TT Extra 3

Much later, Chen Ting lay curled under the covers with Pei Yiyao, reminiscing about their childhoods. It was a bit strange. After being together for so long and talking about everything under the sun, this was one topic they had rarely touched on.

Chen Ting figured it was probably because they had forgotten most of it.

But memories were funny things. Sometimes all it took was the right nudge for them to come flooding back.

“My mom said we were born in the same hospital,” Chen Ting said, resting his head against Pei Yiyao’s. He excitedly spilled everything his mom had told him about those ancient, long-buried days.

Of course, the part where he had insisted on picking up Pei Yiyao to show off his big brother status, only to fall into a haystack bawling his eyes out because he was too small. That part, he had thoroughly re-edited before sharing: “I actually held you in my arms back then. Bet you didn’t expect that.”

“Nope,” Pei Yiyao replied simply. But in truth, he had already heard his mom’s version of that story, and in great detail. When she first moved abroad and missed home terribly, those old memories were her biggest source of comfort.

“And there’s more. You used to come with me to school and sit right beside me on your little stool,” Chen Ting continued, oblivious. “My mom and Aunt Ruan would be watching through the window, and even while I was in class, you wouldn’t let go of my hand.”

Whether they were real or not didn’t matter. Chen Ting could fill in the blanks himself. Eventually, he even began to recall some hazy images, though he could no longer tell what was real and what was imagination.

Pei Yiyao quietly listened without interrupting. When Chen Ting had finally exhausted his stash of stories, Pei Yiyao pulled him into his arms and said, “Technically, I’m only three months younger than you. But since you were born at the end of the lunar calendar, your nominal age was two years old as soon as you were born. That’s why you started school a year earlier.”

Chen Ting was born on the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month. Because it was a short month, the older generation considered him two years old as soon as he was born. Even so, it was still a fact that he was older than Pei Yiyao.

“Don’t argue. You’re younger than me,” Chen Ting said firmly.

“Okay, I’m younger,” Pei Yiyao replied, with a hint of indulgence and compromise in his tone.

That annoyed Chen Ting. He was stating a fact, so why did it feel like Pei Yiyao was humoring him?

“You used to call me gege, remember?”

“Mhm.”

Chen Ting wasn’t done. “And you’ve never called me senior. That’s just rude. You were way cuter when you were little, you know.”

Pei Yiyao sighed. “I do remember one thing, actually.”

“What?”

“I got so clingy with you later on, always calling you gege, because you protected me once.”

Chen Ting’s eyes lit up. He instantly forgot all about the senior issue and propped himself up to look at Pei Yiyao. “I protected you? What happened?”

Pei Yiyao began slowly, “There was this fierce rooster at Granny Chen’s place. It used to block the road and bully the neighborhood dogs. One time, we happened to pass by, and it tried to peck me. You stepped in front of me and shielded me.”

Wow. I really was a hero.

Then Pei Yiyao asked, “Do you remember what happened to that rooster later?”

Chen Ting tilted his head, thinking hard. At first, he thought he couldn’t remember, but something in his mind clicked. “Oh—I remember now! I ended up eating it!”

“You ate it?”

“Yeah, they said it was to help me recover.”

That rooster had been a real survivor. It was so fierce and majestic that it basically served as a guard dog. At first, Granny Chen could not bear to kill it. But she cared even more about Chen Ting. So she stewed it into a nourishing soup, hoping it would make him strong and brave like the rooster.

Chen Ting vaguely remembered those days. Granny Chen’s house wasn’t close to their boathouse. They only passed by when going to cut vegetables from the garden.

One time, while cooking, he had burned his finger on hot oil and was so upset he ran out to cry under the big tree by the river.

Granny Chen happened to be passing by and felt terrible for him. But knowing how thin and worn his mother looked, she didn’t have the heart to scold her. From then on, she came by occasionally to help out.

She had been close friends with Chen Ting’s late grandmother.

That time felt so far away now that the memories were fuzzy. Thinking about it didn’t bring up much sadness. Just quiet gratitude toward Granny Chen.

Because now, he had Pei Yiyao.

He lay back down and snuggled closer, wrapping his arms around Pei Yiyao’s waist. There was something clingier in his movements.

Pei Yiyao couldn’t read all his thoughts, but he could feel the subtle change in his mood. He lowered his head and kissed the top of Chen Ting’s hair. “Now it’s my turn to protect you.”

It was a lie, though.

He did want to protect Chen Ting. But what really happened back then was that the rooster did peck Chen Ting’s finger, and he cried like crazy.

They had just returned from picking wild mushrooms when the rooster blocked their path. That rooster had a name, given by the neighborhood kids: The Battle Saint Rooster.

Chen Ting feared nothing. Not the heavens, not the earth. He was the self-proclaimed little tyrant, the Crabby King of Chaos. What was a measly Battle Saint Rooster to him?

Absolutely nothing.

So he puffed up his chest and told Pei Yiyao to stay behind him. Then, with all the courage he could muster, he marched forward to confront the rooster. The outcome, however, was far from heroic. The rooster pecked a small wound into his finger.

He immediately burst into tears, wailing at full volume.

Startled by his wailing, the rooster turned tail and fled.

Getting pecked by a chicken hurts. It’s like ten thousand times worse than getting a shot. As a certified little tyrant, Chen Ting’s first thought was to report this grave injustice. But after looking around, he realized that Pei Yiyao was the only underling around.

