TL: Hua
Extra 22: Childhood Sweethearts If Line 2
Lin Xue couldn’t help but scrutinize Zhang Yan.
The little boy in front of her was only five years old. His features weren’t as defined as those of an adult male; his lines were softer, delicate, and shy. His eyes were particularly bright, and perhaps because he was thin, they seemed very large, with somewhat deep-set eye sockets.
He was quite similar to her Nannan; at first glance, beautiful like a little girl, but she just couldn’t recall where she had seen him before.
Lin Xue gently furrowed her brow.
While she was lost in thought, the little boy also felt a bit uncomfortable.
He had never worn such soft and beautiful clothes. He stood awkwardly in front of Lin Xue, his head lowered, clutching his fingers, and whispered, “Auntie, I… I don’t have that much money…” to buy this set of clothes.
Zhang Yun didn’t either, and if Zhang Yun knew he wore such nice clothes, she would definitely scold him for wasting money.
Lin Xue snapped back to reality and quickly comforted him, “This is a gift from Auntie to thank you for saving Nannan.”
Her voice was soft and exceptionally warm.
After speaking, seeing that the child was still awkward, she coaxed, “Nannan is Auntie’s child. You saved him, and Auntie doesn’t know how to thank you properly, so please give Auntie a chance and accept this set of clothes, okay?”
Zhang Yan saw that if he didn’t take the clothes, Auntie Lin would be so sad, so he hesitated and nodded.
Lin Xue immediately broke into a smile, ruffled his head, and said, “That’s great! Auntie also bought a matching set for Nannan, the same style as yours. You’ll look wonderful wearing them together. Oh, right, do you want to go see Nannan?”
Thinking of that beautiful child, like a sticky rice ball, Zhang Yan’s eyes lit up slightly, and he nodded expectantly, “Yes.”
…
In the slightly childishly decorated hospital room, four-year-old Ye Rongxu lay on the hospital bed, his soft little face pale with illness, his black grape-like eyes brimming with tears of grievance.
Although he was four, he looked only as big as a two-year-old, thin and small, with a sickly expression. His tender little hand had a small bruise on the back from the IV drip.
Ye Boxuan sat by the bed, holding a small bowl, patiently coaxing him, “Nannan, be good, time to eat, open wide––”
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this coaxing, the beautiful child on the bed, who looked like a doll, let out a “Wu” sound, turning his head away in fear, his tear-filled eyes seemingly still holding terror.
Ye Boxuan sighed softly, a hint of heartache flashing in his eyes. He put down the small bowl, raised a hand to wipe away the tears sliding down his son’s cheeks, and gently coaxed, “Nannan, don’t you remember Papa? Sorry, Papa didn’t protect you well.”
The child turned his head blankly, and after a long while, tentatively whispered, “Papa?”
His voice was soft and milky, filled with fear and unease. Ye Boxuan couldn’t help but hug his son tighter, gently stroking his tender back, his voice slightly choking, “It’s Papa. Papa found you.”
Only then did the child sob into his arms, as if releasing pent-up emotions.
Ye Boxuan’s heart ached even more, his eyes slightly red.
…
When Lin Xue led Zhang Yan in, the room had already quieted down. Ye Boxuan was feeding the child on the hospital bed, who was well-behaved, obediently taking a bite every time the spoon reached his mouth.
Before Lin Xue left, she was also coaxing Ye Rongxu to eat. Ye Boxuan, seeing her exhausted, took over the task and let her rest.
Now that she was back and saw her son finally willing to eat, the anxiety she had been carrying finally eased. She smiled, holding back tears. “Nannan is eating so well, ah.” Oh, right, quickly look, who did Mama bring to see you?”
Beside her, Zhang Yan unconsciously tightened his grip on her hand, his gaze nervous yet expectant as he looked at the beautiful child, who resembled a doll, on the hospital bed.
The beautiful child looked up in confusion, his clear, innocent gaze slowly sweeping towards them. Suddenly, his black grape-like eyes brightened, looking at Zhang Yan… at the jade pendant on his neck, and he called out, his voice sticky and muddled, “Brother.”
Because of the high fever, little Ye Rongxu couldn’t quite remember what happened last night besides fear and terror. But vague memories told him that a brother had been with him the whole time, carrying him out of that darkness.
