Chapter 50: Little Braids
Xi Leng held his breath, slowly pulling his hair back.
“Hm? Red again today.”
Suddenly, a coolness on his neck.
The scarf, his shield, like the hair tie, fell victim to the robber’s attack.
The ugly scar, the unbearable past, once again exposed to the same person.
Min Zhi, anticipating his reaction, accurately caught the hand that instinctively tried to cover it.
Their eyes met, a long standoff, but Min Zhi only gently and almost tenderly caressed the scar.
Most of Min Zhi’s face was hidden in the shadows, his dark eyes staring deeply at Xi Leng. He exhaled softly, his lips parting slightly, revealing a glint of his tongue stud, seemingly wanting to say something.
But before he could.
Xi Leng’s chest felt heavy as Min Zhi, completely drunk, collapsed against him.
Then… fell asleep?
After serving as a human cushion for a while, Xi Leng finally managed to push the heavy weight off, switching positions with Min Zhi, letting him sleep on the soft sofa.
Min Zhi shifted on the sofa, finding a comfortable position, even putting his feet up, not willing to compromise his comfort one bit.
He wasn’t a bad drunk, he didn’t become a mess, just collapsing onto people and stealing things.
Xi Leng felt both exasperated and amused, tugging at his stolen red scarf.
It wouldn’t budge.
Min Zhi curled his fingers, feeling the tug, and held on even tighter.
Xi Leng knew he was no match for the chosen one and gave up.
He thought silently, the changing seasons used to be meaningless to him, but now, for the first time, he looked forward to the arrival of a new season, not just for the sake of survival, but with a genuine anticipation for the future.
When autumn arrived, he would immediately switch to turtlenecks, leaving no opportunity for this person to steal anything.
“Do you like it? Red?” Xi Leng murmured softly, still puzzled.
Min Zhi, seemingly passed out, shifted again, unsure if he was responding to something, his eyes opening slightly. After a long while, he mumbled as if in a dream: “…Not ugly.”
Not ugly, so he stole it, what kind of logic was that?
But Xi Leng didn’t notice the slight upward curve of his own lips, and there was no one else awake to tell him about the emotions revealed on his face, even the energetic calico cat was drowsy.
“Not disgusting either.”
After a soft murmur, Min Zhi fell back asleep.
Xi Leng froze, then after a long while, slowly blinked.
He sat with his knees bent, his hands folded on his lap, his chin resting on them.
Then he remained motionless, staring intently at the sleeping figure on the sofa.
After a while, remembering the drop in temperature at night, he hurriedly went upstairs to find a clean, soft, and comfortable thick blanket.
Come to think of it, these everyday necessities at home, perhaps this person was the one who bought them? It could be considered returning them to their owner now.
He covered the sleeping Min Zhi with the blanket, carefully tucking in the corners. Min Zhi didn’t react, he was probably truly asleep.
Then he stood there for a while, unsure what he was waiting for, time passing by.
“Meow…”
Xi Leng snapped out of his daze, turning his head.
Ban Li, the calico cat named after her coloring, suddenly woke up, meowing softly and swaying her tail, walking over on the carpet.
Xi Leng squatted down, petting the soft and warm kitten, then took her to the kitchen and grabbed a few low-alcohol beers from the refrigerator.
Ban Li’s hazel eyes narrowed, clearly sleepy. After accompanying him for a while, the kitten curled up by the coffee table and fell asleep again.
With the sofa occupied, Xi Leng, following Min Zhi’s example earlier, sat on the soft carpet, leaning against the sofa, a cat beside him.
The quiet feeling of drinking alone, the same as in the past years, suddenly felt unfamiliar. It was too quiet. He turned on the TV and put on Animal World.
The TV was noisy, but the cat didn’t wake up, neither did the person on the sofa behind him, his face relaxed, his thick eyelashes resting on his lower eyelids, casting shadows.
After another can of beer, Xi Leng felt his ears heating up, and soon his whole body felt warm.
He looked at Min Zhi’s ears, both adorned with earrings, gleaming on the front, but with hard needles and backs on the other side.
Wasn’t it uncomfortable to sleep like that?
Alcohol numbed the mind, and Xi Leng, looking at the culprit who derailed his life, started pondering some silly and childish questions.
He tilted his head, his chin resting on his knees.
“Is this your home? Sleeping so soundly.”
Min Zhi unexpectedly hummed in agreement.
He wasn’t wrong, it was his home.
Xi Leng suddenly found it amusing, for some reason.
He continued watching Animal World, drinking a few more cans of beer, ignoring the scarf thief.
He was used to drinking, good at drowning his sorrows, but like that night at the beach, waiting for the sunrise, reborn, tonight’s alcohol had a strange, indescribable taste.
