MFW 17

Proof that gentle persuasion works, Fu Siting reluctantly nodded.

However, he still tried to save Li Fei money, foregoing his favorite large-scale exhibit and instead showing them the smallest one.

Finally, he stood in front of a small fox figurine and refused to leave.

Li Fei: “…”

“It’s nothing,” he couldn’t help but chuckle, “Your cup, your toys, are all little foxes. You really like little foxes that much?”

“That’s true, who wouldn’t like a clever, cunning red-haired puppy?”

Fu Siting nodded, but his mind was wandering; what kind of strange adjective was “red-haired puppy”? Had he, at twenty-eight, never told Li Fei why he liked little foxes…?

Well, the reason was a little embarrassing to admit.

Fu Siting didn’t actually like little foxes; rather, the little fox was himself. ¹

…It wasn’t that he had any fox-like qualities, but simply that in his heart, Li Fei was the Little Prince.

The Little Prince from planet B612.

But Fu Siting knew that he could never be the rose beloved by the Little Prince in that story.

He could only remain that distant, strong, unrequited little fox.

In Fu Siting’s past fantasies, perhaps one day he would grow up, have a job and income, and have the chance to go backstage once or twice, meet Li Fei, and exchange a few words.

He would probably desperately and subtly seize that tiny opportunity to express his deep-seated love, and Li Fei would probably smile, thanking him politely like he did to countless adorable fans.

He would also greedily whisper, “Could I shake your hand?” Li Fei would shake his hand, and then the two would part.

From then on, the fox remembered the warmth of the brief touch of the Little Prince’s fingertips and lived a happy life.

…

The Lego fox was placed in a transparent box. Fu Siting looked through the plastic cover at the fox’s white scarf and the white tips of its tail, and was very happy.

How could he not be happy? Later, the little fox really met the Little Prince and received hugs, pampering, and indulgence he never dared to dream of. The Little Prince even gave him a Lego fox. He received so much. He was so happy that he felt a little sad.

He was holding the little fox, lost in thought, when suddenly another small box was placed in his hands. Li Fei said, “I’ll buy one too.”

“…”

The other box contained a black cat.

It was the kind of particularly haughty Egyptian pharaoh cat with eyeshadow, but for some reason, despite being an Egyptian cat, it wore a small Western-style crown that wasn’t Egyptian.

“That way, the black cat prince and the little fox will play together, and the fox won’t be all alone.”

Fu Siting was stunned.

The two little cuties were placed together in the bag. Although they weren’t heavy, Fu Siting felt they were quite substantial in his hands.

His fingertips were burning hot the whole way.

All along, the little fox could only gaze at the stars from afar. He had never imagined that the prince would turn into a little black cat… and play with him.

…

After browsing the toys, Li Fei wanted to take Fu Siting to look at watches.

Fu Siting: “…”

Li Fei: “Fine, I won’t buy you one, but I’ll try them on, okay?”

Unexpectedly, Fu Siting continued to shake his head, his attitude very firm. This made Li Fei laugh; Xiaoting was so wary.

Fu Siting was wary.

Although he was poor, he still had some common sense. People always said that one of the most important manifestations of a mature man’s taste and wealth was his wrist. Clothes costing tens of thousands of yuan could be considered luxury items, but a watch could easily cost millions.

Li Fei had once done a promotional shoot for a high-end watch.

Fu Siting remembered it vividly; the watch was heavy and exquisitely crafted, and on Li Fei’s wrist, who was still a teenager at the time, it had a strange mature sexiness. Back then, his classmates were chattering with magazines, saying that the watch Li Fei wore cost over three million yuan.

Over three million yuan, it almost gave Fu Siting a psychological trauma.

He had never even seen a watch costing 30,000 yuan.

So he resolutely refused to look at watches; he had his little fox and little black cat, which was more than enough. If he really went to look, and Li Fei suddenly decided to get him a watch worth millions, he was afraid he would die on the spot.

But wait.

Fu Siting suddenly remembered that this morning in his huge walk-in closet at home, besides clothes, he seemed to have seen two whole large glass drawers full of accessories.

There were cufflinks, necklaces, and other items, dazzling under the beautiful lights.

He didn’t look closely, but a quick glance revealed at least seven or eight watches, all heavily crafted and beautiful.

“…”

Could there be some exorbitantly priced watches in there too?

His palms instantly turned cold.

Only when Li Fei relented and suggested they look at clothes did Fu Siting secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

As soon as he entered the men’s clothing store, Li Fei promptly tossed him five or six outfits: “Go try them on.”

Fu Siting: “…”

His expression was complicated at that moment.

