The Night He Picked Me Up From the Snow

Deep winter.

It snowed that night.
The Yan City Grand Theatre was brightly lit with lights.
After Xie Zhaozhou finished his performance and changed out of his costume, he walked out of the theatre with his fellow disciples from the Liao family’s opera troupe.

“Zhaozhou,”
Liao Qingchi called out to him.
“You’ll still perform the night after tomorrow. Your senior martial brother still hasn’t been discharged.”

The young boy in front of him was at most ten years old.
His eye sockets were very deep, almost like a mixed-race child.
He was also taller than other boys his age.
It gave him a kind of coldness that didn’t quite match his age.

He responded quietly,
“Okay.”

The Liao family’s troupe specialized in Peking opera’s qingyi (female roles).
At the end of the year, they had a few collaborative performances with the Yan City Grand Theatre.
Every night after school, Xie Zhaozhou would come here to rehearse.
He didn’t return home until after nine.

Liao Qingchi didn’t say anything more to him.
Xie Zhaozhou continued walking forward.
The Xie family’s driver had already come to pick him up.

But just as he reached the black sedan, he caught a glimpse of something crouching in the snow not far away.
It was crouched at the bottom of the steps of the Yan City Grand Theatre.

His steps paused.
He walked over and saw it was a child.
A very small bundle.
Wearing a thick padded coat.
The coat’s hood was on his head.
The fluffy white pom-poms on the drawstrings dangled down.

Ning Shixue heard footsteps in the snow.
He had his little hands over his eyes.
When someone poked the top of his head, he wobbled from the poke.

He looked up, spreading a few soft little fingers apart, and blinked through the gap.

It was a big brother.

Xie Zhaozhou hadn’t removed his eye makeup from the night’s performance.
His phoenix eyes were outlined long and narrow.
The corners of his eyes had a touch of red.

The Xie family’s driver, seeing he hadn’t gotten in the car, thought something was wrong.
He quickly got out and ran over.
He was also stunned for a moment.
“Young Master, why is there a child here?”

Ning Shixue was frozen.
He had a frail, sickly air.
His dark hair was stuck to his snow-white cheeks.
His eyelashes were long, thick, and curled.

The pearl of his lips was very red.

He was as beautiful as a doll displayed in a shop window.

He looked about three years old at most.

“Little friend,”
the driver said, bending down, his voice unconsciously becoming higher pitched.
“Where are your mom and dad?”

Ning Shixue shook his head.

Xie Zhaozhou knelt on one knee in the snow, staring at him.
Suddenly, he spoke, his voice a bit cold.
“What’s your name?”

Ning Shixue tugged at the pom-poms on his hood, at a loss.
With a soft, nasal voice, he whispered,
“Ningning.”

“I asked for your full name,”
Xie Zhaozhou said again.

Ning Shixue was confused.
He hugged his little backpack and said timidly,
“Big Ningning.”

Xie Zhaozhou: “…”

The driver couldn’t help laughing.
Xie Zhaozhou asked him again,
“How old are you?”

“Gege, I’m three,”
Ning Shixue said, raising his soft little hand and holding out four fingers.

Xie Zhaozhou frowned slightly.

The child was too young to get any answers.
The driver went to look around, hoping to find someone who had seen his parents.

Ning Shixue was wearing a very old little backpack.
The fabric was washed white and had frozen stiff in the snow.
Xie Zhaozhou took it.
Inside the backpack was a plush sea otter toy and a paint-chipped cookie box.
When he unzipped the inner pocket, there was a medical record book.

The name was Ning Shixue.
The guardian’s name was Ning Yushu.
The address was A District Wasteland Star Orphanage.

The driver couldn’t find his parents in the end.
He was just a driver.
His most important task was to get Xie Zhaozhou home on time.
Otherwise, he couldn’t bear the responsibility.

But Ning Shixue’s whole body was frozen stiff.
His snow-white cheeks were red from the cold.
He couldn’t just be left standing in the snow.

He didn’t want to meddle.
But it was a person’s life.
The driver’s face was full of difficulty.
“Young Master?”

“Get in the car,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, picking up Ning Shixue.

The car had its heating on.
But Ning Shixue’s little hands were still over his eyes.
His skin was very pale.
The bruising from IV drips on the back of his hands was striking.
The soft pads of his fingers were red from the cold.
His eye sockets were warm.
He put his hands over them to warm them up.
And peeked at Xie Zhaozhou through his fingers.

