A Childish Love Story

[[Xiao Qian is Mr. Chien and Xiao Lin is his (future) wife, Yin Ai.

Xiao (Pronounced kind of like “shao”) literally means “little”. It’s kind of like the Japanese suffix “-chan” in a way.

So it’s Little Chien and Little Lin. It’s attached to the last name. Mrs. Chien’s maiden name is Lin. So yes, her nick name “Xiao Lin” (when pronounced like a fob) sounds like “Shaolin” as in Shaolin temples and stuff.]]

---

School had just ended.

Xiao Qian stood in front of Xiao Lin’s desk impatiently. “Hurry up, let’s go.”

“OK. Wait up.” She put on her Mary Janes and walked off with him.

Though he was two years older than her, he always waited for her so they could walk home together. Some of her other classmates thought it was strange, but she didn’t mind the arrangement at all. The only problem was he wasn’t very expressive at all. It was hard to tell if he was happy or sad because he always had the same bored expression on.

“My feet hurt.”

He turned to her. “Want me to carry you then?”

“No. It’s fine.”

“No it’s not fine. I’ll carry you.” He stooped down and motioned for her to get on his back.

“But I’m heavy right?”

“It’s fine.”

She carefully got on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lifted her up and began to walk. She buried her face in his hair. “I’m heavy, aren’t I?”

“No you’re not.”

“Xiao Qian, You’re walking funny because I’m heavy.”

“No I’m not.” There was a small pause before he spoke again. “Xiao Lin, won’t you sing a song for me?”

“A song? Which one?”

“Any.”

She thought for a while before she decided to sing. “♪~There was a cat who fell in love with a mouse~♫”

“What kind of song is that?!”

She looked at him angrily. “If you don’t like my song, then go sing yourself. And besides, you were the one asking me to sing.”

“That’s true.”

“Put me down.”

“Huh?”

“Put me down.”

“Is this because I was rude? I’m sorry.”

“No. It’s just because I want to walk now.” He carefully put her down and she skipped ahead a bit before stopping a distance ahead of him. “Alright then. Hurry up!”

“OK.” He ran toward her.

When they were walking side by side, she resumed singing. “♪~There was once a cat who had no friends, and played by herself and was by herself~♫

♪~There was once a cat who made friends with a mouse, and they played together and was always together~♫

♪~There once was a cat who fell in love with a mouse, and the cat said "I love you” and the mouse said—

…

…the mouse said…“

There was a long silence before he spoke. "So what did the mouse say?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You’re making up the song, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what goes next.”

“That’s silly.”

They had reached Xiao Lin’s house. “Alright! I’ll see you tomorrow Xiao Qian!”

“Yeah, yeah.” He began to walk off.

“Wait! Xiao Qian!”

He turned around. “Xiao Lin, what is it?”

“I love you, Xiao Qian!”

His bored expression did not change. “I love you too.”

He walked home with his heart beating fast but he didn’t know why.

---

It’s been about 27 years since then. Their son, Gao Zhong, was about 6 years old already.

“Alright dad, I’m going to go to a friend’s house.”

Mr. Chien raised an eyebrow at his son’s companion. “You’re going to a girl’s house?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, have fun.” He smiled and added jokingly “Don’t do anything to her that you’ll regret later, alright?”

“Alright! Later!” Gao Zhong grabbed the girl’s hand and they ran off.

Yin Ai came in. “My. They’re so energetic.”

“Were we like that when we were young?”

“Mhm. I think so.”

He turned to her. “You know I’ve been thinking…”

“Yes?”

“That one song. The one you used to sing for me when we were little? Tell me. Did the mouse ever return the cat’s feelings?”

She gave a sly smile. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me? ♥”

“Heh. In that case, I’d prefer to think that the mouse did return the cat’s feelings.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you too. ♥”