◎The King with Donkey Ears◎

When the child’s crying echoed throughout the restaurant, Cheng Yun was earnestly placing several pieces of freshly cooked beef tripe into her husband’s bowl.

At first, she didn’t pay attention, but the wailing became increasingly familiar, and several waiters were rushing over there, so she got up to check the situation.

This one glance left her heart in chaos.

Across several booths, a burly man with tattooed arms stood there, shouting irritably everywhere: “Whose kid is this? Can someone manage him?”

And her precious son sat on the ground, face red with tears streaming down.

A female waitress who had come over at the sound pulled him up to stand.

Yuan Youchuan immediately cried even more fiercely.

Cheng Yun pushed her husband, wanting him to let her pass. Yuan Yi glanced at her, not knowing what was wrong. When she said it was Chuan Chuan crying, he quickly put down his chopsticks and went over together.

She took three steps as two, shouting “excuse me” while pushing through the onlooking crowd.

Seeing this, Yuan Ye arrived unhurriedly.

Cheng Yun pulled her son in front of her protectively, asking gently: “Chuan Chuan, why are you crying?”

Seeing his mother, Yuan Youchuan became even more aggrieved, pointing accusingly at the man: “He hit me.”

Hearing this, Cheng Yun panicked, crouching down to examine the child’s body everywhere, asking where he had been hit.

Yuan Youchuan didn’t answer.

Cheng Yun showed hostility like a mother wolf protecting her cub: “You hit him?”

The woman at the man’s table exploded with sound: “Who hit him? We just pushed him a little. Can your kid stop making false accusations?”

“So pushing a child is right?” Cheng Yun glared at her: “How can you randomly push a child?”

The tattooed man laughed angrily: “So what if I pushed him? I should be considered nice for not hitting him.”

Cheng Yun took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling: “Hey, what kind of way is that to talk?”

The tattooed man said, “That’s how I talk, so what? Your kid wiped his dirty hands all over someone else, and you think you’re in the right? If you can’t manage children, don’t bring them out to embarrass yourself and cause trouble for others.”

The woman in the black camisole immediately chimed in: “Exactly! My boyfriend spoke nicely to him at first, but he wouldn’t listen. Are we supposed to just sit there and let this brat mess with us? Even the Goddess of Mercy wouldn’t have such a good temper.”

She threw over two dirty tissues that rolled to Cheng Yun’s feet.

With evidence and witnesses present, Cheng Yun was stumped. Stammering, she suddenly remembered she was missing a key figure and looked around.

Yuan Ye appeared before her eyes at the right moment.

“I’m sorry,” the boy’s clean voice spread out, instantly diluting the tense atmosphere: “It’s my fault for not watching my little brother properly.”

“I apologize to you.”

“I’m truly sorry.”

He lowered his eyebrows submissively, his attitude humble.

The woman looked at him more closely, seeing his clothes were even more of a mess, and couldn’t help but speak sarcastically: “Ha, no wonder. If you can make your own family like this, what can you expect in terms of manners toward strangers?”

Just as Cheng Yun was about to retort, her arms became empty.

Yuan Yi, who had been staying aside without intervening, seeing nearby diners raising their phones, quickly grabbed Yuan Youchuan and threatened: “Stop crying! Apologize to the uncle and aunt!”

Dad’s face was fierce, and Yuan Youchuan immediately stopped crying, his mind blank, only able to comply.

Sobbing, he wiped his face while mumbling: “Uncle, Aunt, I’m sorry…”

Yuan Yi continued teaching: “I shouldn’t have wiped on you.”

Yuan Youchuan repeated: “I, sob, I shouldn’t have wiped on you…”

Yuan Yi noticed the stain on the man’s sleeve and remedied: “Sir, I’m truly sorry. It’s my fault for not teaching my son properly, letting him get your clothes like this. Should we compensate you or…?”

The man glanced at him disdainfully: “No need. Looking at your wife’s unconvinced expression, I don’t want to be falsely accused of extortion later.”

Yuan Yi’s brow tightened slightly as he turned back with a warning look.

