Chapter 56: The Lottery

The temperature in the music room rose bit by bit, as if being scorched by the blazing sun.

Ming Can stole yet another glance at her outfit.

Since childhood, she had been pursued by countless people, but it was unimaginable that one day, she would be wearing loungewear, cornered in her own home, and told that someone wanted to pursue her.

What’s more important was…

She actually couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

Ming Can slightly averted her gaze, her voice soft: “Why are you suddenly saying this?”

Chi Xiao: “Well, I just got called a ‘repression freak.’”

He tilted his head slightly, his eyebrows raised: “Thought I’d try to change myself.”

Ming Can: “…”

The reason she had called him a repression freak was because he had hidden the fact that he gifted her a violin. If he wanted to stop being repressed, all he had to do was deliver the violin.

But suddenly saying he wanted to pursue her—that was a huge leap!

Ming Can was extremely uncomfortable in such a situation and just wanted to extricate herself as quickly as possible: “Who you want to pursue is your freedom.”

Chi Xiao nodded, as if he had just received her permission: “As long as you don’t mind.”

With that one sentence, he shifted the focus back onto her, making it hard for her to distance herself.

She was the one being pursued. When she said, “Who you pursue is your freedom,” did it mean she was okay with him pursuing her however he wanted?

Ming Can’s heart raced even faster, and she hurriedly added: “But you can’t disturb me.”

As for how to define “disturb,” she wasn’t sure herself.

Anyway, she threw the words out there.

To let him know that she wasn’t so easy to pursue.

Who would have thought that Chi Xiao, who was usually so accommodating, didn’t go along with her this time: “That’s a bit difficult.”

He looked at her helplessly, his tone carrying a hint of provocation: “Sometimes, these things are hard to control.”

When Chi Xiao first started helping Ming Can with the kids, his thought was to take things slow. Maintaining the status quo would have been more than enough.

But human hearts are never satisfied. When someone gives you a little kindness, you can’t help but want to push further.

What he meant by “pursuing” her now was the literal sense of “chasing.” He would pursue her the way a young, inexperienced guy would—getting closer to her, trying to please her, making sure he was constantly on her radar…

Whether this process would make her feel disturbed, he wasn’t sure.

Ming Can took a step back, her ears flushed red from the sunlight: “You’re being shameless.”

She stood in the halo of light, her long hair slightly messy after playing the violin, her silhouette glowing golden, like a little lion.

Unfortunately, her demeanor wasn’t very intimidating.

Even at this point, she didn’t seem to have any intention of rejecting him.

She just called him shameless.

Chi Xiao also felt a bit wronged.

His voice was low and sincere: “I’ve never pursued anyone before, so I don’t have experience. If you feel offended by anything, just reject me.”

He would never do anything she disliked.

The bottom line of pursuing someone was respecting any “no” from the girl.

Anyone who treats a girl’s rejection as a game is a scoundrel.

Hearing this, Ming Can’s cheeks burned even more for some reason.

Her mind instinctively wondered: If she didn’t say no, would he keep pushing further?

Wait, why wasn’t she saying no? Why was she even making such assumptions…

“Alright, I get it,” Ming Can said, forcing herself to stay calm, speaking as formally as if she were in a meeting. “Are you done?”

Chi Xiao: “Yeah.”

His tone dragged out slowly, faintly carrying a hint of amusement.

His usually icy expression had a faint flush from the sun.

It seemed like the first time Ming Can had seen him blush, and she found it amusing, but then she suddenly realized her own face was definitely even redder. She lowered her eyes, wanting to escape as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, she felt a weight on her head again. Chi Xiao casually reached out to smooth her hair, saying nonchalantly, “It’s a bit messy here. Let me fix it for you.”

Without hesitation, Ming Can kicked his leg with her slipper and hurriedly walked out.

Her slipper was a soft pink peach, so kicking him felt like hitting cotton.

Chi Xiao glanced at her retreating figure.

Was that a rejection?

