vncnus Chapter 22 The Sloppy Girl
Chapter 22 The Sloppy Girl
When we returned from the unfinished building, the sun was already high in the sky.
Lu Siye's stomach had been growling the whole way.
He had planned to go back to that pork chop restaurant.
It's currently free and unlimited; the owner said you can go anytime.
But as he walked, a fragrance wafted from the street corner, instantly freezing him in place.
It's the kind of fragrance where all sorts of scents are mixed together.
It's not the aroma of a specific food, but the aroma produced when many, many foods are cooked together.
He followed the scent and looked over.
There's a shop on the street corner with a large storefront, three or four times bigger than a pork chop restaurant.
A red sign hangs at the entrance that reads "Haoweilai Buffet Restaurant," with a line of smaller print below it.
"Adults pay 68 yuan, children pay half price, all-you-can-eat."
Through the glass window, you can see several rows of dining tables inside, each laden with a variety of foods.
Stir-fries, stews, cold dishes, barbecue, seafood, fruits, desserts, soups, beverages...
A dazzling array of goods.
His stomach growled again.
Sixty-eight yuan.
He touched the money in his pocket.
I spent 300 yuan on the phone, 180 yuan on the hotel, and 20 yuan on food, leaving me with less than 100 yuan.
Sixty-eight yuan a meal is a bit extravagant.
but......
Tomorrow is the competitive eating contest.
If you win, you'll get free pork chop rice, unlimited servings, plus a bonus.
Indulge a little today, consider it a warm-up for tomorrow's game.
He nudged Fei Fei's head.
"This is it."
Feifei wagged its tail tip, indicating its agreement.
He walked to the door and reached out to push it open.
Just as my hand touched the doorknob, the door was suddenly kicked open from the inside.
A figure flew out from inside.
She is a little girl.
To be precise, she was a very sloppy little girl.
He looked to be about seven or eight years old, with messy hair containing a few bits of something he couldn't identify.
She lay on the ground, trying to get up by supporting herself with her hands, but her hands slipped and she fell back down.
A man was standing inside the door, wearing an apron, and looked like the boss.
He stood with his hands on his hips, his expression a mixture of anger and helplessness.
"Get out, get out, and don't come back!"
The man spoke loudly, attracting the attention of passersby.
"How many times have I told you, you're not welcome here!"
The little girl was lying on the ground, her shoulders twitching.
Lu Siye stood frozen at the doorway.
He looked down at the little girl on the ground, then looked up at the shop owner inside the door.
His first reaction wasn't sympathy, but confusion.
What kind of nonsense is it to throw a seven or eight-year-old girl out of a restaurant?
Then he smelled a scent.
It has a strong, pungent flavor that makes your stomach churn.
It smells like vomit.
It emanated from the little girl.
Her clothes, hair, and hands were covered in sticky, semi-digested food residue.
A yellowish-white, pasty substance.
Mixed with the smell of gastric juices, it fermented under the midday sun.
It emitted a stench that made you want to vomit up the breakfast you had just eaten.
Lu Siye subconsciously took half a step back.
Then he saw the little girl's face.
She raised her head.
His face was covered in vomit.
A sticky, pasty substance was smeared on her eyebrows, nose, and mouth, and dripped down her cheeks.
Her eyes were open, and there was something white on her eyelashes.
But she was still looking at him, tears welling up from the paste and streaming down her face.
Her eyes were brimming with tears.
Her face was very delicate.
If it weren't for the vomit, she would probably be a pretty little girl.
Lu Siye stood there, three thoughts racing through his mind.
My first thought was: What does this have to do with me? Let's go.
My second thought was: Did this child eat something bad? Is this buffet poisonous?
My third thought: Something's not right. The boss and the waiter's expressions are strange.
He glanced at the boss inside the door.
The boss stood with his hands on his hips, his expression not one of anger, but of helplessness.
He then looked at the other customers in the store.
A couple sitting by the window were eating, without even looking up.
An expression of indifference.
There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.
The little girl got up from the ground again.
