If You Could Hear My Heart

The two little ones, one tall and one short, pressed against the glass, looking at the night sky. Xixi, filled with curiosity, kept asking Erbao some odd questions. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Erbao couldn’t answer them, but he always managed to spout nonsense earnestly, leaving Xixi in awe.

With no one to play with, Xiaobao, after eating hot pot for a while, couldn’t sit still either and went to Xu Chaomu’s car to get toys to play with in the living room.

Xiaobao’s new Transformer was really fun, and he sat on the carpet, playing by himself.

Somehow, Xixi turned her head and saw it.

"Brother Shen Ke, I want to play too." Xixi pointed at Xiaobao’s Transformer and said to Erbao.

"Okay, let’s go play together."

Erbao pulled Xixi and walked towards the living room.

At first, Xixi was just curiously squatting on the ground watching Xiaobao play, her big eyes full of envy.

Before long, she plucked up the courage to touch Xiaobao’s Transformer.

"Don’t mess it up, if it breaks, it’s gone." Xiaobao hurriedly protected it.

This was one of a kind, you couldn’t buy it anywhere in the country.

"Xixi, do you want it?" Erbao asked Xixi seriously, looking at her.

Xixi saw how fiercely Xiaobao was protecting it and was a bit scared, but she really wanted to play, so she nodded to Erbao.

Erbao immediately snatched the Transformer from Xiaobao’s hands: "Let me play for a while."

"Shen Ke!" Xiaobao was unhappy and shouted, "This is mine, you can’t take it. Yours is already broken!"

Last time, when Shen Chi returned from a business trip, he brought one for each of them. Erbao’s accidentally fell off the balcony and broke.

"Aren’t you a man? Is it so bad to let Xixi play for a bit?" Erbao scolded him, puffing up his cheeks.

"Why didn’t you say let Xixi play when Dad brought it back for you?" Xiaobao retorted.

Saying this, Xiaobao tried to snatch back his Transformer.

The two of them kept on grabbing it, neither willing to give in.

Xixi watched fearfully from the side, hiding away, her big eyes full of innocence.

They grabbed and grabbed, and soon the two little guys started fighting.

Xixi shouted, "Brothers, don’t fight."

But neither Xiaobao nor Erbao listened, continuing to grab and fight.

Erbao was no match for Xiaobao and got beaten by his elder brother, but he was not convinced.

"Shen Yun, you’re not a man! The big dummy who came second last in the exam!" Erbao was very angry.

"Shen Ke, you have no shame, stealing my stuff!" Xiaobao was also not backing down, confronting Erbao.

Scared, Xixi crawled away, stumbling to Xu Chaomu, and tugged at Xu Chaomu’s coat, her big eyes watery: "Auntie... Auntie..."

"Hmm? Xixi, what’s wrong?" Xu Chaomu bent down, trying to scoop the soft, pink little one into her arms.

"The brothers... are fighting." Xixi looked fearfully at Xu Chaomu.

"..." Xu Chaomu was speechless, Shen Yun and Shen Ke were fighting again?!

Xu Chaomu picked up Xixi from the ground and walked towards the living room.

Sure enough, Xiaobao and Erbao were already wrestling on the carpet, neither giving in, making a bigger fuss than just now in the car.

The Transformer had already been thrown to the side, ignored by both as they caused a scene.

Zhizhi in the cradle cried out in fear, and Xu Chaomu hurriedly placed Xixi on the sofa, reaching out to separate Xiaobao and Erbao.

Xu Chaomu had to exert a lot of effort to pull the two apart, then spanked both of them on the bottom.

The two guys were spanked hard, but both were stubborn, neither crying, just glaring at each other.

"Why are you fighting again?" Xu Chaomu lowered her face.

Xia Chuqing also came running, unable to contain her amusement.

"Shen Yun’s too stingy; he wouldn’t let Xixi play with the Transformer! Mom, didn’t you teach us to respect the elderly and care for the young? Xixi is younger than us; isn’t it right to let her have it?" Erbao complained first.

Xu Chaomu was taken aback; the little one’s got quite the eloquence, being so argumentative.

"That’s not true!" Xiaobao was a beat slow, "He just wants to win over Xixi; why can’t he use his own toys? Why does he have to take mine?"

Xixi was so frightened by the two of them that she was frozen in shock, thinking it was her fault...

"No, I didn’t!" Erbao defended again, "I just saw that my little sister really wanted to play, but Shen Yun is so stingy."

"Enough!" Xu Chaomu yelled, "Toys belong to everyone; anyone can play with them. But if anyone fights again, I won’t be polite. Xiaobao, learn from your brother—it’s just a toy, isn’t it? And you, Shen Ke, is that the way to call your brother’s name?!"

Xu Chaomu scolded them both, then bent down to pick up the Transformer from the carpet.

"Confiscated, no one can have it." Xu Chaomu declared.

With that, she gave the Transformer to Xixi and Zhizhi.

"Hmph!" Xiaobao was furious and turned to run outside the living room.

"They’re not very old, yet they’ve got quite the temper," Xu Chaomu said.

"Kids are just playing around, Chaomu. Zhizhi and Xixi can’t play with this toy; you better give it back to Xiaobao," Xia Chuqing advised.

Seeing Xiaobao leave, Erbao also walked away with his head down.

"Give it to Xixi; these two, Shen Chi ought to teach them a lesson someday." Xu Chaomu was fuming.

Xia Chuqing chuckled, "Boys are always more mischievous when they’re young. Let me tell you, Xiao Mo was the same when he was little, getting spanked by his dad almost every day. But now look, hasn’t he straightened out? Come on, let’s go eat."

Erbao ran to the window, angrily staring outside, saying nothing.

Xixi jumped off the sofa, ran to her bedroom, and brought out a fluffy little teddy bear.

"Brother, for you." Xixi placed the teddy bear in Erbao’s arms.

"What is this?" Erbao finally turned his head.

"Teddy bear, as an apology for you." Xixi lowered her head; it was her fault her brothers fought.

"I don’t want it. You didn’t do anything wrong." Erbao reached out and patted Xixi’s head.

"Even if you don’t want it, it’s still yours." Xixi grinned.

"Then I’ll keep it."

"Okay!"

Erbao stood with Xixi by the window looking at the sky, and his mood improved.

Kids forget quickly, and soon they put the matter behind them.

Xiaobao sat alone in Xu Chaomu’s car, refusing to go back, sulking in frustration.

"None of you like me," Xiaobao felt very wronged, "I don’t like you either, I’m going to run away from home."

With that, Xiaobao opened the car door and walked out.

Just as he was grumbling to himself by the roadside, a beam of light shone from the front.

The light was too glaring, and Xiaobao squinted his eyes, shielding them with his hand.

It turned out Dad and Uncle Xiao had returned...

Shen Chi saw Xiaobao wandering outside alone and quickly jumped out of the car, face cold: "Where are you going?"

"Running away from home, I don’t want you all anymore," Xiaobao said truthfully.

"Running away from home?" Shen Chi sneered, "Just you?"