Not far away, a girl in a nurse’s uniform was running towards them. She visibly relaxed when she saw the little boy.
"Is she looking for you?" Xu Nianhua asked softly.
The little boy glanced at the girl and nodded.
"Then you better go back," Xu Nianhua said softly.
"Hongen, so you were here. You scared me to death." The nurse looked at Su Hong’en excitedly, sizing him up. Seeing that he was clean and uninjured, she let out a big sigh of relief. She had just been to the bathroom, and by the time she came back, he was gone. The nurse had searched the nursing home for a long time without success and was very worried.
"Who are you..." It was only then that the nurse turned to Xu Nianhua and Fei Jiayi and asked, "You aren’t from Yishui County, are you?"
The nurse knew the people who lived near the nursing home, but she didn’t recognize these two girls.
"We are students from Beining University. We’re here to look for a classmate," Fei Jiayi explained.
Xu Nianhua added, "Right, we came to see Ding Guo."
"Ah, you’re Ding Guo’s classmates." The nurse smiled and said, "Thank you for taking care of Hongen."
"So your name is Hongen, that’s a really nice name." Xu Nianhua complimented, giving him a thumbs up.
The fair face of Little Hong’en turned slightly red.
The nurse was surprised to see Hongen’s reaction and said happily, "Hongen, were you playing with the two sisters just now?"
Little Hong’en remained silent.
Xu Nianhua spoke up, "Just now, we saw him counting ants over here, so we chatted with him for a bit. Little Hong’en is great. He looks even more handsome when he smiles. You should smile more often~"
"May I ask what you talked about with him?" Seeing that Hongen was safe and sound, the nurse deliberately pulled Xu Nianhua aside and asked in a lowered voice.
Xu Nianhua and Fei Jiayi recounted what had happened, with the nurse focusing particularly on Xu Nianhua.
"You, you just talked about this with Hongen and nothing else?" the nurse asked repeatedly.
Xu Nianhua shook her head and quietly looked over at Little Hong’en, who continued to squat and watch the ants, then asked, "Does he have autism?"
"You know about this condition?" said the nurse, somewhat surprised. Beining University wasn’t a medical school, was it?
"My second brother studies medicine," Xu Nianhua explained, though in truth, she had just read about this condition before. But rather than explain, she simply attributed her knowledge to her brother.
"Oh," the nurse nodded. "I see. Can you talk to him some more?"
"I’ll try." Xu Nianhua walked up to Little Hong’en, who was watching the ants, and spoke in an even gentler voice, "Hongen, your sister..."
Xu Nianhua hesitated, thinking about the many classes she had missed and how she might not have much time to come back to Yishui County again. She added, "How about I teach you to draw?"
Hongen’s eyes, dark as obsidian, looked at her.
Xu Nianhua took a twig and began to draw on the ground, saying as she drew, "A big potato."
She drew an oval on the ground.
"Dress it in plaid." Xu Nianhua’s voice continued steadily as her hand moved to draw diagonal grid lines on the oval.
"Add little flowers."
She drew a small circle in each of the little squares.
"Grow some green hair."
Xu Nianhua then drew what looked like hair on top, and a pineapple appeared before her. This was a rhyme used by kindergarten teachers in future generations to teach children how to draw. She had once fostered a little girl named Xiang Ting, who also didn’t like to speak much. Xu Nianhua had taught her to draw this way. Afterward, Xiang Ting became especially clingy to her.