He couldn’t remember what the brother looked like, but he remembered giving the jade pendant to him.
Little Ye Rongxu recognized the jade pendant at a glance. The sickly and frightened expression on his face blossomed with vitality. He pointed at the jade pendant on Zhang Yan’s neck and happily told his parents, “Brother, little horse, give brother.”
He wanted to express that “Brother saved him, and he gave the jade pendant to Brother,” but he was too weak to say so many words in one breath, and he didn’t know it’s called a jade pendant. He only remembered that the jade pendant had his zodiac animal, the little horse, on it, so he called the jade pendant “little horse” and kept saying “little horse brother” in a soft, sweet voice.
Fortunately, Ye Boxuan and Lin Xue understood what he meant and quickly smiled, comforting him, “We know, Brother won’t run away. You eat quickly first, and after you finish eating, you will play with Brother, okay?”
Little Ye Rongxu immediately nodded vigorously, then his eyes shone brightly as he looked at his father, who was feeding him.
Ye Boxuan chuckled and poked his little head, saying, “I’ve never seen you so eager to eat before.”
Then he quickly seized the opportunity to feed him a spoonful of rice.
Lin Xue smiled at this scene while also patting Zhang Yan’s head beside her and bending down to ask, “Xiao Yan is hungry too, right? Will you eat with Nannan?”
Zhang Yan was too shy and timid; even though his stomach had been “rumbling” for a while, he still instinctively shook his head.
Ye Boxuan just happened to be bringing a spoonful of rice to his son’s mouth. Ye Rongxu heard his mother’s words and quickly shook his head, pushing his father’s strong arm with his soft little hand, whimpering, “Brother, eat.”
Lin Xue also took the opportunity to say to Zhang Yan, “Look, your little brother won’t eat either. Xiao Yan, please do Auntie a favor and eat with your little brother, okay?”
Zhang Yan looked at the beautiful child on the medical bed and then at Aunt Lin, who was “troubled,” and was once again persuaded.
Little Ye Rongxu had poor health; he was born sickly and ate carefully prepared nutritious meals prescribed by the doctor.
There was no other lunch in the room, so Zhang Yan was led by Lin Xue to eat these as well.
Zhang Yan was very reserved at first, eating in small bites. But he was too hungry, and soon he couldn’t help but eat a bit faster.
Ye Rongxu widened his black eyes and looked at him curiously. Then… he took a bite himself and asked his father to feed Zhang Yan a spoonful. After taking another bite, he asked his father to feed Zhang Yan another spoonful again.
When Zhang Yan looked up in confusion, he still said in a milky voice, “Brother, eat.”
Just like that, by the end of the meal, Ye Rongxu had eaten five or six more spoonfuls of rice than usual.
Ye Boxuan was surprised. As he tidied up the bowls and spoons, he couldn’t help but lean over and whisper to his wife, “No wonder the elders often say, ‘One piglet won’t eat bran; two piglets eat it with relish.’ It’s true, when two children eat together, they tend to eat more.”
Lin Xue gently nudged him with her elbow, scolding, “Who calls their own child a piglet?”
If he could truly be like a piglet, plump and healthy, that would be good. But their Nannan was too thin and sickly, more like a kitten.
However, since Zhang Yan arrived, Nannan was indeed more energetic than usual, and he ate with more gusto.
“Nannan, play with Brother and sleep with him when you get tired later. Remember to give the bed a little bit to Brother,” Lin Xue instructed her son.
Seeing Ye Rongxu obediently shift over to make space for Zhang Yan to sit on the bed, she nodded in satisfaction and pulled Ye Boxuan out with her.
“I think Nannan really likes Xiao Yan. Do you think we should discuss with Xiao Yan’s parents about letting the two children play together more often?” Lin Xue consulted her husband.
Ye Boxuan felt the same way. When Ye Rongxu was first rescued, he was extremely anxious and frightened, even losing the ability to speak. Although he later managed to say “Mama” and “Papa,” those were the only two words; he didn’t say anything more, not even when his grandparents or aunt came to see him.
But since Zhang Yan arrived, the situation had clearly improved. Nannan not only called out “Brother” but was also more energetic than when he first woke up, no longer constantly terrified.
“It must be because Xiao Yan saved him and stayed with him then; that’s why he’s temporarily dependent on him,” Ye Boxuan said.
