Back to 1988 87

Chapter 87: Sensible

Mi Yang packed his things and went back to the Cheng family’s house.

Cheng Ru personally came to pick him up. But she hadn’t expected the little young master of the Bai family to also go with him. She smiled. “That’s perfect. I sent a new bed over for Yangyang. It’s bigger than the previous one, so it won’t be crowded if you two sleep together.”

In the car, Mi Yang asked her about her business, whispering to her, “Third Aunt, did you look online after you went back? Is that TrustPass useful?”

Cheng Ru said, “I did. Someone actually called to ask, and they placed an order! It’s just that your uncle-in-law and the workers were so nervous, always afraid that they were scammers. It wasn’t until they received the advance payment today that they were finally relieved.”

Mi Yang talked to her in a low voice, tentatively giving some suggestions about online stores, and had Cheng Ru move her shop online as well. This was just starting now, and since Cheng Ru had just done such an order, she was very interested. Mi Yang thought for a moment. “You can apply to see if there’s an enterprise store, and also hire a photographer to take some professional photos, to make it look as good as possible.”

Cheng Ru nodded. “Yes, I’ll go back and ask, and have someone in the factory handle this.”

Bai Luochuan was texting someone on his phone and hadn’t stopped all the way. After Mi Yang noticed, he asked him if he was busy, but he immediately shook his head. “Not busy. I’m just chatting with my cousin.”

After they arrived at the Cheng family’s house, the old Mrs. Cheng had been waiting for them at the door early in the morning. Now, seeing them come in, she first touched Mi Yang’s little face and, feeling that he had gotten fatter, she smiled. “Not bad. You look better.”

Mi Xue and the other children in the family also came over. Mi Yang, as the big cousin, was usually very qualified, and this group of children all liked him very much. Seeing him come back, they all chattered and came over to greet him. Mi Xue blocked the others and tried to take her brother’s hand to lead him to the living room, bringing him a plate of washed red dates. “Grandma said eating red dates is good for your blood.”

Mi Yang ate one and stroked her little head. “Mm, you eat too.”

Mi Xue hadn’t seen him for a while, and she was very clingy with Mi Yang, like a little piece of sticky rice cake, following him wherever he went. She didn’t play any games, and she didn’t go even when the other children called. She just wanted her brother.

After dinner, Mi Xue still wanted to sleep with Mi Yang.

The old Mrs. Cheng said, “You’re a big girl now. Boys and girls are separated at the age of six. You don’t need your brother to sleep with you. Didn’t Grandma tell you yesterday? And there’s also Brother Bai here…”

Mi Xue misunderstood and immediately retorted, “Then Brother Bai is also over six. Why can he sleep with my brother?”

The old Mrs. Cheng was amused by her question. “Them, they’re different.”

Mi Xue whined and refused to leave, still wanting to ask. Bai Luochuan walked over. “You can go and do your own thing. I’ll play with her.”

The old Mrs. Cheng said with a chuckle, “Alright then. I’ll go and see those other children. They’re also being naughty. If I’m not there for a bit, they’ll be tearing the house down.”

Bai Luochuan gave Mi Xue some small trinkets to play with. Many of them were bought at the fair last time, a large bag of odds and ends, trying to send her away with toys.

Mi Xue stood at the door, looking eagerly at the person making the bed inside, and whispered, “Brother…”

“Your brother is busy.” Bai Luochuan stood to the side, looking down at her, and waved his hand for her to leave.

Mi Xue protested in a low voice, “Why can you sleep with my brother?”

Bai Luochuan chuckled. “Why? Because I can help. And I’m a boy, you understand?”

Mi Xue looked up at him and tried to raise her voice a little. “My grandma said that men and women are equal.”

Bai Luochuan touched his chin and, after thinking for a while, told her, “They’re only equal when they’re older. You’re six now. Weren’t you not allowed to go on the roller coaster last time? Really, the outside world is just that cruel. Go on, take your things and share them with your little friends. I’m going to work with your brother. You’re in the way here.”

Mi Xue looked past him at her brother and asked, tilting her head up, “Brother! Am I in the way!”

“You’re not in the way,” Mi Yang turned around and gave her a vase, bending down to talk to her. “Xiaoxue, can you do brother a favor? I just saw a lot of flowers blooming in the courtyard. Can you go and pick some for me to put in here?”

Mi Xue’s eyes lit up. “And then fill it with half a bottle of water to keep the flowers, right?”

Mi Yang smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

The little girl then happily went out with the vase.

Mi Yang glanced at Bai Luochuan, a lingering smile in his eyes. “Are you going to help me make the bed?”

The hint of a complaint on Bai Luochuan’s lips vanished. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and went over, working very seriously.

Mi Yang felt that the two of them were very similar. Mi Xue was young, and if you wanted her to go out, you just had to give her a task to do. The young master Bai’s mental age was probably not much higher. Especially after seeing Mi Xue, his eyes drooped, and he looked unhappy. If you gave him something to do, he would forget about it.

The bed Cheng Ru had sent over was a little lower than the previous one, but the carving was good. The four bedposts were firmly inlaid, and it looked very comfortable. After the bed was made again, the quilt was also made from this year’s new cotton, light and soft. Lying on it was like sleeping on a cloud. Mi Yang touched it and sighed, “It would be even more comfortable to sleep on in the winter. Now, with the mat, it just feels soft.”

Bai Luochuan said, “You like this? Then we’ll use this kind in the winter. It’s not hard to get two quilts.”

