TVDC 60: Little Fool

Qiu Xuning clearly didn’t get the point of the thing He Zhiyuan said. His eyes were filled with a hint of confusion as he looked at He Zhiyuan and asked, “Does growing a beard make your mouth hurt?”

He Zhiyuan’s smile paused for a moment, then he nodded seriously, his voice a little hoarse and raspy, “It does, it really hurts the mouth and it’s uncomfortable. It’s better if you don’t grow one.”

Qiu Xuning thought about it and agreed. He couldn’t imagine what he would look like with a beard, and felt it might not be too good, thinking it was actually fine not to grow one.

But having a beard is a basic characteristic of a man. If he doesn’t grow one… then there’s a suspicion that there might be a hormonal issue. 

However, Qiu Xuning didn’t voice out this concern.

After dinner, Qiu Xuning helped Zhou Mingmei wipe the table and took the dishes back to the kitchen. Zhou Mingmei said, “Your Uncle Jinming opened an orchard. Do you want to go there this weekend?”

Qiu Xuning was washing his hands while listening to Zhou Mingmei say this. He blinked but didn’t say anything.

Zhou Mingmei said, “Do you remember your Uncle Jinming? He used to come to our house often for meals.”

Qiu Xuning searched his memory and said slowly, “I remember.”

Zhou Mingmei said, “He’s opened an orchard now. For 30 yuan, you can pick a big basket of strawberries, and if we go, it’ll be 15 yuan per basket. Would you like to go?”

Qiu Xuning heard that Zhou Mingmei would pay this time. He let out a sigh of relief and said, “Sure.”

Zhou Mingmei paused, then said, “By the way, your brother… I just called him, and he’ll be back this week. At that time, we’ll go together to your Uncle Jinming’s orchard.”

“…” Qiu Xuning quietly asked, “He’s coming back so soon?”

Zhou Mingmei paused for a moment and said, “Right now in this hot weather, your brother has to get up early to work. There’s not really any salary, he’s just working as an apprentice. My old classmate also said he’s learning well and he can come back to earn a living, so I let him come back this week.”

Qiu Xuning lightly uttered an “mm.”

A few days later, Qiu Shuohai came back while dragging his suitcase.

It had been almost half a year since they last saw each other. Qiu Shuohai had gotten much darker and his energy seemed a little drained.

He used to love lying on the sofa, and when he came back, it was like a child waking up and immediately searching for milk—he found the sofa and collapsed onto it, like a salted fish.

Qiu Xuning and He Zhiyuan came back after school and saw him lying on the sofa, playing with his phone.

Qiu Xuning instinctively took a step back and intended to turn and head back to his bedroom. However, Qiu Shuohai had sharp eyes and immediately spotted them. He quickly sat up from the sofa, grinned at Qiu Xuning, and said, “Qiu Xuning, come here.”

Qiu Xuning refused to go over and stood where he was. He pursed his lips and looked at him. “What for?”

Qiu Shuohai said, “What’s wrong with you? I’m back, and you didn’t even call me gege?”

Qiu Xuning didn’t say anything. Qiu Shuohai grabbed the bag next to him, placed it on his lap, and said to Qiu Xuning, “Come here. Call me gege and I’ll give you something.”

The tone of his voice almost had a coaxing undertone to it.

Qiu Xuning felt something was off. He wasn’t unfamiliar with Qiu Shuohai’s warm greetings—when he first arrived, Qiu Shuohai was all affectionate with him, and it seemed like they had a very good relationship.

He rejected Qiu Shuohai’s excessive affection towards him. After telling him he didn’t like being touched, Qiu Shuohai still tried to hug him forcefully. At that time, Qiu Xuning had already started to dislike him. Their relationship, by that point, had actually already deteriorated too, and they had almost grown to dislike each other.

Now, Qiu Shuohai was being all affectionate with him again. It just didn’t seem right, no matter how he looked at it.

Qiu Xuning still refused to go over. Qiu Shuohai wasn’t very patient and he shouted, “What’s wrong with you? You don’t plan to acknowledge me as your gege anymore? I’m telling you to come here, it’s not like I’m going to eat you. Damn it, stop being so fussy!”

He Zhiyuan reached out and rested his hand on Qiu Xuning’s shoulder. He quietly said, “Go upstairs.”

Qiu Xuning moved a little closer to him and mumbled an indistinct “mm.” With He Zhiyuan there, Qiu Xuning dared to ignore Qiu Shuohai’s words and really went upstairs with He Zhiyuan.

Qiu Shuohai: “…”

Qiu Shuohai was so angry that his eyes turned red. When Zhou Mingmei came back, he started talking about it in a sarcastic tone.

Zhou Mingmei furrowed her brow and said, “You always bully your brother, and you still want him to be close to you. You really think too highly of yourself.”

Qiu Shuohai argued, “Where have I bullied him? Mom, if you want to talk about the reason, I came back and even brought him a gift yet he still ignores me. I’ve been gone for half a year, and he’s acting like this. Does he still consider me his brother?”

Zhou Mingmei asked, “What did you buy for your brother?”

As soon as she asked, Qiu Shuohai became guilty and said, “He’ll definitely like it, don’t worry about it. My salary is only so much and I even spent most of it buying for him yet he’s still acting like this towards me. I see he’s been getting closer to that He Zhiyuan, and now he’s becoming heartless with him.”

Zhou Mingmei was washing vegetables and not paying attention to Qiu Shuohai’s expression. She said, “You’re talking nonsense—you’re the heartless one. Our family doesn’t have much money, and you dare to gamble. Let me tell you, if you gamble again, I’ll chop off your hand, and then marry you off to a disabled wife, who will be a perfect match for you.”

Qiu Shuohai: “…”

Qiu Shuohai thought angrily, Half a year has passed, and she’s not even his real mother anymore!

