Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“What age do I have to wait until?”
Xiaotu lay in her bed, hugging her blanket with both hands as she looked at Cheng Zhiyan.
“Uh…probably about ten more years.”
“How long is ten years??”
“It’ll go very fast.”
“After I wake up tomorrow, will I be older?” Xiaotu asked hopefully as her eyes started to close.
“Yep, after you wake up tomorrow, you’ll be one day closer to ten more years.” Cheng Zhiyan tucked her in, and, as he saw her breathing slowly grow more steady, he was relieved. He reached out to turn off the lights, and the bright bedroom instantly grew dark.
“Ten years, huh…”
Cheng Zhiyan lay down as he too started to give the passage of time some careful thought. “Ten years from now, he would be 20 years old. What would he be like as a 20-year-old?”
As he was pondering this, he gradually fell asleep.
…
Time flew by quickly. In the blink of an eye, winter had arrived. An icy wind blew all the time and the air had become dry and cold. The sun still gave light, but no more blazing heat.
Cheng Zhiyan and Xiaotu both started wearing heavy coats.
Yet…
Cheng Zhiyan frowned when he realized that Xiaotu was wearing a coat that, besides being several sizes smaller than his, was otherwise exactly the same in terms of color and style. He was thoroughly perplexed, and he asked her, “Why are you wearing the same clothes as I am?”
“Brother Orange Juice, this is called a matching couples outfit.” Xiaotu answered as she put on her fluffy hat.
“Where did you even learn those ridiculous words?”
“I learned them from the TV.” Xiaotu looked at him with a smile on her face.
“You should watch less TV, and read more books.” It suddenly dawned on Cheng Zhiyan how harmful TV was to people.
“Besides, as a little girl, you shouldn’t wear black clothes like I do. Don’t little girls often wear pink clothes?”
“Are you willing to wear pink clothes along with me?” Xiaotu lifted her head up with a hopeful expression as she asked him.
“No way.”
“Then I guess I have to keep on wearing black clothes like you do.” As Xiaotu smiled at Cheng Zhiyan, she revealed two rows of straight white teeth.
“…”
Cheng Zhiyan had no idea what to answer her.
“Let’s go, let’s go, Brother Orange Juice. If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late.” Xiaotu tugged at Cheng Zhiyan’s sleeve as she desperately tried to drag him outside.
“I know, I’m coming.” Cheng Zhiyan walked to his bike, placed Xiaotu on the back, and rode toward the gates to their neighborhood. He asked, “Xiaotu, tomorrow afternoon my school has an event. Do you wanna come?”
“What event?”
“A Christmas party.”
“Will there be delicious treats?”
“No.”
“Will there be toys?”
“No.”
“Will there be other little kids?”
“No.”
“Oh…”
“Do you wanna come?”
“Yes,” Xiaotu responded in a loud, clear voice.
Cheng Zhiyan couldn’t help but burst out laughing as he asked, “Since there won’t be any delicious treats or toys, why do you still want to come?”
“Because there will still be Brother Orange Juice!” Xiaotu hugged Cheng Zhiyan’s waist as she replied with a smile.
“All right, this was Xiaotu’s standard response.”
“Do you have a performance, Brother Orange Juice?”
“Yes.”
“What sort of performance??”
“You’ll find out when you get there.” Cheng Zhiyan parked his bike outside the gates of Xiaotu’s preschool and urged her to get off quickly. Only after seeing her enter her school did he finally ride off in the direction of his own school.
Before the arrival of Christmas, in order to establish a culturally minded elementary school, Cheng Zhiyan’s elementary school had decided to specifically hold a Christmas party and had invited the city officials to attend as well.