The children weren't the only ones who adopted him. One grandmother insisted he needed more food and appeared with steamed buns whenever she saw him.
Another complained his hair was getting too long while bragging to her friends about how handsome he looked.
The village uncles were just as troublesome. Uncle Zhao spent two weeks trying to convince Guiying that fishing was an essential life skill.
Uncle Sun believed every young man should know how to repair fences, and neither accepted rejection gracefully.
Somewhere between the unsolicited advice, shared meals, and endless conversations, Guiying stopped feeling like a guest.
Nobody announced the change.
It simply happened.
One day he was the young man staying at Granny Wu's inn.
The next he was Xiao Gui. The villagers called his name often enough that he sometimes heard it in his sleep.
