Chapter 139

When he noticed the camera pointed at him, An An clutched his stuffed toy tightly, looking so frightened it seemed like he might burst into tears at any moment.

The cameraman fought back a wave of guilt—it felt like they were bullying a child—and waited for the host to finish the scripted introduction.

“This is the fifth guest of our program, Zhou Shi’an. He was sent here by his grandfather, who hopes he can break his bad habit of refusing to spend money.”

As the host read this line from the script, his tone clearly turned hesitant. He glanced back at the cue card to make sure he hadn’t misread it, then continued:

“We believe that here on our show, everyone can experience meaningful change and become the perfect child their family dreams of.”

Due to the mixed reception of X-Change, the show had faced criticism and even several suspensions over the years. Its popularity had declined significantly.

In an effort to recapture its former glory, the director boldly adopted a semi-live broadcast format. This new approach managed to draw back some attention, attracting viewers who enjoyed watching drama unfold.

【Wait, did I hear that right just now?】

【I think you did. He needs to change his bad habit of not spending money?】

【Ever since I saw this little guest, I’ve been wondering what he could’ve done to end up on X-Change.】

【Ahahaha I’ve always been a loyal fan of this show. I’ve seen kids get sent here for spending money recklessly and driving their parents crazy, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone sent here for not spending money.】

【Whose Little Young Master is this? If not spending money is such a problem, let me take on that sweet burden instead.】

Because of the show’s core concept, most of the guests invited were between the ages of twelve and sixteen, right in the middle of their rebellious phase, often clashing fiercely with their parents.

Some of these kids, after experiencing the hardships of life in the mountains, would return home with a new understanding of their parents’ struggles and choose to get along with them peacefully.

Although such cases were rare, the Production Team never missed a chance to highlight them as selling points to attract more participants.

The first guest was Song Feiran, fourteen years old, sent to X-Change by his parents for being addicted to computer games.

The host played a video recorded by his parents: at eleven at night, Song Feiran was still glued to his computer, gaming. When his mother tried to bring him a cup of warm milk to help him sleep, he furiously smashed the cup on the floor.

The second guest was Zong Lili, fifteen years old. Her mother accused her of having bad intentions because she started wearing makeup at such a young age.

In the video her parents recorded, her mother accidentally damaged a lipstick while cleaning her room. Enraged, Zong Lili shoved her mother out the door.

The third guest was Zhao Yian, twelve years old. After finishing his homework, he liked to read novels, which led his parents to believe he was being brainwashed by fiction.

They hoped the show could help correct him and return a “normal” son to them.

The video his parents submitted was fast-forwarded: he spent nearly five hours a day lying on the bed reading, occasionally shifting positions.

The fourth guest was Sun Wushu, thirteen years old, a die-hard fangirl. Her bedroom walls were covered in posters of celebrities, and she even skipped school to meet her idols at the airport.

Her parents’ video showed her waking up at 3 a.m. to rush to the airport. Sitting in the taxi, the girl’s eyes sparkled as if filled with starlight.

Not just her parents, but everyone around her struggled to understand how she could be so obsessed with someone she barely had any connection to.

The fifth guest was Zhou Shi’an, three and a half years old. Despite coming from a wealthy family, he was obsessed with collecting trash.

In the video shot by his grandfather, little An An was dressed in a fluffy onesie, sitting on a carpet worth tens of thousands, seriously counting his bottle caps.

The little guy hugged his stuffed toy with an innocent look on his face, as if he had no idea what was wrong with enjoying bottle cap collecting.

【This kid’s face is screaming “What the heck?”】

【Zhou Shi’an: I think Grandpa’s having a late-onset rebellious phase. I just collect bottle caps, and he’s sending me to X-Change. Boohoo.】

【Honestly, he looks pretty cute collecting bottle caps. How could Grandpa bear to send him to X-Change?】

【The other guests are rebellious, defiant, and hard to handle. This kid? He collects bottle caps and doesn’t spend money!】

【Hahaha I’m actually starting to look forward to this season. I heard they’ll be filming some family scenes later. I hope we get to see his grandpa.】

【If you ask me, this kid’s grandpa must be a really interesting person.】

【More than the grandpa, I’m curious what kind of family sends a kid to X-Change just because he doesn’t like spending money.】

Thanks to the addition of this adorable three-year-old, the otherwise rebellious teens didn’t cause much trouble on the first day.

