"An'an ge, why are you so late?" Ruan Ruan had arrived early and had been looking for him for a long time.
"Mom fell asleep in the car, so I asked Dad to drive slower." An'an touched the drink in front of Ruan Ruan. "It's getting cold, don't drink cold beverages anymore."
"An'an, then you look after little sister Ruan Ruan, we're going to play games?" When Wang Qian brought Ruan Ruan, he had told the children to take good care of her.
Now that An'an was here, and he was taking the best care of her, they could consider their mission accomplished.
After all, it wasn't much fun playing games with An'an if they couldn't win.
An'an nodded and accepted the task.
Ruan Ruan's little face was rosy from the air conditioning in the room. "Oh, then I'll finish this cup, it'll be a waste..."
As she said that, her eyes couldn't help but glance at the drink again.
An'an sighed, took the half-finished cold drink, and drank it all in one gulp. "Now it's not a waste."
Ruan Ruan pouted, speechless. An'an then poured some hot milk from the thermos and handed it to her.
Seeing the new drink, Ruan Ruan's mood brightened again. She smiled and took the hot milk, holding it in her hands. "Thank you, An'an ge."
After eating, Ruan Ruan rubbed her little belly and followed An'an closely. "An'an ge, Ruan Ruan needs to go to the restroom."
She had never been here before and couldn't find the restroom.
Considering they were children, their private room was small and didn't have a toilet, so she had to go outside.
"Let's go," An'an stood up and took her hand to leave.
They asked a server in the hallway and, after a few turns, arrived at the end of the corridor where the restrooms were.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you here." An'an thought about the turns they had taken to get here and knew Ruan Ruan wouldn't be able to find her way back.
Hearing An'an say that, Ruan Ruan finally smiled at him with relief and turned to walk towards the restroom.
"Auntie, my sister is inside using the restroom. She's still very young, could you please go and help her?" An'an watched Ruan Ruan's cautious steps and was still a bit worried, so he stopped a server and asked her to go in and keep an eye on her.
"Okay," The server's heart melted at An'an's soft voice. Such a handsome little boy, and so caring for his sister, how rare!
"What a good brother!" She praised An'an and quickly followed to help Ruan Ruan.
After the aunt helped Ruan Ruan wash her hands, she handed her back to An'an and then left.
"Thank you, An'an ge," Ruan Ruan said, smiling as she sidled up to An'an.
Just then, Zhou Yang, holding an Ultraman toy, walked out of the men's restroom with a dejected expression.
He immediately saw An'an and Ruan Ruan.
Being young children, they cared about their image. He quickly changed his dejected expression and arrogantly walked up to them.
"Why are you here?" Zhou Yang held the Ultraman in his hand conspicuously in front of him.
This was the latest model.
As boys, he wanted An'an to see this Ultraman and ask to play with it.
Then he would casually agree...
"What's it to you?" An'an had a bad impression of Zhou Yang; bullying younger children meant he wasn't a good person.
He hid Ruan Ruan behind him and prepared to leave.
Zhou Yang was a bit older and taller than them. He reached out and blocked their path. "You can't leave!"
"You..." Zhou Yang's eyes flickered. "You have to play with me."
"I told you not to leave, so you can't leave. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise, I'll have the restaurant staff kick you out!" Zhou Yang said aggressively. Children's arguments were often about who had more authority and presence.
An'an was not afraid of his threat at all. He calmly asked, "Do you own shares in the restaurant?"
Zhou Yang was stunned. "Huh?"
"If you don't even know about shares, what right do you have to kick us out?" An'an felt it was difficult to communicate with a child who knew nothing. More importantly, he was using his position to bully others and wasn't learning anything good.
"What are shares?" Ruan Ruan's little head poked out from behind him.
Meeting Ruan Ruan's curious gaze, An'an's eyes softened considerably. He patiently explained to Ruan Ruan.
Although Ruan Ruan only half-understood, her admiration was genuine. "An'an ge is so amazing, he knows everything!"
"I don't care, I just want you to play with me." Seeing that his intimidating tactics didn't work on An'an, Zhou Yang changed his approach.
"I have the latest Ultraman. If you play with me, I'll let you play with it for a while." He shook the Ultraman in his hand, his eyes full of pride.
"I don't like Ultraman!" Ruan Ruan wrinkled her little nose. "An'an ge, let's go quickly. I don't want to play with this bad ge."
"Since he's a bad person, don't call him 'ge'," An'an coaxed her and led Ruan Ruan away.
Zhou Yang hugged his Ultraman. He had been outside playing for so long, and it wasn't fun. Zhou Qin wouldn't let him into the room, and now that his dad wasn't here, he couldn't provoke Zhou Qin.
He watched An'an and Ruan Ruan walk away, chatting and laughing, and felt a pang of envy. He wished he had friends to talk to and play with.
These were the only children he had encountered here today.
"Wait!" He hurried after them. "I'll give you money, just play with me for a while."
No one could refuse money. His dad had taught him that. When he was younger and no one would play with him at school, he would give them money, and then he would have a bunch of friends.
Zhou Yang had rushed out in a hurry and didn't notice his strength. He grabbed Ruan Ruan's back collar, and with a sudden tug, Ruan Ruan stumbled backward.
"Ah!" Ruan Ruan squeezed her eyes shut and cried out.
An'an had sensed his approach and, since he was holding Ruan Ruan's hand, he pulled her back with a strong tug.
Startled, Ruan Ruan immediately burst into tears. "An'an ge, you scared Ruan Ruan! This bad person!"
She pointed her little finger at a bewildered Zhou Yang. "Bad guy!"
An'an comforted the frightened Ruan Ruan, his eyes fixed on Zhou Yang, filled with displeasure.
"It's not like I did it on purpose, she just wasn't standing steadily..." Zhou Yang immediately retorted.
An'an became even more angry. Ruan Ruan had been walking more steadily lately, and he was holding her hand, so how could she not be standing steadily?
Seeing An'an's displeased expression, Zhou Yang thought for a moment and took a hundred-yuan bill from his bag, shoving it into Ruan Ruan's arms. "Here's money, stop crying!"
He didn't like hearing girls cry. When he was at school, if any girl cried, he would have to hit her until she stopped.
Now that he wanted to play with them, he wouldn't hit her.
Ruan Ruan clutched the hundred-yuan bill, tears still in her eyes, and looked at An'an pitifully and blankly.
An'an took the hundred-yuan bill and returned it to Zhou Yang. As he handed it back, he knocked Zhou Yang's Ultraman out of his hand.
The Ultraman fell to the ground, rolled a couple of times, and its arm broke off from its body.
"I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose." An'an repeated Zhou Yang's words and added a sincere "sorry."
He used Zhou Yang's self-centered way of behaving and applied it back to him.