"Wow! It's beautiful! Are you really giving this to me?"
She put down her fork and shot up from her seat, her hands braced on the table.
It was a cloth doll dressed in a lace skirt, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a faint smile painted on its face. A small silk scarf was tied around its neck.
She had never received such an exquisite gift before.
"For me? Is it really okay?"
The little boy nodded vigorously, his face as serious as if he were taking an oath.
"Yeah! My mom just bought it for me. I want to be friends with you, so... it's for you."
In his eyes, making a friend was a sacred event.
And a gift was a symbol of one's sincerity.
He would rather go without a new doll if it meant gaining a true friend.
"Okay! Then we're friends from now on!"
Shanshan snatched up the doll.
She grinned from ear to ear, holding nothing back.
"Pinky swear! You can't take it back later!"
She held out her pinky, and the little boy immediately understood, holding out his own.