Zong Lili even took the candy she had hidden with great effort and stuffed it into An An’s pocket, then gently pinched his chubby cheek.

Because of the extra candy in his pocket, An An didn’t resist. Instead, he blinked at her playfully.

Zong Lili, who usually wore a constant scowl, froze in place. Her cold expression softened, and the corners of her lips curved into a faint smile.

All five guests boarded the vehicle the Production Team had arranged in advance, heading to this episode’s filming location—a remote and impoverished mountain village.

Before getting in, the four older kids didn’t think much of it.

So what if it was a bit remote? The country was so developed now—how poor could it really be? At worst, it just wouldn’t be as glamorous as the big cities they were used to.

But halfway through the journey, the vehicle was forced to stop. The rugged, narrow, pothole-ridden mountain road was no longer passable by car, so all the guests and staff had to get out and carry their luggage on foot.

An An held onto a suitcase taller than himself with one hand and hugged his beloved stuffed toy with the other.

Noticing the little guy’s helplessness, Song Feiran walked over and picked up his suitcase with one hand.

“Wow, thank you, big brother!”

Kids at that age often thought they were cooler than they really were, and Song Feiran pulled a sour face, trying to look aloof.

When he heard An An’s enthusiastic thanks, he rolled his eyes and replied in a lazy tone:

“What are you thanking me for? It’s just a suitcase. Your thank-you is a little too cheap.”

An An, not quite following what he meant, just kept smiling sweetly at him.

His smile was so sweet that even Song Feiran felt a strange softness in his heart, unable to keep up his cold front.

At the beginning, the Production Team didn’t want the guests to suffer too much, afraid they’d want to go home before even reaching the village.

When they saw Song Feiran struggling with two suitcases, a staff member stepped in and took one off his hands.

Now that one hand was free, instead of relaxing, Song Feiran walked up to little An An—who was panting and struggling ahead of him—and scooped him up.

An An instinctively wrapped his arms around his big brother’s neck, his eyes going wide.

When their eyes met, Song Feiran raised an eyebrow at him.

“Hm?”

“Thank you, big brother~”

“That’s all you know how to say?”

“No no no, An An can also say ‘sank you~’”

An An’s soft, childish retort made Song Feiran chuckle, lifting his mood considerably. Even walking along the bumpy, uneven path while carrying the boy didn’t feel tiring anymore.

After more than two hours of walking, they finally arrived at their destination.

What appeared before them was a visibly dilapidated village, filled almost entirely with yellow-earth houses they had thought had long since vanished.

Some of the houses had tiled roofs if the families were slightly better off, while those with more difficult circumstances had only straw for cover.

Not only were the guests here to film the show stunned, but even many viewers watching the livestream were left speechless.

It took a long while before someone finally sent a comment.

【Is this place actually real, or did the production team build it just for dramatic effect?】

【It’s real, I think. I remember my family used to live in a house like this. We only built a small brick house a few years ago.】

【It should be real. I volunteered near this area during college. The village only has elderly people and children left. All the young adults have gone out to work.】

【Can people really live in houses like these? Wouldn’t they leak when it rains?】

【Of course they leak. Just put a container under the leak and it’s fine.】

The teenage guests had already grown to understand a lot. One look at the environment told them just how impoverished this place was.

Coming here in a fit of rebellion against their parents, after trekking through the mountains for so long, and now seeing the house they’d be staying in for the foreseeable future, their scalps tingled. For the first time, they truly felt regret.

The production team had contacted the Village Chief in advance and promised compensation. They had also spoken with many villagers to arrange the upcoming activities.

The group of guests who were being exchanged with these city kids had mostly grown up in this very village.

The production staff led them to the villagers’ homes to settle in temporarily.

The courtyards were just bare dirt. Chickens were kept in the yard, and even though everything was swept clean, there was still a lingering smell.

Inside, the house had almost no natural light and was extremely dim.

The homeowner, however, was very warm and welcoming. An elderly woman brought out the best stool in the house and placed it in front of Song Feiran, gesturing for him to sit down.

An An stood nearby hugging his doll, curiously looking around. At his age, he was the only one still able to smile.

The host came over to explain the filming process. They would need to help the homeowner with chores in exchange for lodging, to offset the cost of staying there.

The five guests came from different families, but all were at least middle-class. None of the children had ever lacked money.

