"Shishu!"
Small legs ran towards to where the redhead is. It took a while, but Cale is very patient when it comes to Jin Ling.
"Did you ran away from your father again?"
Jin Ling huffs, making Cale look at him in amusement.
"It's not running away when A-die doesn't know, Shishu!"
Cale doesn't know whether he should be proud of his nephew or laugh at his mischief.
"It seems that you're taking a lot of my traits, A-Ling." He says before starting to walk towards the kitchen room while carrying Jin Ling.
"Of course! Shishu is my whole favorite person in the world!"
Cale could feel his heart swell in fondness, the affection he have for this child is immeasurable.
"Your father would cry to me once he learns what you just said."
Jin Ling tilts his head childishly, as if he was mocking his uncle.
"Well, when did Shishu told all the secrets between us to A-die?"
Bullseye.
"...You are one manipulative kid."
Jin Ling smiles brightly, taking what Cale had just said a compliment.
"I learned from the best, Shishu!"
As the sun hid behind the clouds and offered a fleeting shade, Jin Ling continued to talk to his uncle while Cale simply indulged his nephew.
It's been a while since he felt at peace like this.
"Ah right, your birthday is coming. What gift do you want, A-Ling?"
Jin Ling visibly perked up at the redhead's words, as if he was waiting for it his whole life.
"Lotus pork rib soup!"
The redhead chuckles for a while, finding his answer a bit too similar with Jiang Cheng.
"Good thing I cooked that first. What else?"
Jin Ling hummed, thinking hard.
"Oh! Can we eat with A-niang and shishu and Wei Ying-shishu?"
Cale huffs, "We already do that every week...well, what's wrong in visiting again? What else, A-Ling?"
The child in his arms pondered so hard that there's already a crease between his eyebrows.
"That's all!"
My, what a humble kid he is.
"Are you sure you don't want anything else? Toys? Candies?"
Jin Ling couldn't help but scratch his head. What is the use of more toys when he could barely play with all he had in his room?
"Grandma will punish us both if we eat another sweet food for the week, Shishu."
When he mentioned Madam Yu, Cale couldn't help but shiver in fear. Right, they did that once and Cale's arms almost fell off on their own with how long he raised them.
"Right, let's cross that out from the list."
When they arrived, the wafting smell of a soup and a pie mingled in the air, making both Cale and Jin Ling's stomach growl in unison.
The two looked at each other in the eyes before they laughed.
"Let's head out fast, shall we?"
Jin Ling nodded enthusiastically, "Mm!"
After Cale had placed all the food and utensils in a basket using his wind ancient power, they walked away with a single direction in their mind.
If they heard a loud yell from the main pavilion, possibly coming from a distressed Grandpa Jiang, they both ignored it and simply started running.
"Shishu shishu." Jin Ling calls for him, tugging the clothes in the redhead's hem.
"What is it?"
The moment Jin Ling looked hesitant, Cale couldn't help but shift all of his attention to his nephew, the pie in his hands being ignored.
Jin Ling took a glance at Wei Ying's grave before he mustered up a courage to speak.
"Well...instead of toys or sweets...can I have a pet?"
A pet? Don't they already have one?
Said pet is busy swimming around somewhere in the river and scaring people out of their wits.
"What kind of pet exactly?"
Jin Ling soon became restless, making Cale wonder if the pet he's talking about is an alligator or an elephant.
"Well...maybe a dog?"
Cale blinks once, twice, until he did it multiple times.
Oh, so this is why he's hesitant. It's because he knows that dogs are banned in Lotus Pier because of Wei Ying.
When Jin Ling sees the look on his uncle's face, he started talking nonsense.
"...Or a cat! Even a worm is fine!"
Why would you like a pet worm exactly? Can you even touch that without killing it?
He says those, yet he really seemed to want a dog.
As Cale tucks away the leftovers and utensils they used, he fell into a deep thought, slightly scaring Jin Ling.
"A dog, huh?"
Suddenly, he thought of something funny.
"Sure let's get you a dog. How about we play nap and seek first?"
Who knows, maybe if he brings a dog in Yunmeng, Wei Ying would jump up from his grave and starts screaming for help.
"Nap and seek?" The child asks in confusion.
"You take a nap back in the Pier and wait for me to come back, then I'll seek you until the end of the day to give you your gift."
Jin Ling visibly glowed with happiness, nodding his head.
Huh, how easy for him to follow his words and do go to sleep when he's usually stubborn to close his eyes.
Cale fished out a teleportation talisman then tears it. The moment they open their eyes, they are back in Lotus Pier.
Jin Ling didn't even wait for the words as he jumped in the bed and started counting lambs.
"Wait for me, alright?" The redhead says as he pat the child's head.
"Always, Shishu."
When Cale closes the door behind him, he sees Jin Zixuan leaning on the wall and looked at him with piercing eyes.
"Heavens, if I don't know better, I'll think that you're murdering me in your head."
Jin Zixuan scoffed, "Maybe I...do."
Cale simply shook his head before walking away, Jin Zixuan following him from behind.
"Well, it's a good thing that Sect Leader Wen's medicine is working on you. You can curse me more verbally now."
Jin Zixuan couldn't help but frown, but he agreed at his words at the same time.
"Maybe this...way, A-Ling will listen...to me more."
Cale couldn't help but feel anxiety behind those words, making him feel guilty.
"...He is listening alright. I think he just had inherited Wei Ying's stubbornness."
Cale looked at the vast river of Yunmeng outside the window, the sun shining warmly and the light reflecting against the clear waters.
He sometimes wonder if Jin Ling remembers all the things that happened when he was an infant, considering on how he inherited both of his uncles' personality.
After settling the basket back in the kitchen, he looked at Jin Zixuan's way before sighing.
"Come with me. Your son wants a pet dog for his birthday gift."
Jin Zixuan couldn't help but tilt his head in confusion, a trait Jin Ling had adapted from his father.
"Dogs? I thought...they aren't...allowed?"
When the older sees the expression in the redhead's face, he couldn't help but sew his mouth back shut.
"That was when my brother is still alive, airhead."
He may have said those words nonchalantly, but Jin Zixuan could still see sadness in his auburn eyes.
He's still grieving.
Y'all, guess what I'm about to do nextㅡ*runs away with a crazed smile*