This time she managed to stand up, swaying unsteadily, her legs trembling.
She raised her hand and wiped her face with her dirty sleeve, removing some of the vomit.
She saw Lu Siye.
I paused for a second.
Then her lips began to tremble, and tears streamed down her face, falling into the vomit on the floor.
She opened her mouth and let out a sob.
"elder brother……"
Then she pounced on her.
Lu Siye had no time to dodge.
A voice in my head said "Get out of the way," but my legs wouldn't obey me.
Maybe it's because she's too young, maybe it's because she's too thin, maybe it's because her voice sounds too similar...
What does it look like?
he does not know.
The little girl threw herself into his arms, clutching his clothes tightly with both hands, burying her face in his chest, and bursting into tears.
She cried terribly.
Lu Siye froze.
He looked down at the little thing in his arms.
The top of her head was against his chin, and the stray hairs from her hair brushed against his clothes.
Then he smelled that scent.
The smell of vomit was strong, intense, and impossible to ignore, even up close.
It emanates from her hair, clothes, hands, and face, in a comprehensive, three-dimensional, and 360-degree way.
His stomach churned.
It wasn't the kind of slight, easily crushed flip.
It's that kind of... how to describe it?
The entire stomach was turned inside out from the bottom.
Stomach acid surged up from his stomach, rushed to his throat, and he swallowed it back down.
His eyes immediately welled up with tears.
It wasn't out of emotion, it was out of suppressed feelings.
He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.
I regretted it as soon as I finished inhaling it, because the air was filled with that smell.
His eyes were almost watering from the fumes.
Feifei perched on his shoulder, and the whole beast bristled.
Then it buried its head in his collar and never came out again.
Lu Siye stood at the entrance of the buffet restaurant, looked up, and glanced at the owner inside.
The boss was looking at him with a somewhat subtle expression, as if to say, "Brother, you asked for this."
He glanced at the customers in the store again.
No one spoke.
No one explained what was going on.
He looked down at the little girl in his arms.
She was still crying, but her voice was a little softer.
His shoulder was still twitching, and there was something black and stuck under his fingernails.
He admitted it.
no way.
They've already thrown themselves into my arms; I can't just throw them away.
He freed one hand, trying not to touch the sticky stuff, and patted the little girl's back.
"Don't cry."
He said he tried to soften his voice a bit.
The little girl cried even harder.
Lu Siye: "…………"
He took a deep breath.
This time I learned my lesson and used my mouth, not my nose.
"I'm gone."
He said he turned around, picked up the little girl, and walked towards the guesthouse.
He didn't look back at the buffet restaurant.
But he could feel many eyes watching him from behind, some with pity, some with amusement, and some with relief.
What are you glad about? Are you glad you passed this trouble on to someone else?
he does not know.
I don't want to know.
It took about twenty minutes to walk back to the guesthouse.
These twenty minutes were the longest twenty minutes of Lu Siye's life.
It's not because carrying a child while walking is tiring.
She was as light as a bone, requiring almost no effort.
It's because of that smell.
It stinks.
It's not just ordinary stench.
It's the kind of stench produced after being exposed to the sun; it's penetrating and can see through three layers of clothing.
With each step he took, that scent wafted from his arms, like an invisible dark cloud enveloping him.
As pedestrians passed by him, their expressions changed from normal to puzzled, from puzzled to frowning, from frowning to covering their noses, and from covering their noses to hurrying away.
An older woman walked around to the other side of the road, looking back as she went, muttering, "These young people nowadays, they don't even know how to give their kids a bath."
There was an old man walking his dog. When his dog passed by him, it sniffed and then turned and ran away, almost knocking the old man down with the leash.
Feifei had completely shrunk into his clothes, not even showing her head.
Lu Siye walked on expressionlessly.
His expression wasn't the kind that says "I'm calm," but rather the kind that says "I've given up the struggle."
When we arrived at the guesthouse, the receptionist was eating sunflower seeds and looking at her phone.
I looked up when I heard the door open, and saw him, the little girl in his arms, and smelled the scent in the air.
