A few crystal grapes were encased in light green transparent jelly. When fingers touched the plastic wrap, the jelly inside would wiggle. The little boy simply stuffed it into her arms. Before Chu Zhi could react, he had already run off with his pattering steps.
Chu Zhi held the jelly, blinked, and looked at Lin Tong.
Lin Tong also looked surprised: “Isn’t that the child who was standing at the school gate earlier?”
“I think so…”
Lin Tong was confused: “What did he just say? His brother wanted you to have it?”
Chu Zhi tilted her head: “But I don’t know his brother.”
Lin Tong nodded: “Whether you know him or not, if his brother really asked him to give it to you, his brother must be an idiot. Who tries to pick up girls like this? We’re in a supermarket – when it comes time to check out, won’t you still have to pay for it yourself?”
“Oh, is that how it works?” Chu Zhi slowly had her moment of realization. She tossed the jelly into the shopping cart and said cheerfully, “That’s fine then, but one isn’t enough, and I want the yellow peach flavor.”
As she spoke, she pulled the cart around a shelf. Just as she reached the middle section, her clothes were tugged from behind again.
Chu Zhi turned around once more to find the same little boy looking up at her, holding a jelly in his arms.
Yellow peach flavor.
Chu Zhi: “…”
Seeing that he was about to hand it to her and run away again, Chu Zhi called out to him.
The little boy hesitated but stayed put.
Afraid he would run off again, Chu Zhi quickly bent down to hold his hand: “Did you come with your brother?”
The little one nodded.
Chu Zhi said gently: “Then you should stay close to your brother, don’t run around by yourself.”
The little one looked a bit helpless, lowering his head. His chubby little hands clutched the jelly, fidgeting anxiously. After a while, he looked up with an expression that seemed rather determined: “Brother told me to give it to sister, but secretly, without being discovered,” he lowered his head again, voice muffled, “Yiyi can’t do anything right.”
Chu Zhi: “…”
How was this supposed to not be discovered?
Chu Zhi was bewildered, thinking this brother was being too hard on the child, so she simply asked: “Where is your brother then?”
The little one called Yiyi furrowed his brows, and finally, as if making up his mind, grabbed her hand and started walking.
Though small, the child had quite some strength. His chubby little hand gripped two of her fingers as they walked and chatted, going past two rows of snack shelves before stopping in front of a large display of bulk chocolate cookies.
Chu Zhi pointed and asked softly: “Is it him?”
The little one nodded happily: “Yes, the most handsome one.”
Chu Zhi had mixed feelings as she looked up again.
A certain mysterious Mr. Lu was standing not far away, side-facing them with his head lowered. Beside him were rows of bulk candy bins housed in transparent acrylic compartments.
He held a bag in one hand and tongs in the other, carefully selecting and picking up candies to put in the bag.
Various semi-transparent gummy candies mixed together, colorful and beautiful like pieces of colored glass. Only after filling about half the bag did he put the tongs back and go to weigh it.
Dressed in black from head to toe, he stood quietly in line among a group of aunties. The green onions carried by the auntie in front were so long they extended past her ears and poked his nose when he turned his head.
Chu Zhi stood watching from afar and couldn’t help but laugh.
The man didn’t say anything, just slightly furrowed his brows and stepped back a bit, only to bump into the two cabbages held by the auntie behind him.
Chu Zhi held the little one’s hand as she laughed. After laughing enough, she made a “shh” gesture to the small person beside her.
The little one caught on immediately, his other little hand quickly covering his mouth.
The two deliberately took a round-about way to sneak up from behind. Chu Zhi stood behind him and raised her hand to poke his back.
The man didn’t react.
Chu Zhi poked twice more, and before he could react, she stuck her head around from the side: “Senior Lu, long time no see.”
This sudden greeting, so close to his ear, made Senior Lu freeze for a moment before turning his head.
The little girl was still holding onto a little boy, both tilting their heads in perfect unison, two pairs of grape-like big eyes blinking at him, their expressions remarkably similar.
Lu Jiaheng looked at the bigger one, then at the smaller one.
The smaller one immediately lowered his head, no longer daring to look at him.
Chu Zhi smiled: “Is this your little brother?”
Lu Jiaheng gave an “mm” just as the auntie with the green onions finally finished weighing her items and it was his turn.
He handed over his bag of candy while Chu Zhi stood beside him, chatting as they waited: “I saw him at the school gate earlier, I didn’t realize he was waiting for you.”
Lu Jiaheng lowered his eyes to look at the child whose head was still hanging low: “He snuck out here on his own.”
The little one suddenly seemed nervous, tightening his grip on Chu Zhi’s hand, “No, Yiyi didn’t sneak out.”
Lu Jiaheng coldly turned away: “I’ll take you home later.”
The little one’s eyes widened, and he suddenly turned to tightly hug Chu Zhi’s leg, burying his head deep: “Don’t want to go home.”
He paused, then secretly lifted his head a little, revealing half an eye to carefully look at the man beside him, “Will brother come home with Yiyi?”
Lu Jiaheng took his bag of candy without looking at him: “No.”
After watching for a while, Chu Zhi finally realized what felt off.
This Senior Lu’s attitude toward his brother seemed rather cold.
Actually, he seemed rather cold overall today.
The little one dejectedly hugged her leg tightly again, burying his head and weakly nuzzling against her.
The cold Senior Lu came over holding his bag of fruit gummies, looking down at the continuously nuzzling little boy, and suddenly said: “Lu Jiayi.”