But letting Zhang Yan often come and play with Nannan…
Ye Boxuan frowned slightly again, thinking of what the female police officer had told him, and said uncertainly, “It’s hard to say about this. We’ll have to see Xiao Yan’s mother’s attitude.”
Lin Xue, who didn’t know Zhang Yan’s family situation yet, nodded. “True, let’s wait until Xiao Yan’s mother arrives to discuss it then.”
After saying that, she remembered that Zhang Yan had only eaten some nutritious meal with Ye Rongxu earlier and added, “You return the bowls and spoons first and hurry back to accompany the children. I’ll go buy some more lunch for Xiao Yan.”
Ye Rongxu had a small appetite and needed milk after eating, so usually not too much nutritious food was prepared.
Zhang Yan was different; he was a healthy child… perhaps a bit malnourished, but his appetite shouldn’t be as small as Ye Rongxu’s. Eating only that little nutritious meal probably wouldn’t fill him up.
Ye Boxuan listened to his wife’s instructions, handed the brought-out bowls, spoons, and bento box to the caregiver waiting outside, then pulled his wife closer and whispered, “Let the bodyguards go. You’ve been busy for half a day and haven’t had lunch yet. It’s a good chance to have them bring some food for us too.”
Lin Xue pushed him away. “Stop messing around; go make Nannan his milk.”
She then walked away.
Ye Boxuan sighed, turned back to the ward, and skillfully prepared milk for his son.
After making the milk and handing it to his son on the hospital bed, he casually stroked his son’s head, then Zhang Yan’s. Seeing how thin the child was, he gave a few instructions and went outside to ask someone to buy some milk.
Because Ye Rongxu had been physically weak since birth, the doctor recommended he drink baby formula until he was five or six. Zhang Yan was already five, so he probably didn’t need formula; cow’s milk would be more suitable.
After giving the instructions, he again recalled the attitude of the female police officer when she mentioned Zhang Yan’s mother previously. He hesitated for a moment, then took out his phone and called the police station and the bodyguards he hired.
*
In the hospital room, Ye Rongxu held his bottle, obediently drinking milk.
After eating, his pale cheeks finally regained some color, soft and full like a juicy peach. His fine, soft black hair lay on his forehead, and as he held the bottle, he looked incredibly sweet and soft.
Zhang Yan sat with him under the covers, watching him intently, without blinking.
He had never seen such a cute and beautiful child, soft and squishy like a sticky rice ball, as if a poke would make his cheek softly indent.
Zhang Yan’s heart inexplicably softened too. He couldn’t help but wish he were truly his brother.
But then, thinking of Zhang Yun, he quickly shook his head.
The little rice ball was so beautiful and delicate, like a fledgling bird with newly grown down feathers in a nest. If he were his brother, he would have a hard life like him, so it was better if he wasn’t his brother.
Little Ye Rongxu slurped his bottle, noticed Zhang Yan’s gaze, and turned his head in confusion. After watching for a while, Ye Rongxu finally noticed something different—Brother didn’t have any milk to drink. He quickly let go of the bottle and pushed it towards Zhang Yan.
Zhang Yan was stunned, seemingly not understanding.
Little Ye Rongxu explained seriously in his milky voice, “Brother drink.”
Zhang Yan came to his senses and quickly shook his head. “I don’t drink. Little brother drink.”
Ye Rongxu blinked his innocent eyes, asking in confusion, “Why?”
Brother kept looking at him; didn’t he want to drink?
Zhang Yan explained seriously, “I don’t want to drink. Uncle specially made this for you; you have to finish it.”
After thinking for a moment, he straightened his chest like a lil tough guy and said, “I’m a big kid; I don’t need to drink milk. You’re a little baby; little babies need to drink milk. I’m helping Uncle supervise you.”
Ye Rongxu immediately shook his head, hugging his bottle and arguing, “I’m not a little baby; I’m a big kid too.”
Zhang Yan was confused. In his understanding, only little babies drank milk. This little brother drank milk, so he must still be a little baby. Why wouldn’t he admit it?
Ye Rongxu then pushed the bottle to his mouth and said seriously, “Brother drink. If Brother doesn’t drink, I won’t drink either.”
Zhang Yan, who had the bottle shoved to his face, had an awkward expression, a milky aroma wafting to his nose.
