Knowing that his big brother was traveling with the group, Little Ji—who had been drooping miserably on the road—immediately perked up again.
He leaned over the carriage window, craning his neck to look at the carriage following behind them. The wheels kept turning and turning for a long while, but no one ever opened the window of the carriage behind them.
Little Ji climbed down from the window and ran back to sit beside Papa.
Song Fengsui was flipping through a miscellaneous book. When he saw the little one return, he wrapped an arm around him.
Little Ji glanced up and saw that Papa was reading and ignoring him. Too embarrassed to say that he wanted to go find Little Shu, he climbed up along Song Fengsui’s leg and into his arms instead, wriggling all over him and babbling coquettishly.
The little one’s fluffy head tickled Song Fengsui’s neck. He closed his book and asked, “What is it?”
Little Ji wrapped his arms around Song Fengsui’s neck and buried his face against his collarbone. In a muffled voice, he said, “Hot.”
Song Fengsui lifted the hem of the little one’s shirt and slipped a hand inside to feel around. He was indeed warm.
The sky had cleared today, and the early-summer temperature was climbing. But since Little Ji had stayed inside the carriage instead of running around outside, he had not even worked up a sweat beneath his undershirt.
“Then undo two buttons on your outer shirt. It’s the change of seasons, so don’t be too eager to cool off. It wouldn’t be good if you fell ill.”
After his shirt was loosened, Little Ji began clamoring for water.
Song Fengsui patiently indulged him for a while. The little rascal had drunk some water and eaten something, yet he was still whining and fidgeting, unable to settle down no matter what.
That was when Song Fengsui saw through him.
“Do you want to go find Little Shu?”
His thoughts exposed, Little Ji immediately stopped fussing. He buried his little face in Song Fengsui’s arms and gave a soft hum.
Song Fengsui patted him on the bottom, understanding that the little rascal wanted to go play with someone.
The journey was dull to begin with, and children had limited patience. Now that Little Ji had finally met another child, how could he not be thinking about him?
Children around three years old naturally liked playing with children a little older than themselves.
“You can go find Little Shu, but Little Shu was frightened yesterday. If he doesn’t feel like playing with you, you mustn’t pester him too much.”
Little Ji happily bounced to his feet. “Okay!”
The caravan passed an inn up ahead and stopped briefly to replenish its water.
Lady Jiang asked Qin Shu whether he wanted to get out and walk around, but Little Shu shook his head and quietly watched the curtain that had been rolled up.
“Then Auntie Jiang will go add some tea water. I’ll be back soon. If you need anything, call for the people outside.”
After giving him those instructions, Lady Jiang climbed down from the carriage and hurried toward the inn’s outhouse.
Young ladies were shy by nature. When traveling, even if they were suddenly in desperate need of the privy, they felt too embarrassed to call for the caravan to stop and let them relieve themselves. They could only wait until the next rest stop at an inn.
A breeze slipped in through the window, and Little Shu thought he caught the scent of wild gardenias.
The carriage suddenly swayed lightly. The door curtain parted a crack, and a chubby little figure squeezed through.
“Big brother.”
When Little Ji saw Little Shu sitting quietly in one corner of the carriage, his eyes grew even rounder with delight. He ran over and threw himself toward him.
Little Shu looked at the child who had stopped in front of him. Just as yesterday, he did not say a word.
Little Ji offered him the clay whistle he had been holding in his arms.
Little Shu glanced at the colorful clay toy shaped like a tiger’s head. His nose tingled, and his long lashes fluttered once before he lowered his eyes and turned his head away.
“Big brother doesn’t like the clay whistle?”
Little Ji held one of the tiger’s ears up to his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and blew twice. The toy immediately let out a sound.
“See? It can make noise!”
Little Ji plopped himself down beside Little Shu, entirely at ease, and handed the clay whistle to him once more.
But Big Brother still did not move.
Little Ji looked at the clay whistle, then at Little Shu, puzzled about why Big Brother neither spoke nor played with the toy.
