Wild Creatures

Chapter 7

Mostly everywhere.

He hunted around the kitchen, choosing to look under the sink because rationally that was where cleaning products would be...right?

But he had no luck.

And upon investigating the other cupboards, aside from a tiny part filled with spices and chili sauce and chili oil, the cupboards were sparse if not bare. Lan Zhan tried not to think too much about that and wondered if Wei Ying kept most of his groceries in the refrigerator.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

The refrigerator was mostly empty with a half empty jar of jelly and another one of pickles.

Where was his food?

As Lan Zhan closed the door, he spotted a piece of paper stuck on the outside with a magnet.

It appeared to be in code.

"What are you doing?" A cold voice asked him.

"Could you please help me?" He asked her, instead. "I do not understand what this says."

"It's a shopping list." Wen Qing told him suspiciously.

Lan Zhan was immensely pleased at his discovery.

"Translation please." He pushed it towards her, as a plan came to mind.

Wen Qing took it reluctantly.

"And...do you have a car?" He added.

It was better to strike when fortune was smiling at him.

***********

A-Yuan was having so much fun.

The strange but clever Gege had lifted him up and put him in a shopping cart, while his JieJie was fuming and stomping around after them.

A-Yuan found he could point at anything and it would be carefully considered and if it was acceptable, then it was put safely in the cart behind him.

Marshmallows, carrots and sweetcorn were approved, but any other type of candy was frowned upon. A-Yuan knew this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity and he was all about trying his luck.

JieJie was despite her blustering, in agreement with Clever Gege, and shook her head every time he suggested something not healthy.

A boy could try...

He hardly went shopping with his Baba, mostly because they did not have the time and his Baba always said Sundays were for fun stuff, so food either appeared in their home or it didn't, A-Yuan didn't really pay attention.

But today, because JieJie had made Clever Gege promise to pay for everything, he was looking now and again at everything going in the cart.

Clever Gege even asked him his opinion now and again, and A-Yuan loved that. It made him feel terribly important as if what he decided was good.

"What's this?" Clever Gege asked JieJie.

"Those are question marks." She told him. "Wei WuXian usually picks between what he can afford this week and what gets rolled over."

A-Yuan didn't understand that part, because he was too interested in the bright shiny apple he was given to chew on. He liked making patterns with his teeth on the surface and every time he did that, Clever Gege smiled at him.

A-Yuan liked Clever Gege.

And at the end, Clever Gege even bought him a tiny butterfly made out of bamboo on a stick. He had been looking at it, nothing more, when Clever Gege simply added it to their cart.