As soon as they entered the house, Leng Bingqin hung her head and walked into the bedroom with an air of exhaustion, locking herself inside.
Ji Nanchan pushed the door open gently. The pitch black room was silent, but she could vaguely see a shadow curled up in the corner of the bed. She sighed and turned on the light.
Leng Bingqin was hugging her knees, wrapped in her quilt like a little coward. Even the brightly lit room failed to elicit a reaction from her.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ji Nanchan leaned over and tugged at the quilt, trying to tease the little useless one. “Which family’s little cutie is throwing a tantrum? Oh, it turns out to be my family’s little cutie.”
It was rare for the usually heartless Ji Nanchan to take the initiative to be kind, but Leng Bingqin kept her head buried in her knees and ignored her.
Ji Nanchan was at a loss. She wondered if she should just take out the cotton candy now. But she immediately dismissed the thought. Since Leng Bingqin loved that tub of cotton candy so much, she had to save it for a special day to ensure the happiness was doubled.
Seeing that Leng Bingqin still wouldn’t move, Ji Nanchan grew anxious. She kicked off her slippers and jumped onto the bed. She scooped the girl up, quilt and all, and took the chance to lecture her. “It is such a small thing. If you keep throwing a tantrum, I am going to get angry.”
Suddenly feeling the weightlessness of being lifted, Leng Bingqin instinctively wrapped her arms around Ji Nanchan’s neck. Her expression was incredibly resentful. “I am unhappy. I don’t want to eat, and I don’t want to go out.”
Ji Nanchan carried her to the living room and set her down on the sofa. She turned around to find her favorite Mickey Mouse cotton slippers and knelt down to put them on her properly. She comforted her, “Why is there so much unhappiness? If the thing you liked was bought by someone else, it just means you weren’t meant to have it. What is meant to be will be. You have to learn to accept and go with the flow, you know?”
Leng Bingqin supported herself with her hands on the sofa, tilting her head to look down at Ji Nanchan’s face. Those eyes were like crescent moons and bright pearls, always reflecting a protective light that gave people a sense of confidence and security. Lost in thought, she subconsciously reached out to touch her face.
Ji Nanchan let the cool fingertips wander over her face and looked up at her with a gentle smile. “What is it?”
“Before I lost my memory, you were this good to me too, right?” Leng Bingqin asked seriously.
“Mm.” Ji Nanchan nodded blankly. She thought to herself that since Leng Bingqin had helped her three times in a row before the memory loss, she might as well treat her well now.
“Then I want wontons from the food street. I also want cold cakes, grilled sausages, and…”
Hearing the little useless one start ordering food, Ji Nanchan let out a breath of relief. She didn’t care about the expense. As long as she could buy happiness, everything was negotiable. she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Eating so much, aren’t you afraid of an upset stomach?”
“I just want to eat!”
“Fine, fine. You can eat whatever you want today.”
As expected, only Ji Nanchan’s wallet could cure all of Leng Bingqin’s unhappiness.
Before leaving, Ji Nanchan rummaged through the wardrobe. Since everything Leng Bingqin wore ended up looking oversized anyway, she finally picked out a warm padded jacket for her.
Standing in front of the full length mirror, Leng Bingqin looked at her disheveled appearance and wrinkled her face. “So ugly!”
Ji Nanchan pulled the hood over her head and pulled the drawstrings into a tight knot to prevent the hood from falling off. “This jacket was expensive. Just deal with it. Our main goal is to stay warm.”
After dark, the food street became a paradise for foodies with its rows of stalls. The spreading aroma of street food was the scent of happiness.
This time, Ji Nanchan led Leng Bingqin from stall to stall, sweeping through them one by one. The little useless one loved a crowd. Whenever she saw a stall with a long queue, she would squeeze her way in.
Looking at the sea of heads, Ji Nanchan clenched her fists and wanted to punch herself. Why did she brag so much? Her wallet was suffering and she was suffering along with it. If she had just left this little nuisance in the bedroom, she wouldn’t have died!
After scolding herself in her heart 999 times, Ji Nanchan was finally carrying bags full of takeout in both hands. She was tired of asking herself why she had kept this little trouble as a maid in the first place. Since she had brought this upon herself, she would have to keep pampering her even if it made her cry.
Leng Bingqin held a small bowl, eating while looking around curiously. She scooped up a piece of cold cake and fed it to her. “Chan-chan, eat!”
Since it was her hard earned money, she would eat whenever she could. The taboo of sharing a spoon had long been forgotten. Ji Nanchan leaned in and took a large bite of the cold cake.
They finally found an empty table and laid out the various snacks. Leng Bingqin took out her phone to find the right angle, mumbling, “The phone eats first. This is called a sense of ritual.”
A cool breeze blew past. Ji Nanchan tightened the hood for Leng Bingqin, then picked up a pan fried bun and stuffed it into her mouth. “Stop taking pictures. It is cold and the food cools down fast. Hurry up and eat.”
“Then I’m starting!” The little useless one cheered and began to feast heartily. Her mouth was stuffed with buns, and her cheeks puffed out like a little hamster. It was quite adorable.
At this moment, regardless of the hundreds of escaped little sheep cotton candies, Leng Bingqin’s happiness had returned.
Ji Nanchan tilted her head slightly, watching Leng Bingqin eat with satisfaction. A faint smile appeared on her face as she pulled out a tissue and tucked it into the girl’s hand. “Eat slowly, it is all yours.”
