Chapter 86: Fanwai Two: White Clothes

Yao Yi was six years old this year. When other children were still crying for their mothers in kindergarten, she had already started to ‘make a living’.

…

The books in the kindergarten couldn’t satisfy little Yao Yi at all. Her family seemed to be very opposed to her reading more books, saying that children should go out to play more.

In the beginning, little Yao Yi was kicked out of the house to play with other children. She felt very bored and ended up going out every day to wander around, squatting in the park to rest when she was tired.

One time she heard a conversation between two adults, an auntie proudly bragged: “Our baby just loves to read books, and he has to go to the library when he is on break. We can’t even drag him back.”

“Your child is really obedient.”

“Nah, nah, he’s randomly reading. What can he understand?”

Library? Young Yao Yi ran up to the adults with her short legs and tugged at their trousers: “Auntie, what is a library?”

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Little Yao Yi went downstairs slowly, looked back at the window of her own house, ran out of the community, got on the bus alone, and finally arrived at the library.

A little bean came every day at this time, and it was hard for the staff inside not to pay attention. After greeting little Yao Yi with a smile, the staff turned around and told their friends about this matter.

Her friend was a kindergarten teacher and had always liked children. Seeing this, the staff couldn’t help taking a photo of little Yao Yi holding a thick middle school math book for her friend to see.

[This is a kid in our class!]

The kindergarten teacher was surprised when she saw this photo, and she returned to normal after a moment. She had always thought that little Yao Yi was very smart. Now that she leapfrogged to read, although it was a bit exaggerated, it was not impossible.

For the next period of time, little Yao Yi passed through quite safely, and her family didn’t find out at all. After the New Year’s party, the kindergarten held a parents’ meeting.

The teacher praised little Yao Yi on the spot, not only for learning so fast, but also going to the library every day.

As soon as these words came out, Father and Mother Yao who sat in the back and were completely stunned.

“What library?” Mother Yao turned around and lowered her head to ask little Yao Yi.

Before little Yao Yi could find an excuse, the teacher on the stage continued, “Everyone should learn from little Yao Yi. She goes to the library by herself every afternoon. You all should also learn to be independent.”

It was completely matched, and even a fool would know what little Yao Yi was doing every afternoon.

After leaving the school, Mother Yao began to scold her: “Yiyi, do you know how young you are? The library is so far away! How did you… get there?”

She couldn’t even imagine how her daughter went to the city library. Such a small child, standing on the bus, was probably not even as tall as other people’s calves.

Since then, Yao Yi was forbidden to go out in the afternoon and could only stay at home and watch TV.

Couldn’t read it for free anymore, little Yao Yi thought of buying books and bringing them home. But her family doesn’t give her much pocket money…

Finally, during summer vacation, she saw many uncles and aunts shopping on the side of Lugu Mountain Road, and she had an idea.

At this time, Lugu Mountain was only developed on one hilltop and the other places were still dense forests, some were where locals lived. As soon as little Yao Yi knew that there were a lot of wild fruits growing in a certain place, she decided to pick them and sell them.

The family didn’t stop her from going out at this time, anyways, she was on the mountain, and she couldn’t slip into the city alone.

Little Yao Yi did just that, picking wild fruits in the morning, putting them on the folded leaves, and selling them around in the afternoon.

Speaking of which, her business was also very good. Originally, summer wild fruits were already popular with tourists. Especially since little Yao Yi, being like a little ball, was very attractive, and everyone would come to buy some with a joking attitude.

After only three days of selling, little Yao Yi now had enough money to buy new equipment. She bought a big basket, so she could pick more every day, and it was more convenient to carry around.

Often, on one of the most popular routes in Lugu Mountain, there would be a child selling wild fruits with a big straw basket.

As soon as little Yao Yi finished picking the easy ones, the rest were either too high or grew on steep hills, so she had to find another place.

The mountain road was relatively easy to walk, and little Yao Yi was carrying a big basket filled with scattered wild fruits. While walking, she would observe the surrounding trees.

Suddenly, she was attracted by a huge ginkgo tree. It was the first time little Yao Yi had seen such a big tree. The trunk was as big as her whole body… about a dozen or so thick!

Children were very curious. Even though little Yao Yi was smarter than her peers, she couldn’t resist her instinct. Thus, she couldn’t help but move over, wanting to reach out to touch the tree trunk.

As a result, as soon as little Yao Yi got closer, she found a person in white clothes sitting under her, who seemed to be the same age as her.

“Hello.” Little Yao Yi knelt down, put the basket aside, and poked the child in the white clothes.

The child in white clothes raised his head. He frowned a bit and watched little Yao Yi, not speaking.

Little Yao Yi couldn’t see faces clearly ever since she was born. If they were all separate, she could still see them, but together she couldn’t recognize them. She could only identify him by the long hair on the back of his white clothes.

“Are you also here to pick wild fruits?” Little Yao Yi’s tone was very gentle. Her mother said that girls were delicate and soft. They were little princesses who wanted to be coaxed and were not as rough as her.

The child in the white clothes still didn’t speak, little Yao Yi looked around and saw that there was no tool around her. She was also clean, so it must be some little princess who ran out in anger.

“Are you sulking?” Little Yao Yi somehow felt that ‘she’ must be very good-looking, and her eyes must also be very beautiful, like… a star in the sky.

