Xiao Han felt an incomparably excited dizziness.

Although they were just ordinary two-sentence exchanges that Zhui Ye had also had with the children before her, being able to possess this equal treatment was already the rarest good fortune she had experienced in these twelve years.

She bounced and skipped away from the activity room, clutching that bag of candy against her soft belly.

How could she bear to eat it? The girl carefully pulled out the tin box Tingting had left her from under the bed and placed the candy inside, arranging it alongside the flower string and shuttlecock.

Before she could close the lid, the matron auntie hurriedly walked in from outside, muttering, “Why did you come here, child? Quickly come with me to the director’s office!”

She froze in that instant, a faint absurd premonition rising in her heart.

But how could that be possible?!

Without giving Xiao Han time to react, the auntie grabbed her hand and stumbled toward the office.

Her heart felt dazed. Even standing inside the office, she remained in a trance. Meeting Zhui Ye and Wu Man’s gazes, she reflexively lowered her head, covering her mouth.

“Xiao Han.” The director’s tone carried hesitation that even she herself didn’t quite believe. “Someone wants to adopt you. Chat with them and get acquainted. Everything will be based on your wishes.”

After speaking, she quickly closed the door behind her as she left, leaving Xiao Han alone with them.

Xiao Han nervously clutched at her faded old clothes. She had a feeling of approaching the sun, that scorching heat almost unbearable. So she had no time to notice the other two people and thus didn’t discover that their fidgeting wasn’t any less than hers.

Wu Man kept running her fingers through her hair. Zhui Ye touched his nose. They looked at each other face to face, raising their chins at each other. These two people who had become influential figures in their industry stood in the office like two children being punished to stand, trying to pass the buck to each other.

Finally, Zhui Ye resignedly took a step forward, walking in front of the little girl.

“Xiao Han, let me introduce myself in more detail.” For the first time, Zhui Ye, who usually spoke without reservation, showed hesitation. “You might not really know us. My beloved and I, we’re both actors. We…”

He was still struggling with how to phrase this adoption opening, when Xiao Han, using her unclear voice, tremblingly and loudly rushed to say, “I want to go with you!”

She was afraid that if she spoke even a moment later, perhaps these two people in front of her would regret it.

Because she really couldn’t understand why they would choose her from among those cute and young children. Maybe they wore sunglasses because their eyesight really was bad?

Then she needed to seize this opportunity tightly before they discovered her inadequacies.

“This child…”

Zhui Ye froze, then suddenly smiled.

Wu Man’s eyes also rippled with laughter. She paused and said, “Xiao Han… then from now on, we’ll be family.”

The tone was somewhat stiff, but Xiao Han heard the woman’s joy and warmth without any pretense.

The girl finally hesitantly released the corner of her clothes that had been crumpled into a ball in her palm and solemnly nodded her small head.

The orphanage’s various facilities were very rudimentary. Forget about internet access—they only had those few lackluster books. Occasionally college student volunteers would come to teach them reading and writing, but beyond that, Xiao Han knew nothing at all. As for how famous Wu Man and Zhui Ye were outside, she had no idea whatsoever.

There was only one large television in the facility, in the activity room, where everyone sat together to watch collectively for only half an hour each day. And she had never seen these two people on television.

But this should be because she watched too little. After all, at the orphanage, the children could only watch a few fixed children’s channels. They certainly wouldn’t appear on children’s channels.

However, arriving at her new home and seeing the size of the house, Xiao Han couldn’t help but speculate in her heart that the actors who adopted her probably indeed weren’t anyone famous—otherwise why would the house be so small?

She stood at the entrance looking around. The house was very cramped, the simplest two-bedroom-one-living-room layout. The living room looked even more pitifully narrow because it was stuffed full of various small trinkets: on the carpet, every three steps there was a stuffed toy, and on the coffee table were brand new Lego sets, puzzles, and so on.

Xiao Han didn’t know that after Zhui Ye and Wu Man decided to adopt her, within two days they had frantically searched online for what twelve-year-old children liked, then rushed to move these things home.

If the space had been large enough, they might have moved an entire toy store back.

At this moment, the two people stood nervously beside the little girl, eagerly spying on her reaction.

