Chapter 87 Zhao Zhao Clings to Gege

Chapter 87: Zhaozhao Clings to His Brother

Wang Wang had started to figure out his younger brother's little quirks—he knew exactly how to play on Zhaozhao's soft heart. Hahaha!

Just like their dad, Zhaozhao had a tough exterior but a soft heart. Hehe.

However, Zhaozhao had indeed changed quite a bit. He no longer turned away, ignoring Wang Wang as often. Instead, he would actively seek to play with him, especially when Wang Wang was drawing airplane models. His little brother would even shyly cling to him. It was wonderful—Zhaozhao was actually very attached to him.

On Tuesday, Wang Wang showed Zhaozhao his artwork displayed on the kindergarten exhibition board. With only one day left before winter break, the teacher had said that the children could bring their younger siblings to school—specifically those who'd be joining the spring toddler class. The goal was to help the little ones adapt to kindergarten life in advance, encourage them to look up to their older siblings, and teach the older children how to care for and protect the younger ones. This way, they could get along better with the younger kids. Wang Wang really liked this idea. When he told Zhaozhao about it that evening, Zhaozhao surprisingly showed a happy, excited expression and nodded repeatedly, saying, “Want to go with brother!” So Wang Wang brought him along.

On the display board of outstanding artwork, Wang Wang had the most award-winning pieces. One of his paintings had even won a city-wide award—a super dreamy spaceship with two white wings. The other three paintings were of an airplane, a rocket, and a helicopter.

After class started, the teacher first had the older siblings lead their younger brothers and sisters to see their own artwork. The purpose was to let the younger ones learn about kindergarten life and admire their older siblings even more. When Wang Wang found he couldn't pull Zhaozhao away from the display board no matter what, it hit him—no wonder Zhaozhao had been clinging to him so much lately! It was because he admired him! Following Zhaozhao’s gaze to his own artwork, Wang Wang thought it really was impressive. He'd captured every detail of the airplane, making it look incredibly realistic, with some creative touches too. Ever since the two of them started attending each other’s interest classes, Wang Wang had come to love drawing more and more. He realized that his interest in vehicles and airplanes came from wanting to draw them exactly as they were. After only two months of learning to draw, Wang Wang was already creating such detailed artwork. The teachers praised his talent, but only Wang Wang knew that he'd been memorizing the parts of these vehicles since he was just over a year old. He'd been soaking it up for so long that he could draw them effortlessly.

He used to think he enjoyed assembling vehicles and airplanes, but it turned out he didn’t. Later, when he told his dad that he preferred drawing, he wasn’t worried that his dad’s years of accompanying him to vehicle and aerospace classes would go to waste. His dad had said it was entirely up to him—whatever he liked, he could pursue.

Wang Wang excitedly explained his drawings and ideas to Zhaozhao, and sure enough, Zhaozhao admired him even more, following him everywhere after that.

Beaming with pride, Wang Wang returned to his seat. The teacher then asked the younger siblings to perform. Wang Wang’s jaw dropped in surprise, and he quickly whispered to Zhaozhao, “Zhaozhao, if you don’t want to sing or dance, I’ll tell the teacher we won’t perform.” Unexpectedly, Zhaozhao asked, “Does brother want to sing?” Wang Wang’s eyes lit up. “Then let’s sing together!” After getting Zhaozhao’s agreement, Wang Wang was the first to volunteer them.

Hand in hand, the two sang “Catching Loaches,” a song their uncle had taught them. Wang Wang was thrilled and even asked the teacher to record a video to send to Dad and Daddy. At the time, Wang Wang had no idea that this would become one of Shi Mingzhao’s top ten cringey childhood memories when he grew up.

As for Shi Yiwang, there was no such thing as an embarrassing childhood memory in his life—because he was always making new ones. Haha.

During the interaction session with the younger siblings, the teacher let them choose any toy in the classroom. After thinking for a moment, Wang Wang picked up a paintbrush to show his brother what he could do. Sure enough, Zhaozhao pressed close to his arm, watching intently without blinking. After finishing the drawing, Wang Wang asked, “Zhaozhao, do you want it?” Zhaozhao immediately nodded. Wang Wang teased, blinking, “Then say ‘I super love brother.’” Zhaozhao went quiet, embarrassed, and turned his head away, ignoring all his pleading. Wang Wang then said, “Okay, just four words: ‘Super love brother.’” Zhaozhao still didn’t speak. Wang Wang persisted, “Three words: ‘Love brother.’ Come on, say it! If you do, I’ll teach you how to assemble things at home. Daddy isn’t as good as me!” Finally, after another moment of silence, Zhaozhao spoke: “Love brother.” Wang Wang burst out laughing. “I love you even more!” he said, hugging Zhaozhao and kissing his cheek.

Zhaozhao wriggled shyly, but Wang Wang was over the moon. He gave Zhaozhao the drawing—a cross-section of an airplane showing its internal parts—and it was Zhaozhao’s turn to draw. But Zhaozhao silently grabbed Wang Wang’s hand. Wang Wang soon realized Zhaozhao wanted to paint his nails. Wang Wang protested immediately, “That’ll make them dirty!” But Zhaozhao insisted. When Wang Wang refused, Zhaozhao looked up at him whining, almost pleading. Wang Wang threw his head back laughing. His brother was such a little charmer!