Pretty girls need to be coaxed, and little Yao Yi knew this since she was in kindergarten. Even the boys in the class did this.

Although the child in the white clothes was facing little Yao Yi, “she” just looked at her and didn’t speak.

“I have some wild fruits, do you want to eat them? They are very sweet.” Little Yao Yi took out two black and red fruits from the big basket and handed them to the child in the white clothes.

The child in the white clothes stared at little Yao Yi for a long time before picking up the fruit from Yao Yi’s palm.

“Eat it, it’s very delicious.” Little Yao Yi smiled when she saw ‘her’ moving, “I won’t charge you, I usually sell ten for two yuan.”

Who knows whether it was because the child in the white clothes heard that it was free or what, ‘she’ bit the fruit slowly and finished eating only after a long time.

As soon as little Yao Yi saw the movements of the child in the white clothes, she felt a sense of pride and a kind of joy of feeding.

“Sweet or not?” Little Yao Yi saw the purple fruit stains on the lips of the child in the white clothes, and wiped them considerately for ‘her’ with her sleeves.

The child in the white clothes stared blankly at little Yao Yi, then shook ‘her’ head after a while.

“Did you run out because you were angry with your family?” Little Yao Yi said, “Don’t lose your temper, go home early.”

As she was speaking, she pulled on and held the hand of the child in the white clothes, but unfortunately she overestimated herself. She wanted to pick up the basket too, and both of them fell straight down. Fortunately, the soil on the ground was soft and there was no pain from falling.

“I’m sorry.” Little Yao Yi used all four of her limbs, got up immediately, and quickly pulled up the child in the white clothes.

The child in the white clothes was pressed on the ground. ‘She’ stood up without crying or making trouble, only looking at Yao Yi quietly.

In the end, little Yao Yi didn’t get any words out of the child in the white clothes for a long time, so she had to bring ‘her’ to the side and let ‘her’ watch her pick wild fruits.

Some fruits were a bit higher up, and she couldn’t pick them up even if she stood on her tiptoes. But then the child in the white clothes could pick them off easily. Only then did little Yao Yi realize that ‘she’ was taller than her.

“I’m going to sell these fruits, you go back first.” Little Yao Yi found two leaves to cover the fruits in the basket. Then raised her head and said to the child in the white clothes.

The child in the white clothes was very obedient, nodding, turning around and walking back.

…

The next day, little Yao Yi came to the new wild fruit forest as usual, and saw the child in the white clothes again. To be exact, the child in the white clothes was not wearing white clothes today, but with ‘her’ long hair, little Yao Yi still recognized ‘her’.

The child in the white clothes was still sitting in the original place, and little Yao Yi felt a little sympathetic for ‘her’ when she looked at ‘her’.

“Do you have no one to play with you?” Little Yao Yi sat down with the child in the white clothes and kicked the leaves, “Then how about I play with you?”

Although Yao Yi didn’t like to play with her peers, she knew that it was lonely without friends. There was a girl in the big class next door who was isolated every day, and sometimes when going to the restroom, little Yao Yi heard her cry very sadly. Later, the girl’s parents took her away, and little Yao Yi didn’t know what happened afterward.

The child in the white clothes was silent for a long time before nodding slightly. If little Yao Yi hadn’t been paying attention to ‘her’, she wouldn’t have seen ‘her’ nod at all.

Although she promised to play with the child in the white clothes, little Yao Yi still had her own ‘business’ to do, picking and selling wild fruits every day was a must.

The child in the white clothes followed her around very obediently, without any complaints. Little Yao Yi had taken the initiative to regard the child in the white clothes as her good friend, but this good friend had not said a word.

Little Yao Yi thought about it for a long time, and finally felt that this good friend probably couldn’t speak.

She was straightforward, young, and there were not so many twists and turns in her stomach. One day, she was sitting in the shade of a tree, biting a popsicle with the child in the white clothes, and asked in a vague voice: “Are you mute?”

The child in the white clothes stopped eating the popsicle for a moment. Little Yao Yi thought she was right, took the child in the white clothes’ other hand and comforted: “Is it because you are mute that you are so unhappy every day? It’s okay. My teacher said that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and it doesn’t matter if you are mute.”

The child in the white clothes lowered ‘her’ eyes for a while before nodding.

Little Yao Yi was very happy, and felt that she had successfully comforted her friend. As the child in the white clothes couldn’t tell her ‘her’ name, little Yao Yi somehow developed into calling ‘her’ a little mute in the end.

There was a handicraft workshop on Lugu Mountain where you could make ceramics by yourself. Father Yao took little Yao Yi to play there before.

One day it was raining and they couldn’t pick wild fruits, so little Yao Yi took the little mute there.

Now that little Yao Yi had a lot of pocket money, she had the money to make ceramics.

Little mute helped her make the body of the ceramic doll, but unfortunately, it was ‘her’ first time doing it, so ‘she’ didn’t do it very well. Little Yao Yi was not very artistic in the first place, so even if she had the experience, she still made it very ugly.

Together, the two formed a particularly ugly doll, especially the color used by little Yao Yi… even ghosts would sob if they looked at it.

The little mute pointed to the base, little Yao Yi thought about it for a long time, and finally wrote her name crookedly on it.