Emotional Support, Maxed Out

Shen Xinde was engrossed in a cartoon when Gu Zhuoling came out, having quickly gotten himself ready. Some of the wisps of hair on his forehead were damp.

Shen Xinde reached for a tissue at the edge of the sofa and clumsily pressed it against Gu Zhuoling's damp hair.

Gu Zhuoling took the tissue without expression and wiped his hair, then crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash.

Shen Xinde climbed down from the sofa, reached for Gu Zhuoling's hand, and mumbled, "Dolly, breakfast."

He meant that Gu Zhuoling should go eat breakfast.

Gu Zhuoling pulled Shen Xinde toward the elevator. His room, like the playroom, was on the third floor.

"Have you eaten?"

After they stepped out of the elevator, Gu Zhuoling naturally took Shen Xinde's hand and led him toward the dining room.

Shen Xinde instinctively touched his belly, seemingly feeling for the food inside, before answering, "Haohao ate, steamed egg custard."

Gu Zhuoling hesitated when he heard that. He felt awkward about making Shen Xinde wait while he ate breakfast. Would Shen Xinde get impatient?

They had already reached the table, and the butler had laid out breakfast. All that remained was for Gu Zhuoling to sit down.

Gu Zhuoling spoke so softly that Shen Xinde might not have heard him if he hadn't been standing right beside him.

"Could you keep me company while I finish breakfast?"

Shen Xinde already had one cheek halfway onto a chair and had been planning to shamelessly ask for some milk or something. Hearing that, he really did feel embarrassed.

He scrambled up onto the chair, then rubbed the back of his head. "Haohao wants a small glass of milk."

Gu Zhuoling looked at the child sitting there, grinning at him. The hair at the back of Shen Xinde's head had been mussed by his hand, with a few strands sticking up. Combined with his silly expression, it made him somehow a little cute.

Gu Zhuoling felt an indescribable happiness curl around his heart, leaving him seemingly a little excited. Unable to pin down the reason, he didn't dwell on it. He turned and silently glanced at Grandpa Butler, who gave him a knowing smile and went into the kitchen.

The two sat at the dining table, each having his own food. Since Shen Xinde had already eaten breakfast, he wasn't given much milk, but it was enough to help him pass the time.

Gu Zhuoling ate elegantly, but quickly. By the time he had finished his breakfast, Shen Xinde was still sipping his milk beside him.

Gu Zhuoling waited until Shen Xinde finished his milk before handing him a tissue to wipe his mouth. Then he got down from his chair and stood beside Shen Xinde, steadying him as he twisted around to climb down.

It was a rare day of good weather, and it wasn't particularly hot outside yet. Shen Xinde wanted to play in the garden, so Gu Zhuoling took his hand and led him there.

"Thank you, Dolly!"

Gu Zhuoling was worried that the sun would make Shen Xinde uncomfortable later, so instead of sitting on the lawn as usual, he moved under a tree. Only after he had positioned the little mat did he let Shen Xinde come over and sit down.

Shen Xinde watched everything Gu Zhuoling did, then tugged at his clothes with a beaming smile. When Gu Zhuoling turned to look at him, he gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek.

A tomato sprang up from the soil, standing at attention.

"Y-you..."

Gu Zhuoling's face really did turn bright red, and he couldn't speak for a long while. He had no idea what to do with Shen Xinde, who was always catching him off guard and giving him no time to prepare.

He just hadn't reacted in time! He absolutely couldn't relax his boundaries!

Men shouldn't touch each other so casually.

Not even if you're as cute as a doll!

"You can't just do that whenever you want next time."

"What's wrong?"

Shen Xinde blinked his big, watery eyes. Kisses were a sign of love. Whenever he kissed Mom and Dad at home, they were always so happy.

Dolly has no emotional intelligence at all.

Haohao is so cute. Why doesn't Dolly like a kiss?

"You can't just kiss other people! It's rude!" Gu Zhuoling tried to explain.

