13: The cub’s mood lifts
Ye Xun was tracing lines on the storybook.
This was like the drawing class they had in kindergarten, except that kindergarten had paper and crayons. At home, there were none—or rather, the supplies were too few, and he couldn’t bear to use them up.
A whole box of colored crayons, 16 colors in total.
Use a little, and there’s a little less.
The most commonly used colors would run out even sooner.
To save paper and pencils, Ye Xun had come up with the idea of tracing over the storybook—pretending he was drawing.
He often did this, especially since Mommy was usually livestreaming and he had to play by himself.
Besides, there weren’t many toys at home anyway.
So, as he traced, he slipped into his usual play mode, gradually forgetting that he was livestreaming.
The initial nervousness slowly faded away.
The little hand holding the pencil grew steadier, the lines he drew following the picture’s curves and angles.
He was thoroughly absorbed, able to play like this for one or two hours each time.
The livestream’s viewer count: 2… 3… 13… 16… 34… It kept climbing steadily.
On a lazy weekend afternoon, during a leisurely teatime, there were always people idly browsing, opening new livestreams at random for entertainment.
Slowly, the screen transformed from a quiet comment board to one filled with more and more live comments.
[Is this livestream really just a kid?]
[That storybook looks familiar! I think I bought the same one for my daughter, haha~]
[The little one’s hands are so cute! Oh, anything in miniature is just adorable.]
[I clicked because the room name was ‘Pretty Girl.’ Didn’t expect a baby—pleasant surprise!]
[What is the little one tracing?]
Although it was approaching autumn and winter, the sunlight was still bright, streaming directly into this south-facing room on the second floor.
Ye Xun sat on the floor, leaning over the round glass coffee table, his dark head bowed from time to time. His left hand would touch the tuft of hair sticking up on his head, as if deep in thought, before adding another ‘stroke’ to the storybook.
The table wasn’t large, and the open storybook took up most of the space.
His cute, upturned little nose occasionally entered the frame, especially when he bent over to rummage in his small backpack, revealing a glimpse of his fluffy, tufted head.
Instantly, a few more comments popped up.
[The streamer is a kid? That tuft of hair hits right in my cute spot! Following!]
[Ah, I want to see the little one’s face. That little nose and those little hands are so delicate, and that soft black hair—I just want to touch it~]
[Show your face, please!]
[Isn’t it risky for a child to show their face? Could be dangerous. Parents should be careful.]
[I don’t really approve of kids livestreaming. Using children to make money…]
[Don’t be such a moralizer, commenter above! Maybe their family has bodyguards. Why worry?]
[Anyone who says they have bodyguards definitely isn’t married and doesn’t have kids. Can’t you see how old that pencil is? I have that storybook—ten volumes for only 25 yuan.]
The livestream interface quickly split into two camps, erupting into an argument.
Yet, the viewer count continued to rise.
Ye Xun knew nothing about this.
Even if he saw the comments, he couldn’t read that many words.
Fortunately, the standoff didn’t last long before it was broken.
“Cub, are you having fun playing by yourself?”
Having chatted for a while, Ye Susu pushed the door open and came in.
She was a bit worried about Ye Xun, so she came up to check on him first.
The result of her single sentence was that the previously heated livestream room fell silent.
Then, it erupted with even more intensity.
[This little one is livestreaming without his parents knowing?]
[His mom actually doesn’t know the kid is livestreaming!?]
[Wow, did you all see that just now? The little guy was so startled when his mom pushed the door open—his small hand even jumped in panic! He looked like he wanted to cover the camera!]
[Sneaky livestreaming… impressive. How old is this kid? Judging by the size of his hands, maybe elementary school age?]
[Five or six years old? Probably not in elementary school yet. I just saw his backpack—no textbooks inside, so maybe kindergarten?]
[A kindergarten streamer!?]
The entire livestream room was buzzing with astonishment!
Yet mother and son remained unaware.
“Cub, you’re reading? Why aren’t you playing with the new toy your Auntie Ningmeng gave you?”
Ye Susu walked in and immediately spotted the child’s small back, bent earnestly over the coffee table with his book.
The gift-wrapped toy box sat piled in the corner.
Was the little one still feeling down and not cheered up yet?
The unfortunate issue resurfaced in her mind.
Without waiting for the child’s answer, Ye Susu stretched her lips into a wide, warm smile. She fetched the toy, knelt down on the floor to sit at his eye level, and tried to detect any subtle clues from the child’s expression.
“Don’t you like this?”
She nudged the toy toward his arms.
[Huh? A Lego set? That’s pricey!]
[This must cost at least 500, right? It’s huge!]
Many in the livestream recognized the brand; even just seeing the corner of the box gave them a good idea.
“Cub, let’s open it and play.”
“Is this building blocks? Should I play with you?”
Ye Susu softened her voice, doubling its gentleness.
But Ye Xun kept his head down and didn’t make a sound.
The moment he received the gift earlier, he had recognized it clearly.
It was Lego.
Xiao Pang at kindergarten had Lego minifigures and cars. He had bragged about them several times, saying it was a pity Ye Xun didn’t have a dad and that his mom probably couldn’t afford such toys working alone, so he’d likely never get to play with them.
Thinking of this, Ye Xun pressed his lips together and pushed the set away slightly.
“I… won’t play… with this.”
He didn’t want it either.
“Mommy, for you…”
He turned his head away, refusing to look at it.
The packaging depicted several Lego minifigures—firefighters, it seemed and a firetruck beside them.
It looked even more fun than what Xiao Pang brought to kindergarten.
But… he didn’t want it.
He kept his head lowered, afraid that if he looked at it any longer, he wouldn’t be able to resist opening and playing with it. So, he focused his gaze on the patterns of the light brown wooden floorboards near his feet.