When Song Feiran reached into his bag to get his wallet, he found nothing. That’s when he remembered all his electronic devices and money had been confiscated earlier.

Realizing this, Song Feiran’s mood turned irritable, and his expression darkened.

For now, Song Feiran and An An were assigned to the same household. Since nearly every family in the village lived in difficult conditions, there weren’t any extra rooms to accommodate them.

Zong Lili and Sun Wushu were placed with a very kind old grandmother, while Zhao Yian was assigned to live with an elderly grandfather on his own.

The homeowner hosting Song Feiran and An An was a grandmother who clearly valued cleanliness.

Her clothes had been washed so many times that they’d lost their original color, but they were still neat and tidy.

Now, noticing the sudden shift in Song Feiran’s expression, the old woman stood there with an awkward smile, clearly at a loss for what to do.

An An trotted over to the grandmother, looked up at her, and asked sweetly, “Grandma, is there a bathroom?”

“Yes, there is. I’ll take you there.”

The environment in this rundown mountain village was indeed very poor. Most of the toilets were dry latrines.

One of the cameramen followed them, curious to see if the child would break down and cry from being unable to adapt to the conditions.

The other four guests could be filmed freely, but this youngest little troublemaker was a special case. Before filming began, the director had called a meeting just to emphasize one thing.

They had to take extra care of this little one. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong.

If any danger arose, the show could be scrapped altogether. The child’s safety had to be guaranteed above all else.

From the director’s serious expression, it was clear how cautious he was about this matter. It even made some people curious about the boy’s identity.

No matter how influential someone was, it had never reached the point where the director would say the show wasn’t important. None of the previous privileged guests had received this level of attention.

The cameraman waited outside. After a while, An An came wobbling out, holding his nose and muttering as he ran.

“Wow, oh no, An An’s gonna faint from the smell!”

He ran a good distance before stopping, spreading his arms wide and taking a deep breath. His tense little body finally seemed to relax.

Song Feiran, who had grown up in a very privileged environment, truly couldn’t handle the dim, musty, and oddly scented interior of the house.

But the homeowner was clearly elderly, and he couldn’t bring himself to say anything rude. All he could do was sit there, hugging his head in silence.

After such a long journey to the village, the sky was already starting to darken. The old woman began preparing dinner.

The village did have electricity, but because it was so remote and the wiring was old, using too many appliances at once would cause outages.

On top of that, most families were reluctant to pay for electricity, so they used candles or simply didn’t turn on any lights.

Though the old woman was advanced in age, she was still in good health. She went to the vegetable patch to pick the freshest greens, washed them clean, and headed into the kitchen.

At dinner, the old woman extravagantly turned on the light.

It was still one of those old-fashioned yellow bulbs, barely illuminating anything.

Before bringing out the food, she even took out the best set of dishes from the cupboard—ones that hadn’t been used in a long time—and washed them twice with great care.

These were the finest dishes she could offer, a stark contrast to the bowl she used herself, which looked like it had been used for decades.

Even so, when Song Feiran saw the bowl with a chipped edge and a ring of cracks inside, his appetite vanished instantly.

An An, whose stomach was already growling, didn’t care about the dishes at all. He grabbed a spoon and started eating in big mouthfuls.

The old woman had been a little disheartened when Song Feiran refused to eat, but when she turned and saw An An’s cheeks puffed out like little balloons, a smile lit up her eyes.

If he had a choice, Song Feiran wouldn’t have eaten anything at all.

But he knew very well that in this situation, there was no way to order takeout like at home. Plus, his suitcase had already been inspected, and all the food had been taken out.

In the end, Song Feiran forced himself to eat a little. From the twisted look on his face, it was obvious how unwilling he was.

When it was time to rest for the night, Song Feiran started to feel a headache coming on as he watched little An An still sitting there.

He had no experience taking care of children, especially not one this young. He couldn’t help but wonder whether the boy would wet the bed during the night.

Just as he was struggling with how to take care of things, a woman in casual clothes stepped out from the group of Production Team staff.

She walked up to An An and, with practiced ease, scooped him up into her arms.

“An An, shall we go to sleep now?”

“Okay.”

An An agreed without hesitation, wrapping his arms around the woman’s neck with practiced familiarity. From the way he looked at her with reliance in his eyes, it was clear they were very close.

The old lady had already tidied up a room and bed in advance, so Song Feiran had no choice but to squeeze onto the same bed with An An.

