The warned little treasure lay motionless under the older brother’s arm, afraid to make a sound or move his limbs.
But the little treasure was still very happy.
Because, until now, no older brother or sister had ever wanted to play with him.
Today, this handsome older brother not only was willing to play with him but also gave him a hug. It was so nice; the obedient little treasure thought as he snuggled against the older brother’s chest.
Not feeling sleepy, he kept his bright eyes open, occasionally staring at the older brother’s face, thinking how nice it looked, and then at the older brother’s ears.
Hmm, there was a small black mole on the white ear.
The curious little treasure felt a bit itchy with his small hands curled up in the blanket. He wanted to touch the black spot he saw but, because of the older brother’s warning not to move around, he could only stay still.
Time passed quietly, and the sick young man’s breathing became more even, even the frown between his brows relaxed unknowingly.
“……” The little treasure, with no sense of time, felt something poking at his leg.
At this moment, he forgot the older brother’s warning and reached out with his small hand to explore the poking object.
What could it be?
The little treasure touched and touched, and pulled out a round token from Huo Yunchuan’s pocket.
The token was shiny and attached to a nice-looking string, undoubtedly something fun in a child’s eyes.
The smart little treasure put his head through the string, and without any instruction, hung it around his neck and played with it in his hand.
During this time, the young man, who was usually easy to wake up while sleeping, surprisingly slept deeply without even moving his eyelids.
“An Wuyang?” After finishing their drinks, An Wuyu and her cousin noticed that the younger brother was missing from their sight and immediately began searching for him.
The usually somewhat fearful An Wuyang, in the blanket of the older brother, panicked, quickly got out, and called out to her sister: “Sister, I’m here.”
After finding him, An Wuyu scolded him a few times and then took him home.
The young man left asleep in the little shop soon awoke feeling uncomfortable: “……” Seeing the unfamiliar environment, he was momentarily disoriented.
Then, after a moment, he remembered what had happened earlier.
“??” He suddenly lifted the blanket from his chest, looking curiously at the area around his chest and under his arm… if he remembered correctly, there should have been a child here…
Huo Yunchuan frowned, thinking he must have remembered incorrectly.
However, the soft and fragrant sensation and the weight pressing against his chest were definitely real experiences. He didn’t believe he was sick to the point of hallucination.
“Damn it,” he muttered, sitting up and patting his pockets, only to find that the item he remembered was missing: “??” He checked the left pocket, but it was still the same.
When Huo Yunchuan couldn’t find the annoying medal despite searching the area thoroughly, he sat back on the sofa with a dazed expression. His mood was oddly subtle… almost like happiness?
Am I out of my mind… he wondered helplessly.
Even if he was sure that the little imp took the medal, why should he be happy?
After thinking it over, Huo Yunchuan came up with a reasonable explanation: since he didn’t care much for the medal, losing it wasn’t a big deal.
That’s it.
With a reasonable explanation in mind, he took his bag with the tennis racket and went home.
Although he was running a fever, the rebellious teenager, at fifteen or sixteen, didn’t feel the need to go to the hospital. That was for elderly people.
His busy parents, who were often away for work and social events, rarely saw their son.
They would be unaware that in just a few days, their only child had experienced illness, lost a match, and so on.
Huo Yunchuan had always been independent, so he didn’t need his parents’ attention.
After returning home, he stayed in his room for two days. The fever naturally subsided, and by the next day, he was as lively as ever.
“Yunchuan, want to come out and play!?” The bored teenager opened a message from his friend on his phone.
Seeing the invitation to go out, he thought about the little imp who stole the medal that day.
“No, find someone else to play with,” Huo Yunchuan replied to the message. But after saying no, he decided to change clothes and go out for a stroll.
It was unexpected for Huo Yunchuan to be called by the store clerk when passing by, but with unusual patience today, he decided to listen to what the clerk had to say.
If it’s for a phone number…
Clerk: “Hello, handsome!” The clerk was very enthusiastic, but it wasn’t about a phone number: “Did you lose something in our store the other day?”
Huo Yunchuan nodded: “Yes.”
Clerk: “A customer found it that day. She asked me to tell you that she will be at the sandpit in xx Park every day from 4 to 5:30 p.m. You can go there to retrieve your item during that time.”
The confused teenager automatically looked at his wrist, realizing it was already 5 o’clock: “Thank you. I’ll head over now.”
The clerk watched as the handsome guy quickly walked to the roadside to hail a cab, thinking to herself that the lost item must be quite important.
