Daily life 6
Not long after the Spring Festival, the weather warmed up, and it gradually came to another April.
Two-year-old Yuanyuan had just celebrated a happy birthday, and now he was facing his most dreaded thing - getting a vaccination shot.
Being afraid of needles is a trait most young children have, whether they are well-behaved or mischievous. The sunshine-like Yuanyuan was the same - knowing he had to get a shot, he was afraid and wanted to cry.
On the way to the hospital in the morning, Yu Li was doing some psychological preparation for Yuanyuan.
"This time after the shot, as long as you don't get sick in between, the next shot will be 365 days later. Yuanyuan is very brave, you can definitely do it."
Sitting in the car seat, Yuanyuan hugged his little fish plushie, his eyes watery: "365 days is how long?"
Yu Li answered, "365 has seven over fifty, Yuanyuan can count it, and then think about how long a day is."
Since Yuanyuan was one and a half years old and able to express himself, Yu Li and Yan Shiting had been accompanying him every night, playing games or doing early education, so now Yuanyuan could count from one to fifty, although slowly.
Receiving the answer, Yuanyuan wiped his eyes and started counting fifty on his fingers, having Yu Li keep track of how many times he did it. By the time they arrived at Yan's Hospital, Yuanyuan had counted to the fifth round.
"Daddy, how many times did I count?"
Yu Li lifted Yuanyuan out of the car seat, "Five times."
Yuanyuan made a sound of acknowledgment. He had counted for so long but still hadn't finished, so 365 really seemed like a lot. Thinking about this, the young child trustingly lay on his father's shoulder.
However, when it was time for the vaccination, Yuanyuan couldn't help but tear up again. He looked up at the Big Daddy holding him and asked again, "Big Daddy, do I really have to get the shot?"
Yan Shiting's expression didn't change as he said firmly, "If you don't get the shot now, you'll have to get even more shots if you get sick later."
"Wah." Yuanyuan's little face crumpled, tears dripping down, "Then I'll just get it now."
The nurse, Dr. Xu, responsible for the shot, couldn't help but chuckle. Yu Li bent down and stroked Yuanyuan's head, "Be good, after the shot, Daddy and Big Daddy will play with you and let you eat your favorite cream puffs."
"Okay," Yuanyuan nodded, his attention diverted, not seeing Dr. Xu's movements. Not until he felt the pain in his shoulder did he realize the shot was being given.
Soon, the vaccination was done. Yuanyuan didn't cry out loud, puffing out his cheeks and enduring the pain in his shoulder. Yu Li sympathetically wiped his face with a wet wipe.
After a while, the pain in his shoulder subsided, and Yuanyuan's cheerful mood returned. The family of three went back to the manor.
After lunch, they played with some moon sand in the activity room, and the young child ended up falling asleep on the floor, still clutching a large elephant mold, with a neatly lined-up queue of small animal figures he had made around him.
Seeing Yuanyuan asleep, Yu Li and Yan Shiting exchanged a glance, then approached him softly. Yu Li cleaned the remaining moon sand off Yuanyuan's hands, while Yan Shiting gently carried the child back to the bedroom, placing him in his little bed.
It was a rare weekend, so the couple also lay down on the big bed, napping along with Yuanyuan. Yu Li, who had been quite busy in the lab this week, relaxed and slept quite deeply.
When he woke up, it was already past 2 PM. Yu Li sleepily opened his eyes, nuzzling into Yan Shiting's embrace. Yan Shiting had one arm around his waist, the other hand gently massaging his temples, swollen from sleeping too long.
As Yu Li became more alert, Yan Shiting leaned down and kissed his face.
After some affectionate cuddling, a slight movement came from Yuanyuan's little bed. The couple got up and saw the young child rubbing his eyes and waking up.
The just-woken little one was mumbling, saying he had been swimming in his dream. The two fathers immediately understood, knowing he had dreamed of swimming. No wonder, since he was a little fish child.
But the little fish child had just gotten his vaccination shot in the morning, and the shoulder with the shot couldn't get wet. Yu Li looked at Yan Shiting and said, "Why don't we take Yuanyuan to the lakeside to fish? I'll play in the shallow water with him, not going swimming."
