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After the half-hour rest in the Ferris wheel, Ye Zhou felt that he had finally come back to life.
“Let’s go pick up your family’s little princess.” Ye Zhou looked around and couldn’t find a gift for Shang Youyou. “Before picking her up, let’s go to the mall first and buy some presents for her.”
“There’s no need to go through all this trouble. There’s not enough room at home for all the toys.” The car was parked in the open parking lot, and a blast of hot air came out when the door opened. Shang Jin stood outside and waited for the heat to dissipate a bit. Turning on the air conditioner, he waited for the temperature to fall before letting Ye Zhou come in.
When the balloon was in the sky, it didn’t seem big, but it took up a bit of space in the car.
Ye Zhou held a doll in his arm and after the window closed, Ye Zhou directly placed the balloon in the back. Ye Zhou pulled the seatbelt and said, “You don’t understand this. Youyou’s still small and she’s also a girl. For a girl, no matter how many gifts, it’s never enough. But I also don’t know much about presents for little girls. What does she like? Dolls, Barbie, Lego?”
“I feel like we have all of them at home.” Shang Jin drove out of the parking lot and went to the nearest road, taking it to the city’s largest shopping mall. “Let’s go and see.”
As a boy, he didn’t know much about little girl’s toys.
Ye Zhou felt that all the Barbie dolls looked similar, just like the princess sticker he’d bought before. He looked at what the little girl next to him bought and he bought the same one. He’d also heard the store clerk recommend this princess doll.
On the other side, Shang Jin chose a Lego castle set.
Ye Zhou looked at the age 6-12 on the box and pulled his mouth. “Are you sure Youyou can play this?”
Shang Jin pointed to the characters on the box and said, “Look, there’s two princesses on it. She’ll certainly like it.”
“Don’t forget that Youyou isn’t even four years old yet.”
Shang Jin objected, “It doesn’t matter. At worst, I can help her put it together.”
“Why don’t you just admit that you want to play it yourself?”
Shang Jin pretended to not hear anything and went to the cash register.
When they arrived at the kindergarten, it was already half past three. At this time, there were already a lot of parents standing at the kindergarten door. When Shang Jin and Ye Zhou stopped towards the middle with a balloon tied to Ye Zhou’s hand, they suddenly attracted many people’s attention.
The longer he stayed with Shang Jin, the more Ye Zhou became accustomed to the gazes around him. He could now yawn and lean directly on Shang Jin’s shoulder to close his eyes and rest.
The two people idly chatted.
After the school bell rang, Ye Zhou and Shang Jin stood up together. The children continued to come out of the classroom one after another. Ye Zhou opened his eyes and looked around until there was no one left at the end. Then, Shang Youyou slowly walked out carrying a small schoolbag.
“Youyou.” Shang Jin walked over in a few steps and tried to hold her up, but Shang Youyou avoided him and walked slowly in front of him.
Shang Youyou’s head hung down. She knew her brother was behind her and wasn’t worried about getting lost. She was just so angry that she didn’t want to care about anyone.
Suddenly, a kitty balloon appeared in front of her. “Why is this little princess not happy?”
Shang Youyou stared at the kitty balloon and said, “It’s clearly pink. Why is it a man’s voice?”
Ye Zhou snickered and lifted the balloon away. He crouched down to the same level as Shang Youyou and said, “Still remember me?”
“Brother Zhou Zhou
”
“The balloon’s for you.” Ye Zhou tied the balloon loosely around Shang Youyou’s wrist and leaned in next to her ear. “Your brother specially bought it for you.”
Shang Youyou lifted her head and admired the balloon. She took a few small steps to Shang Jin’s side and took Shang Jin’s hand.
“Didn’t I say, your family’s little princess could be coaxed.” Ye Zhou walked to Shang Youyou’s other side and held her hand, saying, “Come, little princess, swing.”
Ye Zhou and Shang Jin raised Shang Youyou up and Shang Youyou finally laughed.
