Chapter 35
Once inside the residential compound, Shang Che slowed his bike considerably.
The cotton doll nestled in his pocket with its tiny hands resting on the edge, poking its head out. The passing breeze ruffled the tuft of ahoge hair atop its head, making its golden eyes squint shut in comfort. The entire Cotton exuded a contented, happy aura.
It had experienced far too much today—from “stowing away” to school and thrillingly hiding in the classroom, to adventuring in the flower bed and being picked up by Lin Zhi, then falling to the ground, being taken by Lu Zeming, and finally being picked up by its keeper after all those twists and turns.
Its little cotton head couldn’t hold so many complex events, but it remembered a few things firmly:
The human hadn’t abandoned it.
The human had also promised to take it out often.
The human was so good; Cotton liked the human.
The more it thought about it, the happier it grew, its little head swaying uncontrollably from side to side. Through the thin fabric of his shirt, the rubbing caused an itch to tickle in Shang Che’s chest. “Ahem…” The mountain bike wobbled almost uncontrollably. With his palms sweating slightly, Shang Che issued an awkwardly stiff warning: “…Don’t move around so much… Be careful not to fall off.”
“Okay—” The cotton doll replied, dragging out its tone. Staying with its keeper made it feel extraordinarily safe right now, but picking up on the subtle discomfort in his voice, the Cotton King decided to be understanding for once.
It immediately stayed obediently still, pulling its small hands back into the pocket, leaving only its tiny head exposed while closing its golden eyes completely: “Then Cotton is going to sleep now~”
Shang Che: “…” He didn’t mean it like that.
Besides, this little creature couldn’t sleep at all; it was definitely fooling him on purpose.
Sure enough, the cotton doll even intentionally added a line: “When human needs Cotton to wake up… Cotton will wake up again~”
Confirmed: the cotton doll was teasing the human.
—What a rebellious little Cotton.
Shang Che looked down at the tiny creature in his pocket that was already “squinting” its eyes to pretend to sleep, though the curve at the corners of his mouth lifted subtly despite himself.
A few minutes later, he parked the mountain bike and spoke to the fake-sleeping cotton doll in his pocket: “We’re home.”
The cotton doll secretly opened one eye, its golden pupil rolling around. Seeing the familiar garden and swing, it closed its eyes again, its cat-like mouth secretly curving into a smile.
…What was this? A “fake sleep” inside a fake sleep?
Shang Che didn’t expose it.
Unlocking the door, he pressed the master switch. The pitch-black house instantly lit up, warm yellow light pouring down, almost dazzlingly bright. Though nothing inside the house had changed, Shang Che felt everything felt completely different. Changing his shoes, he looked down at the little creature still “pretending to sleep” in his pocket.
“We’re here,” Shang Che repeated. “You can wake up now.”
The cotton doll remained motionless, though the tuft of hair on its head swayed ever so gently.
—What a rascal.
Shang Che extended a hand, flicking that tuft of hair lightly with his fingertip.
The tuft snapped right back with a swoosh, swaying even harder.
Yet the cotton doll still refused to “wake up.”
Looking at its completely unshakeable front, Shang Che shook his head helplessly. Taking the cotton doll out of his pocket, he cradled it in his palm, lowered his eyes to look at it, and spoke softly: “Welcome home.”
The cotton doll’s golden eyes snapped open in an instant with a swoosh, shining as if filled with starlight. Its tuft of hair swayed with joy, looking extraordinarily cute. Splitting its cat-like mouth into an extraordinarily brilliant smile, it held both hands high, cheering: “Woah! Cotton slept… and came home!”
“Cotton is so awesome!”
Looking at its triumphant little demeanor, Shang Che ultimately broke character, unable to hold back a soft chuckle. Fine specks of light flickered in his eyes, his brow and eyes softening completely, carrying a subtle, implicit indulgence: “Yeah, you’re super awesome.”
A tiny action, a nonsensical sentence, and it could make him this happy.
Having not seen each other for an entire day, it missed him immensely.
The moment Shang Che stepped into the bedroom, the cotton doll couldn’t wait to switch bodies.
The 10-centimeter little Cotton in his hand instantly lost its soul, its limbs drooping limply. Shang Che looked down at it, set it down gently on the desk, then turned around to walk toward the doll bed in the corner.
The 40-centimeter cotton doll was kicking its short legs on the bed, flipping itself over with a roll. Burying its face into the soft mattress, its small round hands stroked back and forth, expressing its longing: “Bed—Cotton is back—”
Then it raised its big head, looking around everywhere as if searching for something.
Squatting beside the bed, Shang Che handed over the fully charged tap lamp.
The cotton doll’s eyes lit up. Crawling up with “heave-ho, heave-ho”, it wrapped both hands around the tap lamp, pressing it against its cheek to rub: “Woah~ Tap Lamp~ Did you miss Cotton~”
Watching its sequence of “pouring out heart-to-heart feelings,” Shang Che felt like laughing. Just as he made to withdraw his hand, it was grabbed by two round, soft little hands.
Using its small round hands, the cotton doll straightened his broad palm. Poking its head forward bit by bit, it rested its chin on its keeper’s open palm. With a pair of sparkling starry eyes wide open, like a clingy, strawberry-flavored rice ball stuck to a human, it purred sweetly: “Cotton missed you very much~~~”
Shang Che’s body and mind shuddered caught completely off guard—
Where did this cotton doll learn so many tricks? Good thing it was him; an ordinary person would never be able to handle this…
Steading his mind, he turned his face away awkwardly, a thin blush quietly creeping onto the tips of his ears as he answered: “…I got it.”