Mi Yang said, “Winter, huh? In the winter, we’ll be going to high school. I don’t know what the new school will be like. I heard it’s military-style management, very strict.”

Bai Luochuan knew a little and whispered to him. It sounded like it was the teaching system that was strict. The food and lodging were not bad. He thought for a moment. “Our grades are about the same, so we should both be in the experimental class. We can just apply to the school for a two-person room then. It’ll be the same as before. Don’t worry.”

Mi Yang was a little surprised. “The accommodation is that good?”

Bai Luochuan said, “My mom said we can apply. Let her handle it.”

The two of them talked as they tidied up. Mi Yang, through the window, saw Mi Xue go back to the main hall with the vase. The little girl had a bit of a compulsion since she was a child. The flowers had all closed at night, and after searching for a long time, they were all half-open. She was definitely not satisfied. She would probably have to wait until tomorrow to pick the most beautiful ones and put them in the vase before she would bring them to him.

After Bai Luochuan had washed up, he yawned and was already lying there. He had left the inner space for Mi Yang and was urging him to come in so he could lower the mosquito net. “Hurry up. A mosquito will get in in a bit.”

Mi Yang said, “Were you bitten? Should I put some medicine on it for you?”

Bai Luochuan frowned. “I don’t want to. It smells too bad.”

After Mi Yang got on, he lowered the mosquito net, tucked it in all around, and was about to check again for any mosquitoes when the young master Bai impatiently turned off the light, rolled over, and pulled him to lie down. “Hurry up and sleep. Otherwise, your little sister will be here again in a bit.”

Mi Yang lay there and blinked his eyes. “Hey? How can I just fall asleep like that…”

Bai Luochuan held him and wouldn’t let go. “Then tell me a story.”

Mi Yang: “…”

Mi Yang: “How old are you? You’re even worse than Xiaoxue. She doesn’t even listen to stories anymore.”

The young master Bai felt that he had earned some credit for taking care of him for a few days. Coming to the Cheng family’s house was like a vacation, and he insisted that Mi Yang tell him a story.

Mi Yang couldn’t think of any stories. He told a fairy tale and stammered, getting it mixed up. He was laughed at by Bai Luochuan for a while, so he just took out the phone scam case he had seen in the newspaper before and made up a story to tell him.

After telling two of them, Mi Yang himself fell asleep first.

The moonlight outside the window was clear, and the room was not very dark. Bai Luochuan rolled over and rested his head on his arm, lying on his side and seriously looking at the child’s face beside him. He had watched him grow up since he was a child. Before, he had thought that he had raised him, and he was better than the other children. Now, he felt that he had to continue to raise him, and raise him better than everyone else.

Mi Yang’s hand was on the bamboo mat pillow, and he was sound asleep with his eyes closed. His slender eyelashes were thick and dense, casting a small shadow. It was unclear whether it was the moonlight that was swaying or his slight breathing, but after watching for a while, Bai Luochuan felt his own heart start to sway gently.

The young master Bai reached out and gently touched him. The person didn’t wake up and was sound asleep. He looked at Mi Yang and chuckled to himself, then held him in his arms and also closed his eyes to sleep.

Mi Yang felt that his body was really better. He hadn’t been seriously ill before, and he had been eating quite a lot of supplements lately. The result of being so well-nourished was that he had a dream that night.

Mi Yang had always been very well-behaved, even in his dreams. He would do things step by step. But just because he was honest didn’t mean that the other person was.

In his dream, he also couldn’t tell which young master Bai it was. He was first teased by the two of them in turn. When he was at a loss, he was cornered by the two of them, one in front and one behind, and was forced to choose one.

Mi Yang was in a daze. He looked at one, then the other, and couldn’t choose—it was clearly the same person!

The young master Bai saw him silent for a while, and his bad temper came up again. He leaned closer to him from the front, stared at him, and sneered, “Are you so greedy? You want both of them?”

The young master Bai behind him didn’t leave either. He was silent for a while, and the arm around his waist tightened. He said in a hoarse voice, “Am I not enough? Just me, is that not enough?”

Mi Yang: “…”

He had never seen someone get jealous of themselves in a dream, and so seriously at that!

The young master Bai in the dream was also as unreasonable as ever. Without a word, he started to deal with him. This time, he didn’t question him one by one. Neither of them left. They attacked him from the front and back, as if they were competing, and did something very excessive. They didn’t stop all night, as if they were having a stamina competition with themselves on Mi Yang.

When Mi Yang opened his eyes, he only felt that his back was sore, as if he had been dragged out and beaten in the middle of the night.

He took a slight breath, first lifted the hand that was wrapped around his waist and the leg that was pressing on him. Bai Luochuan’s sleeping habits had been bad lately. He would spread his arms and legs very domineeringly when he slept, and sometimes he would even press on him so that he couldn’t breathe.

But today, it was not just the weight pressing on him. Mi Yang lay there, stunned for a moment, and then quickly understood.

He tilted his head and glanced at Bai Luochuan. The other was still sound asleep, with no sign of waking up. Mi Yang secretly got up, wanting to go and wash his underwear. Just as he got up a little, he was held by Bai Luochuan from behind, who said vaguely with a nasal voice, “Where are you going?”

Mi Yang: “…”

Mi Yang held his hand and didn’t let him get closer, his face burning, and he whispered, “Just, just to wash up. Why are you awake? You’re not running today?”

Bai Luochuan chuckled, his breath spraying on his neck, and he said lazily, “I don’t want to run today.”