Chapter 4
Jiang Mi found it a little funny. “Do you want Brother to wipe your face?”
Liang Jinyi gave a milky “Mm.”
Jiang Mi got up from the sofa and crouched down to wipe little Liang Jinyi’s face. Liang Jinyi happily narrowed his eyes.
After Jiang Mi finished wiping his face, Liang Jinyi took Jiang Mi’s index finger and led him to the washroom. He pointed at the little bear cup and little bear toothbrush sitting by the sink, then looked at Jiang Mi expectantly.
Jiang Mi said, “Do you want Brother to brush your teeth?”
Liang Jinyi made another “Mm” sound in his throat.
Jiang Mi had never brushed a child’s teeth before, but Liang Jinyi cooperated very well. Even when Jiang Mi accidentally hurt him, he didn’t cry or fuss. He only looked at Jiang Mi with a pair of wide, dazed eyes. With Uncle Lin guiding him from the side, although the brushing went very slowly, Jiang Mi still managed to brush Liang Puppy’s little white teeth clean.
After brushing his teeth, Jiang Mi had just washed his hands and turned around when he froze.
Because little Liang Jinyi had already stripped off the sky-blue hoodie on his upper body, revealing his round little white belly.
Seeing Jiang Mi look over at him, Liang Jinyi continued taking off his pants while pointing at the little bathtub in the corner with bright, sparkling eyes.
Twenty minutes later, Jiang Mi wrapped the freshly washed, fragrant little Liang Jinyi in a towel and carried him back to bed. After that, he planned to go to the washroom to wash up himself.
Judging by the way little Liang Jinyi clung to him, Jiang Mi naturally had no choice but to sleep with him tonight. Fortunately, little Liang Jinyi’s bed was a one-point-eight-meter bed. It would be spacious enough for two adult men, let alone one little cub and one teenager.
But when little clingy spirit saw that Jiang Mi was about to leave him, he immediately grabbed Jiang Mi’s little finger and refused to let him go.
Jiang Mi explained, “Brother is going to brush his teeth, wash his face, and take a bath. I’ll be back very soon.”
Liang Jinyi stared at him for a moment, then suddenly got up from the bed and climbed down.
Jiang Mi: “?”
But very quickly, Jiang Mi understood what Liang Jinyi meant.
Under little Liang Jinyi’s supervision, he finished showering and brushing his teeth.
Thankfully, when Jiang Mi needed to use the bathroom, after some communication, little Liang Jinyi was able to accept Jiang Mi closing the bathroom door. He stood outside like a tiny guard.
Taking care of a child was actually quite tiring. Although little Liang Jinyi was very obedient, he was an invincible clingy spirit.
At ten-thirty that night, Jiang Mi finally lay down on the bed.
Jiang Mi’s biological clock was usually set for midnight, but rarely, he actually felt sleepy tonight. Liang Jinyi, however, lay on the bed with his eyes shining brightly as he looked at him, clearly not sleepy at all.
Jiang Mi covered little Liang Jinyi’s face with his long, slender hand, firmly blocking his view.
“Go to sleep already, clingy spirit,” Jiang Mi said.
Liang Jinyi lay there obediently without moving.
After a few dozen seconds, Jiang Mi felt that the ticklish sensation of Liang Jinyi’s eyelashes brushing against his palm as his eyes opened and closed had disappeared. Only then did he move his hand away.
Liang Jinyi’s round head rested on the dark blue pillow, both eyes already tightly shut.
Jiang Mi pulled a little distance between himself and little Liang Jinyi, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
But just after he fell asleep, little Liang Clingy Spirit, who had been lying there with his eyes shut so peacefully, suddenly opened them.
He turned his little head and saw that Brother was actually sleeping with his back to him.
Dissatisfied, he wrinkled his nose.
Then he crawled out from under his own blanket, climbed to the other side, lifted the covers, and nestled into his pretty brother’s arms.
While Jiang Mi was sleeping, he kept feeling something small moving around in front of him.
A little irritated, he grabbed the little dumpling and pulled him into his arms.
That little thing finally settled down and stopped moving.
Satisfied, Jiang Mi sank into sweet dreams.