An unknown chill spread down her spine. It was the feeling of being watched.
Her smile faded. Ji Nanchan sensed an indescribable danger. It wasn’t just sensitivity, but an intuition brought about by professional alertness. She looked back warily at the vast crowd.
The food street was bustling. It wasn’t easy to spot anything unusual at a glance. Ji Nanchan silently put down her chopsticks and pulled her stool closer to Leng Bingqin, naturally shielding half of her figure.
Seeing Ji Nanchan move so close, Leng Bingqin naturally leaned her head on her shoulder. “Chan-chan, aren’t you eating? Let me feed you.”
“You eat slowly. I’m not hungry for now. I’ll finish the rest later,” Ji Nanchan replied, her eyes following the passersby. She still found nothing.
As she ate, Leng Bingqin took out her phone again and insisted on taking couple photos. She wrapped her arm around Ji Nanchan’s head, insisting their heads touch to be satisfied.
Ji Nanchan was preoccupied and let her pose in various ways, not even knowing if the photos looked good.
“Burp!” She was truly too full. Leng Bingqin habitually rubbed her stomach and covered her mouth as she burped.
Ji Nanchan packed up the leftovers. Seeing that it was still early, she suggested, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the claw machine.”
Leng Bingqin put her hands behind her back and leaned her head in playfully, almost touching Ji Nanchan’s face. Her eyes sparkled. “What is a claw machine?”
Ji Nanchan smiled. Rich little flower, you don’t know this and you don’t know that. How did you survive until now?
“You will definitely like it once you see it.” Ji Nanchan picked up the bags and took Leng Bingqin’s hand, quickly leaving the food street. In her view, it wasn’t safe there.
They found a game center specializing in claw machines. It was filled with stuffed toys and students.
Ji Nanchan pulled out a handful of change. This was the money she earned from selling recyclables today. After a month of hard work collecting junk, it was all being used to pile up the little useless one’s happiness. Her heart bled a little, and she was somewhat reluctant.
She went to the machine to exchange a basket of game coins. When she turned around, Leng Bingqin had already blended in with the students, stretching her neck to watch others play.
Walking to her side, Ji Nanchan directly pulled her away. “What’s the fun in watching others play? You can have what others have.”
She stuffed the game coins into Leng Bingqin’s arms and let her choose a machine.
Leng Bingqin saw a Mickey Mouse and excitedly lifted her leg to wiggle her ankle. “Look, it is exactly the same as the ones on my feet!”
“If you like it, we’ll go for it. Come on.”
“But I don’t know how!”
“I’ll teach you.” Ji Nanchan quickly took the spot and pulled the girl in front of her, encircling her fragile frame in her arms.
After dropping in a few coins, Ji Nanchan took Leng Bingqin’s hand and held the joystick. “Insert the coins first, then control the direction. You can move it forward, backward, left, and right.”
Leng Bingqin looked at the countdown timer, her heart racing with panic. “What do I do now? What do I do?”
“Then we choose a doll to catch. Let’s go for this one, it is close to the hole.” Ji Nanchan pointed to the nearest Mickey Mouse and pressed the button. The machine played noisy music.
Leng Bingqin stared at the slowly descending metal claw, too nervous to breathe. She saw the Mickey Mouse being picked up, but the claw loosened and the doll fell back.
Leng Bingqin grew anxious and grabbed Ji Nanchan’s hem, shouting, “How could it let go!”
Seeing Leng Bingqin’s face flush with anger, Ji Nanchan explained with a smile, “It is a business trick. If it were that easy to catch, the shop would have gone bankrupt long ago. Let’s continue.”
Pouting, Leng Bingqin refused to give up and inserted coins for five consecutive tries.
Only then did Ji Nanchan realize that their posture her encircling the girl in her arms looked very intimate to outsiders. She quietly moved to the side.
Leng Bingqin’s attention was entirely on the dolls. However, the dolls just bounced around and wouldn’t come out.
“I’m not playing anymore! I’m angry!” Seeing her protest, Ji Nanchan looked at the last three coins in the basket and sighed. Claw machines really were good at draining pocket money.
“Let me try.” Ji Nanchan inserted the coins, looking like she was putting everything on the line.
Leng Bingqin raised both hands near her head as if gathering strength, mumbling to herself, “By the power of the law, I inject my spiritual energy into Chan-chan.”
She is really going all out for a Mickey Mouse, Ji Nanchan thought, suppressing a laugh. What kind of weird TV shows has this girl been watching?
As the metal claw descended, it grabbed Mickey Mouse’s head and wobbled in the air for a few moments. Finally, amidst a burst of music, the doll fell into the chute.
“Aww!” Leng Bingqin covered her mouth with both hands, jumping with excitement. She hugged Ji Nanchan tightly and shouted, “Chan-chan, you are so amazing!”
Ji Nanchan leaned over to retrieve the Mickey Mouse and waved it in front of her. “So, is my family’s little cutie still throwing a tantrum?”
Taking the small doll and rubbing it against her face, Leng Bingqin beamed like a flower. “Not anymore!”
Ji Nanchan led Leng Bingqin out of the game center toward home. “Now you have three dolls to sleep with. You won’t cling to me tonight, will you?”
Leng Bingqin didn’t want to sleep in separate beds. She held up her beloved Mickey Mouse and looked at it. Her final sentence almost choked Ji Nanchan. “Clearly, there are four dolls sleeping with me. You are the biggest and softest one.”