Chapter 145

Zhou Shizhe was picking Tea Leaves under the scorching sun, his head spinning from the heat and his back aching. When he turned his head, he saw An An sitting comfortably with one leg crossed over the other, swinging his foot lazily. A strange and sudden sense of imbalance welled up in his heart.

As he dumped the Tea Leaves into the basket beside An An, the little boy raised his hand and waved at his big brother in greeting.

The sunlight was a bit harsh, so An An squinted his eyes and grinned at his brother. Two deep dimples appeared clearly on his cheeks.

Something in Zhou Shizhe’s heart softened unexpectedly. He couldn’t bring himself to scold the boy, so he simply reached out and gently pinched his cheek.

When Zhou Shizhe squatted down, An An thought his brother was thirsty. He quickly unscrewed his little water bottle and handed it over, generously saying:

“Drink up~”

“Thank you, An An.”

“No need to thank me~”

From the baby bottle at the beginning to the little water bottle now, it was obvious to anyone that An An had always prepared water specifically for his big brother.

Although Zhou Shizhe exercised regularly, those fitness routines aimed at health and strength were nothing compared to the long, grueling hours of real labor in the Tea Leaf fields.

Even as a grown man, he couldn’t help but start thinking about ways to slack off. But after pinching An An’s chubby little cheeks, his mood lifted considerably.

He turned back to the spot where he had been picking Tea Leaves and got back to work, already planning to impress An An the next time he dumped a load into the basket—he wanted to shock the boy with how much more he had picked than anyone else.

【Sob, this is the childhood I dreamed of. I’ve heard my parents talk about how they used to run wild through the fields, picking wild fruits and chasing geese. I was always so envious.】

【I’m pretty sure this isn’t scripted. It’s exactly like how I remember working in the countryside.】

【When I was little, I didn’t get to just sit around like An An. The adults would make me mix in some tea seeds to add weight so the Tea Leaves would sell for more.】

【An An looks so relaxed, just like my cat sunbathing in the yard.】

【If you compare them now to the photos from when they first arrived, I’d never believe those rebellious teens would be working quietly like this.】

【I used to hate picking Tea Leaves the most. No matter how much you picked, it never ended. The sun was brutal, and my neck would ache like crazy. Now I can’t even pick them anymore even if I wanted to.】

An An’s lazy, indulgent posture stirred up childhood memories for many viewers.

Grandpa Zhou and Grandma Zhou were sitting in front of the TV. When they saw the scene, they exchanged a glance before speaking.

“Remember how we used to say that when we had kids, we’d build a little courtyard in the countryside, raise a cat or a dog, grow some vegetables…”

The love between Grandpa Zhou and Grandma Zhou had always been natural and steady. They were already together before Grandpa Zhou enlisted. Despite everyone’s doubts, Grandma Zhou waited for him to return from service.

Later, when Grandpa Zhou became successful, she remained by his side every step of the way. Their bond as husband and wife was incredibly deep.

That was also why Grandma Zhou had believed wholeheartedly in the fortune-teller’s words back then.

Similar stories were told in her hometown too.

There was a couple who had been married for years without having children. Medical checkups showed both were healthy, and they tried everything scientifically possible to conceive, but nothing worked.

Eventually, they gave up hope of ever having a biological child and adopted a child with a disability from an orphanage. Just two months later, the woman found out she was pregnant.

After their own child was born, they started to feel conflicted about the adopted one, who was already five years old by then.

Unable to properly care for both children, they returned the adopted child to the orphanage.

While they were eagerly anticipating the birth of their biological child, tragedy struck without warning—the baby was lost.

Years later, a rumor began to circulate.

It was said that the couple was fated to be childless, but the adopted child had a destined younger sibling. Their biological child had been brought into their lives by the adopted one. Once they returned the child to the orphanage, they lost everything.

As she grew older, Grandma Zhou became more and more inclined to believe such things. After completing the adoption process, she took meticulous care of An An.

At first, she treated him like a benefactor. Over time, that attitude gradually shifted into the genuine affection of an elder for a younger family member.

Now, as Grandpa Zhou mentioned the letters he used to send home while serving in the military, Grandma Zhou’s eyes softened.

In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. They were both old and gray now.

“As for the money to build the road, we can’t let Shizhe shoulder it all. He’s only just started working and hasn’t saved much yet.”

