Love So Sweet

98 Cleaning Up

“It stopped,” Bai Xi Xi looked at the bathroom with a dazed look on her face.

Zhang Li Xue turned around and saw the drenched Bai Xi Xi standing at the bathroom entrance. The light in her eyes flickered as Zhang Li Xue noticed the little girl’s reddened eyes.

She could imagine Bai Xi Xi panicking when the water continued to pour and she had no one to help her to turn it off.

Zhang Li Xue went over to the girl’s side and crouched down to get to her level. “It’s alright. Everything is alright now.” A gentle smile curled on her lips. “Xi Xi, were you scared?”

Bai Xi Xi nodded. She recalled the moment the sink broke and how nothing she do could stop the water from flowing. Bai Xi Xi could not help but to sniffled.

If the water did not stop flowing, then, it will spill everywhere into the house. When her brother returned, would he scold her?

“Alright, don’t cry.” Zhang Li Xue stretched her hand to wipe the tears streaming down the little girl’s face. Then, she pulled Bai Xi Xi into her embrace and consoled her.

“Pretty Sister,” Bai Xi Xi sniffled. “Don’t hug me. Your clothes would get dirty.” She still remembered that the Pretty Sister had shown up in a beautiful dress. If her dress was dirtied because of her, Bai Xi Xi would not know what to do.

“It’s just a piece of garment. I can always wash it afterward,” Zhang Li Xue said. She patted the girl’s shoulder a few times and spoke, “Xi Xi, are you feeling better now?”

.....

Bai Xi Xi sniffled. Then, she adjusted her mood. “Un. I’m feeling better.”

Zhang Li Xue pulled away and smiled. “Then, how about we clean up the bathroom together before your brother showed up?”

The girl looked at the flood in the bathroom that had started to come out to the living room. This was not something that she could clean up alone.

“Alright.” Bai Xi Xi pursed her lips into a thin line. “Pretty Sister, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Zhang Li Xue bopped the little girl’s nose. “I’m glad that Xi Xi had called me for help.”

“You are?” Bai Xi Xi looked back in uncertainty.

“Uh-huh.” Zhang Li Xue nodded. “It means you trust me enough to let me come and help you. Alright. Xi Xi, I don’t know the things around this place. Why don’t you help to get some mop and wiping clothes so we can start working?”

Bai Xi Xi nodded. Then, she turned around to get the things that they might need to clean up the mess.

Once the girl was out of her view, Zhang Li Xue took her time to look around the place.

Although this place was slightly depilated, she could see that the house was very clean. It was small, but it was enough for the siblings to live in together.

Before Bai Xi Xi returned with the equipment they might need, Zhang Li Xue began to look around to find a way to get rid of the flooding water in the bathroom.

She took off her jacket before walking back into the bathroom. When Bai Xi Xi arrived, the two of them work hard to absorb the water using a map and an old towel. They get the water into a bucket before throwing them slowly down the drain.

Fortunately, her father had thrown her into the housekeeping department for a few months. During that time, Zhang Li Xue had learned the way to clean up the toilet and picked up a few cleaning up tips from the friendly aunties.

It took them a couple of hours to clean up the water and the affected surroundings.

When they were both done, the two of them sat on the sofa with a tired look on their faces.

Zhang Li Xue glanced at the little girl beside her and smiled.

It was hard on her to deal with everything on her own. “Xi Xi, are you tired?”

“Un.” Bai Xi Xi nodded. “Fortunately, I have you to help me. Otherwise, I didn’t know how long it will take for me to clean up this mess.”

“We both work hard together,” Zhang Li Xue said. She looked in the bathroom direction again and sighed. “I can only help you to clean up a little bit. As for the bathroom... you will need to ask your brother to find someone to fix it.”

Bai Xi Xi nodded again. “I will talk to Brother Bai Qi about it.”

Just as she finished saying those words, Bai Xi Xi’s stomach started to grumble loudly. Her eyes widened. Then, Bai Xi Xi covered her stomach with her small hands.

“Xi X, have you not eaten your lunch yet?” Zhang Li Xue asked.

When Bai Xi Xi called her earlier, it was just around lunch hour.

Seeing the mess around the house, Zhang Li Xue could guess that the pipe was broken for a while before the girl finally picked up the phone to dial her number.

“I haven’t.” Bai Xi Xi lowered her head. She looked up again as she seemed to recall something else. “But, my brother left me something in the fridge. I’ll go ahead and reheat the food.”

Without waiting for a reply, Bai Xi Xi ran into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She took the dishes that her brother had prepared for her earlier and put them into the microwave.

Zhang Li Xue stood up and followed the girl to the kitchen. She took a look around the surrounding before speaking again, “Xi Xi, do you always live alone whenever your brother was working?”

“Not really. Usually, I would go and stay with Auntie Ji. But this week, she was not at home. Sometimes, I would go and live with Auntie Yun as well.”

“Auntie Yun?”

“Mmm... My brother said Auntie Yun is his mentor’s wife.”

Zhang Li Xue was quick to figure out that the Auntie Yun was the same Auntie Yun she knew. She had never thought that her Uncle Qi Zheng’s family would help Doctor Bai Qi to look after his sister as well.

Bai Xi Xi took a clean mug and filled it with some water for the Pretty Sister. “Sister have a drink. You should be tired after work.”

Her lips tilted into a smile. “Xi Xi, thank you.” She took a sip from the water and sighed with satisfaction. “That’s right, you said that your brother was not picking up his phone just now. Does he do this often?”

“Mmm... My brother said he’s a doctor. Sometimes, whenever there was an emergency, he might not be able to pick up his phone. I think, my brother should be working hard and did not have time to look at his phone.”

Zhang Li Xue was about to say something when she recalled that the siblings had no one but each other after they lost their parents.

Her eyes turned gentler as she looked at the little girl again. Bai Xi Xi is just too pitiful.