Chapter 4

“Don’t—”

A quick-moving staff member was already standing beneath the tree, arms outstretched, ready to catch Lin Yi.

Lin Yi grasped a slender, supple branch and landed with the ease of a cat.

He looked at the staff member with open arms in front of him, his small face puzzled: “Brother?”

The staff member felt a bit embarrassed. Seeing how lightly he had landed, they felt somewhat superfluous!

Lin Yi suddenly remembered his current child persona and his eyes brightened with understanding: “Brother, do you want a hug?”

“But Lin Yi is already a big kid; no need for hugs.”

Lin Yi sighed inwardly, thinking he had been careful to keep his distance. The tree wasn’t very tall; he could have jumped down directly, but to consider their comfort, he had deliberately chosen to come down along a branch.

A young woman nearby had long been captivated by Lin Yi’s little elf-like image. Now, hearing him say he was a big kid, she found him irresistibly adorable and wanted to pet him.

Viewers in the livestream chat were buzzing:

“Did anyone screenshot that? Why doesn’t this lousy livestream have a replay feature? I was completely stunned just now. Crying.JPG”

“Just a passerby here, whose celebrity child is this? So handsome!”

“Lin Yi fans, why pretend to be strangers?”

“What pretending? Just from that, I’m now a fan of this kid!”

“Uh, I’ve actually been a Lin Yi hater, but after seeing that scene, he’s really beautiful, I think I’m…”

“I thought the comment above was a fan pretending to hate, so I checked the profile—turns out they really are a Lin Yi hater. Has the hate turned into fandom?”

Though Lin Yi was seven, he was slender and small, and strangers might even guess he was only five.

Fortunately, his still slightly chubby cheeks preserved some innocence; otherwise, people might suspect he wasn’t living well at home.

After repeatedly reminding Lin Yi of some precautions, the staff finally left.

Since each group of guests acted separately, no one else knew about this little incident with Lin Yi.

*

Qin Siyuan, after having Xie Yu pick apples for him for the umpteenth time, finally couldn’t hold back and said coolly, “Mom, I think we need to talk.”

Xie Yu looked at her son and husband, both wearing similarly serious expressions, and couldn’t help but smile.

Mr. Qin was serious and very charming.

Little Siyuan was serious and—adorable.

Xie Yu wanted to pinch her son’s cheeks, but ever since Qin Siyuan had a ‘serious’ talk with her when he was three, she hadn’t dared to.

“What does my son want to talk to Mom about?”

Seeing his mother attentively listening, Qin Siyuan’s furrowed brow relaxed: “I want to pick apples by myself. If I encounter difficulties, I’ll ask Mom for help.”

Her son was so independent that Xie Yu found no joy in parenting.

She thought wistfully, if only Little Yi Bao were her own child—just looking at him, so soft, cute, and considerate.

Lost in melancholy, Xie Yu watched as Qin Siyuan walked away carrying his little basket.

Elsewhere, Ian was hiding behind a tree, looking left and right, not seeing any cameramen nearby, and whispered to Yang Bai.

What they didn’t know was that a camera was hidden in a tree right across from them.

[Based on my five years of mom experience, when Ian quietly pulls Little Bai to hide, they’re definitely up to ‘mischief.’]

[Not afraid of kids crying, but afraid when they’re quietly plotting.]

The livestream chat buzzed, guessing what the two kids were up to.

“Ian, pick more apples later and give me some,” Ian whispered into Yang Bai’s ear.

Yang Bai didn’t like being called ‘Little Bai’ by Ian; it sounded like calling a kitten or puppy.

But his dad said he had to go along with Ian and not get mad at him.

Yang Bai asked, “Why do I have to give my apples to Ian?”

Ian wore a look of ‘you’re so dumb.’

“If Little Bai gives me apples, I’ll have the most, so I can get the big prize pack. And I can share the prize pack with you.”

“Think about it—if Lin Yi or Qin Siyuan got first place, would they share the prize pack with you?” Ian said with a look of ‘I’m doing this for your own good.’

When Yang Bai still hesitated, Ian added, “Besides, you’re bigger, you’re the older brother, older brothers help younger brothers, that’s what a good brother does.”

“I only share things I don’t like with you,” Ian thought silently, but didn’t say it aloud.

Some in the chat praised Ian for being amusing, while others muttered that his words sounded a bit off.

Yang Bai was only six, so naturally, he didn’t detect anything strange about Ian’s somewhat exaggerated reasoning.

He simply retorted, “Then why don’t you give me apples? I can share the prize pack with you.”

Ian panicked: “Then that means I won’t be first! I want the prize pack *and* first place!”

“First place sounds so cool!”

Unable to refute, Ian quickly put on a stern face: “Anyway, you listen to me.”

Yang Bai wasn’t interested in picking apples or winning first place, but if it made Ian happy, his dad probably would be too.

So he nodded, “Okay.”

Ian immediately beamed, already imagining himself winning first place and being endlessly praised.

Also, imagining Qin Siyuan crying sadly.

Just the thought made Ian laugh out loud.

Yang Bai frowned, wondering if Ian was really okay.