Xiao Han timidly looked around, tightly hugging the small tin box in her arms. She felt that she and the toys in the tin box were the same—compared to these brand new and dazzling toys, they were so out of place.

She had originally hesitated whether she should bring the tin box. These things were too worn out. Just like Tingting said, they should be abandoned, useless things.

But they had accompanied her all these years. Discarding them would be like discarding herself. She couldn’t bear to.

Wu Man noticed her movement and guided her by asking, “Are the things in the box what you like? You can take them out and put them wherever you like.”

She shook her head instinctively, then carefully asked after reacting, “Can I put them out?”

“Of course. Don’t forget that now this is your home.”

Only after receiving Wu Man’s approval did Xiao Han open the box, revealing the bag of candy inside, along with the old flower string and the shuttlecock missing two feathers.

“Are these your toys?”

Wu Man glanced at the box, suddenly catching sight of the candy, her eyes flickering.

The girl nodded lightly, mumbling as quietly as a mosquito, “But… it’s been many years since I played with them.”

Zhui Ye stepped forward two paces and swept aside the brand new toys on the coffee table, clearing a space. Then he took the old tin box from Xiao Han’s hands and placed it reverently on top.

He took out the flower string from inside and played with it a few times, muttering as he did, “This looks quite fun. You don’t mind if we occasionally play with these too, do you?”

Xiao Han’s eyes widened. “You… would want to play with these?”

Wu Man picked up the shuttlecock and kicked it a couple of times, saying with a smile, “Why not? These are things I played with when I was little too. Very nostalgic.”

Xiao Han blinked her large round eyes, not wanting to let tears fall.

How wonderful. Her toys and herself, both finally didn’t have to face the fate of being abandoned. Although the worn tin box looked so jarring on the clean coffee table, there was mysteriously also a marvelous sense of harmony.

After passing through the living room, Xiao Han finally arrived at her room.

On the door was posted a small blackboard with two lines written in chalk:

“Welcome our child.”

The words were the same, but the handwriting was different, written personally by Wu Man and Zhui Ye respectively.

The girl looked up, reaching out to touch the edge of the blackboard.

For the first time, she had a real sense that the two people beside her would be her future father and mother. Although… it seemed she still had difficulty calling them that for the moment.

From birth until now, she had never used those two words.

Would they also find it strange, suddenly having such a big child…

Zhui Ye patted her shoulder, seeming to perceive what she was thinking, saying without concern, “Don’t worry about how to address us. From now on you can directly call us by our names, or uncle and auntie, older brother and older sister—all are fine.” He blinked. “Comfort comes first.”

She nodded helplessly.

The two gestured for her to push open the door herself. There were no surprises hidden inside, and the decoration wasn’t flashy either. The sheets and duvet covers were all very neat white.

“I originally wanted to decorate it as a princess room for you.” Wu Man tapped Zhui Ye’s arm. “Then this guy told me, who says girls will definitely like pink princess style? Maybe our child is very special and just likes a cool style instead. I thought about it and felt he was very right, so I changed the decoration to the simplest white.”

Zhui Ye added, “Although we don’t know which style you like—maybe you like princess style, maybe you like cooler tones? But now you can tell us, and we’ll help you decorate it bit by bit.”

Xiao Han clenched her palms, shaking her head forcefully.

“I think it’s already wonderful now!” She turned her head to look at the window. “It’s so warm here, the windows won’t even leak wind.”

Hearing this sentence, Wu Man, standing to the side, looked dazed, her expression seeming unable to hold.

Zhui Ye only glanced lightly and perceived her emotional change. He raised his hand to press Wu Man’s head to his shoulder, coaxing softly, “Look, we have a little girl here who’s about to cry first.”

Wu Man took advantage and bumped Zhui Ye’s neck with her head. “From being influenced by a certain crybaby.”

“Who’s a crybaby? You’re ruining my reputation.”

“I didn’t even say it was you. Why are you so anxious to claim it?”

Zhui Ye was speechless. Since there was a child present and he couldn’t do anything to Wu Man, he whispered in her ear.

“Then Elder Sister better not cry tonight.”

Wu Man immediately bounced up, brushing her hair to cover half her flushed face.