Yan Shiting, holding their son, nodded, "Okay."
Once Yuanyuan was fully awake, the two fathers changed him into shorts and slippers, and brought him and the fishing gear to the lakeside.
The afternoon lake surface was very calm, and the fish seemed to be resting at the bottom of the water.
Yu Li took Yuanyuan to the lake's edge, wading in the shallows and picking up stones. Though he couldn't swim, this still made Yuanyuan very happy. He picked up many stones, pulling Yu Li over to show off their pretty features:
"This stone has a round belly."
"This stone has some spots on it."
"Daddy, look, this stone is yellow..."
Yan Shiting had baited the hook and came over to join the father-son pair. They carefully placed the stones Yuanyuan had collected in a small bucket, planning to clean them up and let Yuanyuan keep them when they got back.
After a while, the bucket was already half full of stones. Yuanyuan was deeply satisfied, and was carried back up to the shore by his father.
His little slippers were wet, and as he stepped on the ground, they let out a loud "squeak".
Startled, the young child immediately lifted his foot, anxiously bending down to look at the sole.
"Huh?" There was nothing on the sole.
Yuanyuan straightened up and tried to take a step forward, but the slippers made the "squeak" sound again.
Since there was nothing on the soles for him to have stepped on, then...
Yuanyuan looked at Yu Li and said, "Daddy, my little slippers are hurt from me stepping on them."
He demonstrated by taking a step forward, saying, "Can you hear, they're calling out. What should I do, should I call the doctor?"
If the slippers were killed by him stepping on them, did that mean he committed a grave mistake? Thinking of this, Yuanyuan's little face paled.
Yu Li couldn't help but chuckle, stepping forward to scoop up the young child: "It's okay, slippers don't have pain receptors, they can't feel pain."
Ah, a very familiar sentence. Yu Li glanced at Yan Shiting, continuing, "The slippers are making noise because they got wet, Daddy will dry them for you, and when you walk later, they won't make that sound anymore."
Yuanyuan stared with wide eyes: "They don't hurt?"
"Of course not." The young child finally felt relieved.
The family of three went to the set-up sun umbrella, and Yu Li held Yuanyuan, carefully wiping the water off his little slippers with tissues before putting them back on him.
Yuanyuan tentatively stepped on the ground, and sure enough, the slippers no longer made any noise. Yuanyuan sighed in relief, hugging Yu Li and saying, "Thank you, Daddy, for saving my little slippers."
Yu Li smiled, then lifted Yuanyuan up again, lying down on the lounge chair together to watch Yan Shiting fishing.
"Come, let's see if Big Daddy can catch a fish. If he does, tonight we'll have grilled fish to eat."
Yuanyuan's eyes shone brightly as he clapped his hands, "Okay!"
Next to them, Yan Shiting sat properly, casting the fishing line into the middle of the lake, the fishing rod firmly gripped in his hand.
He took out his phone and called Butler He, asking him to prepare some ingredients and a barbecue grill, as they would be grilling by the lake tonight.
Yu Li was just about to secretly remind him to have Butler He bring some fish over, remembering the last time he saw Yan Shiting fishing - that time was a complete failure, leading him to suspect Yan Shiting was just bored and coming to feed the fish.
However, just as Yu Li was about to send a message, he saw Yan Shiting raise the rod, and a plump carp was caught on the hook.
Yu Li was stunned. The Yuanyuan in his arms immediately clapped his hands, his gaze full of admiration: "Big Daddy is so amazing!"
Yan Shiting removed the carp from the hook, placing it in the nearby bucket. He then expertly rebaited the hook and, with a fluid motion, cast it back out into the center of the lake. The whole sequence of actions was particularly pleasing to watch.
Soon, another fish was hooked.
Yan Shiting placed this fish in the bucket as well, then turned to look at the somewhat dazed expression on Yu Li's face, quietly asking, "What are you thinking about?"
Yu Li snapped out of it, curving his lips in a smile as he leaned on Yan Shiting's shoulder, saying, "Nothing."
After knowing that Yan Shiting had already liked him all along, thinking back on that previous fishing trip, perhaps it wasn't just to feed the fish, but to "keep company" with the fish.
Comments
Post a Comment