Silent and lonely world (Dark clouds before sunny weather - Book 1)

Chapter 16

All of Lan Jingyi's friends who had been invited to his brother's birthday party had already left, just as all the other children. He had just started attending school and he still wanted to play with them to get to know them better. And it was so much fun as well. He was sad that his parents had told him to say goodbye. But he knew better then to start whining, his father would not like that.

At least his dad promised him and his brother a surprise when they would be finished with cleaning up after the party. So Lan Jingyi did his best to help, carrying plastic children's chairs to one side and bringing empty glasses to the kitchen where his brother was washing them. His parents were at the same time tidying up the jumping castle.

Finally, everything was cleaned and when his dad called Lan Jingyi and A-Yuan to the living room, he was excited all over again, now was the time for the secret!

"Boys," started his dad while kneeling in front of them since they were sitting on the couch. It was now covered in a new light purple cloth and Lan Jingyi found it nice, it was better than just having the couch like that, and it was softer too. Perhaps it would even come in handy if he ever managed to spill his drink on the couch again. The last time it happened, his parents were not too happy and the stain could still be seen.

"I wanted to tell you something, it is a surprise as well as a secret. So you should not tell anyone just yet. One of A-Yuan's friends, Mo Xuanyu is his name, would be staying with us for a while. He has been hurt so he needs a lot of time to heal, be gentle with him. He is now sleeping in A-Yuan's room but when he wakes up, you should offer to play with him, I am sure he would like that. Can you promise me that you will be nice to him?"

Lan Jingyi was confused. Why did his dad say that the new friend was a secret? Did that meant that he should not tell his friends at school about him? Or was is because the new friend was still sleeping and he did not know he should stay with them so his parents wanted to surprise him? And more importantly, where would he sleep? Lan Jingyi had only just gotten his own room when his brother started school three years ago and he did not want to share it with anyone again. How long would the new friend stay?

But then again, if there was someone new, he would surely play with Lan Jingyi to his heart's content. His dad did just say that they could play once he would wake up. It would be so much fun, just like the birthday party had been, it was always better to play with more people. So perhaps Lan Jingyi should not mind sharing his room with someone as long as the new boy would play with him.

He stopped listening to his parents and his brother talking and was imagining what he could play with the new friend instead. He would definitely show him his collection of toy cars, surely every would be surprised by all the colours he had, they could then play races with them, he would even lend the new friend his most treasured ones to try out. And they could also go outside and play hide and seek. It was no fun with A-Yuan or his parents since they long knew all his favourites spots. But with someone new, the game would regain its appeal. And they could also play football in the garden. And there was so much more too, perhaps the new friend would be willing to read him stories, he was still no good at reading himself, stumbling over the words nonstop and his parents and brother told him to try and improve instead of directly reading for him. He missed his bed time stories, he only ever got one now instead of multiple each evening how he used to. There was just so much he wanted to do also with someone else but his family. It was always good to get to know new people.

"A-Yi?"

His dad's voice called him back to the present, although he had missed the question altogether. His dad must have understood and he repeated: "Can you promise me you will be nice with your new friend?"

"Yes," he replied immediately. He could not even understand why his dad would be asking him such a question. He was always nice to his friends, just as his parents told him to do. He did not need to be reminded again.

"Good," his dad concluded with a big smile that Lan Jingyi liked so much. "Let us prepare dinner now. A-Yuan, do you want to help me? Your things are in your room and I would like Mo Xuanyu to sleep a little bit longer before we go wake him up for the meal. A-Yi, can you go wait in your room for a while? Or do you want to also help?"

Lan Jingyi was not listening anymore as he was already running up the stairs into his room. If he did not want his brother snatching the new friend only for himself, he had to be prepared in advance. He gathered all his toy cars and put them on display in the middle of the room so when the new friend would come, he could show them all proudly. He went then to collect all the books with his favourite stories. He also remembered that they could draw pictures together, one more thing Lan Jingyi liked to do so he also prepared his colourful pencils and some papers on the table.

Now he had everything ready and all that was missing was his new friend. Lan Jingyi wondered if he was awake yet. He should be right? It was a long time since his dad had said that they should wake him up for dinner. And judging by the nice smell coming from the kitchen, it was just about time.

Lan Jingyi came out of his room and went to stand in front of the door to his brother's bedroom. The door was closed and he could not hear anything from the inside. He knew his brother was still downstairs with both their parents, he could clearly hear their voices. But he could not tell if the new friend was already awake and came down as well or if he was still sleeping and they first needed to wake him up.

After a second of careful consideration, he decided to first check in his brother's room. The dinner was apparently not yet ready otherwise his dad would have called him to the table. So perhaps if he woke his new friend up now, he would still have some time to play with him before going to eat. Yes, he liked that idea very much, perhaps if he would show his new friend how much fun they could have together, he would then play more with him than with his brother.

Lan Jingyi did not hesitate any longer and opened the door. As soon as he stepped in his brother's room, he saw that his new friend was indeed still sleeping. He tiptoed towards the bed and prepared to wake him as he would to his brother when the other overslept.

He took off and jumped directly onto the bed, landing safely on the side of it. Since his dad asked him to be nice, he did not jump onto his new friend's stomach but avoided landing on him altogether, he only made the bed move. He then tugged at the blanket to take it off. It always worked for his brother.

However, his plan did not go quite as he had expected. As soon as he landed on the bed, his new friend sat up abruptly. It surprised Lan Jingyi and he lost his balance, falling back to the ground. It hurt but he was a big boy so he did not start outright crying. However, when he looked at his new friend and say tears streaming down his cheeks, he started wailing loudly, calling for his parents.

He did not know what he had done wrong but he had not wanted to make his new friend cry! Now he was at a loss about what to do, he needed help.