradually adjusting to the scene, it carefully poked out more of its head, its golden eyes taking in this “bizarre and wonderful” world with novelty.
—So tall.
—So fast.
—Such a wide field of view.
“Human!” The cotton doll’s tuft of hair swayed in the wind, its voice somewhat broken by the breeze, yet unable to mask its excitement, “So much fun!”
Shang Che offered no verbal response, though the corners of his mouth couldn’t help curving up slightly as well.
Lowering his body slightly, he shifted into a more comfortable riding posture, removing one hand from the handlebars to gently curve it above his pocket, shielding it from some of the wind blowing over.
The cotton doll felt a sudden shadow cover its head. Raising its small head, it saw its keeper’s broad palm acting like a tiny roof to shield it from the somewhat “intense” wind.
Aww—
Human is so good—
Cotton loves human—
Clinging to the edge of the pocket with its tiny hands, it worked hard to tilt its head up, rubbing against that familiar palm.
Shang Che, who was focused on riding, suddenly felt a fluffy, ticklish touch burst against his palm. His fingers curled inward ever so slightly, not moving away for a long time.
The mountain bike maintained a steady speed forward. As they passed an overpass, Shang Che suddenly put one foot down, coming to a stop by the pedestrian sidewalk.
The cotton doll blinked in confusion: “Human?”
“Look over there.” Shang Che turned his head, pointing a finger.
The cotton doll looked in the direction he gestured—
Beneath the overpass lay a river crossing the city from north to south, shimmering at this moment as it reflected the most bustling section of the night view.
The landscape lights on both banks painted the water’s surface a flowing gold. An occasional tour boat glided past, the colorful light strips on the boat dragging long tails across the water. A Ferris wheel in the near distance rotated slowly, its rainbow-colored cabins drawing a massive, colorful ring of light across the night sky.
“Woah—” The cotton doll let out a long, awe-filled exclamation.
It had never seen a scene like this before.
Completely different from the scene viewed through the window at its keeper’s house!
“So pretty…” it muttered, its golden eyes reflecting the lights so brightly they sparkled. “Human, look, there are so many lights over there!”
Shang Che followed its small round hand—it was the city’s iconic Ferris wheel.
He offered a response: “Mm.”
“And over here too!” The small round hand pointed to the river’s surface, the cotton doll exclaiming with excitement: “The water is glowing too!”
Shang Che: “Mm.”
“And over there!” This time the cotton doll pointed at the sky, “Stars!”
Shang Che raised his head, looking in the direction it pointed.
Tonight’s night sky indeed featured a few extraordinarily bright stars. The evening breeze blew gently, accentuating the moonlight into something particularly charming.
“Mm, very pretty.” Shang Che responded to every single sentence it uttered.
After a while, the cotton doll finally quieted down, merely leaning quietly against the edge of the pocket, resting its small round hands there, its golden eyes staring unblinkingly at everything before its eyes.
Suddenly, it spoke in a small voice: “Human.”
“Mm.”
Cotton Doll: “Cotton… was so scared today.”
Shang Che didn’t interrupt, merely looking down at it.
“Cotton thought… human didn’t want Cotton anymore.” Its voice grew even smaller, carrying a touch of grievance. “That glass-wearing… human said human would come pick Cotton up, so Cotton kept waiting…”
The knot in Shang Che’s throat moved gently.
“And then human really came.” The cotton doll’s voice turned cheerful once more, “Cotton was so happy.”
It raised its small face to look at Shang Che, its golden eyes reflecting the lights of the entire city, along with his silhouette.
“Now Cotton is even happier.” Its cat-like mouth split open into a brilliant smile, “Looking at the glowing lights together with human.”
Shang Che looked at it.
He looked at its tuft of hair swaying gently in the night breeze, looked at those golden eyes brimming with trust and joy, and looked at its brilliant smile and small hands waving uncontrollably.
A hollow in his heart was filled to the brim by a warm, soft substance at this moment, feeling so full it almost throbbed.
He reached out his hand, using his finger pad to stroke the cotton doll’s cheek with gentleness.
“In the future,” Shang Che spoke, his voice very low, as if speaking to it, yet as if speaking to himself, “I’ll take you out often.”
The cotton doll’s tuft of hair perked up with a swoosh, asking in disbelief: “Really?”
Shang Che nodded, offering an answer akin to a promise: “Really.”
“A promise is a promise—” It extended a small round hand, mimicking Shang Che’s previous gesture, “We have to make a deal, okay?~”
Shang Che looked down at that raised small round hand, fell silent for a second, and then extended a finger, gently hooking the cotton doll’s round, knuckle-less hand, pressing his warm finger pad lightly against its soft “palm.”
“Pinky swear.”
“This time, I will definitely keep my word.”
