Will You Carry Me?

Meanwhile, after a lovely lunch with his dad, Shen Xinde took a long nap and spent some time playing at his dad's company.

That evening, he held his bottle and drank like mad for three hundred gulps. At last, in a sleepy daze, he remembered Gu Zhuoling.

Come to think of it, when he visited the Gu family today, Gu Zhuoling hadn't shown any particular psychological problems.

So he must have encountered something while growing up.

But that was all right. Shen Xinde had discovered that Gu Zhuoling was actually very easy to get along with. Play with him every day and praise him often, and he would be very happy.

Shen Xinde felt that his mind had been a little sluggish ever since he came to this world. Although he hadn't forgotten his memories of his previous life, some of his behavior was becoming more and more childlike without his meaning to.

But on second thought, that was fine too. He still had a sense of self, and acting like a child was better—no one would notice anything was wrong.

With that thought, Shen Xinde drifted happily off to sleep.

Meanwhile, early the next morning, Gu Zhuoling climbed out of bed.

Beside it lay the clothes the nanny had prepared for him to wear today. Gu Zhuoling had specifically requested them: a plain black short-sleeved shirt with a doll on the chest.

After washing up, Gu Zhuoling went downstairs and sat in the living room closest to the front door.

If anyone rang the doorbell, Gu Zhuoling would be the first to hear it.

To keep anyone from realizing he was deliberately waiting there, Gu Zhuoling picked up an English children's storybook and leafed through it.

When Mr. and Mrs. Gu got up and prepared to leave for work, they saw their son sitting primly in the living room.

"Why are you up so early today, Ling?"

Gu Ruize scratched his head and turned to look at Zhou Jingyi as she came downstairs.

Zhou Jingyi wasn't quite sure either. After thinking for a moment, she suddenly smiled. "Didn't I tell you yesterday? Your son made a new friend he really likes. They agreed he'd come over to play again today."

"The Shen boy?" Gu Ruize understood.

The couple had told each other about Mrs. Shen's visit yesterday.

The Gu Corporation and the Shen Corporation hadn't had much to do with each other in the previous two years, each dominating a different field. In the past year, however, they had begun expanding into some of the same fields, bringing them into contact and competition.

Gu Ruize had met the person in charge of the Shen Corporation once or twice. He remembered him as a man with brains and resourcefulness at work, though he seemed somewhat different in private: fairly gentle and gracious.

Presumably, he wouldn't do a bad job raising his children either.

These days, Mr. and Mrs. Gu were eager for their son to make more friends, to help improve his mood and personality.

"Looks like he really does like him." Gu Ruize went downstairs first and walked over to Gu Zhuoling. "Have you had breakfast?"

Gu Zhuoling nodded. He looked up, but instead of fixing his gaze on his dad, he stared at his mother as she came down after him.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Gu Zhuoling asked:

"Haocai?"

Zhou Jingyi froze for a couple of seconds. She didn't quite understand what "Haocai" meant. After thinking for a while, she remembered Wanqing saying that the Shen boy's nickname was Haocai.

He was asking why his friend hadn't come yet.

"Mommy asked Auntie Xia. Xinde wasn't feeling well this morning and couldn't get up. He wants to come play with you this afternoon instead." Zhou Jingyi stepped forward and felt Gu Zhuoling's forehead.

"Are you sleepy? Why did you get up so early today?"

Hearing that his little friend from yesterday couldn't come for the time being, Gu Zhuoling no longer intended to sit in the living room. He shook his head in answer to his mother, then immediately climbed off the sofa and took his book to his little study.

Gu Ruize was genuinely curious what the Shen boy was like now. He wondered if he should work flat out for three hundred rounds today and try to get off early to meet him.

Zhou Jingyi wasn't particularly busy today, so she came home early at noon.

After all, Xia Wanqing was bringing her child over that afternoon. They couldn't very well leave Gu Zhuoling, a child, to receive the guests with no adult host at home.

