TOTWV CH2

Chapter 2: Li-Li Is So Good

Shi Li listened in hazy confusion, not understanding what his mother going on a show had to do with him. Instead, he reached out his hand and patted his own little belly.

He was hungry.

A toddler’s appetite is small. Having just transmigrated around noon, Shi Li had only eaten a tiny bit in a daze before his brain began processing memories. Now, before even making it inside the house, his belly was already making motions to rumble.

He leaned against the car window, looking outside and wondering how much longer it would take to get home.

Because it was raining, there was a temperature difference between the inside and outside of the car. Shi Li exhaled fog onto the sealed, transparent glass and used his finger to write on the white mist—“Gu lu.”

After thinking about it seriously, he wiped away the “lu,” exhaled another puff of mist, and wrote a single “口” (mouth) character before pausing.

It seemed he really had become dumber; he was even forgetting how to write characters.

Right on cue, Li-Li’s little belly let out a loud rumble.

The adults’ conversation paused slightly. Only then did Xiang Xiaoying notice Shi Li hanging his head, curiously staring at the spot where the noise came from—his own little belly.

Then he rubbed it.

Xiang Xiaoying asked, “Is Li-Li hungry?”

Shi Li pointed at the characters he had drawn on the car window and nodded his head very seriously, even making a mimicry sound with his mouth: “Gulu, gulu—”

Xiang Xiaoying burst out laughing and asked the driver to speed up.

By the time they arrived at the Shi residence, the rain had already stopped. Shi Li held his little umbrella, walking with uneven steps, carefully dodging the puddles on the ground.

Xiang Xiaoying, who was just about to remind Li-Li as usual, paused and swallowed her words back down.

Auntie Liu, the housekeeper, had already prepared dinner, just waiting for the family to return. Before entering, Xiang Xiaoying called out to Sister Fang in the car, “Stay and have dinner.”

Sister Fang waved her hand. “No, no. In a bit, Li-Li…” Before finishing her sentence, she sighed. “Keep a close eye on him. If I’m around, you’ll just be distracted.”

“I’m off, Sister Ying.”

The car sped away.

Shi Li had already run over to the door, standing on his tiptoes to press the doorbell—ding-dong, ding-dong. It was a very low doorbell specifically designed for the young children in the house. The design had grown outdated, but aside from routine maintenance, it had never been replaced.

Because Shi Li’s older brothers and sisters had all pressed it when they were little.

Xiang Xiaoying pushed the door open to find Auntie Liu rushing over while wiping her hands. “Li-Li is back?”

At first glance, Shi Li couldn’t recall who she was. He tugged at his mother’s hem, hiding behind her and poking out his tiny head to peek.

Then he slowly remembered: this was Auntie Liu, who had resigned and returned to her hometown back when he was in high school. The same Auntie Liu who secretly prepared extra snacks for him every day, nagging that he was too thin and hoping he would eat more meat.

Seeing Li-Li hiding behind Xiang Xiaoying, Auntie Liu was already used to it. She smiled without minding it at all. “Sister Ying, dinner is ready. I made your favorite fish maw and tofu soup.”

Shi Li was led inside, only to find the main hall completely empty, with no one sitting at the dining table.

Xiang Xiaoying felt her hand being pulled. Li-Li tilted his head up to look at her, asking in confusion, “No people?”

The toddler spoke at a sluggish pace, drawing out his soft, milky tone. Realizing he mispronounced a word, he earnestly corrected himself, “…People.”

Xiang Xiaoying lifted the tiny bundle of Shi Li into a high chair. “Your dad went on a business trip, and your brothers and sister are still at school. They won’t be back until the weekend.”

Shi Li handed his small backpack and tiny umbrella to his mother, nodded, and let out a dazed “Oh~”.

Auntie Liu brought out the hot dishes.

With an empty stomach, Shi Li looked at the food on the table—it featured his favorite small pork ribs and steamed egg custard. His eyes instantly lit up.

The toddler was so expectant he almost started swinging his short legs and knocking a bowl waiting for food.

Shi Li waited and waited, until a small bottle was placed on the high chair’s tray. It was milk powder Auntie Liu had just prepared, warm and comfortable to hold without scalding his hands.

Holding the small bottle, he stared blankly for a moment, then anxiously tried to climb up from the chair. “Auntie, my bowl-bowl!”

Because he was so anxious, his pronunciation was slurred.

He tugged at Auntie Liu’s apron, then pointed at the porcelain bowl of white rice in front of his mother, slowing down to signal, “My bowl-bowl, gone.”

It took Auntie Liu a while to understand Shi Li’s meaning. Torn over whether to fetch him a small bowl, she asked, “Sister Ying?”

Xiang Xiaoying looked at the confused little Shi Li and said softly, “Get one. Don’t use porcelain; if it drops later, it wouldn’t be good if Li-Li gets hurt.”

Auntie Liu brought over a small orange bowl.

It had a non-slip placemat underneath that stuck firmly to the tray in front of Shi Li. Touching the rim, he realized it was made of plastic.

Shi Li had raised a kitten in his past life. When he fed the kitten, he had used this exact kind of pet bowl.

It was a bit strange. Normally, a ten-month-old child could be weaned, and by around one year old, they could eat soft rice as a complementary food. Yet now, at three years old, Li-Li still had to hug a bottle to drink milk.