Li Fei smiled: “Yes, we agreed on ‘only one set at most.’ But precisely because it’s only one set, you have to choose carefully!”

Over the next half hour, Fu Siting changed into a retro-style plaid suit, a pure black tuxedo, a light blue casual denim suit, a black and white men’s sporty outfit, a rugged workwear suit…

“…”

No one had ever taken him shopping for clothes in a proper way.

His previous clothes were all found in small commodity markets. Clothes costing a few dozen yuan might not necessarily be of poor quality, but the fit and cut were definitely lacking, and they mostly looked loose on him.

Unlike the perfectly tailored clothes here, which always fit his figure so well, suitable clothes make a person look more energetic. Trying on clothes, Fu Siting saw several styles of himself he’d never seen before.

The brown plaid hunting suit he finally bought gave him a completely different vibe he’d never imagined. The shop assistant combed his hair back, making him look like a privileged, ruthless British playboy from a movie, exuding an arrogant disregard for others.

“…”

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, Fu Siting would have found it hard to believe he could look so expensive.

“…”

On the way to the restaurant, Fu Siting was somewhat silent.

“Fu Xiaoting, what are you thinking about?”

The clothes weren’t nearly as expensive as the watch, but they weren’t cheap either. Suddenly brought back to his senses, Fu Siting hesitated to speak: “I…”

He was overthinking again, considering the possibility of a certain opinion circulating online. Although most of the comments under his and Li Fei’s videos were full of passionate banter, there were a few that weren’t so harmonious.

The comment that he wasn’t good enough for Li Fei wasn’t hard for Fu Siting to accept. But he minded being accused of profiting from Li Fei’s exploitation.

Some people even claimed to have encountered them in overseas shopping malls, saying that Fu Siting bought a whole bunch of things from head to toe, all paid for by Li Fei using his credit card.

“…”

“Did I often… ask you to buy me things like this before?”

“…”

“Fu Xiaoting,” Li Fei sighed, “I did swipe my card when we were together. But if I had to say, it’s because you didn’t have any money on you.”

“Because all your cards are with me.”

“You handed them over yourself, do I have to give them back to you?”

“…”

“…”

Fu Siting quickly shook his head.

Thanks to the common sense of everyday life, he knew what “handing over your salary card” meant at such a young age…Thankfully, even if the twenty-eight-year-old Fu Siting was still immature, at least he knew to hand over his card!

Li Fei silently watched the subtle changes in his expression.

…

Lunch was at a famous Thai restaurant on the top floor of the mall. It was Fu Siting’s first time eating Thai food.

Curry beef, curry crab, tom yum soup, charcoal-grilled pork neck, pineapple seafood fried rice… It was so delicious, how could it be so delicious? He had never eaten anything so delicious.

Li Fei rested his chin on his hand and squinted at him.

Actually, the flavors here were modified, sweeter than authentic Thai food. But as expected, children preferred this kind.

The afternoon plan was to go see a movie.

On the way to the cinema, Fu Siting’s face remained expressionless, but he was burning with anticipation.

The only movie he had ever seen on the big screen was the one organized by his school, “Rebirth.” He was lucky; the only movie he ever saw was one featuring Li Fei.

Of course, besides Li Fei, what impressed him most about that movie was the ten-yuan bucket of popcorn sold at the cinema counter.

It smelled so good.

Many of his classmates back then casually bought popcorn. From the start of the movie, the aroma of butter lingered in the air until the end.

“…” He seriously considered whether Li Fei could buy him a bucket of popcorn for today’s movie.

Would he be able to die without regrets?

This thought was actually quite absurd, and Fu Siting knew it. There were so many things in this world that could make him die without regrets right now, whether it was the Thai food he had just eaten, the little fox and cat he was carrying, or every minute he spent with Li Fei.

He already possessed such supreme, dreamlike happiness, yet at this moment, he was still sincerely worried—worried that he had eaten too much Thai food, and whether Li Fei would think he was already full and not buy him popcorn during the movie.

He clearly had everything.

Why was he still agonizing over this?

…

A moment later, Fu Siting faced an even more difficult choice in his life.

The shopping mall passage connecting the cinema and the restaurant turned out to be a food section, selling all sorts of things. Frozen yogurt, cream puffs, chocolate, fried chicken, pizza…

He really had only glanced at the ice cream shop by accident.

Li Fei: “Want some ice cream?”

Fu Siting had only ever eaten a popsicle his mother bought once when he was a child, hard and cold. As for ice cream like this, shaped into balls of various colors, he had only seen it in shopping malls; it looked tempting, but the price was simply too prohibitive.

