The milk stains on Lin Shiyu’s clothes were quickly dried by the wind, so he had to take them to the dry cleaners. Luckily, the cotton jacket had an inner lining, which Lin Shiyu took out and wore over the dirty outer layer, hanging the soiled one on his arm. He reached out to pull Lin Wanyue. “Let’s go, I have to take my clothes for dry cleaning.”

However, Lin Wanyue ran to the side and didn’t let him take her, holding the swing’s rope and swaying it. “Play!”

“Don’t you see my clothes are covered in milk? Let me take the clothes to the cleaners first, then I’ll play with you.” Lin Shiyu wanted to quickly go to a nearby mall to find a dry cleaning shop, but Lin Wanyue wasn’t cooperating at all and insisted on continuing on the swing.

Lin Shiyu tried to catch Lin Wanyue. “I’ll play with you after I return.”

Lin Wanyue ran in circles, thinking Lin Shiyu was playing a game of catch with her.

In a swift step, Lin Shiyu lifted the energetic chubby child, but Lin Wanyue held onto the swing and didn’t let go, giggling joyfully.

Little sister was delighted and big brother was exasperated.

“You’re playing so happily.”

Lin Shiyu was surprised to hear the voice. He turned around to see Zhong Qi standing behind him, pushing a bicycle and carrying a guitar on his back.

“Why are you here?”

“I was practicing nearby when I happened to see you guys.”

Lin Shiyu glanced at Lin Wanyue swinging so energetically on the swing and playing so joyfully, and couldn’t bring himself to directly pull her away.

“Lin Wanyue, I’m leaving. Do you want to play here by yourself?”

The girl was happily swinging on the swing. “Mmm!”

Lin Shiyu was at a loss, holding his clothes and contemplating for a while. He looked at Zhong Qi.

Zhong Qi was looking at the girl, and when he noticed Lin Shiyu’s gaze, he averted his eyes. “What’s up?”

Lin Shiyu hesitated. “Do you have any plans later?”

“No, nothing.”

“Can you look after her?” Lin Shiyu’s expression held caution. “I’m going to a nearby store to find a dry cleaner, and I’ll be back soon.”

Zhong Qi remembered something he said before. “Isn’t your sister not fond of being around males?”

“I’m not asking you to play with her. She’s happily playing alone right now and won’t pay much attention to her surroundings. Just stay by her side, no need to talk to her. Just ensure she doesn’t disappear.”

Towards the end, Lin Shiyu seemed quite nervous as he asked, “Is that possible?”

Zhong Qi suspected Lin Shiyu probably never asked for help like this before. Otherwise, how come he looked so unfamiliar with it? He usually had a fiery temper and now was trying to act politely, which looked uncomfortable.

Zhong Qi didn’t smile. Lin Shiyu was standing in front of him, wearing only a cotton jacket’s inner layer, appearing somewhat thin.

“Okay,” he said.

After Lin Shiyu hastily left, Zhong Qi parked his bike to the side and casually sat down at the edge of a trampoline, watching Lin Wanyue.

Lin Wanyue noticed her brother leaving but didn’t show any signs of being anxious or scared. She looked at Lin Shiyu’s back for a while and then continued to swing on the swing.

Zhong Qi remembered the information he had looked up previously about children with Down Syndrome. Online sources mentioned that these kids usually have mild and cheerful personalities, loving to play and laugh. However, some of them may tend towards depression, restlessness, or even self-harm during adolescence and adulthood. Different children with Down Syndrome demonstrate varying intellectual capacities due to the differing severity of their conditions. Unexpectedly, some children with milder symptoms could live an entirely independent life similar to normal individuals through postnatal growth and training.

Zhong Qi observed Lin Wanyue and felt that this child, apart from her distinct facial appearance and difficulty in clear expression, didn’t differ much in terms of both physical and emotional abilities from other ordinary children.

Can the lack of verbal expression be compensated postnatally for them? Zhong Qi rested his chin and watched Lin Wanyue amusing herself, thinking about this issue, and intending to look up information online.

As he was about to browse on his phone, he heard the sound of the swing stopping nearby. Looking up, he found Lin Wanyue standing by the swing, eagerly looking at him.

Zhong Qi looked around but found no one else there, only him.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, he thought Lin Wanyue might want to play with the trampoline he was sitting on and stood up, walking to the side.

Lin Wanyue’s gaze always followed him, taking a few steps forward and then another, moving closer to Zhong Qi, but maintaining a distance of three or four steps. She remained fixated in his direction, wearing an expression of curiosity.

Zhong Qi looked over himself from head to toe but didn’t see anything particularly attractive to a little girl.

