Only A-Ling Spoils You Like This

Shen Xinde overheard the parents talking and smiled until his eyes curved. In front of the aunties, he threw his arms around Gu Zhuoling's neck. "Gege and I are the closest!"

The aunties burst out laughing. "All right, all right! We're so jealous!"

Shen Xinde happily pressed his cheek against Gu Zhuoling's and rubbed them together.

Gu Zhuoling was a little shy, but he didn't resist. Without realizing it, he wrapped his arms around Shen Xinde and held on.

"All right, you two best friends, shall we go look at some other things?" Zhou Jingyi said with a smile.

The two children walked ahead hand in hand, stopping to look at anything that caught their interest.

As they passed a luxury accessories store, Zhou Jingyi wanted to take a look.

Shen Xinde and Gu Zhuoling were more interested in an event downstairs, so the two children were seated on little chairs by the entrance to watch while the parents went inside for a look.

There was a hostess at the entrance who could keep an eye on them.

Some kind of children's musical instrument competition was taking place downstairs. A little boy with an exaggerated hairstyle, dressed in a little vest, was making his way carefully onto the stage.

He was going to play the piano.

Shen Xinde didn't know much about music and could only tell whether it sounded good. He had never learned to play, and now he watched a child his own age sit at the piano and press the keys with practiced ease.

For a moment, he was a little envious.

"He's so amazing," Shen Xinde murmured unconsciously as he watched.

Gu Zhuoling was glued to Shen Xinde's side, so of course he heard him. He glanced at the little boy downstairs, then at Shen Xinde, and a little seed was planted in his heart.

"Dolly, are you hungry?" After watching for a while, Shen Xinde also found it boring. He checked his little tummy and felt that it seemed much flatter, so he asked in a roundabout way.

Gu Zhuoling certainly wasn't particularly hungry. It wasn't dinnertime yet, and he had eaten a piece of candy on the way here. Right now, his mouth just felt dry.

"Haoh's hungry." Shen Xinde hadn't eaten much at lunch today because he had been in the car and felt a little carsick. Even the bit of bread he had casually eaten had made him feel unwell.

"There's a bakery downstairs. Do you want to go, Haoh?" Gu Zhuoling's heart immediately softened when he met Shen Xinde's pitiful gaze.

"Haoh wants to go. Haoh will only eat a little bit." Shen Xinde's eyes lit up, and he took Gu Zhuoling's hand and shook it while making little pleading noises.

Gu Zhuoling nodded, agreeing without conditions, then turned and went into the store to tell his mother.

Zhou Jingyi was easygoing, and Gu Zhuoling was more mature than other children his age, so she naturally let them go.

With permission, Gu Zhuoling took Shen Xinde's hand and rode the escalator downstairs.

"Auntie Xia said we can't buy too much. We still have to eat dinner tonight," Gu Zhuoling reminded him as he led him toward the bakery.

"Haoh knows. Haoh wants meat for dinner." As Shen Xinde spoke, he could hardly keep himself from drooling.

"Hello there, little ones. Where are your parents?" A clerk at the bakery entrance saw the two tiny children and bent down to greet them.

"Mama's upstairs. Gege brought me to buy bread."

Shen Xinde could already smell the bread, and his stomach growled with hunger.

"Well..." The clerk was a little unsure what to do, mainly because she wasn't certain whether the children had come out without their parents' permission. Paying was also a problem.

"I can pay." Gu Zhuoling saw her hesitation and raised his arm to show her his watch.

Once the clerk was sure the children could pay, she picked up a tray, lined it with paper, and took Shen Xinde and Gu Zhuoling inside to choose.

"Haoh wants to eat everything."

The bakery really did have a dazzling array of bread and pastries, and they were especially pretty and appetizing.

Shen Xinde couldn't decide and lingered by the glass display case.

"You can't," Gu Zhuoling said. "We already agreed."

"Okay." Shen Xinde didn't make a fuss. After looking back and forth, he chose a slice of lemon Basque cheesecake.

Gu Zhuoling didn't hesitate and paid straight away.

The bakery had seats for customers, so the two children chose to eat there.

"It's a little sour." Shen Xinde took a bite. The sour and creamy flavors mingled in his mouth, and he couldn't help letting out a little whine.

"If you don't like it, we can get another one." Gu Zhuoling used a tissue to wipe the cake crumbs from the corner of Shen Xinde's mouth and spoke softly.

"It's yummy." Shen Xinde shook his head, then scooped up another piece with his spoon and held it to Gu Zhuoling's mouth. "Dolly, have some."

Gu Zhuoling took a bite. It wasn't actually sour. The cheese and cream flavors were strong; at most, the layer of sauce in the middle was sour, and even that was sweet and sour.

"It's not sour. Haoh, you lied to me." Gu Zhuoling saw how eagerly Shen Xinde was waiting for him to make a fool of himself and decided to tease him. He shook his head in denial.

Shen Xinde's eyes widened in disbelief. "It is a little sour. Haoh didn't lie."

"Sour, sour, sour, sour, sour." Dissatisfied with Gu Zhuoling's expressionless face, Shen Xinde leaned in and whispered like a devil.

"All right, all right, it's sour, it's sour." Gu Zhuoling laughed and reached up to pinch Shen Xinde's cheek, keeping him from leaning too close and falling off his chair.

Hehe.

"But it's yummy." Having achieved his goal, Shen Xinde was delighted. He bobbed his head and popped another bite into his mouth, then shuddered at the sourness because the piece was too big and had a lot of sauce.

"Take small bites." Gu Zhuoling patted Shen Xinde's back twice to soothe him.

By the time the two children were finishing up, the parents had come downstairs. As soon as they walked in, they saw Shen Xinde eating his little cake one bite at a time.

Xia Wanqing came up behind Shen Xinde and gave him a tap on the back of the head. "Weren't you having bread? Why are you eating cake? Careful, your tummy will get even bigger."

Shen Xinde quickly covered the back of his head to protect it from another blow, then protested, "Haoh isn't fat."

"You're so chubby I can barely carry you anymore." Xia Wanqing pulled out a tissue and wiped the sauce off Shen Xinde's hand.

"Hmph. Haoh's ignoring Mama." Shen Xinde folded his arms and turned his head away in dissatisfaction.

"Finish the last bite." Gu Zhuoling held the last bite up to Shen Xinde's mouth.

Shen Xinde took it, then hurried to get someone on his side. "Dolly, is Haoh fat?"

Gu Zhuoling looked Shen Xinde up and down very seriously, then shook his head. "You're not fat."

A little chubby was the cutest.

"Only A-Ling spoils you like this." Xia Wanqing sounded a little helpless. She reached out and patted Shen Xinde again. "Come on down. What do you two want for dinner?"

"Haoh wants meat."

At the mention of food, Shen Xinde immediately put aside his grudge for a good meal.

"Meat," Gu Zhuoling added, to show his support for Shen Xinde.

"Then how about barbecue, you two little chubbykins?" Zhou Jingyi decided.

"Barbecue!" Shen Xinde raised his hand in agreement.

Zhou Jingyi found a famous barbecue restaurant on the top floor and made a reservation in advance. As it happened, the restaurant was owned by a friend. After a phone call, they didn't have to wait for a table and could take the two children straight upstairs.