A few days later, it was a Sunday. Xue Yue was resting at home, and the children were pestering her to take them to the supermarket.

She had just finished changing the children’s clothes when, unexpectedly, Zhao Yinglan showed up at her door with Pain.

"Aunt Zhao, what brings you here? Come in, come in," Xue Yue said, pleasantly surprised.

Zhao Yinglan led her grandson into the courtyard. "I got your address from Guo Feng. Sorry for just showing up without calling first."

Xue Yue waved her hand. "It’s no problem. I’m off today and wasn’t doing anything anyway. Please, come in and sit down. My mother-in-law just went out to buy groceries. Why don’t you stay for lunch?"

Zhao Yinglan glanced around the courtyard, then smiled at Xue Yue. "Not today, I’m afraid. We have something to do. Pain wanted to come play with your daughter. He kept talking about her after we went home last time, so I had no choice but to bring him over."

Xue Yue glanced at Pain and saw him curiously sizing up his surroundings, his eyes searching for Ruanruan and the others.

"They’re inside. You can go in and find them yourself."

The boy wasn’t shy at all. He said "bye-bye" to his grandmother and went right inside.

Zhao Yinglan said apologetically, "We have to go check on the source factory today, and Pain didn’t want to come. I’ll have to trouble you to watch him for a while. I’m not sure how long it will take, but we’ll come pick him up as soon as we’re done."

"It’s no problem. Don’t worry, he’ll be safe with me. Besides, I have plenty of kids here, so you go and take care of your business."

After Zhao Yinglan left, Xue Yue walked to the doorway and found the children huddled together, talking about something.

As Xue Yue got closer, she overheard:

Xiao Yu asked, "Why do you look different from us?"

Pain said, "My grandma says it’s because I’m a foreigner."

Shiyi scratched his head. "What’s a foreigner? Can you eat it?"

Ruanruan corrected him, "Shiyi, foreigners are people too. And you can’t eat people."

Pain nodded. "Right."

Shiyi looked at Pain’s eyes. "Why are your eyes blue? Oh, I know! Your mom must have colored them in with a marker, right?"

Pain scrunched up his face and tilted his head. He didn’t understand that sentence. He had spent most of his life with his grandparents, and his grandmother liked to speak Chinese at home. So, while he understood a lot and could speak some, some phrases were simply beyond his comprehension.

Ruanruan rolled her eyes, exasperated. She said to Pain, "Don’t mind him. We’re going to the supermarket. Do you want to come?"

Pain nodded.

"We’re not going to the supermarket today. We’ll go next time," Xue Yue said as she walked over.

Ruanruan looked at her. "Why? But we already agreed!"

Xue Yue explained, "Sweetie, Mommy can’t take all four of you on the bus by myself. What if we get pushed around in the crowd and one of you gets lost?"

Ruanruan looked at the others, a little conflicted.

Just then, there was another knock on the main gate.

Before Xue Yue could go outside, she heard a shout.

"Xiao Luoluo, open the gate! It’s me!"

Qin Haize had arrived, with his guard still following behind him, of course.

Xue Yue put a hand to her forehead. ’Great,’ she thought. ’Now I’m the queen of the kids for real today.’

As Qin Haize came in, he immediately spotted Pain.

"Who are you?"

Pain looked at Qin Haize but didn’t say anything.

Shiyi quickly chimed in, "Brother Haoze, he’s a foreigner!"

Qin Haize’s expression changed the moment he heard that. He raised his little fists and said sternly, "A foreigner? Are you a spy?"

Pain was confused, and even Xue Yue was left speechless. ’Where did this kid hear such things?’ She glanced at the guard behind him and saw that he, too, was staring sharply at Pain, completely on alert.

Seeing this, Xue Yue quickly explained, "His grandmother is from Hua Country and is an elder I know. His grandfather is a foreigner, but he’s a good person. I invited him over as a guest today."

Hearing this, Qin Haize finally lowered his fists, looking a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. I’m Qin Haize. What’s your name?"

"My name is Pain Reynolds."

Qin Haize blinked. "What? ’Hammer’?"

Xue Yue chuckled. With the guard watching them, she wasn’t worried they’d fight, so she stepped outside.

Mrs. He came back from grocery shopping and heard there was a foreign child in the house. She went to have a look out of curiosity. When she came back out, she kept saying to Xue Yue, "Why is it that they don’t look like us?" Then she muttered to herself, "I used to hear the old folks in the village say that foreigners are all bad people, that they only come to our country to steal things."

Xue Yue didn’t know how to respond. Thankfully, the boy was only staying for the day.

However, the sound of arguing soon came from inside the house.

Qin Haize: "How come he’s taller than me? And his hair is longer than mine."

Ruanruan: "But you aren’t as tall as Pain."

Qin Haize: "Impossible! Come over here, let’s compare."

Ruanruan: "See? Was I wrong?"

Qin Haize: "Hmph! He’s only a tiny bit taller. I’m going to be very tall one day, too. And his hair is so long. My next-door neighbor, Grandpa Zhang, says long hair means short wits."

Ruanruan: "Why would you say that about Pain? He didn’t do anything to you. Besides, my hair is long too. Are you saying I have short wits?"

Qin Haize: "I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking about him! He Ziluo, what’s wrong with you? I’m your best friend, why are you taking his side?"

Ruanruan: "But Pain is my friend, too."

Qin Haize: "He Ziluo, how long have we known each other, and how long has he been here? Why are you biased toward him? If you keep this up, I’m not going to talk to you anymore."

Ruanruan: "Qin Haize, you’re both my good friends. I’m not playing favorites. Isn’t it true that Pain is taller and has longer hair?"

Qin Haize’s face darkened. He looked at the silent Pain, then at the earnest-looking He Ziluo, and stomped his foot.

"Uncle Xiao Mo, let’s go! We’re going home."

The guard didn’t even try to talk him out of it and simply followed him toward the door.

"What’s wrong? What’s this all about?"

Xue Yue walked in, nearly bumping into Qin Haize.

When Qin Haize saw Xue Yue, his lip trembled pitifully.

"Aunt Xue, you be the judge! Xiao Luoluo and I have known each other longer, so we’re the real best friends, right? That ’Hammer’ guy just got here, so how is he already best friends with Xiao Luoluo? And Xiao Luoluo even said I’m not as good-looking as him!"

Xue Yue looked at Ruanruan with a puzzled expression.

Ruanruan said, "I didn’t say Qin Haize wasn’t as good-looking as Pain."

Qin Haize turned his head to look at her. "You did! You said I wasn’t as tall as him and that my hair wasn’t as long! And look at the picture you drew! It shows he’s better-looking than me."

Ruanruan got angry too. "Qin Haize, I was telling the truth, but I never said he was better-looking than you! And in my drawing, I obviously made you look better than him. Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

Qin Haize’s eyes flickered. "Really?"

Ruanruan nodded, then picked up the drawing and turned it around for him to see. "Look at the drawing. Aren’t your eyes bigger? And your smile is bigger, too."

Qin Haize ran over. "Let me see."