The carriage rolled onward, its wheels going “rumble, rumble,” mingling with the whining sobs of the little one clinging to Song Fengsui’s arms.
Duan Yan sat at the other end of the carriage, watching Little Ji cry until his soft hair was damp with sweat. He coaxed him, promising to carry him out to ride a horse, but the little boy only squirmed around in Song Fengsui’s arms, refusing to let Duan Yan hold him and take him outside.
Neither coaxing nor scolding could do anything about the little rascal.
The other carriage following behind presented an entirely different scene.
Little Shu sat in the corner by the window. He lifted his eyes and looked at the carriage ahead for what had to be the tenth time, but it showed no sign of stopping.
He pressed his lips tightly together and lowered his gaze. Beside him lay a pottery whistle, a clay puppy, a tangram, and more—all things Little Ji had left there earlier.
When the caravan had reached the relay station last night, they had said they would not take them away. So today, while they traveled, Little Shu had come over intending to sit in the carriage and continue playing with him.
Little Shu’s nostrils trembled faintly. His nose felt sour and uncomfortable.
But it wasn’t because of the two wounds on his index finger, which had bitten deep into the flesh.
Auntie Jiang had said that children were quick-tempered but forgetful. One moment they were a breeze, the next a rainstorm, and soon enough they would be perfectly fine again, happily playing as before.
But Auntie Jiang didn’t know that Little Ji had an excellent memory—and was very clever, too. After watching him put together the tangram only twice, he had already learned how to restore it himself.
He knew that adults sometimes said things only to coax children and keep them from being sad.
Just like how Auntie had said that his little father and father would come back, and that once he grew up, he would be able to see them again.
But he knew they were already dead.
Little Shu hugged the clay tiger-head whistle Little Ji had given him the first time they met.
He thought of the way the little boy had cried and said that he would never be friends with him again.
Little Shu felt flustered and afraid.
He was afraid that, just like his father and little father, his little friend would leave him—and that he would never see him again.
Little Shu clenched his hands.
“Auntie, I want to go find Chick.”
Lady Jiang had always been somewhat worried about Little Shu. Back in the Eastern Border, there had been other children who wanted to play with him, but Little Shu would always sit quietly by himself. He didn’t want to talk and refused to interact with the other children. Once they found him boring, they would run off on their own.
Little Shu had never shown any unhappiness or other emotion when children stopped playing with him. He simply shut himself away in his own little world.
The Qin family had been deeply concerned about him. They had found a physician to examine him, but the physician could discover nothing wrong. They had even asked an immortal for help. The old immortal said that the child had lost part of his soul, so he burned talisman paper and performed rituals twice.
No one knew whether it was the old immortal’s ritual that had worked or whether Little Shu had gradually recovered with time. Slowly, a little light returned to the child’s eyes, and he was no longer as blank and vacant as before. He still retained his habit of rarely speaking, however. The dull child had merely changed into a quiet one.
Regardless, he was much better than he had been before.
Because the child disliked speaking, the adults and servants who usually cared for him were all especially cautious. They did not speak much to him, afraid that they might touch upon something unpleasant and lodge it in his heart, causing the already withdrawn child to become even more troubled.
Lady Jiang felt great sympathy for him. At present, she was the person closest to Little Shu, and the one who could speak with him the most.
Little Shu had been heartbroken that morning, and she had spent quite some time soothing him. He had said nothing, though she had no idea whether he had truly felt better afterward.
They had been traveling in the carriage for some time. Although the child still behaved as he usually did and said nothing, his eyes betrayed him. He had looked toward the carriage ahead several times.
She had been thinking that once they reached the roadside pavilion, she would ask whether he wanted to go find Little Ji. She hadn’t expected him to speak first.
Lady Jiang was delighted and surprised to see such a change in Little Shu.
Meanwhile, Little Ji, who had been sprawled in Song Fengsui’s arms, finally tired himself out after crying and making a fuss for so long. He had stopped wailing, though his body still gave the occasional lingering sob.
His little face was buried in Song Fengsui’s chest. Now that he had stopped crying, his hands had nothing better to do, so he kept fiddling with the agate bead on the silk cord around his little father’s waist.
He was hungry.
He should have finished the goat’s milk his big brother had fed him.
Had his brother eaten the meat pie Father had made?
Little Father was right.
He was a little Chick, not a puppy. He shouldn’t have bitten his brother.
He wanted to give his big brother the bamboo dragonfly Father had given him earlier.
Thoughts came and went through Little Ji’s small head, one after another.
The carriage, which had been going “clack-clack” all this time, suddenly fell silent. Curious, he tilted his head out of Song Fengsui’s arms.
Was Father getting off the carriage?
When he turned his head, he discovered that Father was no longer inside.
He snorted like a horse.
Father was bad! He really had gone off to ride a horse!
Just as the little horse gave another snort, the carriage curtain was pulled open.
!
Little Ji immediately sat up in Song Fengsui’s arms.
Little Shu stepped into the carriage and came to a stop. He saw the little Chick with a pair of round, watery eyes, made even brighter by his tears, and a red nose.
Although he had been the one to suggest coming over, now that he was actually facing Little Ji, he felt a little at a loss.
He didn’t know how to explain that he hadn’t stayed silent because he disliked him. He also didn’t know whether Little Ji would still speak to him.
“Big Brother.”
Little Ji called out softly, testing the waters.
“Mm.”
