The freshly steamed meat buns, with their rich aroma of meat mixed with wheat, wafted into the little boy’s nose.
Shi Wangyue suddenly felt a bit of a twinge in his nose, "You should hurry back, it’s about to rain. Don’t get wet, you’ll get sick if you do. Stop following us, you’ll get lost, and you don’t remember the way home, it would be dangerous."
After speaking, he started pushing the chubby young man back.
The chubby young man, unlike his usual easygoing manner, struggled not to leave, stubbornly passing the bun to his son’s mouth:
"Baby, you’re hungry, eat the bun."
"I’m not hungry, I don’t want it." The little boy turned his head away.
"The bun is delicious, baby, eat it."
The overcast sky finally released its long-held raindrops.
The young man persisted in hoping his son would eat the bun at hand: "Eat the bun, baby."
It was raining, and the people in the car were waiting.
The little boy worried that the people in the car had waited too long, and also feared the young man might encounter trouble outside alone.
For a moment, fear and anxiety swept over him, causing his emotions to collapse.
"I told you I don’t want it, don’t want it! Go back quickly, do you hear me? I must leave now, if I don’t, it’ll delay things!"
The chubby young man couldn’t fully grasp his son’s panic, but he could tell his son was upset, so he reluctantly clutched the bun and walked back.
Seeing that his father finally obeyed and left, Wangyue let out a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly, the chubby young man ran back as he was nearing the gate of the Shi family villa.
"Why did you come back again?" The little boy roared.
The young man shouted anxiously:
"Baby, aren’t you going very, very far away? I’m your dad, I have to see you off."
He was panting heavily, his words barely coherent, yet they made the little boy, in the midst of an emotional breakdown, immediately tear up.
Shi Wangyue took a deep breath. Looking into his father’s round bright eyes, pure as a child’s, his heart trembled. He gathered his strength and softly said:
"Dad, go home. I don’t need you to see me off."
"Baby, mom can’t see you off, I’m dad, I can, I can go see you off."
The chubby young man, hearing his son say he didn’t need him, was on the verge of crying with grievance.
He didn’t know where he learned it, but he had the belief that when a child goes far away, both parents must see them off.
Perhaps he didn’t understand many things, but what he did understand, he tried his hardest to do.
A heart as innocent as a child’s, and as stubborn as one too.
Standing by to deliver umbrellas was You Guang, who happened to hear the young man’s words. She raised the umbrella over both of their heads, shielding them from the growing rain, and gently asked the young man, "Uncle, are you wanting to see Wangyue off to play?"
"Mm." The chubby young man hadn’t seen You Guang for a long time, but he still recognized her, even though she looked different from before.
"Then let’s all go see him to the car now, and after that, you can return home, okay?"
"Okay." The chubby young man nodded happily.
He understood that parents should see their children off when they go far away, yet he couldn’t grasp where, how, or why to send them...
After comforting the young man, You Guang turned gently to the emotionally unstable child beside her and said, "Wangyue, let’s accompany uncle to the car together. Uncle is not yet acquainted with Little Uncle and Daidai, would you introduce him to them? They really want to know uncle."
"Okay." The little boy’s voice was hoarse.
Then he, alongside the girl beside him, helped the young man by each holding one of his hands as they walked toward the car.
In those few short steps, Shi Wangyue felt an unprecedented heaviness, his heart filled to the brim.
When the three of them reached the car, Xia Xiqing and Xia Dai were already standing by, waiting.
You Guang spoke first, "Little Uncle, Daidai, this is Wangyue’s dad. He wants to see Wangyue off."
"Brother Shi, very nice to meet you." Xia Xiqing warmly said to Wangyue’s dad.
Though he had not met the eldest Shi son before, he had already known of his uniqueness.
Today, upon meeting, he understood everything.
"Are you Guang’s Little Uncle? Nice to meet you." Shi Tingsong said happily.
"Yes, I am You Guang’s Little Uncle." Xia Xiqing, amused by the childlike words of the young man, offered a genuine and pure smile.
"Uncle Shi, I am Xia Dai. I’m Wangyue’s classmate." Xia Dai happily introduced himself to Wangyue’s dad.