Chapter 83 IF Route (Childhood Sweethearts): Childhood

Two major events happened in Ji Tong's life that summer when he was 5 years old.

First, after three years of hard work, and having achieved significant learning results such as "Little Smart Doctor" and "Little Morning Star", they successfully obtained a kindergarten diploma.

Secondly, he gained a neighbor who was also his older brother.

“He’s two years older than you, so he’s the older brother.” It was during the final week of university, and because he really missed his nephew’s soft, chubby face, Song Zhenshu squeezed out some time on the weekend to go back to Haiyuan and picked Ji Tong up from the bed.

The child was sleep-deprived and still a little sleepy. He leaned against his uncle's shoulder, his soft cheeks pressed against him.

“Two years older, so he’s the older brother,” Ji Tong repeated.

Song Zhenshu hummed in agreement, tilted his head and kissed Ji Tong's hair, then hugged him with one arm as they went to the wardrobe to pick out clothes, saying as they walked, "If being two years older makes you an older brother, then what about being 16 years older?"

Ji Tong's face was still turned to the side. Because she had just been taken out of bed, her face was steamed to a healthy pinkish-white. She held Song Zhenshu's arm with her short fingers and said, "He's 16 years older than me, so he's my uncle."

"Yes, baby is so great." Song Zhenshu couldn't resist giving him another kiss.

"What should I wear to see my brother later?" Song Zhenshu raised her hand and gently patted Ji Tong's face as if washing his face. Once he came to his senses, she turned him around and asked, "Which one do you want to wear?"

Ji Tong pointed to her favorite overalls: "Popo."

Song Zhenshu shook his head: "Popo won't work."

Popo is the name of the embroidered puppy on the overalls.

Song Zhenshu: "Popo is taking a day off today."

"We need to dress more formally."

“My brother just came back from Germany. He’s probably a serious, reserved little gentleman who doesn’t smile much, so we should dress more formally too.”

serious?

Ji Tong moved down from her uncle's arms, pondered for two minutes, and pulled out the mini graduation gown and tasseled graduation cap that she had just worn at her kindergarten graduation ceremony.

Song Zhenshu: "..."

In the end, Song Zhenshu changed him into Popo overalls.

After changing his clothes, Ji Tong fully woke up and turned on his talkative mode.

"Is my brother German? Does he have blue eyes, like Leon?"

Ji Tong attends an international community-based kindergarten, and Leon is his classmate in the class next door.

"First of all, Leon is British, not German."

“Secondly, your brother was born in Jiangcheng, and like you, he has black eyes and black hair,” Song Zhenshu thought for a moment, “but your brother might not be very good at Chinese.”

Ji Tong looked on in shock, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"But I don't speak German."

Song Zhenshu picked him up again.

"You can speak English."

"Let's go, my brother is downstairs."

That was the first time Ji Tong met Gu Lin.

The neighbor's older brother, wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers, followed the adults' gaze and looked towards the stairs.

With just one glance, Ji Tong, who was usually very talkative, suddenly fell silent.

He stood there stunned for a long time, then suddenly turned his head and buried his face in Song Zhenshu's neck.

"What's wrong?" Song Zhenshu asked knowingly. "Oh dear, how strange, I'm shy."

Song Jiahe and Yang Yin burst out laughing.

Song Zhenshu carried Ji Tong to the living room. Ji Tong was still nestled in Song Zhenshu's neck until Song Zhenshu lifted him up a little and said, "Say hello to your uncle and aunt."

Ji Tong finally got down from Song Zhenshu's arms, walked up to Yang Yin and the other person, and greeted them very formally: "Good morning, Auntie; good morning, Uncle."

"Good morning, Tongtong." Yang Yin reached out and touched Ji Tong's face.

Song Zhenshu patted Ji Tong's thigh half-heartedly, indicating that there was still one person missing.

"Where's your brother? Isn't he calling out anymore?"

Ji Tongzhen stopped.

Several adults in the living room were all sitting on the sofa, looking at him with smiles on their faces.