Jiang Mi’s biological clock woke him up right on time at six-thirty in the morning. When he had just regained consciousness and felt the soft, tender little bundle in his arms, he was stunned for a few seconds.
“Jinyi, you woke up this early?” Jiang Mi yawned and looked at the little dumpling lying beside him.
When the little dumpling saw Jiang Mi open his eyes, he revealed a mouthful of tiny white teeth and smiled at him.
Then he wrapped his arms around Jiang Mi’s neck and gently rubbed against him twice.
Once again, Jiang Mi felt the ticklish sensation on his neck. He pulled a little distance between himself and little Liang Jinyi, only to see that little Liang Jinyi was still looking at him with bright, sparkling eyes.
Jiang Mi reached out and ruffled the little clingy spirit’s already messy hair.
After making the little clingy spirit’s hair even messier, Jiang Mi sat up and said to him, “Jinyi, Brother has class tonight, so I have to leave your house this afternoon.”
Hearing the word “leave,” the clingy spirit immediately stretched out his little arms, wanting to hug his pretty brother tightly.
But his little arms were only half the length of Jiang Mi’s arms. He couldn’t circle him at all.
Still, even though he couldn’t fully wrap around him, Liang Jinyi tried with all his might to cling to every part of Jiang Mi he could reach.
“How are you like a puppy marking its territory?” Jiang Mi laughed.
Jiang Mi held Liang Jinyi slightly away from him.
“But if you’re good, Brother can come see you next week when I’m off.”
The clingy spirit lifted his little head and stared unblinkingly at Jiang Mi, as though weighing whether he should agree to this condition.
After a while, he awkwardly squeezed a few milky words out of his throat.
“Next week… what… time?”
Hearing that Liang Jinyi had actually spoken again, Jiang Mi was a little surprised. He rubbed the child’s little head and said, “That means six days from now, when Brother has a break.”
“Six days… what… time?”
It wasn’t that Liang Jinyi couldn’t speak. His vocal cords had developed normally. He had simply never had the desire to speak before and hadn’t wanted to communicate with anyone.
But even though his vocal cords had developed properly, because he had spent so long not speaking, his speech was halting and difficult. He could only force out two words at a time.
And those two words still carried the unique milky softness of a child’s voice.
Jiang Mi thought for a moment about how to explain it.
“It means after the sixth sunrise, Brother will come see you.”
Liang Jinyi stared at Jiang Mi with those pitch-black eyes for a while, then suddenly threw himself into Jiang Mi’s arms again.
But no matter how reluctant little Liang Jinyi was, the afternoon still arrived quickly.
Jiang Mi had to go home.
Liang Jinyi stood reluctantly beside the Bentley, watching his pretty brother get into the car and leave.
He didn’t forget to ask again, “Brother… next week… see me?”
One of his hands clutched the hem of Jiang Mi’s shirt.
Jiang Mi turned around and saw the worry in little Liang Jinyi’s eyes. Amused, he rubbed the child’s little head.
“Brother will come see you next week.”
After saying that, Jiang Mi pulled free the bit of hem that little Liang Jinyi was clutching, waved, and said, “Brother’s leaving.”
With that, Jiang Mi opened the car door and decisively got in.
Liang Jinyi looked at his empty little hand, then looked at his pretty brother sitting inside the car. He sniffed hard with his tiny nose.
By the time Jiang Mi got home, it was already three in the afternoon.
After chatting with his parents for a while, he went into his room and prepared to work on a math test paper. Suddenly, his phone began beeping nonstop.
Jiang Mi picked up his phone.
It was Liang Xuping, frantically sending him QQ messages.
Debauched & Torn Love%?&: [My brother is still standing at the front gate, staring in the direction you disappeared.]
Debauched & Torn Love%?&: [He hasn’t moved at all.]
Debauched & Torn Love%?&: [I went closer to take a look, and his expression actually looks kind of pitiful right now. Do you understand? In these past three-plus months, I have never seen a pitiful expression on his face. Only cold, angry, and vicious ones. But now he looks like an abandoned puppy.]
Debauched & Torn Love%?&: [Jiang Mi, tell me exactly what kind of soul-stealing potion you fed him.]
