To You, My Beloved

Chapter 38: No Other Option but to Endure II

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It was very quiet in the car. So quiet that Tang Shi seemed to be in a trance, looking a little distracted as he stared at Gu Qingcheng’s pretty face.

…

He was three years older than she was. Like a pint-sized little man, he was strutting around in a suit while she, dressed in a pink princess outfit, was learning how to walk in the front yard of the Gu family home.

When the servant who was minding her stepped aside for a moment, she waddled slowly toward the fence that separated the two families’ homes.

Since she had just started learning how to walk, her steps were still unsteady. After a couple of steps, she lost her balance and stumbled, falling onto the ground. Unfazed by the dirty ground, she crawled on her hands and knees instead.

Because the gaps in the fence that separated the two families’ homes were a bit wide, the one-year-old Gu Qingcheng easily squeezed through one of them and ended up in the yard of the Tang family home.

At four years old, he had already built up a large vocabulary and was, at that time, very interested in comic books. Sitting like an adult, with his knees crossed, he was happily reading his comic book when he suddenly felt weight being applied to his upper leg. Frowning, he raised his head from his book and saw a grubby little girl hugging his leg, using it to haul herself upright. She then took tiny steps toward him, her innocent, bright eyes wide open, looking with interest at the comic book in his hands.

Although he was only four, he had already cultivated a strong affinity for cleanliness that drove many around him crazy. When he noticed that her pretty little dress, her pristine white socks, and her chubby little face were all smeared with dirt, he frowned immediately and, without hesitation, pulled his leg away from her grasp, put his book down on the table, and used a piece of tissue to wipe his pants off.

Perhaps because he had pulled away from her grasp aggressively and without any warning, she lost her balance and fell down. Despite that, she didn’t cry, but turned around and crawled back toward the table, using it as a support to stand up again, without making a sound. Then she reached out to grab at the comic book that he had placed on the table.

He had just gotten to the most interesting part of the book, and suddenly this little girl’s grubby hands were reaching for his book. Immediately, he yelled, “Yuck,” and, in one swift motion, moved the book away from her grasp.

Although she was only one, she could already understand a wide range of words and could also utter a few simple ones. She had probably understood “Yuck” to mean something bad, because she pouted instantly and looked at him, slightly annoyed.

Well, he had no time for that grubby little brat. Picking up his book, he decided, without another thought, to walk back home. However, just as he stood up, she reached out suddenly and pulled the comic book in his hands away smoothly and quickly.

He turned around, prepared to snatch it back from her.

Maybe because she’d expected him to want to snatch it back or perhaps because she knew that she couldn’t possibly win that tug-of-war, she took his comic book in her chubby little hands and ripped it in half.