Little Ji’s eyes lit up at once. He slid down from Song Fengsui’s arms and toddled over, throwing himself into Little Shu’s arms.
Little Shu froze for a moment. Then he moved his arm and, just as Little Chick had held his hand before, took the chubby little hand in his own.
Song Fengsui watched the two little ones and gave a soft laugh before pulling them over to sit properly.
“Now you two have made up. Little Shu and Little Ji are still the best of friends in the whole world.”
Little Shu glanced at the little Chick clinging tightly to his arm. His usually pursed lips lifted in a shy, fleeting smile.
“Little Shu, let Uncle Song take another look at your hand, all right? The weather is hot. If the wound hasn’t been properly disinfected and bandaged, it could become infected.”
Little Ji had been fighting to keep his blurry, still-aching eyes open nearby. When he heard Song Fengsui, he cried out anxiously, “I’m not poisonous!”
Song Fengsui smacked Little Ji lightly on the bottom. “Puppies aren’t poisonous, but biting people is still wrong!”
Little Shu held out his hand for Song Fengsui to examine, shielding the chubby and fierce Little Ji behind him. “Uncle Song, my hand doesn’t hurt. Don’t be angry with him.”
“Oh dear, it’s gotten this bad!”
Only then did Song Fengsui see Little Shu’s index finger, and he couldn’t help inhaling sharply.
He had sent medicine over earlier, but it seemed Little Shu still hadn’t been willing to let Young Lady Jiang examine his hand, which was why it had never been bandaged.
The small finger was split open, and redness had spread all around the wound where the flesh had been torn.
He had thought Little Ji had merely given him a light nip. Since Little Shu had refused to show anyone his hand, they had assumed it was truly nothing serious.
He hadn’t expected the bite to have broken the skin so deeply. And Little Shu hadn’t cried or complained about it at all.
At that moment, Song Fengsui wanted even more to give the little rascal a beating. He had bitten someone, yet he was the one who had bawled for so long and acted as though he were the victim.
Honestly, who had bullied whom?
When Little Ji saw Little Shu’s finger, he panicked too. His eyes reddened, and tears began spilling out again. He hurried to fetch his little dad’s medicine chest.
“Big Brother, I’ll never bite you again.”
He crouched in front of Little Shu. While watching tearfully as his little dad applied the medicine, he puffed out his cheeks and gently blew on Little Shu’s finger.
“Even if you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll still be nice to you.”
“You’re such a naughty little chick. Big Brother might not want to be nice to you anymore.”
“No!”
Little Ji shouted and threw his arms around Little Shu.
Then he turned his head and looked at him pitifully.
Little Shu nodded. “Mm.”
Little Chick wasn’t poisonous, and he wasn’t bad.
Song Fengsui chuckled. He leaned out of the carriage and asked Duan Yan to bring them something to eat.
It was sweet, sticky lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice and scented with osmanthus.
Little Ji had been hungry for ages, and Little Shu hadn’t eaten anything that morning either. The two little boys ate the pastries together.
The carriage filled with a sweet, fragrant scent.
Duan Yan came over to the carriage and asked the two little friends who had finally made up whether they wanted to ride horses. Little Ji was so delighted he nearly jumped for joy, but then he turned to look at the quiet Little Shu.
Only after Little Shu nodded did Little Ji happily take him outside.
They rode horses together, played with toys, and ate snacks. For several days, the two little fellows were inseparable. Even at night, they played on the bed for a long while, until their eyes were spinning with sleep. Neither of them knew when they had drifted off.
When Song Fengsui went to carry Little Ji away, the two little boys were still clutching each other’s hands tightly.
He gently pried their hands apart, but Little Ji woke up. When he heard that it was time to leave, he kicked his little legs and refused to go, making a fuss about wanting to sleep with Little Shu.
Little Shu also rubbed his eyes awake and caught hold of Little Ji’s clothes, unwilling to let Song Fengsui carry him away…
After traveling for more than two months, the convoy arrived in the capital at dusk.
The summer evening sky blazed with color, and the majestic capital city stood grand and imposing.
The convoy paused briefly before the city gates. The adults climbed out of their carriages and gazed at the prosperous capital for a long time, their eyes filled with countless indescribable joys and sorrows.
Years had passed since they had last parted. Everything had changed, yet everything remained the same.
“Papa said that once we enter the city, we’ll be home.”
“Mm.”
Little Ji buried his head in Little Qin Shu’s arms. His reluctance to part far outweighed his curiosity about their new home.
Unlike usual, when he would happily run out of the carriage upon arriving somewhere new, he clung to Little Shu and mumbled gloomily, “Big Brother can’t come home with me?”
Little Shu lowered his head and looked at the chubby chick wriggling around in his arms. Little Ji was so heavy that he was almost crushing the breath out of him, but Little Shu couldn’t bear to let him go either.
The evening glow spilled into the carriage, casting everything in a warm red light. Yet there was not much warmth in it.
He pinched the Little Chick’s soft ear. “Remember me, and I’ll come find you.”
Little Ji lifted his head. “Of course I’ll remember you, Big Brother!”
Looking at Little Shu’s fair face and long eyelashes, Little Ji blinked. Then he leaned toward his cheek.
Little Shu froze for a moment, his lashes fluttering. In the next instant, he saw Little Ji’s eyes curve into a smile, revealing a few small, tender white teeth.
“I’m only going to be friends with Big Brother.”
