He Can't Call Him Haohao

Zhuang Xingye was striking poses by himself at the dining table, going from Ultraman to Armor Hero, then from Spider-Man to Iron Man, only to find that no one was paying him any attention.

When he looked up, he noticed a stranger he didn't recognize sitting at the table.

"Who are you?" Zhuang Xingye stared warily at Shen Xinde. Then something occurred to him, and he turned to Gu Zhuoling in disbelief. "I only went away to play for a few days, and you went behind my back and made a new friend!?"

With that, he dramatically collapsed onto the floor and pretended to cry.

Shen Xinde: ???

"Dolly's friend?" Shen Xinde asked hesitantly.

"He doesn't have to be."

Gu Zhuoling remained perfectly calm. He reached out and touched the cup of soy milk, then, finding it about the right temperature, pushed it toward Shen Xinde. "Have some."

Zhuang Xingye was only halfway through his performance when he realized Gu Zhuoling wasn't going to pay him any attention. He got up on his own, walked over to the seat across from Shen Xinde, sat down, and took off his sunglasses.

It had to be said that although Zhuang Xingye was chubby, he had a fair complexion and well-proportioned features, which made his chubbiness look rather cute.

"My name's Zhuang Xingye, and I'm five years owd. You're so cute."

Shen Xinde swallowed his soy milk and gave him a sweet smile. "I'm Shen Xinde, and I'm four years owd. You can call me Haohao."

"He can't." Gu Zhuoling was the first to object. He turned to Zhuang Xingye. "Call him by his full name."

Zhuang Xingye immediately waved his arms and bared his teeth, launching into his next performance.

Meanwhile, Shen Xinde's gaze wandered between Zhuang Xingye and Gu Zhuoling.

In the original book, Zhuang Xingye was also a lively, cheerful, positive little sunshine puppy, if a little rough around the edges. He was chubby now, but it was clear he would probably be quite handsome if he slimmed down.

Shen Xinde couldn't really say he disliked Zhuang Xingye, but his appearance meant the story was beginning to unfold. Some of the problems Gu Zhuoling encountered as he grew up also appeared because Zhuang Xingye, as the protagonist, drove the story forward.

But that was all right. He would take things one step at a time. If he stuck close to Gu Zhuoling and something happened, Gu Zhuoling wouldn't have to face it alone.

Shen Xinde got a little lost in thought and didn't notice when the noise beside him stopped. When he came back to his senses, he saw Zhuang Xingye and Gu Zhuoling staring at him.

"What's wrong?" Shen Xinde tilted his head.

"Can I call you Xinde?" Zhuang Xingye asked, stealing a glance at Gu Zhuoling before complaining loudly, "Gu Zhuoling's a big meanie! He won't let me call you Haohao!"

Shen Xinde smiled in understanding. "Call me Xinde."

Once Shen Xinde and Gu Zhuoling had finished eating, Zhuang Xingye suggested they go out and play.

Orchid Garden had a little playground and other facilities specifically for children. Zhuang Xingye had followed Gu Zhuoling around and begged him many times before, but Gu Zhuoling had never been willing to go out.

He made the suggestion as usual this time, but to his surprise, Gu Zhuoling turned to Shen Xinde and asked, "Does Haohao want to go?"

Over the past few days, apart from going out to play for a little while yesterday, Shen Xinde had stayed at Gu Zhuoling's home playing with toys, planting flowers, and learning pinyin. He really hadn't gone out to play around the residential complex.

"I wanna go." Shen Xinde loved playing too, so he nodded without a second thought.

"Okay."

Gu Zhuoling took Shen Xinde's hand and headed out first, leaving Zhuang Xingye looking solemn. "Hey, hey, hey! How come you say okay when Xinde says okay?!"

"But Xinde's cute, so we should listen to him, hehe." Zhuang Xingye followed them and ran up beside Shen Xinde. When their eyes met, he immediately scratched his head with a silly grin.

"You hold hands too." Shen Xinde gave him a beaming smile and held out his chubby hand.

Zhuang Xingye froze on the spot, then burst into loud "sobs." "Xinde, you're so nice, waaah! The other kids all think I'm too fat. Gu Zhuoling used to be the only one willing to play with me, waaah, but now there's you too, waaah! And you're even letting me hold your hand, waaah!"