The older sister's melon seeds fell onto the counter.
"you......"
"Don't ask," Lu Siye said.
The older sister opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Her gaze swept back and forth between him and the little girl twice, then she silently lowered her head, took a towel from the drawer, placed it on the counter, and pushed it over.
Lu Siye glanced at her.
"Thanks."
He took the towel and went upstairs.
When they arrived at the door of 305, he put the little girl down, supported her with one hand, and took out his keys to open the door with the other.
The little girl couldn't stand steadily, so she leaned against his legs and grabbed his waistband.
The door opened.
He first pushed the little girl inside and let her stand at the bathroom door.
Then he closed the door, leaned against it, and took a deep breath with his eyes closed.
Feifei crawled out of his clothes, jumped onto the bed, ran to the pillow, and curled herself into a ball.
Its body was still trembling slightly.
Lu Siye glanced at Feifei, then at the little girl standing at the bathroom door.
The little girl was looking at him.
The tears had stopped, but there was still that stuff smeared on my face.
She tilted her head, sizing him up, with something very strange in her eyes.
"You," Lu Siye pointed to the bathroom, "go in."
The little girl tilted her head.
"Take a shower," he said, pointing to the showerhead in the bathroom and making a splashing motion. "Take a shower."
The little girl understood.
She nodded, pushed open the bathroom door, and went inside.
Lu Siye stood at the door and hesitated for a moment.
"Can you wash yourself?"
The little girl turned around, looked at him, and blinked.
Okay, no.
He took a deep breath, this time a deep inhale, not a sniff.
Then I went into the bathroom, took the showerhead off, and tested the water temperature.
The water was a little cold, so he adjusted it to a warm temperature.
The little girl stood in the bathtub, looking up at him, motionless.
"Take off your clothes," he said.
The little girl looked at him.
"Take off your clothes." He repeated the action.
The little girl lowered her head and began to take off her clothes.
The movements were slow and clumsy, as if the person had never undressed before.
The T-shirt got stuck on his head for a long time, and Lu Siye finally helped pull it off.
Beneath the T-shirt was a body so thin it was heartbreaking.
His ribs were clearly visible, and his collarbone was so prominent that a coin could fit on it.
His belly was flat, and you could see the outline of his internal organs.
There was little flesh on his arms and legs; just bones beneath the skin, with faint blue veins visible.
There was dirt on my body, but not as much on my face and hair.
It's mainly dirt and sweat that mix together and form a grayish-brown, shell-like substance on the skin.
Lu Siye pointed the showerhead at her and started rinsing her.
The water temperature was just right, neither too hot nor too cold.
The water washed over the girl, washing away some of the grayish-brown grime and revealing her pale skin underneath.
Water flowed down from her head, over her shoulders, chest, stomach, and legs, finally into the drain, carrying a layer of grayish-black turbidity.
The girl stood beneath the flowing water, her eyes closed, motionless.
Water droplets dripped down her eyelashes, indistinguishable between water and tears.
Lu Siye squeezed out some shampoo and rubbed it on her head.
My hair is very messy and has many knots.
He used his fingers to untie the knots little by little. For some knots that were really hard to untie, he would go around them and wait for them to soften before untying them.
He rinsed the foam off his hair, squeezed out more shampoo, and rubbed it in again.
The second layer of foam was much whiter than the first, but it was still a bit gray.
He flushed it again and squeezed it out again.
The foam finally turned white on the third time.
Then comes the shower gel.
He rubbed himself from head to toe.
The girl's skin was very thin; when you rubbed it, you could feel the bones underneath, which was uncomfortable to the touch.
There were several cuts on the soles of her feet, not deep, but filled with sand and pebbles, which he picked out bit by bit with his fingernails.
The girl didn't say a word.
No crying or fussing, no trembling or shaking.
Just stand there, letting him rub, let him rinse, let him pick the pebbles off the soles of your feet.
Unlike ordinary children, they are not noisy.
As Lu Siye washed the child, he wondered if the child had been washed many times before and was therefore used to it.
Or is this just her personality?
