“Today, my teacher gave me lots of little red flowers—one for Mom, one for Dad, and one for my sister.” The customized Alphard nanny van was plastered with pink stickers, and inside, Little Le Qing proudly held up the small red flowers drawn in her little notebook, carefully handing them out to her parents one by one.
The teacher said these were rewards only for well-behaved children, so she thought the red flowers should also be given to the people she liked. The little prizes the teacher handed out were all stuffed tightly into her bag as well.
Every day when Mom and Dad came to pick up her older sister from school, this scene would replay. Dressed in a little princess dress, her sister looked like a delicate doll, with rosy lips and bright teeth. Her once-thin, almost skeletal face now glowed with a soft pink flush; the baby fat on her cheeks hadn’t yet faded—soft and plump, a little bundle that could melt anyone’s heart.
Little Le Qing sat in her safety seat, dividing today’s prizes into four portions, planning to give one to her sister as soon as she came out of school.
Every day, she would come with Mother Le to pick up her older sister from elementary school.
Once the car was parked, Little Le Qing’s safety belt was unbuckled, and she stood up, leaning against the window to watch the world outside.
School hadn’t let out yet, and outside the car was crowded with people and vehicles, but she loved watching it all. She was curious about everything she had never seen before, full of endless wonder about the world.
Mother Le patiently explained everything outside to her daughter every time, even though the little girl might forget it all within days.
But curiosity is the first step for a child to explore the world; it should never be stifled. Mother Le hoped her daughter could boldly get to know the world and learn to love everything she liked.
After listening for a while, Little Le Qing’s big eyes scanned her surroundings again, but her gaze suddenly stopped at one spot. Tilting her little head, she looked at the person clearly and was a bit surprised.
“That’s that boy,” she said.
“What boy?” asked Mother Le.
“The boy in the park—the very handsome boy,” Little Le Qing pointed to a small boy in the distance, tidying up some cardboard.
Mother Le vaguely remembered him. That day when they were looking for the kids, she saw Little Le Qing holding hands with a boy, both of them eating spicy snacks, their mouths and hands covered in red oil, unwilling to let go of each other’s hands.
She frowned. “Doesn’t he have a family?”
How could a child who has a family live in such hardship?
At only a few years old, he was already learning to collect cardboard on the streets.
“He does,” Little Le Qing nodded, then shook her head. “Or maybe he doesn’t.”
She believed that a place where your family treats you badly isn’t really a home.
Just like her own family—her parents and sister—even though they weren’t always related, everyone was kind to each other, so she believed that was a real family.
Back at the orphanage, although the director always said they were a family, Little Le Qing never felt it was truly home.
Home is such a complicated thing.
Little Le Qing slung her little backpack on her back. “Mom, I want to go find that boy to play.”
“He’s not playing,” Mother Le explained. “He’s living.”
Little Le Qing thought for a moment. “Then I’ll help him live—I’m his friend.”
Mother Le smiled gently, "Alright."
For families like theirs, if a child likes someone, helping a less fortunate friend financially in the future is just a matter of course. There’s no need to interfere too much in the child's social life.
"Do you want Mom to go with you?" she asked.
"No need," Little Le Qing shook her head. "Kids have their own things to talk about."
Besides, she always felt that if Mom was around, her brother wouldn’t want to play with her.
Mother Le didn’t say anything more. "Okay."
Every day, two children had to be picked up from school. She couldn’t bear to leave it to the nanny, so she always came in person, accompanied by two bodyguards to ensure the kids’ safety.
Little Le Qing was carried down from the car by her mother, completely unaware that others were following behind her.
At this moment, Little Xie Suizhi was tidying up cardboard boxes outside nearby shops. He had a small cart, specially made for him by the elderly man downstairs who collected recyclables. Every day, he would pull the little cart to help that old man gather cardboard and plastic bottles.
He loved coming to this place the most because the school environment was good, surrounded by many security guards. As a child, it was very safe for him to stay here picking up scraps, and no one would snatch things away from him.
Also, the small shops here sold expensive goods, so their packaging was nice and neat, and the stores weren’t crowded. After a while, the shop owners would even save things for him.