After washing up, he had just sat down when he sensed something was off. Lifting the bedsheet and blanket, he saw straw laid underneath.

Song Feiran had imagined all sorts of possibilities before coming here, but not once had he thought reality would be this hard to accept.

From the bumpy mountain roads to the house with yellow mud walls, the thatched roof, chipped bowls, and now a bed lined with straw—every bit of it pushed Song Feiran closer to a breakdown.

He sat on the edge of the bed, hugging his head in his hands, unable to accept this reality.

An An had finished washing up and changed into a fresh set of clothes. He was carried over and placed on the bed. Noticing that his older brother seemed upset, he crawled over and gently patted his shoulder with his chubby little hand.

“Big Brother, what’s wrong?”

Song Feiran had nearly broken down in tears just moments ago. Now, hearing that soft baby voice, he forcibly held back his tears, leaving only a faint redness around his eyes.

“Nothing, I was just wondering why you hadn’t come back to sleep yet.”

It was a terrible excuse, but An An believed it. In fact, he was secretly delighted, thinking his brother really loved him!

“Come on, Big Brother, let’s sleep together.”

“Mm, okay.”

An An lay on the soft bed and fell asleep within moments. His breathing was so light it was almost imperceptible in the darkness.

But Song Feiran was different. His mind was a chaotic mess, filled with thoughts he couldn’t untangle. The more he thought, the more sleep eluded him.

He had agreed to come here because he didn’t believe his parents would be cruel enough to actually send him onto this show.

But now, here he was.

If this was his parents’ way of forcing him to compromise, then all he could say was—they were dreaming.

With that thought, Song Feiran finally drifted off into a deep sleep.

At the crack of dawn the next day, the sound of roosters crowing filled the air. An An rubbed his eyes and sat up, then gently nudged his brother’s shoulder.

He still remembered Grandma saying last night that she hoped they could help weed the vegetable garden today.

Song Feiran wasn’t the type to be grumpy in the morning. Once the little guy shook him awake, he sat up and began getting dressed.

When he was fully dressed and ready to wash up, he turned and saw that An An was still wearing the same pajamas from last night. He couldn’t help but ask:

“Aren’t you going to change clothes?”

“Huh? Big Brother, help me change.”

“You want me to change your clothes?”

Song Feiran instinctively repeated the question. Did he really look like someone who knew how to dress a kid?

“Thank you, Big Brother.”

An An quickly said thank you first. Whatever refusal Song Feiran had in mind was swallowed back down, and he forced a smile.

“No need to thank me!”

It was Song Feiran’s first time helping a child get dressed. He was incredibly nervous as he held An An in his arms.

Thankfully, An An was easy to manage. Noticing that his brother was unsure, he even gave him instructions.

He told him to pull the shirt down, then slipped his arms in so his brother could straighten it out.

“Pant cuffs go inside the socks.”

“Okay.”

Once he was dressed, An An didn’t ask for help. He squatted down and put on his shoes by himself, then slipped his little hand into his brother’s palm, ready to be led outside.

As a hardcore gamer, Song Feiran was used to staying up late. For him, waking up this early was almost unheard of.

Even so, they were still up later than Grandma.

After waiting a while, they finally saw Grandma coming back carrying something. She put it down and gave them a brief explanation.

“It’s hot now. Once the sun’s up, it’ll get even hotter. The only time to get work done is while it’s still cool in the morning.”

Only then did Song Feiran remember the Production Team mentioning helping out with chores. Last night, he and An An had even agreed to weed the vegetable patch.

Looking up at the blazing sun, Song Feiran felt a wave of dizziness.

After breakfast, the staff led them to the fields. The same staff member who had taken care of An An before came over and helped him put on a sun-protection jacket and applied sunscreen.

Grandma hadn’t been exaggerating. Under the direct sun, Song Feiran barely lasted twenty minutes before he started whining about wanting to go home. He even nearly cried.

An An was still too little to do much, so he just wore gloves and quietly pulled weeds, placing them neatly into a small basket.

After complaining, Song Feiran instinctively looked over at the little human squatting nearby.

He was a teenager and already couldn’t take it. How could a tiny kid like An An handle it? He started hoping An An would complain too, so they could both throw a fit and go home together.

Sensing his brother’s gaze, An An turned and looked at him for a while.

But he didn’t pick up on the hint. Instead, he blinked at his brother.