After washing for about twenty minutes, it was finally clean.
He pulled her out of the bathtub, wrapped her in a towel, and dried her from head to toe.
The bath towel had some water stains, but it wasn't too dirty, which meant it was basically clean.
He looked down at her.
After washing it clean, she looked completely different from before.
She has delicate features.
Her face was much more attractive than the one I had seen through the vomit.
She wrapped a bath towel around her body, leaving only her head and two feet exposed.
She looked up at him, her eyes unblinking.
Lu Siye felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze.
"Wait here," he said, walking out of the bathroom.
He pulled back the covers on the bed and moved Feifei to the side.
Feifei reluctantly moved a little, wagging its tail in protest.
He pulled a clean T-shirt out of his bag.
It's his; it fits him perfectly, and for this little girl, it could probably be worn as a dress.
He pulled out another pair of shorts, which were also his. They were too big at the waist, but he would make do with them for now.
He went back to the bathroom and handed her the clothes.
"Put them on."
She took it, looked down at the T-shirt that was almost as big as her, then looked up at him.
"wear."
He repeated it again.
She put on the T-shirt.
The hem of her T-shirt fell below her knees, and the neckline was too high, slipping down her shoulders and revealing half of her collarbone.
She put on her shorts, but the waistband was too big, and they slipped down to her hips. She pulled them up a bit, but they slipped down again.
She stood at the bathroom door, wearing an oversized T-shirt and shorts that wouldn't stay up, her hair wet and plastered to her face, her toes wiggling on the floor.
Lu Siye looked at her and suddenly felt...
Forget it, I don't want to.
He bent down and picked her up.
This time there was no vomit, no stench, only the fragrance of shower gel and a hint of minty shampoo.
Her body felt almost weightless when held in my arms.
He put her on the bed.
Feifei, who was lying on the pillow, immediately jumped up when she saw the little girl being placed on the bed. She ran to the other end of the bed, arched her back, stood her tail straight up, and stared at her warily.
The little girl also saw Feifei.
Her eyes lit up.
Feifei's hair stood on end even more.
"Don't move."
Lu Siye said to Fei Fei, then turned and went into the bathroom.
His clothes were also covered in those things.
The coat, pants, and underwear are all unusable.
He took off his clothes, crumpled them up, and threw them into the bathroom trash can.
Then I rinsed my arms and neck with the showerhead and washed my face.
Feifei followed her in.
It stood at the bathroom door, looking up at him.
"I'll wash you in a bit," he said.
Feifei chirped again and squatted by the door waiting.
He quickly took a shower and changed into clean clothes.
Then he put Feifei in the sink, turned on the warm water, squeezed out some shower gel, and rubbed it on Feifei's body.
Feifei usually likes water, but she was clearly not in the mood today.
It squatted in the sink, letting him scrub it back and forth, without moving, its eyes somewhat vacant.
He rinsed Feifei clean, wrapped her in a towel, wiped her down, and placed her on the sink to air dry.
Then he walked out of the bathroom.
As soon as the door opened, he heard the sound.
"Ha ha ha ha"
It was a little girl's laughter.
A very unrestrained laugh.
He went inside and took a look.
The room was a complete mess.
The blanket was pulled to the ground, the pillow flew to the side of the TV cabinet, and the alarm clock on the bedside table was upside down on the ground with its batteries falling out.
The curtains were half-pulled down and hung precariously on the track.
The plastic water cup on the table had fallen over, spilling water all over the table and dripping onto the floor.
The little girl stood in the middle of the bed, barefoot, her T-shirt askew to one side.
Her hair was still wet, and water droplets were everywhere as she shook it.
She's pursuing Fei Fei.
Feifei ran around the room like crazy.
He jumped from the bed to the table, from the table to the windowsill, from the windowsill to the TV cabinet, from the TV cabinet to the floor, and from the floor back to the bed.
Its fur was still wet, clinging to its body, its tail tucked between its legs, and its four paws were slipping on the floor. It would slip and slide with every step it took, looking both pathetic and funny.
But Feifei didn't find it funny.