Shi Li, already starving, hugged the bottle and took two gulps.

After waiting a while, he noticed the adults had no intention of serving him rice or dishes, so he began waving his small hands again. “Mom, rice.”

Xiang Xiaoying said, “Serve a little bit.”

Auntie Liu scooped half a small bowl of rice for Shi Li, then asked him what dishes he wanted.

Shi Li said he wanted small pork ribs and the tofu from the fish maw soup, and also asked Auntie to scoop a large spoonful of steamed egg custard onto his rice.

Holding a kid’s spoon, he pressed the egg custard and tofu into the rice, poking and stirring them together. Then he ate big bites spoon by spoon, making his soft cheeks puff out.

Earnestly devouring his meal, Shi Li didn’t notice the two adults occasionally glancing at him nervously. When they saw Li-Li finish a small pork rib and obediently spit the bone onto the table, both of their expressions turned to surprise.

Xiang Xiaoying had no choice but to believe what Teacher Liang had told her today about Shi Li quietly finishing his lunch at the kindergarten.

This was simply too rare.

No sobbing, no flailing hands knocking the bowl to the floor. She had only resorted to giving him milk powder occasionally because Li-Li was three.

After all, just yesterday, Li-Li had been drinking his milk when he suddenly threw up with a loud “wah”.

This dinner passed without further mishap.

Not long after dinner, Xiang Xiaoying brought out a pill organizer. Because Li-Li was still young, the medication prescribed by Dr. Chen came in small doses, often requiring a pill to be split into a quarter or a half before it could be given to him.

A few pills were broken into tiny pieces and put into a small box. Xiang Xiaoying gestured over, “Li-Li, come here, it’s time to take your medication.”

Medication? What medication?

Shi Li paused. Standing on his tiptoes, he leaned on the table to look at the pill bottles.

Complex English names were mixed with Chinese characters. With a bit of common sense, Shi Li could tell that these weren’t ordinary cold or fever medications.

Then what kind of drugs were these?

Shi Li thought sluggishly: Are these medications for treating innate psychological conditions? But now that I’ve transmigrated, am I still sick?

Xiang Xiaoying waited patiently for Li-Li to react. In the past, Li-Li would start throwing a fit the moment he saw it was time for medication, but now he just leaned on the edge of the table looking at it. By comparison, his condition was already much better.

After a long moment, Shi Li tugged on his mother’s hem and looked up with his clean, fair face. His voice was quiet, carrying a toddler’s sticky tone: “Mom, can Li-Li not take the medicine?”

He thought about it and added seriously, “I will eat nicely tomorrow too.”

Xiang Xiaoying’s hand holding the pill box trembled slightly. After a long moment, she said with a forced smile, “But Mom doesn’t want to see Li-Li cry.”

The little bundle of Shi Li hugged the adult’s leg. “I won’t cry. Li-Li will listen to Mom.”

Very, very obediently.

With a clatter, the pill box in Xiang Xiaoying’s hand accidentally slipped to the floor, spilling the organized doses all over. Coming back to her senses, her smile grew strained. “I’m sorry, Mom didn’t mean to.”

She crouched down to pick up the pills from the floor.

Unexpectedly, a milk-scented little bundle threw himself into her arms. Shi Li used his short hands to touch his mother’s eyes, wiping the corners. “Mom, don’t cry.”

Xiang Xiaoying froze for a long time, her voice turning raspy. “Okay, okay.” She patted little Shi Li’s back, a flash of conflict crossing her face. Finally, she closed her eyes and made up her mind. “Then today, Li-Li won’t take the medicine.”

Shi Li understood.

He could skip it today, but tomorrow was uncertain.

Xiang Xiaoying picked up the pills from the floor, threw them into the trash bin, and took Shi Li upstairs to take a nice, fragrant bath.

Toddlers tend to get sleepy early and sleep for a long time. Every night by eight o’clock, Li-Li was supposed to crawl into bed and sleep obediently.

Little Shi Li was changed into green little dinosaur pajamas that were soft and fluffy, complete with a tiny dinosaur tail attached to the seat that wiggled as he walked.

His bed was a custom-made crib surrounded entirely by railings. Shortly after being lifted in, he fell asleep hugging his little bear doll.

Shi Li was very quiet when he slept, without snoring.

Xiang Xiaoying sat by the bed watching him for a while before turning off the nightlight and leaving the room. Standing in the hallway for a moment, she dialed a phone number with a tired expression. “Dr. Chen, I didn’t give Li-Li his medicine today.”

Before she could finish, a stern voice immediately came through the line: “Don’t you know how severe the side effects of suddenly stopping medication can be?”

Xiang Xiaoying couldn’t help saying, “But Li-Li was really obedient today, Dr. Chen. You didn’t hear what the kindergarten teacher said—he didn’t cry or throw a tantrum today, finished his meal all by himself, and stayed quietly the whole afternoon. I could hardly believe it.” Covering her face, she said, “Is Li-Li… getting better?”

“I lean more toward the possibility of his condition deteriorating,” Dr. Chen said helplessly. “Shi Li’s mother, please observe him for a few more days.”

“Don’t let your heart soften.”