Deyonna

Translator: Deyonna His head was tilting, bobbing back and forth. This reminded me of when he had told me that when he was a child, in the winter mornings when he attended kindergarten, his mother would wake him up to dress himself. He would then secretly doze off in bed while waiting for his mother to prepare breakfast. "The clothes were so thick and heavy, I was a little over 3 years old then, and once I put them on I couldn't even bend my hands. I'd just sit on the quilt, like a penguin," he said. When his mother finished making breakfast and returned, she would reach under his armpits to lift him up into her arms, carrying him over to eat while gently coaxing her Xiaobao to wake up. I placed the milk and bowl on the table, then sat down on the bedside, reaching across Li Chishu's armpits to embrace him. He rested his head on my shoulder, as I patted his back gently, calling out, "Xiaobao...time to get up. He murmured incoherently. I leaned in closer, cont...

Translator: Deyonna As expected, Li Chishu’s cold got a bit worse the next day. I checked on him before sending him out, and he didn’t have a fever, so he should gradually recover in a day or two. He came back from visiting his grandmother at the nursing home in the late afternoon, looking listless and lacking in energy. I urged him to take his medicine and tucked him into bed. He slept for two hours until I called him for dinner, but he still hadn’t woken up. I crouched by the bedside and tapped him a couple of times. Li Chishu opened his eyes drowsily. "What time is it?" "It’s five o’clock." I slowly helped him sit up. "Do you feel a bit better?" Li Chishu said that his mind was clearer, but he just casually ate a few bites during the meal and then put down his chopsticks. He sat alone on the chair, lost in thought. Suddenly, he said, "Shen Baoshan, I want to see the photos you took of me." I took out my phone, and Li Chishu flipped back and fo...

Translator: Deyonna  *unedited As I put down my phone, Li Chishu also slowly began to descend. "Take it slow." I extended my arms in a protective gesture, even though Li Chishu was still two people's height away from the ground. He descended using the safety rope and landed on the ground. After taking off the safety gear, he waited to see the photo I took of him. "Look." I passed him the phone to see. Li Chishu took a deep breath and looked at the photo seriously. He smiled and said, "My hair is all messy.” "This is proof of your bravery." I draped a coat over him and pulled him close, walking back. "Let's go and eat.” Li Chishu's energy plummeted after intermittent bursts of strength. The barbecue was greasy, and he didn't eat much of it, but he was very interested in the dessert Jiang Chi had ordered for him. I unintentionally glanced at the ingredients at the bottom of the bowl and took a closer look. It turned out that in addi...

Translator: Deyonna It has been a while since I last brought up the matter about our future home because I believe it is important for Li Chishu to have his own space for independent thinking. With three days remaining until school starts, I realized that I hadn't made any plans with Jiang Chi since the Lunar New Year. So, I decided to give him a call and propose going to our favorite open-air bar this afternoon, where we used to hang out often and enjoy a barbecue together for fun. When I mentioned the plan to Li Chishu, I didn't really expect him to agree to go with me. Li Chishu has always been someone who only socializes when necessary. Besides, he slept last night with his feet outside the blanket when I wasn't paying attention, and this morning he started coughing and sneezing. It seems like he's even less willing to go out now. But after dinner, I still casually mentioned, "Are you going? It's a self-service restaurant, and there's no limit on the nu...

Translator: Deyonna The next day, I went home for a while, accompanied my parents to a meal, and after seeing them off to the airport, I headed straight to the vegetable market next to Li Chishu's house. Before leaving, I repeatedly reminded Li Chishu not to sit in the doorway waiting for me like yesterday, in order to avoid catching a cold. He was very obedient. When I arrived home, there was no one in the doorway, but the door was left open. As soon as I turned the corner of the stairs, Potato, with his keen sense of smell, detected my presence and ran back and forth, wagging his tail between inside and outside the door. The sound of the dog barking didn't seem to attract Li Chishu to come out. I think he must be busy doing his homework in his room. I went into the kitchen and started boiling water to steam rice. I marinated the chicken with cooking wine and waited for it to remove the fishy smell. Then I went to the room to check on how Li Chishu was doing. In front of Li Ch...

Translator: Deyonna Li Chishu and I squatted by the small table and finished eating half of the cake. Finally, I dipped my finger into a small amount of cream from the edge and playfully touched it to Li Chishu's nose. He looked at me with a puzzled expression. I explained, "It's a ritual for the birthday celebrant to experience this." He seemed to never doubt my explanations and simply nodded. "Ah, I see." Seizing the opportunity while he was distracted, I swiftly retrieved my phone and called out, "Li Chishu." He looked up and I captured the first photo of him at the age of eighteen. Li Chishu's gaze shifted towards my phone, appearing eager to lean over and see how the photo had turned out. "Look." I flipped the phone around and placed it closer in front of him. "Does it look good?" Li Chishu smiled and then lowered his head to scrape off the leftover cream on the plate. "I'm going to set it as my wallpaper,...