Han Hong scrutinized Meng Yuxiu from head to toe repeatedly, making Meng Yuxiu feel stiff all over. If he were being stared at like this by other classmates at school, he would definitely give a cold look and ask, “What are you looking at?” But in front of an elder like Han Hong, and on someone else’s turf, Meng Yuxiu could only awkwardly dig his fingers into the wooden handle of the sickle.
Han Shuo was completely oblivious, standing cheerfully with his hands on his hips nearby. Meng Yuxiu really wished he had some kind of superpower that could convey his thoughts directly into Han Shuo’s ears without making a sound. If he had that, he would definitely use invisible sound waves to deafen Han Shuo’s ears.
“What are you standing there like an idiot for?!!! Fool!”
But he didn’t have such a power, so he could only uncomfortably press his lips together. Just as he was fretting over how to ease the awkwardness, he suddenly remembered something. He quickly fished out a handful of candies from his pocket and bent down to give them to Han Ting, who was sitting on the field ridge.
Luckily, he was clever enough to think about how it would be embarrassing to visit someone else’s house empty-handed, so he brought along the wedding candies he got from attending a wedding last time. Sure enough, with a handful of candies, he managed to divert Han Ting’s attention.
“Wow, Meng Yuxiu, you even brought snacks!” Han Shuo exclaimed happily, “That’s awesome! Why are you being so polite?”
Han Hong then told his son to quickly thank his brother.
“Thank you, brother.” Han Ting held a handful of colorful candies in both hands, his little face beaming with joy. He tugged at Han Shuo’s pant leg, “Little Uncle, peel the candy.”
“You little glutton.” Han Shuo squatted down to peel the candy for him, “Eat one first, save the rest for when you get home, okay?”
“Okay~”
Since his son ate someone else’s candy, Han Hong was also very polite. He said to Han Shuo, “Xiao Shuo, since your classmate is here to tutor you, you shouldn’t be in the field. Go home.”
Han Shuo replied, “It’s fine, Meng Yuxiu said he wanted to help us harvest the rice.”
“How can we let your classmate do the work?” Han Hong smiled and looked over again, “What if Xiao Meng’s clothes get dirty?”
Meng Yuxiu awkwardly tugged at the corner of his mouth and said stiffly, “It’s okay, brother… working together will be faster.”
Han Shuo fed a candy into his nephew’s mouth and said to his brother, “It’s fine! If the clothes get dirty, we can just wash them, right, Meng Yuxiu?”
Meng Yuxiu nodded.
“Let’s go, time to harvest the rice!” Han Shuo was already pulling Meng Yuxiu into the field.
Seeing this, Han Hong didn’t say anything more. The couple in the neighboring field happened to be taking a break, and they teased, “Han Hong, you have an extra helper today?”
“He’s my Xiao Shuo’s classmate, here to tutor him.”
The woman in the neighboring field laughed while holding her hands, “Where is this kid from? He looks really nice, tall, and handsome, very refined.”
Han Hong understood what she meant and smiled, “You’re thinking too far, big sister. My Xiao Shuo is still young and needs to focus on his studies.”
“Young? When I was your Xiao Shuo’s age, my Ding Ding was already born.” The man in the neighboring field patted Han Hong’s shoulder, “I think this young man is quite good, and he even came by bicycle. Your Xiao Shuo has good taste. Besides, studying doesn’t matter, you can get married after graduation. If he finds someone himself, it saves you the worry as his brother.”
Han Hong silently cursed the couple, thinking they were speaking without understanding the situation, as if it wasn’t their cabbage being picked. He looked at the two teenagers whispering in the field and couldn’t help but worry.
“Do you know how to harvest rice?” Han Shuo saw Meng Yuxiu rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt neatly after entering the field and couldn’t help but tease, “Wow, you’re so particular about harvesting rice, like doing homework.”
After teasing, he noticed Meng Yuxiu holding the sickle with his left hand.
Han Shuo was surprised, “Wow, Meng Yuxiu, are you left-handed?”
“Yes.”
“Hey, is your left hand nimble? Be careful, don’t cut yourself. Let me tell you, this sickle is really sharp. My brother spent half an hour sharpening it with a whetstone last night.”
Meng Yuxiu found that apart from the terrible first impression during their fight, Han Shuo was actually quite nice after getting to know him better. Hearing the concern in his words, Meng Yuxiu smiled and said, “It’s okay, I’ll be careful.”
“Alright then, I’m just worried you might accidentally cut your hand. If you cut off your right hand’s fingers, how will you do your homework?”
After hearing Han Shuo’s jinxing words, Meng Yuxiu took a deep breath and then gritted his teeth, “I told you I’m left-handed. Even if I cut off all the fingers on my right hand, I can still do homework with my left hand.”
Han Shuo was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, squatting by the rice and laughing heartily, “Oh my god, I really amaze myself. You know what? I just instinctively thought everyone writes with their right hand, it cracks me up. I asked you if you were left-handed just a second ago, hahaha.”
Meng Yuxiu rolled his eyes speechlessly and ignored Han Shuo, starting to focus on harvesting the rice.
With Meng Yuxiu joining in, the three young and strong guys worked even faster. By six in the evening, not only had they finished harvesting the remaining rice, but Han Hong had also threshed two baskets of grain. Seeing the red sunset in the sky, he packed up and called Han Shuo and Meng Yuxiu to go home.
“Alright!” Han Shuo picked up Han Ting, while Meng Yuxiu went to push the bicycle.
It was a 28-inch big bike, and Han Ting’s eyes were glued to it with envy. Seeing this, Meng Yuxiu asked him, “Do you want to ride?”
