Li Xiaoya brought back some steamed buns for Grandpa Li, who angrily threw them away.
Grandpa Li shouted, "Where's the contract? Why haven't you signed a contract with me?"
Just as Li Xiaoya was about to explain, Sheng Yuxiao swept her up in his arms and carried her off.
"You haven't shown me where I'm going to sleep yet," Sheng Yuxiao said.
Li Xiaoya realized he was right and said, "Grandpa, hold your anger for a moment. I'll be right back."
Grandpa Li was left with his fury stuck in his throat, nearly choking him.
Li Xiaoya showed Sheng Yuxiao where she slept.
It was a relatively intact flat area covered with tiles, next to a wall without holes.
The "bed" was constructed by first laying down two layers of cardboard from packaging boxes to keep out the damp, then a layer of clean cloth. On top of that was some torn cotton padding, and finally a bed sheet.
Sheng Yuxiao glanced at it, wondering if even the beggars under the bridge slept more comfortably than this.
However, while Li Xiaoya's home was dilapidated, she had kept everything spotlessly clean, inside and out.
This "bed" was no exception.
But Sheng Yuxiao was still angry.
Because the only bed with four legs in the house was occupied by Grandpa Li.
Li Xiaoya, at such a young age, had to curl up in this makeshift bed, enduring night after difficult night.
"What about winter?" Sheng Yuxiao asked, his throat tightening as he spoke.
Li Xiaoya lay down to demonstrate.
She curled up into a tight ball, hugging herself, and said, "This way it's not too cold."
She looked like a skinny, pitiful animal cub.
He knew it!
Li Xiaoya's family couldn't afford heating!
"Where's the coat I gave you?" Sheng Yuxiao asked.
Li Xiaoya pointed.
Sheng Yuxiao looked and saw his oversized coat hanging from a beam, washed clean.
He walked over and touched it. It was still damp.
This awful weather.
Sheng Yuxiao said, "When it's dry, wear it to sleep. You won't be as cold then."
Li Xiaoya nodded obediently, then asked, "Where will you sleep?"
Li Xiaoya's house was so small that there was even a risk of it collapsing in the middle of the night.
Sheng Yuxiao's gaze swept around the room, finally settling on the empty space next to Li Xiaoya's "bed". He pointed and said, "How about here?"
A glimmer of starlight appeared in Li Xiaoya's eyes.
She seemed a bit happy, but the happiness vanished as quickly as it had come, as if she had been taught from birth not to indulge in joy.
She went to set up a bed for Sheng Yuxiao.
Sheng Yuxiao, who was utterly useless at household chores at home, was moved to action by his basic male pride and instinct to protect the weak.
He worked with Li Xiaoya to somehow put together a "bed".
When they finished, Li Xiaoya turned to him and asked, "How is it? Can you sleep here?"
There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Sheng Yuxiao swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue and said, "Of course, it's no big deal. When I graduated from middle school, I went with some friends to climb Mount Triglav. The conditions there were... well, pretty rough too. We all had to sleep in tents, and the tents were even smaller than this room..."
Li Xiaoya cupped her face in her hands, listening intently as he spoke about a completely different, brand new world.
Sheng Yuxiao's desire to share stories found full satisfaction with Li Xiaoya.
In the pauses of his narration, he glanced down at Li Xiaoya, finding her more and more endearing.
She was so well-behaved.
If he had a sister like her, his friends would be insanely jealous.
Li Xiaoya listened attentively for a long time before quietly asking, "What's Mount Triglav?"
Sheng Yuxiao was amazed that she had remembered the mountain's name perfectly, without missing a single syllable.
Then he smiled and said, "It's a mountain."
[Mount Triglav is located in Slovenia, Europe, and is a famous outdoor sports destination]
Some viewers in the comments were quite knowledgeable.
[Rich kids have it so good, able to go abroad with friends to climb mountains right after graduating from middle school]
[As expected of Young Master Sheng. Mount Triglav is very difficult to climb. People in their country believe that only those who can reach its peak deserve to be called brave. Young Master Sheng was only fourteen or fifteen at the time]
Sheng Yuxiao, for reasons unknown even to himself, suddenly felt a very strong desire.
He said, "I'll take you there someday if we get the chance."
The child before him, even though she grew up in such a squalid village, had a radiance that could not be erased.
She deserved to leave this place, to go to broader horizons, to be seen by everyone in her lovable state.
But Li Xiaoya just smiled sweetly and said nothing.
"Dad will come back for you."
"Xiaoya, Dad loves you very much. Trust Dad, the world out there is beautiful, very beautiful. Dad will go out there to make lots of money, and then come back for you."
That's what Li Xiaoya's father had said when he left.
She had cried herself to sleep that night, and the next day, villagers broke down their door, saying that Li Xiaoya's father had run off with their money.
So from a very young age, she learned that adults could lie.
Sheng Yuxiao patted her head at this moment and said, "Wash your face, brush your teeth, and go to sleep."
Li Xiaoya looked up at him with a smile and said, "Mm."
[To be honest, Li Xiaoya's face is really too beautiful. She doesn't look at all like a child who grew up in a mountain village]
[Ah, I can't stand her, she's so good at playing hard to get. When Sheng Yuxiao said he'd take her along, she didn't respond, just smiled.]
[So young, yet so calculating]
Li Xiaoya was unaware of how she was being evaluated online. She and Sheng Yuxiao shared some potatoes and the eggs she had brought back from school.
It was a pitiful sight.
After barely filling their stomachs, they squatted on the doorstep to wash their faces and brush their teeth, then spit out the mouthwash.
"You didn't spit as far as me," Sheng Yuxiao smacked his lips and patted Li Xiaoya's head again.
The viewers were both amused and exasperated: [So Young Master Sheng can be this childish too]
[Does that mean he's completely relaxed around Li Xiaoya?]
[...Stop praising Li Xiaoya already.]
Off-camera, they both lay down on their "beds".
Except Sheng Yuxiao was covered with a down comforter provided by the production team, while Li Xiaoya was still using her old, tattered quilt.
In the darkness of night, she lay with her clear eyes wide open, without a hint of resentment for her changed circumstances.
Sheng Yuxiao had napped in the principal's office during the day, so he wasn't particularly sleepy now. Li Xiaoya watched him toss and turn, and mimicking a vague memory of how her mother used to lull her to sleep, she opened her mouth and softly sang:
"The stars in the sky are silent, the children on earth miss their mamas..."
The little girl's voice was thin and gentle, surpassing all the white noise Sheng Yuxiao had ever listened to.
Sheng Yuxiao closed his eyes, feeling an unusual sense of calm from the inside out... and without realizing it, he actually fell asleep.
[There's a feeling of being healed.]
[Come to think of it, if her father ran off with the money, what about her mother?]
[People from her village said online that her mother had an affair and ran off with someone too.]
[...Damn.]
Combined with the faint singing voice in the dark scene, the netizens' emotions once again became complex.
The next day, Sheng Yuxiao woke up unusually early.
He got up and straightened his wrinkled clothes, then strode to Grandpa Li's bedside.
Grandpa Li woke up with a start, involuntarily stuttering, "W-what are you going to do?"
He had shouted about the "contract" for a long time yesterday with no response, leaving his voice hoarse today.
"The show said they gave you a thousand yuan."
"What? You want to take it back? No way!" Grandpa Li finished and then cursed a few times in dialect, his words jumbled.