Xie Zhaozhou ignored him.
His eyelashes were long, but not curled.
His whole person was cold, looking a bit fierce.

He was ten years old this year.
But he had skipped a grade and was already in his first year of middle school.
School ended much later than before.
He had to go to the theatre to rehearse at night.
If he didn’t want to stay up late, he could only do his homework in the car.

The driver was busy driving.
They were already late getting home tonight.
The old butler had called him several times.

Ning Shixue hugged his little sea otter.
He was timid and didn’t speak.
He tucked his frozen little hands into the sea otter’s plush pouch.

The old Xie residence was far from the city.
They arrived home at 10:30 PM.
Xie Zhaozhou put his hands under Ning Shixue’s armpits and carried him inside.
He didn’t stop walking through the living room.
He said to the old butler,
“Uncle Chen, get me some milk.”

The old butler hadn’t seen what he was carrying.
But Xie Zhaozhou never drank milk at night.

He thought he had picked up a little dog.
Afraid it would scratch Xie Zhaozhou, he quickly put some milk in a bottle and went up to the bedroom to find him.

“Young Master,”
the old butler said nervously.
“Give it to me first…”

The blanket on the bed was pushed up in a small lump.
He walked over, and the blanket suddenly moved.
Then a little head popped out.

Ning Shixue reached out his little hand, grabbed the blanket, and peeked out.

The old butler: ???

He was stunned for a moment.
Then he took the bottle and handed it to Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue wasn’t shy.
After all, he saw strangers every day in the orphanage.
His lip珠 was soft and red.
He held the bottle with Xie Zhaozhou’s help and gulped down the milk.

The old butler was completely confused.
You can’t just pick up a child.
After asking what had happened, he understood.

Ning Shixue was wearing too little.
He went and found a down jacket Xie Zhaozhou had worn when he was little, and changed him into a pair of cotton pants.
He wrapped a little scarf around him.
Ning Shixue was bundled into a little ball.
He wobbled, barely able to stand.
He could only hug Xie Zhaozhou’s leg.

Once he had warmed up, the old butler took him and Xie Zhaozhou to the police station overnight.

But the police couldn’t find the Wasteland Star Orphanage.
They couldn’t find the names Ning Shixue or Ning Yushu either.

He asked Ning Shixue, puzzled,
“Little friend, do you remember how you got lost?”

Ning Shixue tugged at Xie Zhaozhou’s pants.
He hid behind his leg, tilted his head, and timidly poked out his head.

He was sick.
The headmistress took him to the hospital.
He had been crouching in the snow outside the hospital.
But when he looked up again, the shooting stars in the night sky were gone.
He only saw this big brother.

The old butler had originally wanted to leave Ning Shixue at the police station.
Maybe his parents would come looking for him.

But Ning Shixue’s eyes were red.
He hugged Xie Zhaozhou’s leg and refused to let go.
His voice was very soft and sticky.
The old butler also found him a bit pitiful.
He probably saw Xie Zhaozhou as the first person he saw when he opened his eyes.
That’s why he was so clingy now.

“How about we take him with us for now,”
the old butler said to the police.
“When his parents come to find him, I’ll bring him back. Is that okay?”

“I suppose so,”
the policeman said.
He had him make a record, and after finishing the procedures, he let him take Ning Shixue away.

By the time they left the police station, it was very late.
Xie Zhaozhou went to do his homework.
The old butler carried Ning Shixue to give him a bath.
Ning Shixue lay on his shoulder, his little hands hugging his neck.
His beautiful, big, dark eyes blinked a few times.

The old Xie residence was over a hundred years old.
But the interior was very lavish.
The gilded lights on the dome were dazzling.

Ning Shixue had never seen a place like this.

The old butler was beaming.
He found a small tub for him to bathe in.
He even gave him a little duck to play with.
When you squeezed it, it would spit water.
Ning Shixue held the little duck in his little hand.

The old butler completely took off his clothes and saw that this child was too thin.

His face was fair and soft, not emaciated.
But his ribs were very prominent.

In this day and age, unless you were extremely poor, it was hard for a child to be this hungry.
The old butler gasped.

He didn’t dare think too much.
He first bathed Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue had a high fever that wouldn’t break.
That’s why the headmistress took him to the hospital.
He had just finished his IV and come out.
He was still very tired.
Soaked in the warm water of the little tub, he was dizzy.
His little head nodded.
He fell asleep before he was even done bathing.

