Chapter 27: Gie Gie~ Taking Xiaozhou Home
As soon as Chi Qulin entered, he noticed something was wrong. Although the house was dark, the dim yellow light from the street lamps outside allowed him to see the chaotic state of the living room.
There seemed to be sounds coming from the bedroom upstairs. Chi Qulin instinctively called out, “Liu Mingzhou?”
Unsurprisingly, there was no response.
A deep unease spread through him. Chi Qulin quickly supported himself on the stairs and headed upstairs.
The sudden sound of shattering glass echoed through the large villa, followed by heavy breathing.
The breathing had a distinctive quality, and Chi Qulin quickly recognized it as Liu Mingzhou’s.
Having ruled out the possibility of a burglar, Chi Qulin felt slightly relieved and tried to hurry upstairs.
His still-weak and uncoordinated body couldn’t immediately reach the bedroom, so Chi Qulin tried again to call out, “Liu Mingzhou? What happened?”
The heavy breathing continued, so Chi Qulin softened his voice and tentatively called, “Xiaozhou?”
A few seconds of silence, then rustling sounds.
He heard heavy footsteps approaching. Before Chi Qulin could react, Liu Mingzhou rushed in front of him, his eyes red and swollen, his delicate skin pale under the streetlights, with faint traces of blood.
Chi Qulin was shocked and stammered, “You…what exactly happened?”
Liu Mingzhou’s eyes seemed to be filled with tears, and he appeared somewhat disoriented. He hugged Chi Qulin tightly, muttering, “Brother, where did you go? Are you going to leave Xiaozhou? Xiaozhou was wrong. Take Xiaozhou home, okay…?”
Liu Mingzhou seemed mentally unstable. Chi Qulin was speechless, and silently patted his back.
His memory flashed back to that summer when Zhou Xuan appeared.
That night, it was Chi Qulin and Zhou Xuan’s turn to clean the classroom. Zhou Xuan pretended to take the heavy mop bucket from Chi Qulin’s hands. Their hands brushed as they exchanged the bucket, and Chi Qulin, as if electrocuted, dropped the bucket, spilling the freshly filled water all over the floor.
He awkwardly looked up, about to apologize, but the words caught in his throat. The setting sun illuminated half of Zhou Xuan’s face, one eye shining warmly, staring directly at Chi Qulin without hesitation, leaving Chi Qulin unsure how to react.
They stared at each other for a long time. Chi Qulin nervously scratched his head and unintentionally touched the bandage over the boy’s eye. Feeling the warmth through his fingertips, he calmed down and slowly spoke, “Xiaozhou, Xiao An and his friends will be waiting for you again today, right? Why don’t you come home with me today?”
Zhou Xuan shook his head, a glint in his eye. “Thank you, but I really can’t go home with you.”
Chi Qulin, naturally unhappy about the rejection, continued to press, “Is there any problem you can tell me? We can…”
“No need, brother,” the boy interrupted Chi Qulin, suddenly letting out a self-mocking laugh, staring directly into his eyes. “Do you know why I call you brother? It’s not because you’re that important… Just don’t worry about me from now on, it’s better for both of us.”
Chi Qulin was still worried, arguing, “But…”
Before he could finish, the boy interrupted mercilessly, “There’s no but, and you can’t do anything about it anyway.”
Chi Qulin wisely clamped his lips shut. For the rest of the time, they silently swept, mopped, emptied the trash, and then walked home together.
The evening breeze had cooled down, gently blowing against their clothes, feeling warm and comfortable.
Seeing Xiao An and his friends outside the school with iron bars, Chi Qulin unwillingly clenched his fists and pleaded, “Come home with me today, let’s watch the sunset.”
The boy didn’t answer, seeming to hesitate. Chi Qulin could only remain silent with him.
Finally, when Xiao An and his friends turned their attention to them, the boy spoke, his tone decisive and cold, “I won’t go home with you. You go quickly.”
