Jiang Shi’s clothes were dry, but he didn’t get to eat the sweet potato.

Covered in mud, he stood before Jiang Xue, holding his tooth, crying for the first time with snot and tears mixed together.

“Mom! Cheng Ye gave me a blackened sweet potato to eat, and it knocked my tooth out.”

Jiang Xue had originally heard about the incident at the big banyan tree and was about to grab a wooden stick to catch Jiang Shi, but instead, three disheveled and crying children returned.

As soon as Jiang Shi arrived, he started crying and tattling. Jiang Xue was startled. She looked down at the tooth in his hand, then pried open Jiang Shi’s mouth, which now had a gap, to take a look.

“What do you mean Cheng Ye harmed you? You’re just losing a tooth.”

Cheng Ye stood at their door, holding Jiang Shi’s still-dripping jacket, not daring to step over the threshold. Faced with Jiang Shi’s accusation, he silently lowered his head.

“Shuba…” Jiang Xue called, “Take your son’s tooth and have him throw it on the roof later.”

She took the apron tied around her waist and wiped Jiang Shi’s dirty little face. She wanted to hit him, but looking at his tear-reddened eyes, she felt a little soft-hearted. In the end, she just patted his head. “Some nerve you have, daring to fight with people like this. I should just spank your bottom until it’s swollen.”

After saying that, she tossed him to He Shuba for comfort, walked to the door, took the clothes from Cheng Ye’s hand, and called him in. “Quick, come in and warm yourself by the fire. It’s cold outside. Jiang Shi’s tooth has nothing to do with you. He’s used to being a tyrant at home. If he just cursed at you, Auntie apologizes.”

Jiang Shi’s house had a bright, burning fire. Smoked bacon and sausages hung over the fire, and a pot of soup was simmering on the stove on the other side, bubbling away, the aroma of steamed rice filling the air.

It was a scene completely different from Cheng Ye’s home.

Cheng Ye hesitated, looking at the threshold before him, not daring to step in for a moment.

Jiang Xue pushed him in.

She held Jiang Shi’s new clothes with two fingers in disgust. The clothes were dripping wet, covered in a mixture of mud, grass clippings, and moss from the river. After being warmed by the fire for a while, they emitted a foul, sour smell.

Jiang Xue threw the clothes into the washbasin, her desire to beat Jiang Shi growing stronger.

He Shuba was explaining to Jiang Shi what losing teeth meant. Jiang Xue came in from outside with a cold face. “Jiang Shi, what’s with those clothes?”

Jiang Shi sniffled and said considerately, “Mom, you don’t have to worry. I’ve already washed the clothes. You just need to hang them up to dry.”

Jiang Xue: “…”

Where’s my beating stick?

Seeing that the situation was not good, He Shuba immediately said, “He’s still so young, how can he wash clothes clean? It’s good enough that he knows he has to wash them. Besides, the child has lost a tooth and is crying so sadly. If you’re not going to comfort him, why are you thinking of hitting him?”

Cheng Ye took this opportunity to speak up. “Auntie Jiang, Uncle He, it’s all my fault. If I hadn’t given him the undercooked sweet potato, he wouldn’t have knocked his tooth out.”

He Shuba picked the grass clippings out of Jiang Shi’s hair, his face, which was seven or eight parts similar to Jiang Shi’s, showing a gentle smile. “What does it have to do with you? Speaking of which, we should thank you. Jiang Shi is already eight and hasn’t lost any teeth yet. Your Auntie Jiang and I were worried sick. If it weren’t for this sweet potato, we might have had to take him to the hospital someday.”

Jiang Shi, done crying, covered his mouth and said unhappily, “I don’t want to lose my teeth. There’s a hole in my mouth when I open it, it’s so ugly.”

Jiang Xue bent down and poured hot water from the kettle into a basin. Hearing this, she said, “Yes, you don’t lose them. Then the new teeth will be stuck in the flesh and can’t grow out, and then they’ll rot in your mouth, bit by bit, spreading until your whole mouth rots away…”

Jiang Shi was frightened by her description, his face wrinkling as he was about to cry again.

He Shuba was helpless. “Why are you always scaring him?”

Jiang Xue snorted heavily. “I think you spoil him too much. Anyone can see this isn’t the first time he’s caused trouble. He acts so乖 in front of me, but you must have been covering for him. I see you two, father and son, are cut from the same cloth.”

