Qin Yirou had long treated Si Yi like her own child but that did not come with too much thought. She had only sympathized with the boy for losing his mother at a young age.
As for Si Yi hanging out with Yun Jian, Qin Yirou saw that purely as them sharing a good relationship, like siblings. Other than that, she could not relate to any other reason.
After Ge Junjian asked what was in his mind and received a correspondence, he ceased the topic. Although he did not know Qin Yirou for long, not even a day from yesterday till now, both of them hit it off.
It was hard to find someone who knew and understood you, but Ge Junjian thought that he had most probably found that someone this time. Qin Yirou could understand his push and strain like he could empathize with her pains and struggle.
...
In the evening, Yun Jian and Si Yi took Yun Zhu to bed right after dinner. The latter had burrowed himself into the blanket at once.
The night was silent with the frosty wind constantly billowing. It was extremely cold outside the house and warmth was minimal inside. Village and town homes in 1998 had no winter luxuries like an electrical warmer. Once winter came, people hid in their sheets as early as they could, warming themselves with their body heat and blanket.
It was only expected that Si Yi was unable to share a bed with Yun Jian tonight. In addition, Qin Yirou had prepared his sheets. He was sharing a bed with Ge Junjian but both of them were using separate blankets.
Yun Zhu slept with Qin Yirou. The boy was still young, so it did not pose a problem of distinguishing sexes. Moreover, Qin Yirou was meticulous in taking care of children; she had brought up Yun Yi and Yun Jian, after all, thus was well equipped with tricks of her own.
Zhang Meihua was not exactly poor, being one of the better to do households in the village. She had wooden building blocks for kids at home, bought by Qin Laiqian for his daughter, Qin Fenger, and kept until now.
To curry favor with Yun Jian, Zhang Meihua ransacked her house to move all available building blocks to the room Yun Zhu was sleeping in for the boy to play with.
As Yun Zhu huddled up in his bed, Yun Jian was also in his room while Qin Yirou had not returned for rest yet. Si Yi stayed as well, lingering in Yun Zhu’s room.
For now, Si Yi was watching Yun Jian, Yun Jian was watching Yun Zhu, and Yun Zhu was watching himself fumble with the building blocks, occasionally exclaiming, “Lion, it’s a lion! Jiejie, Si Yi-gege, I made a big lion! Heh, this lion will bite—Awoo! It’ll eat Si Yi-gege first because he’s a boy and jiejie is a girl!”
A child’s logic was simple. It put a smile on Yun Jian and Si Yi’s face.
“Alright, Xiao Zhu should sleep now. it’s almost nine.” Qin Yirou was cladded in her pajamas and a thick down jacket as she came in.
“You guys go to sleep too. A-Yi, I’ve made your bed. The blanket is new, no one’s used it.” Qin Yirou was aware that Si Yi was relatively selective coming from a wealthier background; it was discernible from the Lamborghini he came in. It was why Qin Yirou made sure to give him a new blanket that no one had ever used when she prepared his bed.
Since the woman had spoken, Si Yi could only watch Yun Jian go back to her room before turning to go to Ge Junjian’s room.
Ge Junjian who was still awake at night was suddenly struck with a thought as he turned to look at Si Yi, unable to stop himself from asking, “Young man, you’re interested in Yun Jian huh?”
