A Cub Just Wants to Snag a Big Shot on a "X-Change" Variety Show! - Chapter 7

“Brother?”

Shen Xiaoman leaned over, tilting his head to catch a glimpse of Pei Zhiyan’s face, which was buried in his arms. Hearing his voice, Pei Zhiyan’s fingertips trembled slightly as he slowly raised his head.

“What is it?” He uncharacteristically took the initiative to speak, struggling to endure the sharp, bloated pain in his abdomen. His tone and expression were calm, doing everything possible to hide his distress.

But Xiaoman was still frightened by his bloodless face.

“Let’s go, let’s go. Brother, we’re going to the infirmary.”

In his panic, Xiaoman grabbed the boy’s sleeve and gave it a hard tug. It didn’t budge; Pei Zhiyan remained as steady as a mountain. He bit his pale lower lip and said softly, “I’m fine.”

“How are you fine!” Xiaoman’s eyes rounded.

Stomach pain could be deadly. If it was appendicitis or acute gastroenteritis, it needed timely treatment; you couldn’t just wait it out. Having experienced his mother’s death in his previous life, Xiaoman was hyper-sensitive to illness. Whenever a family member had a minor ache, he’d drag them to the hospital for a checkup—he was truly terrified.

This ‘Long Aotian’ protagonist-cub is being way too careless!

The classmates nearby looked over, watching the commotion in the back corner. They didn’t have any ill will toward the transfer student; it was just that Pei Zhiyan was so cold. During his introduction, he had only stated his name before sitting down, making everyone hesitant to approach him.

Now was the perfect chance. A few nearby students chimed in, advising Pei Zhiyan to see a doctor and telling Xiaoman where the school clinic was.

But Pei Zhiyan still refused.

“Go back to class,” he said faintly to the cub. His voice was ethereal and thin; he was still in pain.

Ugh, you’re making me so mad!

Xiaoman was about to explode. This kid was so disobedient; he really wanted to smack his butt! The protagonist-cub was so smart and relatively old—why was he so resistant to seeing a doctor? Was he afraid of pain? It wasn’t like he’d definitely get a needle or surgery; maybe a pill would fix it.

“I’m not going back. You can’t boss me around,” Xiaoman said, his rebellious streak surfacing. He stubbornly gripped Pei Zhiyan’s cuff, his puppy eyes glaring.

They had received their new school uniforms today but hadn’t changed yet, so they were still in their original clothes. Xiaoman was wearing the new clothes Zhang Ying had air-freighted from Beijing. Pei Zhiyan’s new foster family lived well and had thoughtfully prepared breakfast, so they must have bought him new clothes too.

But for some reason, Pei Zhiyan wasn’t wearing them. He was still in the same outfit they met in—so old that Xiaoman could feel the hard, coarse texture under his palm. The fabric wasn’t even as soft as a cleaning rag at home.

A cleaning rag…

Xiaoman suddenly froze. He looked down at Pei Zhiyan’s frayed cuffs and the cheap, pilling fabric. A thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

He remembered. In his last life, when he was poor and lonely, wasn’t he exactly the same?

If his stomach hurt, he just squatted in the bathroom. If he had a cold, he slept it off. If his tooth ached, he endured it until the pain passed. He knew he should treat illnesses early, but when money for food was an issue, he couldn’t even bear to throw away a tattered shirt. Go to the hospital? Why waste money that would likely go down the drain? A registration fee could buy enough steamed buns for several meals.

In that world, minor illnesses don’t need treatment; you just endure them. Major illnesses can’t be treated; you just pack up and wait for death. That was the attitude of the extremely poor toward injury and disease.

It was only because his luck changed in this life that his values changed too. Because now, the baby didn’t lack money.

But Pei Zhiyan did. He lacked it very, very much.

Xiaoman felt a wave of frustration, angry at himself for being so stupid. He had been in the exact same position as Pei Zhiyan, yet he had forgotten to empathize with the boy’s silent, sensitive heart. To Pei Zhiyan, the well-meaning advice of the classmates probably felt like an invisible, suffocating pressure.

Xiaoman hesitantly let go.

As the force pulling on his sleeve vanished, Pei Zhiyan’s gaze shifted. He resisted the urge to look up at Xiaoman’s expression—it would likely be impatient or angry. Better not to look.

Go on, he thought. I can’t repay the kindness.

Pei Zhiyan let his body go limp and closed his eyes, slumping back onto the desk like a wilted cabbage. He had endured a whole class period, but the pain in his lower abdomen hadn’t subsided at all. He remained calm.

It’s fine. Just endure it a bit longer. Even the arm he’d had fractured by an ashtray once had healed on its own. This was nothing.

“Brother… Brother…”

The cub’s pitiful, soft calling rang in his ear. Pei Zhiyan took a sharp breath, hesitated for a moment, and looked up at Xiaoman.

He froze, his brow furrowing slightly.

“Brother, I… my tummy hurts too. What should I do…?”