She added hot water, then cold water, and tested the temperature. “Since you love your precious son so much, you can bathe them both yourself.”

The bathtub was big enough, more than enough to wash two dirty little kids.

Cheng Ye hadn’t participated in their group fight, so he was clean all over. Jiang Xue had him sit by the fire to warm up.

He had just sat down when he stood up again. “Auntie Jiang, I’m going home. My parents are still waiting for me…”

Jiang Xue pushed him back down again. “Eat dinner before you go. I’ll have your Uncle He go to your house and let them know.”

She had just heard someone say that Cheng Jianbin was drunk and throwing a tantrum at home. Letting the child go back at this time was just asking for a beating.

Jiang Xue usually couldn’t be bothered with other people’s family matters, but it was so cold outside. Jiang Shi was wrapped in three inner and three outer layers, while Cheng Ye was only wearing a thin jacket. He looked tall but was as thin as a bamboo pole.

As a mother, Jiang Xue couldn’t bear to see a child suffer.

“Auntie Jiang, I…”

“You what? I’m going to cook. Your Uncle He will take you back after dinner.”

On the other side, hearing that he had to take a bath, Gao Xinhe was sniffling, but thinking of the bamboo whip in his mother’s hand, he relented.

Jiang Shi was unwilling. He Shuba picked him up.

Cheng Ye turned his head to see him flailing. “Dad, I don’t want to take a bath.”

He Shuba said, “Fine, then I’ll call your mom.”

Upon hearing Jiang Xue’s name, Jiang Shi immediately became obedient.

He was stripped naked by He Shuba and sat face to face with Gao Xinhe in the tub.

Gao Xinhe was dark and lean, but Jiang Shi was different. In the dim fire room, his delicate skin was so fair it seemed to glow. Once the clothes were off, his limbs were chubby, and he wore a long-life lock around his neck.

His big eyes darted around, then landed on Cheng Ye. “Why doesn’t he have to take a bath?”

He Shuba used a water ladle to pour water over the two children. “Look at Cheng Ye, then look at you two. Why do you think he doesn’t need to take a bath?”

Jiang Shi slapped the water unhappily. “It’s not like we fought with him on purpose. He clearly snatched Gao Xinhe’s marble.”

He said, “We just weren’t prepared this time. Next time, next time we’ll definitely beat Liu Sheng until he cries for his mommy and daddy.”

He Shuba poured a full ladle of water over Jiang Shi’s head.

Jiang Shi opened his mouth, revealing his gapped teeth. “Dad!!”

He Shuba poured another ladle of water. Gao Xinhe watched, a little scared, yet a little envious. So, a ladle of water came down on his head too.

Jiang Xue’s sinister voice sounded from behind. “He Shuba, are you trying to die…”

He Shuba: “…”

Cheng Ye couldn’t help but let his eyes curve into a smile.

So, families were different from each other.

Fortunately, winter clothes were thick. Once the two dirty kids took off their clothes, they were clean after one basin of water.

He Shuba fished the two clean boys out, dried them, changed them into clean clothes, and put them by the fire with Cheng Ye to warm up, then turned to help Jiang Xue with the cooking.

The three children sat in a row.

Jiang Shi stretched his hands towards the fire.

Gao Xinhe looked, he was wearing Jiang Shi’s clothes, which were a bit small and restricted his movement, but he also managed to stretch out his hands with difficulty.

Jiang Shi spread his own five fair and tender fingers and glared fiercely at Cheng Ye. “Why didn’t you join the fight just now?”

Perhaps feeling that he had done something wrong to Jiang Shi, Cheng Ye’s attitude was much better than during the day. “I’m sorry. I wanted to, but you guys moved too fast. I didn’t have time.”

The great king Jiang Shi stomped the woolen slippers Jiang Xue had crocheted for him on the ashes on the ground. “You have no loyalty at all, and you even made me lose my tooth.”

Jiang Xue came over with a dish. Seeing him like this, she scolded, “Jiang Shi, I think you’re asking for it. I just gave you a bath, and you’ve already stepped in the ashes again.”

She clapped her hands and called out, “Hurry up and come eat. It’s already dark.”