Qiu Xuning wasn’t feeling very good, he wrote a few words but then drifted into a daze.

He Zhiyuan glanced at him. “What are you daydreaming about?”

Qiu Xuning snapped back to reality and absentmindedly said, “I don’t know.”

“Thinking about your brother?”

Qiu Xuning didn’t say anything. He didn’t know if it was because of Qiu Shuohai’s return, but his eyelid kept twitching and he felt a bit uncomfortable.

He Zhiyuan reached out and messed up his hair. He said, “Don’t think about it, just focus on your own things.”

Qiu Xuning glanced at him. He reached up to touch his own hair and quietly complained. “Do you treat me like a child, always messing with my hair?”

He Zhiyuan started laughing and said, “You really have no difference from a child.”

Qiu Xuning fixed his hair that had been messed up by him and said, “You’re the child. I’ve never heard anyone say I look like a child. It’s only you, always saying that.”

He Zhiyuan kept smiling. The smile at the corner of his mouth exuded a sense of carelessness, laziness, and casualness. Yet the gaze he fixed on Qiu Xuning took on a slightly dark and deep intensity. “Little fool.”

Those two words, he seemed to speak them as if they were held on the tip of his tongue, with a faint smile.

Qiu Xuning was fixing his hair, and upon hearing He Zhiyuan’s words, he froze. “Why are you scolding me?”

Although he said this, he didn’t feel wronged. He savored He Zhiyuan’s words for a moment and surprisingly, he tasted a bit of tenderness and affection, almost like a love confession. In his heart, he couldn’t help but feel a tingling sensation with a bit of warmth and softness.

He Zhiyuan said, “I was praising you.”

Qiu Xuning pretended to be embarrassed and annoyed as he glared at him. “You’re talking nonsense again.”

He Zhiyuan laughed for a while, and then quietly said, “Don’t worry about your brother. If you don’t want to see him, then don’t. Don’t force yourself.”

Qiu Xuning paused for a moment, and softly uttered an “mm.”

During dinner time, Qiu Zhaozhao extended her arm and showed it to Qiu Xuning. “Look, this is what gege bought for me.”

On Qiu Zhaozhao’s wrist was a sparkling crystal bracelet, with two small bells as embellishments. When she shook her hand, the clear jingling of the bells could be heard.

“It’s nice,” Qiu Xuning said sincerely.

Qiu Zhaozhao was delighted. She was actually very easy to please, and a small favor or kindness would make her smile brightly. She looked at Qiu Shuohai and asked, “Did you buy a gift for Ningning?”

Qiu Shuohai snorted coldly. “I bought it, but it’s a pity he doesn’t want it so forget it. I won’t give it to him even if I lose it.”

Qiu Zhaozhao asked, “What did you buy?”

Qiu Shuohai said mysteriously, “I won’t tell you.”

Qiu Zhaozhao looked at Qiu Xuning and lowered her voice as he said, “Go ask him to see what he bought for you.”

Qiu Xuning pressed his lips together. He glanced at Qiu Shuohai and quickly shifted his gaze away. He didn’t have many material needs. Since it was bought by Qiu Shuohai, he didn’t want to take anything from him, as one can’t be soft when accepting favors or gifts.

Qiu Shuohai said in a sarcastic tone, “Forget it, now that he’s made something of himself, he probably doesn’t even want me as his brother anymore.”

Zhou Mingmei said, “You should say less!”

Qiu Shuohai sulkily shut his mouth.

Qiu Shunming said, “Tomorrow, go find a job for me. With your skills, you can just find any renovation company to work at and you’ll be able to bring home a few thousand.”

This time, Qiu Shuohai didn’t argue. He didn’t have any money on him, Zhou Mingmei and Qiu Shunming couldn’t pull out any money either. Qiu Haiyan would give a little, but it wasn’t enough. Going to work at least meant he would have some cash in hand.

Qiu Shunming said and then warned him, “Don’t you dare gamble again. If you gamble again, don’t come back to this house.”

Qiu Shuohai didn’t say anything. He now realized—he always felt that those people had cheated him back then, and he had been completely tricked.

Seeing that Qiu Shuohai didn’t respond, Qiu Shunming spoke again, “Did you hear what I said?”

Qiu Shuohai said reluctantly, “I know.”

He truly didn’t feel well inside. Since that incident, their attitude towards him had changed which made him more irritated.

Qiu Shunming got angry seeing him like this, and threw his chopsticks at him. “Look at you like this, if you gamble again, don’t come back to me. Damn it, I earn just a few bucks a year and you gamble it all away in one go. Do I owe you anything?!”

Qiu Shuohai said, “Didn’t He Zhiyuan give the family 150,000? He didn’t spend your money though.”

Qiu Xuning couldn’t help but straighten his back. That’s right, it was still that familiar feeling. His brother hadn’t changed, he was still the same old way.

It would’ve been fine if Qiu Shuohai hadn’t brought up the 150,000, but as soon as he mentioned it, Qiu Shunming couldn’t hold back his anger. If it weren’t for Qiu Shuohai’s mess, that money would’ve all been his personal savings!

Qiu Xuning couldn’t eat anymore and he quickly found an excuse to go upstairs. As he was almost at the bedroom door, the noise from downstairs reached him along with the clattering sounds, making it even more irritating.

Qiu Xuning returned to his bedroom and sent a message to He Zhiyuan, “Once you’ve moved out, I’ll move in with you.”

Soon, a reply came from the other side, “Mm.”

It was also accompanied by a sticker of a little bear poking its head out, looking silly with rosy cheeks, as if it were shy.

Qiu Xuning couldn’t connect this sticker with He Zhiyuan. He couldn’t help but smile, pressing his lips together.