Jing Xi sensed his reluctance. In order to protect little Tieniu, she suggested, “Your Highness, if you do not want to be friends with Niuniu, I will not bring him here again. No worries. I’m taking him home after work today.”
Little Grape suddenly recalled what Grandma Lan had said, which scared him. If Niuniu left, Auntie Xiaoxi would be gone too.
He stood up on the bed and said, as if he was giving a command, “I’m not unwilling to be friends with him. Fine. You may play with my toys now.”
Little Grape pointed at the boxes on the floor. It was his biggest compromise.
Jing Xi knew that he had already accepted Niuniu as a friend. So she held Niuniu’s hand and said, “Niuniu, say thank you to the prince. He is inviting you to play with his toys.”
Little Tieniu felt uncertain and took another glance at the prince, then the boxes.
Little Grape hopped on the bed and urged, “Go open it and take a look!”
“Come on, let mommy show you the toys.”
Jing Xi brought the boy to the boxes. Upon opening them, little Tieniu felt overwhelmed by the sight. There were tons of toys!
They looked like those he saw last time in the toy world downtown, or even better. Many of them were never before seen elsewhere.
Little Tieniu admired the little prince for possessing so my wonderful toys.
But what he did not know was that it was merely a very small portion of his toy collection.
The little prince had a lot of toys. But he found none of them amusing.
“Is there anything you want to play with?”
Little Tieniu looked around and pointed at a blue Transformer. Jing Xi handed it to him and said, “Go play with it.”
Little Tieniu went to play by himself, while Jing Xi helped the little prince get ready for his breakfast.
Seeing that the little prince was able to get out of the bed, she suggested, “Your Highness, how about you race Niuniu over breakfast?”
“With him?” The little prince had never raced with anyone over a meal before.
“Yup, with him. And see who eats more and faster. Do you dare?”
“Sure! I’m definitely winning!”
Jing Xi reached out her arms and helped Little Grape sit up and put on his shoes. Then they came to the dinning table and placed him on a chair.
She called little Tieniu over and had them sit facing each other.
Auntie Lan had already placed two sets of breakfast for the two boys on the table. In each tray, there was a sandwich, a heart-shaped fried egg, some mixed fruits and a glass of hot milk.
“Niuniu, put it aside and come for breakfast.”
Jing Xi took the Transformer and helped him wash his hands.
Little Tieniu felt uncertain and took a glance at the little prince sitting on the other side of the table. Was he supposed to eat together with the prince?
“Auntie Xiaoxi, can we start?” The little prince got his knife and fork ready.
“Yes, let’s start.”
Upon hearing Jing Xi’s order, the little prince started enjoying his breakfast.
Because of his royal upbringing, he was used to a knife and fork and table manners.
But little Tieniu knew none of these things. Once his mother gave the go-ahead, he applied his hands and munched on his sandwich.
Whatever his mother cooked was always delicious. Little Tieniu was filled with joy.
