Lisianthus

The two little ones had nothing special planned for the afternoon.

Shen Xinde's fever had not completely gone down, so after sitting for a while, he felt weak and uncomfortable. Gu Zhuoling accompanied him upstairs to his room to play with toys for a while.

"Is Dolly unhappy?"

Shen Xinde sat side by side with Gu Zhuoling on the blanket, their backs against the little sofa. He didn't turn his head, just went on assembling blocks.

Gu Zhuoling said nothing. He lowered his head and straightened a block Shen Xinde had placed.

He wasn't unhappy. He simply felt that Shen Xinde was too good to him, and he couldn't understand why. He was also a little apprehensive.

Not everyone's kindness could be extended without limit. Kindness toward you couldn't last forever.

Gu Zhuoling recalled a maid he had met before. At first, she had been very good to him too, but gradually, when she realized that even after spending a long time together, he still showed no affection or familiarity, she stopped paying attention to him.

"Dolly is Haohao's friend." Seeing that Gu Zhuoling wasn't speaking, Shen Xinde continued on his own. He finished placing a block and turned his head, meeting Gu Zhuoling's eyes.

He could see a little confusion in Gu Zhuoling's eyes, so he did his best to think of the right words with his little brain.

"Haohao's first friend."

Gu Zhuoling looked at the boy's determined expression and suddenly realized that Shen Xinde cared a great deal about being "first." His first time in the rain, his first friend—the word seemed to carry a lot of weight for him.

"I'm not good at all."

Gu Zhuoling felt that his personality had obvious flaws.

He could receive some of the kindness around him, but he couldn't clearly express his own kindness to others. Sometimes he became absorbed in his own world, and he wasn't particularly good at noticing the needs and preferences of the people around him.

"It's enough that Dolly is good to Haohao." Shen Xinde reached out and took Gu Zhuoling's hand. "Mommy said she gets worried when I'm sick because she loves me very much."

Shen Xinde had a hard time with long sentences. He paused for a long while, trying to express a mature idea in his childish words.

"Dolly got very worried because Haohao was sick. So Dolly loves me very much too." As Shen Xinde said it, he smiled shyly.

"So Haohao has to take good care of himself. Then Mommy, Daddy, and Dolly will be happy, right?"

When you were loved, you didn't have to worry too much about whether you could return that love in equal measure.

If the other person truly loved you, all you needed to do was love yourself first; that was a way of loving them.

Gu Zhuoling's lips moved. He seemed to need time to understand the meaning behind this simple truth.

After thinking for a while, Gu Zhuoling said, "I'll take care of Haohao too."

It wasn't just that Gu Zhuoling felt happy when Shen Xinde took care of his health. When Gu Zhuoling took care of Shen Xinde and made him happy, he was happy too.

"Then Dolly is really good to me."

Shen Xinde said, "Wow."

Neither of them spoke. Sitting on the blanket still felt a little hard to Shen Xinde, so he wanted to climb onto the sofa.

Gu Zhuoling waited until Shen Xinde was settled, then fetched his little blanket and spread it over his legs. "Thank you."

Thank you for what you said to me.

Thank you for being good to me.

"Then Dolly has to give me a kiss."

Shen Xinde's eyes darted around. With a little energy back, he wanted to tease Gu Zhuoling.

Gu Zhuoling didn't hesitate. Bracing both hands beside Shen Xinde, he leaned in and kissed his cheek, then repeated in a particularly solemn tone, "Thank you."

This time it was Shen Xinde's turn to feel embarrassed. He reached up and scratched the cheek that had been kissed; it felt burning hot.

For the past two days, Shen Xinde had been going outside less to avoid the wind, so Gu Zhuoling ran next door to play with him as soon as he got up each morning.

Afraid that Shen Xinde would get bored staying at home, he often brought little things over.

Sometimes it was a little doll, sometimes a little candy.

When Gu Zhuoling came today, Shen Xinde had already finished breakfast and was curled up on the little sofa in his room, basking in the sun.

Gu Zhuoling walked over with his hands behind his back. Hearing him, Shen Xinde immediately opened his eyes and turned to look for him. When he saw Gu Zhuoling, he smiled and reached out.