Cheng Yun gritted her teeth, angry but not daring to speak, only pulling the child back in front of her.

Seeing this, the waitress quickly came forward to mediate, saying children are young and don’t understand, that harmony brings wealth. The couple stopped pursuing the matter and sat back down to continue eating.

Cheng Yun carried Yuan Youchuan back to their seats, softly comforting him.

Yuan Yi wore a stern face, saying nothing.

Yuan Ye followed behind, walking leisurely. After a moment, he turned his face aside and breathed out lightly.

—

What should have been a harmonious meal became extremely depressing due to this unexpected incident.

In the second half, Yuan Yi ate without tasting, drank several cups of barley tea, and said he was full, asking his wife when they should leave.

Cheng Yun was thin-skinned and naturally didn’t want to stay longer either, saying: “Let’s go now.”

Yuan Yi nodded, looking at Yuan Ye: “Will you stay home tonight?”

Yuan Ye politely declined: “I have a lot of homework this week, and I didn’t bring much back. I’d better return to the rental. I’m afraid I won’t finish it.”

Seeing his backpack beside him wasn’t thick and hung there loosely, Yuan Yi didn’t insist: “Then we’ll drive you back first.”

Yuan Yi went to the underground level to get the car.

Yuan Ye, Cheng Yun, and Yuan Youchuan waited at the intersection. The child was still sniffling, while the other two remained silent.

A black Audi A8L braked to a stop.

Yuan Ye got into the passenger seat. After getting on the road, Cheng Yun in the back seat was still comforting the still-shaken Yuan Youchuan.

The woman’s voice chattered endlessly. Yuan Yi was already in a bad mood and told her to stop spoiling the child so much. The two argued for a few sentences, then the car fell silent. Yuan Ye leaned back in his seat, took out noise-canceling headphones, put them on left and right, and looked out the window sideways.

The sedan glided past endless phantom lights, neon, and buildings, stopping at the familiar alley entrance.

Just as Yuan Ye got out and was about to leave, he was called back by his father, gripping the steering wheel.

The man turned back to instruct his wife and child: “Xiao Yun, I’m going up with Yuan Ye to say a few words. You and Chuan Chuan wait for me in the car.”

Cheng Yun was startled, then smiled in response.

Yuan Yi left the air conditioning on and got out of the car.

As the two figures outside the window gradually moved away, Cheng Yun’s enthusiastic farewell expression cooled down.

She took out a lollipop from her bag, unwrapped it, and handed it to Yuan Youchuan, trapped in his safety seat.

The boy licked it, and his mood finally improved.

The woman put on a smile: “Chuan Chuan, weren’t you supposed to wash your hands? Drawing on your brother was fine, but why did you use dirty hands to wipe on strangers? Did your brother tell you to do it?”

The little boy nodded vigorously: “Yes, brother told me to draw.”

Cheng Yun clenched her fists, her pink manicure digging into her flesh. She took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, and rolled up the car window.

—

On the way up, father and son barely spoke – just a few polite pleasantries about whether he was living comfortably. Yuan Ye put away his headphones and answered each question, just without much emotion.

Yuan Yi followed Yuan Ye upstairs, criticizing the hallway environment the whole way: “If there weren’t any available rooms, I wouldn’t have chosen this place. These stairs are so narrow that if two more men came, they’d collapse.”

Yuan Ye didn’t respond, taking out his key to open the door.

Inside was pitch black, with only some dim outdoor light spots scattered on objects.

“No one home?” Yuan Yi was somewhat surprised: “Did the household next door come back?”

Yuan Ye noticed a sliver of light seeping from under the girl’s door, glanced at her mother’s door, and quickly turned on the living room light: “Seems like it.”

“There’s only one pair of slippers. Don’t change yours.”

He said this while heading to his room.

Yuan Yi followed in. Considering there was no one else home, he didn’t close the door.

The man looked around, seeing his son’s room was kept reasonably tidy and presentable, so he stopped asking about living matters and walked to his desk, pulling out a chair to sit.

“You sit too.” Yuan Yi pointed to the bed.

