Song Xu found a familiar little note at home:
“Don’t cut Lan Xi. Lan Xi is scared. I’m taking him away for now.”
Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Song Xu folded the note and put it away in the box she kept specially for these things.
She told her younger brother about it. “Those two children really were frightened.”
Their uncle was still puzzled after hearing the story. “Fu Hui isn’t usually like that, is he? I can’t believe he’d be so…”
He thought for a long while before finding the words. “So childish.”
Song Xu replied, “Shouldn’t a child be allowed to act like a child?”
Her brother had no answer to that.
Everyone had certainly been worrying themselves sick over Lan Xi’s bottom.
Fu Hui knew that what he said as a child carried very little weight.
So he called Fu Lin. After all, Fu Lin already knew there was something unusual about Lan Xi.
“So what you’re asking is for me to tell your mother I’ll find a better doctor, and that they mustn’t cut off Lan Xi’s tail? Aren’t you afraid that if your mother and I start talking again over Lan Xi, we’ll end up arguing?” Fu Lin sounded both annoyed and amused.
But Fu Hui knew none of that was important.
Dad ought to be happy that Fu Hui had come to him for help. It proved Dad carried more weight in Fu Hui’s heart and was someone Fu Hui trusted enough to rely on.
Sure enough, Fu Lin did not refuse his son’s request.
Before hanging up, though, he asked curiously, “How does he have a tail? What sort of thing turned into a spirit? A kitten?”
Of course Fu Hui wasn’t going to tell him that Lan Xi was a “demon.” Just hearing that would make the adults worry.
Fu Hui said, “Lan Xi doesn’t know either. He’s still too little. He doesn’t even have a concept of what he is.”
Fu Lin did not doubt him.
There had once been a news story about a wolf taking in a child and raising him. For a while, the child had believed he was a wolf too.
Fu Lin asked a few more questions about his son over the phone, then called Song Xu.
Fu Lin had now taken over almost everything Old Master Fu had managed while alive. Song Xu wasn’t surprised that he would know more capable doctors.
There was no hostility between them on the call. In fact, after separating, the two of them found it easier to speak calmly to each other.
And just like that, Lan Xi’s little tail was saved.
Afterward, Song Xu was in no hurry to fetch the two children home. Instead, she quietly had some things delivered to them.
There were the pajamas the two were used to wearing, their familiar little bowls, and some milk, fruit, and vegetables…
When Lan Xi woke and saw all those things, he was astonished. “Did Fu Hui sneak home? Why is Lan Xi’s schoolbag here too?”
He opened the schoolbag, and his voice rose a little. “Why is Lan Xi’s homework here too?”
Fu Hui reached over and took it out. “Do it.”
Lan Xi pouted. “Oh.”
At such a tender age, Lan Xi was already nostalgic for his kindergarten days.
Back in kindergarten, if he didn’t feel like doing his homework, he could simply leave it undone. That wouldn’t fly in elementary school. The teachers were strict.
Lan Xi loved learning new things, but he didn’t like doing homework at all.
“If you’ve already learned it, why do you still have to do homework?” Lan Xi asked, perplexed.
Fu Hui said, “Homework helps reinforce what you’ve learned.”
Lan Xi was even more confused. “What does ‘reinforce’ mean?”
Fu Hui considered it for a moment, then explained as simply as he could. “It means making something firm and solid, so it won’t waver.”
Lan Xi stored that explanation away, though he understood only vaguely.
On the second day of their “running away from home,” Song Xu called Fu Hui to ask how Lan Xi was doing and suggested that he go in for another IV drip.
“Does someone from home need to pick you up?”
Lan Xi had no idea that staying in contact with the family meant their escape didn’t really count as running away from home.
He overheard the conversation and hurriedly interrupted. “No, no!”
Filtered through the phone, the little boy’s voice sounded even softer and more childish.
Song Xu unconsciously lowered her own voice. “Then how are Lan Xi and Fu Hui going to get to the hospital?”
