Because Mom Loves Me

Bibi Dong looked down at Luo Dong.

Luo Dong was licking a candied hawthorn, his big eyes blinking as he looked up at her.

The little guy was only a year old.

But he was more sensible than any other child his age.

Over the past few months, he had never fussed or cried when she wasn't around.

When she told him to wait patiently, he really did. He was so quiet, it was hard to believe he was a baby.

Bibi Dong bent down, set Luo Dong on the ground, and crouched to meet his eyes.

"Mom has to go take care of something. Go wait for me in your room, okay?"

Luo Dong hugged his candied hawthorn and gazed up at her with his little face tilted back.

He understood.

With a hawthorn still stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks bulged as he gave a couple of muffled little hums. Then he nodded hard. "Don't worry, Mom."

Bibi Dong smiled and reached out to ruffle his soft, fine hair.

Then she straightened, glanced at Luo Dong once more, and turned to follow the female knight toward the Elder Hall.

The two of them walked away.

At the entrance to the hall, only a one-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl remained, staring each other down across ten broad stone steps.

Luo Dong licked his candied hawthorn. The sugar shell crunched crisply between his teeth.

The hawthorn was a little sour. He squinted, then licked it again.

Qian Renxue stood on the steps, cheeks puffed, staring at the candied hawthorn in his hand.

The hawthorns were bright red, each one coated in a glistening layer of rock sugar that shone temptingly.

Mom bought that candied hawthorn.

Mom bought it for her little brother... It was definitely sour. Definitely.

Luo Dong licked it again, then looked up at Qian Renxue.

He blinked his grape-black eyes and asked in a babyish voice, "Big sister, want some?"

As he asked, he lowered his head and took a little bite, his cheeks bulging as he chewed.

Clearly, he didn't really mean to share.

Qian Renxue's face flushed bright red.

She turned her head away, her little braid swinging, and lifted her chin high as she folded her arms across her chest, putting on a grown-up air.

"I don't want any! I don't like candied hawthorn at all!"

"It's definitely sour. I don't like it."

Her voice was firm.

But her gaze drifted back despite herself.

She stared fixedly at the candied hawthorn in Luo Dong's hand as it grew shorter and shorter.

She swallowed.

Then swallowed again.

Her throat bobbed, the sound so loud that it startled even her.

Her little face grew even redder.

Over the past year,

there had been several times when Bibi Dong wasn't around that she had secretly sneaked into that room to talk to Luo Dong.

At first, it was out of jealousy. She wanted to see what was so special about the little brother who had stolen Mom away from her.

But whenever Luo Dong saw her, he smiled at her.

And once he could talk, he started calling her "Big sister" in his babyish voice.

Several times, he had even shared the treats in his hand with her.

Qian Renxue's feelings toward him had grown complicated.

She envied him, she was jealous of him, and yet she couldn't help wanting to be with him.

She liked her little brother, even though whenever she thought of the way Mom looked at him, it felt like needles pricking her heart.

But she was still a little girl, and she liked her adorable little brother..

Luo Dong tilted his little head, looking at her as she stubbornly pretended not to want something she clearly craved. He gave a little "oh."

Then he turned around and toddled into the hall on his short legs, one step at a time.

He walked steadily, nothing like a one-year-old. He held the candied hawthorn up in his hand, licking it from time to time.

Qian Renxue stood on the steps, watching him walk farther and farther away.

Two voices waged war inside her.

A devil's voice at her left ear urged, "Snatch it! Mom bought it, so why should he be the only one who gets to eat it?

"Mom isn't here. What can he do if you take it? You're his big sister!"

Her little hand clenched into a fist, and she took an involuntary step forward.

Another voice, angelic and soft, whispered into her right ear, "He's your little brother! He's only one! Such an adorable little brother! How can you take his things when you're his big sister? You're older—you should let him have it!"

Left ear: "So what if you take it? Mom doesn't care about you anyway!"

Right ear: "No! A big sister should act like one! You're already four!"

Left ear: "That has nothing to do with age! Mom gives him everything. What's wrong with taking one candied hawthorn!"

Right ear: "What if he cries after you take it? Mom will pay even less attention to you when she comes back!"

Qian Renxue bit her lip, her brows knotted as her little head swayed between the two voices.

Her fist clenched, then loosened, then clenched again. She raised her foot, then set it down.

In the end, she still didn't snatch it.

She let out a heavy breath, her little shoulders drooping.

Then she trotted a few steps and caught up with Luo Dong, who had reached the corridor entrance.

Luo Dong heard her footsteps and stopped. He turned to look at her, half a hawthorn still in his mouth.

Sugar crumbs were smeared across his face.

Qian Renxue stood in front of him, a head taller than he was.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something.

There was so much she wanted to ask.

Why did Mom treat him so well?

What did it feel like when Mom held him?

What had she done wrong? Why wouldn't Mom even look at her?

But when the words reached her lips, they all caught in her throat.

In the end, she only asked, "Why does Mom treat you so well... but me... me..."

She couldn't get the rest out.

Everyone in Spirit Hall knew how Bibi Dong treated her.

She didn't look at her, ask after her, hug her, or pay her any attention.

On the rare occasions they interacted, it was only because other people were present and Bibi Dong had to put on an act.

Those cold glances, that silence, the moments when Bibi Dong walked past her without even looking her way—she remembered every single one of them, clear as day.

Luo Dong swallowed the hawthorn in his mouth, then licked the sugar coating on his candied hawthorn.

He looked at Qian Renxue's eyes, which were brimming with tears even as she fought to hold them back.

Then he blinked and said in a babyish voice, "Because Mom loves me!"

Qian Renxue: ...

She stood there, and the tears she'd been holding back suddenly welled up in her eyes.

It hurt so much... It stung so badly... She wanted to cry.

At last, a tear broke free and rolled down her cheek.

She didn't wipe it away. She just let it fall.

Then she sniffed hard, a faint, stifled sob rising in her throat.

Luo Dong tilted his head as he looked at her, a hawthorn still in his mouth, his cheeks bulging.

He looked at the tears on Qian Renxue's face, then at the candied hawthorn in his hand, with only two hawthorns left.

He hesitated, then held it out toward her.

"Big sister, have some."

Through her tears, Qian Renxue looked at the candied hawthorn.

His saliva still clung to the sugar coating, glistening. One of the hawthorns had already been bitten in half, exposing its yellow flesh.

Qian Renxue wiped her tears hard with her sleeve, lifted her chin, and put on her haughty air again. "I don't want your leftovers!"

Then she turned around and ran off.

After about ten steps, she stopped. With her back to Luo Dong, she said in a muffled voice, "Hurry back to your room. Mom will worry if she can't find you later."

After saying that, she dashed around the corner of the corridor and vanished from sight.

Luo Dong stood where he was, looking down at the lonely candied hawthorn with only two hawthorns left.

He licked it happily.

Then he toddled toward his room on his short legs.