“That punk’s got thick skin. Look, I even scraped my knuckles.” As he spoke, he held up his fist for Ye Chen to see, afraid his own brother wouldn’t believe him.
Ye Chen kept eating, nodded, and gave another casual “Oh.” “Then I’ll avenge you, big brother style. Want me to find someone to beat him up right now?”
“No need. That punk can’t beat me. I’ll handle it myself.” Ye Heng refused without a second’s hesitation, then suddenly thought of something. “Are there any people with the surname Jiang at the villa compound?”
Ye Chen shook his head. He wasn’t familiar with every resident there. “I remember Qi Ziling’s mother is surnamed Jiang. I saw Qi Ziling today, and I didn’t hear him mention any guests staying at home.”
Ye Chen: “Tell me what he looks like.”
Ye Heng: “Small eyes, huge buck teeth, a flat nose, dark skin, and short and chubby too.”
Listening to Ye Heng rattle off that description, Ye Chen simply couldn’t believe it!
Lying in bed, Jiang Zhuo sneezed. His ears felt hot, and he immediately thought that rooster named Ye Heng must be cursing him behind his back. At the dining table, Ye Heng also sneezed at the same time, and the two of them silently cursed each other again in their hearts.
Jiang Zhuo had eaten little for breakfast. He bounced around all day and skipped lunch too. Aunt Zhong was worried he’d be hungry, so she made him something else to eat. “Xiao Zhuo, I cooked some colorful glutinous rice balls for you. I even added extra osmanthus. Hurry and get up to eat.”
Lying on the bed, Jiang Zhuo rubbed his stomach. He had been hungry for a long time already and couldn’t help swallowing. But the moment he thought of the injury on his hand, he could only aggrievedly pull the blanket over his head. “Aunt Zhong, I’m not eating. I’m going to sleep a little longer.”
Aunt Zhong was like a fretful mother, terrified the child would go hungry, so she could only turn to Qiu Xianzhi for help. “It’s only two in the afternoon. Dinner won’t be ready that soon, and he’s at the age where he’s still growing. How could he not be hungry!”
Qiu Xianzhi closed the book in his hand and said in a fierce tone, “Eat if you want, don’t if you don’t. If you don’t eat, then stay hungry.”
It sounded pretty intimidating, but he still wheeled himself toward the elevator. Aunt Zhong brightened at once and hurried after him. “Jiang Zhuo, get up and eat something before you go back to sleep.”
Jiang Zhuo: “I’m not hungry. I’m a little sleepy, I want to sleep.”
The moment he heard that voice, forget being sleepy, he could stay up another whole night without a problem.
Then the knocking on the door grew heavier. “Are you opening the door yourself, or are you waiting for me to come in with the key?”
The bedroom door opened at once. A blur of movement later, Jiang Zhuo had already burrowed back into bed. Qiu Xianzhi immediately noticed a small red patch on Jiang Zhuo’s forehead.
Qiu Xianzhi: “Aunt Zhong, go get the medicine box. You, get up.”
Qiu Xianzhi meant for Jiang Zhuo to sit up, but Jiang Zhuo misunderstood. Slowly, he lifted the blanket, fingers twisting in the hem of his shirt, looking exactly like an elementary school kid being made to stand still and wait for a scolding.
Qiu Xianzhi lifted his head and stared at the ceiling, comforting himself. Not my child, not my child. Getting mad enough to hurt myself over someone else’s kid isn’t worth it, isn’t worth it.
Jiang Zhuo’s eyes were like two black jewels soaking in a pool of clear mountain spring water. As long as Qiu Xianzhi met Jiang Zhuo’s eyes, he simply couldn’t bring himself to say anything too harsh.
He still remembered that when they first met, he had been drawn in by those eyes. For one instant, he couldn’t look away at all. When they got a little closer, he saw himself reflected in Jiang Zhuo’s eyes, and only then did he come back to himself and reach out, wanting to push him away. But in that brief pause, Jiang Zhuo stepped on something and fell, which made it look as if he had been about to catch him. That was why Jiang Zhuo never became afraid of him afterward, and why he himself had fallen into those eyes.
Jiang Zhuo was starving. He slurped down the glutinous rice balls one after another. Afraid he wasn’t getting enough, Aunt Zhong had cooked two portions’ worth. Seeing that he was about to finish, she turned and went to bring over the other bowl.
“You knew it was embarrassing to cry over injuries from a fight, huh? Pretty good at enduring it, aren’t you?” Qiu Xianzhi mocked Jiang Zhuo while putting away the medicine box.
No matter how gentle the movements were, he still had to touch the wounds. The kid was probably so hungry he’d forgotten everything except eating, because he only dodged twice and didn’t say a single word about it hurting.
Jiang Zhuo flashed his little tiger tooth and grinned carelessly. “Hehe, I’m not afraid of pain.”
Qiu Xianzhi: “Listen to you showing off. You got bullied and still didn’t say a word after coming home. All you knew how to do was hide in your room and cry.”