“Let’s contact the assistant he put in charge of the project. We’ll cover the cost.”

Grandpa Zhou had always liked to discuss everything with Grandma Zhou. After so many years, it had become second nature.

And when it came to doing good deeds, Grandma Zhou never said no. She couldn’t bear to see her eldest grandson struggling financially because of it.

“Alright.”

After a full day of picking Tea Leaves, a kind-hearted villager offered to take their harvest to the buyer for them, suggesting they rest at home if they were tired.

Zhou Shizhe was sorely tempted to accept, but when he saw the old woman’s hunched back, he shook his head.

“No need. An An wants to see where the Tea Leaves are sold. I’ll take him along for the trip.”

An An, who had been busy counting bottle caps, didn’t even register what was said before his big brother scooped him up into his arms.

He was very close to his brother and nodded blankly, trusting him completely.

Yes, he wanted to do whatever his big brother said.

The path to sell the Tea Leaves was still a rugged mountain trail. A recent rain had washed over the yellow dirt road, exposing many rocks and making it even harder to walk.

On the way there, Zhou Shizhe carried the Tea Leaves. Even though he said An An could lie on his back, the little boy couldn’t bear to see his brother so exhausted.

Panting and out of breath, he trailed behind, needing to rest every few steps.

After more than an hour of walking, they finally reached the spot where the Tea Leaves were sold. The buyer was a middle-aged man driving a three-wheeled vehicle. It was even farther out than where the production crew’s car had gone.

He brought out a scale and weighed each batch of Tea Leaves. After paying, he had the villagers dump their leaves into the back of his vehicle.

The prices were fair, and the scale seemed accurate.

When dealing with certain villagers, he would even offer them a cigarette.

No one really knew if this business was profitable, especially given how far he had to travel. But the villagers all knew that if this man didn’t come to buy their Tea Leaves every year, their harvest would go to waste.

When someone’s yield was small, they would even bring vegetables from their own gardens to give him.

Life had bent their backs and carved hardship into their faces, but they still forced smiles, full of flattery, as if this man were their last lifeline.

Zhou Shizhe stood off to the side, holding An An’s chubby little body tightly.

Grandpa and Grandma Zhou had always been committed to various charitable causes. They had built their own team to ensure that every cent donated was put to good use.

But his parents couldn’t understand his grandparents’ way of throwing money into this, and had even tried to stop them several times.

Until now, Zhou Shizhe had always been indifferent about the matter. But after seeing the scene before him, he suddenly understood why his grandparents had insisted for so long.

If he ever had the chance in the future, he would definitely carry on just as they had hoped.

On the way back, An An rode on Zhou Shizhe’s shoulders.

The round trip had taken so long that it was already very late. The sky had long since gone dark, and the villagers had brought flashlights with them before leaving.

The show’s filming crew was following along as well, their lights clearly illuminating the road ahead.

Aside from the sounds of their footsteps and breathing, you could also hear birds calling and insects chirping in the woods along the roadside.

Sitting on his Big Brother’s shoulders, even though the darkness in the distance looked like monstrous maws to An An, he still felt especially safe.

As the weather gradually warmed, spring tea began to lose its value. The amount of tea leaves picked each day increased, and one day, the middle-aged man who had been coming to collect them gave notice that he wouldn’t be coming anymore.

The tea leaves picked by just three villagers were enough to fill his tricycle. He simply couldn’t take any more.

That night, on the way back, everyone was unusually silent. The Village Chief even lit a rare cigarette.

Zhou Shizhe spent the walk back deep in thought, wondering if there was anything else they could do before the road was repaired.

He consulted his mentor, who was a highly respected researcher in the country and had done some work on tea trees.

After watching the videos Zhou Shizhe sent over, his mentor offered several suggestions.

Under normal circumstances, given their geographic location, the tea from the mountains shouldn’t be so cheap. The flavor should be quite good.

Zhou Shizhe relayed all of his mentor’s suggestions to the Village Chief, who immediately gathered the villagers the next day to start tending to their tea trees.

None of the elderly in the village had steady jobs. In earlier years, they hadn’t known about government policies and couldn’t get any subsidies. Most had sons and daughters, which disqualified them.