–

Miaomiao took an hour-long nap, and after he woke up, Ming Can wiped his face with a damp towel, helped him into a chunky knit sweater, and took him to the living room to watch TV.

Every day, Miaomiao would watch a few episodes of Spanish cartoons, practicing his speaking skills along with the characters in the show.

While he watched the cartoons, his mom opened her laptop and sat at the bar counter next to the living room, studying while keeping him company.

In the afternoon, she had changed into a light-colored knit top paired with a dark long skirt. Her hair hung straight and smooth over her shoulders, looking fresh and elegant, as if she could head out the door just by throwing on a coat.

After watching TV for a while, Dad also came out of the room, a laptop tucked under his arm.

He stopped by Miaomiao’s side, ruffled his hair, and then turned to walk toward the bar counter.

Miaomiao’s eyes followed him, watching as he lazily walked to a spot diagonally across from Mom, opened his laptop, and sat down.

Mom didn’t seem to notice him, her head buried in her screen, typing away on the keyboard.

The atmosphere between the two of them was strange.

But it didn’t feel quite the same as the awkwardness during lunch earlier.

When Chi Xiao sat down, Ming Can unconsciously smoothed her hair, tossing the strands that had fallen in front of her chest back behind her shoulders.

After that, there was a long stretch of silence, with no one speaking.

Until the ending theme of the cartoon played on the TV.

Miaomiao ran off to play with his toys, and Ming Can, unsure how long he had been watching, casually asked Chi Xiao, “How many episodes did he watch?”

Chi Xiao: “Two, since I came out.”

Ming Can praised, “You’re quite attentive.”

Chi Xiao raised an eyebrow, speaking leisurely, “Well, he’s our son, after all.”

Ming Can: “…”

It wasn’t like she didn’t know that—was it really necessary to emphasize it!

Ming Can closed her laptop, hopped off the bar stool, and walked over to Miaomiao. She told him about the gift-giving game she had mentioned to Chi Xiao earlier.

“Yay!” Miaomiao was very excited. “I love making handmade gifts!”

Ming Can went to the storage room and picked out a pretty cardboard box. She cut a hole in the top, and just like that, the lottery box was ready.

Next were the slips of paper for the lottery.

Ming Can sat cross-legged by the coffee table, where three identical square sticky notes were placed.

Chi Xiao also walked over and casually sat down beside her.

The distance was a bit close, and a faint scent of mint wafted over.

Ming Can ignored him and handed out the three pieces of paper and markers, saying, “Let’s each write our names on the paper.”

Miaomiao took the paper and pen, asking seriously, “Then we fold it up and put it in this box, right?”

Ming Can: “That’s right. Whoever’s name is drawn will receive a handmade gift from that person. If you draw your own name, you’ll have to draw again.”

Ming Can: [I’ll make sure to draw first. The stiffness of the paper varies, so I’ll feel for the stiffest one.]

Miaomiao: ???

What did that mean?

Was Mom planning to cheat?

Good kids aren’t allowed to cheat!

Judge Miaomiao wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.

He suddenly put down the paper and pen, grabbed the lottery box, and ran into his pile of toys. He rummaged through the toys, picked out three ping-pong balls of different colors, tossed them into the box, and then ran back.

Seeing this, Ming Can’s hand holding the paper trembled slightly. She didn’t understand why the child had suddenly intervened and ruined her cheating plan: “Mom already wrote her name on the paper…”

“Using ping-pong balls is fairer,” Judge Miaomiao declared solemnly. “I put three balls in here. Red represents Mom, blue represents Dad, and yellow represents me.”

After saying this, he turned to Chi Xiao and asked, “What do you think, Dad?”

“Sounds good,” Chi Xiao said indifferently. “Let’s do it this way.”

Ming Can’s eyelid twitched, and she helplessly crumpled the paper in her hand into a ball, tossing it aside.

Her cheating plan had tragically failed.

Now, it all came down to luck.