A wave of bitterness and helplessness washed over Chi Qulin. As a classmate, Chi Qulin had already done everything he could. If he continued to interfere after such a cold response, he would be out of line.
But somehow, the urge to protect the boy grew stronger, pushing Chi Qulin to quickly walk ahead of the boy, leaving the less mobile youth far behind.
Xiao An and his friends looked right past Chi Qulin, seemingly anticipating the boy coming out to be bullied. Chi Qulin mustered his courage and yelled at the thugs, “Mother fucking!”
From afar, the boy watched Xiao An and his gang suddenly charge towards the fleeing Chi Qulin. Panic and desperation flashed in his eyes, but his limping steps couldn’t catch up to stop them…
…
That day’s incident ended with Chi Qulin suffering a moderate concussion. Even now, the thought still made his head ache.
Liu Mingzhou’s half-pleading, half-sobbing voice continued to rise and fall, “Brother, take Xiaozhou home, Xiaozhou was wrong…”
Chi Qulin stroked the other’s thin back, but didn’t rush to comfort him. Instead, he inexplicably asked, “Tell me, where did you go wrong?”
Liu Mingzhou immediately began to reflect obediently, “I should have gone home with you. I shouldn’t have let you face danger alone, causing you to be retaliated against by Xiao An all these years later. Brother, it must have hurt terribly when you were burned, weren’t you scared? I’m sorry…”
Chi Qulin didn’t have the heart to listen to the rest. Only one thought echoed in his mind—burned? The only time Chi Qulin was burned was when he was disfigured saving Yao Xinyu.
Could that fire not have been an accident caused by Yao Xinyu cooking, but an act orchestrated by Xiao An? But he only cursed at them once, and he was already beaten by those people at the time. Was the hatred so great that it would cause Xiao An to hold a grudge for so many years to seek revenge?
Chi Qulin couldn’t understand. He felt he’d forgotten some important information, but Liu Mingzhou’s mind was becoming increasingly unclear. Chi Qulin continued to ask a few more questions, but instead of getting the truth, he only made Liu Mingzhou’s condition worse.
Chi Qulin softened his tone, gently rubbing Liu Mingzhou’s messy hair, soothing him, “Xiaozhou, don’t be afraid. I’ll take Xiaozhou home, okay?”
Verbal comfort seemed ineffective. Liu Mingzhou was still on the verge of a breakdown, repeatedly saying, “Brother, take me home, don’t leave me, don’t leave me, okay…?”
Chi Qulin patiently responded again and again, “Okay, okay, Xiaozhou be good, brother will take you home.”
Liu Mingzhou continued to murmur, “Brother, don’t go, I shouldn’t have driven you away, let’s live with mom, okay? I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Live with mom? Chi Qulin suddenly realized that the “brother” in Liu Mingzhou’s previous sentence referred to his biological brother, who was driven to suicide by Xiao An and his gang’s bullying, mentioned in his suicide note.
To calm Liu Mingzhou down, Chi Qulin went along with him, “Okay, I’ll do whatever you say…”
Before he could finish, Liu Mingzhou kissed him again.
This time, Chi Qulin was the one who was disoriented.
Was Liu Mingzhou’s kiss for Chi Qulin, or for the “brother” he mentioned?
The moment this thought entered his mind, Chi Qulin felt a wave of nausea, yet he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about these messy things.
The moment their lips separated, Chi Qulin finally managed to ask, “Who do you think I am?”
Liu Mingzhou continued to mutter incoherently, “Xiaochi gege, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Chi Qulin’s body froze, as if plunged into an ice cellar. Neither before nor now had Liu Mingzhou ever called him “Xiaochi gege,” so “Xiaochi gege” was someone else…
Chi Qulin laughed bitterly at himself. Even after being reborn, he still couldn’t escape the fate of being a “cinnabar mole.”
But how much he wanted to be someone’s “moonlight.”
But the cold reality before him told him that it was all just his wishful thinking.
【Author’s Note: Rounding up, that’s 3000 words. Spread the word, Teacher Ji had three updates today!】