But even though those children had temporarily escaped from this impoverished mountain village, they couldn’t establish a foothold outside.

The elders didn’t want to burden their children, so most only called them back for a final visit when they were near death.

Before that, they relied solely on their own hands to survive, never asking their children for help.

Whether it was fruit trees, tea leaves, or even the medicinal herbs on the mountain, they cared deeply for them all.

No one had ever cared about these things before. Now that someone knowledgeable like Zhou Shizhe had come along, the villagers followed every suggestion he made without question.

In the first year of planting, the fruit saplings didn’t bear any fruit. But just seeing the trees growing well on the mountain brought the villagers joy.

Compared to waiting to die at home, the future now felt full of hope.

As time passed, An An began to treat this place like his own home, running from the east end of the village to the west every day.

He would cuddle the cat at one grandma’s house, then go play with the dog at another grandpa’s house.

Everyone in the village knew that An An was Zhou Shizhe’s little brother, and that Zhou Shizhe had come here for his sake, bringing about so many changes afterward.

There was hardly anyone who didn’t like An An. Every time he passed by someone’s door, they would find something to give him.

Sometimes it was something freshly made at home, or even candy they had saved since New Year’s and hadn’t dared to eat. An An would always accept it, stuffing his little backpack until it bulged.

The entire filming period for X-Change lasted a year. As the production team prepared to leave, the Village Chief, on behalf of everyone, earnestly tried to persuade them to stay.

Even if Zhou Shizhe wasn’t that amazing, just having a young person like him in the village was already a blessing.

But the show’s schedule was set, and Zhou Shizhe was about to start working. He couldn’t afford to spend all his time here.

An An had also reached the age for kindergarten. Families like theirs usually arranged some early classes to help children adjust to the school environment.

The other guests had also reached the time to return to school. No matter how reluctant they were, parting was inevitable.

Excavators had already arrived to begin work on the road. Two of Zhou Shizhe’s junior schoolmates had stayed behind in the village, reportedly planning to observe the fruit saplings up close and write a paper for their mentor.

Everything was moving in a positive direction.

In just one short year, countless changes had taken place.

Viewers in the livestream room felt the same sense of reluctance. They had watched this village slowly improve with their help, and the time and energy they had invested gave them deep emotional ties to both the village and the guests.

The longer they watched, the more they realized the other guests weren’t as hopeless as their parents had claimed.

All the conflicts seemed to stem from parents’ excessive need for control.

Among them, the parents from more privileged backgrounds, after watching the footage sent by the production team and realizing their past mistakes, had made changes and sincerely apologized to their children.

Those parents who would never admit they were wrong only became more extreme than before.

Take Song Feiran’s parents, for example. They refused to believe he lacked academic talent, insisting that if he put the same effort into studying as he did into gaming, he would surely be a top student.

Because his little brother liked him so much, Zhou Shizhe called Song Feiran out to the rice field ridge the night before they were to part.

The villagers were still growing grain. The annual rice harvest was usually enough to feed them for the whole year.

In the heat of summer, you could hear frogs croaking in the paddies and see fireflies dancing in the air not far away.

The other guests were catching fireflies with An An, placing them in a transparent cloth bag that glowed softly in the dark.

“Big Brother, do you have something you want to say to me?”

Song Feiran was the first to break the silence. After spending so much time together, he had come to realize that An An’s Big Brother was even more capable than he had imagined.

Aside from matters related to An An, he really couldn’t think of anything else that would make this person seek him out.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve heard about what’s going on with your family, so I wanted to talk to you.”

When controlling parents and rebellious children clash, it’s like pouring water into hot oil—both sides end up hurt.

Maybe it was because their grandparents had raised An An so well that he remained pure-hearted and deeply empathetic.

Zhou Shizhe didn’t want to see his little brother heartbroken over something that couldn’t be undone.

From initial shame to now being able to face mentions of his parents with calm, Song Feiran had come a long way.

“I… I don’t even know what to say anymore.”

Even in front of someone like Zhou Shizhe, who wasn’t particularly close to him, Song Feiran felt more at ease than he ever did with his own parents. The cold facade dropped, revealing the confusion typical of someone his age.

“Was I really wrong? I’ve tried so hard, but my grades just won’t improve.”

“Academic performance isn’t the only measure of a person’s worth.”