But now, Li Fei was asking if he wanted some.

At this moment, Fu Siting seriously hesitated. He certainly wanted some too, but with ice cream, there was no chance of popcorn. But what if he couldn’t get popcorn without ice cream either…?

He hesitated, and Li Fei went to buy some directly.

“Your stomach is sensitive to cold, so you can only try one bite of each flavor, okay?”

Fu Siting quickly nodded. He wasn’t that greedy; he’d be satisfied with just one flavor.

Unexpectedly, Li Fei took eighteen scoops.

“…”

Fu Siting glanced at the sign; someone had taken all the flavors from the store. Seeing him in a daze, Li Fei smiled: “It’s okay, they’re all small scoops, you won’t waste them if you finish them.”

But eighteen small scoops were still quite a lot, enough to fill two whole plates of crepes.

Li Fei scooped out a spoonful: “Here, try the classic cranberry rum flavor first.”

The subtle aroma of rum mixed with the milky fragrance, sweet and sour, melted in his mouth, a truly heavenly treat.

Fu Siting lowered his eyes, able to feel his blood surging.

Once again, he felt… overflowing happiness.

The feeling was hard to describe; it was as if he had been completely brought back to life. But that was also ridiculous. He had always been alive, and he had lived perfectly well all these years without ice cream.

Ice cream wasn’t even in his top ten cravings.

So it was really strange.

The Thai food he had just eaten was delicious, with a richer flavor. The seafood buffet was delicious, the braised pork takeout was delicious, and the breakfast Li Fei had made was delicious.

Yet, at this moment, he felt an immersive, overwhelming, and unparalleled happiness.

It was a real feeling of being alive, of being able to breathe.

Fu Siting lowered his head and silently tasted all the flavors in his hand, then exchanged it for Li Fei’s.

They had agreed to only eat one bite of each, but he still ate two bites of the chocolate flavor, the second bite being fed to him by Li Fei.

The movie was a science fiction film.

Fu Siting had boasted that his English was excellent, but in reality, he was struggling a little and confused.

But the popcorn smelled delicious.

Li Fei had bought him a mixture of caramel, cheese, and sea salt. The sensation of popcorn melting in his mouth was peculiar. He ate each kernel carefully, chewing slowly.

In the dim light, Li Fei silently noted that Fu Xiaoting’s favorite flavor was cheese.

Because the cheese flavor was the first to be eaten.

Li Fei was always the type to save his favorite things for last, but perhaps it was because he had been privileged since childhood, and few people could take his favorite things from him.

As for Fu Siting, if he didn’t finish his favorite things immediately, he might never get to eat them again.

After the movie, the two went home. On the way to get the car, someone was selling adorable little dinosaur helium balloons.

Li Fei bought one for Fu Siting and tied it to his wrist. The little dinosaur jumped around on it, all colorful.

Fu Siting remained expressionless, only his fingertips trembled slightly. On the way, he occasionally looked up at the starry sky and at the little dinosaur.

“Fu Xiaoting, you have to get used to it. I’ll still give you things in the future,” Li Fei said.

Today, he had only given him two figurines and a set of clothes, and Fu Siting was already feeling the pressure.

But how could this be?

“I promised to take care of you.”

“I want to give sixteen-year-old Fu Xiaoting what he should have had.”

“…”

Although, whether this was the right thing to do, Li Fei didn’t really know.

Sometimes compensation is a form of healing, but isn’t it also like reopening old wounds? Li Fei also worried that doing this might hurt him more.

After fastening Fu Siting’s seatbelt, the car was quiet for a moment.

Then, his shoulder slumped.

Li Fei couldn’t see Fu Siting’s expression, only heard him say softly, “Mm.”

“Fu Siting has those things now.”

Sixteen-year-old Fu Siting finally had someone take him to buy new clothes, treat him to delicious food, and buy him toys for the first time. He saw glimpses of a happy life.

Back home, the little dinosaur kept jumping on the roof.

Floating around so happily. Like a Tyrannosaurus Rex flower thriving on a life riddled with holes.

***

Author’s Note:

Fu Siting subconsciously fell in love with the little dinosaur because of this balloon; this is actually the starting point.

Although it seems like everyday life, the emotional storyline is developing subtly.

From initially “liking but not familiar,” to truly becoming familiar through the red carpet and candy advertisements, to seriously raising him again. Xiaoting will grow more and more alive with each passing year.

1. From The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint Exupéry, In the story, the Little Prince meets the fox, who teaches him the value of focusing on what truly matters. The rose: the little prince’s love ↩︎