Upstairs, Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu were still diligently completing their tasks. Meng Yuxiu heard a noise from the beam above and looked up.
“Don’t bother looking, it’s just a rat.”
Upon hearing this, Meng Yuxiu immediately frowned.
Seeing his reaction, Han Shuo snorted through his nose, “What, are you a little princess? Look at you being all delicate. Let me tell you, this is nothing. In July or August, during summer, a snake might even fall through the gaps in the tiles.”
A sudden image popped into Meng Yuxiu’s mind: Han Shuo and his brothers bringing Han Ting upstairs, and suddenly a snake slides down, causing the whole family to flail around…
Speaking of rats, Han Shuo remembered something and said to Meng Yuxiu with frustration, “When I first got here, I had a novel. But I hadn’t even read two pages before it got ruined by rats. I only found a few torn pages in the rat hole later, which is how I knew about the task.”
He asked Meng Yuxiu, “You should have a copy too, right?”
Meng Yuxiu nodded, “I did, but after my current parents tidied up my room, it disappeared. I guess they were afraid reading novels would affect my studies, so I only read the first page.”
Han Shuo slapped his leg and cursed, “Damn! What a coincidence! Hey, do you think there might be other fancy tasks? What if we kiss and still can’t go back?”
After hearing Han Shuo’s words, Meng Yuxiu’s heart sank. It was hard to say; the novel seemed to have more than just one page.
As he was pondering, he suddenly saw a shiny black head appear at the stairway entrance. He immediately realized it was Han Ting coming up the stairs.
He had to admit, in that moment, Meng Yuxiu was grateful that people go upstairs with their toes pointing forward, not their heels. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have seen the back of Han Ting’s head.
“Ugh…” Han Shuo was caught off guard by a push and glared, “What are you doing?!”
Meng Yuxiu signaled with his eyes and quickly whispered, “Your nephew is coming upstairs.”
Han Shuo hurriedly looked over, and sure enough, Han Ting was already coming up the stairs with a thud.
“What are you doing up here, you little rascal?” Han Shuo asked.
Han Ting was still a bit shy. He licked his lips, his eyes fixed on Meng Yuxiu, and then slowly moved his small body to the bedside.
“Watching Uncle do homework.”
“Watching me do homework?” Han Shuo ruffled his hair and chuckled, “You want to be a teacher, huh? Watching me do homework?”
Han Ting giggled, his eyes squinting with laughter.
Han Shuo nudged him, “Can you even understand? Go downstairs and play. I’ll find you after Uncle finishes his homework.”
Han Ting shrugged his shoulders and made a sound of refusal.
With a child on the second floor, Meng Yuxiu asked Han Shuo, “What do we do now?”
Han Shuo nonchalantly said, “It’s fine, let him be. Let’s continue.”
Meng Yuxiu was shocked by his words, his eyes wide, “Are you kidding?!”
“I’m not kidding… Okay, okay, look at you getting all nervous. What if he won’t go downstairs?” Han Shuo thought for a moment and came up with an idea.
He reached into Han Ting’s pocket, pulled out two candies, unwrapped them, popped one into Han Ting’s mouth, and one into his own. Then he took one of the candy wrappers and started folding it on the desk.
“Wow!” Han Ting’s attention was captured, and he quickly saw Han Shuo fold a butterfly.
Han Shuo placed the other candy wrapper on the bed and lifted Han Ting onto the bed, “See what Uncle folded? Here, you fold one too.”
Sure enough, a child this young is easily distracted. He immediately focused on playing with the candy wrapper.
Han Shuo smugly winked at Meng Yuxiu and whispered, “Don’t worry, this little thing will keep my nephew busy for at least half an hour without looking up.”
Meng Yuxiu looked at the child intently folding the candy wrapper and hesitated, “Are you sure?”
Han Shuo casually said, “Even if he sees, it doesn’t matter. Kids these days aren’t as mature as we were. What does he know? Even if he sees a piece of chicken poop on the road, he’d pick it up to see what it is.”
“…”
Han Shuo called Meng Yuxiu to sit closer. Meng Yuxiu hesitated, feeling it was absurd, but still moved his chair closer.
However, just as Han Shuo was about to lean in for a kiss, a large hand suddenly slapped over his mouth. He glared at Meng Yuxiu in annoyance, “What are you doing?”
Meng Yuxiu, with an indescribable expression, nodded towards Han Shuo. Han Shuo turned his head.
Damn! When did this little brat look up? At this moment, two shiny black eyes were staring at them unblinkingly.
Han Shuo felt something was off, so he asked Han Ting, “Ting Ting, why aren’t you playing?”
Han Ting replied, “I want to watch you.”
“?” Han Shuo asked, “Watch us do what?”
Han Ting suddenly extended his small hand, right in front of Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu, with five little fingers together. Then he stood on tiptoe and pecked at Han Shuo’s mouth.
Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu were baffled.
“…Ting Ting, what are you doing?” Han Shuo grabbed his little hand.
In a childish voice, Han Ting said, “I want to see if Brother’s mouth turns into a rooster’s beak to peck Uncle’s mouth.”