His voice was flat with a barely noticeable hint of impatience and warning, making Chu Zhi start.
She had never heard him use such a tone before.
Chu Zhi clearly felt the child who had been clinging to her freeze. After a while, his little arms loosened and he slowly let go of Chu Zhi, shuffling to the side.
Young Master Lu remained expressionless while Baby Lu looked wronged, creating a very awkward atmosphere. Chu Zhi stood between them, not knowing what to do.
Would it be better to stay quiet in this situation?
But his expression really looked scary.
Chu Zhi touched her ear and made an “eh” sound: “Senior, is your name written with the horizontal stroke of ‘heng’?”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
On their walk over, the little one had not only introduced himself but had nearly listed every relative’s name he could remember to Chu Zhi. So after knowing each other for a month, Chu Zhi finally learned Senior Lu’s name.
Before Lu Jiaheng could speak, Lu Jiayi shook his head beside them and said in his slow, childish voice, serious and earnest as he looked at her: “Brother’s name uses the ‘heng’ from ‘junzi ru heng’,” he paused, then pointed to himself, “Yiyi uses the ‘yi’ from ‘jiayan yixing’.”1
His earlier dejection came and went quickly. After speaking, he became happy again, as if just having his name mentioned alongside his brother’s was enough to make him cheerful.
Since he introduced it so solemnly, Chu Zhi naturally nodded very seriously too, pointing to herself and frowning in deep thought for a long while. Unable to think of anything clever, she said rather plainly: “The ‘zhi’ from gardenia.”
Lu Jiayi’s eyes sparkled as he responded enthusiastically: “Wow.”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
He lowered his eyes to look at her, his lips curling silently.
The earlier tense atmosphere had dissipated considerably. The three walked back together to find Lin Tong, who had already found the jelly shelf. Seeing them approach, she whistled softly and patted the shopping cart: “Boss, got the jelly, and—”
Halfway through her sentence, she saw Lu Jiaheng following behind and raised an eyebrow, giving him a meaningful look: “Hello hello, I’ve heard so much about you,” Lin Tong smiled, “Pink water cup.”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
Lin Tong continued earnestly: “Pink water cup, you can’t chase girls like this. You had your brother bring over jelly, but we still have to pay for it?”
Lu Jiaheng: “…”
Lu Jiaheng hadn’t bought much, and Lu Jiayi was extremely well-behaved, just following beside his brother without asking for things like other children his age might. After checking out, Chu Zhi gave him a yellow peach jelly.
He didn’t dare take it, instinctively looking up at his brother.
Seeing this, Chu Zhi decisively squeezed between them, trying to separate them so he couldn’t see.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t tall enough, so the little Lu saw his brother’s face completely visible over the little miss’s head.
He kept his hands withdrawn, still not daring to accept.
Chu Zhi turned around and discovered the source of the problem. Suddenly, she spun to face the man in front of her and jumped up with all her might, blocking his view for an instant.
In that moment of suspension, they were at the same height, almost eye to eye, mouth to mouth.
Lu Jiaheng was stunned.
0.5 seconds later, Chu Zhi landed and looked up at him with furrowed brows, dissatisfied: “Stop looking.”
He lowered his eyes for a while without speaking, but slowly turned away.
Satisfied, Chu Zhi turned back around to give the jelly to Lu Jiayi again.
The little one still hesitated, secretly looking at the person behind her, voice tiny: “Sister, you’re covering ears bell.”
Chu Zhi didn’t understand: “Hm?”
The boy repeated seriously: “Covering ears bell.”
Chu Zhi thought for a moment: “You mean ‘covering ears while stealing a bell’2?”
He nodded solemnly: “Covering ears bell.”
Chu Zhi smiled and whispered in his ear: “It’s okay, I cast a magic spell. The jelly is invisible now, only you can see it.”
Lin Tong: “…”
The four of them left the supermarket and walked back together. Chu Zhi was holding Lu Jiayi’s hand while he carefully cradled the jelly in his other hand. The jelly was too big for his small hands, and he treated it preciously the whole way.
Outside, night had fallen and the street lights were on. Chu Zhi led Lu Jiayi in front, playing by stepping on the pools of lamplight, both giggling.
They walked like this until they reached the school gate. Before they could enter, a woman suddenly screamed.
Chu Zhi had just jumped onto the light of the nearest lamppost when she was startled. She instinctively pulled the little boy behind her, stepping back two steps. Before she could react, a woman had already rushed toward her.
High heels made clear sounds against the asphalt as the woman shouted something shrilly while rushing over to grab Lu Jiayi from Chu Zhi’s hand.
The child was also startled. The jelly he hadn’t been holding securely fell to the ground and rolled to the woman’s feet. After a while, he softly said: “Mama…”
The woman murmured his name, holding him tightly in her arms. After a while, her arms loosened slightly, and as she lowered her eyes, she suddenly pushed him away and stood up abruptly.
She turned and walked to Lu Jiaheng’s side. Before she could steady herself, she raised her hand and slapped him.
With a crisp “pa” sound, the woman snarled viciously, almost hysterically screaming: “Lu Jiaheng! How can you be so awful! He loves you so much! Why are you so vicious!!”
- Names often carry cultural or literary significance; the former letter is from an idiom literally translated to “steadfast and enduring gentlemen” and the latter letter is from “kind words and virtuous deeds”. ↩︎
- This is a Chinese idiom, “????” (y?n ?r dào líng). This describes someone trying to deceive others but only ends up fooling themselves. ↩︎
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