About three hours later, the convoy arrived at Liu Yutong's hometown.
As they reached the old home, the air noticeably felt fresher.
The fields were bustling with activity—many villagers were planting rice seedlings. In the distance, the rice plants were a lush green, rippling like waves in the wind.
Liu Yutong rolled down the window and gazed at the vibrant scene outside, feeling an immense sense of relief.
Every time she returned to her hometown, she felt as if time moved slowly here.
So slow that she could hear the cicadas chirping, see the curling wisps of chimney smoke, and smell her grandmother’s old hen soup simmering on the stove.
Soon, the car pulled into the courtyard of a very grand rural villa.
“Grandpa! Grandma!”
“Ah, coming, coming!”
Grandma’s voice rang out from inside the house.
A moment later, an elderly woman with an apron tied around her waist and graying hair stepped out of the kitchen.
“Grandma, I’m home.”
Grandma took Liu Yutong’s hand, looked her over, and said with some concern: “It’s good you’re back, good you’re back. You look like you’ve lost a little weight—didn’t you eat well in the capital?”
“I ate well, but I got tired of it. I’ve been thinking about your cooking every day, Grandma.”
“Go wash your hands. Grandma’s made you chicken stew, your favorite bean-cake braised pork, and pork liver soup.”
Just as she finished speaking, Li Xiaohui suddenly popped her head out from behind Liu Yutong, grinning as she called out: “Grandma, I’m here too! Is there some for me?”
“Little Hui, you’re here too! Yes, yes, there’s plenty for everyone.”
Grandma beamed, unable to stop smiling. “Grandma’s made a lot of dishes. You look a bit thin too, dear—make sure to eat plenty later.”
“I’m not thin at all! I eat a ton, I just don’t seem to gain weight.”
“Grandma, I want to eat your sweet-and-sour fish—the same flavor as last time, with that tangy sweetness.”
“Yes, yes! They caught some big carp from the pond this morning. I’ll cook it for you right away.”
“Long live Grandma!”
Li Xiaohui cheered and turned back to wink at Liu Yutong. “Sister Yutong, did you hear that? Grandma’s making fish just for me!”
Liu Yutong ignored her and asked: “Where’s Grandpa?”
“He’s picking vegetables in the backyard with Yaya. That little girl is so hardworking—she follows Grandpa around every day helping out.” Grandma’s face lit up with wrinkles as she talked about Yaya.
In her mind, Liu Yutong quickly pictured the scene: a delicate, rosy-cheeked little girl holding up fruits and vegetables bigger than her own hands, toddling after her grandpa.
“I’ll go check on them in the back.”
“Me too, me too!” Li Xiaohui quickly followed.
They circled past the main hall and walked along a path paved with bluestone slabs. From a distance, they could hear a childish voice chatting away in the backyard vegetable garden.
“Grandpa, is this tomato the biggest of all? Sister will love it, right?”
“That’s right, that’s right—the one Yaya picked is the biggest and tastiest.”
“And this cucumber? Sister says eating cucumbers makes you prettier. I want to pick lots and lots of cucumbers for her, so she can become the prettiest person in the whole world!”
“Alright, alright, let’s pick a few more and fill up the basket.”
“Grandpa, look! There’s a little frog here. Ribbit, ribbit!”
“Don’t touch that—it’s a toad.”
“Eww, toads are so ugly! Will it eat our vegetables?”
“No, it eats pests. It’s a good friend helping protect our garden.”
“Then... then Yaya doesn’t hate it anymore. Good friends shouldn’t be hated—they should be cared for.”
Listening to this charmingly babyish conversation, Li Xiaohui felt her heart melt: “Sister Yutong, Yaya is way too adorable! I can’t take it!”
Liu Yutong’s heart was melting too.
In the garden, Grandpa was busy among the bean trellises, bent over. Beside him followed a tiny, cute figure—Yaya.
She wore a little pale pink dress and a pair of sandals that were clearly a few sizes too large, making her feet go pat-pat-pat like a little duck.
A few smudges of dirt were on her face, and her little skirt had gathered some mud stains. Right now, she was squatting on the ground, carefully poking a toad with a small twig and muttering to herself.
“Good friend, you be good, okay? Yaya won’t hurt you, and you don’t bite Yaya.”
The toad got annoyed from her poking and suddenly jumped into the grass.
Yaya let out an “Ah!” and plopped down onto the ground.
But she quickly propped herself up with her hands and stood up, patting herself clean, then turned around and saw Liu Yutong walking toward her.
The little girl’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Sister!”
Like a little butterfly, she fluttered over.
Liu Yutong crouched down and opened her arms, catching the flying little butterfly.
Yaya buried her head in Liu Yutong’s embrace, nuzzling her small face into her chest.
“Sister, Yaya missed you so, so, so much!”
