Chapter 23: How Did It Get So Intense?
It was almost dawn when the three of them reached Han Qing’s house.
A house with blue tiles, a low wall enclosing the courtyard, and several wild chrysanthemums planted at the entrance—white, purple, and yellow—blooming in the humid air, dew clinging to the petals.
They had left in a hurry, and there wasn’t anything valuable in the house. Han Qing hadn’t locked the door when she left; she simply pushed it open and entered the courtyard.
The courtyard was neat and tidy, with some vegetables planted, giving it a very rustic feel.
“Sit down. I’ll get you some water.”
After entering the house, Han Qing went to work. Ji Nian looked around the room; it was quite clean and tidy.
There weren’t any unnecessary items. From Han Qing’s speech and actions, she was a very cool person.
There was no sofa, only two armchairs and a few small wooden stools.
Ji Nian sat down on an armchair and looked down at his shoes.
They were very dirty, and his pants were covered in mud.
He frowned in disgust. Qin Xiao had already taken off his backpack and was walking around the room. “I haven’t been back in two years. The house is still the same. It feels good.”
It felt like nothing had changed, as if he were here on vacation.
The house was almost unchanged—the large water jar, the dining table, and the paintings he had drawn years ago on the wall.
A family of four.
Him, his parents, and his grandmother.
The paintings were somewhat faded, blurring the already poorly drawn faces to the point where the features were indistinguishable.
Staring at the paintings, Qin Xiao twitched the corner of his mouth, suddenly feeling a little down.
“Here, here, drink some water.”
Han Qing brought over two cups of warm water and a package of old biscuits.
Because the biscuits were too hard, they had been left aside since they were bought. Now, although they were still hard, they could at least quickly fill their stomachs.
“Thank you.”
Ji Nian took the cup and looked down at his shoes again.
It had rained the other day, and they walked at night in the dark, so Ji Nian could clearly feel the water in his shoes—extremely uncomfortable.
Qin Xiao went outside for a while and came back to see Ji Nian staring at his shoes from time to time, his brows furrowed in displeasure.
“Are they uncomfortable?”
He leaned closer, smiling irritatingly. “Call me ‘gege’ (older brother), and I’ll get you clean clothes and shoes?”
Ji Nian glared at him, ignoring him and refusing to look at his shoes again.
Tsk, he’s stubborn.
Qin Xiao had to admit that he couldn’t be harsh with Ji Nian.
He got up and rummaged through the room, calling out loudly to Han Qing, “Grandma, where are the clothes I left here?”
“What? Are you going to throw them away?”
“Oh, found them! Found them!”
Soon, he came with a bag of clothes and two pairs of shoes. “What’s your shoe size? Try these on.”
He threw the shoes in front of Ji Nian and took the clothes out of the bag, placing them one by one on his arm, saying as he took them out, “These are my clothes from when I lived here before. I didn’t bring them when I left.”
He pulled out a pair of SpongeBob SquarePants underwear and examined them before and after. “Here, I probably haven’t worn these. I forgot about them. Make do with these.”
Han Qing was tending to a large pot of boiling water in the courtyard and came in, smelling of smoke. “Wash yourselves later; I’ve boiled water to remove the bad luck from your bodies.”
The two boys were excited about bathing.
Ji Nian put the clothes Qin Xiao gave him on the armchair, went outside, and came to the courtyard.
The large iron pot had a diameter of almost a meter, and the steaming water inside contained some herbs for detoxification. Han Qing squatted down and added firewood to the fire, which was sending out a lot of smoke, making the air a little suffocating.
Han Qing looked up at the two boys standing there. “You’ve suffered so much along the way. After a bath, everything will be okay. From now on, the three of us will live here. Especially you, Ji Nian, don’t be shy or distant. If it weren’t for you, Xiao Xiao and I would probably be zombies, roaming around and biting people.”
“Mm.”
Ji Nian nodded. “Thank you, Grandma.”
Qin Xiao stood beside him with his arms crossed, hearing him call her Grandma and shouted, “So sweet. What should you call me?”
Ji Nian’s narrow eyes looked at him, cold and arrogant.
“Okay, okay, I won’t tease you…”
“Ge.”
Then he heard Ji Nian obediently call him “Ge” (brother).
Qin Xiao was quite surprised.
It was an ordinary word; he’d been called that by others before, but gosh! Why was this one so moving?!
“Ahem.”
“Say it again; I didn’t hear clearly.”
Why did he want to hear it again?
Ji Nian looked at him, clearly impatient, but still called out again, “Ge.”
“One more…”
“Bang!”
This time, before Ji Nian could get angry, Han Qing slammed a fire stick near his feet. “Are you deaf?! I heard it; you still haven’t heard it!”
“Don’t just stand there. See that pile of wood over there? Chop it all up!”
Han Qing pointed, and Qin Xiao turned and went into the house, never to come out again.
Han Qing looked at him helplessly, then smiled at Ji Nian. “That lunatic must have bothered you a lot along the way, huh?”
Lunatic?
Qin Xiao?
Ji Nian smiled, although he wanted to agree with that assessment, he shook his head. “It was okay.”
Han Qing’s smile was kind, but her serious expression was also very intimidating.
She looked like a female boss from a Hong Kong movie, with short, sharp hair and distinct features.
Although her hair was gray, it was a stylish gray, like the kind from a hair salon—surprisingly fashionable.
Perhaps it was because of the good environment, or her strong anti-aging genes, or because she was the only one at home and had to do everything herself, which built her muscles.
Her arms weren’t flabby; only the corners of her eyes and mouth had some wrinkles. She didn’t look sixty at all.
At least, Ji Nian’s impression of sixty-year-olds wasn’t like this.
His impression of grandmothers wasn’t like this either.
Before the water boiled, Han Qing brought a wooden bucket, scooped out the hot water, and had Ji Nian and Qin Xiao carry it into the room.
“Wash yourselves. There’s more hot water. Ji Nian, you go first, and Xiao Xiao, you scrub Ji Nian’s back.”
Han Qing took the towels and soap and went out, closing the door behind her.
Qin Xiao leaned against the closed door, watching Ji Nian take off his shoes with a leisurely expression.
Ji Nian untied his shoelaces, stood up, looked at Qin Xiao, who looked like a big bad wolf, and coldly said two words, “Get out.”
“Grandma told me to scrub your back.”
Qin Xiao said, looking at him.
“No need.”
Ji Nian still used that cold tone.
“Don’t be polite. I’ll help you, and you’ll have to help me later.”
Qin Xiao smiled, making Ji Nian want to punch him in the face.
“I don’t need it. Get out.”
Ji Nian had been bathing alone since he was five.
He hated the feeling of being naked with someone else in the room, even his father.
A classmate from out of town said that they all used public bathhouses, a whole pool of people bathing naked together, and would even compare sizes during their banter.
Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
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