The little girl chased after him, laughing as she went, laughing so hard she was doubled over and couldn't stop.
When she reached the bedside, her foot stepped on the blanket, which slipped, causing her to fall forward.
With a "bang," she fell off the bed, her knees hitting the floor with a loud thud.
The laughter stopped.
She lay on the ground, stunned for two seconds.
Then his lips started trembling, his eyes started to redden, and his nose started to twitch.
"Wow--"
she cried.
Lu Siye stood at the bathroom door, watching all of this.
The little girl was lying on the ground, her knee was scraped, and blood was seeping from the wound, mixing with the dust and turning into a small reddish-brown stain.
She lay on the ground, wailing and crying, her face covered in snot and tears.
He took a deep breath.
Try to be kinder.
Then he went over, picked the little girl up from the ground, and put her on the bed.
He crouched down and looked at her knees.
It broke through a layer of skin, not very deep, but the area was quite large, about the size of a coin.
Blood was still seeping out, mixed with the dust on the ground, making it look rather dirty.
He pulled a makeshift first-aid kit from the bedside table drawer.
The guesthouse provided band-aids, gauze, and iodine swabs.
He first wiped the dust around his knees with a wet wipe, and then disinfected them with iodine swabs.
When the iodine solution touched the wound, the little girl's leg twitched and she let out a sob, but she didn't cry out loud.
He looked at her face; she was biting her lip, tears still on her face, but she had stopped wailing and was just sobbing softly.
He put on a band-aid.
"alright."
He said he patted her knee.
The little girl looked down at the band-aid on her knee, touched it, and then looked up at him again.
The tears in her eyes hadn't dried yet, and they glistened under the light.
Feifei peeked out from under the bed, glanced around, and only slowly crawled out after confirming it was safe.
It jumped onto the bedside table, squatted there, and began licking its still-dry fur.
It licked the little girl while watching her warily, its tail tip swishing back and forth.
The little girl looked at Feifei again.
Lu Siye quickly blocked her view.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The little girl turned her gaze away from Feifei and looked at him.
Her mouth moved, as if she was chewing something.
Then she put her finger in her mouth, sucked on it a couple of times, and pulled it out.
"Wen Ranran," she said.
"Wen Ranran?"
He repeated it.
She nodded.
"Dye?"
She nodded again.
Then he put his finger back in his mouth and continued sucking.
Lu Siye watched her suck her fingers and remained silent for about three seconds.
Are you an orphan?
She sucked on her fingers and nodded.
Why did the buffet owner kick you out?
She pulled her finger out of her mouth, looked at the fingertip, and then put it back in.
"They won't let me eat there."
She said her voice was muffled because she had her fingers stuffed in her mouth.
Why?
They said I was wasting my time.
She said, her eyes wide open, looking at Lu Siyue with a genuine look of confusion, as if there was nothing wrong with what she was saying.
"waste?"
"Yes." She nodded. "I was eating and then throwing up, and they wanted to kick me out."
The two stared at each other for about five seconds.
Lu Siye's mind was racing.
He was eating and vomiting at the same time.
This child...
He lowered his head and pressed his temples with his hand.
Why should I meddle in other people's business?
Why should I help her up?
Why am I standing in front of the buffet restaurant and not leaving?
Why don't I just push the door open and go in to eat?
Why did I...?
He looked up and glanced at Wen Ranran.
She was still sitting on the bed, sucking her fingers, looking at him.
Feifei was squatting on the bedside table, having finished licking her fur, and was now washing her face with her paws.
As it was washing, it suddenly stopped, glanced at Wen Ranran, and then continued washing.
Lu Siye sighed.
That's how it is.
"You'll stay here tonight," he said. "We'll talk about it tomorrow."
Wen Ranran pulled her finger out of her mouth, looked at him, and nodded.
Then she lowered her head and started playing with the hem of her T-shirt.
She wrapped the hem around her fingers a few times, then loosened it, then wrapped it around her fingers a few more times, then loosened it again.
I repeated it several times, as if I had found something fun.
