Miaomiao and the cat
In early October, on National Day, the whole country rejoiced.
Hu Tong and her friend were playing on the seesaw in the neighborhood playground. Her friend's name was Miao Wei, a little girl with an apple-shaped face. Hu Tong called her Miao Miao.
Hu Tong and Miao Miao were the best of friends in kindergarten, not because her family owned a supermarket and she had an endless supply of snacks every day... well, maybe that was partly true.
Thinking of this, Hu Tong, while eating the planet cup Miao Miao had given her, felt a little guilty towards her friend. So, she kicked her feet, letting her body be lifted up by the seesaw. Miao Miao, on the other side, leaned down and giggled triumphantly.
Looking at the smooth curve of Miao Miao's taut calves, Hu Tong thought that this was why she liked Miao Miao.
Hu Tong and Miao Wei were the kind of "sturdy" children that the old people talked about—tall, strong, and full of energy.
There were few children in the kindergarten who could play seesaw with them on equal terms. They only had each other.
A moment later, Miao Wei's feet left the ground, and she and Hu Tong started playing a game of going up and down.
The scorching sun pierced through the clouds, the birds fell silent, and only the clear laughter of a little girl echoed in this world.
Hu Tong suddenly sighed.
Miao Wei stared wide-eyed in confusion, slowing down her movements.
She didn't know what Hu Tong was unhappy about. Her grandmother had told her that Aunt Lele earned a lot of money, and her house was the most luxurious in the whole neighborhood. As for Hu's father, he was gentle and handsome, and Miao Wei dreamed of having a gentle father.
As for Hu Tong himself, he became the class monitor as soon as he entered the first grade, which made him very proud.
"I hate Cheng Zhou," Hu Tong said abruptly. "He's trying to steal my mother's love from me!"
Miao Wei asked in confusion, "Why? You're Aunt Lele's daughter! My grandma said that no matter how good other children are, they can't compare to her own child in her heart."
Hu Tong shook his head slowly, feigning maturity, "You don't understand, Miao Miao, Cheng Zhou is my mother's good friend's child."
"Just like my rag doll and your little flower, if it were you, could you say you prefer the little flower to the doll?"
Xiao Hua is Miao Wei's cat, a lively and active tabby cat.
Hu Tong frowned with worry and looked up at the sky, but the sunlight was too dazzling, so she immediately lowered her head.
"What's more, Cheng Zhou is also a rag doll who likes to wash dishes, mop the floor, and water the flowers."
Hu Tong sighed again.
Miao Wei stared intently at Hu Tong for a long time, her lips, smeared with chocolate sauce, opening and closing, "I don't understand."
Seeing Hu Tong glaring at her, Miao Wei quickly changed her tune, "But! If it were my kitten and your doll, I wouldn't be able to choose either!"
Hu Tong was satisfied with his friend's statement, got off the seesaw, and was about to go home with his hands behind his back.
"I have to go back and see what Cheng Zhou is up to now," Hu Tong stamped her foot. "I can't let him be happy!"
"Wait a minute!" Miao Wei shoved all the planet cups from her pocket into Hu Tong's hands. "I support you!"
"Now you're the only one who supports me, Miaomiao," Hu Tong said, then immediately opened a Planet Cup to eat and slowly went home.
Miao Wei was pleased by her words and smiled at Hu Tong's retreating figure for a long time.
The Hu family's house is a two-story villa with a private garden. The windows are long and narrow, and the doors and door frames are carved with intricate patterns. In Hu Tong's opinion, these simple patterns are not as good as her watercolor paintings.
When Hu Tong arrived at his doorstep, he saw Cheng Zhou squatting by the door wiping away tears. Strands of messy black hair covered his forehead, but they couldn't hide his rabbit-like red eyes.
What's wrong with you?
Hu Tong squatted down and asked, a secret expectation rising in his heart.
Cheng Zhou said pitifully, "Dad Hu said we're having braised pork for lunch today, and I wanted to help, so he asked me to go to the supermarket to buy star anise."
Hu Tong pulled a Planet Cup from her pocket and started eating it in front of Cheng Zhou. She said nonchalantly, "Then go ahead."
"But……"
Cheng Zhou opened his hand, revealing a crumpled banknote in his palm. "He only gave me fifty cents; I can't buy eight cents worth."
Cheng Zhou grew increasingly heartbroken, sobbing and shaking his head as he said, "I can't buy eight-cent coins, I can't buy eight-cent coins..."
His appearance reminded Hu Tong of a mad concubine in a TV series who would grab someone and ask, "My child, where is my child? Have you seen my child?!"
Hu Tong jumped up and said, "I understand!"
"Are you trying to get me to trade five cents for eight cents because I'm close to Miaomiao?!" Hu Tong said, hands on her hips, her eyes flashing with malice. "And then you'll tell Dad that you bought the things!"
"No way!"
Before Cheng Zhou could answer, Hu Tong grabbed him and pushed the door open. Her favorite palace drama was playing on TV, but Hu Tong had no interest in watching it. She called out to her father, who was busy in the kitchen, "Dad! Cheng Zhou said he doesn't want to buy star anise!"
Hu's father responded from the kitchen.
"I didn't." Cheng Zhou began to struggle, trying to pull his wrist out of Hu Tong's grasp. But the more he struggled, the tighter Hu Tong held him, and Cheng Zhou's forehead broke out in a sweat. He said to Hu's father, who had just come out of the kitchen, "I didn't mean to not want to go, it's just that eight cents is more than five cents, and I don't have enough money..."
Mr. Hu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
The smugness in Hu Tong's eyes gradually turned into confusion. She released Cheng Zhou's wrist, her gaze shifting back and forth between her father and Cheng Zhou.
