Chapter 417
Not many people came to the birthday party. You Su followed his mother You Yuying and found that most of the people here were researchers from the research institute. Everyone liked to play with children when they came, and the birthday gifts they brought were piled in the corner of the restaurant. Those gifts were all models and graffiti paintings, and some were even toys made of carved, uncontaminated supernatural crystals.
Seeing the things these people gave him, You Su finally knew where Ying Chenlin's toys piled up like walls came from.
Most of the people who came were adults, with only one or two children. You Su found that he was the fourth child at the table besides Ying Chenlin. He was also taken care of by other researcher uncles and aunts, and even the birthday cake was cut into super large pieces.
You Su was not very interested in birthday cakes and usually finished just a few bites. This was the first time he had received such a big cake.
Ying Chenlin held the cake plate in both hands. He was wearing thicker clothes than others. He stared at the cake intently and walked like a staggering little meatball.
The parents didn't say anything. They just watched the child carry the cake plate to You Su's side, put the plate on the table, and climbed onto the chair.
You Su was worrying about how to finish the cake when he turned around and saw a child sitting next to him.
"Brother, don't you want to eat?" Ying Chenlin looked at him.
You Su turned his head and glanced at the untouched cake on the plate, "...eat."
Ying Chenlin ate the cake very seriously. He was already able to use the cutlery very well. Every piece of cake was scooped out by him steadily, without any cream falling to the side.
You Su could only stuff the whole piece of cake into his stomach. When he put down his fork, he caught a glimpse of the child next to him who was still eating seriously. He had only eaten a small piece of the cake.
When he was wandering around just now, You Su heard You Yuying talking to Aunt Shi. The cake was made by Ying Chenlin's mother. Ying Chenlin's health was not very good, so he paid special attention to his three meals a day. His family members cared about him very much and knew that he liked sweets, but they could only control his diet every time. Only on occasions like birthday parties would Shi Xuejun not restrict Ying Chenlin's diet.
You Su thought casually, it would be so boring if you can't eat whatever you want.
He was watching the child eat, and suddenly noticed that Ying Chenlin had stopped eating the cake at some point, and looked at him with those bright eyes, "I'm not looking at you, eat yours."
Ying Chenlin looked at his cake, then looked at You Su's empty plate.
He seemed to hesitate, then scooped a small piece from his cake and raised it slightly.
You Su was watching the kid eating, wondering when he would finish. After a while, a fork of cake was held in front of him, "You eat, I'm full."
The child still held the fork up, as if he couldn't put it back unless he ate. You Su had no choice but to lower his head and bite off the piece of cake.
After a while, Ying Chenlin handed over again, still a small piece of cake.
He ate one piece himself and gave one piece to You Su.
"Your cake recipe is good. You Su never liked it before." You Yuying was a little surprised when she came over. Her little kid was not very interested in sweets. When he had his birthday at home, he never finished the cake. But today he ate so much cake.
Shi Xuejun was a little worried about Ying Chenlin, but when she saw the two children sitting together eating cake, her eyes were gentle, "Really? As long as you like it."
Ying Chenlin spent a lot of time at home because of his poor health. He had not played much with the other children in the institute. His daily routine was to play with the toys in the house. This was the first time she saw Ying Chenlin so close to another child.
It was the first time for You Su to eat so much cake, but he was too embarrassed to refuse the child's sharing. He had one piece and Ying Chenlin had one piece. In the end, they finished all the cake on Ying Chenlin's plate. He was so full that he burped, and the whole thing tasted sweet.
"If children don't have friends of the same age to hang out with, they will be lonely, right?"
You Yuying never worried about You Su's playmates. In their family quarters, a group of children followed him around. But this was a base station research institute of Shuguang, which was not large in scale. The floors where children could move around were also limited, which did restrict the children's growth space.
The base station here does not have an exclusive family area, and many researchers' families live on the Dawn Border planet.
Ying Chenlin had been in poor health since childhood and was not good at traveling long distances. Ying Lingfeng was away on military expeditions all year round, so the child lived with his mother and grandfather at the institute. The areas where he could move around every day were the corridors and rooms in the institute's accommodation area. Occasionally, Shi Xuejun and Ying Songshan would take him out for a walk after work.