Debauched & Torn Love%?&: [I’m the one who’s his real older brother!!!!]
A gust of wind blew past just then.
Jiang Mi looked up toward the window and discovered that the branches outside were swaying in the wind.
He replied to Liang Xuping: [It’s windy. Tell him to go inside.]
Debauched & Torn Love%?&: [You think we haven’t told him to go in? But he’s only an obedient puppy in front of you. When Uncle Lin and I talk to him, whether he pays attention depends entirely on his mood.]
During the day Jiang Mi had spent with little Liang Jinyi, he had also discovered that aside from him, the child indeed didn’t pay much attention to Liang Xuping or Uncle Lin.
The wind outside grew stronger and stronger, and the rustling of the branches became more obvious.
Jiang Mi opened his contacts and called Liang Xuping.
Liang Xuping picked up and said, “Hello?”
Jiang Mi said, “Give the phone to Jinyi.”
Liang Xuping was feeling a little guilty right now, because when he had urged Liang Jinyi to go inside just now, the boy had glared at him viciously again.
The wound Liang Jinyi had bitten into him last night still throbbed faintly, reminding him that Liang Jinyi was not someone to provoke.
But when Liang Xuping thought about the fact that he was the older brother, he still walked over again and called Liang Jinyi’s name.
Liang Jinyi ignored him and stubbornly stared at the driveway to the right of the gate.
Liang Xuping said, “It’s a call from your Jiang Mi-brother.”
Hearing the words Jiang Mi-brother, Liang Jinyi’s little head suddenly turned around.
Then he stood on tiptoe and quickly took the phone from Liang Xuping’s hand.
“Is this Jinyi?” Jiang Mi asked.
Liang Jinyi really wanted to answer with an “Mm.” But because he was too excited, and because his vocal cords had atrophied slightly from not being used for so many years, he only opened his mouth and failed to make a sound.
So he stomped his foot and made a sound to indicate that it was him.
Jiang Mi knew that little Liang Jinyi’s language system had some issues. From that sound, he knew the person on the other end of the phone had become Liang Jinyi.
His voice carried a hint of a smile.
“The wind outside is getting strong. Jinyi, go back inside, okay?”
Hearing that, Liang Jinyi immediately moved his short little legs and pattered into the living room.
Watching this scene, Liang Xuping and Uncle Lin felt for the who-knew-how-many-th time that Jiang Mi must possess some kind of special magic when it came to Liang Jinyi.
After Liang Jinyi ran back into the living room, he tried several times and finally managed to make a sound in his throat that resembled “back.”
Jiang Mi smiled and praised him, “Our little Jinyi is so good.”
Hearing that, little Liang Jinyi couldn’t help smiling.
The sweet, adorable dimple on his right cheek appeared.
But very quickly, the dimple at the corner of his lips disappeared, because his pretty brother said he had to hang up.
—
At nine o’clock that night, the head of the Liang family was still away on a business trip abroad and had not returned home. The Eldest Young Master had gone to school for evening classes. The only master left at home was the Young Master.
Uncle Lin stood in the second-floor hallway, speaking with the doctor about little Liang Jinyi’s condition.
“When the Young Master returned home, we already examined him. His vocal cords are developing normally. His not speaking isn’t a physical illness. It’s a psychological issue. He doesn’t want to, or isn’t willing to, communicate with others.”
“Since he’s willing to speak now, you can try using something that attracts him to encourage him to talk.”
Uncle Lin said, “The thing he’s interested in is that Young Master Jiang Mi.”
“Then use that Young Master Jiang Mi to entice him to speak,” the psychologist said.
Uncle Lin was still very curious. “Why does he like Young Master Jiang so much?”
The psychologist had already heard Uncle Lin explain everything that had happened over the past two days.
He was somewhat shocked.
After nearly four months of observation, little Liang Jinyi was a very self-centered child, someone immersed in his own world and indifferent to the people and things around him.
Yet even while immersed in his own world, he had no person or object he particularly liked.
Even if something of his accidentally broke or was replaced by someone else, his anger wasn’t because something he liked had been replaced. Rather, it was because someone had actually dared touch his things.