“Big.” Lin Wanyue raised her chubby fingers, pointing behind Zhong Qi.

Zhong Qi turned around, only finding a line of trees and the sky. After some guesswork, it suddenly dawned on him what Lin Wanyue might be interested in.

He took the guitar case from his back, asking, “Do you like this?”

Lin Wanyue stood in a daze, observing Zhong Qi’s guitar, still refusing to get any closer.

Apparently, that’s it. Zhong Qi contemplated for a moment, then took the guitar out of its case and found a nearby rocking horse to sit on. Lin Wanyue seemed clearly drawn to the guitar in his arms and took a few steps closer.

She was three parts curious, seven parts vigilant, just a swaying little tail behind her.

There was a familiar sense of déjà vu. Zhong Qi had a thought: they are truly siblings.

After Lin Shiyu had dropped off the clothes at the dry cleaners and hurried back to the garden by the roadside, he witnessed this scene.

Zhong Qi sat on the rocking horse, playing the guitar, his long legs casually positioned. The winter sunlight illuminated his short hair, radiating a sense of warmth for no apparent reason.

His sister, who had always been hesitant around males, was now fixated on the nearby trampoline, wearing the expression of a loyal audience.

He had merely left to get a garment cleaned but these two had already formed a star-fan relationship?

Lin Shiyu walked over, and Zhong Qi, sensing it, stopped playing and turned his head.

“What are you two doing?”

“It seems like your sister is very interested in the guitar.” Zhong Qi pointed at Lin Wanyue with the guitar in his arms. “She’s been eyeing my guitar for a while.”

Lin Shiyu was somewhat surprised, but upon reflection, it wasn’t unexpected. Lin Wanyue had shown a unique interest in music from an early age, often humming along to catchy tunes and even dancing and keeping rhythm when she was in a good mood. Not to mention her ability to memorize the melodies she liked, and asking her brother to sing them to her at night to help her sleep.

“Brother.” Lin Wanyue, seeing Lin Shiyu approach, pointed to the guitar in Zhong Qi’s arms. “Gaitar.”

“Guitar.” Zhong Qi corrected her pronunciation for the third time.

“Guitar!” Lin Wanyue cheerfully produced the correct pronunciation and began humming an intermittent tune, which upon closer inspection was the melody Zhong Qi had just played.

Zhong Qi was amazed. “Pretty impressive.”

Lin Shiyu stood beside him, looking down at Lin Wanyue who was cheerfully humming and moving to the music. He wore a faint smile in a place unseen by anyone.

“If you like it, come over and play.” Lin Shiyu made a gesture to Lin Wanyue. “Come here.”

Lin Wanyue looked at Lin Shiyu and hurried over, throwing herself into his lap, hiding behind him while keeping her eyes on the guitar in Zhong Qi’s arms.

As soon as Zhong Qi strummed the guitar strings, Lin Wanyue immediately laughed along with the music, much like a toy that chimes with a tap – strum and laugh, strum again, and laugh once more.

Zhong Qi said, “This is so much fun.”

Lin Shiyu: “…”

Lin Shiyu didn’t stop Zhong Qi from playing with his younger sister; he stood quietly on the side, joining in on Lin Wanyue’s playful mood.

This was until Zhong Qi noticed Lin Shiyu’s fingers that hung near his legs. The joints were red, the skin almost turning blue from the cold, and twisting veins were visible on the back of his hand.

All this without a word.

The music stopped. Zhong Qi stood up, placed the guitar back in its case, slung it over his shoulder, and said, “Let’s go.”

His sudden movement left Lin Shiyu bewildered. “Do you have something to do?”

“Nothing.” Zhong Qi pushed his bicycle and, seeing that Lin Shiyu had no intention of following, frowned. “Aren’t you going back?”

“There is no rush to return.” Lin Shiyu glanced at Lin Wanyue. After the little girl had no song to listen to, she aimlessly wandered around the rocking horse for a few turns, quickly shifting her attention and started playing with the rocking horse.

Zhong Qi suddenly felt annoyed.

How many clothes Lin Shiyu wore in the freezing cold, whether or not he’d take care of himself, had nothing to do with him at all.

The little girl’s laughter came from behind him, followed by Lin Shiyu’s voice, as if saying, ‘Is it really this fun?’ His voice was somewhat soft, displaying a gentleness he normally didn’t have.

Lin Shiyu squatted down to tie Lin Wanyue’s loose shoelaces. A sudden cold gust of wind made him sneeze unexpectedly.

Suddenly, he was grabbed by the arm and pulled up from the ground.

