“Brother Shen Ji, shall we play with the ball?” Yu Yuanyuan asked excitedly, grabbing a small pink ball from the table. “I’ll throw it to you first, and then… you throw it back!”

Before she even finished her sentence, the ball was already flying through the air.

However, Yu Yuanyuan wasn’t very strong. The ball barely made a small arc before flopping weakly to the ground, landing far from Shen Ji.

Despite the failure, the little one remained calm and composed.

Casually brushing off her failed attempt, she picked up the ball, took a few steps forward to shorten the distance, and declared, “Okay, now the real game starts!”

With her face scrunched up in concentration, Yu Yuanyuan mustered all her strength. The ball flew a bit farther this time, maybe by an additional ten centimeters…

After rolling for a while, the pink ball finally reached Shen Ji’s feet.

Yu Yuanyuan stood frozen in disbelief.

Why was it so hard to throw a ball?! She had used all her strength—more effort than she put into eating—yet the ball barely moved!

“Stand here,” Shen Ji said, stretching out his leg and pointing to a spot. His hands stayed casually in his pockets.

Yu Yuanyuan obediently moved to the spot, hugging her round little ball that matched her own roundness. She patted it and said, “Alright! The earlier one was just practice. Now… now it’s really starting!”

With a determined grunt, the little girl threw the ball toward Shen Ji with all her might.

This time, the ball didn’t drop embarrassingly. Shen Ji tapped it lightly with his foot, sending it right back to Yu Yuanyuan.

She chased after the ball with small, hurried steps, but the ball slipped through her hands multiple times like a hot potato. After several failed attempts, it rolled far away.

Unfazed, the little dumpling ran after it, picked it up with effort, and toddled back to continue playing with Shen Ji.

Her persistent clumsiness reminded Shen Ji of those silly cats on the internet trying to play with balls.

Especially with her round figure, short legs, and waddling run—she looked just like a little rice dumpling. He couldn’t help but worry that if she fell, she’d spill all her stuffing.

“Brother Shen Ji, let’s play with our hands,” the little one panted after chasing the ball three times. “So… so tiring.”

Controlling the ball with his feet wasn’t easy, and sometimes it went off in random directions. Yu Yuanyuan ended up running twice the distance just to fetch the ball.

Shen Ji remained silent for a while, his hands still in his pockets. He was hesitating, mentally debating over something that seemed so simple yet was surprisingly complicated for him. After much internal conflict, he finally made a decision.

His pale, almost sickly hand slowly emerged from his pocket, fingers rubbing together nervously.

Finally—

“Alright.”

Yu Yuanyuan puffed up her cheeks and threw the ball with all her might!

The pink ball sailed through the air in a graceful arc before Shen Ji’s long, elegant fingers tapped it lightly, sending it back to the little girl’s feet.

“Hey!” Yuanyuan confidently reached out to catch it, but—oh no—the ball slipped right past her hands and rolled to the ground.

How could this happen?!

She had been so ready!

The frustration of missing the ball left Yu Yuanyuan in disbelief. She stood with her mouth wide open, staring blankly for a long time before rushing to pick up the ball that had landed next to Shen Ji.

“I’ll definitely catch it next time! I swear!”

Shen Ji’s gaze followed her movements, and there was something about her clumsy, yet determined figure that was oddly endearing. The other children around them couldn’t help but giggle at the scene.

The once-chaotic customer service center was now filled with laughter.

“Brother Shen Ji, here comes the ball!” Yuanyuan dashed forward with all her might, aiming to catch the ball. But her left foot tripped over her right, and she stumbled uncontrollably toward the ground.

Startled, Shen Ji instinctively reached out to catch her.

In Yu Yuanyuan’s eyes, everything seemed to slow down. She saw Shen Ji’s hand stretch toward her, his fingers not even fully open yet.

And then she noticed it—a small fish-shaped birthmark on Shen Ji’s ring finger.