Since Zhaozhao admired and loved him, Wang Wang felt he had to live up to being a big brother.

Time to spoil him!

Ten minutes later, Wang Wang gaped at his brightly painted nails, especially the two thumbs, each with a small blue and green “dog poop” drawn on them. He was uncharacteristically quiet. But when he saw Zhaozhao trying to hide a smirk, Wang Wang started laughing too. Okay, one poop was Zhaozhao, and the other was him. They were both little 'gifts' from Qiaoqiao. Hahaha.

Even though Zhaozhao didn’t talk much, his little mind was full of wild imagination.

At lunch, there was zucchini, which Zhaozhao didn’t like. Wang Wang smiled, waiting for Zhaozhao to whine and ask him to eat it like before. But after waiting a while, Zhaozhao didn’t approach him. Was he scared because Dad and Daddy weren’t here? Zhaozhao was much quieter than the other noisy children, with his head down over his bowl and trying hard to eat his vegetables bite by bite.

He must be feeling anxious, Wang Wang thought, as he leaned closer. But—his normally well-behaved little brother was actually being mischievous! He seemed to be busy shoving zucchini into his mouth, but in reality, his little fork was just stabbing randomly, and not a single piece made it to his mouth. Hahaha!

His brother was so adorable. When Zhaozhao realized he’d been caught, he shyly turned his head away, holding his bowl. Wang Wang gently turned Zhaozhao’s head back, opened his mouth wide, and said, “Ah,” letting Zhaozhao feed him the zucchini.

Zhaozhao must have taken the teacher’s earlier advice—“Children should cherish the food in their bowls”—to heart and thought he had to finish everything. But did he really think fake-eating would work? Zhaozhao’s thought process was hilarious. After Wang Wang ate all his zucchini, he laughed for a long time.

At naptime, Zhaozhao usually slept with either Dad or Daddy. But today, he didn’t cry or fuss; he just sat quietly, refusing to sleep.

Wang Wang leaned over his little bed, waving his hands to call his brother:

“Zhaozhao, come sleep! Otherwise, you won’t grow tall, and you’ll stay this small forever.”

“…”

Suddenly, Zhaozhao’s expression changed slightly, his little eyebrows furrowing with distress. He must be missing Dad and Daddy. Wang Wang climbed out of bed, walked to the small stool by the door, and took Zhaozhao’s hand.

“Zhaozhao, sleep with brother. Brother needs you. If you’re not here, a tiger might catch me in my dreams at naptime today.”

“Don’t want sleep.”

“But brother needs you! What should we do? How about you lie next to brother? You don’t have to sleep, just protect brother, okay?”

After about three seconds, Zhaozhao nodded.

Wang Wang was overjoyed. With the teacher’s help, he had Zhaozhao lie on the inside of the small bed. He gave his brother a tight hug, then closed his eyes with a smile, gently patting Zhaozhao’s little arm. Sure enough, after a busy morning, Zhaozhao was soon fast asleep. When Wang Wang woke up, Zhaozhao was still lying on his chest, arms around him—protecting him, just as promised.

After naptime, the children were still a bit groggy. Once Wang Wang woke up properly, he turned to Zhaozhao and made up a story: “A tiger took brother away, but you saved me!” After a moment of silence, Zhaozhao laughed along with him.

Wang Wang tapped his brother’s little nose and shook his head.

“Brother is amazing.”

“…Brother is amazing.”

“Then which of us is more amazing?”

“…”

“Come on, say it! Brother loves you the most.”

“…Brother.”

“Wow—wow! Wow!…”

Wang Wang cried “wow” five or six times in a row, so excited that he leaped off the bed and bounced around excitedly several times.

Even Xiang Xiang and Che Che—who were almost six years apart—had never told their older brother, “You’re more amazing.” Most kids liked to think they were the best. But Zhaozhao had said Wang Wang was more amazing! Overjoyed, Wang Wang ran to the teacher and got a big star sticker as a reward for Zhaozhao.

It was worth celebrating and rewarding!

For the rest of the afternoon, Wang Wang kept grinning whenever he thought about it. He really knew how to love and teach his brother, making Zhaozhao feel that Wang Wang was more amazing. Hehe, being a big brother was great. With just a little effort, his brother would willingly look up to him.

During outdoor activities, Wang Wang was like a little bodyguard, not only protecting Zhaozhao but also telling him he had to protect himself. Why? To make Zhaozhao love him even more wholeheartedly. Hehe.

The snow from a few days ago had long been cleared away. The afternoon was warm, and after group games, some children played on the slide, while others played “Eagle Catches Chicks.” Wang Wang took Zhaozhao to the slide, telling him to stay close behind.

But in a moment of inattention, Zhaozhao slipped and fell flat on the ground, scraping both his little hands until they were red.

“What happened?! Who pushed my brother?! Teacher—!”

After listening to the other children’s stumbling explanations, Wang Wang’s jaw dropped in surprise. He was deeply moved. “Zhaozhao, brother loves you so much! How are you so good…?” He rambled on for a while, his heart aching and swelling with emotion as he looked at Zhaozhao’s scraped hands. He cupped his brother’s little face, all his unspoken words turning into affection…

The teacher, quick-eyed, intervened:

“Wang Wang, no kissing your brother on the lips!”