The off-road vehicle pulled into the parking lot of the city's Maternal and Child Health Hospital. As soon as the car stopped, Zhong Jin stepped out of the driver's seat and moved to the back to carry Little Tong.
He cradled the child, who wore a pom-pom knit hat, in his arms. Qiu Sheng unfolded a Hermès woolen blanket and wrapped it around Little Tong before they hurried into the hospital building.
The sudden weather change had brought in many sick children. The hallway benches were packed, filled with the sounds of coughs and cries.
While Qiu Sheng went to register, Zhong Jin carried Little Tong to a more open area, keeping her away from the coughing children.
Fortunately, despite the crowd, their turn came quickly. The doctor took her temperature.
"38.9°C—that's a high fever. We’ll need a blood test to check if it’s a viral or bacterial infection."
Qiu Sheng took the doctor’s prescription and went to queue for payment.
Zhong Jin sat with Little Tong by the blood-drawing window, rolling up the sleeves of her cotton jacket and inner sweater so she could extend her arm to the doctor.
The sight of the doctor tying the tourniquet around her arm triggered a memory for Little Tong.
When she first came into this world, Rao Shishi and Little Wang had taken her to the testing center for a blood draw—just like this.
Little Tong stared wide-eyed as the doctor prepared the needle.
Thinking she was scared, the doctor was about to reassure her when Little Tong turned to Zhong Jin instead and asked, "Do you not remember me again?"
Zhong Jin was even more nervous than Little Tong at that moment. Watching the needle pierce the child’s vein, his heart clenched, wishing it were his own arm instead.
Only when she spoke did he snap back to attention. "Hmm? What’s wrong?"
Little Tong raised her other finger and explained earnestly, "Back when you didn’t know me, Sister Shishi and the others took me to get my blood drawn, and then you recognized me. Don’t you remember?"
Only then did Zhong Jin recall her previous blood test at the testing center.
The thought of that scene made his heart ache even more—she had been so small, surrounded by strangers, with no one familiar to comfort her. He couldn’t imagine how frightened she must have been.
Once the blood was drawn, the doctor handed Zhong Jin a cotton ball to press against Little Tong’s arm.
She stared at the tiny spot of blood staining the cotton and sighed, shaking her head. "This world isn’t very nice to little kids. They always get poked with needles."
Zhong Jin and Qiu Sheng exchanged a glance—equal parts amused and heartbroken.
The test results confirmed a viral infection. Since her fever had already reached 38.5°C, the doctor prescribed fever-reducing medicine and cooling patches, with a specific warning:
"She might alternate between chills and fever, so adjust her clothing accordingly. If her clothes get damp from sweat, change her into dry ones immediately."
Zhong Jin, still holding Little Tong in the doctor’s office, suddenly remembered something. "Yesterday when she came home from kindergarten, she was a little sweaty. I didn’t change her clothes right away—could that have caused this?"
"This is a viral infection, meaning she was already exposed to the virus outside. The chill might have just been a trigger. Now that it’s colder, just make sure to keep her warm in the future."
Leaving the hospital, Zhong Jin remained quiet on the drive home. Sensing his mood, Qiu Sheng reassured him,
"At the time, it was just a tiny bit of sweat—no one would’ve thought much of it. Besides, the doctor said she already had the virus; the chill might not even be the main cause. Don’t blame yourself. And really, what child doesn’t get sick sometimes? It’s unavoidable."
Zhong Jin said nothing, keeping his eyes on the road.
Qiu Sheng knew how deeply he felt things—he could endure any pain himself, but the slightest suffering of those he loved weighed on him heavily.
Back home, Aunt Liang had already moved Scoundrel into the incubator. Despite its patchy, disheveled feathers, the little chick stood tall and alert in the warmth, its bright black eyes taking in this strange new world with curiosity.
Little Tong, a cooling patch stuck to her forehead, knelt in front of the incubator, studying her "baby" with equal fascination. Zhong Jin kept checking on her, discreetly feeling her back through her clothes to see if she was sweating again.
When Scoundrel began peering around as if searching for something, Little Tong immediately scrambled up and trotted off to find Aunt Liang.
"Scoundrel’s hungry! Scoundrel’s hungry!"
Aunt Liang smiled. "Not yet, little one. It still has yolk in its belly to absorb. Keep watching—once you see it poop, come tell me, and then we can feed it."