Seeing that his brother was still the same, he tilted his head curiously.

“Big Brother, what’s wrong?”

Even the little milk baby was still holding on. Song Feiran couldn’t bring himself to shamelessly say he was tired, so he gritted his teeth and kept weeding.

After finally clearing a patch of the garden, Song Feiran’s arms were covered in sunburned blotches. His red, swollen skin itched and stung.

Grandma was quite experienced with this sort of thing. She went up the mountain and gathered some herbs, ground them up, and applied them to his arms.

The cool sensation eased the discomfort significantly. Song Feiran leaned back in his chair, panting heavily.

Grandma had plenty of other things to do. Even if she couldn’t work in the fields now, a woman who had been busy her whole life couldn’t sit still. She was always looking for something to do.

An An sat beside his brother, tilting his head to rest it on his brother’s knee.

“Big Brother, do we have anything else to do? I feel really bored right now.”

After being out in the sun all morning, Song Feiran was exhausted. He just wanted to close his eyes and rest.

But seeing the little guy’s face full of boredom, he couldn’t bear to ignore him. So he started chatting with him.

“I’m here because I play games all the time. My mom, after listening to some relatives, sent me to X-Change. What about you?”

“Maybe it’s not just that. My mom also said I shouldn’t spend so much money in games. She said I don’t understand how hard it is to earn money.”

As he said this, Song Feiran’s lips curled into a bitter smile.

An An didn’t understand everything his brother said, but that didn’t stop him from reaching out and patting his brother’s back to comfort him when he saw he was upset.

“Big Brother, don’t be sad. When it’s over, you can spend An An’s money!”

“Well, thank you very much then.”

Song Feiran didn’t take the little guy’s words seriously. No matter how well-off his family might be, how much money could a kid this young possibly have?

Once filming wrapped up, he should be the one treating the little guy to some fried chicken.

“No need to thank me.”

“By the way, you still haven’t told me why you were sent here for the X-Change. You’re so little… Don’t tell me it’s because you stole baby formula?”

No matter how unforgivable a three-year-old might be, sending him to X-Change still seemed excessive. Song Feiran racked his brain but still couldn’t make sense of it.

An An sat there hugging his baby bottle and sighed, muttering in protest:

“I didn’t steal baby formula.”

“I… I just like picking up bottle caps.”

Just thinking about it made An An feel a little regretful. If only he had come over earlier, he would’ve picked them up secretly and never let Grandpa find out. Then he wouldn’t have been sent to X-Change!

What kind of grandpa sends his grandson to X-Change just for picking up bottle caps?!

“Picking up trash? That’s not a good habit.”

“No, An An only picks up bottle caps. Just bottle caps.”

“And they sent you here just for that? I don’t buy it. There’s got to be another reason.”

Seeing An An’s face flush red with urgency, Song Feiran found it even harder to believe.

“Mm, Grandpa said An An doesn’t like spending money. Only saves, never spends.”

“Doesn’t like spending money? Are there really people in this world who don’t like spending money?”

“There are! What’s there to spend it on?”

An An tilted his head in confusion. Having grown up in a middle-class family, Song Feiran was struck for the first time by how different people’s lives could be. He cleared his throat before asking:

“So your grandpa just sent you here to suffer? Doesn’t he feel bad for you at all?”

At first, Song Feiran thought this little guy might be like him—controlled by overbearing parents who used love as a leash to force their expectations onto him.

But from just a few words, he could already tell their situations were quite different.

“He does feel bad. Grandpa said if I’m unhappy, I can go back.”

“The production crew would let you go back? The roads here are so hard to travel. Without the crew, you might have to walk for days and nights and still not make it over the mountain.”

Song Feiran looked up at the towering mountain not far away. For once, he could feel what it must be like for the kids who grew up in this village.

That mountain seemed impossible to cross, like it could trap them here forever, pressing down on them until they couldn’t breathe.

An An propped up his chin and thought seriously. Remembering how his legs ached from walking when he first arrived, he also realized that leaving on his own might be a bit difficult.

“No worries. Grandpa. Helicopter. Picks up An An.”

Song Feiran fell silent for a few seconds, suspicious, then chose not to respond.