Sometimes, he could even find stationery that other kids didn’t want—good quality and very useful.
His relatives who raised him never sent him to kindergarten, so he would pick up things by himself and use them to write and draw. He could also watch TV at the recycler grandfather’s place. Now, he already knew how to count, could say simple greetings in English along with the children on TV, and even recognized the alphabet.
Little Xie Suizhi quietly folded the cardboard boxes, which the shop owners had placed at the door, bit by bit. When his small hands couldn’t manage, he used his foot to press them down.
But this time, the cardboard was a bit stiff. He pressed for a long time, yet it still popped back up. Standing there, he quietly stared at the pile. Just as he was about to think of another way, suddenly a small head peeked out from behind the cardboard.
It was a little girl with two buns tied up on her head, each adorned with a butterfly hair tie that swayed lively with her movements.
Her eyes sparkled with light. Since the first time they met, it seemed she had never once looked unhappy.
Ever since that day when he held this little sister’s hand, Xie Suizhi felt his feelings had deepened. He wanted to hold her hand more, but he couldn’t find her anywhere, and deep down, he sensed this wasn’t a very good thing.
No one else was as strange as him.
At this moment, Xie Suizhi looked quietly at the little sister who had just peeked out. He stayed silent for a long time.
Instead, the little sister leaned on the cardboard, not minding the dirt, propping her chin up and smiling with her eyes curved like crescent moons as she waved, "Hello, big brother~"
Xie Suizhi pursed his lips tightly, his small hands clenched into fists.
He felt that rejecting this little sister was even harder than pressing down the cardboard. How was it that she was everywhere he looked?
But Little Le Qing didn’t notice her brother’s reaction at all. She was still lying on the pile of cardboard, once again marveling at how tough this little kid was: “This is so big!”
She saw her brother struggling to press down on it. “Do you want me to help, big brother?”
At last, Little Xie Suizhi stirred. He didn’t want his little sister’s white dress to get dirty.
“No need,” he said, his tone a bit stiff.
“Many hands make light work. I’m very smart.” Little Le Qing moved her head aside, then lifted the hem of her skirt without hesitation and plopped herself right down on the pile of cardboard. Sure enough, it worked much better than her brother pressing down with his foot.
She said proudly, “See? I’m smart. Mom said I’ve gotten a lot heavier, so this helps too.”
Mom and Dad loved pinching her cheeks the most, always saying how chubby she was.
Being chubby had its perks.
Little Le Qing sat on the cardboard. “Big brother, I’m helping you sit on it. You just have to carry it up.”
“Your skirt,” Xie Suizhi pointed to the hem of her dress. “It’s dirty.”
Little Le Qing looked down, then waved her hand dismissively. “It’s okay. I didn’t get it dirty on purpose.”
As long as she wasn’t doing something bad, Mom and Dad wouldn’t scold her. Besides, they never really did.
Xie Suizhi looked at her deeply.
To him, his sister was like someone from the heavens, yet here she was, repeatedly coming close to the dusty, shadowed corner where he was struggling. She was his very first friend.
This realization was something a boy so young couldn’t resist. He wanted to get even closer.
He silently finished stacking the remaining pieces of cardboard and placed them on the little cart. Little Le Qing jumped down and sat back on it, puffing and pushing to flatten the pile, almost regretting she hadn’t grown a few more pounds.
Soon, the cardboard on the cart reached the heaviest weight Xie Suizhi could pull. But he didn’t want to stop, because after this, he didn’t know when he’d get to see this sister again.
He lowered his gaze gently, watching his sister’s little hands, covered in the same dust as his own. “I’ll take you to wash your hands.”
“Okay.”
Since they were familiar with the nearby shopkeepers, Xie Suizhi was able to borrow the small washbasin outside one of the stores.
After a few steps, he stopped, his eyes fixed on her hands, while his own itched to reach out.
“Can I hold your hand?” he asked.
His question was answered when his sister took his hand first. She even swung it a little. “Of course! We’re friends.”
