Sweet Oxygen - Chapter 31

Chapter 31 – Kite

How long are you planning to hug?

——

At the end of August, Mother Qin went on a trip to the south.

Qin Han resumed her previous routine, spending her days at Zhang Yuqing’s place.

That day, Qin Han learned through the class group chat that the school had posted a red list of students who had been admitted to top universities.

She visited her high school, found her name on the red list, took a photo, and sent it to her parents separately.

She knew their family was no longer intact, but she still wanted to be their good daughter.

It had only been two months since she left the high school campus, but when Qin Han looked back at the school grounds—the red track, green lawn, and the golden school motto on the white teaching building—it felt like attending classes in that building was something from a distant past.

She recalled what her homeroom teacher had said during high school:

There’s nothing more carefree than going to school.

Qin Han felt she was gradually beginning to understand this sentence.

Outside the school, there was a stall selling grilled cold noodles with an exceptionally good taste. During school days, people always had to queue to buy them.

Qin Han bought four portions of grilled cold noodles and took a bus to Yaonan Alley.

“Zhang Yuqing, look at what I bought—” Qin Han’s words were cut short as she suddenly noticed another person in the shop.

A little girl sat at the table in Zhang Yuqing’s store, looking about 8 or 9 years old.

Her round face framed a round nose, round eyes, and lips that were plump and full. Her hair was tied in twin ponytails that drooped over the hair bands.

She resembled a small rice cake—soft and fair-skinned.

The girl’s eyes widened as she stared at Qin Han. Qin Han ventured to call out, “Dandan?”

Footsteps came from upstairs. The girl turned her head. “Gege, this jiejie says I’m Dandan.”

The girl spoke slowly, her words slightly muffled as if she were holding a piece of candy in her mouth.

By the time she finished speaking, Zhang Yuqing had already descended the stairs with long strides and reached the table.

Qin Han thought she might have mistaken the girl. She whispered to Zhang Yuqing, “Sorry, I thought she was Dandan.”

“She is Dandan.”

Zhang Yuqing poured a glass of water for Qin Han. “What she means is, how do you know her?”

Zhang Yuqing pointed at Qin Han. “Dandan, this is my friend, Qin Han-jiejie.”

“Qi Han-jiejie.”

Zhang Yuqing corrected Dandan. “Qin Han-jiejie.”

“Qi Han-jiejie.”

In truth, Dandan looked quite adorable. Apart from her slightly unclear speech and slow pace, Qin Han couldn’t discern anything unusual about her.

Li Nan and Luo Shijin had gone to sell watermelons in the residential area, saying they’d return in the afternoon.

Zhang Yuqing’s demeanor remained unchanged, his smile still warm. However, Qin Han noticed he hadn’t introduced her to Dandan in detail.

Qin Han asked, “Do you have somewhere you need to be?”

“Yes, I need to make a trip.”

Qin Han’s eyes lit up. “Zhang Yuqing, let me watch the shop for you!”

Zhang Yuqing hesitated briefly before nodding in agreement.

Before leaving, Zhang Yuqing pulled Qin Han aside. Qin Han’s attention was still on the grilled cold noodles, and she asked with a hint of regret, “Zhang Yuqing, aren’t you going to eat some grilled cold noodles before you go? The ones at our school are especially delicious.”

“Let’s skip breakfast for now. We’ll eat when we get back.”

Zhang Yuqing felt somewhat unprepared today.

Dandan’s special school had already been on summer break for a while, but Zhang Yuqing had arranged for a training teacher from another institution to work with Dandan during the holidays, correcting her pronunciation and conducting behavioral therapy.

Yesterday evening, an emergency occurred at Dandan’s teacher’s home. The teacher wouldn’t be able to continue working with Dandan until school resumed, so they sent her back home.

To make matters worse, Grandma was feeling unwell today and needed to go to the hospital.