On TV, in the freezing, barren Antarctic, penguins huddled together for warmth, waddling clumsily on the ice. To survive, they jumped into the turbulent sea one after another.
They swam in the icy water with their thick fur, catching fish with their long beaks.
Splash!
A penguin, its belly full, emerged from the sea, its round head bobbing, a plump fish struggling in its mouth, its black and white fur gleaming in the sunlight, the water droplets like shimmering diamond dust.
It was the long polar day in the Antarctic.
Xi Leng’s eyes snapped open, met by the bright sunlight.
It was morning.
He rubbed his temples, which were throbbing from the hangover, and slowly got up from the sofa.
A blanket with a vintage pattern slid off him.
It was the one he covered Min Zhi with last night, now on him like an illusion.
He picked up the blanket and stood up, the apartment was quiet, the TV had long been turned off. Suddenly, a creak sounded, he looked over and saw Rong Xingyi emerging from his bedroom, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
Xi Leng immediately checked the time, it was only 6:30 am.
It seemed that despite his sulking, Rong Xingyi still woke up on time, preparing for school.
“…Hm?” Rong Xingyi walked a few steps in a daze, then suddenly noticed his brother, seemingly sleeping in the living room. He circled him in confusion. “Why are you here?”
“Hm!!?”
Rong Xingyi’s eyes widened, then narrowed as he stared at something, rushing towards Xi Leng, his eyes practically glued to him.
Xi Leng frowned and took half a step back: “What’s wrong?”
“Don’t tell me… you’re in love?” Rong Xingyi’s question was a bit strange, his voice filled with surprise and disbelief. “You even brought someone home last night?!”
Xi Leng’s expression remained unchanged, but he took another half a step back: “…What?”
He didn’t think Rong Xingyi was that perceptive, but perhaps he sleepwalked to the living room and saw the two drunkards.
But Rong Xingyi’s reaction was a bit strange.
He circled Xi Leng again, his nose twitching, sniffing like a puppy: “Shouldn’t there be her perfume on you…”
Xi Leng warned in a low voice: “Hey, Rong Xingyi.”
Rong Xingyi finally stopped, mysteriously pointing at his ear.
Or rather, his hair.
Xi Leng touched his hair and immediately understood the source of his didi’s strange reaction.
Without a word, he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
In his hair were several thin, strange… little braids.
“…”
The braids were very discreet, four very thin braids, hidden among the curls on both sides of his head.
He wasn’t sure if Min Zhi had tried braiding thicker ones, but Min Zhi didn’t have a hair tie, thicker braids wouldn’t last long. These four thin braids, however, with their loose ends, had surprisingly survived the entire night.
He shook his head.
The little braids didn’t come undone.
He then started to unbraid them. A head poked in through the unlocked bathroom door, not saying anything, just staring intently with sparkling peach blossom eyes.
Xi Leng caught him through the mirror, ordering coldly: “Get out.”
“…Tch.”
After unbraiding all four little braids, the traces left by Min Zhi still lingered, those strands of hair noticeably curlier, like instant noodles.
His hair had also grown quite long.
Xi Leng thought for a moment, then tucked all the messy strands behind his ear, tying it into a neat half-ponytail, temporarily postponing his plan to get a haircut.
“Hurry up and get ready, I’ll take you to school.”
Rong Xingyi, who had just put on his backpack, bounced a little, but his face showed no joy.
“You’re a public figure now, taking me to school would be like holding a fan meeting.” Rong Xingyi grumbled. “Besides, is there a difference between taking a taxi alone and taking a taxi together? I can go by myself, you go back to sleep, look at your dark circles…”
Xi Leng: “Then you go by yourself, and deal with the dormitory yourself. And don’t even think about sneaking off, I’ll check with your homeroom teacher and roommates.”
Rong Xingyi secretly let out a “hmph.”
Because he had to live at school, the start-of-school preparations were quite extensive, besides a heavy backpack, there was also a full suitcase.
Now the seemingly mature 15-year-old could only fend for himself.
“…Eh?” Rong Xingyi glanced at his phone, his previously dejected demeanor instantly brightening. “Min Zhi-gege said he’ll take me!”
Xi Leng hurriedly stopped him: “No, him taking you would really be like a fan meeting.”
“He said his manager is also going, his manager’s daughter is also starting school today.” Rong Xingyi said. “He’s not stupid, he can just wait in the car, and his manager can take us inside.”
Xi Leng was speechless: “Then whatever, go ahead.”
Rong Xingyi blinked: “Ah… he just sent another message.”
Xi Leng turned around.
Rong Xingyi relayed the message, seemingly obediently: “He’s asking if you’re awake, if you want to go together.”
Xi Leng lied without blinking: “I’m not awake.”
“Okay, I’ll reply.”
“What did you say?”
“I said—my ge said he’s not awake. Hahaha!!”
“Hey, Rong Xingyi!”