The old butler wrapped him in a towel.
He hesitated for a moment, then carried him to his own bedroom.

Ning Shixue woke up in the middle of the night.
He raised his little hand and rubbed his eyes.
It was all dark around him.
Only then did he suddenly remember that he had been separated from the headmistress.
He was now in the home of a brother he didn’t know.

His eyes were red.
The tip of his nose was also red.
His eyelashes were wet and stuck together.

He had never seen such a dark place.
The orphanage was very poor.
There were no curtains at night.
The moonlight could shine in.
So he wasn’t scared at all.
But this place was completely dark.

Ning Shixue’s cheeks were streaked with tears.
He hugged his plush little sea otter, hugged his knees, and sniffled.
Afraid of waking the old butler, he sobbed very quietly.

But the old butler hadn’t been asleep.
Hearing him cry, he sat up and rubbed his hair.
“Why are you crying?”

“Want find gege,”
Ning Shixue said, tears falling onto the sea otter’s head, sobbing and murmuring.

The old butler was a bit hesitant.
Even though he was an elder, he was just a servant in the Xie family.
But he had raised Xie Zhaozhou since he was little.
He felt he understood him fairly well.

Xie Zhaozhou had picked him up.
If he brought Ning Shixue to him, he probably wouldn’t be unhappy.

So he picked up Ning Shixue and went to Xie Zhaozhou’s bedroom.

It was already 11:30 PM.
Xie Zhaozhou had just lain down.
The bedroom was dark.
The old butler stood at the door with Ning Shixue in his arms.
“Young Master, Ningning wants to sleep with you.”

Xie Zhaozhou sat up.
His phoenix eyes were still cold in the darkness.
He didn’t say anything.
The old butler knew it was a silent agreement.
He put Ning Shixue on Xie Zhaozhou’s bed and tucked them in.

Ning Shixue hugged his little sea otter.
He curled himself into a very small ball that didn’t take up much space.

But Xie Zhaozhou’s bedroom was also dark.
Tears welled in his eyes.
Every now and then, he would sniffle quietly.

“What are you crying for?”
Xie Zhaozhou asked him.

Ning Shixue’s voice was choked with tears.
“Gege, so dark.”

Xie Zhaozhou hadn’t expected him to be afraid of the dark.
But he hated light when he slept.
He sat up again.
He took a night light from the bedside table and turned it on, placing it beside Ning Shixue’s pillow.

Ning Shixue lay under the covers, swinging his little legs.
His eyes sparkled as he said softly,
“Gege, little star.”

This night light was in the shape of a star.

“Mm,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, sleepy.
He thought he talked too much.
His eyes were brighter than the star light.
He was really annoying.
He couldn’t help raising his hand and covering Ning Shixue’s eyes, saying coldly,
“Light off.”

Ning Shixue blinked under his palm.
His eyelashes were too long, making his palm itch.

And Ning Shixue’s cheeks were very soft.
His whole body had a warm, milky scent.
The old butler had used children’s milk-scented body wash on him.
He was practically still wet behind the ears.

But Ning Shixue finally behaved.
He closed those two little lamps and curled up to sleep.

The next day, when Ning Shixue woke up, Xie Zhaozhou had already gone to school.
The old butler took him to breakfast.
He asked where the gege was.
The old butler’s eyes crinkled with smile lines.
“Gege is at school.”

Ning Shixue blinked blankly.

He didn’t know what a school was.
The children in the orphanage didn’t go to school.
Their whole planet didn’t have schools.

The old butler called Old Master Xie to tell him about Ning Shixue.
Old Master Xie didn’t pay much attention.
It was just a child.
The Xie family could afford to raise another one.

That night, the Xie family had a family dinner.
Liao Yanwan and Xie’s father were also coming back from abroad with Xie Sui and the others.
The old butler was so busy his feet barely touched the ground.
He left Ning Shixue in Xie Zhaozhou’s bedroom.

Actually, he could have asked Xie Sui for help.
But Liao Yanwan would definitely be unhappy.
He didn’t need to risk offending her.

Xie Zhaozhou didn’t go to the opera troupe that night.
Over a dozen people from the Xie family were there.
He didn’t go down, staying in his bedroom to do his homework.