“…”
“…”
No need to think, Han Shuo understood what was going on. He shrugged at Meng Yuxiu, “I’m really impressed! My brother must be afraid I’m dating, so he sent him to keep an eye on us. Should we change places?”
Meng Yuxiu had already left after lunch today, riding over ten kilometers of dirt road, his legs trembling by the time he got here, and then worked all afternoon. It was like he had wasted an entire afternoon.
He pulled a face, “Change to where? You’ve already told your brother we’re doing homework. Going to the mountains or fields? That would be even more suspicious.”
Han Shuo could hear the annoyance in Meng Yuxiu’s tone. He put an arm around his shoulder and smiled apologetically, “Then let’s do it tonight. There’s plenty of time at night. Don’t be mad, you know I’m more anxious than you to complete the task. It’s just that the conditions don’t allow it. Alright, alright, tonight I’ll make sure you get enough kisses.”
At this point, Meng Yuxiu could only trust Han Shuo one more time.
Han Hong received a tip-off and, knowing that Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu were indeed doing homework, felt relieved.
To thank Meng Yuxiu for both working and tutoring today, he kept serving him food at the dinner table.
After dinner, he even boiled a pot of hot water for Meng Yuxiu to wash his face and feet.
However, after going upstairs, Han Hong took out a thin quilt from the cabinet and smiled at Meng Yuxiu, “Xiao Meng, you’ll sleep with me tonight. Ting Ting, you go sleep with your uncle.”
Meng Yuxiu was stunned, almost doubting his ears.
Han Shuo was equally stunned and anxiously said, “No, brother, you must be mistaken. He’s supposed to sleep with me tonight.”
Han Hong glared at Han Shuo, “Tsk, why are you so clueless? I said you two can’t sleep together, listen!”
Han Shuo was speechless, “It’s not… I know you’re worried, you’re afraid something will happen between me and Meng Yuxiu, afraid of gossip. But it’s just our family here, if you don’t say anything and Ting Ting doesn’t say anything, no one will know. Why can’t he sleep with me?”
Han Hong was taken aback by his younger brother’s words. Seeing Han Shuo so anxious made Han Hong even more uncertain.
He couldn’t let his guard down. What if Han Shuo got taken advantage of in bed, or worse, got pregnant…
And judging by the current situation, his brother seemed quite willing to be close.
But even if he was willing, it wouldn’t do! Just thinking about it made Han Hong’s heart and lungs ache. Although getting pregnant was a stretch, Meng Yuxiu seemed refined and proper, he probably wouldn’t dare.
But no matter what, two teenagers in their puberty lying in the same bed was something Han Hong couldn’t accept.
As Han Hong and Han Shuo were about to argue, Meng Yuxiu stood awkwardly to the side like air. He didn’t want Han Shuo to continue because the more he said, the more it seemed like they were trying to cover something up.
So he pulled Han Shuo aside and whispered, “Stop talking, if you keep going, your brother will really suspect what we’re doing at night.”
Han Shuo could see that Han Hong was adamant and wouldn’t agree no matter what. Arguing further was pointless. Han Shuo thought for a moment and quietly said to Meng Yuxiu, “Alright, you temporarily sleep with my brother. Once he starts snoring, sneak over to my bed.”
Meng Yuxiu asked, “Are you sure he won’t wake up?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve lived here with him for half a year, I can guarantee it!”
Meng Yuxiu nodded seriously, “Okay.”
Finally, Han Hong was relieved. He had been stern with Han Shuo earlier, but now he turned to Meng Yuxiu with a smile.
He placed the new thin quilt on the inside of the bed and carefully spread it out, “Xiao Meng, you’ll sleep inside tonight. Our bed is hard, I don’t know if you’re used to it. If you need anything at night, just call me, don’t be shy, make yourself at home.”
“Thank you, brother.” Meng Yuxiu hesitated as he took off his shoes, while Han Shuo, sitting on the bed at the stairway, signaled to him.
Meng Yuxiu understood his meaning, which was nothing more than reassuring him that they would definitely complete the task tonight.
He could only sigh in frustration and then got into bed.
Once the lights were off, they chatted for a while. With an extra person in the house, Han Ting was so excited he couldn’t sleep. Even in the dark, he was rolling around in bed until his dad scolded him, and then Han Shuo pulled him into the covers.
After a while, the room gradually quieted down, with only the occasional noise from the beam above.
Meng Yuxiu didn’t sleep. He lay there with his eyes closed, waiting. Sure enough, as Han Shuo had said, Han Hong soon started snoring.
“Chirp chirp!”
“Chirp chirp!”
“Chirp chirp!”
In the darkness, Han Shuo made a signal with his mouth. Meng Yuxiu opened his eyes, waited a few seconds, then quietly lifted the covers and got up, preparing to step over Han Hong, who was sleeping on the outside.
But just as his leg went over, before his foot even touched the ground, the thunderous snoring abruptly stopped, and Meng Yuxiu’s breath caught.
The light suddenly flicked on, causing Meng Yuxiu’s pupils to contract slightly. As the light softened, he found himself staring into Han Hong’s eyes.
“……”
“……”