Chapter 29
“Brother, why aren’t you talking?”
Chi Aibei belatedly realized that Lin Xiu hadn’t spoken the entire time. Although Lin Xiu wasn’t usually talkative, Chi Aibei felt he had something on his mind.
Lin Xiu did have something on his mind. He didn’t understand why Chi Aibei had said those words. “Said what?”
Chi Aibei didn’t know what to say either. He glanced at Jiang Yu. Was Lin Xiu unhappy because he’d invited Jiang Yu over?
Chi Aibei sighed. A long road lay ahead. How could he possibly get them to reconcile completely?
Lin Xiu looked at Chi Aibei. Hearing him talk to Jiang Yu like that, he’d briefly wondered if Chi Aibei had also been reborn like him. But rebirth shouldn’t cure brain damage, right? How could he explain that he was no longer stupid?
Lin Xiu stared at Chi Aibei for a long time. Chi Aibei blinked, meeting his gaze without flinching. Jiang Yu, sitting opposite them, was about to ask what they were doing when oil from the grilled skewers dripped onto the charcoal, flaring up with a whoosh.
Lin Xiu looked away, but Chi Aibei persisted, “Brother, why were you staring at me?”
Lin Xiu: “Aren’t your legs numb from squatting?”
It was true; they were a little numb.
Jiang Yu felt the same numbness. Why did these two seem so strange?
…
After they finished eating, Chi Aibei slumped against the chair, digesting his food. The three of them sat in silence for a while before Lin Xiu finally spoke, “Aren’t you leaving?”
Chi Aibei was startled, thinking he was being addressed. He sat up straight and realized Lin Xiu was asking Jiang Yu.
Thanking your host and saying goodbye after a meal is standard etiquette. But Jiang Yu looked at Chi Aibei for some reason.
Chi Aibei, receiving Jiang Yu’s pleading look, quickly said, “Let’s clean up first.”
To prevent Chi Aibei from making more of a mess, Lin Xiu stopped his outstretched hand. “No need, I’ll do it.”
Chi Aibei continued to search for excuses, “Oh right, I have a few math problems I don’t understand. Brother Jiang Yu, could you help me with them?”
Jiang Yu was dragged into the house by Chi Aibei. He peeked out the door, patting Jiang Yu’s arm. “The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrade! We must keep striving!”
Jiang Yu found his sneaky behavior quite baffling. “What exactly am I striving for?”
Chi Aibei looked back at him. “Strive to make peace with your brother!”
Jiang Yu didn’t know when befriending Lin Xiu had become such a clandestine operation. He looked at Chi Aibei. “Do you know you look like a pimp right now?”
Chi Aibei’s eyes widened. “What?! Even if I were a pimp, I wouldn’t pimp you out!” He wasn’t crazy; why would he give his precious brother to a lunatic?
Jiang Yu had just said it casually. Why was this kid so weird all the time? “Then who would you pimp out?”
Chi Aibei felt Jiang Yu deserved his lack of friends; he really couldn’t hold a conversation. Pimp out to whom? Is there even one normal person in this whole story? He’d pimp him out to a ghost!
Chi Aibei thought nobody was good enough for Lin Xiu. “No one. I’m keeping him for myself!”
Lin Xiu entered to find them blocking the doorway. Chi Aibei rolled his eyes at Jiang Yu.
Lin Xiu: …
This child was so unpredictable. One second he was reluctant to let someone leave, and the next, he was rolling his eyes.
Chi Aibei turned to Lin Xiu. “Brother, let me help you.”
Lin Xiu avoided his hand. “No need.” Don’t have another fit and break something.
Watching Chi Aibei’s seamless transformation, Jiang Yu’s eye twitched. What kind of drug had Lin Xiu given this silly kid?
Seeing Lin Xiu enter the kitchen, Chi Aibei glared at Jiang Yu again. “This is a good opportunity. Your brother invited you home, showing a softening of his attitude. You must seize this chance and try to stay tonight!”
Jiang Yu: …I don’t really want to seize it.
Lin Xiu finished cleaning the yard. The two inside had started studying, pretending to be diligent. Lin Xiu glanced at the time. “Aren’t you leaving yet?”
Chi Aibei pretended not to hear Lin Xiu’s dismissal, pointing to the textbook and saying to Jiang Yu, “This problem… and this one… I don’t understand them.”