After a while, Ji Tong took a step back, walked to Yang Yin's side, and as if looking for something to support him, put his hand on Yang Yin's leg, hid behind Yang Yin's leg, and then spoke to his brother.

"Brother morning, my name's Jitong, you can call me Elio."

The adults present were all stunned.

The older brother was also taken aback.

Two seconds later.

The older brother spoke in perfect, standard Chinese, his voice calm and collected: "Hello, my name is Gu Lin."

Ji Tong's eyes widened, and she turned her head sharply to look at Song Zhenshu: "Uncle, my brother can talk!"

Song Zhenshu: "…………"

The adults: "...???"

No, no, that's not right.

Ji Tong then corrected, "My brother can speak Chinese."

Yang Yin understood and smiled broadly. She reached out and patted Ji Tong's head: "Yes, brother can speak Chinese. Tongtong can communicate with brother in Chinese in the future, and English is also fine."

Perhaps it was the shared language that bridged the gap, for Ji Tong visibly became happy. She ran to the coffee table, bent down, pulled out a small open box from underneath, took out a pencil and a notebook, and began writing something very carefully, stroke by stroke.

No one around him disturbed him; they just looked at him with curiosity.

Two minutes later, Ji Tong put down her pen and held up her notebook in Gu Lin's direction.

Only then did everyone realize that it was Ji Tong's name on it.

He was young and spoke in a somewhat slurred manner, but his handwriting was beautiful, clearly showing that he had inherited the artistic genes of the Song family. His pen control was far superior to that of children of the same age, and his writing was very neat even without grid lines.

“Brother, this is my name. ‘Tong’ is the character with the sun radical. It means the sun rising and the sky is just beginning to brighten.”

"His English name is Elio, which also means the sun."

Ji Tong walked over and stuffed the notebook into Gu Lin's hand. As she did so, Ji Tong grabbed Gu Lin's hand.

Perhaps because she had just gotten out of bed not long ago, Ji Tong's palms were very hot and soft.

Gu Lin was precocious. During his years in Germany, he was mostly surrounded by peers or older friends and rarely had contact with children younger than him.

He doesn't like children either.

Gu Lin couldn't describe the feeling; he only felt as if the back of his hand had been pressed by a kitten's paw.

Ji Tong casually shoved the notebook into Gu Lin's palm. Gu Lin took it, and under the watchful eyes of the adults, bent down and took the pen that Ji Tong was holding in his other hand. He wrote two characters next to the name "Ji Tong" and handed it to him.

“My name,” Gu Lin said.

Ji Tong stared at the notebook for several seconds, then pointed to the last word: "临" (Lin).

"Welcome to the 'Lin' character."

Gu Lin: "Mm."

Ji Tong frowned and moved her finger forward slightly.

I don't know him.

Seeing his action, Gu Lin said, "Gu, as in 'Gu' (顾)."

“Gu,” Ji Tong said happily, “I’ve got it.”

Please come and take care of me.

These two words, seemingly destined, are the first trace that Gu Lin left in Ji Tong's life.

And so the Gu family settled down in Anjing.

Song Zhenshu could tell that Ji Tong liked Gu Lin very much, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He's been busy lately and doesn't have much time to take care of the kids. It's good that his older brother is there to keep him company. He'll take over during the summer vacation.

That was Song Zhenshu's initial thought.

It wasn't until he discovered that Ji Tongtong's video calls had gone from three a day to one a day, then to one every three days, and finally to one every five days during the week of final exams.

This is outrageous!

Song Zhenshu frowned, realizing something was wrong. On the evening of the first day of exams, he hurriedly called Song Jiahe back.

"Sis, did you say something to Tongtong? Did you stop him from video calling me?" Song Zhenshu asked confidently.

Song Jiahe removed her face mask: "Being suspicious is an illness, and it needs to be cured."

Song Zhenshu: "..."

Song Zhenshu hadn't heard Ji Tong's voice for several days and was itching to hear it: "I haven't been home this month, does he miss me a lot? Did he cry at night?"

Song Jiahe: "I didn't cry."

Song Zhenshu: "I don't believe it."