A few minutes earlier, Lin Yi was strolling around, carrying a small basket full of apples.

Qin Siyuan was picking apples, apparently with a bit of OCD—each apple’s color and size had to be nearly the same at a glance.

So he quickly noticed extra apples appearing in his basket.

He looked around; few people were nearby, all busy with their tasks, only occasionally glancing over.

Qin Siyuan’s intuition told him the extra apples weren’t from the orchard workers.

He said nothing and continued picking his apples. When he put an apple in his basket again, another extra apple appeared.

For the six-year-old, it was the first time he doubted reality.

He approached an older man: “Excuse me, sir, are there monkeys in the orchard?”

Besides monkeys, Qin Siyuan couldn’t imagine what creature could silently place apples in his basket.

The man’s Mandarin wasn’t perfect, and seeing the fair, pretty child, he felt inexplicably nervous: “I don’t know, I don’t think there are monkeys here. Little one, do you want to see monkeys?”

Kids from the city were strange to him—why suddenly want to see monkeys?

As the man spoke, he noticed a little child near Qin Siyuan’s basket.

The child wore a grass wreath and had bright, big eyes. Seeing the man look, the child paused, then smiled and made a ‘shh’ gesture.

Qin Siyuan noticed the man was distracted and immediately turned to look behind him.

Yet there was nothing unusual.

The only difference was that all the orchard workers were watching him, as if sharing a secret but not telling him.

Qin Siyuan thought: …If I can’t figure out what’s going on, I must be a fool.

How to make the hidden person reveal themselves? And who was secretly helping me?

Is it Mom?

Qin Siyuan dismissed this. This orchard wasn’t as lush as the one in the south, so Mom couldn’t be hiding here.

The person should be small, which was why he initially guessed it was a little monkey.

He glanced down at himself, then thanked the man and went back to picking apples.

The other orchard workers were no longer as focused on their own picking, all curious to see if Qin Siyuan would discover the secret.

Lin Yi had returned to the tree, watching Qin Siyuan pick apples as before, seemingly no longer suspicious.

Viewers saw this too, and the chat exploded:

“Brother Yan, Lin Yi is in the tree diagonally behind you!!!”

“Catch him!”

“Everyone’s worried if Brother Yan will find Yi Bao, but I’m just concerned about Yi Bao’s climbing speed.”

“Look, look! Yi Bao’s about to start again! I bet a spicy stick that Brother Yan can catch him.”

“Hahaha, Yi Bao is hiding five apples this time. Does he think giving them one by one is too slow?”

“Am I the only one who finds Lin Yi’s way of buttering up Qin Siyuan kind of awkward?”

“Eye roll. Yi Bao’s hiding so Qin Siyuan can’t find him. How is that buttering up?”

Lin Yi’s small hands couldn’t hold five apples, so he stuffed them all into his hat’s pocket. The hat’s rear droop, restricted by his neck, slowed his movements.

“Oh my, look at Brother Yan’s perspective. What’s that in his hand?”

“Isn’t that a pendant? Wait, this pendant—”

Through the pendant’s mirror, Qin Siyuan saw Lin Yi climbing down the tree, even noticed him tugging uncomfortably at his collar, then, like a cat, sneaking toward his basket.

Lin Yi felt uneasy but saw Qin Siyuan still picking apples, paying no attention to his back, so his tension eased.

Life was so hard.

He didn’t want to care about the master—not quite; he didn’t want to care about Qin Siyuan. But seeing Qin Siyuan’s face, he couldn’t help but think of his master.

This might be incomprehensible to any normal person.

He existed because of his master.

Lin Yi was like a shark in a glass tank from an experiment; even if the glass were gone, the shark wouldn’t swim out.

Lin Yi struggled to pull the apples from his hat, missing one. He searched again—where was the fifth apple?

Had it fallen?

He suddenly turned and came face to face with Qin Siyuan.

Qin Siyuan stepped back to create some distance: “Are you looking for this?”

Lin Yi: …Still not used to this body; didn’t even notice someone coming close.

What Lin Yi didn’t know was that Qin Siyuan had learned self-defense and naturally knew how to lower his presence.

Lin Yi instinctively wanted to jump back up the tree.

When he was with his master in the wild, they’d gather fruit in one spot and then leap up the trees to hide.

Oh, but now he could only move nimbly—no mastery of lightness skill.

Frustration showed on his small face.

Qin Siyuan was about to refuse but instead said, “Can I take it privately?”

Not during the competition.

Lin Yi was confused: “Huh? If I give it to you, it’s yours. You can do whatever you want with it.”

Qin Siyuan: “Why do you—”

The timer bell rang, and the tour guide’s voice echoed over the broadcast: “All guests please gather at the main square. Repeating—”

Once the announcement ended, Lin Yi turned back: “What were you saying?”

“Never mind, it’s nothing.” Qin Siyuan said and left first.

Lin Yi blinked, puzzled and confused.

But Qin Siyuan really was like his master—one a small iceberg, the other a big iceberg.

“Hurry up.”

“Oh, coming!” Lin Yi bounced along, “Let me see how many apples you have. I have more…”