He blinked his round, glossy black eyes, reached out to take Little Shu’s hand, and called softly again, “Big brother.”
Little Shu pressed his lips together, but in the end he took the tiger-headed clay whistle into his hand.
Little Ji immediately brightened. He stood up and hopped around Little Shu in two circles, chattering away to himself.
Little Shu understood some of what he said. He heard Little Ji promise to give him the most delicious sweet cakes, say that they would catch butterflies together, and even tell him that he could ride his papa’s big black horse...
There were also things he could not understand. Little Shu knew he was still too young and had not learned some of the words yet.
By the time Lady Jiang returned, she had just climbed into the carriage when she was met by a pair of pleading eyes.
Little Ji had tired himself out from all his hopping and bouncing. His eyelids were drooping, yet he was still reluctant to leave. His head bobbed once, then again, as he continued talking to Little Shu. In truth, what came out was already sleepy nonsense, and Little Shu could not understand a single word.
Little Shu watched as the heavy head slumped against him. The child had fallen asleep just like that.
He panicked a little and did not dare move. He was afraid that calling for Auntie Jiang would wake him, so he could only sit stiffly and wait for her to return.
Lady Jiang laughed as she went over and picked Little Ji up, freeing Little Shu at last.
When she lifted Little Ji, she could not help letting out a soft exclamation. “What a heavy little thing.”
Little Shu had been secretly rubbing the arm that had gone numb from Little Ji’s weight. Hearing Auntie Jiang’s remark, the corners of his mouth lifted briefly.
From that day on, whether the sky was clear or the rain was falling, Little Ji went to find Little Shu.
When they were traveling, he would slip into Little Shu’s carriage. Whenever they made camp or stayed at an inn, he would insist on sleeping in the same place as Little Shu. But Little Shu only allowed him to play in the carriage and refused to let him sleep in his tent.
So Little Ji begged for his tent to be pitched beside Big Brother’s whenever they camped. When they stayed at an inn, he insisted on having the room next door, so that whenever he grew sleepy, he could return to his own bed nearby.
By this day, they were only two or three days from the capital. Little Ji carried two meat buns Papa had made for him and went to share them with Little Shu.
When he reached the door of the room next door, he heard voices inside.
“We’ll be in the capital soon. Then you’ll get to meet your uncle and aunt, as well as your older brothers and sisters. Our Little Shu won’t be alone anymore.”
Lady Jiang was folding Little Shu’s clothes. June had already brought the heat of summer, and the clothes from spring were too warm to wear. Although they were nearly at the capital and taking out the trunks to switch to seasonal clothing would be troublesome, the weather had grown hot. Children ran warm, and she was afraid he would develop prickly heat if he was bundled up too much, so she had taken out a couple of lightweight outfits for him.
Little Shu reached out and touched the two cups of goat’s milk sitting at the edge of the table. They had been warmed and brought up some time ago.
He looked toward the door of the room three times, but the familiar figure still had not appeared. He was beginning to worry that the goat’s milk would grow cold and become unpleasant to drink.
He did not hear Auntie Jiang’s words very clearly and only answered with a soft “Mm.”
At that, Lady Jiang put down the clothes in her hands and looked toward the child sitting beside the table, a smile plain on her face.
In the past, whenever she spoke to Little Shu, he had only nodded or shaken his head. Now, he had actually given her a rare verbal response.
She thought Little Shu must be happy to be going to see his uncle and aunt, which was why he had been willing to respond.
“Your uncle and aunt are living in a very spacious place now. When we get there, how about having your older brothers and sisters show you around and play with you?”
Little Shu answered, “Okay.”
He seemed a little distracted, lightly kicking the leg of the table with his foot. He had clearly said he wanted some goat’s milk, so why hadn’t it come yet? Had Little Chick fallen asleep again?
Just as he was wondering about it, a familiar figure appeared, carrying two flatbreads as he stepped over the threshold and into the room.
“Little Ji is here.”
Lady Jiang was in a good mood. Seeing the usually round, chubby little figure dressed in fewer layers today, she had expected him to look thinner, but he was still just as plump and round. Her smile widened.
