Chapter 3
“Fuck, Liang Jinyi, you’re trying to lock the door too? The person you dragged into your room is my brother, my friend.” However, Liang Xuping had wedged his entire body into the doorway. Jinyi, who only reached Liang Xuping’s upper thigh, couldn’t close the door at all.
Seeing Liang Xuping resist him, Liang Jinyi suddenly lifted his eyes.
The shyness and obedience he had shown in front of Jiang Mi were gone from those black, bright eyes. All that remained was a deep, emotionless darkness. He stared at Liang Xuping gloomily.
After watching his little brother act sweet and obedient all afternoon, Liang Xuping suddenly being stared at like this made his body stiffen involuntarily.
Jiang Mi stood inside the room and could only see Liang Jinyi’s small back. Seeing that Liang Jinyi wanted to close the door, while Liang Xuping and Uncle Lin clearly didn’t want him to, Jiang Mi coaxed, “Jinyi, let your brother and Uncle Lin come in.”
Hearing Jiang Mi’s voice, Liang Jinyi turned his head.
But he didn’t seem to like what Jiang Mi had said. He looked at him with a wronged expression.
How was this child so good at acting spoiled?
Jiang Mi could only say, “Your brother and uncle only want to come in because they’re worried about you. Let them in, okay?”
Liang Jinyi looked even more aggrieved after hearing that.
But he gazed at Jiang Mi and saw that Jiang Mi had no intention of changing his mind. Instead, he was firmly asking him to let the two of them in.
Liang Jinyi lowered his head and took a dispirited step forward, finally releasing the door he had been blocking with his small back.
Jiang Mi looked at the little dumpling with his head lowered, his whole body like a wilted flower bud battered by a storm, and found him unbearably cute.
He stepped forward, rubbed Liang Jinyi’s little head, and praised him, “So good.”
Liang Jinyi’s eyes lit up instantly.
He lifted his head and looked at Jiang Mi with sparkling eyes.
Jiang Mi lowered his head and vigorously rubbed little Liang Jinyi’s head again.
Liang Jinyi, however, seemed delighted by this gesture. He narrowed his eyes happily. If he had been a puppy, Jiang Mi felt as though a pleased little purr would have come from his throat.
After Jiang Mi removed his hand from Liang Jinyi’s head, Liang Jinyi went pattering over to his bedside table.
There was a small carved tin box there. He reached into the pocket of his light blue long hoodie with his little hand, took out the two round marbles inside, and placed them into the box.
Then, holding the box in both hands, he pattered back to Jiang Mi.
“Are you… giving this to me?” Jiang Mi asked, looking at Liang Jinyi’s movements.
Liang Jinyi held up the box and nodded hard.
“Thank you.” Jiang Mi accepted the little box, which was only half the size of his palm.
Liang Xuping and Uncle Lin were already too shocked to speak.
Liang Jinyi had been back at the Liang family for nearly four months. They had long since accepted the fact that Liang Jinyi was different from ordinary children. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t smile, couldn’t get close to others—let alone perform a social gesture like giving something he liked to someone else.
Yet this afternoon, Liang Jinyi had refreshed their understanding again and again.
So it turned out he could smile like an ordinary child too.
He could act spoiled.
He could interact with others.
As they were thinking this, they saw Liang Jinyi take Jiang Mi’s hand again and lead him over to the building blocks, clearly wanting to build them together with him.
In the past, this would have been absolutely unprecedented as well. Liang Jinyi liked playing alone. He didn’t like any living creature sticking close to him.
Jiang Mi accompanied Liang Jinyi in building blocks.
Jiang Mi was a patient person, but his patience was only the normal patience of a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old boy. Games like building blocks had long stopped being something he enjoyed.
Still, because little Liang Jinyi was so cute, Jiang Mi focused and played with him for an entire hour.
But after more than an hour, his patience was almost running out. At that moment, the sky outside the window had also gone completely dark.
Jiang Mi took out his phone and checked the time.
It was almost eight o’clock.
He should go home.
Jiang Mi put down the block in his hand and said to Liang Jinyi, who was still working hard to build a castle, “Jinyi, Brother has to go home.”
Liang Xuping hadn’t left Liang Jinyi’s room, but watching people build blocks was boring. He had been sitting beside them scrolling online the whole time.
Hearing Jiang Mi say he was going home, Liang Xuping looked up and said, “Then I’ll have Uncle Li drive you back.”
