When Ti Xiao opened his eyes after the sneeze, the fluffy bundle was gone from his hands. Xiao Yao stood frozen like a statue.
“Where’s my hamster?” Ti Xiao asked in a muffled, worried voice, glancing around the floor in a panic. What if he’d accidentally turned his beloved into hamster pancake?
Xiao Yao didn’t speak. His whole body had gone stiff.
Something was definitely squirming around under his robe, crawling here and there, brushing against his skin with a vivid, ticklish clarity.
“Xiao Yao, have you seen Xiao Huhu?” Ti Xiao had already dropped to the floor, checking under the bed.
Xiao Yao swallowed hard. “Stand up. Stop looking.”
And then Ti Xiao watched as Xiao Yao, face dark, reached deep into his robe… very deep… and pulled out one stunned little hamster ball.
“Hahahaha! He fell into your robe?!” Ti Xiao burst out laughing with relief. For a moment there, he really thought he’d squashed the little guy. But now seeing Xiao Yao’s grim expression and how awkwardly he’d retrieved the hamster… it was just too much.
Xiao Huhu looked utterly dazed. The sunflower seed he’d been holding was long gone. He sat dumbly in Ti Xiao’s palm, front paws limp, nose and whiskers completely still—as if he’d just witnessed something truly traumatic.
Ti Xiao gently patted his head. “Aww, did we scare your second daddy?”
Second daddy?
Xiao Yao’s expression was still dark, but his brow lifted slightly at that comment.
“Alright, enough fooling around. Shower time,” he said, grabbing the hamster and dropping him back into the little plastic box, then pulling Ti Xiao along with him toward the bathroom.
Sensing déjà vu from the other night, Ti Xiao immediately started pleading, “No no no—I was wrong! My back still hurts! It’s only been one day—my bad, seriously, I mean it—ahh, stop biting me!”
“Fifteen times,” Xiao Yao said as he pinched his soft cheek. “You said it yourself.”
“I…” Ti Xiao was speechless.
When the hell did I promise fifteen times? That’s not a promise—it’s a death sentence!
Sure enough, say that kind of thing enough times and you forget it… but the other person never does.
A warm bite landed on his neck, making him flinch.
“Okay okay, fine—fifteen it is! But at least wait till we’re home—hey, you’re wasting water again!”
“Ever heard of ‘the child pays the father’s debt’?” Xiao Yao said, turning on the shower and lifting Ti Xiao up again.
Water streamed down, soaking Ti Xiao’s hair and plastering it across his forehead, blinding him.
What kind of nonsense is that? ‘Child pays the father’s debt?’ Isn’t it supposed to be ‘father’s debt, child repays?’ Who makes up phrases like that?
And just where had Xiao Huhu ended up during all that anyway?
Even if some weird “debt” needed repaying, it didn’t have to involve all… this, right?
Ti Xiao wanted to cry but had no tears. All of this—he blamed it on that hamster “son.”
Outside the bathroom, their clueless hamster child had buried himself face-first into the wood shavings, leaving only a stubby tail and fuzzy butt sticking out—like he was terrified of hearing whatever sounds were coming from beyond the door.
By the fourth day, the event was already winding down.
Though it was advertised as a seven-day event, in reality, with travel days at the beginning and end, there were only five actual days of activity. Many of the ladies—some living far away or tied up with other obligations—had already started heading home today.
After the more structured events of the first three days, the remaining time was more relaxed: casual sightseeing around the provincial capital, led by editors in small groups.
Gua Pi’s group—Ti Xiao’s group—had the fewest members left, just a handful of girls sticking it out till the end.
Despite the smaller number, they were somehow lagging behind all the other teams. The reason? Their team leaders were physically drained and had been complaining nonstop about their sore backs.
The team leader: Gua Pi Li Yi.
The assistant leader: Ti Xiao.
The head tour guide up ahead called out to them, urging them to hurry up. “Li Yi, your group’s falling behind again!”
Both Li Yi and Ti Xiao answered in unison, then exchanged a long, knowing glance… eyes full of pain and regret.
Li Yi glared at Chang Qi. Ti Xiao—well, he had no one to glare at.
So he pulled out his phone and sent an angry emoji to Xiao Yao.
In return, he received a kissing emoji… and a picture of his hamster son.
Hamster son still looked dazed when facing his second daddy.
After taking the photo, Xiao Yao hadn’t put Xiao Huhu back in his box. He simply left him sitting on the table. To his surprise, the little guy just plopped down on his butt, completely still, his nose twitching now and then—looking like a hamster who’d just stared into the abyss.