Zhang Yuqing instructed Qin Han, “Dandan doesn’t understand many things. Don’t take her out. Keep her here in the shop.”

“Mm-hmm,” Qin Han nodded.

“If customers come to the shop, tell them I’m not here and they should call me.”

Qin Han nodded again.

“If I can’t make it back for lunch, order takeout for you two. I’ll transfer the money to you.”

With each instruction, Qin Han obediently nodded.

Finally, Zhang Yuqing gently patted the top of Qin Han’s head. “Thank you for your hard work today, young lady.”

Zhang Yuqing also gave Dandan instructions to listen carefully to Qin Han-jiejie.

Dandan replied, “I’ll listen to Qi Han-jiejie’s words.”

Qin Han felt a small spark of excitement.

After Zhang Yuqing left, she suddenly felt like she was the mistress of this shop.

While interacting with Dandan, Qin Han discovered that the girl was indeed quite different from ordinary children.

Dandan was working on addition and subtraction problems within ten, but seemed to be struggling.

The first problem, 1+3, had her counting her fingers repeatedly. After over ten minutes, she still hadn’t gotten the right answer.

Concerned, Qin Han sat down beside Dandan.

But she didn’t know whether she should help her, or more precisely, how to help.

Half an hour later, Dandan finally solved the problem.

She solemnly drew a small flag-like symbol after the equals sign in 1+3.

Qin Han was utterly confused. She thought Dandan was being mischievous, deliberately making trouble because she didn’t want to do her homework.

But when she looked up at Dandan, the girl’s expression was completely serious.

Dandan had been staring at the problem with her mouth open, so focused that she didn’t even notice her saliva dripping onto the paper.

“Dandan.”

Dandan turned her head innocently, a droplet of saliva still clinging to her mouth.

Qin Han had no choice but to wipe Dandan’s mouth with several sheets of paper, then clean the table. “Can you tell Qin Han-jiejie what answer you wrote?”

“Can I tell Qin Han-jiejie what answer I wrote?”

Dandan repeated the question, then looked lost. “What answer?”

Qin Han pointed at the little flag on her paper. “This one.”

This time, Dandan understood. She said, “Four looks like a flag fluttering in the wind.”

Four does look like a flag fluttering in the wind.

But the problem was, the direction the flag was fluttering shouldn’t be to the right!

It took Qin Han an hour to correct Dandan’s way of writing the number four.

Then when Dandan went to calculate 1+3, she still drew a flag fluttering to the right.

Qin Han, “……”

Qin Han’s phone vibrated briefly—it was a WeChat message from Zhang Yuqing:

[ Is everything okay at the shop? ]

Qin Han moved to a quieter corner, called back, and lowered her voice. “Everything’s fine at the shop, but Dandan’s homework…”

She could hear many people talking in the background. Zhang Yuqing chuckled softly in the noisy environment. “I forgot to tell you—you don’t need to teach her homework. Do you know how to fly kites?”

“I do!” Qin Han replied confidently.

“There are kites in my bedroom. If you’re bored, you can take Dandan to fly them outside the shop. She loves kites.”

Someone else seemed to be talking to Zhang Yuqing on the other end. After a moment, Zhang Yuqing said, “I’ll hang up now. I’ll try to get back early.”

Qin Han found the kites in Zhang Yuqing’s bedroom.

Dandan saw the kites and got very excited, dropping her pen with a cry. “Qi Han-jiejie, kites!”

“Yes, kites.”

Qin Han smiled too. “Your brother said we can go fly kites.”

“Dandan loves kites!” Dandan exclaimed excitedly.

Before hanging up, Qin Han had assured Zhang Yuqing.

[ Go ahead and focus on your work. I’ll handle everything at the shop. Don’t worry. ]

But less than ten minutes after leaving with the kite, Qin Han had already made a mess.

In the past, her parents would always launch the kite before handing over the string to her.

Truth be told, it was her parents who knew how to fly kites, not Qin Han.