Three little children, each with a small stool. The light was orange-yellow, and everyone’s bowl was filled to the brim with rice. Cheng Ye reached out to take his, his hands trembling slightly.

Jiang Shi said unhappily, “I don’t want this much, I can’t finish it.”

Jiang Xue put a chopstick-full of shredded potatoes in his bowl. “You can never finish it. Look at Xinhe, he’s younger than you but so much taller. Cheng Ye is also younger than you, look how tall he is.”

She saw Cheng Ye was only shoveling rice into his mouth and not eating any of the dishes. She felt a pang of sympathy and put a chopstick-full of meat in his bowl. “Eat whatever you want. Don’t be polite at Auntie’s house.”

Cheng Ye was probably starving. He didn’t care about his face and just kept shoveling rice into his mouth. In a few minutes, he had finished a bowl of rice.

He was too embarrassed to go for a second bowl. Just as he put down his bowl, He Shuba took it and filled it to the brim again. “There’s a whole pot of rice. Eat as much as you want.”

Cheng Ye ate two bowls just like that, and the hunger in his stomach finally subsided a lot. He felt a little embarrassed and turned his head to find the neighboring Jiang Shi staring at him with sparkling, admiring eyes.

“You’re so amazing, you can eat so much rice!”

Cheng Ye: “…”

He froze, not knowing what to say for a moment. He couldn’t possibly tell this doll-like child that he never got to eat his fill at home.

Before he could figure out how to answer Jiang Shi’s words, a chopstick-full of carrots stained with rice grains appeared in his bowl. “This is delicious, you eat it.”

Jiang Xue had put that carrot in Jiang Shi’s bowl during dinner. The meal was almost over, and it was still in the bowl. Now, it had been smuggled into Cheng Ye’s bowl by a certain someone.

Jiang Shi sidled up to Cheng Ye. The flesh of his cheeks was soft, and he smelled of shower gel, along with a body scent that Cheng Ye couldn’t describe.

Fearing that Jiang Xue would find out, Jiang Shi got extremely close, almost squeezing himself next to Cheng Ye. “Carrots are really delicious.”

Cheng Ye knew what he meant. He couldn’t even get enough rice to eat, so he certainly wouldn’t mind someone’s leftover food. But looking at Jiang Shi’s fair and tender face, he suddenly didn’t want to give in so easily.

“If it’s so delicious, why don’t you eat it?”

“…”

Jiang Shi was stuck. Then he reached out and patted Cheng Ye, and then fiercely said, “You betrayed me just now. What’s wrong with eating a carrot?”

The next second, Jiang Xue’s voice sounded: “Jiang Shi, what are you doing bullying Cheng Ye? Just eat your dinner, why are you squeezing him?”

Jiang Shi moved aside, then saw Cheng Ye open his mouth and eat the carrot he had just given him.

He grinned, a gap in his teeth showing, looking incredibly silly.

Cheng Ye looked at him and smiled too.

After dinner, Cheng Ye had no more reason to stay at Jiang Shi’s house. He got up to say goodbye. Jiang Xue said, “Your Uncle He will take you home.”

Cheng Ye held He Shuba’s hand and stood under the dim light in the courtyard, looking inside. Jiang Shi was sitting on a high chair, eating an apple. He had changed his clothes, still a festive red, which made his skin look very fair. His feet couldn’t reach the ground, so they dangled and swung in the air.

All the kids in the village wanted to play with Jiang Shi, and Cheng Ye wanted to as well. But Cheng Jianbin had said that someone like him standing next to Jiang Shi would just make Jiang Shi feel dirty.

Cheng Jianbin was not good to him, but he didn’t allow others to be good to him either. He knew that he would definitely be beaten when he went back this time. This might be the last time he played with Jiang Shi.

Cheng Ye felt it was a bit of a pity, and also a bit fortunate.

Jiang Shi was too clean and beautiful. They were not from the same world to begin with. Their brief encounter had made him very happy.

A cold wind blew in. Jiang Shi looked up.

The thin, frail little boy stood under the eaves of his house. His dark eyes had a hint of green light. The light was clearly shining on his head, but his body seemed to be shrouded in endless darkness.

Jiang Shi looked for two seconds, dropped his apple, and jumped off the high chair.

“Dad, can you let him sleep at our house tonight?”