Fu Xingyun: ...
The little girl looked back, "Is that uncle still a baby even though he's so big?"
Lin Qiong nodded, "Although he's quite old, he'll always be my old baby."
The little girl looked surprised, "Then why does big brother's old baby seem not very happy?"
Lin Qiong thought for a moment, "Maybe he doesn't have the little bucket and shovel in your hands."
Lin Qiong's eyes were fixed on the little girl's yellow plastic bucket and shovel, which were quite tempting. "Did you bring these from home?"
The little girl shook her head, "No, Aunt bought them for me."
Lin Qiong's eyes instantly lit up, "Where? Where did she buy them?"
"Over there." The little girl pointed, and indeed, not far away, Lin Qiong spotted a vendor selling sand-playing tools.
Excited, Lin Qiong was about to move, but in the next moment, he felt his pants being tugged. He lowered his head and saw the little girl looking up at him, "Big brother, where are you going?"
Lin Qiong eagerly rubbed his hands, "Big brother wants to go buy the same little bucket and shovel as you."
The little girl looked a bit embarrassed, "But what about big brother's old baby?"
Lin Qiong turned around and saw the man sitting in the sandpit with a gloomy expression.
"Big brother, aren't you afraid of leaving the baby here?" the little girl asked.
Lin Qiong felt a moment of dilemma, then crouched down, "Can you help big brother take care of him for a while? Big brother will come back soon after buying it."
The little girl seemed to be entrusted with a sacred mission and nodded eagerly, "Of course."
"May I ask what your name is, sweetie?"
"I'm called Tian Tian."
"Okay, Tian Tian, big brother will be back soon. Thank you."
Tian Tian nodded, and as Lin Qiong walked away, she toddled towards Fu Xingyun.
Then, she plopped down next to the man, tilting her chubby face, "Hello, uncle."
The man lowered his gaze and looked at the little girl.
Tian Tian couldn't help but tremble for a moment. Big brother's old baby is really fierce.
However, not forgetting the mission left by big brother, she bravely said, "It was the big brother who asked me to come."
Fu Xingyun spoke after hearing this, "What did he ask you to do?"
"Big brother asked me to watch over uncle."
The difference in addressing each other by age made the man frown, "Did he tell you to call me uncle?"
Tian Tian shook her head, "No."
"Big brother said you are his old baby."
Fu Xingyun: ...
"What is he doing?"
"Big brother went to buy a little shovel."
Not long after the little girl spoke, Lin Qiong, carrying a pink little bucket, returned from a short distance away.
Tian Tian looked and said, "Big brother, your color is so beautiful."
Lin Qiong nodded in satisfaction and then handed a set of plastic tools to Fu Xingyun, saying, "I specially picked these for you. Do you like them?"
In his hand was a black plastic ladle.
The man looked up at Lin Qiong, who shyly smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Afterward, Lin Qiong took out his own matching pink ladle, saying, "Let's use the couple set."
Lin Qiong actually wanted to buy a different color, but when he went, the vendors had mostly sold out, and he had a hard time finding one that wasn't pink.
Lin Qiong looked at Fu Xingyun, who held the black ladle and didn't move, and said, "Take it, use it for digging and playing."
Fu Xingyun looked at Lin Qiong's pink bucket and a pile of small shovels and asked, "Why is the color different from yours?"
Lin Qiong glanced at him and replied, "Yours is black."
"I know, but why is yours pink?"
Lin Qiong hugged his small pink bucket and said, "Because it suits me better."
Fu Xingyun: ?
"Pink, delicate and tender, how old are you now?"
Seeing the man's visibly darkening face, Lin Qiong quickly approached again and said, "I'm joking with you. Even if you're in your seventies, I still like you. Besides..."
"What?"
Lin Qiong blushed and lowered his head, "In my heart, you're forever eighteen."
"..."
"No matter how old you grow..."
Fu Xingyun's eyebrows twitched, "That's enough."
However, the grand declaration of maternal love continued, "In my heart, you're still a baby."
"..."
Saying that, he took out another shovel from his own pile of pink ones and handed it to Fu Xingyun, "Take it and play."
The man took it numbly, and at that moment, Lin Qiong felt his arm sink.
Saying this, Lin Qiong took out another shovel from his pile of pink ones and handed it to Fu Xingyun, who accepted it in a somewhat wooden manner. At this moment, Lin Qiong felt a slight tug on his arm.
"Do big brother want to play together?" Tian Tian pulled at Lin Qiong's arm, extending a sincere invitation.
"Of course!" Lin Qiong took out a cute pink shovel.
As Lin Qiong had bought a lot, the vendor also generously gave them two bottles of water to assist in building sandcastles.
They had just started building when Lin Qiong felt something light tapping on his face. Turning around, he saw two little boys throwing sand in their direction.
Before Lin Qiong could say anything, Tian Tian stood up and exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"
Lin Qiong also stood up, and the two little boys, intimidated, took a few steps back. However, they quickly shifted their target.