Or perhaps it was because he couldn’t control his irritated emotions, and he had no intention of controlling them either. He only wanted to vent them all.
Yet now, he actually liked a person so much.
He could even control his little temper and become obedient, soft, and docile.
The psychologist had to admit that he was very shocked.
The psychologist said, “I’m not sure of the specific reason either. After all, sometimes liking someone is something that has no reason at all.”
After Uncle Lin saw the psychologist off, he went upstairs.
He knocked on the door of the room on the second floor. Sure enough, he didn’t wait for any movement from inside. Uncle Lin directly turned the doorknob and opened the door.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, little Liang Jinyi, who was sitting on a small stool building blocks, lifted his head and glanced toward the doorway.
Then he lowered his round little head with indifference and continued building his small castle.
Uncle Lin walked over to Liang Jinyi and first said a few things. As expected, Liang Jinyi showed no reaction at all.
Remembering what the psychologist had instructed, Uncle Lin suddenly said, “Does Jinyi really want to see Jiang Mi-brother?”
Liang Jinyi had always heard Liang Xuping call his pretty brother Jiang Mi, so of course he knew who Jiang Mi-brother referred to.
He immediately lifted his head.
Uncle Lin continued, smiling, “Then does Jinyi know that Jiang Mi-brother likes children who can talk even more?”
Liang Jinyi put down the red block in his hand and stared straight at Uncle Lin.
Uncle Lin said again, “I know Jinyi can speak, but pronunciation is very difficult for you. For example, when you answered the phone this afternoon, didn’t you want to talk to Jiang Mi-brother, but couldn’t make any sound?”
“So our Jinyi should practice speaking more. Then later, you’ll be able to call Jiang Mi-brother.”
Liang Jinyi’s expression changed visibly.
His lips parted, and he tentatively made a difficult sound.
“Call?”
Seeing Jinyi actually speak to him, Uncle Lin became a little excited.
“Yes, call him. And if you can speak, then the next time Brother comes, he won’t have to guess what you mean.”
After listening, Liang Jinyi stared unblinkingly at Uncle Lin again, without making any response.
Uncle Lin felt a little anxious.
What did this mean?
As he was thinking, he saw Liang Jinyi reach out and push him toward the door.
Uncle Lin could only retreat outside.
As soon as Uncle Lin was out, little Liang Jinyi, standing inside the room, immediately stood on tiptoe and closed the door behind him.
He stood there with his little face taut, thinking for a while.
Then he suddenly pattered over to the television and turned it on.
A cartoon was playing on the TV.
Liang Jinyi sat properly on the sofa across from the television and began staring at the cartoon.
When the characters in the cartoon made a solemn declaration, Liang Jinyi clenched the hem of his shirt with both hands and tentatively spoke a few hoarse, muffled words.
“I… will… definitely…”
Then he wanted to pronounce the sound for “can,” but it felt as though a piece of sticky taffy had glued itself inside his throat. No matter what, he couldn’t say it. Only a breathy “hu” came out.
Liang Jinyi’s face turned red with anxiety.
Unwilling to give up, he continued opening his mouth wide.
Finally, drenched in sweat, he managed to make the syllable “can.”
Then little Liang Jinyi stretched out his small hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Following Pleasant Goat on the television, he practiced speaking.
“Pretty… pretty… Goat.”
He worked very hard. His little hands even clenched into small fists, and those pink fists turned the color of cooked shrimp because his whole body was straining with effort.
Finally, after exhausting all his strength, he forced out two new words.
“Won’t… play…”
Outside the window, the moon gradually rose.
The high school students at Yunde High School finally finished their evening self-study. Laughing and roughhousing, they returned to their dorms, washed up, and climbed into bed to sleep.
The moon rose higher and higher.
Yunde High School also fell completely silent. All the students had sunk into sweet dreams.
But in a room on the second floor of the Liang family villa, the television screen still glowed with greenish light.
Liang Jinyi was still sitting on the sofa, his eyes fixed on the television, learning to make his own sounds from the cartoon characters on the screen.
Even though every word was difficult.
Even though every word required all his strength.
