Chapter 16

Children don’t have a clear concept of “death” yet.

They don’t know what it means for their parents to “be gone,” nor do they understand how long “forever” really is.

But precisely because they don’t know, their hearts can hold onto hope and endless fantasies.

So, they can take the adults’ comforting words to heart, believing that if they become good children and grow up, their parents will come back.

At some point in their journey of growth, the little ones, whose eyes are now filled with hope, will suddenly understand the truth. How will they accept it?

But no matter what, at least now they have the motivation to live.

Ling Yue couldn’t utter a single word of what she wanted to say.

How could she tell the child that they would continue to play the roles of mother and son?

Should she say, “Don’t be sad, honey. Aunt will play your mom during filming; you can treat Aunt as your mom?”

Ling Yue couldn’t bring herself to say it.

This role-playing has a deadline. Once filming is over, Pei Manman will return to her original family.

It’s like giving hope for the sake of a smooth shoot, only to end it immediately after it’s been used… It’s too cruel to do that to a poor little kid.

She could only explain it later.

Anyway, she still needed to find a suitable teacher for him, so there was no rush for a day or two.

Ling Yue looked at the precious photos of the little one again and again, finally turning all her complex emotions into a single sentence: “…Well, grow up well, be a good baby, and your parents will definitely come back.”

…

Lu Shiqi was in school, his mind constantly on the situation at home.

He was too concerned about the rough start.

He knew it wasn’t good, but he didn’t care. He was going to turn this bad start around.

He didn’t believe it.

It was just taking care of a poor kid, what could be so difficult?

Once Pei Manman’s body fully recovered, he would see how he could turn Pei Manman into a little fatty.

During lunch break, Lu Shiqi ate a few more bites than usual.

He wanted to ask about Pei Manman’s lunch situation, and remembering Ling Yue’s words, he felt a bit of empathy.

But he only ate a few more bites, he couldn’t eat more.

He was very hypocritical at such a young age.

“Did you like this set today? You ate so many bites! Damn it, I should have ordered the same thing as you!”

“…”

Gu Zhixu was eating with Lu Shiqi.

They were not only classmates and friends, but also cousins.

Gu Zhixu was Ling Yue’s elder sister’s son, and they were the same age.

It was just that Gu Zhixu was two months older than Lu Shiqi, making him the nominal older brother.

“It’s not good, it’s the same as usual.”

Lu Shiqi’s appetite was bland, and his eating habits were also bland, but he ate a few more bites than usual, which Gu Zhixu found strange.

“So, you’re really hungry today?”

Lu Shiqi didn’t bother explaining: “…Yeah, I’m hungry.”

“My mom said that my aunt took the kid home to live with her for filming?”

“Yeah.”

This wouldn’t be known to the outside world, but it wouldn’t be hidden from family members, so Lu Shiqi wasn’t surprised.

“Then you have to be careful, maybe this kid will live in your house for the rest of his life.”

“…”

A concern that was a bit absurd but very much in line with Gu Zhixu’s situation.

Because he happened to have an adopted younger brother at home.

Gu Zhixu’s growth journey was quite bumpy.

As a child, he was weak and sickly, prone to disasters, and spent days in the hospital, with this pain and that pain, on the verge of life and death, but no one could figure out what was wrong.

His family took him all over the country, seeking medical treatment everywhere, but many experts were helpless.

They would say there was nothing wrong, just a naturally weak constitution.

There was no way, in the end, his parents took a gamble and turned to superstition and metaphysics.

They had him adopt a tree as his foster father, find someone of a specific zodiac sign as his foster mother, and live in Shaolin Temple…

They did this for several years, and finally adopted a mute boy as his younger brother.

It’s not clear which master gave them the advice, but they said that his body was not good because his parents were destined to have no children, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to keep them.

But the mute brother was destined to have a brother, and his birth chart was strong for him, they said a bunch of nonsense, and it actually worked.

After adopting this brother, Gu Zhixu really got better, now he can run and jump, strong as an ox.

His parents were very excited about this, so they showered their adopted son with care – although it was all for Gu Zhixu, Gu Zhixu always felt a little dissatisfied, so his relationship with his adopted brother was tense.

“It all starts like this; I’m telling you it’s just a temporary stay at your house.”

“But they won’t leave once they’re there.”

“Soon he’ll be sleeping in your bed, wearing your clothes, playing with your toys, grabbing your snacks, and the key is that your parents will treat him like a treasure, making you give in to him.”

Gu Zhixu concluded heavily: “Sigh, we’re really brothers in misfortune, even this kind of experience can be the same.”

Lu Shiqi remained unfazed: “Don’t worry, we’re different. He’s just staying at my house; he’ll definitely leave after filming.”

“Even if I could agree, my dad wouldn’t agree, he’s even more opposed to this than I am.”

After listening to Lu Shiqi’s words, Gu Zhixu was probably a little broken: “What if your father-in-law objects, didn’t your aunt still bring the person home?”

“…”

It seems that’s really the case.

Lu Shiqi paused before continuing: “That’s because my dad’s not home lately, if he were home, it wouldn’t be so smooth.”

“When will your father-in-law be back?”

“I’m not sure, maybe in ten days or half a month.”

Gu Zhixu snorted coldly: “You just wait, after ten days or half a month, your dad won’t be able to call the shots anymore.”

“And when your dad comes back, maybe he’ll join forces with your mom.”

“Impossible.” Lu Shiqi said confidently, “My mom promised me, he’ll only stay until filming is over.”

“And I talked to my dad about this before, he would never agree.”

Although Lu Shiqi had a slight change of heart towards Pei Manman and was willing to help take care of him, the deadline was only until the end of filming.