Lu Siye stood up, walked to the window, and hung the curtains back up.
Then he picked up the blanket from the floor, shook it, and spread it back on the bed.
Put the pillow back, pick up the alarm clock, put the batteries back in, and set the time.
Lift the water glass and wipe the water off the table with a paper towel.
While he was doing these things, Wen Ranran sat on the bed watching him.
Quietly, without moving or speaking, only her eyes followed him.
Feifei also squatted on the bedside table and looked at him.
One large and one small, one on the left and one on the right, both pairs of eyes were staring at him.
Lu Siye felt like a monkey locked in a cage.
After tidying up, he stood in the middle of the room and looked around.
Although it's still a bit messy, at least it's habitable now.
He sat down and leaned against the headboard.
My stomach growled again.
He remembered.
He has only eaten half a compressed biscuit since this morning.
Wen Ranran's stomach also growled.
He glanced at her.
She glanced at him.
Feifei's stomach growled.
A human, a beast, and a child—three pairs of eyes staring at each other.
"Let's eat," Lu Siye said.
He picked up the phone on the bedside table and dialed the front desk number.
"Excuse me, could you please cook two bowls of wontons and bring them up?"
"Wonton? Okay, wait ten minutes."
"How much?"
"One bowl costs eight yuan, two bowls cost sixteen yuan."
"it is good."
He hung up the phone.
Wen Ranran was still sucking her fingers when she heard the word "wonton," and her eyes lit up.
Ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door.
Lu Siye opened the door.
The receptionist stood at the door with a tray on it, on which were two bowls of steaming wontons.
The eldest sister's gaze went over his shoulder and landed on Wen Ranran sitting on the bed, and then on Fei Fei squatting on the bedside table.
"Wow, it looks quite nice after it's been washed clean," the older woman said, handing him the tray.
"Um."
Do you know this child?
"I don't know him."
"and you......"
"It was an impulsive decision," Lu Siye said.
The older sister glanced at him, smiled, said nothing more, and turned to go downstairs.
He closed the door and placed the tray on the table.
Two bowls of wontons.
The soup was clear, with a few drops of sesame oil and a pinch of chopped green onions floating on top.
The wonton wrappers are thin, and you can vaguely see the pink meat filling inside.
Steam rose from the bowl, carrying the aroma of dough and meat filling.
He pushed a bowl of wontons in front of Wen Ranran and picked up another bowl for himself.
"Eat."
Wen Ranran looked at the wontons in the bowl, then pulled her fingers out of her mouth and reached into the bowl to grab some.
"etc"
Lu Siye reached out and stopped her.
"Use a spoon."
He handed her the spoon.
Wen Ranran took the spoon, looked at it, and then looked at the wontons in the bowl.
She poked the bowl with the spoon, the back of the spoon touched the wonton, the wonton slipped open, and a few drops of soup splashed out onto the table.
She poked it again, but it still wouldn't budge.
She frowned and started scooping with a spoon instead.
The spoon scooped under the wonton, and the wonton slid to the edge of the spoon before sliding back into the bowl.
Her brows furrowed even more.
Lu Siye watched her clumsy movements for about ten seconds.
I don't know how to use cutlery.
He put down his bowl, stood up, and walked to her side.
He bent down, reached out from behind her, and took her hand that was holding the spoon.
"Like this," he said, arranging her fingers back on the spoon handle, "thumb here, index and middle fingers here, ring and little fingers against the back."
His hand enveloped hers, guiding her hand as he scooped up a wonton.
"The spoon should be inserted horizontally, starting from the rim of the bowl, close to the side, slowly..."
The wontons were scooped up and lay steadily in the spoon.
"Then put it in your mouth."
He brought her hand to her mouth.
Wen Ranran opened her mouth and bit into the wonton.
She chewed twice, then squinted her eyes.
Then she started chewing a third, fourth, and fifth time.
Chewing very slowly and with great effort.
Then she swallowed it.
She opened her mouth, and Lu Siye saw that she still had wonton wrappers and meat filling in her mouth.
Then she opened her mouth and spat it out.