To celebrate Xiao Han’s arrival, Zhui Ye and Wu Man prepared lots of ingredients, planning to show off their cooking skills in the kitchen tonight.

Wu Man’s cooking skills hadn’t improved much over these eight years. This was Zhui Ye’s fault for spoiling her. After all, there was already one chef at home, so the other just needed to wait to be fed.

So although she said she would also personally cook tonight, in reality she was still helping Zhui Ye with odd jobs while taking care of Xiao Han’s mood, afraid she would be uncomfortable alone in the new environment.

Xiao Han was invited to sit on the sofa, staring blankly at the large television in the living room. After Wu Man finished washing vegetables and walked out from the kitchen, she saw the scene of her staring at the television.

“Don’t you like watching TV?”

The remote was placed right beside her, but the girl had no intention of turning it on.

“Can one person watch it?” Xiao Han asked carefully. “At the orphanage, everyone watches together.”

Wu Man paused slightly and sat down beside Xiao Han, helping her turn on the television.

“Of course one person can watch. We’ll also watch together with you.” Wu Man stuffed the remote into the child’s hands. “Come, now choose the channel you like.”

Xiao Han tentatively held the remote, seeming to lack the confidence to press it.

Seeing this, Wu Man reached out to embrace her, her hand covering the small hand, helping her press down.

The television screen began to change—advertising pitches, domestic drama dialogue, gunfire from spy dramas, and the sound of cooking oil from the kitchen. The world was so noisy, yet had a drowsiness-inducing quietness.

Xiao Han stared fixedly at the television. Every channel was novel to her.

Among the dazzling array of channels, she suddenly realized that Wu Man and Zhui Ye were actors. Didn’t that mean she could find them on television? She expectantly turned the remote, watching one after another, until she had cycled through all the channels.

Nothing…

She couldn’t help feeling disappointed, and also sad for Wu Man and Zhui Ye. Why didn’t these two such good-looking people have any shows to film? Could there be people who didn’t like them?

In her monotonous life experience, she had never been taken to see a movie. In her young cognition, television was everything.

Wu Man looked at the little girl’s suddenly lowered head, not understanding how her mood had dropped.

…Sure enough, children were a domain she completely didn’t understand.

She scratched her head, at a loss. Fortunately, at this moment, Zhui Ye came out from the kitchen carrying dishes, calling to them on the sofa, “Two little girls, wash your hands and come eat.”

“Don’t call me that anymore!” Wu Man quickly went over to cover his mouth. Good heavens, she was already over forty—wasn’t it embarrassing to be called that?

Zhui Ye smiled knowingly, anticipating Elder Sister throwing herself into his arms, and picked up a chopstick of celery and meat from the dish he was carrying, stuffing it into her mouth.

Wu Man immediately forgot what she wanted to say and chewed with relish.

The television continued playing as the three of them took their seats.

Xiao Han looked at the table full of dishes feeling a bit panicked, with the result being that she desperately shoveled white rice into her mouth.

Zhui Ye and Wu Man exchanged glances and unobtrusively also started shoveling white rice into their mouths. Now not a single person at the table touched the good dishes.

Xiao Han stole glances at their reactions from the corner of her eye, stopped her movements, and asked puzzledly, “…You’re both not eating the dishes?”

What a waste…

Zhui Ye sighed. “We originally made this to feed you. If you don’t eat it, we suddenly don’t want to eat either. It must be that these dishes don’t appeal to you.”

Wu Man cooperatively nodded, pitifully shoveling another mouthful of white rice.

The two drama queens cooperated perfectly. The little girl’s scalp tightened, and she hurriedly shook her head. “Of course not! I want to eat!”

She finally no longer restrained her appetite and gobbled until her belly formed a small hill.

Xiao Han wanted to cry but had no tears. She had clearly wanted to show that she was easy to care for and wouldn’t burden them, but it backfired. Would they think she ate a lot?

She put down her bowl and chopsticks, explaining softly, “My appetite usually isn’t this big…”

“It must be because what I made was too delicious, right?”

Zhui Ye very smugly took credit, receiving a eye roll from Wu Man.

Xiao Han nodded vigorously. “Yes! It’s the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten!”