It wouldn’t be possible for a longer period of time.

As for adoption, that was a pipe dream.

Gu Zhixu hummed, “Then we’ll just wait and see, I don’t think it’s that simple… Wait, right!”

“What?”

“Can I go to your house after school today, let me see what this kid looks like!”

“No.”

Lu Shiqi refused without hesitation.

Although it was hard to explain why he had to refuse.

Actually, there was nothing wrong with meeting, their relationship was so good, Gu Zhixu would see Pei Manman sooner or later.

But Lu Shiqi had just taken on the task of taking care of Pei Manman, and he subconsciously treated the child as his own possession.

Thinking of Pei Manman’s skinny and timid appearance, his speech was slow and stumbling, he would definitely be disliked by Gu Zhixu.

It wasn’t that he thought Pei Manman was embarrassing.

But for his own possession that he hadn’t started to take care of carefully, Lu Shiqi didn’t want anyone to say anything bad about it.

A childish and domineering little thought.

He could dislike Pei Manman, think that Pei Manman was not good in any way, but he couldn’t let anyone else do it.

“What’s wrong with taking a look, don’t be so stingy.”

Gu Zhixu refused to give up easily.

The more decisively Lu Shiqi refused, the more he got excited and rebellious.

“Let me go take a look, I’m going to take a look! If you don’t let me go, I’ll call my aunt myself!”

“…”

There was no way, in the end, he couldn’t resist Gu Zhixu.

When school was over, Gu Zhixu was by his side.

Ling Yue took Pei Manman out to buy clothes in the afternoon.

After shopping, they came back to pick up Lu Shiqi around three o’clock.

Just after school, the school gate was full of cars, crowded with people, and traffic was difficult.

For fear of causing unnecessary commotion, Ling Yue’s car always parked in a hidden location.

When the car door was opened from the outside, Gu Zhixu’s loud voice came in first: “Aunt, I’m here too, I heard…”

But the next second, he stopped abruptly.

Ling Yue saw Gu Zhixu frozen like a statue, and chuckled, “Xiao Xu, long time no see, what did you hear?”

“Uh…”

Gu Zhixu’s gaze went past Ling Yue, landing on Pei Manman beside her.

So, this is the kid who’s living in their house!

He’s so cute!

A million times cuter than the little mute at his house!

If Gu Zhixu had seen Pei Manman on the first day, he probably would have thought he was poorly dressed.

But right now, Pei Manman had changed out of his old, ill-fitting cotton-padded jacket, wearing a white fleece turtleneck underneath, and a thin avocado-colored down jacket on top.

The clothes fit well, and he was dressed warmly, so his thin and frail figure was not obvious.

His face was now pale, his eyes were dark and bright, and he looked fresh and bright.

And he had been living at the Lu family for two days, and he was much closer to Ling Yue, feeling relaxed and at ease beside her, without the shyness and timidity of the first day.

The little guy sat obediently beside Ling Yue, blinking his eyes brightly.

He accidentally met Gu Zhixu’s gaze, paused for two seconds, then quickly averted his gaze, continuing to eat the soda crackers in his hand.

There were delicious things everywhere outside, but Pei Manman couldn’t eat them yet, so he could only nibble on soda crackers.

Gu Zhixu didn’t treat himself as an outsider at all, as soon as he got in the car, he sat down opposite Pei Manman, his eyes fixed on Pei Manman, not moving at all.

Pei Manman was scared by his straightforward gaze.

Soon, he couldn’t eat the crackers anymore, and wanted to hide behind Ling Yue, but he couldn’t.

Ling Yue saw the little guy trying to find something to hide behind, and she felt both distressed and amused.

“Xiao Xu, don’t stare at your brother like that, your brother is timid, you’ll scare him.”

Hearing this, Gu Zhixu immediately retracted his gaze, and greeted Pei Manman enthusiastically, “Hello, my name is Gu Zhixu, I’m Shiqi’s brother… According to seniority, you should also call me brother.”

What a good way to say “according to seniority”.

Ling Yue smiled; Lu Shiqi rolled his eyes.

But Pei Manman tilted his head, blinked his eyes, and asked uncertainly, “…Brother?”

“Yeah, you’re so good.”

Gu Zhixu accepted it without hesitation, then opened his schoolbag, “It’s our first meeting, I don’t have any gifts for you, do you like any of these?”

Inside were all sorts of snacks.

Chocolate, shaqima, sandwich cookies, instant noodles, cakes, bread, meat and seafood – enough to open a convenience store on the spot.

There’s no little kid who can resist this kind of temptation.

Pei Manman’s eyes lit up instantly, and his impression of Gu Zhixu immediately improved.

“What do you like to eat, hurry up and choose.”

“Do you like chocolate, do you like egg yolk pastry, this egg yolk pastry is delicious.”

Lu Shiqi was inexplicably annoyed.

He was the first to speak up in refusal: “He has a bad stomach these days, he can’t eat these, you put them away.”

But Gu Zhixu didn’t care: “Then he can eat it when he’s better, they’re all individually packaged, they won’t go bad.”

“Brother, don’t listen to him, choose whatever you want.”

Even Ling Yue said, “Manman, take whatever you want to eat, just thank your brother.”

With Ling Yue’s permission, Pei Manman was finally relieved.

But he didn’t take much, just a piece of white chocolate and a small bag of cream-filled sandwich cookies.

Holding the snacks in his hand, the little guy was very happy.

He thanked him happily and shyly, his voice sweet, “…Thank you, brother!”

Gu Zhixu was satisfied: “You’re welcome.”

Only Lu Shiqi remained silent, feeling awkward in his heart.

So, it turns out that everyone can be called brother.

Being his brother is really cheap.