Even when Xiao Yao offered him food, he refused. He stayed that way all day, only perking up when Ti Xiao came home. Then he transformed back into the joyful little idiot he’d been when first brought home.
That night, while Ti Xiao was sketching Xiao Huhu, Xiao Yao suddenly spoke. “We’re going home tomorrow morning. At noon, we’ll swing by your place to pick up Little Hoolu. We’ll have lunch there too.”
“Did my mom invite you for lunch?” Ti Xiao asked without looking up, focused on catching up with his sketch diary. He’d fallen behind on his birthday entry yesterday and wanted to finish both tonight.
Xiao Yao hummed a yes, smiling at the back of his life-sized hamster’s head, then shifted his gaze to the smaller hamster on the table.
Xiao Huhu, who just moments ago was bouncing around like a circus performer, immediately froze again.
Second… second daddy is scary…
By the time they arrived at Ti Xiao’s family home the next day, it was already 1 PM. Unlike the cooler provincial capital, Xuancheng was more inland and much hotter. The summer heat hit them like a wall.
“So hot,” Ti Xiao muttered as he fanned himself. He hadn’t even gotten out of the car yet but was already fretting. “Don’t forget to bring Xiao Huhu down, okay? If we leave him in the car in this weather, he could be in real trouble.”
Xiao Yao paused, glancing down at the ever-zoned-out Xiao Huhu.
Forget it. I won’t compete with a hamster for affection. I’m the more evolved species—gotta be the bigger man.
“What’s this? You bought a baby rat?” Ti Xiao’s mom asked, seeing Xiao Huhu.
“We already have a cat. Are they supposed to fight it out?”
“It’s a hamster,” Ti Xiao corrected with his mouth full. “His name’s Xiao Huhu.”
“Xiao Huhu, huh.” She picked up the hamster and moved closer for a better look. “Aren’t you afraid our Hoolu’s gonna eat him in one bite?”
But the moment she brought Xiao Huhu closer, Hoolu—her cat—started yowling like crazy.
Well, that backfired fast.
This was Xiao Huhu’s first time seeing Little Hoolu.
And the instant they locked eyes, you could almost see the non-existent furrow between Hoohoo’s brows: This situation… does not look simple.
After scooping up the whiny, cowardly cat and mooching a free lunch, the couple finally headed home.
While they’d been in the provincial capital, Ti Xiao had burned through all his mobile data—and even overspent on his phone bill. Now he was standing on the brink of disconnection, waiting to get back home and connect to Wi-Fi.
“Want me to top up your phone?” Xiao Yao offered, pulling out his phone.
“Nah, I’ll just use Wi-Fi at home. I barely make calls anyway,” Ti Xiao said. The truth? It was only the beginning of the month, and he’d already blown nearly 200 yuan on data. He refused to give another cent to the telecom company.
He’d canceled his apartment lease a while back, and with it, his home internet service too.
Now that the two of them were living together, they only needed to set up one internet line. Of course, the Wi-Fi password remained the same: “The Cutest Xiao Xiao in the World.”
But this time, when they got home, neither Ti Xiao nor Xiao Yao could connect to the Wi-Fi at all.
“Is something wrong?” Ti Xiao asked, watching Xiao Yao crouched down fiddling with the router. “Could the service have expired?”
“Shouldn’t be,” Xiao Yao said, pulling out the service contract to show him. The contract was valid until November of next year.
“Maybe it’s just acting up,” Ti Xiao patted Xiao Yao’s shoulder. “Whatever—let it be. If we can’t use the computer, we can watch some TV instead. Hey, top up my phone bill first; I need to scroll Weibo. I’m sure a bunch of people tagged me.”
But as the saying goes, “When it rains, it pours.”
Xiao Yao nodded and took out his phone. He then saw a message that looked all too familiar.
“Dear customer, as of 9:06 PM on November 3, your account balance is -233.33 yuan. You are a 1-star customer and eligible for a 10 yuan overdraft on your phone bill. —[China X Mobile]”
Even the amount owed looked oddly familiar.
Ti Xiao peeked over and glanced at the message, then pursed his lips.
Unreliable at critical moments, as usual.
He had no idea how the TV service was handled, but he did remember it was tied to Xiao Yao’s phone account.
Now, they couldn’t even watch TV.