"Ling Feng and I have considered this. Let's wait until Xiao Lin's health stabilizes."
Shi Xuejun looked at the children following You Su in the distance and said, "We are considering moving out of the institute."
The birthday party passed quickly. After You Su and Ying Chenlin finished their cake, they stayed in the living room to watch the Star Network cartoon. Ying Chenlin was already feeling a little sleepy and nodded. You Su rarely saw a quiet child. The only liveliness at home came from the adults' conversations. The sound of the virtual screen projection was not loud. The child sat next to them and watched whatever You Su pressed, as if he had no interests or hobbies.
You Su was watching the mecha league that he was interested in. After a while, he noticed that the child next to him leaned towards him and yawned twice.
"Are you sleepy?" You Su asked.
Ying Chenlin shook his head: "Not sleepy."
Ying Chenlin sat very straight, and even when he felt sleepy he forced himself to keep his eyes open. His little head heaved up and down, and finally he fell forward a little dizzy. You Su was standing beside him, watching him and nodding. He couldn't help but straighten his head several times. Ying Chenlin just glanced at him, his eyes fixed on the mecha competition, and yawned sleepily.
Later on, the child couldn't hold on any longer and fell to the side, and was grabbed by You Suo.
Aren’t you sleepy yet? You Su was afraid of waking the child up, so he made room for him to sleep. But he was also afraid that he would fall off the sofa, so he could only let Ying Chenlin sleep on his legs. The child's body was soft and seemed to have the sweet smell of cake.
Lin Yi will stay in Koria for several days, so You Su will stay here with You Yuying. There was nothing fun in the research institute. Many places were closed, and the helipad outside was also very small. Except for the time when You Su pestered You Yuying to take him to visit the contaminated area in a mecha, he spent the rest of his time in Ying Chenlin's room.
Apart from sleeping, the children spend their time either reading books and playing with models, or playing with the nanny robot. When You Su came back from the contaminated area, he asked one more question and found out that there were only a few children here and no one wanted to play with him.
"Won't Uncle Ying take him out to play?" You Su asked.
You Yuying said: "Xiao Lin is in poor health. These few years are a period of observation. When he is older, he can go out and play."
You Su thought that there was nothing fun here. He had already visited the polluted area, and other places were not as fun as the models in the children's home. In the next few days, he stopped pestering You Yuying to go to the polluted area, and went to Ying Chenlin's house to play every day when he had nothing to do.
Every day when he first arrived at Ying Chenlin's house, the child who had just woken up was still the same, with eyes that seemed to be glued to him, bright and seldom talking.
The two of them were very quiet when they were together. When Ying Chenlin didn't speak, You Su felt a little bored and liked to tease him. Later, he discovered that the child knew a lot of things. For all the models in the cupboards at home, as long as You Su asked him, Ying Chenlin could clearly answer the numbers and models. His brain was like a small calculator and he could answer whatever he was asked. He was very smart.
The first few times You Su went there, Ying Chenlin had just woken up. Later, when he went there, the child had already gotten up early and would run to open the door for him with his short legs every time.
However, the time they spent together was short, and Lin Yi and You Yuying's vacation was limited. When the time was up, the family had to leave.
"You're not coming tomorrow..." The child was originally drawing, but when he heard You Su say that, he looked confused and asked, "Why?"
"My parents have to go to work the day after tomorrow, so I have to go with them." You Su didn't know how to explain the look in the child's eyes, but there was nothing he could do since their homes were so far apart. "I live in the Third Star Region, which is very far away. I'll come to visit you next time I have a holiday."
Tomorrow will arrive soon. You Su packed up early and got on the spaceship with his parents.
When the spaceship was about to leave, You Su saw Shi Xuejun and Ying Chenlin coming to see them off. The child was wearing thick clothes, and looked very small when he was led by his mother. The pockets on both sides of his clothes were loose, like the wings of a bird. The child's eyes were a little red, but they were still bright when he looked at You Su.