Lin Xiu looked at Chi Aibei. He hadn’t had so many problems he didn’t understand earlier in the afternoon.
Lin Xiu ignored them. He went to his room. When he came out again, it was 10:30. Seeing Jiang Yu was still there, Lin Xiu frowned. “Are you planning to stay the night?”
Chi Aibei suddenly turned around. “Is that alright?”
Jiang Yu kicked Chi Aibei under the table…isn’t your reaction a bit too obvious?
However, there was nothing obscuring the table in Lin Xiu’s house, and Lin Xiu saw Jiang Yu’s actions clearly.
Lin Xiu looked at Chi Aibei. “No.”
Chi Aibei pouted. “But brother…”
Lin Xiu: “Do you think there’s room for him here?”
Chi Aibei looked at the two-seater sofa. Even he wouldn’t be able to stretch out on it. Jiang Yu would be crippled if he slept there.
“Or…” he had a terrible idea. He looked at Jiang Yu and then at Lin Xiu, “Or you two could sleep in one room?”
Chi Aibei thought, late at night, two academic geniuses might pour out their hearts to each other and resolve their conflict. Anyway, Jiang Yu had promised not to betray Lin Xiu, so he could freely let them become friends.
However, as soon as Chi Aibei finished speaking, both of them spoke simultaneously—
Lin Xiu: “No!”
Jiang Yu: “No way!”
Chi Aibei: …Wow, you guys are in sync!
Seeing their perfect harmony, Chi Aibei was even more determined to have Jiang Yu stay. “Then I’ll share a room with him.”
Jiang Yu looked at Chi Aibei and, somehow, stuttered. “A-alright.”
If Jiang Yu hadn’t stuttered, Lin Xiu might not have cared. But his stutter reminded Lin Xiu of something. He frowned at Chi Aibei. “Alright my ass!”
Chi Aibei was startled, as if discovering a shocking secret. He stared wide-eyed at Lin Xiu. “Brother, you swore?”
Swearing was nothing. Lin Xiu could do more than swear!
Lin Xiu thought, don’t you know your own bad sleeping habits? You dare to sleep in the same bed with someone else?
Chi Aibei suddenly thought Lin Xiu was cool for swearing. He leaned closer. “Brother, can we share a room? I’m a very good sleeper; I don’t snore.”
Lin Xiu neither agreed nor disagreed. “How do you know you don’t snore?”
Chi Aibei: …What a tricky question.
He had his own dorm room at school, and he’d never shared a room with Chi Wendong at home. He’d probably never slept with anyone else his whole life. So, who could prove he didn’t snore?
Chi Aibei: “I’m guessing.”
If there was anyone Lin Xiu was most unguarded around after his rebirth, it was this silly kid. Although this silly kid was different, even a little strange, it was precisely this strangeness that made Lin Xiu increasingly curious about him.
It was almost eleven o’clock. Lin Xiu glanced at Jiang Yu. “You sleep in that room.”
Jiang Yu actually wanted to sleep with Chi Aibei, and he felt a little regret at being so cruelly separated. “Then you…”
Lin Xiu: “Chi Aibei and I will sleep in this room.”
Jiang Yu should have expressed his gratitude for being allowed to stay, but he thought, “Why?” The silly kid said he wanted to sleep with him, so was Lin Xiu stealing his boyfriend?
Lin Xiu saw the dissatisfaction in his eyes and asked, “Any objections?”
Jiang Yu couldn’t say he had objections. “…No.”
Chi Aibei had suggested sharing a room with Jiang Yu because he didn’t want to disturb Lin Xiu. Otherwise, he would have chosen his beloved brother!
After Lin Xiu finished washing up and returned to the room, he saw Chi Aibei completely naked. Just as Chi Aibei was about to take off his underwear, Lin Xiu suddenly slammed the door shut. “Don’t take them off!”
Chi Aibei was startled and fell onto the bed. He looked at him in bewilderment. “Aren’t we going to sleep?”
Looking at the plump, white, and tender person, Lin Xiu’s temples throbbed. “You’re already naked enough; you don’t need to be completely bare.”
Chi Aibei was used to sleeping completely naked; otherwise, he couldn’t sleep. “But…”
Lin Xiu didn’t want to hear his “buts.” “Either sleep like this, or sleep on the sofa.”
Chi Aibei: “???”
Is this something a filial son should say? I’m your Daddy!
________________