At around three, when the sun outside was no longer particularly fierce, the nanny came in and told Zhou Jingyi, who was sitting in the living room, that their guests had arrived.

Zhou Jingyi sent someone to fetch her son from the back garden, then got up to welcome them herself.

"Jingyi." Xia Wanqing came in carrying the little boy, a smile on her face. "Sorry to trouble you so much. Haocai really likes Zhuoling. When we got home yesterday, he kept saying he wanted to come play today. Who would have thought he'd have a slight fever when he woke up this morning? He was so clingy too, so I decided to wait until he felt better this afternoon before bringing him over."

"Not at all. Xinde is so adorable, I'd love for him to come every day. It wasn't easy for us to finally become neighbors, and our homes are so close. It's good to let the children visit each other more and become friends."

Smiling, Zhou Jingyi reached out and playfully touched Shen Xinde, who was in Xia Wanqing's arms. "Are you feeling better now, Xinde?"

"I'm better, Auntie Zhou," Shen Xinde answered sweetly, turning to ask his mother to put him down.

In that short time, Gu Zhuoling had appeared behind Zhou Jingyi. Still without a word, he looked up at Xia Wanqing, then lowered his head to look at Shen Xinde as Xia Wanqing set him on the floor.

"Say hello, Ling." Zhou Jingyi tentatively stroked her son's head. "Say hello to Auntie, and Xinde can come play at our house more often."

This time, it didn't take long for Gu Zhuoling to address her as Auntie.

Xia Wanqing and Zhou Jingyi exchanged a smile. Then Xia Wanqing crouched down and stroked Gu Zhuoling's head as well. "Good boy, Zhuoling. Xinde isn't feeling very well today, so he might not be able to go to the garden with you. How about playing inside today?"

Gu Zhuoling didn't fuss over it and nodded.

Seeing this, Shen Xinde rubbed his own chubby cheek. After getting his mother's permission, he trotted along behind Gu Zhuoling to the toy room.

Halfway there, Shen Xinde grew tired. His fever had only just gone down, and he still felt weak. A small child couldn't walk more than a few steps at all.

"Dolly, I can't walk anymore. Carry me."

Shen Xinde whimpered a couple of times and let his body go limp against the stair railing. An idea came to him.

Gu Zhuoling stopped and turned to look at the delicate little boy.

Today, Shen Xinde wasn't wearing overalls. He had on a simple sky-blue short-sleeved shirt and white shorts, with his exposed skin fair and rosy. His soft hair lay across his forehead, making him look so well-behaved. Perhaps because he was a little tired, his fair, tender cheeks were flushed, and his pink lips were pursed.

He was as pretty as a doll.

Gu Zhuoling thought very seriously about what Shen Xinde had said. In the end, he came to a conclusion.

"I can't carry you."

Even though I'm older than you, I'm only one year older. I can't carry you, and I might even drop you.

Shen Xinde hadn't actually expected Gu Zhuoling to carry him, but as he was now, climbing to the third floor was really too tiring.

Why not take the elevator!

Shen Xinde was a little discouraged. He was just about to stand up again when Gu Zhuoling walked over to him.

"How about I hold your hand and walk you up?"

After hesitating for a long time, Gu Zhuoling finally spoke.

There was nothing wrong with holding hands, really.

But Gu Zhuoling always felt shy about saying things like holding hands.

Yesterday, when he held Shen Xinde's hand on the way to the garden, it had been his mother who suggested it, and the two of them had simply joined hands.

But suggesting it himself...

Of course, Shen Xinde wouldn't refuse. He readily agreed and reached out to take Gu Zhuoling's proffered hand.

Shen Xinde's hand was so soft that Gu Zhuoling couldn't resist squeezing it every time he held it.

Holding the little boy's hand tight, Gu Zhuoling waited until Shen Xinde was steady on his feet before slowly walking upstairs, one step at a time.