“Go have breakfast with your big brother. Once you’ve eaten, we’ll be setting off.”
Little Ji pressed his lips tightly together. He did not even greet Auntie Jiang. Dragging his feet over to the table, he handed the two flatbreads he had been carrying to Little Shu.
From the moment Little Chick entered the room, Little Shu had noticed that he seemed different from usual. Little Shu did not know what was wrong, nor did he know how to ask. He simply accepted the flatbreads and lifted the bowl of goat’s milk beside him to Little Chick’s mouth.
Little Chick took a sip of the goat’s milk he usually loved, but today it suddenly tasted awful. He felt unbearably aggrieved, and before he knew it, he sank his teeth into Little Shu’s finger.
Little Shu had not expected Little Chick to bite him. The little boy bit down hard, and pain shot through his hand, spilling the goat’s milk. Even so, he did not push Little Chick away.
It was only when Lady Jiang heard the commotion and hurried over that she quickly separated the two children.
Little Ji burst into tears. “Big brother is mean!”
“I don’t want to be friends with big brother ever again!”
Song Fengsui, who had been packing up next door, heard Little Ji crying and hurried over. “What happened?”
Lady Jiang looked just as bewildered. “I don’t know what came over them. They were eating together just fine a moment ago, and then they suddenly started fighting. A-Ji bit Little Shu.”
Hearing that, Song Fengsui immediately went to look at Little Shu’s hand.
Little Shu tightly covered his finger and tucked it inside his sleeve, refusing to show it to anyone. He shook his head and would not take it out.
Even when Lady Jiang asked him to show her, he refused.
Song Fengsui had no choice but to bring the sobbing Little Ji over to him. “How could you bite your big brother? Are you a puppy?”
Little Shu watched Little Ji cry so hard. He took a small step forward, his brows drawn together, seeming eager to know why Little Ji was crying and saying such things.
Seeing that Little Ji was crying without answering, Lady Jiang quickly said, “Was the goat’s milk too hot? Did it scald Little Ji?”
Song Fengsui was about to check whether Little Ji had burned his mouth, but Little Ji turned his head away and would not let Papa look. He cried loudly, “Big brother can talk!”
“Big brother just won’t talk to me.”
The more Little Ji spoke, the sadder he became. “Big brother doesn’t like me. I don’t like big brother either.”
The two adults in the room were both stunned.
Little Shu had always been quiet. Whenever the two of them played together, Little Ji was the one who chattered nonstop, while Little Shu quietly listened.
After spending all this time together, Little Ji had always thought that Little Shu could not speak, or perhaps had not yet learned how. Little Shu’s silence had never upset him. But today, when he suddenly heard Little Shu speaking to Auntie Jiang, he could not bear it anymore.
In his little head, he thought that big brother really did not like him after all.
Song Fengsui pieced together what had happened and could only think, Good grief…
“Big brother just doesn’t like talking. He never said that he didn’t like you. But whether he likes you or not, you still shouldn’t have bitten him.”
Little Ji only cried harder. He refused to apologize to his big brother despite Papa’s coaxing. Instead, he tugged on Song Fengsui and kept saying that he wanted to leave.
Little Ji rarely cried, but once he started, he was difficult to calm down. Song Fengsui wanted to check Little Shu’s hand again, but Little Shu, who had been standing quietly to one side, still refused to hold it out.
What stubborn little brats they were—each stubborn in his own way.
Lady Jiang could not persuade Little Shu either, so she told Song Fengsui to take Little Ji back and soothe him first.
When young children played together, it was only natural for them to bump into one another and have little squabbles. It was nothing unusual.
Song Fengsui had no choice but to carry the little boy back, planning to bring some ointment and bandages for Little Shu later.
After they left, Little Shu stood quietly to one side, staring at the goat’s milk spilled all over the floor.
The usually taciturn child, who rarely showed his emotions, suddenly found his eyes turning red. In a small, flustered voice, he asked Auntie Jiang, “He hates me now.”
“Will he never talk to me again?”