“xx Park, please,” the teenager said once he was in the cab.
The driver paused for a moment, then drove straight ahead, made a left turn, and stopped at the entrance of a park. The entire journey took about five minutes.
Huo Yunchuan paid and entered the park, looking around. He was quickly drawn to a large sandpit.
There were many noisy kids gathered there…
If it had been before, Huo Yunchuan would have avoided such places filled with unruly children.
But now, despite his presence being completely out of place in the sandpit, he walked over, his eyes vaguely searching for a small figure in the crowd…
Eventually, he spotted the target in a corner.
The little imp, wearing a yellow tank top, was digging a hole in the sandpit, with his thin little arms and legs exposed, his rear end sticking up as he worked hard.
Huo Yunchuan twitched his face slightly and walked over uncertainly.
He stopped next to the hole with his grayish-white sneakers.
The little one, busy digging with a small shovel, saw a pair of adult shoes stepping onto his castle. At first, he was stunned, then slowly realized, and immediately became unhappy.
Raising his head and making a babyish sound, the little imp said, “You stepped on my castle.” It had no deterrent effect at all.
Huo Yunchuan felt himself go stiff and couldn’t move: “…” A castle? He glanced at the small pit…
“Eh?” An Wuyang saw the older boy he recognized and happily dropped his shovel, reaching out for a hug: “Brother!”
What an enthusiastic little imp, Huo Yunchuan thought.
Still, he reluctantly pulled his hand out of his pocket and awkwardly picked up the little imp—after all, he wasn’t heavy.
But that wasn’t the point; the point was…
Why was he being recognized and clung to by a child he’d only met once?
“…My neck is being hugged!”
…The soft, fragrant touch and smell were just as he remembered.
“Brother, did you come to play with me?” The little imp looked very happy, and even glanced back at his… castle, and the tools for building it—a shovel and a plastic bucket!
Even though he was a teenager who didn’t play in the sand at three or four years old, he opened his mouth several times without finding the right words to communicate with the little imp.
“Forget it, where’s my medal?” he asked directly.
“Ah?” The little imp tilted his head.
“Where’s your guardian?” Huo Yunchuan asked, changing the question.
The little imp: “Sister… Sister?” He immediately turned to look for the familiar figure and quickly found her: “My sister is over there.”
On a nearby swing, a little girl in white clothes.
“Take my little bucket~…~” Before Huo Yunchuan could take a step, he heard the little imp make a pleading request.
“…?” The teenager, not sure why his heart was trembling, looked at the candy-colored plastic bucket, bent down to pick it up, along with the matching small shovel.
“Give it to me,” said the little imp.
Huo Yunchuan took a deep breath and handed the mini bucket to the even more mini hand, hesitating to let go, fearing the little imp might not be able to hold it.
“Hey, why are you holding my brother?” An Wuyu, seeing an unfamiliar person holding her brother, immediately came over and pulled at the person’s arm.
Lost in thought about whether the little imp could actually carry the plastic bucket, Huo Yunchuan was suddenly interrupted and explained slowly, “I’m not a bad person; I came to get my thing.”
An Wuyu, who was only ten years old but acted like a little adult, responded logically, “Oh, so you’re the owner of the medal?” She immediately let go and pulled out the medal from her pocket: “Here, be more careful with it next time and don’t lose it again.”
“Thank you,” Huo Yunchuan said as he took it back.
The little girl extended her hand towards him: “Then give my brother back to me.”
She clearly had the demeanor of a one-hand-pay-one-hand-deliver transaction.
The young Huo Yunchuan, with his icy expression already taking shape, thought: “…”
Under the gaze of the little girl, he slowly returned the little imp in his arms.
“Sister…” An Wuyang didn’t dare to act cute in front of his sister, even though he really wanted to keep playing with the older boy. His sister wouldn’t allow it.
“We’re going home.” An Wuyu took the bucket from his brother’s hands and, with some difficulty, carried him toward the park entrance.
“Wait.” The silent boy called out to them and quickly caught up, stuffing the medal into An Wuyang’s tiny hand: “This is for you.”
Then he pouted and walked away from the two siblings.
“Brother!” The little imp’s voice came from behind, but Huo Yunchuan didn’t turn back. He just raised his hand to ear level and waved.
What he was thinking was, “So it’s XX Park, huh? Great, I’ll come back to check it out at four o’clock tomorrow.”
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️”