Xiaoman was squatting by his seat, clutching the edge of his shirt like a whimpering puppy begging for food. He seemed to be in real pain; his cheeks were flushed red, and glistening tears were squeezing out of the corners of his eyes, flowing non-stop.

Could someone this cute be lying? Pei Zhiyan thought suddenly. But the cub was crying and looked miserable.

Pei Zhiyan’s legs moved as he prepared to stand up.

“Brother, I want to see the doctor. Will you come with me to the infirmary, please…?” The puppy was begging again, making “a-wu” sounds as he weakly leaned against the desk.

However, the right hand that had been holding his lower abdomen just a moment ago had somehow migrated to the stomach area. He was clearly just pressing randomly. Pei Zhiyan’s eyelashes fluttered.

He’s faking it.

Pei Zhiyan opened his mouth, but the cold refusal stuck in his throat and wouldn’t come out.

“Which one of you is actually sick? What are the symptoms?” The school doctor was caught between laughter and tears.

The shorter cub, with a rosy face, was wailing and clutching his stomach—he was the one who had presented the school card for registration. The taller one was pale, his forehead covered in cold sweat, but he was feigning composure as he supported the other. It was glaringly obvious which one was the patient.

“Ah… ahh, it hurts so much…” Xiaoman’s voice was like a drifting soul. He weakly rolled his eyes and whispered, “The symptoms… B-Brother knows. Ask him…”

Doctor: “What?” His voice was too small to hear.

Pei Zhiyan remained silent until he felt the cub pinch the skin on his lower back to nudge him. He bit the bullet and described his own symptoms in bursts: “He… he has a sharp, bloated pain in his abdomen. The pain moved down and stopped around the navel. It’s constant, but he doesn’t have diarrhea.”

The doctor nodded. “Did he eat breakfast?”

Pei Zhiyan: “Yes.” He repeated the menu.

The doctor clicked her tongue. “That much? Even if you want to grow, you shouldn’t be that ruthless.”

“Sister, is it serious? Will the baby die?” Xiaoman hugged Pei Zhiyan’s arm, leaning against his shoulder like a limp noodle as he asked weakly.

“Stop watching TV dramas. It’s nothing major.” The doctor stared at her screen, typing. She prescribed some medicine in the system and tapped the ‘Enter’ key, linking the data to Xiaoman’s school card. “Go to the pharmacy to pick up the meds. Little one, do you usually skip breakfast?”

Her searching gaze darted between the two cubs. Xiaoman immediately increased his volume, letting out a fresh round of “ow-ow” cries.

“…” Pei Zhiyan blinked his dry eyelids and answered in a low voice: “Yes. Today was… his first time eating breakfast. He didn’t control the portion well.”

The doctor nodded. “I thought so. If you skip breakfast long-term and suddenly eat such greasy, heavy food, it easily causes gastrointestinal dysfunction. The medicine I’m giving you must be taken before meals. Pay more attention to your health. Your stomach is already bad at such a young age—what will you do later? Gradually build the habit of eating breakfast.”

After finishing, she smilingly poked Xiaoman’s head. “Got it, little sweetheart?”

“Yes, yes, I know. Thank you, beautiful Sister,” Xiaoman said instinctively, his sweet-talking habit kicking in.

“Oh? It doesn’t hurt anymore?” the doctor teased.

“Ah—no! Ah, Brother…” Xiaoman cursed inwardly. He instantly performed a “deflated balloon” act, hanging limp on Pei Zhiyan again and weakly pestering him to go to the pharmacy.

Once out of the doctor’s sight, Pei Zhiyan hesitated. As they neared the pharmacy, he said softly, “You go get the medicine. I’ll go pay.”

Xiaoman caught him. “No need. It automatically deducts the money from my school card.”

Pei Zhiyan said calmly, “Then I’ll check how much was deducted and pay you back.”

He reached into his pocket and felt the brand-new school card among a pile of small change. Before registration, he had refused the new foster family’s kindness, pulling crumpled money from his bag to scrounge up 100 yuan to top up the card. If he were frugal, it would last for over two weeks of school lunches. He was loath to spend it on medicine, but since the deal was done, he had no choice.

Xiaoman got anxious: “Agh—!”

He used both hands to grab Pei Zhiyan’s wrist, acting like a rogue. “I worked so hard on my performance; don’t I get some interest? Brother, you’re definitely going to be successful in the future. I’m making an early investment, hehe. Why don’t you just write me an IOU? I’ll ask you for it when I run out of money~”

Hmph, he thought. I’m a cub who knows the future.

Because of this show, Pei Zhiyan would be discovered by his family in Beijing. After a month of filming, he’d be recognized and instantly become the sole young master of the Pei family. Would he care about a few dozen yuan then? Plus, money wasn’t the point—the sentiment behind it was! The baby was the best at calculating “emotional accounts.”

Pei Zhiyan froze, laughing at himself in his heart. Successful? Where does Shen Xiaoman get the confidence to guarantee that?