Yuan Ye silently complied.

Yuan Yi picked up the exercise book from his table, flipped through it twice, put it back, and got straight to the point: “I went on a business trip to Beijing a few days ago and didn’t have time to deal with you. Do you know that Teacher Tang called me?”

Without thinking, Yuan Ye knew what it was about and replied: “I guessed.”

“He said you gave up the competition? Is that true or false?”

Yuan Ye looked up: “True.”

Still not taking it too seriously, when he got confirmation from his son’s mouth, Yuan Yi could no longer hide his shock: “You decided this yourself?”

Yuan Ye said, “Yes, I don’t want to participate anymore.”

“You say you won’t participate, and that’s it?” Yuan Yi’s voice suddenly rose: “Such a big matter and you don’t discuss it with me?”

Yuan Ye’s face remained calm: “I want to focus on the college entrance exam.”

Yuan Yi disagreed: “Does this conflict? What’s wrong with taking it one more time? It’s not like you’re far behind. Sixty-second place – two places away from making the training team, and Tsinghua and Peking University would be guaranteed. Based on your momentum and all these years of experience, making it next time is a sure thing. Why won’t you go? I don’t believe you don’t understand the principle of striving early to enjoy early.”

Yuan Ye looked straight at him: “So what? My overall grades have never dropped out of first place in the year. What are you worried about?”

Yuan Yi mocked him: “Do you not understand, or are you pretending not to understand? Can the gold content of the national training team be compared to the college entrance exam?”

Yuan Ye curved his lips with no real smile, only feeling cold: “You mean the gold content for your institution, right?”

Yuan Yi felt like something was stuck in his throat. After a while, he suppressed his anger and lowered his voice: “Your brother and Aunt Cheng are still waiting downstairs. I don’t have time to argue with you about this. I’m your father – would I harm you? You don’t understand the stakes involved yet. Don’t gamble with your future out of spite.”

“I understand my future better than anyone,” Yuan Ye braced his hands on the bed, leaning back slightly in a particularly relaxed posture that seemed even more willful: “I can be responsible for myself. Stop managing me.”

Mentioning this made Yuan Yi even angrier: “How have I managed you? All these years, how many times have I turned a blind eye and favored you? Tonight, with Chuan Chuan’s incident, do you think I don’t understand? And secretly writing problems for Bozhi – what are you planning to do with that little money? Does the family not give you money or mistreat you?”

The man thought again and sneered:

“Yuan Yi’s son, Principal Yuan’s son, writing problems for the competition – how did you think of that? It would be laughable if word got out.”

Yuan Ye didn’t make a sound.

Yuan Yi knew his son’s temperament well – completely inherited from his birth mother, appearing gentle and easy-going but actually hard-hearted as stone.

So he put on a reasonable negotiating attitude: “Yuan Ye, have you really thought this through? Preparing for college entrance exams without participating in competitions – won’t you reconsider?”

The boy’s gaze was resolute, shutting the door on visitors: “No need to reconsider. You should go back. After all, Chuan Chuan and Aunt Cheng are still waiting for you.”

His words were barbed, and Yuan Yi felt blood rushing to his brain in fury. Getting up, he said: “Fine, you’re amazing. Not participating in the Olympics, great! Then become the top scorer for me!”

“Otherwise, you’ll be sorry for every word you’re saying now! And every time you’ve gotten angry with the family!”

The man left immediately after speaking, his steps unwavering.

Finally slamming the front door with a bang.

—

Chun Zao, who had been eavesdropping for a long time, was startled by the door slam, and the mechanical pencil in her hand pressed down hard.

Her heart pounded like thunder as she quickly erased the broken lead on the draft paper, clicked twice to get new lead out, and forced herself to continue doing problems.

However, her train of thought was completely disrupted, and she couldn’t solve anything anymore.

She scratched the side of her neck, thinking that her mother had turned off all the lights outside before going to the supermarket, so they probably thought no one was home and argued like that.

It was better not to let Yuan Ye know of her presence.

Thinking this, Chun Zao decided to “confirm” the illusion that no one was home.

