Yan Yi lay on his back in the shadow of a white picket fence, using his hands as a pillow. He tossed a strawberry into his mouth, then licked his fingertips, still wanting more, and reached through the fence to sneak another one.
“The young master is back today.”
A few servants were picking fresh strawberries in the garden behind the Lu residence, chatting about the news they had just heard.
The little rabbit ears suddenly perked up. Yan Yi’s eyes lit up with delight. He rose onto his toes and hurriedly climbed over the fence, then ran off.
To a child of only seven, the Lu residence looked like a towering castle reaching into the clouds.
The pleasant sound of a piano drifted out from an open glass window. Yan Yi stood on tiptoe, his small hands gripping the windowsill, struggling to hoist half his body up. His fluffy little tail bobbed behind him as his wide eyes blinked rapidly, peeking inside.
A boy sat at a grand piano, dressed in a school uniform. His long, flawless hands moved across the keys, as if his entire being radiated a refined, noble glow.
Yan Yi pricked up his ears, afraid of missing even a single note.
He liked the little prince in the castle so much.
Suddenly, Lu Shangjin seemed to sense something behind him. The music stopped abruptly, and he turned to look toward the window.
Startled, Yan Yi tumbled to the ground with a thump. He immediately curled into a ball, covering his eyes, his little tail trembling.
After a moment, he realized he didn’t seem to have been caught spying.
He slowly lowered his hands—
Only to find himself face-to-face with a cool and handsome young boy.
Lu Shangjin crouched down and gently touched Yan Yi’s soft ears, a little surprised. “A little rabbit…?”
Yan Yi froze for a moment, then his face flushed red.
Frightened and shy, he curled himself into a tight ball, like a tiny dumpling with rabbit ears and a fluffy tail, and said in a trembling voice:
“It… sounds nice.”
“Is that so?” Lu Shangjin’s eyes curved slightly.
He reached out and stroked Yan Yi’s soft, smooth hair again.
“You’re very cute.”
“Your face is so soft.” Pinching Yan Yi’s snow-white cheek—soft like milk jelly—Lu Shangjin finally understood what the idiom “delicate enough to break with a touch” meant.
Yan Yi blinked his big eyes, the cheek on the left side turning red from being pinched.
One corner of Lu Shangjin’s lips lifted.
“Call me Brother Jin.”
“Brother Jin…” Yan Yi obediently repeated, not daring to move.
“From now on, I’ll look after you, little rabbit.”