As modern-day people who might barely survive without internet or TV, Ti Xiao chose to go paint, while Xiao Yao started cleaning the apartment, both waiting to see if the router would come back to life.
“Lift your foot,” Xiao Yao said as he swept the floor, moving to Ti Xiao’s area.
“Xiao Yao,” Ti Xiao called out while sketching Xiao Huhu, lifting both his feet off the floor at the request.
“Hm?” Xiao Yao made a questioning sound.
“You borrowed my Wi-Fi before, right?” Ti Xiao said casually.
Xiao Yao smiled. “Yeah, I did. What about it?”
“You tell me,” Ti Xiao put down his stylus and looked up at him. “What do you think would have happened if I’d said no?”
Xiao Yao glanced at him, then looked down again while sweeping, and confidently replied, “That’s not an option.”
“Just hypothetically,” Ti Xiao said, “take a wild guess.”
Xiao Yao set aside his broom, bent down, and kissed him. “Then I’d just drag you to my place and not let you leave until you told me the Wi-Fi password.”
Ti Xiao said, “Honestly, I suspect you liked me from the start and just used borrowing Wi-Fi as a lame excuse.”
“Yeah, I admit it,” Xiao Yao continued sweeping, silently hiding the fact that he was actually annoyed because the Wi-Fi’s name was “Just Not Letting You Connect.”
“Hmph, I knew it,” Ti Xiao said proudly, almost wagging his metaphorical tail.
Right after that, with a sudden beep, the air conditioner stopped working, the room darkened, and the computer screen went black.
“Power outage?” Xiao Yao looked puzzled. “I’ll check the circuit breaker.”
“No way! I haven’t saved my work yet!” Ti Xiao yelled, though it was only some quick sketching practice. Still, the desktop computer didn’t have a battery like a laptop, so the portrait of Xiao Huhu was lost.
Outside, the sky looked like it was about to rain, heavy and overcast. The air both inside and outside the apartment felt stuffy and humid. Once the air conditioner went off, the room quickly grew hot.
“Looks like a blackout—old wiring in the neighborhood,” Xiao Yao said, peering outside, then urged the increasingly impatient Ti Xiao, “Sit down and relax for a bit.”
Ti Xiao opened a window and found a slightly chilled yogurt in the fridge. He held it in his mouth and paced back and forth, complaining first about no internet, then about no power.
“Come here,” Xiao Yao said, holding a fan and patting the couch beside him.
“When will the power come back?” Ti Xiao rested on Xiao Yao’s shoulder, bored out of his mind.
“Pretty soon. I just saw workers outside fixing it,” Xiao Yao reassured him softly.
“Does the first day back home have to be this miserable?” Ti Xiao said bitterly.
Before he could even enjoy the breeze from the manual fan for long, someone knocked on the door.
It was Aunt Zhang from upstairs. “Xiao Xiao, why don’t you come downstairs and sit for a bit? Uncle Li, Aunt Liu, and the others are all here. It’s especially cool downstairs right now. Uncle Li even managed to get a watermelon. If you want some, hurry down!”
Ti Xiao wasn’t much interested in watermelon, but catching hold of Aunt Zhang was like clutching a lifeline. “Auntie, please help me top up my phone bill!”
With renewed spirit, Ti Xiao grabbed Xiao Yao’s hand and bounced downstairs to share the watermelon.
If he’d been cranky just moments ago, it was probably because he had no internet. Had he been able to connect to Wi-Fi to play games or do something, he wouldn’t have been so restless.
Downstairs, a few neighbors had set up a table and several stools by their garage doors. Slices of watermelon were laid out on the table. Seeing the two come out of their building, the aunties called out to them warmly.
Outside, a breeze blew in, cool and carrying the scent of rain — truly much cooler than inside. The neighbors gathered, chatting and eating watermelon together, passing the time without power or internet.
“The watermelon’s a bit cold, eat it slowly,” Xiao Yao kept worrying.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ti Xiao shook his head, glancing at the heavy sky above. Feeling the chill on his skin, he bit into the watermelon, crossed his legs, and savored the moment — it was hard to say how comfortable he felt.
After topping up his phone, Ti Xiao’s device sprang to life, vibrating several times. He thought it was just messages delayed from the telecom company sending all at once.
Only after finishing the watermelon in his hand did he finally take out his phone to check.
Amid a flood of spam texts was a serious message from “Xiao Zhou.”
That familiar name, long unseen.
Ti Xiao opened the message and read, then fell into thought, secretly glancing at Xiao Yao.
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