“You really don’t like it?”
Seeing him like this, Ye Susu grew concerned.
She wasn’t quite sure about the child’s preferences.
Personally, she preferred fluffy things.
But over the past couple of days, aside from the storybook and a few small toy cars, she hadn’t seen the cub play with anything else.
Ye Xun was unaware of Ye Susu’s internal struggle.
Don’t like it, not fun…
He gritted his teeth, clutching the hem of his shirt, wanting to say it out loud, but for some reason, the words stuck in his throat.
He stole another glance at the package.
He… did like it a little.
Maybe… if their family had more money in the future, he could bring it to kindergarten like Xiao Pang and share it with everyone.
But right now, their household was struggling to even afford rice.
He knew that.
“Mommy, you should sell this to other uncles and aunties online.”
Ye Xun looked up and spoke seriously.
He knew Mommy sold unused things online for money.
Next, he stuck out his bottom, stretched his little arms, and dragged the shopping bag containing the gift-wrapped toy box out from the corner.
His small hand rummaged inside and sure enough, he pulled out a receipt.
He handed it to Ye Susu.
“The invoice, Mommy.”
“Don’t open it. We can sell it.”
He had heard Ye Susu say this more than once.
Clothes with the tags still on, items with receipts kept—these would fetch a better price when resold.
Even with his previous miniature toy cars, Ye Susu had told him not to damage them, otherwise they’d lose value and become unsellable later.
So Ye Xun had always been very careful.
“The corners of this box aren’t damaged.”
From what Xiao Pang said, Legos were expensive. Selling it should be enough to cover their food for a month, right?
Ye Xun furrowed his little brow.
“Sell it?”
Ye Susu had waited, but this wasn’t the answer she expected.
For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
Sell the child’s toy?
A gift he just received?
She quickly searched her memories and realized the original owner had indeed done similar things before.
Gifts the child received from relatives during holidays, if not immediately useful, were often sold by the original owner.
Yikes.
She looked up again at the expression on the cub’s face—pitiful, restrained, reluctant, yet putting on a brave front of self-sacrifice.
Her heart ached. How could she not see that “I don’t want to play with it, sell it” was just the child saying the opposite of what he felt?
He really had it rough. Back when she was a little kitten, she could play with whatever she wanted, even used her caretaker’s wardrobe as a cat tree, and sharpened her claws when unhappy.
Only during her stray days had life been this hard.
She sighed and reached out to take the gift box.
Ye Xun immediately felt a wave of relief.
Holding it any longer, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to part with it for Mommy.
Now that it was taken away, a hollow sense of regret settled in his heart.
[Oh my god! No way? Is this mom really going to sell her child’s gift?]
[How difficult must this family’s life be? This is unbelievable!]
[Look, his little hands dropped. Ahhhhh, this child must be so heartbroken!]
[This child… is so pitiful. Is it really that bad? Selling Legos for money?]
[Don’t tell me he’s using a worn-down pencil because they can’t afford a new one? Please no, that’s heartbreaking!]
[My salary is three thousand, my husband’s is four thousand, but we still signed our kid up for piano lessons, tightening our belts so the child doesn’t lack anything. This mom… I give up.]
The livestream room descended into chaos.
The earlier two-sided argument seemed to vanish completely.
Those who had argued that children shouldn’t livestream were now donating the most enthusiastically.
[I only have three thousand silver melon seeds left—giving it all to the kid. Let’s crowdfund, please don’t sell the Legos!]
[Only two hundred gold melon seeds left—just buy the kid a smaller Lego set to play with.]
[666 silver melon seeds—please get the kid a new pencil. I’m begging you, mom!]
For a moment, the room’s popularity skyrocketed.
Ye Susu knew none of this.
She took the Legos and soon noticed Ye Xun’s slightly slumped shoulders.
She desperately wanted to pull the little one into her arms, pinch and knead his soft cheeks, and ask what on earth he was thinking!
But she held back, channeling all her frustration into the Lego’s outer packaging box.
Rip it open!
The kind of violent tearing that couldn’t be undone!
With a flick of her hand and a lift of her gaze, her voice rang out clear and bold.
“Cub, play!”
“We’re not selling it!”
Relying on selling the child’s toys to eat? What kind of senior cat would she be then?
Absolutely not.
She tore at the cardboard box, finding the act strangely addictive, then rolled the plastic film into a little ball between her fingers, kneading it absentmindedly.
After playing with it for a while, she finally stopped and stuffed the Lego blocks into the little one’s arms.
“Here, play all you want!”
Ye Xun was stunned.
First frightened by her violent action, then hearing her words clearly, his little heart started racing wildly—a mix of joy and nervousness.
“These blocks…” Ye Xun felt light-headed, his voice coming out hoarse, “playing with them once… makes them useless.”
Building blocks took up space, collected dust, and required cleaning—Ye Susu never bought them for him and didn’t like him playing with them.
“If you play with them even once, it’s their honor.”
Ye Susu gave his tender cheek a gentle tug, narrowing her eyes.
The texture was soft, glutinous, and springy exactly as she imagined. So, satisfying!
Ye Xun’s little face flushed red.
From the tugging!
But his heart instantly felt as if dipped in honey, sweet and syrupy, not feeling any pain on his face at all.
The cries of pity in the livestream came to an abrupt halt.
A flurry of virtual flowers, waves of moved and tearful exclamations, mixed with “crowdfunding” donations, poured in.
And in Ye Susu’s ear, a pleasant chime sounded.
[Today’s Task 2 completed.]
[Child’s current mood: Delighted.]
[Reward: Parenting Points +1.]
**