Zhou Shizhe reached out and patted Song Feiran on the shoulder. Back in college, out of boredom, he had studied psychology for a while.

Judging from how Song Feiran interacted with his parents, Zhou Shizhe strongly suspected that he was already suffering from a psychological disorder.

“You absolutely can stick to what you want to do, as long as you have the ability to do so.”

Song Feiran let out a defeated sigh and said softly, “I don’t have that ability…”

“The food I eat, the clothes I wear, the things I use—even my flesh and blood were all given to me by my parents. Sometimes I wonder, if I died, would that mean everything would be returned to them?”

Like coaxing his little brother, Zhou Shizhe gently ruffled his hair.

“Of course not. I think tomorrow’s sunrise will be beautiful. You can go along with your parents for now, and when you’re older and can make your own decisions, you can leave.”

“If you need any help during that time, you can come to me.”

“If you’re struggling financially, I can help with that too. It’s not a free handout—you can write me an IOU and pay me back when you’re able.”

Zhou Shizhe had always been gentle when comforting a younger brother. Song Feiran, overwhelmed, even felt tears welling up in his eyes.

An An, who had been playing wildly, suddenly realized he hadn’t seen his Big Brother in a while. Panicked, he started looking around and wobbled his way over.

From a distance, Zhou Shizhe waved at An An.

“Don’t come over. I’ll be back in a moment. Wait for me there.”

The summer fields were lined with thick vegetation. As an adult, Zhou Shizhe didn’t think much of it, but if there were snakes or anything else hiding in the crops, one bite could be disastrous for An An.

Obediently, An An waited where he was. When his Big Brother came over, he reached out his arms, signaling for him to pick him up.

“Big Brother, what were you two doing over there?”

“Song Feiran said that when he gets home, he’ll collect lots and lots of pretty bottle caps for you as your birthday present next year.”

Zhou Shizhe casually made up an excuse. Song Feiran glanced at him with eyes full of gratitude.

An An’s eyes lit up like fallen stars, and his mouth opened in astonishment.

“Wow, really? Really?”

“Mm.”

They were just bottle caps—not exactly a valuable gift for Song Feiran, and nothing that would put pressure on him—but they hit An An right in the heart.

“Big Brother, hug me. Thank you, Big Brother. Hee hee.”

Song Feiran reached out and picked up the slightly heavy An An. An An wrapped his arms around his neck like a clingy little sprout, rubbing his head affectionately against the side of his neck.

【Sob sob, I really can’t bear to see this end. I feel like this is the best season of X-Change. Everyone has truly grown through this show.】

【Let’s call out the real-life An An—just a few bottle caps and he’s all lovey-dovey with his good Big Brother!】

【I used to think most domestic variety shows were boring and poorly scripted, but X-Change proved me wrong. It’s not as worthless as I thought.】

【This season of X-Change completely changed my negative view of domestic variety shows. Every segment was genuinely amazing!!!】

【Totally agree. And aside from Zhou Shi, all the urban guests were actually really good-looking.】

Zhou Shi had always loved flaunting his parents’ affection for him in front of the cameras, showing off his access to high-end venues and rooms overflowing with luxury goods.

But the more he flaunted, the more hollow it all seemed.

Everything felt like a carefully crafted illusion of glamour, nothing more than a spectacle for people to gawk at.

Especially when compared to An An. Even running down a narrow path in one of the country’s poorest mountain villages, he exuded a vibrant, youthful charm.

Unlike those parents who used to throw money at education, the other urban guests seemed to genuinely care about how their children were being raised.

Even after experiencing the dazzling life of the big city, these children didn’t lose themselves. Instead, before leaving, they made up their minds to study hard.

The show was indeed beautiful to watch, but viewers were also left puzzled.

Why could these parents treat children unrelated to them with such patience and wisdom, yet fail to show the same tolerance to their own biological kids?

From start to finish, this season of the show conveyed one powerful message: spiritual fulfillment is more important than material wealth.

…

Soon, the Village Chief informed the villagers that the guests would be leaving. The ones most reluctant to see them go were the elderly who had lived with them.

The elderly landlady who had hosted Zong Lili burst into tears the moment she heard the news, gripping her hand and urging her to take care of herself after leaving.