She tiptoed up, turned off the bedroom ceiling light, leaving only the desk lamp for illumination.

Sitting back at the desk, she didn’t hurry to pick up her pen but leaned against the wall, listening with her ear pressed close, holding her breath to catch sounds from next door.

Steady footsteps came from that side – only six steps before stopping.

A creaking sound, seeming like a wardrobe door opening.

After a moment, footsteps on the floor sounded again, gradually moving away.

She sighed with relief, sat back down properly in her chair, and picked up her pen, flipping over the filled draft paper.

Just as she was about to bend down to continue her homework, the door was knocked three times.

Chun Zao shot up, looking at the door, not knowing what to do for a moment.

He knew she was home???

After a moment of confusion, the girl pulled down her pajama hem, composed her expression, and went to open the door.

Outside was indeed Yuan Ye.

From his complexion to his state, everything was calm as if nothing had happened. Even the white T-shirt on him was clean and neat without a wrinkle.

Chun Zao tried not to make eye contact, not wanting him to feel observed and analyzed, which would hurt his self-esteem.

The boy extended his left hand, a brand new white phone card held between two fingers: “Your card.”

“Here.” He was brief and to the point.

Chun Zao took it with both hands, nodded in thanks, then asked: “How much?”

“Hm?” A confused nasal sound dropped down: “This seems to be lent to you, not sold to you.”

Chun Zao’s face immediately burned.

“I know,” she quickly explained, “I don’t mean to keep it permanently. It’s just that using your card for free like this… I don’t feel right about it, since calls and data cost money.”

While she was still fidgeting anxiously, the boy had already quickly provided a solution: “How about you treat me to a meal?”

Chun Zao looked at him, concern in her eyes: would one meal be enough?

The boy didn’t seem to care about equivalent exchange, continuing to seek her opinion: “Is that okay?”

Well, let’s go with what he said. Chun Zao steeled herself and agreed: “Okay, choose a day next week and I’ll treat you to dinner.”

Yuan Ye hummed in agreement, gesturing to the card in her hand: “Won’t you try it?”

Chun Zao realized, turned back to walk to the bed, took out the phone from under her pillow, and began inserting the card.

She knew how to do it, but because such moments were rare, she was a bit flustered.

Yuan Ye didn’t actively help or guide.

There was light outside the room, but it was dim inside.

The girl happened to stop at the boundary between light and shadow, her head slightly tilted, her small nose like a pearl half-hidden in deep water.

Her movements were somewhat awkward but very serious and persistent.

Time and space both seemed to belong to her. He didn’t want to intrude or be the one to break it.

Finally, it powered on.

The screen’s light illuminated the girl’s eyes.

Yuan Ye couldn’t help but lift the corners of his mouth, as if the gift-giver had also gotten a slice of cake.

Chun Zao restrained her tumbling joy, walked close to him, opened a music app, randomly selected a song, and the cheerful prelude quickly played.

“Thank you.” She thanked him again, almost moved to tears of gratitude: “It works.”

The internet speed was also very fast, so so.

Yuan Ye replied: “That’s good then.”

Having completed the “transaction,” the boy was about to leave when suddenly he turned back, his thin eyelids lifting slightly, casually glancing at the room with only one dim light: “You’re really economical with electricity.”

“…” Chun Zao choked, awkwardly rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand: “Uh, I’m alone at home anyway.”

After deliberately watching the “great benefactor Yuan” return to his bedroom, Chun Zao closed her door.

She quickly sat back on the bed, put on one earphone, and with the playlist BGM, slid through screens browsing various websites, logging into QQ, going on Weibo – everything under control.

The black and white room was officially connected to the outside world, with fresh, sweet air flowing in.

Chun Zao hummed along happily to the music, her heels bouncing rhythmically up and down in her slippers.

Of course, she remained vigilant about watching the door and paying attention to sounds outside, to avoid being too carried away and getting caught red-handed by Chun Chuzhen when she returned.

While enjoying herself, a text message notification popped up.

Chun Zao opened it.