Song Jiahe took her phone and walked towards the bathroom, washing her face as she said, "Being paranoid is a disease."

"Baby has been busy lately and hasn't had time to think about you."

"What are you busy with? Did you take him back to your parents' place?" Song Zhenshu was confused. After speaking, he looked at Song Jiahe's surroundings, which were obviously at Haiyuan. "What are you busy with at home? Let Tongtong answer the video call, I want to talk to him for a while."

“The baby isn’t here,” Song Jiahe said, wiping her face with a cotton towel after washing off the remaining essence. “If you want to find him, call Gu Lin.”

Song Zhenshu: "???"

Song Zhenshu: "You sent Tongtong to the Gu family??"

Song Jiahe: "I didn't deliver it there. Your nephew sneaked over there on his own. I couldn't even keep an eye on him."

Song Zhenshu was stunned: "You're sleeping there tonight too?"

Song Jiahe: "Mm."

Song Zhenshu: "No, Ms. Song Jiahe, it's fine if they play together during the day, but how can you feel comfortable letting your son sleep at someone else's house at night? How old is he? What if he catches a cold and fever during the night? What if he kicks off the covers? What if he misses his mother and uncle?"

“What can we do about Tongtong sticking to Gu Lin?” Song Jiahe said. “Your Aunt Yang is with you, sleeping next to the two kids. Yang Yin is also there, visiting them several times at night, more often than I am. Don’t worry.”

Still feel at ease?

The thought of receiving a phone call every five days made Song Zhenshu feel terrible. On the day all the exams ended, he didn't even pack his luggage and immediately drove back to Haiyuan.

Before the car even arrived at the villa's entrance, Aunt Yang was already waiting at the door with her little nephew in her arms.

Ji Tong was also holding a black, six-wheeled stunt robot dog in his arms.

Song Zhenshu slammed on the brakes, tossed the keys to the driver, Uncle Kang, and ran forward quickly. He took Ji Tong from Aunt Yang's arms and kissed him on the cheek several times: "Did you miss your uncle?"

Ji Tong chuckled, holding the mechanical dog: "Yes."

The toy dog ​​was quite large; Ji Tong couldn't possibly lift it with one hand, so Song Zhenshu raised her elbow to help him hold it up: "A new toy? Did Mom give it to you or Dad?"

Ji Tong raised her chin: "It was a gift from my brother."

Song Zhenshu: "..."

Song Zhenshu carried the person into the house: "Besides this, what else did you give me, brother?"

Ji Tong: "A lot."

Song Zhenshu: "More gifts than your uncle gave you?"

Ji Tong shook his head: "Not as many as my uncle."

The uncle was satisfied.

"So good, you even came to the door to greet your uncle," Song Zhenshu said. "Uncle is on summer vacation now, so starting today you can play with Tongtong and sleep with her every day, okay?"

Ji Tong paused noticeably: "I spend the day with my uncle, the afternoon with my brother, and the evening... I'll spend tonight with my uncle, and tomorrow night I'll sleep at my brother's place."

Song Zhenshu's head buzzed; he had suffered an unprecedented blow.

He stopped and looked intently at Ji Tong.

Do you prefer your maternal grandfather or your maternal uncle?

Ji Tong was clearly very experienced.

"I like my uncle."

Do you prefer your maternal grandmother or your maternal uncle?

"I like my uncle."

Do you like your dad or your uncle more?

"I like my uncle."

"Do you prefer your kindergarten teacher, Ms. Xue, or your uncle?"

"I like my uncle."

The uncle's true intentions were revealed: "Do you like your brother or your uncle more?"

Ji Tong suddenly fell silent.

The next second, he lowered his head, pretending to be busy fiddling with the toy dog ​​in his hand, and then stuffed it into Song Zhenshu's arms.

"Uncle, play with this puppy."

"It's a lot of fun."

"You can move your ears when you press them, here you go."

Song Zhenshu: "…………"

That evening, Song Zhenshu guzzled down three bottles of green tea: "When I asked him, 'Do you like your dad or your uncle more?' he could lie and quickly answer 'I like my uncle,' but when I asked him 'my brother,' he dodged the question?!"

