An'an and Huhu

Perhaps "favoritism" wasn't the right word. It was just that, around Xiao Ming, he felt more of the emotions that "normal people" possessed. That surprised him, so he could never resist getting a little closer, like a small animal clumsily testing whether its owner was willing to accept it.

Now that he had noticed this "abnormality" in himself, he was genuinely confused.

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

The attending physician wore the kindly smile of an elder watching their own toddler take its first steps. "Then go experience it. Experience what it means to like someone, and you'll understand. If you still don't understand, learn slowly."

The attending physician could tell that today's conversation had more or less reached its end. If he said much more, Qu An might not want to keep talking. "All right, let's leave it here for today. If you're willing, we can talk again next time."

Before leaving, Qu An paused, turned back, and said, "Please don't tell my parents about what happened today for now. Thank you."

The attending physician was somewhat surprised, but he agreed. Qu An was already an adult; unlike a minor, there was no need to report every detail to his guardians. They had the right to protect a patient's privacy. Still, Qu An had never cared before about the results of his follow-up visits or whether other people found out. This was the first time.

He watched Qu An's departing figure, then looked at the supposedly rare green plant by the window, which his daughter had placed there and which had already sprouted. He thought that perhaps it really was time for it to grow toward the sunlight.

Xiao Ming did not discuss the "hospital" matter much with Qu An. As long as he knew Qu An was all right, that was enough. He explained it to the fans in a relatively reasonable way, which also soothed everyone's concerns.

Xiao Ming had been free lately, so he started sorting through his belongings. Mainly because when he had shopped online before, aside from snacks, he had also bought many things related to Qu An—for instance, limited official merchandise from one of Qu An's earlier films, purchased through a secondhand platform.

Their home was not small: four bedrooms and a living room, plus a kitchen. Every room had its own bathroom. Apart from his parents' study, there were three bedrooms and another study. One of the bedrooms was a guest room, generally prepared for his grandparents, who only visited once in a long while.

There was a fairly large bookcase in his room, filled with books related to his field. While tidying up, Xiao Ming discovered that quite a few books on acting had been stuffed among them.

He had not intended to open them. He merely wanted to pick out the acting books tucked between books like Principles of Economics and put them back properly, but he knocked one of them onto the floor.

To his surprise, that acting book was densely covered in notes, written in different colored pens. At first, he only glanced through them, but then he suddenly froze.

There were two kinds of handwriting inside. One was unfamiliar and mostly contained personal insights. The other was extremely familiar. Because... it was his own handwriting. The writing that belonged to him was filled with childlike questions, such as, "Are there different schools of acting?" The other handwriting would answer them.

But Xiao Ming searched his mind and had absolutely no recollection of writing this during that year. At most, he could vaguely remember that "Xiao Ming" seemed to have bought this book.

Unable to control himself, Xiao Ming flipped through a few more pages and found that it truly was his handwriting, and even the tone was exactly like his own.

Cold sweat broke out on his back, and he found it hard to breathe. Why did this feel... so creepy?

He had clearly been in a coma that entire year, hadn't he? Hadn't "Xiao Ming" taken over his body? He tried hard to remember what had happened that year, but his memories were far too fragmented to uncover anything useful.

Maybe... when he had time, he should see a psychologist, he thought.

But he soon put the matter out of his mind, because Qu An suddenly officially announced a new script over the past few days. It was a crime investigation drama, and supposedly it even had romantic scenes, so everyone was looking forward to it.

Xiao Ming dug through his memories and recalled that Qu An had seemed to be reading a script during the typhoon before. Now it seemed to fit—the script Qu An had been reading was probably this one.

For some reason, Xiao Ming felt the tiniest bit sad. It seemed that he had learned Qu An would be acting in this drama at the same time as everyone else, though the thought itself was awkward and ridiculous.

He had not had friends before, so whenever he achieved something, he never knew who to share it with. In the end, he would process it by himself and immediately prepare for the next thing. Though some of the things he took part in were group activities, the others still only regarded him as a colleague or work partner.

So he had always thought that if he ever had a friend, he would definitely be unable to resist sharing things with them. For example, when Full Speed Ahead! had approached him to sign a contract, he could have made the decision himself without consulting Qu An, but he loved the feeling of sharing with a friend and hearing their opinion.

Therefore, when he saw Qu An officially announce the film without having mentioned it much beforehand, he felt something like a child's strange possessiveness. He hoped he would be the special one.

But that thought had only flashed through Xiao Ming's mind for a moment. Afterward, he began to despise himself. Qu An was his friend—how could he keep demanding more? He should not even think such things.

For Xiao Ming, having a friend was truly not easy, so he treasured it deeply.

Actually, when Xiao Ming had been very young, he had also been a particularly lively child, almost like the leader of the children. Back then, he had had an especially close friend. But later, they lost contact, and he formally entered the world of relentless competition.

As he grew older, his childhood memories had long since blurred. Xiao Ming could remember things he had done with that child, but he could not recall what the child looked like. He only vaguely remembered that the child was called An'an, and nothing else, because they had not even left behind a single photo together.

That had also been Xiao Ming's first friend, someone he had met before he started elementary school.

At the time, he was raised by his grandparents. They had jobs of their own as well, so most of the time they left him in places like daycare. Xiao Ming's memories began around the age of four, when he started kindergarten.

As a child, Xiao Ming had been very lively. He talked a lot, like a little chatterbox, and he was very pretty. At first, the kindergarten children all played with him and liked him very, very much. Back then, he was like the king of the children in kindergarten.

But later, Xiao Ming quickly noticed a child in his class who was a year younger than him. That child had only recently started kindergarten and had entered later than most children.