The crumbs of wonton fell from her mouth, into the bowl, onto the table, and onto her T-shirt.
The yellowish-white paste-like substance was similar to what I had seen at the entrance of the buffet restaurant before.
This time it was just eaten and hadn't been digested yet, so you could still see the shape of the wonton wrapper and the color of the meat filling.
Lu Siye's hand froze in mid-air.
Wen Ranran looked down at the vomit on the table, and then at the remaining wontons in the bowl.
She reached out, grabbed the vomit from the table, and stuffed it into her mouth.
I ate it again.
Lu Siye's eyes widened.
His stomach churned again.
This time it was even more intense than the time in front of the buffet restaurant, because this time he knew what it was.
It's wonton.
It was a wonton that I had just eaten and then spat out.
These are wontons that have been soaked in gastric juices, smell of stomach acid, and are no longer recognizable as they were.
He released her hand and took a step back.
Wen Ranran looked up at him, still chewing on the things she had picked up from the table.
Her eyes were wide open, her expression calm and natural, showing no sign of anything amiss.
"tasty."
She said, with some paste on the corner of her mouth, and smiled at him.
Lu Siye stood there, looking at her.
His mind went blank.
Then he took a deep breath.
Then he bent down, picked up a tissue from the table, and began wiping up the vomit on the table.
After wiping the table, he wiped her T-shirt.
There was a large stain on my T-shirt that I couldn't wipe clean. I could only use a wet wipe to remove the surface stain, leaving a large water stain.
While he was wiping, Wen Ranran sat there, sucking her fingers and watching him.
My fingers were still covered in the stuff I'd just grabbed from the table.
She slurped very carefully, one finger at a time, and after she finished, she turned her fingers over to check them to make sure they were clean before putting them down.
Lu Siye crumpled the used tissue into a ball and threw it into the trash can.
He closed his eyes.
Take a deep breath.
Open your eyes again.
"Wen Ranran," he said.
"Hmm?" She looked up, her fingers still in her mouth.
"You just threw up."
"Um."
"You can't eat what you vomit."
She tilted her head, pulled her finger out of her mouth, leaving a glistening strand of saliva.
Why?
"Because..." he paused, "because it's dirty."
"Dirty?"
She looked down at her hands, then at the table, then at him.
"But it just came out of my mouth."
She spoke very seriously, and was very confused, completely unable to understand "why you can't eat things that have just come out of your mouth".
Lu Siye opened his mouth, then closed it again.
He didn't know how to explain it.
He suddenly realized that this child might not just have "some problems".
She might really have something wrong with her mind.
It's not a matter of intelligence.
She speaks clearly and has a decent level of comprehension.
It is a lack of understanding of certain basic common sense.
For example, "You can't eat what you vomit," "You can't eat with your fingers," and "You can't chase someone else's pet around the house and then fall off the bed."
These are things that normal children should learn by the age of three or four.
She's seven or eight years old and still can't do it.
He looked at her.
She smiled at him.
Lu Siye remained silent for a long time.
Then he picked up his bowl of untouched wontons and placed it in front of her.
"Eat this," he said. "Don't bother with the bowl from before. Use a spoon, eat slowly, and don't spit it out."
Wen Ranran looked down at the bowl of wontons, then looked up at him.
"And you?"
"I'm not hungry."
His stomach growled at this very inopportune moment.
Wen Ranran looked at his belly, then at him.
"You're lying," she said.
Lu Siye: "…………"
He brought his bowl back, picked up his spoon, scooped up a wonton, and put it in his mouth.
I chewed it twice and swallowed it.
My stomach feels warm, but my mind is a mess.
Wen Ranran followed his example and scooped up a wonton.
The movements were still clumsy, but better than before; at least I managed to scoop it up.
She put the wonton in her mouth and chewed it a few times.
Lu Siye looked at her nervously.
As she chewed, she frowned slightly.
Then she opened her mouth.
"Swallow it."
Lu Siye said, his voice was not loud, but his tone was very firm.
Wen Ranran glanced at him.