Ji Yuanfeng: "?"

Song Jiahe laughed uncontrollably: "You know how kids are. Who told you to stay away from home for a month? Of course he'd cling to Gu Lin, who's with him every day."

Song Zhenshu naturally knew this, but he was also somewhat puzzled.

"Do the two children get along well?" he asked.

Song Jiahe: "Mm."

Song Zhenshu hissed, "That kid from the Gu family doesn't seem like the type to play with Tongtong. Did I misjudge him?"

It's one thing to provide companionship, but to offer to sleep with someone?

No one knew Ji Tong's clingy nature better than Song Zhenshu; bedtime was the most agonizing time.

Song Jiahe: "Yang Yin said the same thing. She was also surprised that Tongtong and Gu Lin got along so well."

Song Zhenshu stabbed a piece of steak with a knife, took a deep breath, and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about what happened before. Now that I'm back, I guarantee Tongtong will forget that there's an older brother next door within a week."

Song Zhenshu was full of ambition, but before Ji Tong could forget his brother, he was met with the first summer downpour in Anjing.

The rain was so sudden it was almost uncanny. Song Zhenshu was picking plums with Ji Tong in the mountains when the rain poured down on them. Even though Song Zhenshu was quick, Ji Tong still got soaked. Although he was immediately taken back to the rest area to shower and change, Ji Tong still caught a cold. Although he didn't have a fever, he had a stuffy nose, a sore throat, red eyes, and his tonsils were swollen.

Ji Tong was already pampered, so his illness made things even more complicated.

"Come on, after you finish your medicine, your uncle will take you to the mountain to pick peaches."

Ji Tong closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, her lips tightly pursed.

His tonsils were so inflamed that it hurt to swallow. Song Jiahe couldn't bear to force him to drink the medicine, afraid that he would choke and feel even worse. But he couldn't go without the medicine.

Just when they were at their wits' end, Gu Lin came over. He took the medicine from Song Zhenshu's hand, cut off the opening, poured the oral liquid into a spoon, and placed two pills in the middle of the spoon.

He walked to the bedside and called out, "Ji Tong."

Ji Tong relaxed her furrowed brows and opened her eyes.

Because he felt unwell, Ji Tong didn't notice the spoon in Gu Lin's hand... or perhaps subconsciously he thought Gu Lin wouldn't let him take medicine, so he let his guard down.

Gu Lin sat on the edge of the bed and asked him, "What do you call my mother?"

Ji Tong instinctively opened her mouth: "Yang Yin—"

With the word "aunt" still in his mouth, Gu Lin shoved the spoon in, pressed it against the back of Ji Tong's tongue, and then lifted Ji Tong's chin, saying, "Swallow it."

Completely unprepared, Ji Tong swallowed the oral liquid and pills with a "gulp".

Song Zhenshu: "..."

Song Jiahe: "..."

Ji Yuanfeng: "..."

Yang Yin: "..."

The belated bitterness exploded on his tongue. Ji Tong realized that his favorite older brother had betrayed him, and large tears fell down his face as he burst into tears.

Because the medicine tasted bad, and because she felt wronged, she cried and kept repeating "I don't like you anymore" and "I hate you."

The adults around were all laughing, especially Song Zhenshu. Ever since Ji Tong was three years old, whenever he had to take medicine or give injections, as long as he was the one who gave him the medicine, he would always say, "I don't like my little uncle anymore" or "I hate my little uncle." It was as if in his little world, taking medicine or giving injections was the most unforgivable thing, and the most severe punishment was "I don't like you anymore."

But his "dislike" lasts for a maximum of one day, sometimes even just half an hour. Once the taste of the medicine on his tongue is suppressed, it immediately sticks back on.

Song Zhenshu knew, Song Jiahe knew, Ji Yuanfeng knew, and even Yang Yin could sense that this was just a child throwing a tantrum.

Only Gu Lin didn't know.

He was rooted to the spot by the words "I hate you," unable to move.