She told her to come back and visit if she had time. She knew Zong Lili loved the free-range chickens at home, so when the hens started brooding next year, she promised to raise plenty more.

The old woman’s hands trembled as she clung to Zong Lili’s arm, repeating her words over and over in her ear.

“Remember to come back and visit. I’ll cook up a little chicken for you. You must come back and see me, child.”

At the farewell ceremony, every villager brought out the best they had to prepare one final meal for the guests.

The guests left one after another, while the production team stayed behind for another week to film the changes after the children returned home.

And it wasn’t just the children who came back. After a rough path was carved out through the mountains, many young people who had been working outside also returned, planning to plant fruit trees and pick Tea Leaves together.

Zhou Shizhe’s two junior classmates even suggested that the villagers take advantage of their environment and start cultivating some Medicinal Herbs on the mountain, which could bring in a decent income.

At the time, the Village Chief didn’t agree. Most of the villagers were elderly and simply didn’t have the strength, even if they had the will.

As long as they had something to fill their bellies, that was enough.

But now that a few young people had returned, everything began to change. They took the initiative to consult the two students and started preparing to plant Medicinal Herbs.

Due to the harsh conditions, this remote mountain village had never produced any “golden phoenixes.” Most of the locals, after a childhood of hardship, left to work elsewhere, only to earn meager wages after a whole year of toil.

If there had been even the slightest hope of survival in their hometown, how could they possibly have been willing to leave their families behind and go to unfamiliar places to do unfamiliar work?

To save on travel expenses, some young people didn’t even return home for the New Year and might not see their children even once a year.

But now, with the arrival of the production team, transportation that used to be extremely inconvenient began to improve. They had more opportunities and more things to do.

The elderly now had light and hope in their eyes. One improvement after another was steadily making life better.

Viewers were thrilled to see the elderly finally able to rest at home after the children returned. A primary school was even built in the village, reportedly arranged by Zhou Shizhe, who also brought in teachers with excellent teaching skills.

Some viewers took it upon themselves to edit a comparison between the first episode of X-Change and the current one. The stark contrast between the lifeless, fog-covered village and its now thriving, vibrant state was striking.

After the show ended, without any marketing campaigns, it once again climbed to the top of the Hot Search.

Netizens began digging into every possible angle, uncovering the changes the show had brought to the village. Nearly every day, there was a new discovery.

…

When An An returned home dragging his suitcase, he spotted his grandparents waiting from afar. He immediately let go of the suitcase and scampered over on his short little legs.

Zhou Shizhe, helpless, picked up the extra suitcase. He watched as Grandpa carried An An into the house, with Grandma following closely behind. Neither of them showed any intention of waiting for him, and his face remained expressionless.

The dining table at home was covered with all of An An’s favorite dishes. Grandpa Zhou even personally washed An An’s hands.

It was Grandpa Zhou who had originally suggested sending An An to join the transformation program, but now he was the one who regretted it the most.

Every time he saw An An over there with barely anything decent to eat, his heart ached. So now that An An was back, he was determined to feed him well. Only when he saw An An’s cheeks puffed out like a little hamster, struggling to chew, did he feel satisfied.

As for improving the village’s environment, Grandpa Zhou had also gotten involved later on, so Zhou Shizhe gave him an update on the follow-up arrangements.

An An didn’t understand what his Big Brother and Grandpa were talking about, so he simply buried his head in his bowl and gobbled down his food.

Grandma Zhou sat nearby, wearing her glasses and carefully picking out all the fish bones before placing the cleaned fish meat on the plate in front of An An.

A few days ago, Father Zhou and Mother Zhou had come over again to stir up trouble, saying they planned to hold a birthday banquet for Zhou Shi. They complained that Grandpa and Grandma never attended these events, and it was simply unacceptable.

But Grandpa Zhou couldn’t care less about whether it was acceptable or not. He had long since come to terms with things—at his age, if he didn’t start doing what he truly wanted, he might as well be in the grave already.

No matter what his son and daughter-in-law said, Grandpa Zhou’s stance remained firm as ever.

The only grandson he acknowledged was An An. Even the eldest grandson didn’t measure up, let alone Zhou Shi, whom he had barely met.

They didn’t let Zhou Shizhe off the hook either. Several times, they tried to persuade him not to let all of the old man’s assets fall into the hands of that little brat.

