The kindness she gave did not make a lot of noise. It came out in little actions, like bending down to talk to a child, like setting aside food, like remembering the fridge space, like planning a room in advance so the family would not feel uncomfortable. That kind of care was often more believable than loud affection. It slipped in quietly and stayed.
LiLi, after hugging the dinosaur for a while, suddenly asked whether the new house had a place for her toys and whether she could sleep next to Auntie. Bai Li answered with a smile that the room was big enough and that they could figure out the arrangement after moving. The little girl took that as a promise and immediately smiled so brightly that her cheeks rounded out. She turned around and showed the dinosaur to Yan Laojin, then to her mother, as if she wanted everyone to know how happy she was. Yan Cijin looked at her daughter, then at Bai Li, and the corner of her mouth lifted before she could stop it.
