Chu Jin glanced at her thumb, which had a shallow cut from the wallpaper, oozing a few drops of blood.

Seeing Song Qiaoxi pouting with her big, watery eyes sparkling, he patiently asked, “Go to the bathroom and rinse it off. Where’s the band-aid?”

“Huh? It’s in the cabinet under the TV, there’s a first-aid kit…”

Her eyelashes trembled, and her eyes misted over as if she was on the verge of tears.

With a quick kick of her little chubby legs, she jumped off the chair and dashed toward the bathroom like she was in a sprint.

What a delicate little thing…

He opened the wooden drawer beneath the TV and found the band-aids and cotton swabs.

When the little dumpling returned, Chu Jin used a cotton swab to clean the blood off her thumb and applied a band-aid.

Song Qiaoxi wiggled her thumb in front of him, gently moving it around; it didn’t hurt much anymore.

In truth, she wasn’t really afraid of pain. She didn’t mind getting spanked at the orphanage; she just hadn’t expected that a paper cut would hurt so much.

Sitting back down at the dining table, she took a deep breath and lifted her injured hand, ready to “fight” against the book cover. But when she looked up, she noticed that the stack of books to her left was gone.

The wallpaper was gone too, leaving only a lonely pair of yellow craft scissors in front of her.

Looking up, she saw a stack of books had appeared in front of Chu Jin, who continued wrapping the book covers without lifting his head.

He furrowed his brow slightly, exuding an air of indifference as if a prickly barrier had automatically risen around him.

With a loud “thud,” he tossed a neatly wrapped book onto the table in front of her.

The noise startled the little dumpling, almost making her jump.

Song Qiaoxi looked up to see Chu Jin focused intently on cutting the paper, his eyes downcast and not glancing in her direction.

Despite his concentration on wrapping the books, his pale complexion made his lips appear a soft pink.

His attractive lips parted slightly as he coolly uttered two words: “Write your name.”

“Oh, okay.”

She lifted her face, forcing a grateful smile in his direction, responding much more readily than she felt inside.

But inside, she was screaming.

This was so hard for her…

Her little hands lacked strength, and writing her name was such a struggle. It took her nearly five minutes just to write the character “Xi” in “Song Qiaoxi.”

Sigh, why does Ding Yi’s name have only three strokes? She wished she could swap names with him…

Holding the pen, Song Qiaoxi wrote each character carefully.

As she wrote, she thought back to a moment when Chu Jin seemed to transform, becoming the warm little prince from her memories.

Though he still seemed cold, he had spoken to her and even helped her with her injury and wrapped her books.

What a future villain he was supposed to be! Chu Jin was so good; as long as she and her parents continued to support and care for him, making sure he was well-fed and grew tall, he would surely turn out fine.

When he grew up, he definitely wouldn’t go bad!

Not only would he not turn bad, but he would also become a pillar of the nation, contributing to the building of a harmonious socialist society.

He might seem a bit cold on the surface.

But deep down, he was a caring young man.

On afternoons when there was no preschool, it was time for the regular meeting of the “Little Three Musketeers” in the courtyard.

However, today, Wang Junyang had been “packaged off” to his grandmother’s house, where he would spend the week with his grandparents.

Ding Yi, on the other hand, had been punished by his mom for poor performance in preschool, so he was stuck at home with his sister, Ding Miao, who was tutoring him.

When his mom returned from the Ding household, she told Song Qiaoxi that if Ding Yi couldn’t memorize the multiplication table before school started in September, his mom wouldn’t let him go out to play.

After lunch, they took a short nap.

When the two kids got up, Mother Song once again found herself in a familiar scene.

Her daughter was sitting on a small stool in front of the TV, gazing up at The Legend of the New White Lady with a silly grin on her face. She mimicked Bai Niangzi’s graceful gestures with her chubby hands, softly humming, “A thousand years waiting for a moment, just wait a little while~”

Meanwhile, little Chu Jin sat upright at the dining table, quietly flipping through the pages of a book, as if he were in a world of his own.

Mother Song was worried about her kids turning into “TV children” like those mentioned in the evening papers—eyesight ruined and wearing glasses early, just like Ding Yi and Ding Miao.

By four-thirty in the afternoon, Mother Song emerged from the kitchen and turned off the TV with a firm “click.”

