Zhao Meimei squatted next to the small stove in her family's grocery store, warming her feet. The shoes she kicked off earlier were covered in snow and were now starting to get damp.
While warming her feet, Zhao Meimei kept stretching her neck to look out, staring at the sidewalk that her mom and dad had to pass by on their way back, afraid of missing their return.
After about ten minutes, Liu Xiue hurried back, followed by a person wearing a dark red cotton jacket. As they got closer, Zhao Meimei recognized them and quickly jumped up from the stove, leaning on the sales counter and calling out, "Mom! Brother Yangyang!"
Liu Xiue rushed back, flung the door open, and came inside. She shoved all the whole bills from the money box into her pocket and turned to urge Zhao Meimei, "Quick, Meimei, help Mama close the shop."
Zhao Meimei paused for a moment: "Not selling anymore?"
While tidying up, Liu Xiue replied, "Not anymore. We're closing early today."
Zhao Meimei, adeptly, helped her mother hang the iron panels outside the glass windows and extinguish the stove, finally securing the panels with screws.
Liu Xiue casually grabbed two bags of snacks from the shelf and stuffed them into Zhao Meimei's hands, ushering them both out of the grocery store while locking the door and saying, "Meimei, your Grandma Zhao isn't doing well. Your dad and they are taking Brother Yangyang's family car to the hospital. I need to go there to help take care of things. You go home with Brother Yangyang first, okay?"
Upon hearing that her mom and dad were going to the hospital, Zhao Meimei hurriedly exclaimed, "I want to go too! I can take care of Grandma Zhao!"
Liu Xiue, anxious, for the first time truly pulled a stern face as she scolded her, "Zhao Meimei! Listen to me! Is this a time to mess around? Take the snacks and share them with Brother Yangyang. Mom will pick you up after coming back from the hospital. Stay at Brother Yangyang's house and don't go anywhere! Listen to Brother Yangyang, and if I find out you're being naughty when I come back, I really will punish you this time!"
After a string of threats, warnings, and reminders, Liu Xiue turned to Shi Yang: "Yangyang, please take care of Meimei. Don't let her go anywhere, okay? Just keep her at your house. If she dares to misbehave, just let me know and I'll handle her."
Shi Yang nodded in agreement: "Auntie, don't worry, I'll take good care of Meimei."
Liu Xiue truly couldn't afford to worry anymore, waved to the kids, and hurried off.
Zhao Meimei followed Shi Yang towards the small apartment building. One tall, one short, Zhao Meimei's chubby little hand was held by Shi Yang. After just a couple of steps, Zhao Meimei, feeling cold, pulled Shi Yang's hand into his pocket.
Shi Yang glanced down at her and cooperatively held her small hand, tucking it into his cotton jacket pocket together.
Zhao Meimei looked up and asked, "Why does my mom want me to stay at your house?"
Shi Yang turned his head to look at her: "My mom came back this morning. I went with her to see someone off, and we ran into your parents rescuing Grandma Zhao, so we drove her to the hospital."
Zhao Meimei nodded and asked him, "Did your mom go too?"
Shi Yang nodded: "Yeah, if my mom didn't have to come back this morning just to bring me food, she would've left too."
Beneath Zhao Meimei's thin eyelids, her dark eyes turned: "Did your mom go to see your dad?"
Shi Yang was startled and stared at Zhao Meimei: "How do you know?"
Zhao Meimei: "I saw you and your mom seeing your dad off before, right by the roadside."
Shi Yang frowned: "I don't have a dad, don't talk nonsense!"
Zhao Meimei: "Then were you also picked out of a garbage bin by your mom?"
"Huh?" Shi Yang looked Zhao Meimei up and down: "What do you mean?"
Zhao Meimei said earnestly: "My mom said I was born by her and my dad, but Da Bao, like you, doesn't have a dad. His mom told him he was picked out of a trash bin. You don't have a dad, you must be too."
"You... you little fool!" Shi Yang burst out laughing, his mouth curving up to reveal a row of white teeth, and his voice softened significantly as he insulted Zhao Meimei, tinged with a new admiration.
Shi Yang had never spoken like this to any kids before, now bent over with laughter at Zhao Meimei's antics.
This was just Zhao Meimei, completely unfazed, using her own twisted logic to put ideas into people's heads, challenging anyone she encountered—she certainly had some personality.
Zhao Meimei pondered, thinking Shi Yang must be lying to her, tricking a kid. She clearly heard that man say he was his dad, and Shi Yang's mom said he was his dad too. Why then wouldn't he admit it himself?
Under her thick lashes, Zhao Meimei gave Shi Yang a sidelong glance, was he fooling her? Just teasing her?
Shi Yang held Zhao Meimei's hand, worrying about it being cold, so he blocked the pocket with her sleeve.
Zhao Meimei's hands, just warmed from the stove, were cozy, and Shi Yang found her little palm full and soft, quite nice to hold.
Shi Yang smiled at Zhao Meimei: "I still have the candy you gave me last night."
Zhao Meimei's eyes brightened and she pointed to the snacks in Shi Yang's other hand: "We'll eat those together later. The chicken flavored rings in the green bag are especially tasty. I can eat a whole bag at once."
Shi Yang teased her: "If you share with me, won't you run out?"
"No problem, there's still a bag of shrimp sticks. If we share, it's enough," Zhao Meimei replied, sniffling. The cold made her rhinitis a bit worse, causing a runny nose.
Hearing her sniffles, Shi Yang frowned: "Geez, you need to blow your nose. If you keep sniffling it'll go right into your stomach!"
Zhao Meimei, feeling a bit embarrassed from his disdain, stubbornly said, "I'm sniffing lightly, so it doesn't go into my stomach. It's all stored in my nose."
Shi Yang chuckled, biting his lip: "Ah, you want to let it accumulate so you can blow it all out at once and save tissue, huh?"
Zhao Meimei turned her head away, avoiding his gaze, feeling a bit shy.
Shi Yang let go of Zhao Meimei's hand and took out a tissue from his pocket to help her blow her nose.
He gently pinched Zhao Meimei's small nose through the paper: "Blow."
Zhao Meimei slyly eyed Shi Yang, gave a blow, and as Shi Yang took the paper away, she teased him with a grin.
Shi Yang watched her seriously handsome face, Zhao Meimei's eyes squinted, pondering mischievously as she deliberately blew hard. The thin tissue, already used once, couldn't hold and broke, leaving most of the snot on Shi Yang's hand.
Shi Yang: "Oops!"
Zhao Meimei: "Ah! Ahhh!!"
Shi Yang quickly tossed the snacks onto the snow-covered ground, wiped his hand with the tissue from his pocket, complaining, "Zhao Meimei! You got snot all over my hand!"
Zhao Meimei also yelled: "Ahhh!! My ear, my ear popped, it started singing!"
Shi Yang: "..."
Shi Yang wiped his hand clean, retrieved the snacks from the ground, and saw Zhao Meimei still making noise like a telegram, her mouth going, "Ah. Ah. Ah..."
Shi Yang asked: "Are you still listening to your ear singing?"
Zhao Meimei giggled gleefully, looking as if discovering something delightful: "It's singing, it's really fun."
Shi Yang was both amused and annoyed, looking at Zhao Meimei's silly expression, smiling as he scolded, "You little fool, blowing so hard that your eardrum almost broke."
Shi Yang, holding the snacks in one hand, grasped Zhao Meimei's small cold hand with the other, stuffing it in his pocket, remembering to tug on her sleeve to keep her wrist warm.
The two, one big and one small, walked side by side in the snow, leaving a string of crooked footprints trailing slowly behind them.