When Yang Yin led Gu Lin away from Ji Tong's room, Ji Tong, covered by the blanket, didn't speak to Gu Lin for the first time.

That night, at 2 a.m., Haiyuan No. 2 was brightly lit.

Gu Lin developed a high fever late at night, and Yang Yin and her husband stayed with him all night until dawn when his temperature finally went down. However, the fever returned the following night.

Grandpa Gu was heartbroken and was so anxious in Germany that he was bubbling at the corners of his mouth. When injections and medicine were ineffective, he made a phone call to his old friend's son, who was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor.

When the doctor came over, he found that the fever was milder during the day and more severe at night, the ears were ice cold, and the patient also had abdominal pain. This was clearly not a fever caused by external heat.

Yang Yin: "What do you mean?"

The doctor said, "Startlement causes qi to become disordered, and disordered qi leads to stagnation. You may have been frightened."

Father Gu: "???"

What else could scare my son?

They could put a board under their feet and ski on a big air without even blinking.

Yang Yin was also a little doubtful, but she knew the doctor's skill level, so she took the prescription and instructed the kitchen to boil it in a clay pot, and then massaged the Er Ma and Shen Men acupoints on her son.

Gu Lin woke up and fell asleep repeatedly at night, and in his dreams, he saw Ji Tong crying incoherently and saying "I hate you".

When Gu Lin woke up again, there was something stuck to his forehead.

It's very hot.

Gu Lin closed his eyes, thinking it was a fever-reducing patch warmed by his body temperature. He raised his hand, about to remove the patch, when he heard a familiar voice.

"elder brother."

Gu Lin suddenly opened his eyes.

I finally know what I just put on his forehead.

It was Ji Tong's hand.

Gu Lin stared at the ceiling for a long time, as if trying to wake himself up. Only after waking up did he turn his head to look at the person next to him.

Ji Tong said with a long face, "I'm sorry, I infected you."

Gu Lin stared at him for a long time before sitting up: "Don't you hate me?"

Ji Tong pulled back Gu Lin's blanket and climbed in: "No, I like you."

"You have."

"No, no."

"You have."

"No, no, no."

Gu Lin remained silent.

“Okay,” Ji Tong lay down on the bed, pinching her thumb and forefinger together tightly, making a “just a little bit” gesture, “Just a little bit I don’t like it.”

"Because the medicine was really bitter, I stopped liking you then."

"But I didn't like it at that time."

"Yesterday and today, I still like you, I like you a lot."

Gu Lin finally realized what was happening.

"If it were your uncle who gave you the medicine that day, wouldn't you still dislike him?"

"Yes, I don't like it anymore."

Gu Lin: "I don't like it to some extent."

Ji Tong separated her fingers slightly: "A little bit more dislike than a little bit."

Because his uncle had lied to him many times.

Gu Lin hummed in satisfaction.

He only has a little bit.

My uncle is a little bit more than a little bit.

Gu Lin: "Then why didn't you come to see me yesterday?"

Speaking of this, Ji Tong also felt wronged: "Mom said you might have caught something from me, that you're not feeling well and need to rest, and that I shouldn't bother you."

Gu Lin was silent for a few seconds, then covered him with the blanket: "I didn't catch it from you."

"If you can't come next time, borrow your uncle's phone to call me."

"Uh-huh."

Gu Lin's fever finally subsided that night, and he recovered quickly on the third day.

Since then, Song Zhenshu has been completely freed, and the task of feeding Ji Tong medicine has been handed over to Gu Lin.

Gu Lin went from being "startled and flustered" at the beginning to "ignoring it" later. Even after hearing "I don't like you anymore" again and again, he was able to calmly feed her another bite and then quietly interrupt with, "'I hate you,' I know. Finish the last pill."

Ji Tong wiped away his tears and vowed never to talk to Gu Lin again, never to call him brother again. Then the next day, bathed in the morning light, he ran next door with the new toy his uncle had bought for him.

————————!!————————

Tongtong: I don't like you anymore.

Gu Lin: This trick didn't work (actually it did).

He keeps saying things that make people want to die.