Uncle Li was one of their family’s drivers. Given the location of their house, it was usually impossible to hail a taxi.
“Okay.” Jiang Mi stood up.
Liang Jinyi suddenly threw away the block in his hand.
Seeing that Jiang Mi had stood up and was about to walk outside, he took two quick steps forward and abruptly reached out to hug Jiang Mi’s thigh.
Jiang Mi’s steps stopped. He lowered his head and looked at Liang Jinyi.
Liang Jinyi immediately hugged his thigh even tighter.
Jiang Mi patiently reasoned with him. “Jinyi, it’s dark now. Brother should go home.”
Liang Jinyi tightened his hold around Jiang Mi’s thigh even more. His big eyes stared unblinkingly at Jiang Mi, as though saying, Brother can’t leave.
Being looked at like that, Jiang Mi did have a fleeting moment when he didn’t want to leave.
But it was only a fleeting moment.
Seeing that Liang Jinyi was unwilling to let go of him, Jiang Mi had no choice but to look up at Liang Xuping and Uncle Lin for help.
Before Jiang Mi appeared, the person Liang Jinyi got along with best in the Liang family was Uncle Lin. The reason was, of course, that Uncle Lin was the person in the Liang family who had spent the most time with him and was also very patient.
Sometimes, Liang Jinyi could even listen to a little of what Uncle Lin said.
In truth, Liang Jinyi was a very smart child. He basically understood what adults said. But whether because of his innate nature or the circumstances that shaped him later, his personality was extremely solitary. He acted entirely according to his own wishes and did things only based on what he liked.
Once someone forced him to do something he didn’t want to do, or did something that made him unhappy, he would develop violent tendencies. He would go mad, lose control, and attack others.
Uncle Lin was very worried about this personality of his. After all, no matter how one looked at it, this was not a healthy temperament.
“Young Master, it’s late. Young Master Jiang has to go back to his own home to rest and sleep too,” Uncle Lin said good-naturedly as he crouched down in front of Liang Jinyi.
Liang Jinyi still stubbornly hugged Jiang Mi’s upper thigh.
But after hearing that, he turned his head and looked at his own large bed, as though saying, Brother can sleep with me.
Uncle Lin said again, “But Brother still has his mom and dad at home. If Brother doesn’t go back, his mom and dad will worry.”
Liang Jinyi frowned slightly, as though he couldn’t immediately think of a solution to this problem.
Uncle Lin continued, “So let go of Brother and let Brother go home, okay?”
Hearing this, Liang Jinyi once again tightened his arms around Jiang Mi’s thigh. His whole body went taut, as though saying, There’s no way I’m letting Brother go.
Liang Xuping didn’t have as much patience as Uncle Lin.
Seeing that Liang Jinyi refused to let go of Jiang Mi no matter what, he reached out directly, pried Liang Jinyi off Jiang Mi’s leg, and said to Jiang Mi, “Go.”
Jiang Mi gave a soft “Mm,” then turned and walked out of the bedroom.
Liang Jinyi immediately tried to chase after him, but Liang Xuping’s arm was like an iron clamp, tightly restraining him. Liang Jinyi struggled with all his might but still couldn’t break free.
However, seeing that Jiang Mi was about to walk out of his sight, little Liang Jinyi suddenly became ruthless.
He lowered his head and bit Liang Xuping hard.
Pain shot through the web of Liang Xuping’s hand. The strength restraining Liang Jinyi abruptly weakened, and Liang Jinyi instantly rushed toward the doorway.
Jiang Mi had only taken a few steps out of Liang Jinyi’s bedroom when he suddenly heard the patter of footsteps behind him.
Just as Jiang Mi turned around, a pair of small arms tightly hugged his thigh.
Jiang Mi lowered his head.
Liang Jinyi said, somewhat aggrieved, “Brother, don’t go.”
Liang Jinyi’s voice was a little muffled and hoarse, and his pronunciation wasn’t quite in the right place. But Uncle Lin and Liang Xuping, who had chased after him from behind, both clearly heard the four words he said.
Brother, don’t go.
Liang Xuping and Uncle Lin looked at each other at the same time.
Both saw shock in the other’s eyes.
Liang Jinyi could speak.
Liang Jinyi could speak?
Jiang Mi also looked at Liang Xuping in surprise.
Didn’t you say your little brother couldn’t talk?
Liang Jinyi didn’t receive Jiang Mi’s promise that he wouldn’t leave.
