Su Youli’s little hands were black from gripping the sweet potato, and there was also a bit of ash smudged on his face.
His greedy little mouth immediately snapped shut, and his eyes sparkled. “I’m going! I want to go!”
He was going to find his brother! The four children, guided by their accompanying cameramen, set off on their quest to find their family members. Just as Su Youli, led by the little lamb by the hand, left Grandma Zhang’s house, a burst of shrill screams erupted behind them.
“Why does Su Youli get to have a little lamb with him? I want one too!” Cen Yuankai’s piercing voice startled Su Youli.
The little one, holding the lamb’s hand, tilted his head. It seemed he really was the only one with a lamb companion. Su Youli pressed his lips together, then raised his little arms and gave the lamb a big hug.
“Bye-bye, little lamb!”
Tang Dou, stifled inside the costume, watched as the little one let go of him, his small back carrying his little Stitch water bottle as he set off. Throughout their time together, Tang Dou had always felt that Su Youli was a rather timid child who only felt comfortable moving within spaces he deemed safe.
But now, the three-head-tall child’s figure gradually melted into the blue dusk. Walking along the village path, his little body would wobble whenever he accidentally stepped on a small stone. Tang Dou was extremely worried. This was the first time Su Youli was independently completing a task without the company of someone familiar. How could he possibly rest easy?
The director patted the shoulder of the little lamb, who had removed his headpiece, and comforted him. “Don’t worry, there are plenty of people following him.”
To ensure Su Youli’s safety, in addition to the production crew, Shen Minyan had also specially arranged for several well-trained bodyguards to pose as crew members and stay close to Su Youli. The frogs in the rice paddies croaked one after another. Su Youli gripped his little water bottle tightly with both hands and followed the photographer uncle’s directions.
After walking for five minutes, they turned a corner behind Grandma Zhang’s house and reached a narrow path. Although the crew had lit the area around the little one, the road ahead was pitch black. Su Youli stopped under a streetlamp at the corner and refused to go any further. The cameraman had been following him the whole time; the child hadn’t said a single word.
How could a child this age not be afraid of the dark? Especially in the village at night, the cold wind whistled, and the evening breeze rustling through the leaves had an eerie quality. The little one looked at the dark road ahead and refused to take another step. The crew members who had scouted the location knew that this was the only stretch of road that was truly challenging for Su Youli.
The cameraman said gently, “Youyou, are you tired? How about we rest for a while before continuing?”
The little one leaned his body against the lamppost and shook his head. Even though he was very scared, Big Brother was lost. If he didn’t find Big Brother, bad people might take him away.
The cameraman uncle smiled. “Your big brother is an adult. Kidnappers can’t take him.”
Su Youli had grown up in a small town with many left-behind children. It was common for children to get lost and be taken by traffickers. From a young age, his two fathers had taught him to always be careful not to be kidnapped. So the little one thought being lost was a very serious matter. It meant encountering bad people.
Youyou shook his little head. No, he couldn’t be afraid. Big Brother was waiting for him to rescue him! But the little one was indeed very young. He knew there were many things he couldn’t accomplish on his own. He needed to think of a way. The cameraman saw him let go of the lamppost and breathed a sigh of relief. Then his pants were tugged by two small hands.
“Uncle, please help~”
Under the lamppost was a soft, adorable little face, wearing a pleading expression, staring at the cameraman with big, sparkling eyes. The cameraman froze. Professional ethics made him hesitate for two seconds before shaking his head.
Su Youli pouted, grabbed the photographer uncle’s pants with both hands, and started shaking them. “Uncle, please help Youyou.”
Say yes! Say yes!
The cameraman felt countless pairs of eyes on his back. If he didn’t agree, he’d probably be cursed out after work tonight. But wouldn’t that be cheating?
“How do you want Uncle to help?”
Even at his young age, Su Youli knew he couldn’t break the game rules. Otherwise, why would he have parted ways with the lamb just now when Cen Yuankai complained about it?
“Uncle, stay by my side.”
The cameraman was usually either walking ahead of him with his back turned or moving side to side to film him from behind. His shadow moving around made Su Youli feel insecure. With such a simple request, the cameraman wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he refused. He held his camera and walked beside Su Youli, always keeping a distance of about two meters.
In the frame, Su Youli’s small back was heart-meltingly cute. The other three children weren’t completing their tasks very well either. Niu Niu walked while crying, even stopping for five minutes in the middle, saying she didn’t want to find her father. To encourage her, the accompanying crew member said her father was waiting for her and missed her so much he was about to cry.
Niu Niu lifted her chubby face and shouted tearfully, “My father wouldn’t wait for me! He wouldn’t miss me either!”
Little extrovert Mi Le, the oldest of the children, was quite brave. He walked along, using his hand as a microphone, shouting, “Brother—”
“Mi Huan—where are you—”
He also complained that his brother was already a university student and still got lost.
Mi Le put his chubby little hand to his forehead and said earnestly, “My brother is really worrisome.”
The one who gave the director team the biggest headache was Cen Yuankai. The boy stubbornly refused to do the task, demanding that the production team give him cake. That was definitely not allowed. The director team refused to agree. Perhaps because his father wasn’t there, after a ten-minute standoff with the adults, Cen Yuankai reluctantly set off with his little flashlight.
Along the way, this little young master complained of either a stomachache or leg pain, and after walking for a short while, he started rolling on the ground. This was the most uncooperative child the production team had encountered in all their years of work. Everyone found it very frustrating. Not only was the footage poor, but more importantly, the difficulty of their work had greatly increased.
Everyone could only sigh. Why hadn’t they been lucky enough to draw one of the other children? Bamboo shadows swayed in the moonlight. Su Youli, wearing his pale yellow little jacket, held up his little flashlight, not missing a single spot. The beam of light startled a small cat by the roadside.
“Big Brother, where are you?”
At that moment, Shen Yan was crouched in an inconspicuous corner, holding the bamboo basket and thermos the whole time, afraid of dirtying them. He also had a cameraman with him. In the frame, the newly crowned Best Actor, known for his cool image, now had a slightly ridiculous posture, his head sticking out halfway, ears perked up, listening intently to the sounds around him.
“Youyou is coming, isn’t he? I hear his voice!”
The cameraman focused his lens on a cat that had just jumped down from a wall.
Shen Yan: “…”
If you like what I do, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi, Patreon, or PayPal <3.