Ning Shixue was wearing overalls with a little bunny tail.
He stood on tiptoe, obediently lying beside Xie Zhaozhou’s desk.
He only peeked out half his face, looking at him pleadingly.

He had an eraser in his little hand.
When Xie Zhaozhou wrote a wrong word and frowned, he held up the eraser for him.

Like a little machine, willing and able.

Xie Zhaozhou pressed his lips together.
He took the eraser and said to him,
“Go play by yourself.”

Ning Shixue’s long, dark eyelashes blinked.
He thought the gege found him annoying.
So he softly hummed in agreement.
He picked up his little sea otter and went to play.
He lay by the door, peeking out carefully.
Then he spotted a little boy a few years older than him.

Xie Hanzhou ran up the stairs, then suddenly saw a strange child.
He pointed at Ning Shixue and shouted loudly.

Ning Shixue was startled.
His little sea otter fell on the floor.
He picked it up and brushed it off, then hugged it tightly.
His soft, pale fingers were clenched.
His little face was tense as he stared at Xie Hanzhou.

“What’s wrong, Xiao Zhou?”
Liao Yanwan asked, looking up.

She and Xie’s father were still downstairs.
All the Xie family were there.
As the eldest daughter-in-law, she naturally had to greet everyone.

No one else had that privilege.

She was wearing an evening gown, her makeup exquisite.
Her age was invisible.
A cashmere shawl was draped over her shoulders.

Xie Hanzhou ran down and told her,
“Mama, there’s a strange child!”

Liao Yanwan’s brow immediately furrowed.
She turned her head and stared at Xie’s father.
Xie’s father felt uncomfortable under her stare.
Guilty, his heart also skipped a beat.

“Why are you looking at me?”
Xie’s father said, forcing impatience.
“It has nothing to do with me.”

Several other Xie family members looked embarrassed.
Not understanding the situation, they didn’t dare speak.

“What’s all this shouting at the family dinner?”
Old Master Xie said, displeased.
“That’s a child Uncle Chen picked up. He’s just that little. You’re scaring him.”

“Father,”
Liao Yanwan said, smiling as she relaxed.
“I was just asking.”

She had thought Xie Xiangshan had brought an illegitimate child home.
But she kept such a close eye on him.
She had never seen any illegitimate child of his.
He wouldn’t dare.

Xie Sui also looked up towards the second floor.
But he paused and didn’t go up.

At the family dinner, the servants ate in a separate kitchen.
The old butler took Ning Shixue to the kitchen.
His face was soft and white.
His lip珠 was pressed red.
Even with a sickly air, he was a strikingly beautiful child.

Ning Shixue’s cheeks were pinched a few times.
They were a bit red.
He obediently raised his little hand and rubbed them.

“Everyone, eat,”
the old butler said, frowning, unable to help protecting him.
He wouldn’t let them pinch him anymore.
Then he looked down and asked Ning Shixue with a smile,
“Ningning, what would you like to eat?”

Ning Shixue wasn’t picky.
He ate anything.
He was a very easy child to raise.

And he ate very neatly.
The old butler put a bib on him.
But he held his little bowl, his cheeks soft and puffed up, and finished his meal without getting his face dirty.

He put down his little bowl, grabbed a large chicken leg, and tried to put it in the front pocket of his overalls.

Afraid he would dirty his clothes, the old butler quickly stopped him.
“Ningning, do you want to save the chicken leg for later? Grandpa will put it in the fridge and heat it up for you tonight, okay?”

“Gege,”

Ning Shixue said, a bit aggrieved.

“Want give, gege eat.”

At the family dinner, Xie Zhaozhou had left early again.
Liao Yanwan’s expression was very ugly.
But Old Master Xie was there, so she didn’t say anything.
She just forbade Xie Sui from going to find him.

The old butler was stunned for a moment, then sighed very softly.
He wrapped up the chicken leg and handed it to Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue also took a tomato.
He lowered his head and put them both in the big front pocket of his overalls.
It was too heavy.
He wobbled away like a little crab.

The old butler was dying of laughter.

He even knew to balance meat with vegetables.

Ning Shixue stuck out his little bottom.
The bunny tail on the back of his overalls stuck out with him.
He lay by Xie Zhaozhou’s bedroom door, blinking as he peered inside.

The bedroom was dark.
Xie Zhaozhou hadn’t turned on the light.
The curtains were also drawn tight.
There was no light at all.