"Dolly! Hm? What's this?"

Instead of holding his hand as usual, Gu Zhuoling slipped a bottle into it.

"The lisianthus bloomed a couple of days ago. You said it was pretty, so I put it in a bottle with glycerin. That way it won't wilt." Gu Zhuoling reached out and smoothed Shen Xinde's hair, which had been mussed from lying down.

"So pretty!" Shen Xinde looked at the brightly blooming flower in the clear glass bottle. Even with the bad weather at the time, its color had looked bright. He held it carefully in his hands.

Now, in the sunlight, warm rays passed through the glycerin, scattering flecks of light around the flower and its vivid green leaves.

"Do you like it?" Gu Zhuoling tilted his head and studied Shen Xinde's expression.

"I like it!" Shen Xinde carefully set it on the table beside him, not daring to move it again. He simply examined it from every angle, then looked up at Gu Zhuoling.

Seeing Shen Xinde smile so happily, Gu Zhuoling found the corners of his own lips lifting. Then he saw Shen Xinde looking up at him.

They had spent so many days together that Gu Zhuoling felt the tips of his ears grow a little warm. He obediently lowered his head and let Shen Xinde kiss him on the cheek.

The two were snuggled together looking at the flower when Xia Wanqing knocked and came in.

"Haohao, a little friend is here to see you."

Gu Zhuoling: *?*

When did Haohao make a new friend?

How come I didn't know?

Shen Xinde looked equally bewildered.

The next moment, a huge figure charged in.

"Gu Zhuoling! Our Xinde was sick! Why didn't you tell me?"

It was Zhuang Xingye.

Zhuang Xingye had originally wanted to show off his superb acting skills and burst into sorrowful tears on the spot. Unfortunately, he couldn't make the tears come out, so he could only let out a couple of dry wails first.

"Too loud." Shen Xinde snuggled closer to Gu Zhuoling and blinked at him.

Gu Zhuoling played along and covered Shen Xinde's ears.

The next moment, Zhuang Xingye came over too and wrapped his soft, chubby arms around Shen Xinde's head.

"Come on, let's all hug." Zhuang Xingye thought the two of them wanted a friendship hug.

Gu Zhuoling: *... ?*

Shen Xinde: Give me some air! Air! Don't take my air away!

"Let go. Haohao can't breathe." Gu Zhuoling noticed something was wrong and immediately slapped Zhuang Xingye's hands away.

"Oh, oh." Zhuang Xingye foolishly withdrew his hands. Remembering the performance he hadn't finished, he sat down beside Shen Xinde and grabbed his hand. "My Xinde, how are you?"

"Really good."

Shen Xinde took two deep breaths of fresh air with fascination and recovered.

"That's good." Zhuang Xingye clutched his little heart. "Luckily, I came to see Gu Zhuoling today. Otherwise, I wouldn't even have known you were sick."

"I'm fine. It was just a tiny little fever." Shen Xinde smiled.

"Hehehe, Xinde." Zhuang Xingye edged bashfully closer to Shen Xinde. "I want to ask you a favor."

Before Shen Xinde could answer, Gu Zhuoling couldn't hold back. He pulled Shen Xinde closer to himself. "First tell us what it is."

"When I came in just now, I smelled your mom making lunch. It smelled so good, and I kind of want some." Zhuang Xingye squirmed bashfully for ages, his chubby body almost twisting into a pretzel.

Shen Xinde: *...*

Go ahead and eat, you big chubby boy.

(It seems I couldn't add this to the author's note, so I put it here.)

I don't know if I expressed this part clearly~ Dolly has actually always been sensitive and prone to inner turmoil. Although he's young, he already has his own way of thinking. He isn't very good at expressing love, so when others show him love and affection, he doesn't know what to do and is afraid of not responding. He's really a little starved for love. Both children need each other's unconditional love ˘ᗜ˘

As for the two children's ability to express themselves, some of what they say might not quite fit children of their age. If you think those lines sound a little too mature, you can tell me and I'll change them ‪ᯅ