"Okay!"
Little Tong answered brightly before rushing back to the incubator to resume her vigil.
Seeing Scoundrel standing there, dazed and unmoving, she urged impatiently, "Hurry up and poop!"
Meanwhile, Zhong Jin drew 3ml of pink medicine into a dropper. Holding it in one hand and a cup of warm water in the other, he crouched down and brought the dropper to Little Tong’s lips.
"Medicine time."
Little Tong opened her mouth automatically, but the moment the bitter liquid touched her tongue, she spat it all out.
When Zhong Jin tried again, she clamped her mouth shut and refused.
"I don’t want this anymore," she said, waving her hands.
He persisted, but she butted him away with her head and dashed off to hide in her room.
From outside, Qiu Sheng called, "What’s wrong with Little Tong?"
Afraid her dad would tattle, Little Tong cracked the door just enough to eavesdrop.
Sure enough, she heard Zhong Jin say, "She won’t take her medicine."
Then, loudly, Qiu Sheng replied, "Little Tong? Not taking her medicine? No way! She’s so brave—why would she be scared of medicine?"
A pause. Little Tong didn’t move.
Qiu Sheng continued, "Just yesterday, Lu Xingxing’s mom asked me if Little Tong was afraid of medicine. I told her, ‘Absolutely not! Our Little Tong never gives us trouble—she takes baths when asked and drinks her medicine in one go. It’s nothing to her.’ She didn’t believe me, so I said I’d record it next time to prove it."
At that, Little Tong pushed the door open and marched out.
Stomping over to Zhong Jin, she took the dropper herself and downed the medicine. The bitterness made her scrunch up her face, clearly fighting the urge to spit it out again.
Qiu Sheng immediately praised, "Look at our brave girl! All gone, just like that!"
Little Tong gulped it down with a loud swallow, then opened her mouth wide for inspection. "All gone!"
"Incredible! Such a good baby," Qiu Sheng cooed.
Zhong Jin shot her a thumbs-up. *Incredible parenting.*
Not long after taking the medicine, Little Tong grew drowsy and crawled into the dog bed to nap. Worried she might catch another chill, Zhong Jin moved her to the sofa, tucking a bone-shaped pillow under her head and a thick blanket over her.
Every so often, he checked to see if she had started sweating again.
After sleeping for over half an hour, the fever reducer must have kicked in, as Little Tong began sweating and her temperature dropped. The fine hairs at her hairline were damp with sweat, sticking clammily to her forehead.
Zhong Jin went to fetch fresh clothes for her to change into, but Aunt Liang stopped him. "Don’t disturb her now. Wait until she’s done sweating before changing her clothes. If you uncover her now, she might catch a chill."
Zhong Jin sat back down, his gaze landing on the incubator on the coffee table. "Why hasn’t this chick shown any signs of life?"
Aunt Liang opened the incubator, took out the egg, and held it up to a flashlight for inspection. She gave it a gentle shake and muttered under her breath, "Probably suffocated."
She fetched a small pair of tweezers, tapped a tiny hole at the top of the shell, and carefully peeled it open. Inside was a fully developed chick, but it showed no signs of life.
Aunt Liang glanced at Little Tong, who was fast asleep on the sofa. "Fried Chicken’s gone. Little Tong will cry when she finds out, won’t she?"
Their previous attempts—Chanel and Chubby—hadn’t even made it out of their shells, so no one had felt too strongly about it. But Fried Chicken had fully developed, making its loss all the more heartbreaking.
Qiu Sheng suggested, "Maybe we should bury it secretly downstairs so she doesn’t see it. It’ll only make her feel worse."
Aunt Liang agreed. "I’ll stay here and watch over her while she sleeps. You two go bury it."
Zhong Jin and Qiu Sheng took a small gardening shovel from home, went downstairs to a grassy area with soft soil, dug a small hole, and laid Fried Chicken to rest.
After burying the chick, they stopped by the supermarket to pick up some fruit.
When they returned, Little Tong was already awake. Aunt Liang had changed her into clean clothes and wrapped her damp hair in a dry towel to keep her from catching a chill.
Propped up on the sofa, Little Tong saw Zhong Jin and Qiu Sheng coming back from outside and immediately asked, "You went out?"