Standing outside Zhang Yuqing’s shop with Dandan, Qin Han gazed up at the kite caught in the treetops.

The floral butterfly—patterned kite was snagged on a branch, its streamers swaying in the wind.

Where had she gotten the confidence to suddenly tell Zhang Yuqing she could fly a kite?!

Dandan appeared agitated, repeatedly chanting, “Kite’s stuck in tree, kite’s stuck in tree. Dandan’s kite, Dandan’s kite.”

Qin Han recalled Zhang Yuqing mentioning that Dandan used to cry and fuss when she couldn’t hear the guitar at the square.

Afraid Dandan might think the kite was lost forever, Qin Han crouched down to comfort her, “Dandan, the kite’s still there. Qin Han-jiejie will go get it down for you, okay?”

“Dandan’s kite, Dandan’s kite.”

“Yes, it’s Dandan’s kite. Qin Han-jiejie will get it down.”

As if finally understanding Qin Han’s words, Dandan paused for a moment before breaking into a smile, “Qin Han-jiejie get kite down.”

“Right, Qin Han-jiejie will go get it now.”

Qin Han glanced at the towering tree behind her, swallowed hard, and forced herself to say, “I’ll retrieve Dandan’s kite!”

The tree stood at least ten meters tall. Qin Han planned to first climb the adjacent brick wall before ascending the tree.

She brought chairs from Zhang Yuqing’s shop and stacked several books to create a makeshift ladder, barely managing to reach the wall’s height.

The aged wall trembled beneath her feet. As Qin Han climbed, she dislodged a small brick, causing the books to slip. She nearly fell, leaving a thin blood mark on her leg from the wall’s rough surface.

Dandan crouched below the wall, cheering, “Go, Qin Han-jiejie!”

Hearing the child’s encouragement, Qin Han felt a surge of determination not to disappoint.

The grandmother’s test results came swiftly. Zhang Yuqing rushed back from the hospital.

Before reaching the shop entrance, he spotted Qin Han.

The same girl who had confidently promised over the phone, “Leave it to me,” now stood trembling on the old brick wall beside the shop. She attempted various precarious positions, trying to scale the nearby tree.

Her hand suddenly withdrew with a pained whimper, likely pricked by something in the book. Yet moments later, she pressed her foot onto a branch with renewed resolve.

Zhang Yuqing, “……”

The wall was truly ancient—it had stood since his birth. He feared it might collapse at any moment.

“Qin Han,” Zhang Yuqing called out, his brow furrowed.

The girl, who had been attempting to climb the tree, turned at the sound of Zhang Yuqing’s voice. “I didn’t mean to,” she blurted out, “I’ll get the kite down right away.”

Only when she faced him did Zhang Yuqing notice the scrape on her leg from the brick wall.

“No one’s blaming you,” he said helplessly. “Come down first. It’s dangerous up there.”

Qin Han glanced briefly at Zhang Yuqing below before quickly returning her attention to the treetop. She pressed her lips together and whispered, “I can’t come down. My legs go weak when I look down.”

Zhang Yuqing moved a chair aside and stood by the wall, spreading his arms wide. “Come on down.”

“I’m scared.”

“I’ll catch you.”

Beads of sweat formed on Qin Han’s forehead. She wasn’t fearless—she simply couldn’t bear to disappoint the child’s expectations, forcing herself to maintain the facade.

The wall stood between two houses in an open space, directly exposed to the wind. Every gust made Qin Han break out in cold sweat, certain she’d slip and fall.

Now Zhang Yuqing stood below, arms outstretched. The breeze filled his clothes, making them billow like a sail.

Summoning all her courage, Qin Han leaped down. The wind carried her into Zhang Yuqing’s waiting embrace.

When Qin Han jumped, her eyes were closed.

When she landed in his arms, her eyes remained shut.

Zhang Yuqing’s voice teased by her ear, “Little girl, how long are you planning to hug?”