Holding the soft little bundle in her arms, Liu Yutong said: “Sister missed you very much too, Yaya.”
Li Xiaohui, growing anxious from the sidelines, said: “Sister Yutong, let me hold her! Let me hold her! I want to get a dose of this little cutie too!”
Yaya only then noticed the person beside her and sweetly called out, “Hello, Sister Xiaohui!”
“Sister Xiaohui, your hair is so beautiful, just like a princess from a cartoon.”
Li Xiaohui was absolutely delighted by her compliment. “Haha... Yutong, did you hear that? She called me a princess! I’m taking her home with me! Nobody’s stopping me!”
With that, she reached out to take Yaya.
Yaya stretched out her little arms and let Li Xiaohui pick her up.
But after just a short while, Li Xiaohui started to struggle a bit. The kid might’ve looked skinny, but she was actually pretty solid and heavy.
“Sister Xiaohui, you’re holding me too tight. Yaya can barely breathe.”
“Ahh, sorry, sorry!”
Yaya giggled and reached out to touch Li Xiaohui’s purple hair. “Sister Xiaohui is so cute.”
Li Xiaohui was speechless for a moment.
She turned to look at Liu Yutong, her face dead serious. “Yutong, I hereby declare that from today onward, Yaya is my own little sister. Anyone who tries to take her from me is going to have to deal with me.”
Liu Yutong was equally speechless.
Are you saying… you want to fight me for her?
“Grandpa, dinner’s almost ready. Grandma said the chicken stew is done,” she called out.
Her grandfather had already noticed her. He straightened up, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and said, “Alright, after I pick these last few eggplants, I’ll head back.”
Just then, Yaya slipped out of Li Xiaohui’s arms and, once her feet hit the ground, ran right into the vegetable patch. She pulled out a tomato that was bigger than her own fist and held it up high with both hands.
“This is a tomato Yaya picked for you, sister! It’s super tasty! Really sweet!”
“Thank you, Yaya,” Liu Yutong said.
Yaya clapped her hands happily, then turned and ran back, bringing over all kinds of fruits and veggies.
“And this big melon—this one’s for you too, sister!”
“And green beans, and eggplants, and some baby bok choy…”
She ran back and forth like a busy little bee, carrying each item over, then looking up with her little face waiting for Liu Yutong’s praise. Every time she got it, she’d beam with joy—then turn around and race back to grab more.
Li Xiaohui stood nearby, watching in amazement. “Is this kid secretly a little hamster?”
Hearing that, Yaya corrected her seriously: “Yaya is not a hamster—Yaya is a little bunny! Grandpa said so. He says Yaya runs fast, just like a bunny!”
To show it, she even hopped a couple of times, her little skirt bouncing along with her, making her look exactly like a leaping white bunny.
Li Xiaohui immediately changed her tune: “Yaya’s right—you’re a bunny. The cutest little bunny in the whole wide world.”
Yaya thought for a moment then said, “Then Sister Xiaohui is a little purple bunny, because Sister Xiaohui’s hair is purple.”
“Alright, then I’m a little purple bunny! That makes us family!”
Li Xiaohui crouched down and pinched Yaya’s chubby cheeks. “Yaya, you really are just too adorable. Little Hui hereby declares that you are officially the cutest kid in the entire world—there is nobody cuter.”
Yaya replied, “Then Sister Xiaohui is the second cutest big person in the entire world.”
“Why second?” asked Li Xiaohui.
“Because the cutest is my sister,” Yaya said matter-of-factly.
Li Xiaohui clutched her chest dramatically, wearing an exaggerated expression of pain. “Wow, Yaya, you’ve wounded me. Little Hui’s heart is aching.”
Yaya immediately ran over, stood on tiptoe, and blew gently on Li Xiaohui’s chest. “Yaya will blow on it for you. Puff puff, all better now.”
Li Xiaohui was completely smitten. She hugged Yaya tightly and squealed: “I can’t!
I just can’t! You’re way too cute—I’m stealing you away! Right this second!”
“Try it,” Liu Yutong said, giving her a cool look.
“No, no, I’d never dare. Just kidding,” said Li Xiaohui, folding instantly.
The grandfather watched the girls fooling around with an even broader smile. He picked up his vegetable basket and walked over slowly.
“Alright, alright, enough fun. Time to head in for dinner.”
“Got it.”
Just as Liu Yutong was about to reach for Yaya, Li Xiaohui made a move first—she scooped Yaya up and swung her onto her shoulder. “Let’s gooo! Time to eat!”
Yaya grabbed onto Li Xiaohui’s purple hair with both little hands, giggling without stopping.
“Giddy up, giddy up! Little purple bunny, hurry! The big bad wolf is coming to get us!”
Liu Yutong: “...”
Who exactly is the big bad wolf?
...
