These past few days, little Zhou Yuying had been absolutely delighted at her grandmother’s house.
One afternoon, after Madam Qin closed her shop, she took the little one to the park to play.
The park during summer vacation teemed with children, visible everywhere – on the slides, in the sandpits, by the swings, inside the playhouses, and within the mazes.
The little one released her grandmother’s hand, exclaiming in surprise, “So many people!”
Madam Qin smiled, saying, “Go play! Would you like Grandma to join you?”
“Yes, yes!” The little one nodded vigorously. “Grandma, let’s go play on the slide!”
However, there were simply too many people, and the little one waited wistfully for a long time, only managing to play once or twice.
With a crestfallen expression, she walked up to Madam Qin, taking her hand. “Grandma, let’s go. It’s not fun anymore.”
Her wronged, pouty look tugged at Madam Qin’s heart, who comforted her, “My dear, when we go home, Grandma will ask Grandpa to buy you a slide so you can play on it every day!”
The little one’s eyes lit up, but then she remembered her mother’s words: ‘Don’t let Grandpa and Grandma buy you everything.’
Her expression immediately dimmed. “Xiao Yu doesn’t want it.”
Madam Qin crouched down, speaking in a coaxing voice, “Yes, you do! Xiao Yu has been so well-behaved these past few days, saving Grandma so much worry. This will be a reward for Xiao Yu!”
The little one, still a bit muddled, suddenly understood. ‘Oh, right! This isn’t something Xiao Yu is asking for; it’s a reward from Grandma to Xiao Yu!’
Beaming with joy, she hugged Madam Qin. “Xiao Yu loves Grandma the most!”
With the slide matter settled, the little one ran off to the sandpit to play with a few other girls, while Madam Qin sat nearby, watching.
There were many children in the park. After the little one finished building her sandcastle, she looked up and glanced around.
Huh? Why was someone over there reading a book? And a fairy tale book at that!
On a bench by the path, a small boy wearing a baseball cap was engrossed in a book, his head bowed. He was completely alone.
The little one clapped the sand from her hands, then tiptoed up to the boy, speaking softly. “Hello, little brother!”
The boy looked up, his deep blue eyes holding a puzzled expression as he closed his book. He noticed a woman watching them from not far away; she must be her mother, he thought.
“Is there something you need?”
The little one gasped in surprise, her mouth falling open, but she immediately covered it with her hand. ‘The little brother’s eyes are blue! How beautiful!’
“Um… are you reading ‘《XX Fairy Tales》’?”
The boy presented the book’s cover to her. “Mm-hmm, is there a problem?”
He even flipped through a few pages to show her.
The little one had initially wanted to ask if she could read with him, but seeing the dense blocks of text in the book, with not a single familiar picture, she asked curiously:
“Little brother, why doesn’t your book have any pictures? The fairy tale books my dad reads to me have so many pictures!”
The boy watched her spread her hands wide to emphasize ‘so many pictures,’ finding her a bit silly.
He then reopened his book, lowering his head to read. “Those are for little children.”
The little one sat beside him, asking doubtfully, “But aren’t you a little child too?”
“I’m different from you. I’m a genius.”
Heavenly firewood (TL Note: A phonetic mishearing of ‘genius’ in Chinese, where ‘tiancai’ sounds similar to ‘tianchai’ meaning ‘heavenly firewood’)? The little one pressed a finger to her chin, her brow furrowing slightly in thought. ‘Little girls buy matches, so what kind of firewood is heavenly firewood?’
“What is heavenly firewood?”
“A genius is someone who knows everything, someone different from ordinary people.”
“Then can you transform into Ultraman?”
The boy tilted his head slightly, seeing her earnest expression. He had initially intended to say, ‘There’s no Ultraman in this world,’ but instead, the words that came out were, “No.”
“Then why are you a genius? Is there something different about you compared to me? Do you have superpowers?”
The boy quirked a corner of his mouth. “I can live alone and take care of myself. Can you?”
“I can’t. But why do you live alone? Where are your mom and dad?”
The boy closed his book, jumped off the bench, and walked away.
“They’ve been gone for a long time.”
The little one, still seated, froze. ‘His mom and dad are gone? Just like hers were before?’
The little one quickly jumped off the bench as well, running after the boy’s retreating figure.
“Hey! Little brother! We can be friends!”
The boy still left, and the little one couldn’t catch up. Instead, her grandmother caught up to her.
The little one hugged her grandmother’s leg, her voice muffled. “Grandma, Xiao Yu thinks she said something wrong.”
****
All the way home, the little one remained sullen, which worried Madam Qin terribly. Even buying her favorite ice cream bars couldn’t cheer her up.
When Zhou Senior returned from work, he called out, “I’m home!”
‘Usually, when he came home from work, his granddaughter would run up to him and sweetly say, “Welcome home, Grandpa.” Why wasn’t she doing that today?’
Madam Qin pointed towards the bedroom, telling him, “She’s in a bad mood. See if you can comfort her.”
Zhou Senior was baffled. His ‘little cotton-padded jacket’ (TL Note: A term of endearment for a beloved daughter or granddaughter, implying warmth and comfort) had always been a cheerful, lively ray of sunshine. How could she be unhappy?
“What happened?”
“Oh dear, today I took my little darling to the park to play, and she met a child. My little darling was happily chatting with him, but then she asked…”
Madam Qin spoke softly, “He’s an orphan. She’s been blaming herself terribly, likely thinking she touched a raw nerve.”
Zhou Senior listened, then nodded. “I’ll try to comfort her. If that doesn’t work, give our son a call and have them try.”
Zhou Senior strode into the bedroom, finding the little one sprawled on the table. “Xiao Yu, Grandpa’s home. If anything’s bothering you, you can tell Grandpa.”
The little one lifted her head, weakly hugging Zhou Senior. “Welcome home, Grandpa…”
“My little darling, don’t be sad. In a few days, we can ask Grandma to take you somewhere, and if you see that little brother again, you can just apologize properly, couldn’t you?”
Having toiled all day, Zhou Senior struggled to lift the little one, saying, “My good girl! Don’t be unhappy. If you’re unhappy, Grandpa and Grandma will be unhappy too. Can Xiao Yu bear to make Grandpa and Grandma sad?”
The little one kissed Zhou Senior’s cheek, shaking her head. “Xiao Yu doesn’t want Grandpa and Grandma to be unhappy. Xiao Yu is very happy now.”
Zhou Senior patted the little one’s back. “Then let’s go see Grandma. Grandma is looking so worried because of Xiao Yu.”
The little one nodded earnestly, then left her grandfather’s embrace and trotted to the living room.
“Grandma, don’t be unhappy! Xiao Yu will give you a candy!”
“Grandma isn’t unhappy. Just seeing Xiao Yu makes Grandma happy.”
Zhou Senior remained in the room, shaking his head with a chuckle. His sweet granddaughter was far more adorable than Zhou Haochen had been as a child. That boy had been a quiet, sullen one since he was small, always buried in books. How could he have been this interesting and lively?
Zhou Senior rubbed his aching back. With his age and busy work, even carrying his granddaughter for a moment felt strenuous. He wondered if he would ever be able to hold a great-great-grandchild.
“Grandpa! Let’s go for a walk!”
The little one, her energy fully restored, ran into the bedroom.
“Oh! Grandpa just got off work!”