I Won’t Be Your Best Friend - Chapter 4

Relying on her universally adored, flower-blooming-at-the-sight-of-her looks and her unmatched personal charm, Huo Wan successfully became good friends with Lin Dang.

At least, that was what she believed.

The friendship between the two of them began to rise at lightning speed, and very quickly, they became good friends who talked about everything.

Lin Dang would occasionally tell Huo Wan about the headache-inducing little sister at home.

It was also from this time onward that Huo Wan began to feel that waking up every day and leaving home for kindergarten had suddenly become something worth looking forward to.

During New Year, the city had a very heavy snowfall. Ms. Zhao Xiangmei bought a matching sister outfit for the two little dolls at home, bright red and extremely festive.

Only, the one Lin Ran wore was an extra-small version.

Lin Dang was very unwilling to put on such an outfit. From a distance, she looked just like a mascot. And her mother actually wanted to take her out dressed like this to pay New Year visits.

Her young self-esteem had been insulted.

In recent years, the Lin family had been flourishing, and they had gradually taken the initiative less and less to visit other people’s homes for New Year greetings.

Aside from the official connections that necessarily had to be maintained, the only family they still visited personally every year on the third day of the New Year, without fail, was Old Master Huo’s family.

The Huo family was a medical family. Old Master Huo had once saved Lin Hai’s life from the hands of King Yama when Lin Hai was young.

From then on, every year, the Huo family gained one more person who came to pay New Year greetings at their door, no matter the weather.

Even now, Lin Hai was already married with children and was no longer the penniless, empty-handed poor boy of back then.

When Huo Wan first saw Lin Dang, she had felt that she looked familiar.

So when the Lin parents came over to pay New Year greetings and she saw the little red figure behind them, she immediately figured out why she had seemed familiar!

So it turned out they had met a long time ago.

Only, in past years during New Year, Huo Wan had not liked coming out to meet guests very much, and her impression of Lin Dang had only come from one hurried glance.

“You’re so cute!”

Red clothes, red hat, like a walking lucky doll! After Huo Wan saw Lin Dang, she skipped all the way over to her. This praise came entirely from the heart.

She could not resist reaching out and tugging the round pom-pom on Lin Dang’s hat.

“Cute, my foot!”

Lin Dang accidentally blurted out something very unrefined, probably because she had gotten used to saying things like that when complaining about her little sister.

Only after she said it did she realize that this was not at home. Right now, she was a guest at Doctor Uncle’s house! This would make other people think she had no manners.

So, belatedly afraid that her father and mother would scold her, she hurriedly reached out and covered her mouth.

Although by then, it was already a little late.

She hated it most when others said she was cute. After all, in her eyes, this word was not anything good.

“It is a cute little ball!”

Huo Wan seemed completely unable to hear that this was not a nice thing to say. She reached out again and fiddled with the fuzzy ball on Lin Dang’s head.

It felt soft when pinched.

Lin Dang’s brows shot up, and she glared at Huo Wan again. This time, however, she did not speak up to refute her.

The adults of both families were stunned for a moment, not knowing what exactly was going on before their eyes.

Especially the elders of the Huo family. The surprise on their faces was entirely unconcealed. The parents looked at one another… after all, this girl Huo Wan was the family’s only granddaughter, usually showered with thousands upon thousands of favor.

She was basically given whatever she wanted.

Normally, she was also terribly proud and did not especially like paying attention to people.

Mm, actually, she generally ignored people she did not think much of. Even at a young age, she was very perceptive and knew how to socialize selectively. The family also felt that there was nothing wrong with a girl being a little proud.

Even a scholar had three parts arrogance.

Yet today, in front of a little girl, she had taken off her arrogance.

“So… this child Huo Wan is from Mr. Huo’s family.”

Ms. Zhao Xiangmei often went to the kindergarten to pick up her child, and of course she recognized the classmates who were close with Lin Dang. So she was the first to recognize Huo Wan.

Although both sides had the surname Huo, forgive her for not having such a powerful imagination.

She looked at Huo Wan’s parents, then looked at little Huo Wan, who was currently talking with her daughter.

Although a child’s appearance had not yet fully settled, if one looked carefully, this child’s brows and eyes did indeed carry the shadow of the Huo family.

Originally, this was supposed to be a very boring New Year visit. Lin Dang had thought she would once again be questioned this way and that by those uncles, aunties, grandpas, and grandmas, treated like a child for their amusement.

After all, adults all liked teasing children.

But Lin Dang did not like being treated like a child and teased, although… in reality, she truly was a child.

Huo Wan was like an angel descending from the sky, bringing her away from that strange circle.

The two of them huddled together and whispered. Children did not hold grudges, and Lin Dang very quickly forgot that Huo Wan had just laughed at her for being “cute.”

“I’ll take you to see my secret treasure chest!”