Good friends held hands. That’s how kids in kindergarten did it too.
The restless feelings inside him seemed to fade at that moment. Xie Suizhi tried hard not to be so nervous or so excited. He was afraid his strangeness would scare her away—and then he’d have no friends at all.
At the washbasin, Xie Suizhi turned the faucet on just a little, so the water wouldn’t splash and ruin her skirt. He bent down, holding her hand under the gentle stream.
But her little hands were short, and it was hard to reach the water.
He thought for a moment, then cupped some water in one hand and gently poured it, bit by bit, over his sister’s hand, washing away the dust from her delicate skin.
It was a bit slow.
But Little Le Qing didn’t feel it was slow at all. She stood obediently, letting her brother carefully wash her hands.
It wasn’t until his hand brushed over the little flower stamped on the back of her hand that she spoke up: “Don’t wash this.”
Xie Suizhi looked a bit puzzled.
“That’s a stamp from the teacher. Only excellent kids get it,” Little Le Qing said brightly.
The teacher didn’t just stamp their hands; she also gave paper flowers to the kids. But the ones stamped on their hands couldn’t be shared with their older sister or parents.
“Teacher?”
That word was both familiar and strange to Xie Suizhi.
He looked down at the few little flowers, feeling very envious.
“Are you going to school?” he asked.
“I’m in the middle class of kindergarten,” Little Le Qing said. “I’m the assistant class monitor.”
Xie Suizhi nodded but still didn’t raise his eyes. This time, however, he was even more careful washing her hands, avoiding touching those little red flowers. “School must be fun,” he said.
“It is.”
Little Le Qing was about to say more, but suddenly she thought that her brother should be going to school too. Yet right now, it seemed like he couldn’t go to school.
Just like the older brothers and sisters at the orphanage.
After thinking for a moment, she pulled her hand out of her brother’s palm, not caring if it was still wet, and turned to open her little backpack. At the very moment she withdrew her hand, Xie Suizhi’s eyes flashed with a fleeting emptiness and sadness.
“This is for you, brother!” she said, pulling out a small pouch and a little red flower.
It was the one she had saved for herself just now.
Xie Suizhi was stunned. “For… me?”
“Good kids all get one,” Little Le Qing said, pressing the pouch into his arms. Then she took the little red flower, skillfully peeled off the backing, and stuck it on his shirt, giving it a little pat with her small hand.
“I think you’re great, brother. You should have one too.”
It was the first time Xie Suizhi had ever been praised by anyone. He blinked in surprise, looking down at the bright red flower pinned to his chest.
It was the kind he had only ever seen on TV.
“I’m not good,” he said.
“Pah, pah, pah,” Little Le Qing said, pointing at the flower. “Brother is a hardworking and strong good boy, just like my sister. You deserve one.”
After saying that, she obediently stretched her hand toward the little sink again, waiting for her brother to wash her hands once more. “Brother is good to his little sister.”
Not really.
Xie Suizhi thought to himself, the truth being that he was only good to his sister because she was special.
No one else was like her—special enough to make him want to touch her, to persistently come close to a little beggar like him.
But he really didn’t want to give up the little red flower, just like he couldn’t help but want to be close to this little sister, even though he pushed others away.
He must be strange.
Yet at this very moment, he was greedy, unwilling to tell her the truth. If he did, she might not want to stay with him a little longer.
Xie Suizhi slowly calmed himself down and reached out again, washing his sister’s hands even more carefully this time.
“Do you go to school here?” he asked.
“No,” Little Le Qing shook her head. “It’s my sister. I come with Mom to pick her up from school, but soon I’ll be going to school with her.”
Sister?
He had heard from the uncles and aunties running the nearby shops that the students here all came from wealthy families.
Little Le Qing’s family must be rich too.
Little Xie Suizhi glanced down at his own pants, now so worn and short they exposed his ankles.
He wondered how many pieces of discarded cardboard he’d have to collect to afford a school like this.
Could he try harder?
Lost in thought, he noticed a sudden stir ahead—school was letting out.