Fine. Regardless, Xiaoman was using the new foster family’s money; he certainly didn’t lack it now. These high-society people valued face; they would never do something as classless as forcing a kid to pay back two months of expenses under the public eye. Once the show was over, he’d squeeze some out of his appearance fee and pay Xiaoman back then.

“Fine, let’s write an IOU,” Pei Zhiyan said.

Xiaoman’s handwriting in his last life had been quite good; since he stayed home with nothing to do, practicing calligraphy was a great way to pass the time without spending money. But in this life…

Back in kindergarten, he discovered that he didn’t seem to be well-acquainted with his own fingers. Despite plowing through five practice books, his writing was still “dog-scratch.”

How embarrassing. He lowered his head, his eyes practically glued to the paper, terrified Pei Zhiyan would see how ugly his writing was. Leaning over the infirmary registration desk, he used a piece of torn, discarded medical record paper to crookedly write the IOU.

Only after finishing did he realize that the IOU had to be given to Pei Zhiyan, so it would inevitably be seen. His “head-in-the-sand” hiding was pointless.

Sigh, why is the baby doing embarrassing things every day? Why is my brain always lagging? Forget it, forget it!

“Let’s sign it. Me first.” Xiaoman signed his name, then had a sudden idea. He flipped the IOU over. “Wait, Brother.”

He took the pen and carefully drew two simple stick-figure cartoons on the back. It was surprisingly vivid. The figure on the left was tall and thin with cold, inverted-triangle eyes and a mouth drawn in a short, straight line. He was holding hands with a round-cheeked, smiling figure on the right.

“This is Brother, and this is me,” Xiaoman explained, pointing at the figures as he stuffed the paper into Pei Zhiyan’s hands. “In the future, if you see the IOU and forget who the ‘Shen Xiaoman’ written on it is, just look at this photo. You’ll definitely remember.”

Pei Zhiyan held the thin piece of paper, his finger pressing over the tightly interlocked hands of the two little figures. His throat felt dry.

“Mm.”

The day’s classes ended quickly. As Xiaoman expected, it was boring to death! The whole time was spent teaching campus behavioral codes—how to sit properly, answer questions actively, and greet teachers politely.

The baby even earned two “Little Red Flower” stickers. One for not crying because he missed home, and one for being active and obedient. He stuck one on each cheek. So cute.

The other cubs were envious, chirping around him during the break. His chubby desk mate was once again deeply provoked and determined to be even more obedient than Xiaoman. Finally, before school let out in the afternoon, he also earned a beautiful flower.

The chubby kid stuck it between his eyebrows and marched to the door to find his kindergarten friends to show off. But the moment he reached the door, he was stopped by the teacher.

“Don’t leave the classroom yet. Children, pack your bags. We’ll line up to go to the gate to wait for parents in a moment. Did you all get your interest-club brochures? Remember to fill them out with your parents when you get home.”

“Okay—” the cubs answered in unison.

The chubby boy was annoyed at being blocked, but since students have an innate fear of teachers, he didn’t dare resist. He sat back down, arms crossed, brooding. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xiaoman looking at the interest-club brochure with sparkling eyes. He let out a disdainful “Hmph.”

Seeing that Xiaoman didn’t hear him, he let out a louder “HMPH!”

The desk mate is ignoring me!

The chubby kid gritted his teeth and was forced to approach him. Seeing the colorful picture Xiaoman was looking at, he said boastfully, “See this, Xiaoman? It’s called basketball! Have you ever played?”

Xiaoman shook his head honestly. He had only gnawed on one when he couldn’t even walk. At age three, he tried to play with his brother’s basketball, but it was over-inflated. Lacking experience, he slapped it hard; the ball bounced up and smacked him right in the nose. His face was covered in blood, and he wailed in pain. After that, his brother never let him play with a real basketball again, giving him a soft inflatable ball to play with instead.

“Ha! I can!” The chubby boy regained his spirit, finally finding something he could do better than Xiaoman. He stood up, his fatty body jiggling as he performed a jump shot. It was actually quite standard.

“I look cool, right? This is Shen Ling’s signature move. He’s my favorite star! He’s the ‘Light of Domestic Basketball’! There are so few Asians who are fought over by NBA teams! He’s such a genius!” the chubby boy said with a face full of admiration.

Hearing this, Xiaoman beamed like a flower—more radiant than the two flowers on his cheeks. He nodded vigorously. “He’s my favorite, too~”

The chubby boy was skeptical. “Liar. You don’t even play; you probably don’t even know who he is.”

Xiaoman tilted his head. “But he and I are family. Of course I like him.”

The chubby boy’s short eyebrows furrowed. After a moment, he had a realization. “You both have the surname Shen. You really are family! Dammit, I’m so jealous. Fine, fine!”

The chubby kid actually liked his new desk mate—he was cute and shared good snacks. He patted Xiaoman’s shoulder generously. “Since you also have the surname Shen, when I grow up and become Shen Ling’s teammate, I’ll give you a basketball with his autograph!”