Before leaving, You Su suddenly remembered that he didn't bring any gifts for the children.
He rummaged in his pocket and found the supernatural crystal that You Yuying had casually thrown to him a few days ago. He took it out and stuffed it into Ying Chenlin's hand.
Ying Chenlin couldn't hold the supernatural crystal with one hand, so he had to hold it with both hands.
"This is your birthday present." You Su said, "I won't wrap it. I'll bring you something better next time."
Ying Chenlin held the supernatural crystal and looked up at him: "Brother, will you come to play with me again?"
You Su didn't know how to answer, but he still said affirmatively: "Yes."
The time for the spacecraft was running out, and after You Su said a few words to Ying Chenlin, Lin Yi and You Yuying were about to leave.
The sky in the distance was slightly brighter, the gloom of the rain in Kolya had dissipated, revealing the beautiful artificial daylight of the day.
You Su could see a small figure on the ground being held by someone while he was lying by the window. The figure was shining brightly under the light. The child was still holding the supernatural crystal that he had given him as a gift. In the blink of an eye, the child's hand disappeared farther and farther away in the air waves of the spacecraft.
"What are you looking at?" You Yuying asked.
You Su thought to himself that he would definitely bring Ying Chenlin over on his next birthday.
He doesn't have many models at home, but he has plenty of supernatural crystals, which he will give all to the kids to play with when the time comes.
The spaceship in the distance was flying farther and farther away, and the child's eyes seemed to fly away with the spaceship. Shi Xuejun comforted him and said that she would invite his brother to come over next time on his birthday.
Ying Chenlin had a sullen face, holding the supernatural crystal given by You Su in his hand. The wind-attributed supernatural crystal was cool, and the child's hand also felt cool when it was covered by it.
After seeing off the guests, Shi Xuejun took the child who had enjoyed the breeze home.
As soon as he got home, the child ran back to his room quickly. Ying Lingfeng happened to come over and immediately hugged Ying Chenlin, who was about to fall to the ground. The supernatural crystal fell lightly into his hand.
Ying Lingfeng picked up the child easily and couldn't help rubbing his cheek. He glanced at the energy crystal briefly and asked, "Where did it come from?"
"My brother gave it to me." Ying Chenlin opened his mouth, then he remembered that he didn't know his brother's name.
Shi Xuejun came over, "You Su from Lin Yi's family, he has been playing with Xiao Lin in the past few days."
Ying Chenlin looked at his mother, tilting his head slightly, as if thinking about something.
Ying Lingfeng was holding the child, and seeing the child in a daze, his eyes fell on the child's hand.
The child's hands were a little cold. He seemed to notice Ying Lingfeng's gaze and turned to look at him. He seemed to see the scar on his neck and a cool breeze was blown out.
Every time he was held in his arms, the little ones would blow on the scar on his neck whenever they saw it. Once, because he had watched a medical program, he pulled the doctor from the institute to wait when he came back, and with red eyes, he wanted the doctor to look at his father's wound.
Ying Lingfeng told him it was okay, but the child's habit remained.
Every time I hugged him, I would avoid the scars, touch him carefully, and blow on him occasionally.
Ying Lingfeng couldn't help but rubbed his face: "Then where do you want to put our Xiaolin?"
"Dad, put it up there." The child pointed to a high place.
The supernatural crystal that You Su gave was placed on the inner side of the room model wall, facing the child's bed so that he could see it when he woke up. The graffiti on the desktop had turned into a Star Alliance map. When Shi Xuejun was helping the kid pack up, she saw that the location of the third star field was circled on the map, and the childish handwriting drew a long line between the first and third star fields.
"What are you looking at?" Ying Lingfeng had just coaxed the child to sleep when he saw his wife looking at the child's doodles.
"Qingning sent me a message a while ago, saying that he would transfer to the Dawn Galaxy for further studies, and he applied for the border area." Shi Xuejun handed the child's doodle to Ying Lingfeng, "Xiaolin's observation period is about to end. After I finish this project, will I take Xiaolin to live in another place?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
