The little girl was protesting as she was being carried by the boy like a sack on his shoulder.
"Hey, big bro, please put me down! Where are you bringing me?" she tried wiggling but the boy was strong and it seemed like he had no plans to listen to her. He never spoke. When he saved her a while ago, he didn't even give her the chance to see his face clearly.
Her bag was dangling from the other hand as he walked. The girl didn't stop protesting while the boy remained as if he was deaf and mute.
When he finally put her down after more than thirty minutes of hiking, the little girl was surprised to see that she was already at the end of the woods, only a few hundred meters behind their house. She could see their backyard from there and it might only take five minutes to hike down to reach their house down there.
The girl's big round eyes were wide. "There's a short cut from here?!" she exclaimed, turning to the boy just to see that he was already walking away, leaving her.
Luckily, she was able to catch him before he disappeared again. She clasped her arms around the boy's waist, not letting go.
"Wait! Where are you going?" she asked but the boy held her hands to unclasp them from him. "I said wait. I just want to be friends with you. Can we be friends?"
The boy didn't respond. He continued unclasping her hands without a word. The girl tried her best not to let go but her struggle was futile.
When he was finally out of her grasp, she saw him start to walk away and she suddenly cried, causing the boy to stop in his tracks.
She cried hard. Maybe, it was her late reaction from nearly dying by falling down the slope minutes ago? She didn't know.
Squatting on the snow, the girl continued sobbing. She buried her head on her folded arms, thinking that the boy was long gone.
But then, after a long while, she felt a cold palm land on her head.
The girl was surprised. She lifted her face just to see the boy sitting right next to her. Seeing him there made her exceptionally happy that she quickly wiped her own tears and smiled warmly at him.
The boy seemed to be taken aback with just how fast her mood changed. He retracted his hand from her head but the girl caught it.
"Whoah!! Your hand is so cold!" she looked perplexed, worried. She rummaged through her bag and brought out the thermal bottle which contained the hot soup.
She placed the bottle between his hands and then, she rummaged through her bag again.
The next thing she brought out was a white knitted bonnet. She knelt down in front of him and reached out towards his head and she placed the bonnet over his head.
The boy simply looked at her, seemingly mystified, as he let her do what she was doing.
"Better?" asked the girl. The boy didn't respond but, as though she heard a 'yes' from his silence, the girl rummaged through her bag again.
"It's already lunch time. I brought lots of food for us to eat today." She was energetic as she brought out all the food inside her bag.
She gave him one of the lunch boxes and just like that, the two ate lunch together. They looked like they were having a mini picnic in the snowy woods.
After their meal, the boy stood up. He picked up her bag and then quietly held her hand.
He began leading her towards the house below. The little girl understood that he wanted her to go home or that he had to leave now.
When they reached the backyard, the boy let go of her hand but the girl held it with both her hands as she faced him.
"My name is Xiaolei, what's your name?" she asked. Her big round eyes were looking intently at him as she waited for his response.
The boy stared back into her clear eyes when they heard a wolf's howl. The boy quickly turned his gaze towards the forest.
And then, he retracted his hands from her grasp. He landed his palm on her head and uttered one word. "Chen." He said and turned around.
He was about to reach the woods when Little Xiaolei called out. "Chen-ge! I'm going to see you again tomorrow, okay?"
The boy simply halted for a moment and without any response, he disappeared into the forest.
The next day, little Xiaolei arrived at that place and her face brightened because the boy was already right there, sitting on top of the rock.
"Chen-ge!" she excitedly approached him. She was happy to see him again. The boy extended his hand and pulled her up on the rock. Thus, a new friendship was forged.
Since that day, the two of them met up at that same spot every day. The boy still didn't talk much but as the days went by, her continued presence seemed to make him gain some trust in her so he decided to finally speak to her.
"Where are you sleeping at night?"
"On the bed."
"You have a house here?!!!"
When the boy nodded, Little Xiaolei was surprised and at the same time, relieved.
"Where? I want to see it!" she was suddenly thrilled. Her eyes were even sparkling as she began pleading him to take her to his house.
"There's nothing in there for you to see."
"Please, I still want to see it."
"There are wolves there."
"I-it's okay. Those wolves are your pets, right?"
"They're still dangerous."
"I'm not scared."
The girl didn't stop pleading, pestering him during the following days until eventually, the boy finally gave in.
"Fine. This Sunday." He said and the girl jumped up and down with happiness as she hugged him tight.