Everyone had their own “secrets” during childhood, and Huo Wan could no longer wait to show Lin Dang her own “secret.”

Holding Lin Dang’s hand, she ran all the way upstairs.

Hidden under the bed was a small cardboard box. Inside it were all kinds of young-girl dreams, all kinds of little dolls, and placed right at the very top was a copy of… a familiar Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

That was the one Lin Dang had given Huo Wan not long ago. She had not expected that the other girl would actually categorize it into this “treasured” cardboard box too.

“This book is sold everywhere outside.”

Lin Dang reached out with her small hand and took the book out of the box. A flash of awkwardness passed across her face. Although she said that aloud, the curve of her lips betrayed her thoughts.

Who would not hope that their feelings would be liked and valued by someone?

“It’s different. You gave me this one.”

The two of them sat cross-legged on the carpet. Lin Dang watched as Huo Wan said this sentence in the most ordinary tone, as if because it was something you gave me, it was worth treasuring.

Huo Wan did not feel that there was anything improper about what she had said at all.

She lowered her head and rummaged through the cardboard box. In the end, she found a set of watercolor pens. The reason this set existed in the box was because it had been the reward her mother gave her when she received her first little red flower in kindergarten.

The watercolor pens were held up high, and a bright, innocent smile appeared on the girl’s face.

“Let’s play the pirate treasure game!”

Pirate treasure.

The two of them would each write down their wish at this very moment and seal it inside two different containers. Then they would go to the garden in the backyard, choose a place, and bury them there. After a very, very long time had passed, they would dig them out together.

In order to avoid their memories becoming confused after a long time, the two of them could draw a pirate treasure map for the place where they buried the treasure and leave behind a few clues.

So they would not be unable to find it in the future.

The two of them lay on their stomachs on the carpet, earnestly writing their wishes on paper.

Lin Dang wrote a little, stopped a little, and could not help wanting to crane her head and see what Huo Wan was writing. Vaguely, she seemed to see a long string of wishes.

Her peeking was quickly discovered. Little Huo Wan covered the surface of her paper and began accusing Lin Dang of her immoral behavior.

“You’re peeking!”

Lin Dang’s face reddened, and she stuck out her neck stubbornly.

“What’s the big deal? I’ll let you see mine too.”

She spread open her own paper with great generosity. Actually, she had not written much, nothing more than things like hoping her family would be healthy and that she could grow up quickly.

Wishes that could barely be considered wishes.

Unexpectedly, the person in front of her raised her hand before she could and covered her own eyes.

“I don’t want to look!”

If a wish was seen, then it would no longer be called a wish!

…..

The adults downstairs were laughing and chatting in the living room. The two children circled in and out of the house, still holding the drawing paper in their hands.

As Huo Wan walked, she used the colored pen to write and draw on the paper. In order to make the effect more realistic, she even specially drew a pirate flag on it.

“Here… from here, walk ten steps forward, then one hundred and fifty steps toward the southeast… southeast…”

The two of them looked at each other. Which direction was southeast?

“It’s probably this direction.”

Lin Dang pointed diagonally ahead with a serious air.

Actually, she was also not sure which direction was southeast, nor did she understand why Huo Wan insisted on using such a professional term.

Perhaps it was to make the game feel a little more realistic!

After all, pirates would not write words like “diagonally ahead” on a treasure map…

“Let’s make it here! Beneath the Crimson Tear is where the treasure is hidden!”

After wandering around for quite a while, the two of them finally chose a spot in the courtyard. They had already thrown themselves completely into the game, and they picked up small shovels and began digging a hole.

The so-called Crimson Tear referred to a blooming red rose. Huo Wan felt that the name she had chosen was quite good. Not only did it have a sense of mystery, it also had a very artistic feeling!

Because they could not find suitable little boxes at home, they simply used glass bottles instead.

Lin Dang carefully placed the two intact glass bottles into the dirt pit, setting them side by side. Stuffed inside them were little rolls of paper, and written on them were the girls’ secrets.

They wanted to dig them up again many years later.

After the bottles had been buried, Huo Wan crouched on the ground and took out a golden-yellow colored pen, completing the final stroke on the treasure map.

She marked the place where the treasure was hidden.

Just like that, a complete pirate treasure map was finished.

“It’s freezing out there. What are you two doing outside? Hurry up and come back inside!”

At this moment, an adult’s shout came from inside the house. After Lin Dang answered loudly, she pulled Huo Wan up from where she was crouching on the ground.

The two of them ran all the way back into the house again. Huo Wan looked back every few steps, and before entering the house, she even glanced reluctantly at the place where the glass bottles had been buried.

No one knew that on the slip of paper hidden inside the bottle, aside from all sorts of miscellaneous wishes, there was also one crooked, wobbly line of words:

I want to be with Dangdang forever, until we’re nine hundred and ninety-nine years old!

Best friends forever!

Author’s Note: Hehehe! Thank you all for watering Luo!