Han Ting, feeling shy, clung to his little uncle’s neck, fidgeting. Han Shuo laughed, “If you want to ride, just tell that brother.”
Han Ting let out a small “hmm” and buried his head in Han Shuo’s shoulder, softly acting coy, “Little Uncle…”
Han Shuo, amused and exasperated, placed him on the back seat of the bicycle and reminded him to hold onto the front seat.
Han Ting listened and immediately grabbed it tightly with his little hands.
Han Hong, carrying the baskets behind, found it quite challenging on the way back to the village. The village was small, and everyone knew each other’s kids and siblings at a glance. But Meng Yuxiu was a new face, so the villagers coming out of the fields pulled Han Hong aside, laughing and gossiping.
Han Hong looked at the two people ahead, his expression indescribable. While early marriages were common in the village, it was also traditional, and private interactions between unmarried individuals were rare, inevitably leading to gossip.
Han Hong could only respond along the way, saying that Han Shuo’s grades were poor and Meng Yuxiu was helping with tutoring.
The Han family lived at the end of the village in a two-story wooden house, with a narrow dirt road leading to the village entrance. After following Han Shuo and his brother there, Meng Yuxiu parked the bicycle by the dirt road.
Han Hong placed the two baskets of grain under the eaves and then invited Meng Yuxiu inside to sit, “Xiao Meng, you must be exhausted today. Have a seat, I’ll make you some sweet tea.”
Having just drunk water in the field, and seeing Han Hong, who had just entered the house, about to busy himself again, Meng Yuxiu stood up to refuse, “No need, brother, I’m not thirsty.”
Han Shuo chimed in, “Brother, don’t bother. If he’s thirsty, he’ll definitely say so, right, Meng Yuxiu?”
Meng Yuxiu nodded in agreement.
Since that was the case, Han Hong said, “Alright then, I’ll go make dinner for you all.”
Saying this, he went outside to the neatly stacked firewood in the corner of the wall, pulled out a few pieces, and called Han Shuo out.
Han Shuo walked out of the house and asked his brother what was up.
Han Hong whispered, “Xiao Meng helped us all afternoon. Go to the butcher at the village entrance and buy some meat. We’ll make braised pork with chestnuts for dinner.”
“Did the butcher slaughter a pig today?” Han Shuo asked.
“Yes,” Han Hong told him, “Everyone’s hosting meals for the rice harvest these days, so they slaughtered a pig this morning. Go buy some quickly.”
Han Hong said this while taking out a few bills from his pocket and handing them to Han Shuo, “I need to hurry and cook, or it’ll be dark soon, and Xiao Meng won’t be able to ride back.”
Han Shuo nonchalantly said, “It’s fine, take your time. He’s not going back; he’s staying over at our place tonight.”
“What?!!!” Han Hong was shocked.
Han Shuo was startled by his brother’s reaction, “Whoa, what’s up, brother?”
Han Hong glanced inside the house and then lowered his voice to ask Han Shuo, “Did you just say… Xiao Meng is staying over at our place? How can that be?”
“Why not?”
Han Hong put on a serious face, “Won’t that lead to gossip in the village?”
Han Shuo couldn’t stand the world’s ethical relationships. With male homosexuality being prevalent, was it really abnormal to bring a guy home? Was there no pure friendship between men in this world? It was simply absurd.
“What gossip…” Han Shuo said speechlessly, “I’m not dating Meng Yuxiu, so why can’t he stay over? Besides, I’ve already told him, and he helped us all afternoon. Are we really going to send him back? You said it yourself, it’s hard to ride in the dark. If he goes back at night and gets injured, it’ll be on me! Don’t you think?”
After Han Shuo finished speaking, Han Hong broke out in a cold sweat and worriedly said, “Well, you go buy the meat first.”
Han Shuo was about to call Meng Yuxiu to go with him when Han Hong quickly stopped him, “Xiao Shuo, Xiao Meng has been busy all afternoon, let him rest. You can go by yourself.”
Han Shuo knew his brother was worried about them wandering around the village together, attracting gossip. Not wanting to be nagged by his brother, he let Meng Yuxiu stay at home.
But Meng Yuxiu had no idea what the brothers had just whispered about. Being naturally shy, he instinctively wanted to say, “I’ll go with you.”
However, he couldn’t resist Han Hong’s enthusiastic invitation, so he had to sit back down on the stool.
Han Shuo whistled as he went to buy meat, leaving only Meng Yuxiu, Han Hong, and Han Ting in the house.
Han Hong busied himself at the stove, and Meng Yuxiu felt a bit awkward just sitting there, so he stood up and said, “…Brother, let me help you with the fire.”
“No, no, no,” Han Hong laughed and persuaded, “How can we let a guest tend the fire? Just sit and relax.”
So, Meng Yuxiu had to sit back down again.
Han Hong skillfully put the rice in cold water to cook, steamed a few dishes, covered the pot, and sat behind the stove to tend the fire.
While tending the fire, he couldn’t help but sneak glances at Meng Yuxiu sitting at the table.
Meng Yuxiu sat very properly, with his back straight, his long legs neatly together, and his hands resting on his knees.
He noticed Han Hong’s gaze from the corner of his eye, but to avoid awkwardness, he pretended to be blind.
He really wished Han Shuo’s nephew was a mischievous kid, so the room wouldn’t be so quiet, with only the crackling sound of the firewood in the stove.
But Han Ting was curious about strangers, so he moved a small stool to sit in front of Meng Yuxiu’s legs, looking up with his big, bright eyes, unblinking.
A few minutes passed, and no one spoke in the room. Meng Yuxiu’s Adam’s apple moved stiffly as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.