“By car.”
“Then the family driver will have to drive you.”
Lan Xi was stumped.
Did that mean they would have to fly there?
No, Lan Xi’s wings were still too small.
Lan Xi knitted his brows, then declared with great conviction, “We can walk there!”
Song Xu pictured those two pairs of tiny, short legs.
“It’s several kilometers away.”
Lan Xi didn’t know what a kilometer was.
But he did know what “several” meant. A single-digit number!
That meant very, very few.
“That’s fine,” Lan Xi pronounced firmly, then urged Fu Hui to hang up.
Fu Hui knew a little more than Lan Xi did. “Thanks, Mom. We’ll take the subway.”
Lan Xi had traveled by airplane and private car, and at summer camp he’d ridden in minibuses, mid-sized buses, and big coaches.
But he’d never ridden the subway.
Fu Hui took him to a nearby station, where an escalator carried them slowly underground.
Lan Xi went, “Wow!”
He looked left and right, drawing the attention of quite a few passersby.
Fu Hui had even put a little hat on him to hide his overly conspicuous purple hair.
But even so, Lan Xi was still much too adorable.
Before long, some subway staff came over and quietly asked where their parents were and whether they needed help.
Lan Xi proudly puffed out his little chest and declared without hesitation, “We don’t have any parents here! It’s just Lan Xi and Fu Hui. We ran away from home!”
Fu Hui’s vision went momentarily dark.
The staff member was alarmed too and immediately said, “Then we’ll have to call the police!”
Fu Hui hurriedly cut in. “I’m sorry. We’re on our way to the hospital, and we were just on the phone with Mom.”
He showed his call history and indicated that the staff member was welcome to call the number back to check.
In the end, he managed to explain it away by saying their family was teaching them to be independent.
Fu Hui took back his phone, tucked Lan Xi into his arms, covered his little mouth, and boarded the subway car waiting in front of them.
The subway train was like an enormous dragon whose tail couldn’t be seen. When it came roaring into the station, Lan Xi had desperately wanted to say “Wow!”
But with his mouth covered, he hadn’t been able to get the word out. All he managed to do was leave a little saliva on Fu Hui’s fingers.
Now Lan Xi understood: running away from home was not something to brag about.
In this world, you had to do bad things in secret.
The little succubus found that terribly disappointing.
If all bad deeds had to be done in hiding, how was a demon supposed to show off his might and majesty?
Lan Xi sighed quietly in Fu Hui’s arms.
The subway car grew more and more crowded. Fu Hui couldn’t help holding Lan Xi tighter as he asked softly, “Are you getting squashed?”
Their bodyguard was watching from only four meters away, ready to rush over and “escort” them at any moment.
But Lan Xi shook his head in Fu Hui’s arms. Then he turned around, buried his face in Fu Hui’s chest, and mumbled, “Don’t wanna face a butt.”
Well, of course.
At Lan Xi’s height, getting squeezed in a subway car meant he was very likely to find himself face-to-face with some adult’s backside.
Fu Hui frowned when he heard that. The subway was no good at all. He wouldn’t bring Lan Xi here to try it again.
Someone who had been secretly watching the pair of “brothers” finally couldn’t resist speaking up. “Hey, little one, bring your younger brother over here and take my seat.”
A young woman had offered them her seat.
“Thank you.” But Fu Hui was holding Lan Xi and couldn’t quite squeeze through.
People nearby pitched in, taking turns lifting and passing the two boys along until they reached the seat.
For Fu Hui, who cared greatly about keeping his dignity, the experience was a little hard to swallow. But he also knew better than to be ungrateful, so he kept his face composed and said again, “Thank you.”
He was answered by a chorus of “So cute!”
Those four Chinese characters became the phrase the two children heard most often for the rest of the ride.
Fu Hui wasn’t used to it at all.
Lan Xi, however, loved every bit of it. Whenever someone called him cute, he proudly raised his little chin and beamed at them, leaving the person opposite him utterly dazzled.