【Is that even allowed on the show? Just leave if you’re unhappy? Is this a reality show or a joke?】

【Haha, I really thought he was some poor little kid sent to the show. Turns out the clown was me all along.】

【A helicopter… Who would’ve thought? I figured the best they’d do is send a car.】

【What kind of family does this kid come from? I’m dying of curiosity.】

【He actually seems pretty mature. He could’ve left but chose to stay.】

When his older brother ignored him, An An started getting anxious. He leaned in and gently poked him with his elbow. Once he had Song Feiran’s attention, he asked:

“Brother, where are your mom and dad? What if they miss you?”

“They won’t miss me.”

Song Feiran said it flatly, then reached out and gently ruffled An An’s fluffy little head. Watching him nuzzle into his palm with a content expression, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

“Why not?”

“They don’t want me. They want a perfect son. A child who makes them look good. So no matter what I do, in their eyes, I’m always going against them.”

An An was still too young. Song Feiran hadn’t planned on telling him any of this.

In that household, he always felt suffocated. His parents’ so-called love made him feel like he was a sinner just for existing.

He wasn’t allowed to have his own thoughts, nor was he allowed to stray from the path they had laid out for him.

He was supposed to be a puppet, dancing on strings, growing into the image they had designed.

“An An likes Brother. Brother is the best. Always the best.”

An An’s quiet mumble instantly softened Song Feiran’s heart. He reached out and pulled him into his arms, smiling as he asked:

“Then what if I don’t want to study anymore?”

“Then don’t study! Grandpa says all roads lead to Rome.”

“Your grandpa’s that open-minded? So what do you want to do when you grow up?”

Song Feiran gently patted An An’s back, watching him fall deep into thought.

It was a tough question for An An, so he thought for a long time before answering in a slightly uncertain voice:

“Pick up bottle caps?”

“That’s it? Maybe your dream could be a little bigger.”

Song Feiran didn’t take it seriously. He figured it was just a childish answer from a kid too young to know better.

“Then… pick up lots and lots of bottle caps.”

“Bigger than that?”

“Pick up a super huge amount of bottle caps!”

“What’s your biggest dream right now?”

“To pick up bottle caps and not get sent to X-Change by Grandpa!”

An An answered the last question without a moment’s hesitation. His unwavering devotion to bottle caps had many viewers laughing out loud.

【Hahaha, whose Little Young Master is this? All he wants to do every day is pick up bottle caps.】

【When he said he wanted to grow up and just pick up bottle caps, I suddenly understood why his grandpa sent him to X-Change.】

【Are bottle caps really that fun? Now I kinda want to try it too.】

【Honestly, after reading about Song Feiran’s situation, I don’t think the kid did anything wrong. Some kids just aren’t cut out for academics, no matter how hard they try.】

【Agreed. I was Song Feiran’s classmate. He actually studied really hard, but for some reason, his grades never improved. After a full day and a half of review, his parents wouldn’t even acknowledge it. They’d just fixate on the one hour he spent relaxing and playing games.】

【An An, Auntie has tons of bottle caps here. Want to come pick them up?~】

Before Song Feiran could keep chatting with An An, the old granny had already returned with a basket on her back.

She was getting on in years and couldn’t do much anymore. Even farming didn’t yield much all year round. She would go up the mountain to dig for wild herbs, dry them, and sell them in the county town for some extra income.

Song Feiran walked over to help her sort the herbs. As he set them aside, he suddenly asked:

“Granny, how much can you sell these herbs for?”

The old granny placed a bundle of sorted herbs to the side, looked up and smiled at Song Feiran before replying:

“Once they’re dried, this half a jin can sell for ten yuan.”

She held out her calloused hands to show him, her wrinkled face carrying a quiet, contented smile.

Even after working so hard for such a long time, with more effort needed to dry and prepare the herbs, then walking all the way to the County Town to sell them—putting in so much and only earning ten yuan in the end—she was still completely content.

After that, Song Feiran fell completely silent. He didn’t say another word, only helped the old woman sort through the herbs, then picked some vegetables to bring back.

Even now, Song Feiran still hadn’t fully adapted to this environment, but he no longer looked down on it the way he did at the start.

Looking at the old woman’s hunched back, Song Feiran simply wanted to lend a hand within the limits of what he could do.

An An couldn’t help with anything at all. He just followed behind his older brother, spinning around anxiously.

If Song Feiran ran too fast, An An would tug at his throat and call out in his soft, childish voice.

“Big Brother, Big Brother, wait for An An!”

“Wait for An An, Big Brother.”