What they didn’t realize was that the worse their attitude toward An An became, the deeper Zhou Shizhe’s resentment toward them grew.

In the end, he couldn’t even be bothered to pretend anymore. There was absolutely no way he would do what they wanted. He fully supported Grandpa and Grandma’s decision to leave their assets to his younger brother.

He even proactively offered to manage certain shares and assets on An An’s behalf.

When An An grew up, he would be free to do whatever he wanted. Nothing he inherited would ever become a shackle that held him back.

Father Zhou didn’t even get a chance to say that An An wasn’t good at managing things and would squander the old man’s life’s work. Zhou Shizhe had already thoughtfully come up with a solution.

He didn’t hide any of this from his grandparents either. After learning about it, Grandpa Zhou never allowed his son to step foot in the house again.

In their social circle, he didn’t hesitate to let people know that his relationship with his son was now terrible.

Lately, Father Zhou had been running around like a headless chicken. Not long ago, he was still smugly thinking that he had made it on his own and didn’t need the old man’s help to carve out his own path.

But reality hit hard. Without his father’s connections and support, he was nothing. His company quickly fell into crisis.

Grandpa Zhou didn’t even want to think about these frustrating matters.

If they ever fell so far that they couldn’t even afford to eat, then maybe he’d lend a hand.

In other words, unless they reached that point, he wouldn’t lift a finger.

Now that he was older, Grandpa Zhou had grown a bit childish. Since they doted on their younger son so much, he would just dote on An An even more, so An An would know that he was far more important and capable than those people.

At first, Grandpa Zhou hadn’t intended to compare. He could have loved both children equally. There was no need to rank them.

But he couldn’t ignore how his son and daughter-in-law—and even that young child—kept competing with An An.

He couldn’t be blamed for siding with An An. After all, they were the ones who started it.

Zhou Shizhe could tell Grandpa didn’t want to keep talking about this, so he changed the subject and started telling him about An An’s embarrassing moments from the show.

Most of them Grandpa Zhou had already seen through the livestream, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying hearing them again from his eldest grandson.

Seeing An An’s little face turn red as he waved his hands, trying to stop his brother from spilling everything, Grandpa Zhou found it absolutely delightful.

Talking about these embarrassing moments right in front of the little guy was surprisingly fun. He had to take full advantage of An An being small and easy to tease now, because once he got a bit older, he probably wouldn’t be so easy to mess with.

After dinner, Grandpa Zhou had An An meet a few teachers. Then he called Zhou Shizhe into the study to talk about An An’s kindergarten plans.

Grandpa Zhou’s original idea was to send An An to school in the Capital City, where the educational resources were much better than where they currently lived.

If An An turned out to be gifted, that would be ideal. If not, then after middle school, they’d send him abroad to polish his credentials.

At his age, Grandpa Zhou didn’t know how much longer he had left. All he could do was make plans for An An in advance.

Zhou Shizhe was still young. He needed to hold on for at least another five years. Otherwise, the little guy would suffer.

“Grandpa, don’t say things like that. You’re exercising every day now—you’ll definitely live a long, healthy life.”

“Besides, I’m still young. There are so many things I need your guidance on.”

What Zhou Shizhe meant was that he needed Grandpa’s advice for his career.

But in Grandpa Zhou’s ears, it sounded like Zhou Shizhe was too young to understand people, and that might lead to his precious grandson being mistreated!

There seemed to be a natural imbalance in the father-son dynamic. If he were gone, no matter how much Zhou Shizhe wanted to protect An An, his son would still be Zhou Shizhe’s father, and many things would become difficult.

Unlike himself—if his son said something unpleasant, he could just kick him out.

Like that time when they tried to get An An to nod and say it was okay. If it had been up to his eldest grandson, he might’ve actually believed An An wasn’t upset.

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy Grandpa Zhou felt. He even stood up, casting a disdainful glance at Zhou Shizhe.

Sure enough, he’d have to handle this himself.

Grandpa Zhou went downstairs and found An An lying on the carpet counting bottle caps. He squatted beside him and asked if he could get up early every day to supervise Grandpa’s tai chi practice.

“Tai chi?”

An An instinctively repeated Grandpa’s words in his soft, childish voice. He clutched the bottle caps tightly in his palm, and with a hesitant tone, asked:

“Grandpa, can we win? Hitting people… isn’t very nice, right?”

