Song Qiaoxi was woken by the urge to pee, her mother made her and Chu Jin drink two cups of milk before going to bed, so she woke up not long after falling asleep.

As she woke up dazedly, she heard someone sobbing softly.

She sat up from the bed, leaned over to look to the right and there she saw Chu Jin lying flat on the small bed with his slender fingers holding his chest, his eyes were tightly closed and his eyebrows furrowed while the corner of his eyes were wet.

He cried. Did he miss his mother or was he having a nightmare?

After thinking for a moment, Song Qiaoxi clumsily rolled over and lay down beside him on the small bed.

She stretched out her soft little fleshy hand and patted his little arms with the lightest force she could muster.

“Don’t be afraid.” Her childish voice coaxed him in a breathy voice. “I’m here, don’t be afraid…”

It was not until Chu Jin’s tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed and his breathing stabilized that she withdrew her soft little fleshy hand.

Wu, my belly is bloated, and I feel so suffocated…

Song Qiaoxi turned around and hesitantly looked at the corner of the room where there was an enamel spittoon with a red mandarin duck painted on it. This was especially used for her whenever she woke in the middle of the night and had to pee.

But there’s a little brother in the room.

Her face immediately burned up.

She fumbled her way down from the other side of the big bed and quietly walked barefoot to the direction of the bedroom door then pushed it open.

The light in the living room was so bright, stinging her eyes so she covered her face with one hand and gently closed the door with the other.

She hazily saw her father sitting on the dining table working on the manuscript while her mother sitting on the sofa knitting as the two of them were softly talking.

Seeing her, her mother dropped the knitting needles and took two quick steps to pick her up, “Why aren’t you wearing your slipper, the floor is cold.”

There was no reproach on her tone, only care and intimacy for a treasure.

“Want to pee?” Hearing her mom ask softly, Song Qiaoxi buried her head in her mom’s shoulder and nodded shyly.

Afterward, her feet did not touch the ground again as her mother took care of her like a baby. After she came out of the bathroom, her father turned off the overhead light in the living room leaving only a small table lamp. The light was dim and not dazzling anymore.

Held in her mother’s arms, a pair of gentle hands patted her back rhythmically just like coaxing a baby in a swaddle, and soon sleepiness swept over her immediately.

She could hear her mother’s soft humming voice. “The moon is bright and the wind is quiet, the leaves cover the window lattice, and the crickets would zheng zheng just like the sound of the zither…”

Feeling so comfortable Song Qiaoxi soon fall asleep as she remembered this lullaby that her mother often hummed.

Mom sang so beautifully, accompanied by the familiar voice, and she soon fell asleep deeply.

—

–

The next day was Tuesday.

Early in the morning, Song Qiaoxi sat in front of the mirror with her two short legs wobbling as her mom tied her hair with a wooden comb.

With her mom’s nimble hand, her long curly hair which was hard to comb turned into two beautiful flower buds with the help of a butterfly hairpin pinning her hair.

Dad chucked a fountain pen into his shirt pocket, carried his briefcase grabbed her little hand, and gently bit it on the side of his mouth, “Daddy’s gone to work, ah, listen to mommy.”

Song Qiaoxi smiled and dodged as she nodded repeatedly, and as her little head bobbed the two butterflies on her head were also fluttering around.

“Coming back for dinner tonight?” Mom asked Dad, as she went into the kitchen.

Putting on hollowed-out leather shoes at the door, Dad hung a long bunch of keys and a pager on his belt, raising his volume as he said. “Today’s my night shift so I’ll go to the cafeteria to make ends meet, you and the children eat by yourselves.”

“I’m going.”

“Ai, slow down on the road ……”

“Bang,” the door slammed.

Mom came out of the kitchen carrying a small plastic basket, as the bead curtains clattered.

Inside the basket were fried dough sticks, fried egg buns, and two sugar-fried cakes. Three bowls of soy milk were placed on the dining table and two peeled hard-boiled eggs in a small enamel plate.

“Xi Xi, Chu Jin, wash your hands, it’s time to eat.” Mom called out the two children.

After breakfast, Song Qiaoxi saw her mom carrying out her red Smurf schoolbag from the small west room and tucking a small water bottle into the side pocket.

She then said to her patiently, “Xi Xi, you said before that you don’t like the school, but you’ve only been there for one day, how about we try again today and I’m sure you’ll make many friends, shall we?”

After being momentarily stunned, she realized that even though it was summer vacation she still had to go to preschool.

To make use of the increase in birth rate, in 1996, many newspapers wrote that children should be enrolled in preschool as this would give them a higher chance of getting admitted to one of the best schools in Qizhou affiliated with Beijing Normal University.

These days, there was no such thing as “burden reduction” and the academic burden in the first grade of elementary was very heavy.

So, in response to the parent’s call, the Primary School affiliated with Beijing University opened the first preschool class during the summer vacation of 1996 to teach basic knowledge and school discipline in the first grade of elementary school in advance, and almost all the school-age children in the compound signed up.

Song Qiaoxi thought about the original owner’s previous series of confusing behaviors such as tearing up books and skipping school, she then looked at her mother’s cautious expression and sighed inwardly.

Now that she has decided to be a good kid, and stop her parents from worrying, even if she already knows that the first-grade class would definitely be boring, she agreed.

She obediently took the schoolbag and carried it on her back under her mother’s astonished gaze.

“Mom, I’ll do well in school.”

To reassure her mother, Song Qiaoxi looked into her eyes and said this seriously.

Her mother’s delighted expression was beyond words, seeing how her mouth was half open, and was speechless for a while, as if she did not recognize her anymore. After a pause, she knelt, took her hand, and said. “Xi Xi is good. Let’s go, Mom will take you to school.”

After saying that, her mom walked to the dining table and said to the boy who was flipping through a book, “Chu Jin, auntie will take your sister to school. Can you stay home by yourself for a while?”

Chu Jin’s eyes and attention remained fixed on the book in front of him, from beginning to end.

But when he heard the word “school” his thick eyelashes slightly trembled as he silently nodded.

“Auntie washed the apricots and grapes, they’re in the kitchen, there’s Jianlibao and Sunrise Iced Tea in the fridge, take a drink for yourself if you’re thirsty, and there are fairy tale books in Xi Xi’s room, so take whatever you like and read them yourself.”

Mother went to the bedroom and changed into a white dress as she said these words, and did not stop talking until she walked to the door to change her shoes.

Taking advantage of the gap between her mother’s changing clothes, Song Qiaoxi stared blankly at the quiet Chu Jin who was busy flipping through the book.

The morning sunlight was incredibly soft, but it punched through his pale skin, turning his dark eyes amber and the whites of his eyes were tinged with azure.

The tears in Chun Jin’s eyes last night kept replaying in her mind, at that time, he looked like a fragile little creature, or rather looked like a normal seven-year-old child.

And now he’s nothing like that child at all.

His eyes were so bottomless that it was impossible to guess what he was thinking, his whole person seemed to have a polite and distant shell, making him seem unapproachable.

“We’re going. Auntie will be back in a while.” Mother packed up took her hand and went out of the door.

He looked up from his book, his back straight and looking well-mannered, and said politely, “Bye, auntie.”

Chu Jin’s voice was hoarse and a bit deep, not as clear as that of a boy of his age.

Song Qiaoxi blinked her eyes and saw him looking up at her and her mother, so she showed a clear and bright smile as she waved happily to him. “Brother Chu Jin, goodbye.”