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墨書 Inktalez
"Dad, I want to buy a remote-controlled car!"
The little boy, about five years old, with a chubby face and bright, eager eyes, pointed at a large box on the shelf beside him. Inside was a blue plastic toy car and a black remote control.
"Buy, buy, buy! As long as Xiao Lei likes it, Dad will buy it."
The slightly plump man showered Little Guy with kisses on his face. Nearby, Li Yanhong watched the father and son with a smile full of happiness.
Behind them stood Xu Li, who used to be just like the little boy but had grown quite a bit now. His face was gradually maturing as he pushed a shopping cart behind the three of them, silently staring at the ground.
Today was his younger brother's birthday, and their father had flown in from Shenzhen to take them shopping and to the amusement park. Just look at how happy he is!
"Ali, do you like it?"
Li Yanhong held up a large box and shook it in front of the silent Xu Li: "Xiao Lei likes toy cars, so Auntie will buy you a remote-controlled airplane to play with together!"
Looking at the box in Aunt Li's hands and her smiling face, Xu Li opened his mouth to say something, but his younger brother seemed unhappy: "I want an airplane too! I don’t want a toy car anymore; I want an airplane!"
"I don't need it, Aunt Li, you can buy it for Xiao Lei. I'm grown up now!"
Xu Li shook his head to refuse Li Yanhong's kindness and left the shopping cart for them: "I'm going to buy a bottle of cola."
Watching his dejected figure walk away, Li Yanhong pressed her lips together and placed the toy box back on the shelf. She pushed the shopping cart forward while behind her, her son cried out, and her husband tried to comfort him: "Buy, buy, buy! Today you are the birthday star; Dad will buy you something."
"Da Gui, come here."
Li Yanhong could hardly bear to listen anymore. She waved at the man holding the toy box: "Go find Ali. The supermarket is so big; what if he runs into bad people?"
The man nodded, placing the toy box into the shopping cart before going off to find Xu Li. Meanwhile, Li Yanhong took the toy box she had just put in the cart back out and approached her son who was still squatting in front of the shelf, picking out other toys.
"Why won’t you share toys with your brother? It’s fair if each of you has one!"
Little Guy pouted and turned his head away: "Because You are really good-looking, unlike my dad and brother; their faces are all hairy and ugly. Mom buys for me; I won’t give him anything! He doesn’t talk much and stays in his room all day; he doesn’t like playing with me, so I don’t want to play with him either!"
He added defiantly: "I hate him!"
"Say that again and Mom will be angry."
For the first time, Li Yanhong pointed her finger at her son’s nose with a serious expression: "He is your older brother; you can’t say that about him. Do you understand?"
"I..."
"Hmm?"
Seeing that her mother was truly angry, the Little Guy immediately threw the toy in his hand onto the ground and plopped down on the floor, ready to throw a tantrum. However, Li Yanhong swiftly picked him up and gave his bottom a few firm pats after pulling down his pants.
After pulling his pants back up, she looked at him sternly and said, "No crying!"
The Little Guy's lips trembled, but he dared not make a sound. Following his mother's instruction, he picked up the toy that had fallen to the ground and placed it into the shopping cart before sniffling as he walked over to his mother to buy some snacks.
Meanwhile, on a bench outside the checkout counter, Xu Li found himself feeling somewhat angry as he sat down next to a man. "What are you running around for? It's almost New Year’s, and there are human traffickers everywhere. What would happen if they took you away?"
Xu Li lowered his head silently while holding a soda. He felt disgusted by the man beside him, who wore a concerned expression that only made him feel sick. The man had never truly spoken to him or asked what he needed.
His younger brother was celebrating his birthday, so without hesitation, he flew in for the occasion. But what about him? Last year, on his own tenth birthday, only Aunt Li and his younger brother were there. The man was out making business deals and didn’t even call. He loved birthday cake, yet it was knocked over by his mischievous younger brother.
After Aunt Li scolded the little brother without much effect, they all sat down to enjoy what could be considered a sumptuous dinner. When the man finally arrived, Xu Li only wanted him to buy another cake, but instead received a reprimand.
"How old is your brother? How old are you? As an older brother, you should be more magnanimous. Why are you still holding onto that spilled cake?"
Then the man turned around to play games with the little brother, leaving Xu Li alone in the living room. Later, Aunt Li took him out to buy a small cake from a bakery. Although it looked sweet and fragrant, it tasted salty and bitter in his mouth.
That night was the first time Aunt Li had a heated argument with the man beside her, but it ended there! She pretended to be the good person while he was left feeling neglected.
The man's gaze felt suffocating alongside his little brother's hostile stare, making him want to ignore them even more. "Aunt Li and your little brother are waiting for you; go on."
Seeing his son with his head down in silence, the man didn’t know what else to say. He patted Xu Li’s shoulder and stood up to find that mother-son pair while mumbling about his so-called opinions without caring whether Xu Li wanted to hear them or not.
When he noticed that there were no remote-controlled cars or toy airplanes in the shopping cart that his little brother liked, he glared at Li Yanhong and then dragged the sniffling little brother over to the toy section. Li Yanhong reached out and touched Xu Li's head gently: "Xiao Lei doesn’t understand."
Xu Li shrank back slightly: "It's okay, Aunt Li."
Li Yanhong awkwardly withdrew her hand and waited in line to check out.
In no time at all, Xu Li was already thirteen years old. Today he accompanied Li Yanhong to school for registration while she went inside to pay tuition fees; he waited outside the classroom where two aunties who had just finished paying tuition were gossiping about Li Yanhong inside.
"Look at her; that's Li Yanhong! I heard she’s with a wealthy guy now."
"I know! She used to work at my restaurant; I heard she got someone drunk on purpose and slept with him."
"Isn’t that right? That wealthy guy has a wife and kids! I heard his wife has cancer."
"Tsk, tsk, what a shameless woman."
"Isn't that the truth? Her reputation in our neighborhood has long been in tatters."
"Come on, come on, she's about to come out."
The two of them took their children and headed downstairs first. Meanwhile, Xu Li, who had been in a decent mood, fell into a daze. Li Yanhong noticed and waved a hand in front of him. "Ali, what are you thinking about?"
"Um, nothing much."
Xu Li wasn't sure if he should ask and bit his lip, deciding to wait for that man to arrive and ask him instead.
Li Yanhong didn't think much of it and led Xu Li outside to get into the car. Just then, the two women who had been chatting earlier rode by on their bicycles with their children, passing right in front of their car.
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