Zhong Jin nodded. "Yeah."
"Did you sneak any grilled sausages?"
Zhong Jin hesitated. "...No."
Suspicious, Little Tong climbed down from the sofa and sniffed them to confirm they hadn’t secretly eaten anything before finally relaxing.
But soon, she noticed something amiss—Fried Chicken, which had been in the incubator earlier, was missing. She rushed to check the warming box, but it wasn’t there either.
"Where’s Fried Chicken?" she asked.
Little Tong was still sick today—the doctor said her tonsils were inflamed—and everyone was afraid she’d cry herself hoarse. They had hoped to keep it from her, but she’d figured it out too quickly.
With no other choice, Zhong Jin admitted, "While you were asleep, Aunt Liang checked the egg with a flashlight and found that Fried Chicken had already passed away. Mom and I took it downstairs and buried it in the flower bed."
"Did you put a little flower next to it to keep it company?" Little Tong asked.
Qiu Sheng winced. "We forgot the flower. Once you’re better, I’ll take you down so you can place one there yourself."
"Okay."
After a brief moment of sadness, Little Tong quickly brightened up again. "We still have Savage. We’ve already succeeded with one!"
She then ran over to keep watch over Savage, and when she saw it had finally pooped, the little chubby girl acted like she’d discovered a new continent, excitedly running to find Aunt Liang.
"Savage pooped! It’s a green poop! What a good baby!"
Aunt Liang brought some mashed boiled egg yolk to feed Savage. The little bird was in high spirits, immediately pecking at the food as soon as it was offered.
Little Tong was completely absorbed in the joy of her newfound "motherhood," kneeling in front of the warming box and swaying her head as she sang a made-up nursery rhyme.
Hearing the off-key tune, Qiu Sheng turned and punched Zhong Jin’s arm.
The clueless Director Zhong blinked. "What was that for?"
*
After Aunt Liang left that evening, Little Tong lounged on the sofa, fiddling with a Rubik’s cube. She didn’t know how to solve it, so she just twisted it randomly.
Qiu Sheng brought over her medicine, ready to praise her for taking it, but Little Tong downed it in one go before she could even speak.
Zhong Jin said to Qiu Sheng, "I’ll take her tonight. It’s viral—it’s contagious. You have to go back to Jing City the day after tomorrow. If you get sick, it’ll cause problems."
The batch of doll clothes Qiu Sheng had made for Wen Hechang’s company was finished, and she needed to return to Jing City to wrap things up.
After some thought, she agreed. Several people were waiting for her in Jing City, and if she got sick, it would delay their plans.
That night, Zhong Jin didn’t dare give Little Tong a full bath, just wiping her face and feet with a warm towel. Worried she might get cold, he added an extra blanket on her side of the bed.
He barely slept, waking up multiple times to check if she’d kicked off the covers.
At some point during the night, he woke to find Little Tong staring at him with big, round eyes.
Zhong Jin asked, "What’s wrong? Feeling worse?"
Her voice was hoarse from her inflamed tonsils. "I want ice cream."
"Are you feeling hot now?"
The doctor had warned that her fever would come and go in waves. If she was craving something cold, she must be overheating. Zhong Jin pulled back the extra blanket on her side. "Does that feel better?"
But sick kids are fussy. She pouted pitifully. "No. I want ice cream."
Unable to refuse her, Zhong Jin told her to stay put while he went to the kitchen to fetch her "ice cream."
Of course, she couldn’t actually have any while sick. Scratching his head, he rummaged through the kitchen until he spotted the rice still warm in the rice cooker.
He grabbed a waffle cone from the fridge, scooped out the ice cream into a small bowl, then packed the cone with warm rice. Using disposable gloves, he even sculpted the top into a perfect creamy swirl.
At a glance, it looked just like the real thing.
He brought the "ice cream" back to the bedroom and propped Little Tong up against the pillows to eat it.
The moment she took it, she frowned. "It’s warm."
"Yep. You can’t have cold stuff while you’re sick, so I heated it up in the rice cooker."
Little Tong took a bite of the cone—now filled with rice—chewed thoughtfully, and then said very seriously,
"Next time, don’t use the rice cooker to heat it. The ice cream tastes like rice now."
Zhong Jin kept a straight face. "Got it. Next time, I’ll use the steamer."