In the car, Shang Youyou sat in the child seat and saw the Lego toy on the left and the princess doll on the right. Picking up the doll’s box, she asked tentatively, “Is this for me?”
Shang Jin looked at Shang Youyou in the rearview mirror and said, “It’s Brother Ye Zhou’s gift for you. Do you like it?”
“Thank you, Brother Zhou Zhou.” Shang Youyou’s gaze swept the Lego box and said, “Then this, is Brother Zhou Zhou giving it to little brother?”
“This is what your big brother bought for you.” At the red light, Ye Zhou directly turned around. “We specially picked them for little princess Youyou.”
Shang Youyou laboriously wanted to hold both boxes in her arms, but her arms were too short and both boxes were large. There was also a balloon joining in, and as a result, she was barely able to cling to one. However, because none of these two gifts were for her little brother, it made her very happy. She couldn’t look enough, and she began to chatter nonstop. “Brother Zhou Zhou, how did you know that I like Princess Elsa? Big brother, this castle is where Princess Elsa and Princess Anna lives. I really like it.”
“As long as baby likes it.” Ye Zhou had a general sense that Shang Youyou wasn’t a person with a strong desire to monopolize. The things she likes, she was also happy to share them with others. But now, she was afraid they wouldn’t forget her new brother when giving her gifts. He feared that she still lacked a sense of security and was afraid that their love would have to be divided.
It was still early, so the two took Shang Youyou to play in an indoor toddler playground. The two people sat to one side while Shang Youyou took off her shoes and went to children’s playground, climbing up and down on the slide with the other children.
After playing for more than an hour, the early morning gloom had completely disappeared from Shang Youyou’s face.
They took Shang Youyou to a kitty-themed children’s restaurant in the evening, and most of them were girls. This was the first time Ye Zhou and Shang Jin had come here. If they hadn’t brought Shang Youyou, they’d certainly be out of place in the restaurant.
Looking around, she saw that it was all covered in pink, with kitty patterns and kitty dolls everywhere. Shang Youyou was delighted and had to take a photo in front of the giant kitty model.
Shang Youyou looked at the child at the next table eating ice cream with a small spoon and tugged Shang Jin’s clothes. “Big brother, can I eat ice cream?”
“Of course, you can buy whatever you want today.”
After ordering, Shang Jin got up to use the restroom. Ye Zhou sat next to Shang Youyou and asked, “Baby, I heard that you have a new member in your family.”
Mentioning this, Shang Youyou’s small mouth immediately flattened.
Ye Zhou said lightly, “It’s better to have a younger brother. Later, there’s someone to play with you.”
Shang Youyou huffed, “It’s not good. Everyone only likes little brother and doesn’t like Youyou.”
“How could that be?” Ye Zhou lowered his head and touched Shang Youyou’s small face. “There’s no limit to liking, this kind of feeling. Everyone won’t stop liking you because they like your little brother.”
Shang Youyou didn’t understand.
“Does Youyou like me?”
Shang Youyou immediately replied, “Like.”
“I like Youyou too, but
” Ye Zhou’s topic took a turn, “We didn’t have any feelings between us before you knew me. It was because you gave me a flower that let me know that Youyou likes me. So we both became good friends. You wouldn’t stop liking your big brother because you like me, right?”
Shang Youyou’s head shook like a rattle and hurriedly explained, “I like big brother. I like Brother Zhou Zhou too.”
“Isn’t that so? Your mom and dad likes your little brother, but likes Youyou too. If Youyou can take the lead like you did with me and take your little brother’s hand, then your little brother will like you too, so Youyou will have one more person who loves you. Isn’t that better?”
Shang Youyou pursed her lips and said, “But I don’t like my little brother.”
Shang Jin just came back and heard this sentence. He sat down across from Ye Zhou and watched what nonsense Ye Zhou could spout out.
Ye Zhou exaggeratedly said, “Little brother likes you so much, but you actually don’t like him, how sad he feels!”