She smiled at her daughter, who turned around in confusion. “Qiaoxi, why don’t you take Brother Chu Jin out to play for a while? You’ve watched TV for so long, and he’s been reading for ages. It would be good to relax your eyes and get some exercise. When you come back tonight, I’ll make you some sweet sticky dumplings.”

Initially feeling a bit down after having the TV turned off, Song Qiaoxi was instantly thrilled at the mention of “sticky dumplings.”

Sticky dumplings—sweet and fragrant sticky dumplings!

The little dumpling jumped up from her stool, wrapped her arms around her mom’s waist, and looked up with wide eyes, asking, “So, besides sticky dumplings, what dishes will we have for dinner?”

If only it were sweet and sour ribs…

“You little glutton, if you take your brother out to play, I’ll make sweet and sour ribs, braised fish, and some five-spice sweet soup for you tonight. Now hurry up and run a few laps so you can eat more when you get back.”

Having figured out her daughter’s temperament, Qiao Qin knew that as soon as food was mentioned, this little one would forget everything else.

She affectionately pinched her chubby cheek, urging her to get moving.

Oh my gosh, sweet and sour ribs!

Upon hearing this, Song Qiaoxi nearly jumped for joy. She released her hold on her mom’s waist and gave a mock salute, saying, “Got it! I’ll complete the mission!”

Then she leaned toward Chu Jin, tilting her head sweetly as she said, “Brother Chu Jin, let’s go out to play! I’ll take you to our ‘Little Three Musketeers’ secret base. It’s a bungalow with a big locust tree, and it’s super shady. We can play hide and seek there!”

“No, wait! With you here, we’ll be the ‘Little Four Musketeers’!” She slapped her forehead, realizing her mistake. With Chu Jin joining them, there were now four friends. “From now on, our secret base will also be your secret base. Let’s go!”

Seeing her excited expression, Chu Jin furrowed his brow.

He hadn’t expected that the little dumpling would be so determined just for food…

He wasn’t interested in games like “hide and seek,” “horseplay,” or “statues,” but he didn’t want to dampen Song Qiaoxi’s enthusiasm.

Besides, Aunt Qiao wanted them to go out.

He nodded to Aunt Qiao, stood up from his chair, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided not to pick up his book.

Seeing that he agreed, Song Qiaoxi reached out and grabbed his slender wrist, pulling him along to the hallway to change their shoes.

“The Little Three Musketeers”… No, wait, now it’s the “Little Four Musketeers,” right?

The secret base of the “Little Four Musketeers” was the abandoned boiler room in the compound.

That area was filled with bungalows, just a few minutes walk from the family dormitory.

The bungalows housed the employees of the printing factory, and Aunt Gao’s community center was also located there.

In front of the bungalows was a large, open cement area, backed by a row of big locust trees. Even in the height of summer, it was cool in the shade, making it a favorite spot for the kids in the compoundto play.

The boiler room had been abandoned for a year or two, and the children had “claimed” it as their “secret base,” filling it with cardboard boxes as they imagined they had built a castle.

Song Qiaoxi held onto Chu Jin’s wrist and led him on a long detour, taking almost half an hour to walk around the entire compound.

As they walked, she enthusiastically introduced him to everything about the compound.

Chu Jin sighed inwardly.

Had the little girl forgotten that he had also grown up in this compound, even if he had been away for just over a year?

Seeing her so excited, he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt her.

However, the more she talked, the more the atmosphere began to change…

Hmm, something felt a bit off?

“Look at that big locust tree! The flowers have all fallen now. Remember in July, when you saved me from the train station? There were still flowers then!” She chattered on excitedly, her energy unwavering. “The locust flowers are so delicious—sweet and fragrant! Mom even makes locust flower pancakes, steams locust flower rice, and uses them to fill buns and dumplings…”

Chu Jin finally understood what felt off.

No matter the topic, she always ended up talking about food…

By the time Song Qiaoxi finished, she had worked herself into a craving.

Swallowing hard, she shyly turned her head to smile at the silent Chu Jin.

The palm of her hand, where she held his wrist, felt a bit damp and warm.

But she didn’t want to let go.

She was afraid that if she released her grip, he would silently slip away again.

Holding onto his wrist, the two children quickly reached the open area at the entrance of the boiler room.

The shaded area faced north and was gathering a small group of kids from the compound.

She paused, curiously peeking over.

At the forefront was a tall boy with a round face, energetically waving his arms and gesturing about something.

Song Qiaoxi found him familiar…

Wait, wasn’t that her “arch-nemesis,” Jiang Qisheng?!

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