Little Xiao Ming noticed that child because he was always alone, very quiet, and never played with the others. The child had especially long hair, but he was a boy, because Little Xiao Ming had once seen the teacher trying to tie his hair into little pigtails.

Then some of the other children said that only girls wore pigtails. That child was a boy and still wore pigtails—he had no shame.

The tiny Xiao Ming keenly noticed that everyone in the class seemed not to like that child very much, so out of curiosity, he asked a chubby little boy who had given him candy.

The chubby little boy looked disdainfully at the child and said that he was a very strange child. He was sick; he completely ignored people and never spoke. The adults said it was called autism. Besides the chubby boy, the other children in kindergarten also said he was sick and that no one should play with him.

But when he saw the child whose hair had been tied into pigtails by the teacher, revealing a handsome little face, Little Xiao Ming's weakness for pretty faces was exposed. Completely ignoring the other children's "kind advice," he took the initiative to greet him.

"Hello, I'm Huhu. What's your name? You're really good-looking. Can you be my best friend?" Little Xiao Ming scooted over and sat beside him. The teacher glanced at them, then looked away, ignoring the two children.

At the kindergarten he attended back then, every child wore a name tag with their name on it, generally a nickname, so that the teachers could call them more easily.

So at kindergarten, everyone only knew Xiao Ming as "Huhu," not "Xiao Ming."

Just like Xiao Ming's friend back then, he could already recognize some characters at the age of four. He could read the two identical characters on the child's name tag and knew how to pronounce them.

"Your name is An'an, right? Hello, An'an. I'm four years old, and I've been at this kindergarten for three days. Why didn't I see you the past few days?" Xiao Ming talked to An'an all by himself, even though that aloof little child did not respond to him at all.

At that moment, Xiao Ming seemed to understand why the other children said not to play with An'an. An'an gave him a look with no emotion in it, as if he might say something like, "Stay away from me," the next second.

However, Little An'an maintained his aloof, unresponsive persona very well. He merely glanced at Little Xiao Ming and did not speak to him.

Little Xiao Ming had been a little scared at first, but when he saw that adorable face, he suddenly felt that no matter how An'an treated him, he could accept it.

"An'an, if you don't say anything, that means you agree. You're my best friend now, and I'm your best friend too." Little Xiao Ming made the decision on his own, domineeringly.

Little An'an ignored him, as though he did not care.

Little Xiao Ming was still very persistent. Even though An'an kept ignoring him, and the other children refused to speak to him because he played with An'an, saying he had betrayed them.

Little Xiao Ming and his best friend An'an were thus isolated by all the other children. But unexpectedly, he did not seem sad at all. Every day, he remained cheerful.

At first, An'an ignored Little Xiao Ming, with a sort of attitude that said, "Talk all you want; if I open my mouth, I lose." Yet even so, Little Xiao Ming refused to mend his ways.

In his interactions with An'an, he had somehow learned to ask and answer his own questions. Back then, he was so chatty that no one could have imagined what kind of person he would become after growing up.

Little Xiao Ming would ask An'an whether he did not talk to his family either. But before An'an could answer, he would already start talking about something else.

For example, when family came up, he would tell An'an that the adults in his family were very busy, which was why they had sent him to kindergarten, but they were also very impressive.

"An'an, my mom, dad, grandpa, and grandma are all super, super amazing—the kind who can build rockets! But they don't have time to play with me. I only see my mom and dad during the New Year. Why is that? Is Huhu not well-behaved enough?"

Actually, Little Xiao Ming had always been the obedient one. At home, he did not talk much either. But when he met a child who was even quieter than he was, he could never resist talking more—especially since that child was super adorable.

"An'an, whenever I'm home alone, I always feel really sad here." Little Xiao Ming pointed to where his heart was, then innocently continued, "I heard some children say that their family got a super adorable little brother. At first, she thought he was super annoying, but then he could play with her, and she became really happy."

Little Xiao Ming propped his chin in his hands and looked at An'an. "An'an, the teacher said you're only three. You're a whole year younger than me. You have to call me big brother, An'an. Will you be my little brother? Then we can play together!"

Although An'an still did not speak, he took a piece of candy from his pocket and gave it to Little Xiao Ming.

On the second day after they met, An'an gave Little Xiao Ming that candy. That was why Little Xiao Ming had later been willing to keep playing with An'an, even when An'an ignored him.

More importantly, during afternoon snack time on the first day they met, some children had begun bragging that their uncle had bought them very expensive candy overseas.

Xiao Ming had never eaten that kind of candy as a child. His grandparents believed it was unhealthy, so they would not let him eat it. Thus, he unconsciously mentioned it to the friend he had just met. "An'an, have you ever eaten candy? What is it? Is it tastier than egg custard and milk?"

He liked egg custard and milk because they were sweet, and children all loved sweet things.

The next day, An'an silently took an elegantly wrapped milk candy from his pocket and gave it to Little Xiao Ming. Thus, their profound revolutionary friendship was established over a single milk candy.

The first thing An'an ever said to Little Xiao Ming was, "Don't cry." At the time, Little Xiao Ming had a nightmare during nap time. When he woke up, he said he missed his mom and dad, then kept crying.

To comfort Little Xiao Ming, An'an even took out some candy and added, "Have some candy."

Once Little Xiao Ming recovered, his tears turned to laughter. The snot bubble under his nose popped with a pop, and his still-teary eyes sparkled as he said, "An'an, you talked to me! Do you think I'm your very best friend?"

Children's emotions came quickly and went quickly. Soon, he tossed his sadness aside, with only his best friend on his mind. Clingy and sticky, Little Xiao Ming rubbed his snot all over An'an, baring his teeth in a foolish grin.