Lin Shiyu almost lost his balance and stumbled into Zhong Qi’s arms, asking in confusion, “What’s with you?”

Zhong Qi held his arm in silence and spoke before Lin Shiyu could impatiently break free from his grasp. “Isn’t your sister fond of listening to me play the guitar? I’ll play for her.”

Lin Shiyu was taken aback, but then listened as Zhong Qi continued, “But it’s cold outside, and I don’t want to play here.”

The two stared at each other. Lin Shiyu hesitantly looked at him. “Why are you suddenly interested in playing the guitar for her?”

“I’m on vacation, so I have time.”

“Even when you have free time, you wouldn’t bother with this kind of thing.”

“I like playing the guitar, and coincidentally, your sister likes listening.” Zhong Qi raised an eyebrow at Lin Shiyu. “Is there a problem?”

Lin Shiyu didn’t know if there was an issue. It seemed like there wasn’t one. The thoughts in his mind shifted a bit, and Lin Shiyu found Zhong Qi’s reasoning quite sensible.

“So, where do we go?” Lin Shiyu asked.

Zhong Qi casually looked around and said, “Your place.”

Lin Shiyu instinctively refused, “No.”

“Then my place.”

Also not an option. Going to an unfamiliar environment could make Lin Wanyue anxious. Additionally, Lin Shiyu didn’t want to speculate about how Zhong Qi’s parents would react to Lin Wanyue if they were at home.

Yet, asking Zhong Qi to come to his house? Lin Shiyu hesitated.

Perhaps from playing too long, Lin Wanyue finally felt tired. She noticed that her brother was standing nearby and not looking at her, so she ran over to stand beside him. Looking up at the large guitar bag behind Zhong Qi, she smiled and raised her hand to point, softly uttering the word, “Guitar!”

Teaching Lin Wanyue a new word was challenging. Usually, at school, they repeatedly taught her words, and when she got home, Lin Hui and Lin Shiyu had to help her remember and practice the words before she could remember one. So when Lin Shiyu heard his sister speak the word ‘guitar’ without any training, he knew she genuinely liked this thing.

Lin Shiyu lowered his head to let his sister hold his hand. After a brief silence, he said, “Let’s go to my house.”

Zhong Qi parked his bicycle on the weedy, cluttered stone ground and glanced at the old, empty residential building in front of him.

Initially, he had no intention of deliberately playing the guitar to entertain a little girl, much less visiting Lin Shiyu’s house. What he said was entirely improvised, and the reason might be that he found it too cold to stay outside.

The situation developed to the point where one unguardedly brought the other to his house, and both appeared to have similar doubts despite one appearing seemingly concerned and the other calm.

Following Lin Shiyu, Zhong Qi entered the dark, cold corridor, climbing the stairs lined with old and new advertisements. The old advertisements had almost melded in color with the cement walls, the building unclean and covered in dust.

Lin Shiyu unlocked their front door, allowing Lin Wanyue to dart into the room with excitement. Then, leaning against the door, he said to Zhong Qi, “Come in.”

The shoes in the entryway were neatly arranged—boys’ sneakers, colorful little girls’ shoes, women’s heels, but no adult men’s shoes. The whole house was small, with minimal furniture, but organized and clean. The small table by the window had a plate with leftover food, with a faint greenish light filtering in from the green window blinds.

From the moment he entered this neighborhood and the residential building, Zhong Qi instinctively prepared himself psychologically. Yet, upon seeing Lin Shiyu’s home, it was just a brief moment of surprise, after which Zhong Qi calmed down completely.

It was just an ordinary home. Quiet, tidy, carefully arranged, without any signs of being casually treated.

“We don’t have any spare slippers. Just come in.” Lin Shiyu finally felt the cold upon entering the house, rubbed his stiffened fingers, and said, “Have a seat. I’ll change clothes first.”

Zhong Qi took the guitar case and placed it on the couch. Lin Wanyue hesitated to get close to him and immediately bypassed the living room and curiously touched the guitar case when Zhong Qi placed the guitar on the couch. However, every time he approached, Lin Wanyue moved away, watching him from a distance.

The statement Lin Shiyu made the night they returned from the police station flashed through Zhong Qi’s mind. There were no men in the house, the items and girl’s clothing Lin Shiyu had, and the words he spoke. This allowed Zhong Qi to form a vague guess.

He couldn’t think deeply about it because no matter what, it wouldn’t lead to anything good.

“Has someone been bothering you?” Zhong Qi asked Lin Wanyue softly.

Even so, the girl wouldn’t answer him, and Zhong Qi didn’t expect a response. He knew that asking anyone wouldn’t bring any answers.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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