Zhui Ye’s mouth corners lifted as he tapped the little girl’s nose. Wu Man watched their interaction grow closer than before, her eyes curving with a smile.

As night fell, the living room had become quiet. Only one bedroom at the end still had its light on.

The other bedroom belonging to Xiao Han had already gone dark, but she lay bolt upright on the bed, gazing at the pitch-black ceiling, unable to fall asleep no matter what.

Everything that happened during the day surged chaotically through her mind, making her suspect that all of this was the dream, and that closing her eyes would conversely wake her up.

So she was reluctant to sleep. Even if this was a dream, it was a good dream she had never had in twelve years.

Very light knocking sounds came from the quiet space. From outside the door came a woman’s voice with a slightly husky quality.

“Xiao Han, are you asleep?”

The girl froze, then quickly flipped over and pattered down from the bed to open the door for Wu Man.

Wu Man wore a lake-blue silk nightgown, with half her black long hair pinned up, a few curved strands of hair hanging by her ears. Her entire person looked so languid in the night.

She bent down to touch her face, saying with a smile, “I knew you weren’t asleep. Can’t fall asleep, right?”

The instant her fingertips brushed past was incomparably soft, making Xiao Han feel like she was stepping on clouds at this moment.

She dazedly nodded.

Wu Man led her back to the bed and settled herself against the pillow, occupying a small edge of the bed. “I’ll chat with you. I’ll leave after you fall asleep.”

Xiao Han buried half her face in the blanket, covering her mouth, thinking, This way I definitely won’t be able to sleep even more!

Wu Man’s hand gently smoothed the girl’s messy hair strands. “Zhui Ye and I… we’re both spending time with a child for the first time. If anything during this day made you feel uncomfortable, you must tell us.”

Actually, the ones feeling dazed this whole day weren’t just Xiao Han, but them too.

The decision to adopt a child—Wu Man had pondered it for several years.

She was a person with thin family bonds. Her relationship with her mother from childhood destined that they wouldn’t be like ordinary mothers and daughters. Blood relations were nothing more than that. Perhaps it was because of this experience that she dared to make the decision to get her tubes tied that year, punishing herself to never have biological children in this lifetime.

She knew this was how her life would be, and she accepted her fate. But she didn’t want Zhui Ye to have to bear a blank space in his life because of her choice.

After spending some time processing the shock that his vasectomy brought her, she chose to lay it all out and discuss it carefully with Zhui Ye, suggesting he get it reversed.

Although saying this hurt their relationship—it was like discussing how to divide property after divorce before even getting married. She didn’t question Zhui Ye’s feelings for her, it was just that thirty years old and twenty years old, standing at life’s different angles to look at problems would indeed be very different.

At twenty, you don’t understand looking ahead and behind. You act decisively. By thirty, when you want to find a way back but can’t find one anywhere, life won’t reload and restart because of youthful passion.

Zhui Ye hadn’t walked to this step yet, so he didn’t understand. She completely empathized. But she had already reached this age. She had to lead the way for him.

This was the person she loved. Even if they separated in the future, she hoped he wouldn’t have any regrets and that his life could be complete.

She rationally analyzed all these consequences for him one by one, telling him, “Don’t easily give up your right to become a father. Although I’m very disdainful of that worldly nonsense, but… from a certain perspective, when a person comes to this world, having a child of their own—not having this experience will truly be a regretful thing. Not wanting one is one thing. Not having a choice is another. Reversing it now is still in time. If you think about it again in a couple of years, it won’t be of much use.”

Zhui Ye unsurprisingly got a bit angry. He said coldly, with finality, “I’m certain I won’t want one.”

“Think about it carefully again. Missing this part of the experience, your life ultimately won’t be the most complete. Especially for an actor.” Wu Man paused. “Don’t consider me. Your life should be calculated by yourself.”

“I have seriously calculated it, which is why I clearly know that if there really comes a day when I have to have a child with someone else, that means I’ve lost you.” Zhui Ye said with utter determination, “Then my life wouldn’t be missing just a small piece, but would be a devastating collapse. What completeness would there be to speak of?”

Wu Man looked at his incomparably focused face, her nose stinging.

She took a deep breath, shaking her head. “That day won’t come.”