Just a few days ago, Big Brother had taught him that you shouldn’t hit people for no reason, or the police might come and take you away.

“Grandpa, let’s put a sack over their head and hit them secretly!”

An An leaned in close to Grandpa’s ear, lowering his voice as he began plotting mischief together.

When Grandpa Zhou looked down, the little guy was winking at him and clenching his tiny fists, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“It’s not about hitting people. Last month during my check-up, the doctor said I need more exercise. Tai chi is the best for that.”

“Okay!”

As soon as An An heard that it was the doctor speaking, he nodded in agreement almost instantly, without the slightest hesitation.

“Can you get up in the morning?”

Grandpa Zhou stared at An An with a doubtful look for a while, frowning as if weighing whether to just forget about it.

Originally, An An had wanted to pat his chest and promise Grandpa that it wouldn’t be a problem at all. But then he remembered how he practically had to be dragged out of bed every day, and his confidence began to waver.

“Um… probably… maybe… I guess… I might be able to get up?”

Back when Big Brother was busy picking Tea Leaves and worried about leaving him home alone, he had carried An An to the Tea Leaf fields. An An hadn’t even woken up the entire time.

Now that the weather was warmer, it wasn’t too bad. At most, An An would just stay in bed a little longer. But once it started getting colder, the warm bed to An An was like a snail’s shell—something he absolutely refused to leave.

Seeing his hesitant little face, Grandpa Zhou immediately knew that this little guy’s “maybe” really meant “definitely not.”

He pulled An An close and began tossing the bottle caps into the box one by one. The room fell completely silent, save for the soft clinking of caps.

Once all the bottle caps had been cleaned up, Grandpa Zhou turned to An An and said:

“It’s fine. Even if you can’t get up, it’s no big deal. I think that doctor was just talking nonsense. What kind of logic is ‘you have to exercise to stay healthy’ anyway?”

Grandpa Zhou waved his hand dismissively, frowning with clear displeasure on his face.

“I don’t believe a word of that nonsense. Look at me—I never did any of that, and I’m still perfectly healthy.”

“Don’t you think so, An An?”

An An nervously picked at the sleeve of Grandpa’s shirt. Normally, in almost every situation, he would blindly agree with whatever Grandpa said. But today, he just couldn’t do it.

After all, Grandma had said the doctors at that hospital were really skilled.

And if such a skilled doctor said something, it had to be true. So when the doctor said Grandpa needed to exercise to stay healthy, what An An heard was: if Grandpa didn’t exercise properly, he’d die early.

“No, no.”

With that thought, An An shook his head firmly.

“An An can’t get up, and actually, Grandpa can’t get up either.”

After hearing that, An An stared at Grandpa with a suspicious look. The more he looked, the more conflicted his expression became.

Getting out of bed really was hard. If he couldn’t do it, it made perfect sense that Grandpa couldn’t either.

“Tomorrow, I’ll wake Grandpa up!”

An An patted his little chest and made this promise with great difficulty.

The reason Grandpa Zhou had brought this up with his precious grandson in the first place was exactly for this moment. A few days ago, he’d heard from an old friend that kids need to exercise more if they want to grow tall.

Like that grandson of Old Wang’s—already in his twenties and only 1.7 meters tall. No matter how good-looking he was, it just didn’t cut it.

That was the official excuse, but the real reason was that Grandpa Zhou simply wanted to be closer to his precious grandson. If he could, he’d shrink the boy down and carry him in his pocket everywhere he went.

That night, while Big Brother was telling him a bedtime story, An An solemnly set an alarm clock right in front of him.

At the same time, he made a silent vow in his heart: He would definitely get up! He could do it!

Zhou Shizhe watched him with amusement, hiding the smile at the corner of his lips behind his book.

The next morning, the alarm rang right on time. An An was jolted awake and sat on the bed, completely blank. He vaguely remembered that he was supposed to wake Grandpa up.

He struggled to throw off the covers and slid off the bed. Still half-asleep, he squinted his eyes, put his shoes on the wrong feet, and with his hair sticking up like a bird’s nest, he floated like a little ghost to Grandpa’s bedroom door and knocked.

“Grandpa, it’s me, An An…”