Cheng Zhou stared blankly, a tear about to fall, making his eyes appear bright and sparkling.
“Eight-pointed star anise isn’t money, and ‘small boat’ is a kind of seasoning.” Dad Hu took the two children’s hands, one on each side. “Come on, Dad Hu will show you around.”
The supermarket in the neighborhood wasn't far from the Hu family's house; it was just around the corner. Miao Wei was being held captive by her grandmother in front of the door. The old woman was swinging a clothes hanger around, making a loud thud, while Miao Wei cried incessantly.
"You ate that whole bucket of Planet Cups? What did I tell you? You can't eat too many snacks!" The old man smacked Miao Wei on the bottom with a clothes hanger again. "If you eat too many snacks, you won't be able to eat your meals. I'll end up in the hospital sooner or later!"
Miao Wei just cried and didn't say a word.
Behind the plastic curtain, Miao Wei's father held a bottle of liquor in one hand, with several brightly colored snacks in front of him. His eyes were fixed on a small television on the side, which was showing a replay of the World Cup.
When Hu Tong saw his friend in trouble, how could he not help? He hurriedly shouted, "I ate it all!" and rushed over, only to be hit. He immediately turned red in the face and howled like a wolf.
Grandma Miao was extremely embarrassed when she hit another child. After apologizing and finding out the purpose of their visit, she packed a large bag of star anise and gave it to Hu's father, along with a box of lactic acid drinks.
Mr. Hu's repeated refusals were no match for Grandma Miao Wei's clapping, stomping, glaring, and shouting.
"Please accept it, please accept it," Grandma Miao Wei said. "If you don't accept it, I don't know where I'll put my face. If I die tomorrow, that's fine, but if I don't—"
"Okay, okay!" Mr. Hu couldn't resist this. "I'll take it, I'll take it!"
The two adults exchanged thanks and apologies, arguing for quite some time before finally ending the farce. Meanwhile, the three children, each holding a bottle of lactic acid drink with a straw, happily drank it.
After this commotion, Cheng Zhou had completely forgotten his earlier unpleasantness and obediently carried his drink home with the others. While Hu's father was changing his shoes in the entryway, he secretly said, "Thank you, Hu Tong, you're so kind."
Hu Tong not only helped him voice his concerns but also bought him a drink, which deeply moved Cheng Zhou.
"You're welcome, you're not bad either." Hu Tong liked to hear compliments and found Cheng Zhou much more agreeable.
Cheng Zhou asked cautiously, "So, are we friends?"
"Right, right?" Hu Tong's eyes darted around. "No, we're master and servant, a relationship even better than friends. We have to listen to each other's every word, you understand?"
"Okay, then we're master and servant." Cheng Zhou smiled happily, then pointed a little shyly to her bulging pockets, "Could I have one of those planet cups?"
"certainly!"
No amount of a cup of Star Cup can compare to the love of Mom and Dad. Hu Tong knew the principle that you reap what you sow, so she grabbed a handful and gave it to him, pretending to be generous, saying, "You eat, you eat it all, I've already eaten a whole bucket."
In Hu Tong's imagination, Cheng Zhou should kneel down and kowtow to her while holding the Planet Cup, saying something like, "Thank you for your reward, Master. This servant will be yours from now on."
But Cheng Zhou didn't do that; he just stared at her blankly.
Hu Tong cleared his throat and said, "Why don't you kneel?"
Cheng Zhou tilted his head like a little bird, "Why should I kneel?"
“This is how master and servant are,” Hu Tong said, lifting her foot. “You even have to kneel down and change my sandals into slippers!”
Cheng Zhou suddenly realized: "Oh—"
"Tong Tong!"
When Hu's father came to see what the two little ones were doing at the door, he heard these words and pulled Cheng Zhou, who was about to kneel down to change Hu Tong's shoes, so angry that he felt dizzy.
"You've gone too far! Xiaozhou isn't your slave! Apologize to Xiaozhou!"
Hu Tong retorted defiantly, "Not a slave, but a lackey!"
Cheng Zhou tugged at Hu's father's sleeve and said slowly, "Father Hu, don't be angry. I am Hu Tong's servant, not a slave."
Mr. Hu pressed his temples, and in his extreme anger, he actually laughed.
He took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and explained to Hu Tong, "Tongtong, it's not like that. We don't have masters and servants anymore; everyone is equal. You and Xiaozhou should be friends. Friends are people who can share secrets, help each other, and think of each other when they have something good to eat or something fun, understand?"
"Oh." Hu Tong seemed to understand but not quite.
Cheng Zhou took out the Planet Cup from his bag and handed it to Hu's father, saying, "Hu's father, you have this. We're friends too."
"Thank you, Xiaozhou." Hu's father accepted the money, then changed the subject, "But you can't eat it now, lunch is coming soon."
Cheng Zhou's face paled, and she asked in a panic, "What will happen if I eat it?"
Hu's father rubbed his belly and replied, "You might have a tummy ache."
This is bad.
Hu Tong changed into slippers, straightened up, and met Cheng Zhou's worried gaze.
Cheng Zhou tugged at Hu's father's clothes, his face contorted with grief, "Hu Tong just ate a whole bucket of Planet Cups! We need to take her to see a doctor right away, Hu's father."
Hu Tong met his father's questioning gaze, swallowed nervously, and after several attempts to explain, he was punished by not being able to go play with Miao Miao for an afternoon.
"We're not friends anymore!"
She angrily told Cheng Zhou, then dragged herself across the living room in despair. An advertisement on TV read: "The World Cup for men, the psychological warfare for women."
It turns out that what's said on TV isn't entirely accurate.
Hu Tong thought to himself, on the verge of tears: It's clearly "a woman's planetary cup, a man's psychological warfare"!
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