Unknown number, content: “test”

Test?

Test… phone communication?

Except for the other owner of this card, she couldn’t think of who else would send such a message.

As the carried-away renter, Chun Zao originally wanted to playfully reply: “TD”

But remembering the intense situation next door earlier, she properly typed “received” and saved the number to her contacts.

The boy went quiet.

Chun Zao waited a few minutes, her emotions uncontrollably dropping.

She fell back onto the bed, feeling that her inflated self was a bit glaring and excessive.

The content of Yuan Ye’s argument with his father seemed to still echo in her ears.

It was hard not to think deeper – he must have come home to get the card and encountered his father; the “Aunt Cheng” they mentioned, was she the woman who came on registration day? Yuan Ye’s family composition was actually like this… Writing problems for money, could the card she was borrowing also be from his hard-earned money? As for competitions and top scorer status, having such specific requirements for grades was no different from her miserable situation, perhaps even more strict.

Someone who seemed perfectly effortless was living such a difficult life privately.

Chun Zao stared blankly at her phone.

Just because it looked fine on the surface, did that mean it was fine?

She thought of her sadness and embarrassment after arguing with her mother, feeling even more guilty.

Chun Zao closed all apps, leaving only the message interface. She was too ashamed to even play music.

After deep thought, she took the initiative to send greetings: Are you okay…?

The other side replied with a “?”, seeming puzzled.

“…”

Chun Zao continued speaking tactfully: You know, this room doesn’t have very good soundproofing.

But what shocked her was that two messages popped up in succession, without punctuation:

「Did I disturb you? 」

「Sorry」

No, no, no… that’s not it—

Chun Zao sat up straight, her guilt doubling. Unfortunately, she was inarticulate and could only organize some awkward, clumsy comfort:

“Arguing with parents is quite normal…”

“Look, I also fought with my mom last week.”

“What’s past is past.”

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. As for top scorer status, even with 99% effort, you still need 1% luck.”

“Don’t overthink it. You’re already super amazing.”

Yuan Ye leaned against the headboard, watching the nearly screen-flooding messages pop up one after another, his expression somewhat uncertain for a moment, finally settling on one word: amused.

Confirming she had finished speaking.

He sat up slightly.

Although he wasn’t going to have a face-to-face conversation, he still cleared his throat and typed:

「Chun Zao」, starting with her name, made this sentence look more serious: 「Have you heard a fairy tale?」

The girl who received the reply sat up straight, back against the wall: What?

He replied: 《The King with Donkey Ears》.

Chun Zao thought for a moment: Seems familiar.

Just as she was about to search for the complete story, more messages popped up in the text box, apparently preparing to tell it himself:

“Once there was a beloved, wise, and mighty king who had a secret flaw – he had donkey ears. He was very worried about people finding out.”

“But he always had to cut his hair, so he called in a trustworthy barber.”

“The barber was very pained by keeping the secret of the king’s ear deformity, so he went to the mountains, dug a hole to tell it, then buried the hole.”

“After a few years, a tree grew from the hole. A shepherd cut down the branches to make a flute, and later…”

He stopped there.

Through Yuan Ye’s telling, the dusty story from childhood gradually took shape in Chun Zao’s mind.

She added uncertainly: Later, the flute played only the secret that the king had donkey ears?

The other side confirmed: Exactly.

Then asked: If you were in this story, would you choose to be the tree hole or the flute?

Chun Zao was stunned.

But within seconds, enlightened, the girl suddenly understood the deeper meaning of this fairy tale.

Confirming she hadn’t misunderstood the reading comprehension, she seriously typed back: Of course, the tree hole.

And added the reason: The flute feels very immoral.

She would never become such a character.

She would help him keep all secrets.

Just as he had given her the note and phone card, he definitely wouldn’t spread or publicize either.

But she also wanted a definite promise, so she asked: What about you? What would you choose to be?

After all, it was a question about testing human nature, and Chun Zao prepared mentally to wait.

However, with almost no time difference, the boy’s answer appeared before her eyes.

Very brief, and very powerful:

「I would always be the king.」