Haohǎo Would Always Be Lucky

The barbecue restaurant placed great emphasis on privacy and service, so partitions separated every table, and each table had a server to grill the meat.

That made things easier for the two mothers looking after their children.

Even though Shen Xinde had eaten one and a half little cakes, he was still craving meat. So when the server finished grilling a slice of pork belly and put it on everyone's plates, Shen Xinde popped his into his mouth without a second thought.

"Wait!" Xia Wanqing was too late to stop him. The meat was already in Shen Xinde's mouth.

"Hot, hot, hot..." Just as Xia Wanqing had expected, Shen Xinde was burned so badly that he babbled nonsense.

Shen Xinde flailed his arms and legs, tossing the meat around in his mouth as if stir-frying it all over again before swallowing it.

Sitting across from him, Gu Zhuoling saw what had happened and hurriedly took a small ice cube from a cup beside him and put it in Shen Xinde's mouth.

"Haohǎo, blow on it first." Gu Zhuoling frowned slightly as he reminded him.

Shen Xinde's mouth was caught between fire and ice. Knowing he had been too impatient, he tucked his neck in like a quail and nodded with the ice cube in his mouth.

"Let Mommy see if you burned your mouth." Xia Wanqing was at a loss too. She held Shen Xinde's chin and had him open his mouth so she could take a careful look.

Fortunately, he had swallowed it quickly enough that his mouth hadn't been burned. His tongue would probably feel a little uncomfortable, but holding ice against it would help a lot.

After that experience, Shen Xinde was very careful with the rest of his meat. He blew on each piece a couple of times, then tested the temperature with his lips before popping it into his mouth once it was cool enough.

On the way home, the two children sat in the back.

Gu Zhuoling was still worried. He held Shen Xinde, who was sitting beside him and restlessly trying to look out the window, in place and said softly, "Haohǎo, let me see your mouth."

Shen Xinde obediently opened his mouth for Gu Zhuoling to inspect. After holding it open for a while, he closed it and added, "Haohǎo's fine. My tongue just feels a little uncomfortable."

Hearing that, Gu Zhuoling paid particular attention to his tongue, though he couldn't really see anything wrong. Shen Xinde's mouth was usually red and his tongue pink.

But whether it was just his imagination or not, Gu Zhuoling felt that his tongue looked redder. It must have been burned.

"Don't eat so fast next time." Gu Zhuoling let go of Shen Xinde's face and gave him a quiet reminder.

"Haohǎo knows. Blow on it first." Shen Xinde was the type to turn right around and stay away after running into a wall once. Having learned his lesson, he wouldn't do the same thing again.

Only then was Gu Zhuoling satisfied. He reached out and took Shen Xinde's little hand, holding it in his own and squeezing and pressing it here and there.

"Dolly."

Shen Xinde suddenly called out to Gu Zhuoling.

"Hmm?" Gu Zhuoling looked up at Shen Xinde.

"I think I saw Chen Ming." Shen Xinde spoke quietly, but Gu Zhuoling heard him.

Gu Zhuoling frowned slightly and thought for a while before he remembered who Chen Ming was.

He was the chubby boy who had fought with Shen Xinde and injured him.

"Where?" Gu Zhuoling sat up straight and leaned over beside Shen Xinde to look out the window. Sure enough, he saw Chen Ming walking with an unfamiliar old woman on the crosswalk at the traffic lights.

A few days after Chen Ming apologized in public, they heard that he had withdrawn from school.

The Shen and Gu families hadn't done it behind the scenes. Although Gu Ruize didn't much like rude, arrogant children like Chen Ming, he hadn't deliberately driven the child to withdraw from school midway through the term.

On the contrary, although he had used a little scheme to make Chen Ming's father lose a chunk of the money he had wheedled out of his ex-wife, he had told the kindergarten to come to him for Chen Ming's future tuition. After all, tuition at Orchid Pavilion Kindergarten was quite expensive each semester.

Chen Ming had been very sincere when he apologized in public, and he hadn't caused any more trouble afterward. Although transferring kindergartens wasn't really difficult, once a child had grown accustomed to an environment, changing schools was bound to have an effect.

But Chen Ming had withdrawn anyway.

Shen Xinde had heard about it from Jiang Nan, but he didn't know where Chen Ming had transferred.

Jiang Nan said that when Chen Ming's father heard Gu Ruize would pay Chen Ming's future tuition, he insisted on withdrawing Chen Ming and took the money for his future tuition.

Shen Xinde watched Chen Ming obediently follow the unfamiliar old woman, with none of his former arrogance left.

Presumably, Chen Ming's father had dumped him with his grandmother or someone like that.

Shen Xinde said nothing and simply looked away.

Shen Xinde knew that no one was absolutely good or absolutely bad, but when a child was so rude, the parents were largely to blame.

But Shen Xinde wasn't so saintly that he now wanted to turn around and help Chen Ming. Everyone had their own path to walk, and even now, Chen Ming was better off than many children.

At least he had learned early on that not everyone would indulge him. Staying with his grandmother might be far better than staying with his father. At least this grandmother looked kind, and perhaps she could correct Chen Ming's bad temper.

Gu Zhuoling noticed Shen Xinde's silence, but he didn't quite understand why.

Because he hadn't seen Shen Xinde in a long time, Gu Zhuoling wanted to go home with him that day. After getting his mother's permission, he naturally followed Shen Xinde into his room.

After their baths, the two little ones lay comfortably in bed.

Once Shen Xinde got home, he didn't seem as preoccupied as he had in the car. Now, lying in bed, he grinned as he shared what had happened in the car that morning.

Gu Zhuoling lay on his side, watching Shen Xinde wave his arms as he talked. Shen Xinde rattled through his story, then fell quiet, apparently thinking about what to talk about next.

Gu Zhuoling pulled the blanket a little farther over Shen Xinde and pressed it down with his hand, keeping any air from getting through the gap between them and giving Shen Xinde a chill.

Only then did he ask unhurriedly, "Then can Haohǎo tell me why he was unhappy this evening?"

Gu Zhuoling was especially sensitive to changes in a person's mood, and he paid a hundred times more attention to changes in Shen Xinde's.

Shen Xinde didn't speak. He simply turned over to face Gu Zhuoling.

The two looked at each other in silence. Shen Xinde edged a little closer to Gu Zhuoling, then broke into a silly smile.

Gu Zhuoling thought Shen Xinde didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't press him. He just brushed aside the hair that had grown long enough to nearly poke Shen Xinde in the eyes, then got up and switched off the little lamp on the table.

After lying back down, Gu Zhuoling expertly found Shen Xinde's hand beside his pillow, took it, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

As if comforting him.

Gu Zhuoling closed his eyes. In the darkness, he heard the person beside him murmur as if talking in his sleep.

"I wasn't unhappy."

"Haohǎo just thinks he's very lucky."

Lucky a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times over.

Although Shen Xinde had grown up in an orphanage before and didn't know who his parents were,

the orphanage director had been very kind, treating every child with care and discovering each one's strengths.

Growing up, Shen Xinde hadn't suffered any great hardships.

After coming here, Shen Xinde considered himself luckier still.

He had a father and mother who loved him very much. He lived better than many people, with brand-new toys, delicious food, and people who loved him.

He lacked nothing.

"Daddy and Mommy love Haohǎo very much." Shen Xinde paused, then continued, "Dolly loves Haohǎo very much too. Everyone loves Haohǎo very much."

After listening, Gu Zhuoling reached out with his free hand too and gently patted the blanket covering Shen Xinde.

"Haohǎo will always be lucky."