The blanket on the bed was pushed up in a slight arc.
Xie Zhaozhou was lying silently on his stomach.
Several medicine boxes were scattered on the bed.
A torn punching bag was also on the floor, badly damaged.

“Ningning, don’t be scared,”
Ning Shixue whispered to himself.
Then he crawled onto Xie Zhaozhou’s bed in the darkness.

Xie Zhaozhou turned the light on with a snap.
His face was very pale.
His eyes, already dark, now looked like they had been soaked in water.
His forehead was even sweaty.

Seeing Liao Yanwan gave him a headache.
The headache was so severe it was splitting.
He had stolen some of the old butler’s painkillers and taken them.

Only then could he sleep a little.

Ning Shixue knelt on the bed.
His soft, white toes curled, then spread.
He took out the food from his pocket and handed it to him, his eyes sparkling.
“Gege, eat!”

“…”
Xie Zhaozhou didn’t know how he had gotten it.
But he stopped him.
“Don’t put that on the bed.”

Ning Shixue was at a loss, holding the huge tomato.
He had taken the biggest one.
It was almost as big as his face.

Xie Zhaozhou propped himself up.
He hugged Ning Shixue and got out of bed.
But he was only a child himself.
Holding Ning Shixue was a bit difficult.
He put Ning Shixue on his desk.

Ning Shixue took out the chicken leg and handed it to him.

Xie Zhaozhou took it.
Ning Shixue’s little hands were soft, like they had no bones.
They were also very pale, with a soft, milky scent.
Xie Zhaozhou didn’t dislike him.
He just looked down and ate.

He hadn’t eaten anything all night.
Now he was so hungry his stomach hurt.

Ning Shixue swung his little legs.
He looked down and said timidly,
“Gege, I can’t get down.”

Xie Zhaozhou’s dark phoenix eyes curved.
His smile was almost mischievous.
But Ning Shixue took out some little cookies from his pocket and handed them to him.
He paused for a moment, then put Ning Shixue on his lap.

Xie Zhaozhou reached out to open the front pocket of his overalls, wanting to see how much he had stuffed in there.

Ning Shixue looked up at him, but suddenly covered his pocket with his little hands.
He just wouldn’t let him see.

“Stingy,”
Xie Zhaozhou said.

Ning Shixue didn’t know what a ‘stingy’ ghost was.
But since the big brother said he was a little stingy ghost, this little stingy ghost must be a good thing.
He was a bit shy, his face flushed.

Xie Zhaozhou poked the whorl on the top of his head and asked him,
“What did you eat tonight?”

Old Master Xie was very good to the servants.
There were a few good dishes at night.
But Ning Shixue only remembered the chicken leg.
The butler grandpa also said he put some zucchini on his plate.
He couldn’t remember at all.

“Gege,”
Ning Shixue said, his voice soft and sticky.
“I ate gurgle vegetables.”

Xie Zhaozhou: “…”

Xie Zhaozhou couldn’t communicate with him.
After he finished eating, he put Ning Shixue on the floor and told him to go play by himself.
Then he lay on the bed and read a magazine he had just bought that night.

Ning Shixue also climbed onto the bed.
He lay on the bed and blinked at Xie Zhaozhou.

Xie Zhaozhou ignored him.
But he didn’t chase him away either.

Ning Shixue hugged his little sea otter.
He carefully moved a little closer to Xie Zhaozhou.
Xie Zhaozhou didn’t react.
He pressed his soft cheek against Xie Zhaozhou’s arm.
Xie Zhaozhou still didn’t react.

So he put his little head right next to his, face to face, and asked him softly,
“Gege, what is this?”

Xie Zhaozhou was reading The Mysteries of Aliens.
There was an alien with silver skin, huge eyes, and a very large head.
Ning Shixue’s finger was poking the alien’s head.

He tilted his head.
His soft, white cheek rubbed against Xie Zhaozhou’s arm.
He thought this person was very ugly.

“Alien,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, holding his finger.

Ning Shixue’s big, dark eyes instantly widened even more.
He didn’t know why he couldn’t find the headmistress.
But he knew he seemed to be a little alien.

Aliens were this ugly.
Did that mean he was this ugly too?
Ning Shixue simply couldn’t handle this blow.

Xie Zhaozhou looked up and saw his eyes red.

He was sobbing, aggrievedly crying on the bed.

His white cheeks were wet with tears.
He looked withered and pitiful.

He didn’t want to be an alien anymore!