Right Here Waiting For You

Ning Tiantian’s eyes traveled down his back and his straight long legs. On him, the school uniform was like a piece of clear, blue sky, peppered with white, fluffy clouds. His handsome visage was chiseled like marble–a high nose bridge and a beautiful side profile–he was practically an Adonis. And those lips of his–oh, they tasted so sweet when she kissed him.

Tiantian blushed and twiddled her thumbs. Gosh, she was letting her thoughts run wild.

Li Yanmo turned around and threw her uniform at her. Seeing that Tiantian was clad only in thermal underwear, and was no longer covered by the blanket, he couldn’t help but frown.

“Put it on, quickly. Don’t expect me to accompany you to the hospital, should you catch a cold,” his expression indicating a hint of impatience. Swinging his school bag over his shoulders, he then headed downstairs for breakfast.

“Humph!” Ning Tiantian made a face when his back was turned. Inky always found a way to ruin the atmosphere, even though it was obvious that he had been worried about her catching a cold.

After getting changed, Ning Tiantian also made her way downstairs for breakfast. After breakfast, Li Yanmo retrieved his bicycle–covered in dust because it had not been used in a long time–from the garage.

“Inky, I’ll help you give it a wipe!” Ning Tiantian ran to the kitchen and returned with a dishcloth, wiping down the bicycle diligently.

He took the dishcloth from her and said, “There’s no need to. I’m running late.”

“Oh… then come back home earlier, Inky.”

Ning Tiantian stared at his retreating figure forlornly, as he left.

Before the age of three, she would watch him leave for school like this every day, and would then wait anxiously for his return. Now, she was doing the same thing, the only difference was that she also had to attend preschool and play childish games with a bunch of other kids.

When the school bus arrived, Mama Li walked her to the bus, then rushed to work with her camera equipment.

“Tiantian, where’s your brother?” Miss Mi asked curiously when she realized that Tiantian had boarded the bus alone.

Crossing her arms, Ning Tiantian said indignantly, “It’s all thanks to you, Teacher.”

Miss Mi smiled awkwardly. As their teacher, she was obliged to keep their parents updated.

“But,” Ning Tiantian turned back to face the teacher and held her hand, “I ought to thank you. If not for you, I wouldn’t have realized that Inky had skipped a period just to send me to school.”

Ning Tiantian was the first to get down from the school bus when it arrived at the preschool, having sat at the front of the bus. Just as she was about to walk through the gates, she heard Cookie calling out to her.

“Tiantian!”

Ning Tiantian looked up and saw Cookie walking toward her carrying a pink gift box. Placing the box in her hands, Cookie said, “This is for you.”

“What’s this?” Ning Tiantian questioned, a look of puzzlement on her face. “Why did you get me a gift?”

“Let’s go into the classroom first,” Cookie had her arm around Tiantian’s shoulders as they headed toward the preschool. “You’ll see when you open the box.”

Ning Tiantian started unwrapping her present as soon as she was seated. She was greeted with the sight of a necklace which was almost identical to the one on her neck, except that instead of an ink bottle, the pendant was a blue star.

“Do you like it?” Cookie asked her expectantly. “It looks very similar to your necklace, doesn’t it!”

She had scoured a few malls before finally finding a necklace like this. It definitely wasn’t a fifteen-dollar necklace that one could find at the market.

“Yeah, it does! I like this, too!” Ning Tiantian nodded furiously, her eyes glistening as she stared at Cookie. Cookie was such a dear; she went to such lengths to buy her a similar necklace, upon realizing that Tiantian had lost her necklace.

“Don’t cry anymore, okay? What’s lost is lost,” Cookie patted Tiantian on her head comfortingly. “Come, I’ll help you put it on.”