Worthy of Praise

After they spent a few days having fun at the hotel, time seemed to speed up once they returned.

Shen Xinde had grown used to his daily routine at kindergarten, although he still struggled to get up some mornings.

The two families grew closer too. Influenced by the Shen family, they would get together from time to time for meals, sightseeing and fun, with work calls forbidden during their outings.

Shen Xinde and Gu Zhuoling had been close from beginning to end. Gu Zhuoling spoiled Shen Xinde so much that he could do as he pleased, so much that Xia Wanqing had to step in and stop it.

As long as it wouldn't harm Shen Xinde, Gu Zhuoling would agree to almost anything, whether it was food or an activity. If he didn't agree, Shen Xinde only had to act a little cute, and he would.

Before they knew it, December had arrived.

Winter was coming. Shen Xinde was always the most sensitive to changes in the seasons, and sure enough, he had fallen ill again.

This time it was entirely because Shen Xinde had gotten carried away playing. He had settled down by the fountain in the residential complex to play with a water gun. Gu Zhuoling had been watching him from the side without stopping him, and Shen Xinde had accidentally squirted himself with water.

That evening, after returning home, he came down with a cold.

"You brought this on yourself, didn't you?" Xia Wanqing stirred the cold medicine in a cup and looked at the listless Shen Xinde in bed, a little exasperated. "Why were you playing with water when it was so cold? Even A-Ling couldn't keep you under control."

"I was wrong, Mommy." Shen Xinde sniffled miserably, his nose running nonstop, and reached out a little hand to tug on Xia Wanqing's clothes. "I feel awful~"

That made Xia Wanqing's heart ache, and she said no more. She held a straw to Shen Xinde's lips. "Drink your medicine first. If you still don't feel well tomorrow, you won't have to go to kindergarten."

Shen Xinde was no better the next day. He had developed a fever in the middle of the night and lay limp in bed like a little puddle of water.

The next day, as Gu Zhuoling was getting ready for kindergarten, Zhou Jingyi told him that Haohao was sick and had taken the day off.

The day at kindergarten seemed to drag on forever, and he hurried home as soon as class ended.

"Haohao!"

That afternoon, Shen Xinde was curled up in his warm blankets with a fever patch on, watching cartoons. He immediately looked up when he heard Gu Zhuoling's voice.

The cold and fever had made Shen Xinde's already fair skin a couple of shades paler, and his usually rosy lips were pale too. His nose, on the other hand, was red, probably from blowing it. He looked utterly pitiful.

"Dolly..." The moment Shen Xinde saw him, he put on a miserable expression that tugged at the heart.

Gu Zhuoling stepped forward and felt Shen Xinde's face, then his hand. Only after making sure his temperature wasn't very high did he breathe a sigh of relief. "Do you still feel awful?"

Shen Xinde shook his head, then turned and felt under his pillow for a lemon-flavored babao candy. He offered it to Gu Zhuoling as if to please him. "Dolly, Haohao saved this for you. Mommy gave it to Haohao for being good and taking his medicine."

Gu Zhuoling wasn't going to let Shen Xinde off so easily. He took the candy and began to scold him. "I told you not to get carried away playing. It's so cold now, you'd definitely get sick if you got water on yourself, but you wouldn't listen to me."

"Wrong, wrong." Shen Xinde had known one piece of candy wouldn't be enough to get him off the hook. He pressed his palms together and quickly apologized, staring up with big, watery eyes. "Haohao was wrong, Dolly. Don't be mad."

"If you don't listen next time, I'll really get mad." Gu Zhuoling's warning had no bite to it at all.

But Shen Xinde knew he was in the wrong, so of course he played along. He pouted and swore, "I'll listen. Haohao is very good at listening."

Only then did Gu Zhuoling let it go.

"Dolly, eat it! It's yummy!" Seeing that Gu Zhuoling was no longer angry, Shen Xinde hurriedly urged him to eat the candy.

Gu Zhuoling unwrapped the candy as he was told. It was large and hard, and when he put it in his mouth, the outer layer tasted sweet and sour.

"Be careful eating it," Shen Xinde cautioned, still worried. "Haohao ate it too fast and hurt his mouth."

Gu Zhuoling understood. The candy was probably too hard and coated in sugar, making it easy to scrape the roof of the mouth.

"Does it hurt? Let me see." Gu Zhuoling reached over and held Shen Xinde's chin.

Shen Xinde obediently opened his mouth for Gu Zhuoling to see.

Sure enough, one small spot was a little redder than the area around it.

"Eat it more slowly next time."

Because the candy was rather large, Gu Zhuoling had to move it to one side of his mouth to speak. That made one of his cheeks bulge.

Feeling playful, Shen Xinde reached out and poked the bulge, then cupped it with his hand.

Of course, Gu Zhuoling wasn't about to let Shen Xinde have his way. He immediately moved the candy to the other side and caught the little hand causing trouble. "Did you hear me?"

"Haohao heard you!" Shen Xinde pulled his hand back and shouted.

Gu Zhuoling picked up his schoolbag from the sofa, opened it and took something out to hand to Shen Xinde.

"What's this? A flower?" Shen Xinde took it and saw that it was a red rose folded from paper. It was neat and beautiful, and Gu Zhuoling had clearly put care into it.

A little embarrassed, Gu Zhuoling rubbed the back of his head. "We had origami class this afternoon. We folded roses."

"Thank you, Dolly!" Beaming, Shen Xinde couldn't bear to put the paper rose down. He held it in his hand, examining it carefully and playing with it.

Seeing that Shen Xinde liked it, Gu Zhuoling breathed a sigh of relief. Then he took another paper rose from his schoolbag, his tone less solemn than before. "This one's from Zhuang Xingye. He said it could visit you in his place."

By comparison, Zhuang Xingye's flower was all wrinkled.

Shen Xinde immediately pictured Zhuang Xingye following the teacher step by step with his chubby, not very nimble hands, still looking a little clumsy, and couldn't help laughing.

Gu Zhuoling was quite perceptive and immediately asked Shen Xinde what he was laughing at.

"Nothing. Thank Xingye-gege for me." Shen Xinde accepted the wrinkled rose and placed it beside the exquisite one from before.

Gu Zhuoling wasn't happy about that. He glanced at the two flowers sitting on Shen Xinde's bedside table and asked with feigned nonchalance, "Which one looks nicer?"

Shen Xinde looked up at Gu Zhuoling, immediately noticed his ears were red with embarrassment, and smiled knowingly. "Dolly's, of course! I like Dolly's flower best!"

"Mm."

Gu Zhuoling was even more embarrassed now. He seemed oddly busy, touching his face, then his head, his neck and his schoolbag.

Then he took a little carton of milk out of his schoolbag.

It was from afternoon tea at kindergarten.

"Jiang Nan gave me this."

Since Shen Xinde had taken the day off, he naturally hadn't gotten any milk that afternoon. Jiang Nan had held back from drinking his own and asked Gu Zhuoling to bring it home for Shen Xinde.

"Wow!"

Shen Xinde reached out and took it. Feeling the care Jiang Nan had put into it, his heart warmed.

Watching him, Gu Zhuoling started grumbling again. "I'll save mine for Haohao tomorrow."

Shen Xinde found it interesting that Gu Zhuoling could hint at what he wanted. He thought it was a big improvement from when Gu Zhuoling wouldn't speak, just sulked and then bawled, to now expressing what he wanted clearly.

Shen Xinde was especially gratified.

Gu Zhuoling deserved praise.

"Okay, okay! Dolly is the best!" Shen Xinde played along, taking Gu Zhuoling's hand and swinging it back and forth.