Under the supervision of Judge Miaomiao, the three of them played rock-paper-scissors to decide who would draw first.

Ming Can won against both of them and got to draw first.

She slowly reached her hand into the lottery box, trying to sneak a peek inside. But as soon as her gaze dropped, it was blocked by a small, round head.

Miaomiao leaned halfway over the box, looking up at Ming Can: “No peeking, okay?”

Ming Can gave him a gentle smile, abandoning any thought of cheating. She randomly grabbed a ball from the box and saw that it was yellow.

“Wow,” she exclaimed happily. “It’s Miaomiao’s gift! How wonderful!”

Miaomiao’s eyes widened, staring at her without blinking.

Suddenly, his adorable little round face fell, and he turned away from Ming Can in a huff, crossing his arms and stomping his foot on the floor: “Hmph! I’m mad!”

Mom’s happiness was fake! In her heart, she only wanted Dad’s gift, not his!

Mad, mad, mad!

Ming Can didn’t understand what she had done wrong and hurriedly moved around to face Miaomiao, hugging him: “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

Miaomiao turned his face away, his lips pouting so high you could tether a cow to them.

Ming Can: “Sweetie, don’t you want to give Mom a gift?”

“I do,” Miaomiao said. “But you don’t like my gift.”

Ming Can quickly defended herself: “How could I not like it? I’d love any gift you make.”

This was the truth.

Miaomiao felt a little better, his puffed-up cheeks gradually deflating.

Mom didn’t dislike his gift—she just wanted Dad’s gift more.

Miaomiao put himself in her shoes.

Hmm…

If he had to choose between the skilled and talented Dad and the not-so-handy Mom, he’d probably want Dad’s handmade gift too.

It wasn’t that he and Mom weren’t good—it was just that Dad was too outstanding. Who wouldn’t want Dad’s gift?

With that, Miaomiao forgave Ming Can, pursing his lips: “Now it’s my turn.”

Ming Can breathed a sigh of relief, sitting down beside Miaomiao and grabbing a tissue to wipe her sweat.

For a moment, she had felt like Miaomiao had seen right through her.

Children are the most perceptive creatures in the world. She had to remember that and always treat them with utmost sincerity.

As Ming Can was thinking this, she saw Miaomiao’s little arm reach into the lottery box and solemnly pull out a ping-pong ball.

It was blue.

“It’s Dad’s gift!” Miaomiao jumped up excitedly. “Yay yay yay! This is awesome!”

Ming Can: “…”

This kid changes his expression way too fast. Would he have been this happy if he had drawn my ball?

But.

With only three people drawing and the rule that you can’t draw your own name, once the first person has drawn, the outcome for the other two is already determined—there’s no suspense.

So, when Ming Can drew the ball representing Miaomiao, Chi Xiao already knew who he would draw.

There was only one ball left in the box.

Chi Xiao leisurely rolled up his sleeves, reached into the box, and pulled out the last ball.

“Wow, it’s red—Mom’s ball!” Miaomiao, like the most enthusiastic commentator, excitedly announced the already obvious result to the world. “Dad drew the gift that Mom will make!”

Chi Xiao’s slender fingers cradled the ping-pong ball, casually tossing it a couple of times before saying with a smile, “Not bad.”

Earlier, after Ming Can and Miaomiao had drawn their balls, whether sincere or not, they had both enthusiastically expressed their delight, full of emotional value.

But when it came to him, all he got was a lukewarm “not bad”?

Ming Can: “If you don’t want it, give it back to me.”

She lunged to snatch the ball from Chi Xiao’s hand, but he was quick, slipping it into his pocket. Ming Can grabbed at empty air, her hand closing into a fist, and she plopped down beside him, glaring.

Chi Xiao: “When did I say I didn’t want it?”

Ming Can: “Then rephrase your opinion about my gift.”

“I’m crazy about it,” Chi Xiao said bluntly. “I didn’t say it earlier because I was afraid it might scare you. If you blew on it, I’d probably put it in a jar and treasure it forever.”