Shen Xinde: ... Is he really that emotional?

Gu Zhuoling: ... He was just not much of a talker. He hadn't expected Zhuang Xingye to make up a whole story in his head.

"Let's hold hands." Seeing that Zhuang Xingye was really about to cry, Shen Xinde hurriedly took his hand. "Don't cry. Let's play together."

This time, Gu Zhuoling couldn't really say anything. He stared at their joined hands for two seconds without a word.

Zhuang Xingye was easy to comfort. As soon as he held Shen Xinde's hand, he excitedly started pulling him forward. "Let me tell you, Xinde, there are lots of fun things over there. I can push you on the swing!"

"Okay, okay."

Shen Xinde ran along with him, but his legs were a little short, so he had some trouble keeping up.

"Zhuang Xingye, slow down." Seeing that Shen Xinde was about to fall, Gu Zhuoling stopped and steadied him, then reminded Zhuang Xingye.

Only then did Zhuang Xingye realize he'd gotten too excited and nearly made Shen Xinde fall. He hurriedly stopped. "Walk slowly, walk slowly."

By the time they reached the playground, it was still rather early, so there weren't many people around yet.

And so the three-person squad, led by Shen Xinde and consisting of Gu Zhuoling and Zhuang Xingye, immediately took over the entire playground.

For the most part, Zhuang Xingye played like crazy, while Shen Xinde started with the slide. Gu Zhuoling followed Shen Xinde around, acting as his bodyguard.

"Dolly, higher!"

Shen Xinde sat on the swing, laughing excitedly as he was sent soaring into the air again and again.

Zhuang Xingye also kept his promise, taking turns with Gu Zhuoling to push Shen Xinde higher.

Shen Xinde didn't hog the swing, so the three of them took turns playing on it. The only difficulty was that Shen Xinde struggled a little to push Zhuang Xingye.

On the last push, he sent Zhuang Xingye soaring high into the air. As Zhuang Xingye swung back down, two little boys suddenly appeared in front of him. One was tall, the other chubby, and they looked two or three years older than Shen Xinde.

The two folded their arms and glanced at the dazed Zhuang Xingye on the swing. "Get off and let us play," they demanded rudely.

"Why should I?!" Zhuang Xingye wasn't having it. He planted himself on the swing, immovable as a mountain.

Those two were the little bullies of Orchid Garden. They often picked on others because they were bigger.

"You fatty, aren't you afraid you'll break the swing sitting on it?!" Seeing that Zhuang Xingye wouldn't obey, the tall boy felt his position had been challenged and reached out to shove him.

"What are you doing?!" Shen Xinde reacted quickly and immediately stepped forward to stop the tall boy.

The chubby boy beside him sized Shen Xinde up. "Are you new here? I haven't seen you before."

Shen Xinde didn't answer. Sensing their hostility, he put on a fierce expression and glared back at them.

Afraid that the tall boy might turn around and shove Shen Xinde, Gu Zhuoling stood behind him to protect him.

The chubby boy glanced at Gu Zhuoling, then at the silly boy on the swing. Finally, his gaze landed on Shen Xinde's face. "You're cute. You can play with us from now on. One of these two is a mute and the other is an idiot. They're no fun to play with."

Before Shen Xinde could react, Zhuang Xingye had already launched a bold counterattack. "Dream on! Xinde would never play with you two!"

Shen Xinde had never expected such nasty words to come from a child. Calling one a mute and the other an idiot.

How could he say that about Gu Zhuoling?

And Zhuang Xingye too.

When the tall boy saw Zhuang Xingye talking back, he tried to shove him again. But Gu Zhuoling, standing behind Zhuang Xingye and Shen Xinde, sharply slapped his hand away. The boy looked up and met Gu Zhuoling's deep, threatening gaze. Startled, he took a step back.

"He hasn't even said anything yet. What's it to you?" The chubby boy laughed, his flesh bulging as his lips spread into a grin.

The big meanie is so ugly!

Shen Xinde knew he shouldn't judge people by their looks, but this person had been mean first and ugly second!

"A bamboo pole! A fat pig!" Shen Xinde's face turned red with anger. After racking his brains for vicious words, he launched a fierce counterattack.

Zhuang Xingye: ...

He sized the two up. Those descriptions were pretty accurate.

Gu Zhuoling: ...

"Pfft."