Gu Chengcheng saw Tang Yun hit him, and his eyes immediately became misty. He couldn't understand why his mom would hit him and spoke in a wronged tone, "It was Eldest Sister Qiqi who told me to call Master Zhi."
Tang Yun "..."
Tang Yun turned her head, looking towards Gu Zhiqi.
Gu Zhiqi coughed lightly, pretending not to hear Gu Chengcheng's words. He silently turned his head, continuing to count ants on the tree trunk as if nothing had happened.
Tang Yun lifted her hand to rub her temples, withdrew her gaze, and looked down at the little radish head clinging to her leg. "From now on, you should call her Eldest Sister Qiqi, got it?"
The little radish head nodded, not fully understanding, and then turned to look at Gu Zhiqi, obediently calling out, "Eldest Sister Qiqi."
Gu Zhiqi turned around, raising an eyebrow at the little radish head.
After some thought, Tang Yun still introduced him to Gu Zhiqi, "This is Gu Chengcheng, my son."
Gu Zhiqi nodded.
Only then did Tang Yun take the keys and walked over to the door to unlock it.
"You, come with me." With the door opened, Tang Yun looked back at Gu Zhiqi.
Gu Zhiqi stepped up to follow her.
Once inside, they were in the living room. The house was a double-story tile house, and the living room was quite cool, though a bit dimly lit.
Tang Yun led Gu Zhiqi upstairs and pointed to a room. "You'll stay here. Clean up the room yourself."
Having said that, without waiting for Gu Zhiqi to say anything, she directly turned and went downstairs.
**
By the time Gu Zhiqi finished cleaning the room and came downstairs, dusk had already fallen.
The sound of frying came from the kitchen, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of food.
In the living room, Gu Chengcheng was lying by the table, counting candies.
"One."
Gu Chengcheng moved one candy from the left to the right side.
"Two."
He moved another to the right side.
"Three."
...
A skinny, dark-skinned boy sat beside Gu Chengcheng, intently watching him count.
When he heard noise at the staircase, the boy looked up; on seeing Gu Zhiqi, he first froze, then his brows furrowed deeply, his eyes clearly showing displeasure and hostility.
After a quick glance at Gu Zhiqi, he ignored her and continued to sit by Gu Chengcheng's side, watching him count.
"Ten."
"Twenty."
"Thirty."
"Idiot, you're wrong. After ten comes eleven," the boy corrected Gu Chengcheng when he heard him counting incorrectly.
"Chengcheng is not, it's older brother who's the idiot," Gu Chengcheng retorted with a straight face, looking up at the boy indignantly.
Seeing his reaction, the boy sneered lightly, lifting his eyebrows as he looked at Gu Chengcheng. "Can't even count right. If you're not an idiot, then what are you?"
At these words, Gu Chengcheng's mouth turned down, looking as if he was about to cry but wasn't crying.
It was then that he caught sight of Gu Zhiqi leaning against the railing at the top of the staircase. His eyes suddenly brightened, and he softly called out, "Eldest Sister Qiqi."
Gu Zhiqi gave him a slight lift of the brows in response.
"I have candy for you." Gu Chengcheng moved the ten counted candies aside, scooped up all the remaining candies with his two little hands, then toddled energetically towards Gu Zhiqi, holding up the candy with a face full of eagerness to share his treasure.
Gu Zhiqi didn't move but crossed her arms, looking down from above at the child. "For me?"
Gu Chengcheng nodded seriously and obediently.
He, of course, wouldn't say that he kept getting the numbers wrong after ten.
Now, by giving all these candies to Eldest Sister Qiqi, he wouldn't have to count past ten anymore.
Having heard him, Gu Zhiqi lifted an eyebrow, about to speak, when suddenly a new figure appeared behind Gu Chengcheng.
"Who allowed you to give her candy?"
The boy got up from the couch, one hand grabbing Gu Chengcheng's hand holding the candies, the other slipping under his arm to pick him up and carry him back to the couch.
Seeing this, Gu Chengcheng's little face immediately fell, crumpling into a steamed bun.
"Stay away from her. You're not to talk to her again, got it?" Gu Chengan told Gu Chengcheng in front of Gu Zhiqi, extracting the candies from his hand and placing them on the table. "Keep counting."