When Uncle went out earlier, he asked him to help supervise Little Brother drinking milk, but now Little Brother was threatening not to drink…
He hesitated, then lowered his head and gently bit the nipple of the bottle, pretending to take a sip, even making a swallowing motion, but actually drinking nothing. Then he said seriously, “Little Brother, I’ve drunk some. You drink it.”
Little Ye Rongxu looked at him suspiciously for a while, was indeed fooled, lowered his head and slurped a mouthful, then offered it to him again: “Brother drink.”
Just like that, the two of them, one sip for you, one (fake) sip for me, and finally the whole bottle of milk went into Ye Rongxu’s tummy.
Zhang Yan let out a soft sigh of relief.
Just then, Lin Xue returned with lunch. She was surprised to see that he had actually coaxed Ye Rongxu into finishing an entire bottle of milk.
Her Nannan, while not like some children who needed to be chased to eat and drink, was definitely not this easy.
Because of his poor health, his diet was strictly controlled, and little Ye Rongxu was also a bit delicate and picky, especially when sick. Every time she coaxed him to eat or drink, it took a lot of effort.
But today, even though Ye Rongxu was uncomfortably ill, he was incredibly well-behaved and obedient, both with eating and drinking, to an unbelievable degree.
Lin Xue couldn’t help but glance at Zhang Yan again, secretly feeling grateful that she had brought this child along, and thought: When Xiao Yan’s mother arrives, I must thank her properly.
It would be best to build a good relationship so that Xiao Yan’s mother agrees to let the two children play together more in the future.
Thinking this, Lin Xue’s smile grew even gentler. As she placed the lunch she brought back on the table, she praised, “Nannan finished the milk so quickly today, so obedient.”
Then she greeted Zhang Yan, “Xiao Yan, you weren’t full just now, were you? Come on, Auntie bought you delicious soup dumplings, several kinds of fillings. Which one do you like?”
Zhang Yan quickly shook his head, his expression shy, “Auntie, I’m full; I’m not hungry.”
He felt that he had already worn their clothes and eaten their food today, which was already a lot, and he really shouldn’t take more.
But he couldn’t resist Lin Xue’s gentle enthusiasm and her talent for coaxing children. Before long, he was holding a small soup dumpling, his expression blank.
Lin Xue had deliberately blown on the soup dumpling so it wasn’t too hot before placing it before his mouth. To her surprise, he fumbled and simply held it with his hands.
Lin Xue felt helpless. Seeing him hold it without eating, she smiled gently, “Eat quickly, otherwise it won’t taste good when it gets cold. But there’s soup inside, so first bite a small hole in the skin, drink the soup, then eat the rest.”
Zhang Yan was embarrassed. He held the small soup dumpling, lowered his head, and gently bit a hole in the thin skin. Instantly, rich, delicious soup flowed into his mouth, soaking his taste buds.
He truly hadn’t been full earlier, and he had never eaten anything so delicious. He couldn’t help but slurp up all the soup and eagerly bit into the plump filling.
His mouth was full of fresh aroma; the filling seemed to be meat, but he didn’t know what kind of meat it was, exceptionally fragrant and sweet. He rarely got to eat meat, and he couldn’t help but quickly swallow, feeling it was so delicious he could swallow his tongue.
Halfway through eating, he noticed the little sticky rice ball beside him looking at him curiously. Only then did he realize he was eating too eagerly, and his face flushed again, his expression shy.
However—
The little sticky rice ball, seeing him eat with such relish, couldn’t help but lean over and sniff, then hugged his arm, his little nose twitching, and he said in a milky voice, “Brother, it smells so good.”
Then he expectantly said, “I want some too.”
Zhang Yan’s little face was red. He was almost melted by his pitiful little eyes and, without thinking, offered the remaining half of the soup dumpling, saying seriously, “Little brother eat.”
Little Ye Rongxu was not polite and took a big bite.
Lin Xue was surprised that her son actually asked for food on his own and hadn’t recovered when she saw Zhang Yan actually feeding him and her son actually eating it. She quickly tried to stop them, “Hey, wait, you can’t eat that.”
She quickly reached out to block him, but Ye Rongxu had already bitten into the dumpling. Ye Boxuan just happened to come in, heard his wife’s voice, and rushed forward, pinching his son’s collar from behind with one hand.