Only then did Zhui Ye smile. “Elder Sister, I know what you’re worried about. But it’s really not a big deal. I originally didn’t like children anyway. Having them or not makes no difference.”

He spoke that sentence too naturally and casually. It was one of the rare moments when he used acting skills in front of her without her noticing. So much so that she really believed Zhui Ye didn’t like children.

Until a certain year later, when he took on a role. That role required him to play a child’s father, and Zhui Ye couldn’t grasp this state, falling into a bottleneck for the first time.

So she accompanied him to a nearby orphanage. He tried to experience the character’s emotional state through real interactions with children.

Throughout the entire process, Zhui Ye performed very restrainedly. Even though he chatted with the children, played with clay with them, and recited poetry to them, all this patience and joy could be explained as him getting into character, having nothing to do with his own emotions.

But Wu Man noticed that fleeting look in his eyes when he left the orphanage—a very quiet joy.

Spending time with children truly made him feel happy from the bottom of his heart.

Yet this was a secret he had to hide from her.

This was a fact Wu Man suddenly realized several years later. Many times, not seeing your lover’s sacrifices isn’t because the other party hides them so skillfully, but because the receiving person pretends to be blind. This is the privilege of being loved, but for the person who loves, it’s too unfair.

From that time on, she understood she couldn’t continue being so at ease with herself. She had decided on her own not to become a mother, implicating Zhui Ye and changing his life trajectory. That would not only be his regret, but would also become hers.

Therefore, over the next several years, she continuously thought about this matter repeatedly, struggling psychologically with herself.

She decided to propose adoption on Zhui Ye’s twenty-ninth birthday.

That day at home, after he blew out the candles and opened his eyes after making his wish, Wu Man casually asked him, “Have you ever wished to become a father?”

He froze, showing a puzzled expression at her question.

“How could that be? I told you I don’t like children.”

Wu Man didn’t expose him, humming in acknowledgment. “But if I told you I kind of want to adopt a child that belongs to us, would you hate that?”

Zhui Ye was stupefied for a while, asking incredulously, “Elder Sister…?”

He knew about her psychological shadow, which was why he was so astonished.

“When I got my tubes tied, it was because I didn’t want a second innocent child to be born. This is my promise to that unborn child. They will be my only biological child.” Wu Man said slowly. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t become a mother anymore, does it?”

When Wu Man mentioned that child, her eyes still reddened.

“…Of course.” Zhui Ye stepped forward and pulled Wu Man into his embrace, gently patting her back, once, then again. “They would certainly also hope Elder Sister could move forward, because that was your child. They also love you forever.”

Zhui Ye didn’t immediately agree to her proposal at the time. He told her to think about it carefully again.

How could he know she had already thought about it for several years.

Adopting a child wasn’t just for Zhui Ye. Whether it was her own childhood experience or Zhui Ye’s, both made her deeply aware that there were too many unfortunate children in this world. Not everyone could be favored by God and grow up in gentle wind and warm rain.

There were still many children who survived in violent storms.

As much as possible, she didn’t want children to suffer this hardship anymore. One less in the world was one less.

Finally, they agreed that in the year Zhui Ye turned thirty, they would adopt a child.

Wu Man came back to herself and patted Xiao Han’s shoulder.

In the darkness, neither of these two people good with words spoke. The room was very quiet.

The little girl’s stiff shoulders gradually softened under Wu Man’s patting. Thinking she had fallen asleep, Wu Man was about to leave when she heard Xiao Han, huddled in the blanket, ask, “You’ve been so good to me. I have no complaints, really!” Her voice was muffled. “Instead, I really want to ask you both—I’m not good at all, so why… would you choose me?”

Why would you choose someone so ugly, who can’t even speak clearly?

Wu Man was silent for a while before answering, “Because… we didn’t want a child who had waited alone for over ten years to be disappointed. Making you wait so long—we came late.”

She bent down and kissed the girl’s exposed forehead.

“I hope my child will always have their wishes fulfilled.”

At the same time in the master bedroom, Zhui Ye, who was tossing and turning on the bed waiting for Wu Man to return, inexplicably felt his forehead being touched—warm and moist, soft. Like a kiss full of love.