Christmas Eve Apples
By the time Shen Xinde had mostly recovered from his cold, Christmas Eve had arrived in the blink of an eye.
Early that morning, Shen Xinde was dragged out of bed for kindergarten.
That evil kindergarten.
To keep the wind from giving him another chill, Shen Xinde was bundled up until he looked round, with a fluffy little hat on his head and a burgundy scarf around his neck.
Gu Zhuoling was already waiting at the door. His clothes made walking difficult, so Shen Xinde waddled toward him.
Watching the round ball approach, Gu Zhuoling suddenly felt a little dazed. It was as if time had gone back to that muggy summer night when Shen Xinde had first arrived at Orchid Garden and waddled home from the car like a penguin.
By now, Shen Xinde had reached him. The burgundy scarf made the exposed half of his little face look even fairer, and his big, lively eyes fixed on Gu Zhuoling. "Dolly, am I cute?"
"Cute," Gu Zhuoling replied, his lips curving up as he watched Shen Xinde turn in a circle to show himself off.
When they arrived at kindergarten, Gu Zhuoling worried that Shen Xinde would get too warm with the heating on inside, so he helped him take off his hat and scarf. "Take your coat off once you're in the classroom."
"Haohao knows." Shen Xinde obediently took his things, said goodbye to Gu Zhuoling, and turned to enter the classroom.
A few children had already trickled into the classroom, and they all greeted Shen Xinde when they saw him come in.
"Xinde! You're back!" Jiang Nan had already arrived. His eyes lit up when he saw Shen Xinde enter, and he cheered, "I missed you so much~ Are you still sick?"
Shen Xinde put his things in his cubby, then clumsily took off his coat. Hearing that, he grinned, showing his little white teeth. "I'm much better, Nan Nan. I missed you too."
The two little ones hadn't seen each other for two or three days, and they had so much to say as soon as they met.
"Did Gu Zhuoling give you the milk I sent you?" Jiang Nan pulled Shen Xinde over to their seats and puffed out his chest. "I held back for so long, I almost drank it!"
"Big brother gave it to me. Thank you, Nan Nan." Shen Xinde nodded and felt around in his coat pocket until he found a piece of chocolate, which he held out. "Haohao asked Mommy for this. It's for you."
"Thank you, Xinde." Jiang Nan happily accepted the chocolate and polished it off in no time.
After eating the chocolate, Jiang Nan seemed to remember something. He turned to Shen Xinde and asked, "Xinde, it's Christmas Eve today. Do you know what Christmas Eve is?"
Shen Xinde thought for two seconds. Christmas Eve? When he was abroad, Mommy and Daddy had taken him out to celebrate it. "Give apples, Christmas tree."
"Hey! How do you know, Xinde?" Jiang Nan looked shocked, then grew even more interested. "My mommy and daddy are coming home to spend today with me. I'm going to buy them Peace Apples."
Shen Xinde nodded in agreement. For Christmas Eve and Christmas, Haohao needed to give apples to:
Dolly, Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Gu, and Aunt Zhou.
And Haohao himself needed to eat an apple too.
As he thought about it, Shen Xinde counted on his fingers.
"Where can we buy Peace Apples, Nan Nan?" Once he had worked out how many people there were, Shen Xinde turned to ask Jiang Nan.
Jiang Nan frowned and thought for a while before giving him an answer. "A fruit shop should have them, I think?"
Shen Xinde thought about it and nodded, but soon had another idea. During a break, he called his daddy.
When school ended, Shen Xinde waved goodbye to Jiang Nan and turned to look for Gu Zhuoling.
Since the two children were beginning to get used to kindergarten, if their parents were busy with work when school ended, they would have a designated driver buy fruit.
Once the two children were in the car, Shen Xinde leaned over the back of the front seat and smiled sweetly at the driver. "Uncle, can Haohao go to a fruit shop?"
"A fruit shop? Is there some fruit you want to buy, Young Master Shen?" the driver asked, turning his head with a smile.
"Yesh, Haohao wants to buy fruit."
Shen Xinde had never mentioned wanting to go to a fruit shop after Gu Zhuoling got out of school, so Gu Zhuoling found it a little strange. He tugged on Shen Xinde's arm. "What does Haohao want to eat?"
"Secret!" Shen Xinde mysteriously covered Gu Zhuoling's mouth with his hand, then turned and urged the driver to hurry up and drive.
The driver answered with a smile, found a large fruit shop, and drove there.
"What secret can't you tell me?"
Gu Zhuoling gently patted the hand Shen Xinde had over his mouth twice, then told him to sit properly.
Shen Xinde wanted to give Gu Zhuoling a little surprise. He tilted his head up and resolutely refused to say. "You'll know when we get there, Dolly."
When they arrived at the fruit shop, Shen Xinde got out of the car and ran straight for the shop, with Gu Zhuoling following behind, carrying his scarf.
Shen Xinde didn't even need to look inside. The dark red Peace Apples were displayed right at the entrance.
"Put your scarf on." Gu Zhuoling followed him and carefully wrapped the scarf around him. Only then did he look up to see what Shen Xinde was staring at, and ask with some curiosity, "Does Haohao want to buy apples?"
"These are Peace Apples. Today is Christmas Eve," Shen Xinde corrected him. He turned to Gu Zhuoling with a smile. "Haohao is going to buy six for Dolly, Daddy and Mommy, and Uncle Gu and Aunt Zhou."
Gu Zhuoling did the math and raised an eyebrow, holding back a smile. "Is the other one a gift from Haohao to himself?"
Shen Xinde caught the teasing in his voice and glared at him. "Haohao wants to eat a Christmas Eve apple too. Can't I?"
"Of course you can."
Gu Zhuoling reached out and straightened Shen Xinde's scarf, uncovering his little pouting mouth.
"Children, would you like to buy some Peace Apples?" The woman who ran the fruit shop came out just then. Seeing that her customers were two children, she crouched down and asked softly.
"Yes, Auntie, I want to buy six." Shen Xinde held up both hands, showing five fingers on one and one on the other.
"Hahahaha, all right! How about I pick out the six prettiest ones and wrap them up for you?"
"Okay! Thank you, Auntie!" Shen Xinde gave her a sweet smile.
The woman quickly picked out six good-looking apples and put them into little gift boxes one by one.
"I'll pay." Gu Zhuoling stood at the checkout and held out his watch to pay.
"No! Haohao will pay!" Shen Xinde tried to stop him, pouting as he tugged at Gu Zhuoling's hand. "They're from Haohao to Dolly."
Gu Zhuoling laughed when he heard that. After thinking for a moment, he made Shen Xinde a suggestion. "How about we each pay for half?"
Shen Xinde tilted his head, not understanding why they should each pay for half.
"You pay for the ones you're giving me and my mommy and daddy, and I'll pay for the ones I'm giving Haohao and his mommy and daddy. That way we won't waste them by buying extra," Gu Zhuoling explained in a low voice.
Shen Xinde thought about it and decided it was a great idea, so he nodded in agreement. "Okay, okay! Dolly wants to give me a Peace Apple too, right?"
Gu Zhuoling took Shen Xinde's hand and nodded gently. "I want to give Haohao a Peace Apple too."
"You two are so close." The woman had heard them, of course. She thought the two children were so adorable that she couldn't help speaking up.
"Of course we are!" Shen Xinde grew even happier at that and held up his watch too. "Pretty Auntie, we'll each pay for half. Thank you, Auntie~"