He lifted his head, his big eyes looking up at Jiang Mi with pleading. Once again, a few milky, childish words squeezed out of his little mouth.
“Brother, don’t go.”
Uncle Lin’s heart softened.
And Liang Jinyi had a face that gave him too much of an advantage. When those round, watery eyes looked pitifully at someone, it was very hard to refuse his request.
At the very least, Uncle Lin couldn’t.
So he lifted his head and asked Jiang Mi, “Young Master Jiang, why don’t you stay tonight and keep our Young Master company?”
“I’ve never seen him like someone this much before.”
Jiang Mi lowered his head again.
His gaze fell on the little dumpling who only reached his upper thigh. The little dumpling looked up at him pitifully.
Jiang Mi helplessly agreed.
Three minutes later, Jiang Mi called his mother and told her he wouldn’t be going home tonight. He would stay over at a friend’s house for one night.
Jiang Mi had always been an independent child. Plus, Liang Xuping had visited their home before, and Jiang Mi’s parents both knew him and knew that Jiang Mi was close to him. So they readily agreed to let Jiang Mi spend the night at his friend’s house.
After hanging up, Jiang Mi tucked his phone into his pants pocket.
But seeing that Liang Jinyi still refused to let go of him, looking very much like he was worried Brother would run away the second he released him, Jiang Mi had no choice but to bend down and pick Liang Jinyi up.
For the rest of the time, Liang Jinyi no longer wanted to build the castle he and Brother were supposed to live in together.
As though afraid Jiang Mi would disappear, he kept staring straight at Jiang Mi.
Helpless, Jiang Mi turned on the television.
After the cartoon played for a while, Liang Jinyi sat on Jiang Mi’s lap and finally became willing to shift his gaze to the cartoon.
But after watching two glances of the cartoon, he would turn his head to look at Jiang Mi once, as though if he didn’t keep an eye on Jiang Mi, Jiang Mi would vanish.
When Uncle Lin saw that it was nine-thirty, he went to the washroom and prepared water for washing his face. Then he returned to the room and reminded Liang Jinyi that it was time to wash his face, brush his teeth, and get ready for bed.
The moment Liang Jinyi heard Uncle Lin calling him to wash his face and brush his teeth, he immediately buried his head against Jiang Mi’s neck.
Jiang Mi’s neck was sensitive. Being rubbed by him like that made it tickle, and he couldn’t help laughing twice.
Uncle Lin said again, “Only by washing your face and brushing your teeth will you be clean. Your Jiang Mi-brother also likes clean children more.”
Liang Jinyi pulled back from Jiang Mi. His big round eyes widened as he looked at Jiang Mi, as though asking if that was true.
Jiang Mi reached out and tapped the tip of his small upturned nose.
“Brother likes clean children.”
Only then did Liang Jinyi climb down from Jiang Mi and run toward the washroom on his two short little legs.
Watching Jiang Mi make the Young Master move with just one sentence, Uncle Lin once again felt endless emotion.
After all, little Liang Jinyi didn’t like washing his face, didn’t like brushing his teeth, and didn’t like bathing.
When he had first returned home, he could go one or two weeks without washing his face or brushing his teeth. Of course, because he was still a child, they could force him to wash his face and brush his teeth if they wanted to.
But after forcing him to wash his face and brush his teeth, the whole household would suffer little Liang Jinyi’s vicious destruction.
He would only wash his face and bathe when he felt his face or body was uncomfortable.
Actually, Jiang Mi had come at just the right time. It had rained yesterday, and Liang Jinyi had run into the garden to play until he was filthy. That night, he had taken the initiative to ask to wash his face, hair, and body.
That was why Jiang Mi had seen a clean, fair little dumpling today.
If he had come a few days earlier…
Young Master Jiang didn’t have a cleanliness obsession, did he?
Uncle Lin was thinking aimlessly when he saw little Liang Jinyi patter back over in front of him.
Uncle Lin quickly wrung out the face towel in the basin, lowered his head, and was about to wipe Liang Jinyi’s face.
However, Liang Jinyi suddenly took a step back, avoiding Uncle Lin’s movement.
Then he stretched out his small hand toward him.
Uncle Lin thought he wanted to wipe his face by himself, so he handed the face towel to Liang Jinyi.
But Liang Jinyi didn’t want the towel so he could wipe his own face.
Holding the large face towel, he ran over to Jiang Mi, handed it to him, then lifted his little face toward him.
Author’s Note
Jinyi: I want Brother to wipe my face.