Usually, at this time, Little Xie Suizhi would quickly leave, because as the crowd grew, it became difficult for a small kid like him to maneuver his little cart through the throng.
But today…
She was here to pick up her sister, and once she did, they’d go home together.
The last time they met had been so long ago that he almost felt as if he’d never really known her—that sudden, angel-like friend had just been a dream born of his hunger that day.
This time, he didn’t know when they’d meet again.
“You come to pick up your sister every day?” he asked, licking his lips.
“Mm-hmm,” Little Le Qing nodded. “I have to go home with her.”
Little Xie Suizhi’s eyes lit up. “Then I’ll wait for you here tomorrow, okay? I have a gift for you.”
A gift?!
For Little Le Qing, receiving a gift meant being recognized by someone. If a handsome older boy wanted to give her a present, that meant he liked her.
“Okay!” she agreed without hesitation. “Then I’ll give you a gift too.”
Little Xie Suizhi shook his head, pointing to the little red flower pinned on his chest. “I already have one. I like it very much, thank you.”
“Then I’ll be even better tomorrow, and if the teacher gives me more little red flowers, I’ll give them to you.”
Having made a promise felt like a chance to see each other again. For the first time, Little Xie Suizhi began to look forward to every day, despite his hard life.
He couldn’t help but smile. “Alright.”
The crowd at the gate grew thicker, and the bodyguards stepped forward. “Miss Leqing, it’s time to pick up Miss Yangyang.”
“Okay.” Little Le Qing looked back at him. “See you tomorrow, big brother.”
Little Xie Suizhi’s fingertips twitched, then he took her little hand, still damp with the imprint of the red flower, and wiped it on his shirt.
Though he was a little beggar, he knew how to wash his clothes well—they were clean enough to wipe her hands.
Afterwards, he lowered his hand. “See you tomorrow.”
He paused, then asked again, just to be sure: “You’ll come, right?”
Little Le Qing hooked her finger. “I’m not a liar. Pinky promise!”
Finally, Little Xie Suizhi stood there watching as she was led away by two uncles. He raised his hand lightly to touch the red flower on his chest. Long after, he remembered to pull his little cart and walk back.
Against the flow of the crowd, going the opposite way.
Tomorrow, I’ll come a little earlier and collect more bottles and cardboard. If I save up enough money, I can go to school. From then on, the little flowers I get will be for my little sister.
If I work even harder, maybe we can go to the same school.
No, that’s not right—I’m older than my sister and will start school earlier.
I’ll study hard first, then teach my sister.
But how much do I need to collect to be enough?
When he pulled his little cart over to the old man who buys scrap, he listened to what the man said. The old man laughed heartily: “You could collect your whole life and it still wouldn’t be enough.”
“That school’s tuition is tens of thousands every year. Even if I sold all the scrap the old man has, it wouldn’t cover a fraction of it. Not to mention other expenses and connections. For someone like you, when you’re old enough, you’ll go to a public elementary school—no tuition required.”
Little Xie Suizhi didn’t quite understand what that meant, but he knew one thing: he would never be able to go to that school.
His eyes, which had brightened before, dimmed again.
“Don’t worry,” the old man comforted him. “You’ll make other friends in the future.”
Xie Suizhi said nothing.
Because he knew those other friends could never be like that sister.
“Can I still go find her after school?” he asked.
“From the public school over there?” The old man was surprised that such a little kid was already daydreaming. “By the time you get there, she’ll be done with school.”
After a moment, he sighed again: “It’s not about whether you want to meet or not. If your little friend wants to see you, you’ll find a way to meet. If they don’t want to, even if you live right next door, you won’t see them.”
Xie Suizhi didn’t understand this logic yet, but he felt certain that he wanted to see her.
So he would work hard to make it happen. At worst, he’d run faster after school. He was already faster than most kids his age.
If he ran fast enough, he could see her.
He lowered his head, fiddling with the things in his hands stubbornly: “I can do it.”
The old man looked at this little rascal and thought, “Yeah, right.”
Who could possibly attend that international elite school? You’re a kid who can barely get a meal; you’re not even in the same world. Maybe they’ll play with you when they feel like it, but if they don’t, you wouldn’t even know where they went.