Sure enough, the kind-hearted Shang Youyou’s heart softened, but she also wasn’t so easily fooled. “Brother Zhou Zhou, you haven’t seen my little brother, so how do you know he likes me?”
“Because
” Ye Zhou’s fingers tapped on the table, all sort of lies and excuses circling around in his head, and gave Shang Jin a look in passing.
Shang Jin casually invented some nonsense, “Because Brother Ye Zhou gave Princess Elsa to you today, Princess Elsa told this secret to Brother Ye Zhou to thank him.”
Ye Zhou glared at Shang Jin. What rotten reason was this? Can’t even deceive a three-year-old kid!
But Shang Youyou believed it. She excitedly knelt up in her seat and said, “Really, Brother Zhou Zhou?”
“Really, really,” Ye Zhou followed her lead and said, “When you go home today, you can try reaching out to your brother first, even just a finger is fine. He will surely hold it because he wants to be your friend.” Anyways, a baby would clutch at anything within their reach. Ye Zhou wasn’t worried at all that the lie would be uncovered.
After dinner, Shang Jin sent Ye Zhou back to school first and then brought Shang Youyou home.
Opening the door, Qin Fei was holding Little Ji and listening to music on the sofa. Shang Youyou slowly walked to Qin Fei under Shang Jin’s encouraging eyes.
“Youyou, you’re back.” Qin Fei said with a smile and kissed Shang Youyou’s cheek. She asked, “Did you have fun today?”
Shang Youyou nodded and looked at Little Ji in Qin Fei’s arms. He was looking around with his open eyes. Shang Youyou stuck out a finger and Little Ji immediately grabbed it. Shang Youyou looked back at Shang Jin in surprise. “It’s true!”
Shang Jin half crouched and rubbed Shang Youyou’s head. “Because big brother is in school and can’t accompany Youyou often, so little brother is afraid that Youyou would be lonely and specially came to be with you. After you come home everyday, you can see Little Ji.”
“Okay!”
When Ye Zhou got out of the car, he went around to a fruit store and bought a big watermelon. Then he ran back to the dormitory.
At 8 o’clock in the evening, Ye Zhou summoned the familiar friends to 405 and solemnly said, “I have something to announce.”
Zhou Wendao looked at the watermelon on the table and drooled. He quietly stretched out his hand to take a piece and got swatted by Chen Shao. “Zhou’s saying something. Be serious a bit!”
Ye Zhou took a deep breath and said, “I’m with Shang Jin.”
After a moment of quiet in the entire dorm, it immediately became relaxed, as if the tense atmosphere just then was an illusion.
Zhou Wendao picked up a piece of watermelon and took a bite. “When were you two not together?”
“Yeah, and I was thinking what you were going to say. Scared me.” Liu Yutian took care of a watermelon slice in two bites and immediately grabbed another one. “It’s good you reconciled. You made things so serious, I thought you were going to hold a break up conference.”
“Actually
” Zhang Xing swallowed the watermelon in his mouth and wiped his mouth with a tissue. “Actually, I’d rather know if you two had sexual discord in the end.”
Wen Renxu joined the liveliness and said, “I’d rather know who’s the top? Who’s the bottom?”
Xu Yangjun emerged from behind and said, “I want to know even more: are you comfortable or not?”
Ye Zhou angrily said, “Can’t you be a little purer? I said earlier that Shang Jin and I haven’t taken that step yet!!”
“You two have been together for so long but haven’t slept together?” Zhou Wendao said in surprise, “You’re such turtles! You guys won’t get pregnant, so why are you so reserved?”
Ye Zhou flew into a rage out of humiliation, “Since we can’t get pregnant, what do you want to know if it’s comfortable for? Why don’t you go try for yourself! What’s in your head? No wonder you need to cram for the exams!”
This poked at everyone’s sore spot and they all scattered like the birds and beasts, not forgetting to grab a few slices of watermelon before leaving.
“What people are these?” Ye Zhou said indignantly.