Yesterday, the little girl he saw was led out by her grandmother, holding hands, and they sat down.
She was wearing a purple qipao today, much more conservative than Little Huang Ying's, and the embroidery on her qipao was also finer and more elaborate.
Additionally, she had changed her hairstyle today, and there was a wooden hairpin inserted in it.
Such meticulousness in dress is rare in the countryside, especially now that it's summer. After all, most of the boys just run around the village in their briefs.
Aunt Liu brought over another set of square wooden stools and a small bench, this time with a tea set placed upon it. She whispered something to the elderly grandmother, who waved her hand, and Aunt Liu left.
The grandmother, meanwhile, knelt before the girl, speaking to her in a soft and gentle voice.
The girl sat there, her gaze level, just like yesterday, as if no one else existed in her eyes.
But the grandmother's persuasion eventually took effect, and the girl silently lowered her head, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat.
Li Zhiyuan noticed that she had a routine of picking up a chopstick-full of pickles followed by two sips of congee, never altering her rhythm.
Grandma Liu peeled a salted duck egg for her and tried to hand it to her when the girl stopped, her body beginning to tremble slightly.
Grandma Liu immediately apologized and took the egg away.
The girl then continued to eat, still following the pattern of one chopstick-full of pickles with two sips of congee.
Watching this scene, Li Zhiyuan was reminded of a classmate from Youth Class. He ate in a similar way, planning ahead how much to eat with the rice on his plate, ensuring by the end that he finished both evenly.
Moreover, this classmate made sure to step on the corners of tiles when he walked out of the classroom; if he stepped wrong one day, he would run back to the classroom and start over, even if he was on his way to the restroom, holding it in if necessary.
The girl ate quickly, and when done, she put down her chopsticks.
Grandma Liu took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the girl's mouth and fingers.
Then she stood up, picked up the bench, and walked back to the eastern room.
Returning to the same spot, she put down the bench, sat down, and with her feet on the threshold, stared straight ahead.
Grandma Liu looked at her with a hint of helplessness, then stood up and took a seat on a chair.
Li Zhiyuan noticed that her gaze fell on him again, but unlike yesterday, this time she waved her hand and called out to him:
"Come here, let me have a look at you."
Li Zhiyuan approached and could faintly smell a fragrance coming from her.
"Is your name Xiao Yuan?"
"My last name is Liu."
"Good boy. Since living here, this is actually the first time I've seen other children around, hehe." Liu Yumei lifted her wrist, glanced at the bracelet hesitantly as if feeling it was inappropriate, and finally, she took off a jade ring from her ring finger and handed it to Li Zhiyuan, "Here, a gift for our first meeting from Grandma."
Li Zhiyuan waved his hand away: "I can't accept this, Grandma Liu, it's too expensive."
"It's fake, just glass, play with it as a toy."
"No, I cannot take it."
Liu Yumei pushed it forward again, urging: "A gift from an elder cannot be refused, to refuse is disrespectful."
Li Zhiyuan stepped back half a step and did not reach for it, responding, "I'd need to ask my Grandmaster."
Liu Yumei nodded, putting the jade ring back into her pocket and didn't put it back on her finger.
"Xiao Yuan, what grade are you in?"
"How are your grades?"
"How old are you this year?"
"Born in which month?"
"Then you're a month older than our Alii." Saying so, Liu Yumei turned her gaze to the girl sitting behind the threshold, "Originally, our Alii should be in third grade now too."
Following this, Liu Yumei's expression slightly darkened, yes, her granddaughter should have been, just like the boy in front of her, lively and healthy, attending school.
"Oh, right, Xiao Yuan, when you are living here, you can go anywhere else, but don't enter the eastern room, um, don't get near Alii, our Alii doesn't like strangers, she's shy, and gets easily frightened."
Grandma Liu gave him the same warning that Grandmaster had given him last night.
Li Zhiyuan inquired, "Grandma, does Alii have autism?"
Liu Yumei looked at the little boy in front of her, taken aback, "You know about this?"
In those days, most people hadn't even heard the term.
Liu Yumei blinked, took Li Zhiyuan's hand, and asked, "What, does someone in your family study this?"
Yes, their study was about me.
"I read about it in the newspaper."
"Oh." Liu Yumei sighed with a hint of disappointment.
"Grandma Liu, there are hospitals in big cities that can treat this."
Li Zhiyuan was curious; their family didn't seem to lack money, so why didn't they take Qin Li to a big city hospital but instead lived here?
"Our Alii doesn't have ordinary autism, going to the hospital, seeing a doctor, it's no use."
Li Zhiyuan didn't quite understand; if going to the hospital was of no use, how could staying here with Grandmaster help?
Liu Yumei turned to the tea set on the wooden stool and asked, "Want some tea?"
"Thank you, Grandma."
Seeing Liu Yumei about to bend down to get the hot water bottle, Li Zhiyuan picked it up first, "Let me do it."
"Oh? Alright, you go ahead."
Li Zhiyuan opened the tea cake, added tea leaves, waited for the water, poured the tea, rinsed the pot, scalded the cups, served the tea...
Whenever the elderly in the family courtyard had a tea gathering, they would call him over to make tea; he had to go, as he would also eat at their homes.
Liu Yumei watched Li Zhiyuan's actions all the while, suddenly feeling that this child was quite interesting.