Shen Xinde's eyes darted around. He glanced at Gu Zhuoling, then turned his head away with a rather mischievous air and said nothing.

Gu Zhuoling calmed down for a while and noticed that the little person beside him had gone quiet. He looked up to see the back of Shen Xinde's round head as he started shoveling dirt into his little bucket by himself.

Sensing that something was wrong, Gu Zhuoling realized his words seemed to have accused Shen Xinde of being rude and made him unhappy. He tried to salvage the situation. "You have to get someone's permission before kissing them."

Shen Xinde said nothing and lowered his head even farther.

"Then next time you kiss me... could you tell me first?"

Shen Xinde still didn't speak. He was practically turning into an ostrich, completely ignoring Gu Zhuoling.

Gu Zhuoling thought this was too hard. When had he ever comforted anyone? In the past, he had always turned down other children's invitations to play with an expressionless face. Even when they cried, he had only found the noise annoying.

It had never been like this.

Gu Zhuoling felt a strange helplessness. The sun hadn't even gotten very hot yet, but he could already feel sweat breaking out.

The two faced off for a long while.

Gu Zhuoling caught the wrist of the hand Shen Xinde was digging with and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry. I wasn't saying you were rude."

"I just..."

Gu Zhuoling couldn't get the rest of the sentence out, and his face began to turn red again.

Shen Xinde finally took pity on him and raised his head. Staring at Gu Zhuoling's flushed face, he asked, a sly glint flashing in his eyes, "Is Dolly shy?"

Gu Zhuoling said nothing, but his face turned an even brighter shade of red, seemingly announcing the answer.

Shen Xinde understood. As if to tease him some more, he leaned his face even closer. "Did Dolly get shy?"

I confess. I confess to everything.

Gu Zhuoling nodded as if accepting his fate. Without a word, he reached out and helped flatten the dirt Shen Xinde had randomly shoveled up. Then he started watering, digging, and moving flowers around, looking very busy.

Shen Xinde knew Gu Zhuoling had reached his limit. If he teased him any further, he might shut himself away for three hundred days. He chuckled twice under his breath, then lowered his head and went back to playing with the dirt.

The two played in the little garden all morning. Shen Xinde spoke up every now and then. Though Gu Zhuoling's replies were brief, he answered everything Shen Xinde said. Even when he didn't know what to say, he would make a sound of acknowledgment to show he had heard.

Shen Xinde didn't mind how he answered. After all, once they grew tired from playing, Gu Zhuoling didn't object even when Shen Xinde started talking nonsense.

"Sky. Airplane."

"Mm." Gu Zhuoling glanced up at the blue sky. No airplane was actually flying overhead.

"Big tree, woodpecker."

"Mm." Gu Zhuoling glanced at the big tree behind them. Of course, there was no woodpecker either.

"Table, teapot."

"Mm."

"Grass, flowers, green."

"Mm."

Shen Xinde was going to list every word he knew and every object that appeared before his eyes. Although Gu Zhuoling hadn't figured out exactly what Shen Xinde was trying to say, he gave him all the emotional support he could want.

Zhou Jingyi: Hello, son. You never treated me like that before. Where did all those "mm"s come from?

Once a servant had prepared lunch, she came to the little garden to call the two of them in.

It was already noon. Although neither of them had done anything strenuous outside, they had still gotten somewhat hot and worked up a little sweat.

Gu Zhuoling went to the washroom, dampened a fresh towel, and handed it to Shen Xinde to wipe off his sweat. Once Shen Xinde was done, Gu Zhuoling washed the towel clean and hung it beside his own, then wiped his own face.

The two freshened up and sat down at the table, where the dishes had already been set out.

Gu Zhuoling's parents were usually busy with work and didn't come home at noon. He had always eaten alone before, with Grandpa Butler keeping him company. Now that Shen Xinde was staying at the Gu house, Gu Zhuoling no longer felt that the large dining table and empty chairs made the place seem so empty.

Shen Xinde was practically sitting on his chair.

There was so much space.