"Swallow it," he said again.
She closed her mouth, her throat moved, and she swallowed.
Then she opened her mouth, and it was completely empty; nothing came out.
She paused for a moment, then looked down at her bowl, and then at him.
"I swallowed it."
She said there was a small, subtle surprise in her voice, as if she had done something she had never done before.
"Okay," Lu Siye said, "Continue."
She scooped up another one.
Chewed it.
He frowned.
I glanced at him.
"Swallow," he said.
She swallowed.
The third.
the fourth.
the fifth.
She ate faster and faster, more and more smoothly, and her frown lessened.
By the sixth one, she didn't even frown; she just swallowed it.
Lu Siye breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, on the seventh one, she threw up again.
With a "pfft," all the wontons in his mouth sprayed out, onto the table, into the bowl, and onto his T-shirt.
Her face turned pale instantly, her eyes reddened, and she twitched her nose.
"I'm sorry..." she said, her voice soft and trembling with tears, "I didn't mean to... it just came out by itself..."
Lu Siye put down his bowl, picked up a tissue, and began wiping the table.
"It's alright," he said.
He wiped the table clean, took the bowl in front of her, and replaced it with a clean, empty bowl.
Then he wiped the stuff off her T-shirt, went to the bathroom to get a wet towel, and wiped her face and hands clean.
While he was doing these things, Wen Ranran sat there, motionless.
Her eyes were red and her lips were trembling, but she didn't cry out.
She just looked at him like that, with something in her eyes that he couldn't understand.
It's not gratitude.
It's not a dependency.
It is a kind of...
He couldn't explain it.
After he cleaned everything up, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her.
"If you can't eat, then don't eat," he said.
Wen Ranran shook her head.
"Hungry," she said.
Lu Siye looked at her and remained silent for a while.
Then he picked up his bowl, scooped out a wonton, and brought it to her lips.
Open your mouth.
She opened her mouth and bit into the wonton.
"Don't chew too fast, take it slow, and stop when you feel like vomiting and take a deep breath."
She nodded and began to chew slowly.
I chewed it about ten times and then swallowed it.
I didn't vomit.
He scooped up another one.
She ate again, swallowed, and didn't spit it out.
The third.
the fourth.
the fifth.
When she was halfway through chewing, she frowned and opened her mouth slightly.
Lu Siye saw this and immediately said, "Stop. Take a deep breath."
She closed her mouth, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.
Then she continued chewing. She swallowed.
He finished feeding the remaining three wontons in the bowl.
Wen Ranran sat on the bed, licked her lips, and looked up at him.
"Are you full?" he asked.
She nodded.
Then she burped.
A very quiet burp.
She covered her mouth, her eyes wide open, as if she were frightened by herself.
Lu Siye looked at her and his lips twitched slightly.
She didn't laugh out loud. But the corner of her mouth did twitch slightly.
He cleared away the bowls, wiped the table clean, and threw the trash into the bin.
Then he unfolded the blanket and spread it on the bed.
"Go to sleep," he said.
Wen Ranran burrowed under the covers, leaving only her head sticking out.
Her hair was still half-dry, sticking out on the pillow.
Her eyes blinked, looking at the ceiling, then at him, then at the ceiling again.
Feifei jumped off the bedside table, walked to the other end of the pillow, the end furthest from Wen Ranran, curled up into a ball, and closed her eyes.
Lu Siye turned off the lights.
The room darkened.
He lay on the other side of the bed, about half a meter away from Wen Ranran.
There was a moment of silence.
"elder brother."
Wen Ranran's voice came from the darkness, soft and rustling.
"Um."
Why are you so good to me?
Lu Siye remained silent for a while.
"I don't know," he said.
Wen Ranran didn't say anything more.
After a while, he heard even breathing.
She fell asleep.
He lay in the darkness, eyes open, staring at the spots of light on the ceiling.
Feifei climbed over from the pillow, crawled under his arm, and rested her head in his hand.
Its body was warm, and its breathing rose and fell.
He patted Feifei's head.
"I really owe you one."