Fine. He would do.

So Chen Ting ran over to him, sniffling, eyes full of tears. He stuck out his injured finger and cried pitifully, “Hurts! Wuuuuhuuuuhuuu, it hurrrrrts…”

Pei Yiyao, ever the embodiment of cool, simply stood there with his usual frosty face and watched Chen Ting sob and hiccup. He showed no reaction at all.

That made Chen Ting even more upset. Now he felt really pitiful, and he squatted down and cried harder.

Pei Yiyao was still confused. But Chen Ting looked so miserable, so tiny, he was even smaller than Pei Yiyao. And Mom had always said, take care of your gege. So he squatted down too and said solemnly, “I’ll blow on it. That’ll make it better.”

“Really?” Chen Ting sniffled.

“Really.” Pei Yiyao nodded, serious as ever.

Chen Ting believed him. He cautiously extended his injured finger, and Pei Yiyao leaned in and blew gently on it. Maybe it was just psychological, but Chen Ting really did feel a little better. He immediately broke into a smile through his tears.

And so, the two tiny friends walked home hand in hand.

That wasn’t the only story Pei Yiyao had heard from his mom about Chen Ting’s legendary past.

For instance, Chen Ting absolutely hated taking medicine. Someone always had to watch him or he’d run. He was a clever little thing and once escaped to the nearby electrical station. It was one of those tiny rural ones, even smaller than a bathroom. He hid in there for hours.

Eventually, that place became their shared secret base.

He was obsessed with asking, “Was I amazing?” Every time he managed to shoot a marble into the hole, he would tilt his head up and ask Pei Yiyao, “Wasn’t I amazing?” If he lifted a heavy rock with great effort, the same question followed. Even when he grew a little taller, he treated it like a major achievement.

When Pei Yiyao grew taller than him, Chen Ting got so mad he refused to play with him anymore. Pei Yiyao had to give up a whole jar of his prized glass marbles to win him back.

Later on, once he learned how to ride a four-wheeled kiddie bike, Chen Ting began visiting Pei Yiyao almost every day.

He was an adorable child, with rosy cheeks, a doll-like face, and a head of curly hair. Although he was loud and bossy, he had a sweet tongue that endeared him to every adult he met. His little bike basket was always filled with gifts from the neighbors. Sometimes it was a piece of candy or a flower, sometimes an apple, a banana, or even a water caltrop. Anything could end up in that basket.

Whenever Ruan Xin recalled those memories, she could not hide the affectionate smile on her face.

Pei Yiyao did not fare as well. He never greeted anyone. No uncles, no aunties, no elders. Not a word. He just followed behind Chen Ting every day with a cold face, like a miniature bodyguard collecting protection money.

Whenever Chen Ting caused trouble outside, people always assumed Pei Yiyao was the one responsible. He became known as the number one scapegoat in Yangcheng Lake. Yet if anyone actually asked the kids who they feared the most, the answer was still Pei Yiyao. So perhaps he had earned that reputation after all.

Many of those memories had faded with time. No matter how clearly Ruan Xin described them, Pei Yiyao could no longer recall the details. He felt a bit regretful, because he imagined Chen Ting must have been incredibly cute as a child. According to his mother, there had once been a time when Chen Ting crawled into a toy store display window and pretended to be a doll. He had seen candy in the basket next to a real doll and sat himself beside it, happily munching on sweets.

The window was filled with decorations, with tall stacks of gift boxes that happened to hide him completely from view.

That incident terrified Chen Su and her husband. They searched everywhere and nearly called the police. In the end, they noticed a group of people gathered around the toy shop window. Out of instinct, they took a look.

And there he was—their son.

Back then, Chen Ting was truly small. He could barely walk steadily, but he moved incredibly fast. His parents never had the heart to scold him, and they constantly worried over him.

They thought sending him to kindergarten would finally give them a break. On his first day of school, he cried so loudly it shook the heavens. He did not cry for his parents. He simply cried for himself.

“Ting Ting!”

“Ting Ting!”

“Ting Tiiiing!”

Ting Ting did not want to go to school.

Pei Yiyao did not cry. He had already perfected the cool-guy image. But he held Chen Ting’s hand tightly, convinced the adults around them were villains trying to take Ting Ting away.

Sensing that someone was on his side, Chen Ting threw himself into Pei Yiyao’s arms. The two little children clung to each other as if they were being separated forever. The scene could not have looked more ridiculous.

In the end, the parents gave up and decided to send them to school together.

That kindergarten was just across the river. It only took a few minutes to walk there, and they were able to return home for lunch.

The school had a very tiny snack counter, barely the size of a window. An old man sold cotton candy, preserved plums, hawthorn strips, and other little treats. Each of them had fifty cents of allowance per day. If the parents were in a good mood, they might get a whole yuan.

At the time, that was a small fortune. A single hawthorn strip only cost ten cents.

Chen Ting loved snacks like that. Every chance he got, he would drag Pei Yiyao along to buy some. They would sneak off to a secluded corner of the campus where banana trees grew and enjoy their food in peace.

Cool boy had no need for snacks, so Pei Yiyao ended up spending most of his money on Chen Ting. Eventually, Chen Ting developed cavities and suffered toothaches almost every day. He cried constantly, just like a little crybaby.

And through all those tears, they grew up together.

Thanks to the passage of time, they found each other again.