Standing on the chair, his stature wasn’t tall, and even with all his strength, his actions were clumsy, making Ruan Jiaojiao, who was sleeping, very uncomfortable. She opened her eyes in a daze.
In the dim light of the kerosene lamp, her sleep was especially deep and confusing. She couldn’t make out the person in front of her, only seeing a blurry figure swaying before her.
For a moment, Ruan Jiaojiao couldn’t figure out where she was or what time it was. She just hazily watched the busy little figure in front of her, and thought back to many years ago when she would see that same vague yet familiar figure every time she was half asleep.
That figure would often move around in front of her cave, as though checking on something or guarding something...
Ruan Jiaojiao didn’t know, but what was strange was that every time she saw that figure, she didn’t feel fear but instead felt at ease... just like now.
"Silly wolf..." She knew it was the silly big wolf that she used to steal meat from every day!
Ruan Jiaojiao never expected that there would come a day when she would miss that silly wolf and wonder how he was doing now...
Her mumbled call entered Xiu Xi’s ears precisely. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned to look at Ruan Jiaojiao with intense gaze, but she slowly closed her eyes again and fell back to sleep.
Xiu Xi felt a touch of disappointment as he lowered his eyelids.
He stepped forward to hold her hand, softly reassuring the soundly sleeping girl, "I’m here, I’ve always been here..."
Ruan Jiaojiao was sleeping deeply and didn’t know whether she heard it or not.
Outside, the Ruanlin Family had put away all the things they bought and had also told the boys to go to sleep, before she turned back into the room. She was surprised to see Xiu Xi by the bedside and asked, "Xiaoxi, why haven’t you gone to sleep yet?"
Not having seen him just before, she thought he had gone to bed earlier, but here he was, watching over the sleeping Ruan Jiaojiao.
"I was worried about Jiaojiao," said Xiu Xi, carefully releasing Ruan Jiaojiao’s small hand, pointing to the wash basin on the side and telling the Ruanlin Family, "She’s washed."
Following his finger, the Ruanlin Family felt another surge of warmth, thinking to herself what a careful and considerate child he was. It was just unfortunate that such a good child had such parents; it was a sin.
"Alright, I’ll watch over her now, you go to sleep," the Ruanlin Family said softly.
Xiu Xi nodded, but before leaving, he took out twenty-five yuan from his pocket and handed it to the Ruanlin Family, "For Jiaojiao’s dress."
Looking at the neatly folded twenty-five yuan, the Ruanlin Family sighed, took it from him, and said, "Alright, I’ve taken it, you go to sleep now."
Only then did Xiu Xi turn and go back to his room to sleep.
However, as soon as he left, the Ruanlin Family put the money he gave back into a tin can, which was where Ruan Jiaojiao hid the money for Xiu Xi. She counted, and sure enough, twenty-five yuan was missing.
She knew the boy was stubborn and wouldn’t be persuaded, so she could only sneak the money back in this way. With her and Ruan Jianguo around, it didn’t make sense for him, a young boy, to buy clothes for Ruan Jiaojiao.
Unaware of what happened behind the scenes, Xiu Xi thought he had bought Ruan Jiaojiao a beautiful dress. Even though he had encountered that annoying male again today, he still felt quite satisfied, planning to go out again tomorrow to try to bring back more game, and with it, earn back the money for the furniture.
With such beautiful wishes, Xiu Xi fell asleep.