Hee-hee-hee, human is embarrassed again~~~
Looking at his keeper’s flushed earlobes, the cotton doll couldn’t help secretly squinting its eyes in a smile.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, the cotton doll let out an “Ah~”, asking curiously: “Human, what does ‘spoiled and arrogant from doting’… mean?”
This vocabulary didn’t look like something a cotton head should know. Shang Che furrowed his brow, pressing for answers immediately: “Who taught you that phrase? Lu Zeming or Lin Zhi? Did someone discover your secret?”
“…No, no…” The cotton doll denied it rapidly, its head shaking like a rattle drum. Mimicking the phrasing Lu Zeming had taught it, it reproduced it word for word, though its eyes darted around, not daring to make eye contact with its keeper: “It came from… the phone held by that human… named Lu Zeming…”
“Cotton was curious, so Cotton remembered it…”
The cotton doll’s guilty demeanor fell crystal-clear into Shang Che’s eyes. The vein on his temple throbbed, not believing a single word of this nonsense.
He merely fell into his own thought fallacies occasionally, not that he had an issue with his IQ. Who on earth would believe such a clumsy lie?
Someone must have “instigated” this innocent little Cotton.
Shang Che lifted his palm slightly, forcing the cotton doll to look at him, asking slowly: “…Tell me the truth, did Lu Zeming teach you that?”
“…N-No, it wasn’t.”
Being a Cotton, the most important thing was loyalty; the cotton doll denied it in a small voice.
“Mm.” Shang Che feigned a nod, his finger gently picking at the tuft of hair on the cotton doll’s head, his tone casual: “How many times did you have to learn it before you remembered?”
“Three times!” The cotton doll felt so comfortable being stroked. Hearing his question, its eyes lit up, looking at its keeper excitedly in a pose seeking praise: “Human, isn’t Cotton very smart!”
“Smart,” Shang Che let out an extremely faint laugh, stroking its head again. “Lu Zeming told you that?”
“Mm!” Busy rubbing against its keeper’s palm, the cotton doll completely forgot its promise to Lu Zeming, spilling the beans entirely: “He taught Cotton… this phrase, and told Cotton… to come back and ask you.”
Just as expected.
Shang Che withdrew his hand, letting out a cold sneer: “So that’s how it is.”
The gentle strokes vanished, and only then did the cotton doll realize what it had just said. Covering its mouth with its small hands, it looked at its keeper in feigned terror.
Oh no, did Cotton say something Cotton shouldn’t have said!
Receiving the cotton doll’s gaze, Shang Che offered it a reassuring touch: “It’s not your fault.”
It was the fault of the person who dared corrupt this little Cotton and conspire with it to lie.
“…Don’t listen to his nonsense in the future.” Shang Che’s voice carried a sense of gritted teeth, though appearing to hold zero intention of blaming the cotton doll, merely smearing his friend without standing on ceremony: “He’s a bad person. A little Cotton like you—he could trick ten of you in one breath.”
Whatever its keeper said was what went.
The cotton doll nodded, raising a hand in indignant fury: “Bad human!”
Shang Che: “…”
Why did something feel wrong? Wasn’t this form of address usually used on him?
“…It’s not very polite for us to say that,” Shang Che paused, instantly changing his tune. “You can call me ‘bad human’ because I’m your keeper and I won’t mind.”
“But we can’t call others that. You should still call him Lu Zeming from now on.”
Looking at the changeable keeper before it, the cotton doll blinked its big eyes innocently, then slowly tilted its head.
Shang Che coughed, the tips of his ears turning a bit hot again: “…In short, you can’t call him… call others ‘bad human.'”
“Oh~” The cotton doll parted its small mouth into a round “O”.
“So… what else did he tell you?” Shang Che put on a front of getting to the bottom of things.
“So, so much…” The cotton doll “mused” for a second, then touched its empty head, saying with complete justification: “But Cotton doesn’t remember, hehe~”
Shang Che: “…”
Fine, not remembering was a good thing too.
It was enough that this little Cotton could remember him.
Just as Shang Che made to stand up, his wrist was held gently once more.
“Human, what does ‘spoiled and arrogant from doting’… mean?” The cotton doll raised its head, putting on a face eager for knowledge: “You haven’t told Cotton yet~”
“…You won’t remember even if I tell you.”
“But Cotton wants to know!” The cotton doll blinked its eyes, looking completely innocent: “Besides, if it’s words spoken by human, Cotton can remember them!”
Shang Che went silent for two seconds, took a deep breath, and spoke in a tone of accepting his fate: “It means… having someone dote on you, so you can be slightly willful.”
The cotton doll tilted its head to ponder for a moment, then its cat-like mouth split open into a somewhat sly smile, looking at him with eyes brimming with craving.
“Then does Cotton count?”
“Will human… dote on Cotton?”
Shang Che: “…”
Looking at the little creature right under his eyes with a face that practically read “hurry up and say yes, hurry up and say yes,” and recalling his strange, anxious emotions earlier today along with his hurried action of riding the bike to pick it up, he suddenly felt any denial at this moment appeared pale and powerless.
In the end, Shang Che squeezed an extremely faint, nearly inaudible sound from his throat, speaking swiftly and airily: “If you think so, then so be it…”