Even after those people got off the subway, they were still caught up in a strange rush of excitement and dizziness.
When had Lan Xi ever seen so many grown-ups?
He was beside himself with excitement too.
Grown-ups were so much more fun than human children his own age!
To contain Lan Xi’s excitement, Fu Hui finally had no choice but to wrap his coat around Lan Xi’s head.
And so Fu Hui finally managed to get Lan Xi to the hospital.
Lan Xi behaved much better during the IV drip. He merely rested his head against Fu Hui and watched cartoons. After several hours of this, Fu Hui brought Lan Xi home in a taxi.
Of course, the driver was really one of their bodyguards in disguise.
Lan Xi still hadn’t had enough. He tugged at Fu Hui’s arm. “Let’s take the subway again tomorrow.”
Fu Hui refused coldly. “No. It’s too crowded.”
Lan Xi blinked. “Not crowded, not crowded! People will give us seats.”
Fu Hui: “…” Seeing Lan Xi show the same enthusiasm he’d once had for kindergarten, Fu Hui had to ask, “Why do you like the subway?”
“There are so many people.” Lan Xi spread his arms in a huge circle. “They all like Lan Xi.”
Fu Hui thought that no one could possibly dislike Lan Xi. He had always believed that.
But the idea of so many people liking Lan Xi, and Lan Xi becoming so enthralled by it, stirred a little unhappiness in young Fu Hui’s heart…
This wasn’t right, Fu Hui tried hard to tell himself.
“Fu Hui?”
“Fu Hui!”
“Fu Hui, why aren’t you happy?” Lan Xi pressed his face almost right against Fu Hui’s.
Fu Hui turned his face away. “I’m not unhappy.”
Lan Xi took hold of his head. “You are, you are! You can’t fool Lan Xi.”
Imitating how Fu Hui usually comforted him, Lan Xi pressed Fu Hui’s head against his own chest. “Lan Xi can make Fu Hui feel better.”
At his tender age, Fu Hui let out a heavy sigh.
“I don’t like riding the subway.”
Lan Xi froze.
Fu Hui very rarely talked about what he liked or disliked.
Once, when Grandpa had asked Lan Xi about Fu Hui, the only thing Lan Xi had been able to answer with certainty was this: Fu Hui liked Lan Xi!
That was the one thing he knew.
He’d never imagined a day would come when he liked something that Fu Hui didn’t.
Since he’d never encountered this problem before, Lan Xi was at a loss. “Th-then what do we do?”
Fu Hui could have said, “Then Lan Xi can ride the subway, and I won’t go.”
But that would sound far too much like he was threatening Lan Xi.
Like he was forcing him.
He’s just a little baby… Fu Hui told himself for what felt like the umpteenth time.
In the end, Fu Hui said nothing.
He went into the kitchen, where, sure enough, there was food waiting again. He raised his voice. “Let’s eat first.”
Lan Xi knitted his brows and agonized over it for a long, long while.
He really liked the subway. All the way home, Lan Xi had been planning to ride the subway forever and ever.
He kept wrestling with the question until Fu Hui brought the food out.
Lan Xi gritted his teeth. “Th-then tell Lan Xi when Fu Hui likes riding the subway.”
“Hmm?”
“Then you can go ride the subway with Lan Xi again.”
“…” “What if I never like it?”
Tears filled Lan Xi’s eyes. Looking pitiful beyond words, he said, “Th-then we just won’t ride it anymore.”
Fu Hui suddenly had the urge to say, “Why don’t we take the subway again tomorrow?”
Fortunately, his reason managed to catch hold of him just in time.
They really couldn’t go.
He wasn’t being petty about so many people liking Lan Xi. There were simply too many people, and if everyone got excited, they might crush Lan Xi!
He really wasn’t being petty.
Just then, Lan Xi suddenly seemed to remember something. He asked urgently, “Fu Hui, have you reinforced your love for Lan Xi?”