But seeing this little guy so seriously preparing a gift for his friend—handmade from all the little things he collected himself, learned from watching TV sometimes—the old man was a bit curious.
This kid was really clever. Every time he watched TV, he’d somehow pick up quite a few things, even knowing more than some kids who had already started kindergarten.
He really was a little genius.
Maybe when he grew up and made something of himself, he could overcome the obstacles that seemed impossible now.
Though he thought this, the old man didn’t take it too seriously. He didn’t believe this friendship between the two kids would last very long.
But he never expected that these two kids would indeed walk hand in hand through these two years.
And the very next day, little Xie Suizhi actually brought that little girl back with him.
Amid a mountain of piled-up scrap at the recycling station, a little girl in a small dress stood out completely from her surroundings—clean and untouched by dust. Both of them wore a small red flower pinned to their chests.
The little girl didn’t mind the mess at all. The two sat quietly in the small courtyard behind the scrap station. This was Little Xie Suizhi’s secret hideout, the place he came to every day when he didn’t want to go home. He wasn’t fond of interacting with others, so he would bring a small stool and sit there alone, studying, writing, or making crafts.
Right now, the little girl sat obediently beside him, her eyes shining with unusual brightness.
“Did you tell the adults?” Grandpa was terrified.
If a girl from a family like hers was brought here, who knew—he might even accuse Little Xie Suizhi of being a kidnapper.
“Hurry and take your little sister home.”
“Grandpa, my mom said I’m allowed to play with my brother,” Little Le Qing said obediently. “Our car is outside.”
This left Grandpa dumbfounded.
What kind of family didn’t care about social class at all? They were willing to let their daughter come to a place like this?
But he didn’t know that Little Le Qing had been to even dirtier, more rundown places with her older sister before.
She never thought any place was hard to live in, as long as the people she liked were there.
Just by looking at Little Xie Suizhi, you could tell. Even though the stool was already clean, he still wiped the spot where his sister sat over and over again. He piled all his most treasured handmade crafts in front of her.
Today, the gift he brought was a small bamboo dragonfly—a toy that could actually fly. Little Le Qing loved it. He said he had many more hidden away in their secret base, which made her curious and eager to come play with him.
Little Xie Suizhi didn’t have much, and now everything he owned was laid out before his sister.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“I do!” Little Le Qing was full of curiosity. She wasn’t as skilled as her brother and couldn’t make so many things.
So Little Xie Suizhi pushed all the toys toward her. “They’re all yours.”
Then he added, “I’ll keep making more. You keep being my friend, okay?”
Worried she might refuse, he promised, “I’ll learn to make many, many things—better and more fun ones.”
“I’ve always been your friend,” Little Le Qing looked up seriously. “I was the one who wanted to be friends with you first.”
She was the one who had taken his hand first, after all.
Little Xie Suizhi sat up straight and asked softly, with a hint of caution, “Will you want to see me?”
“Yes,” she answered.
Hearing that, Little Xie Suizhi’s heart settled a little.
He stretched out his hand on the small table, palm up. “Will you hold my hand too?”
Though she didn’t fully understand why her brother liked holding hands so much, Little Le Qing didn’t refuse this way of showing affection. She reached out and placed her hand firmly on his, saying, “I will.”
Little Xie Suizhi smiled gently and held her hand tightly. At this moment, he felt more satisfied and happy than ever before.
Carefully, Little Xie Suizhi took the second little red flower that his sister had given him today from his chest and placed it in an empty box. Inside, there was already one flower—now they made a pair.
Little Le Qing peeked over and asked, "Brother, what are you doing?"
"You gave these to me," Little Xie Suizhi replied, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness. "I’m saving them."
Little Le Qing felt confident that she behaved well every day, so she wouldn’t be short of red flowers. "I give them every day," she said.
The little boy locked the box and looked up.
"I save them every day."
Just like he believed everything Grandpa said was never too difficult.
As long as she wants to see him, he can keep trying, and this box will be filled with flowers.