Ye Rongxu suddenly felt like he was being held by fate’s neck, but he still wouldn’t let go of the dumpling in his mouth, whimpering and sobbing like a kitten protecting its food.
Zhang Yan felt inexplicably distressed and quickly stammered, “Uncle, Auntie, just let Little Brother eat it.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Rongxu immediately looked at him with teary eyes, as if clutching a lifeline, his little expression incredibly pitiful.
Unfortunately, his “heartless” parents weren’t swayed by this.
“Nannan, let go,” Ye Boxuan said gently, but his actions were very “ruthless.”
Zhang Yan, unaware of the situation, was extremely anxious.
Lin Xue quickly explained, “Little Brother’s daily food intake needs to be portioned; he can’t eat too much. Also, this is crab roe soup dumpling, and he’s sick right now; it’s not suitable for him to eat.”
And then she said to Ye Rongxu, “Nannan, let go quickly.”
Ye Rongxu’s spleen and stomach were weak, and he was sick. Crab roe was also cold in nature, so eating it might cause gastrointestinal discomfort.
Since the child had been physically weak since birth, his parents had always been careful about his diet once he was able to eat.
When Ye Boxuan heard it was crab roe filling, he didn’t hesitate and raised his hand to take the soup dumpling still clutched by his son.
Ye Rongxu realized he was only biting the dumpling skin, blinked his bewildered eyes, and let out a “wah” as if to cry.
Ye Boxuan and Lin Xue immediately felt a headache and rushed to comfort him together.
Zhang Yan also panicked and awkwardly coaxed, “Little Brother don’t cry. Little Brother can’t eat, so I won’t eat either.”
Ye Rongxu, with tears in his eyes, looked at him blankly.
Lin Xue and Ye Boxuan, of course, knew that their son wasn’t crying because he couldn’t eat the soup dumpling, but because it was taken from his mouth… well, because it was taken from his cat-like mouth, and it had nothing to do with whether Zhang Yan ate the soup dumpling or not.
Lin Xue felt both helpless and amused. This kid usually acted like a little emperor, needing to be coaxed and persuaded to eat, but now, seeing Xiao Yan eat, he looked eager, as if he usually wasn’t given food.
“Alright, you can eat it. You eat with Brother,” she semi-compromised.
In reality, she swapped Zhang Yan’s soup dumpling for a regular pork-filled one and whispered in his ear, “Xiao Yan, do Auntie a favor. When you get to the crab roe soup dumpling, eat it quickly. Don’t give it to this kid. If it’s a meat-filled one, you can give him a little less soup, not too much. He ate enough during lunch; he can’t eat any more.”
Zhang Yan immediately felt like he had received a major mission and nodded solemnly.
The couple coaxed and soothed, finally getting the little emperor to settle down. Then the two children sat intimately on the bed, heads close together, eating soup dumplings.
Zhang Yan held the small soup dumpling, first gently bit the skin, sucked a little soup, confirmed it was crab roe, and quickly swallowed it whole, finishing it in two gulps.
Ye Rongxu sat beside him, eagerly watching, craning his small, slender neck, sniffing lightly with his little nose.
When it was a meat-filled one, Zhang Yan held the soup dumpling out. Ye Rongxu quickly leaned down to his hand, gently sucked a little soup from the small opening he had bitten, then looked up, pursed his lips, and obediently said, “Brother, I’m done eating; you eat.” Then he continued to look on eagerly.
His pitiful little appearance, to anyone who didn’t know, would suggest he had been starved for days.
Moreover, he was handsome, with red lips and white teeth, dark and bright eyes, and fair skin, like a beautiful doll.
When such a beautiful child looked at people so pitifully, not to mention Zhang Yan, even Lin Xue and Ye Boxuan, who were used to their son’s appearance and had long been immune, couldn’t help but feel a sudden surge of softness, wanting to just let him eat anything.
But thinking of the miserable state their son would be in after eating too much, the couple shook their heads again, hardening their hearts and pretending not to see.
But while they could resist, Zhang Yan truly couldn’t. With just one look from the little brother’s pitiful eyes, he softened completely, unable to resist secretly feeding the little brother more soup and even an entire soup dumpling.
The result of eating too much was that Ye Rongxu lay on the hospital bed that afternoon, whimpering uncomfortably.