Raising their hands, they aimed at Fu Xingyun.
Seeing this, Tian Tian bravely intervened, "What are you doing? He's big brother's old baby! Got it?!"
Fu Xingyun: ...
Lin Qiong: ...
"So, it can move! We thought it wouldn't move!" One mischievous little boy was about to throw more sand, but Tian Tian hopped over to Fu Xingyun, "No!!"
Seeing the two troublemakers about to throw sand again, Lin Qiong, as if infected, hurried forward, "What are you doing! This is my baby, OK?!"
Fu Xingyun: ...
The two little boys, upon seeing Lin Qiong's approach, dropped the sand in their hands. Muttering impolite words, one of them sneered, "Bah, stingy, no fun at all."
Tian Tian asked, "What did you say?"
"I said you're stingy, pfft, pfft." The two boys made funny faces at the little girl, wrinkling their noses and sticking out their tongues.
Saying that, the troublemaker quickly threw a handful of sand at the group, kicking over the sandcastle that had just been built not long ago.
The little girl sat down on the ground in frustration, and Fu Xingyun reached out to steady her.
Lin Qiong turned back and glanced at the two, seeing that Fu Xingyun had one eye half-closed. "What happened?"
Fu Xingyun: "Nothing."
Lin Qiong comforted the little girl, then approached Fu Xingyun, "Got sand in your eyes?"
Fu Xingyun replied nonchalantly, "A little."
"Don't move, let me blow it off for you."
Almost reflexively, Fu Xingyun rejected, "No need."
However, Lin Qiong firmly pressed down on Fu Xingyun's head, "Don't move."
Seeing Fu Xingyun's healthy, rosy lips getting closer, the man instinctively closed his eyes and turned his head away.
Lin Qiong: "You close your eyes; how am I supposed to blow it off?"
Saying that, he adjusted Fu Xingyun's face once again.
Fu Xingyun: ...
After blowing off the sand from his eyes, Lin Qiong turned his attention to comforting Tian Tian. However, the little girl, looking at the ruined sandcastle, felt heartbroken, and tears rolled in her eyes.
Lin Qiong swayed the little girl in his arms and brushed off the sand on her clothes, "Sweetie, there's nothing to cry about."
"But the castle brother made is broken."
"It's okay; we can build another one." Lin Qiong looked at the little girl, "But right now, we have something more important to do."
"What is it?"
"Let's go and destroy their sandcastles."
Tian Tian was taken aback.
"Just now, you did the right thing, but if we're bullied, we need to fight back." Saying that, Lin Qiong picked up the little yellow shovel and placed it in the girl's small hands, "Let's go cause some mischief."
"But, brother, I'm a girl. Is it not good to do that?"
Lin Qiong suddenly realized, "I get it now."
I apologize for the oversight. Let me correct that:
Fu Xingyun raised an eyebrow, sensing a different vibe.
As expected, the next moment, Lin Qiong took the little yellow shovel from the girl's hand and replaced it with his own little pink shovel. "You can use the pink one."
"..."
Perfect.
Then Lin Qiong suddenly turned to look at Fu Xingyun.
"You wait for me here; I'll be right back."
Saying that, he took the little girl and walked away. Sure enough, after five minutes, there were loud shouts from the two little boys not far away, noisy and piercing.
Before long, Lin Qiong returned, looking extremely pleased.
"Xingyun!"
Fu Xingyun looked at the smile on Lin Qiong's face. "Successful?"
Lin Qiong nodded. "Yes."
"Where is she?"
Lin Qiong knew who the other person was referring to. "Tian Tian went back to find her aunt," he said, checking the time on his phone. "It's getting late; let's go back."
Immediately after, Fu Xingyun watched as Lin Qiong performed a set of stretches.
"Lin Qiong."
"Huh?"
"What are you doing?"
"Just moving a bit," he said, attempting to approach and assist Fu Xingyun.
However, Fu Xingyun stared at him.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qiong asked, feeling a bit uneasy.
Fu Xingyun looked at him. "There's sand on your head."
Lin Qiong, shaking his head like a dog, asked, "Is it gone now?"
"No."
"Then, help me get rid of it."
Saying that, he brought his fluffy head closer.
Fu Xingyun raised his hand and gently patted Lin Qiong's head a few times.
After fixing it, Lin Qiong straightened up again. "Let's go."
Taking a deep breath, he lifted Fu Xingyun and, with unsteady steps, walked up the steps.
Once Fu Xingyun was seated in the wheelchair, he could clearly hear Lin Qiong panting heavily behind him.
The fingers placed on his lap curled up, and Fu Xingyun murmured, "Next time..."
"Next time, I'll bring you again."
Fu Xingyun's figure stiffened, and he turned his head to look at Lin Qiong.
With a smile, Lin Qiong said, "Otherwise, the shovels would be a waste."
"..."
Good job, being thrifty and economical.