The group finally drove to the original address of the small shop, and as expected, they saw a small figure leaning on the dusty door trying to look inside.
"Shi Tou!" Si Le didn't wait for the car to stop before rushing over and picking up Shi Tou.
After feeling all over his body and finding no problems, Si Le finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Sitting wearily on the ground, he wanted to scold Shi Tou but in the end couldn't get any words out, only saying, "You scared me to death..."
Little Shi Tou also sat down, rubbing his dark little face against Si Le's and softly calling, "Brother..." Auntie didn't open the door."
Si Le didn't move or speak, just looked at Shi Tou.
Shi Tou said again, "Auntie didn't open the door."
He was a little aggrieved. "Auntie didn't open the door...Shi Tou knocked for a long time..."
He held out his little red hands for Si Le to see.
Seeing this, Si Le felt heartache again. "Are you stupid? If no one opens the door, don't keep knocking!"
"Miss Auntie..." Shi Tou blinked at Si Le as he blew cool air on his palms. He laughed again.
The breath on his palms was too ticklish, and Shi Tou couldn't help but shrink his neck.
Zhuang Auntie had just gotten out of the car and saw silly Shi Tou smiling at Si Le, and she felt relieved.
"Shi Tou!"
Hearing Zhuang Auntie's unique way of calling people, Shi Tou immediately looked over. Seeing the person he was looking for, he happily slapped Si Le. "Auntie! Auntie!"
Si Le smiled and picked him up. "Yes, Auntie, but you'll probably have to call her Mom from now on."
"Mom?" Little Shi Tou repeated in puzzlement, touching the black crepe on Si Le's arm. "Mom is sleeping..."
He was referring to the last time he saw his mom lying cold in the morgue, not waking up no matter how much he called.
"You still don't understand..." Si Le smiled again. "Never mind, you'll know later."
He handed little Shi Tou to Zhuang Auntie who had walked over with big steps. Zhuang Auntie took him and said, "Yo, let Auntie take a look. How did you get so skinny? Where did my little pig go?"
Shi Tou briefly forgot everything that had happened in the past few months. Happily twisting and turning in Zhuang Auntie's arms, it wasn't until Ding Sha and Xiao Jun walked over that he looked at Ding Sha and called "Tummy..."
"No more tummy, only a little brother. Do you want to go see?" Ding Sha pinched his little face.
"Little brother! Little brother!" Shi Tou was extremely happy.
So the group drove back to the small shop with the two children.
Du Rourou had been waiting at the door the whole time, absent-mindedly looking around. Only when she saw the familiar car did she happily call, "They're back, they're back!"
She opened the door after the car stopped and ran over. "How was it? Did you find Shi Tou?"
Zhuang Auntie got out of the car holding Shi Tou. "There he is, the little rascal."
Du Rourou teased him for a bit. Seeing that he was drooping and somewhat sleepy, she let him inside.
After Zhuang Auntie had coaxed Shi Tou to sleep and came out, Ding Sha asked Si Le, "What happened with Shi Tou?"
She had noticed that Shi Tou was different from before the pandemic.
"He..." Si Le was a little dejected. "I didn't know because I was at school for evening study. When I got home, I found out he had had a fever all day with no one to take care of him. I don't know where my mom went. The door was locked so Shi Tou couldn't even get out."
"By the time I took him to the hospital, Shi Tou had become like this."
"The doctor said he might be a little dull-witted from now on, reacting slower, but not stupid."
Si Le felt a little guilty. If he hadn't come home late, Shi Tou wouldn't have ended up like this.
"It's because Shi Tou is a bit dull now that I'm afraid he'll be bullied. That's why I don't want him going to an orphanage. That place is really terrifying."
"It's alright now. In the future we'll teach him slowly and get treatment slowly. He'll definitely get better," Ding Sha patted Si Le on the head. "He just reacts a bit slower. We'll slowly help him practice."
Looking at the back of Si Le's head, Ding Sha sighed silently.
He's still just a child. Why does he have to bear so much?
Xiao Jun patted Ding Sha on the shoulder. Ding Sha looked at him and smiled, then turned and went into the kitchen.
The two children must be starving after causing such a fuss. She wanted to make something delicious for them.
She cut chicken breast into pieces and ground it into meat paste. Blanched broccoli, carrots and corn kernels. Then cut the broccoli and carrots into smaller pieces.
After mixing all the ingredients together, she added black pepper, starch, cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce and salt for flavor. She stirred firmly in one direction until formed into palm-sized patties. Pan fried until golden brown on both sides.
She also had Wang Wenhao cooking a pot of seaweed egg drop soup on the side.
By the time the food was ready, little Shi Tou had also groggily woken up. He blankly sat in bed, not crying or making trouble, hazily staring at his little feet in a daze.
Zhuang Auntie came in and touched his little face. "Hungry?"
Shi Tou blankly nodded after a while.
"Let's go eat!" Zhuang Auntie picked him up.
The little patties were fragrant and soft, and meaty too. The two boys ate with their heads down, not even lifting them.
In the end, they drank the entire big pot of soup, though most of it was drunk by Si Le. Shi Tou was full so he absentmindedly started playing with his fingers.
"Auntie, I want to sell the house and have Shi Tou live with you. Is that okay?" Si Le said.
"Ah? What? Sell the house? Where will you live?" Zhuang Auntie was shocked.
"I can live at school. The high school entrance exam is coming up soon. I can apply to live at school after getting into high school. Shi Tou really likes you and I'll feel assured leaving him with you."
"In a couple days, after my mom's funeral affairs are settled, I'll go find an agent to sell the house."
"No, I think you should keep the house," Zhuang Auntie disagreed. "What's the point of selling it? Listen to me, don't think I'm being blunt, but with the house there you'll always have a home, and feel at ease."
"If you sell the house, you really won't have a home anymore."
But Si Le still shook his head. "The house doesn't mean much to me. Selling it and getting money will be good for me and Shi Tou."
"Don't worry, when I grow up I'll buy you a big house."
"It's not like I want to adopt you because I'm greedy for your house," Zhuang Auntie glared at him. "I have my own food and lodging, and Ding Sha still sends me a salary every month. I have more than enough to provide for you two."
"I know," Si Le smiled. "But I want to buy you one."
After arguing half the day with neither side willing to compromise, under Ding Sha's persuasion, Si Le finally agreed that when he turned 18 that year, if he still wanted to sell the house, they would discuss it again at that time.
Si Le spent the night at the small shop.
Ding Sha even joked with Xiao Jun that it was good they had moved to a bigger house, otherwise they wouldn't have had room for everyone.
Early the next morning, Si Le went to school to report in.
It wasn't until after he had finished the high school entrance exam that he went with Zhuang Auntie and Shi Tou to process the adoption and household registration.
When they came back, both faces showed complex emotions despite Shi Tou still being confused.
Ding Sha had prepared a table full of dishes and had even closed the shop early, just waiting to celebrate with Zhuang Auntie and Si Le.
Si Le's eyes were red. "Thank you everyone, I really appreciate it so much!"
After finishing his drink, he deeply bowed.
