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Chapter 74: Caught

Mi Yang returned to his other grandmother’s house. As soon as he entered, he heard a burst of laughter. With so many children at home, the old Mrs. Cheng was also happy, and she had been smiling nonstop these past few days.

Mi Xue had her hair in pretty little braids and was sitting among a group of children, holding up her cat’s cradle for the old lady to see. When she saw her older brother come in, she immediately ran over, held up her hands for Mi Yang to see, “Brother, look, I can do the seventh one now!”

Little girls all liked to play cat’s cradle. Mi Xue was small and could only barely keep up each time. Today, she had made something like a spider web with a “井 (jing – well)” character, which was a great improvement.

Mi Yang bent down to look and praised her seriously, “Amazing. You can already do such a complicated one.”

Mi Xue then showed her brother the new gift she had received today, bringing her little head closer for Mi Yang to see. “Brother, look, my cousin gave me a new hairpin. It’s so pretty!” She had a small metal butterfly hairpin on her head. The wings were made of colorful little beads, and when she walked, the butterfly’s wings would tremble and sway, which made the little girl feel very beautiful.

Mi Yang also praised her a couple of times. The little girl then asked him, “Can I give the little pomegranate brother gave me to my cousin? Sister gave me a hairpin, and I want to give her something too.”

Mi Yang said, “Of course. Why did you think of giving her a little pomegranate?”

The little girl looked up. “Sister said they need it for their sketches.”

Mi Yang said, “Then you can give it to her. Brother will find you another little pomegranate later.”

The little girl blinked her eyes and asked him, “There’s another one on brother’s desk. That one, does Brother Bai still want it?”

Mi Yang remembered that he hadn’t given it to Bai Luochuan yet. He had been busy lately and had forgotten. It seemed the little girl had been eyeing it. He pinched the child’s nose and laughed at her, “You little clever ghost. You can’t have that one.”

Mi Xue stuck out her tongue, then took Mi Yang’s hand and went to the bedroom. There was a small cloth bag on the small table in their room. The little girl opened it for him to see and said, “Grandma took us to pick dates today. My sisters and I went with little baskets and picked a lot. These are for brother.”

Mi Yang went over to have a look. It was the first batch of winter dates. They were relatively small but very sweet. He looked at the solid little bag and was surprised. “You picked so many?”

The little girl said, “Yes. We went to Grandma Wang’s jujube orchard to pick them. Grandma Wang even praised me for being polite and said to let me bring brother over to play next time.” She took out a box from the drawer, then stood on her tiptoes and took a few handfuls of winter dates from the cloth bag, dividing them into two small piles. She pushed the larger pile to Mi Yang. “This is brother’s!” She pointed to the other half and said seriously, “This is for brother to save for Brother Bai.”

Normally, it would be nothing, but now Mi Yang’s face was inexplicably hot.

It seemed that even his little sister knew that he had to save a portion of everything for Bai Luochuan. It had become a habit.

Mi Xue had now adapted to life at her grandmother’s house and was sleeping with her cousins, holding her pillow. The little girls had endless things to say and were very happy together. Mi Yang took his little sister over, then went back to his room and lay in bed, thinking for a long while.

He was a little insomniac.

He was full of thoughts that night, thinking of the past Bai Luochuan and the current young master Bai. The figures of the two intertwined, and he thought of their past, their present, and their future.

…

Mi Yang was not a child in his heart, so he couldn’t just recklessly enjoy this period of youth—he was more mature than a teenager, but he also lacked the courage of a teenager.

After thinking all night, he only fell asleep when the sky was just starting to brighten.

The next day, Mi Yang woke up. It was rare for him not to have slept well even with his little pillow. Just after breakfast, Bai Luochuan called to ask him if he wanted to come to the Bai family’s old residence. Mi Yang refused. “No, I have something to do.”

Bai Luochuan said, “What is it? Is it troublesome? I’ll go and help you.”

Mi Yang said, “No, I’m just helping my grandma with some chores at home. You can do your own thing. I’ll go over when I’m free.”

The other side agreed and hung up.

Mi Yang had something on his mind and wanted to calm down a little. It just so happened that the old Mrs. Cheng had picked some vegetables and fruits from the small courtyard in front and was about to take them out to give to someone. Mi Yang took them and said, “Grandma, I’ll go.”

The old Mrs. Cheng smiled. “Alright. Yesterday, I took Xiaoxue and the other children to pick winter dates at your Grandma Wang’s house. Today, you can take her some vegetables. It’s just at Wang Bing’s house at the end of the street. You know it, right?”

Mi Yang nodded. “I know.”

Shanhai Town was not big, and the neighborhood relations had always been very good. The small town was quiet and safe, and the old Mrs. Cheng was very at ease letting him go.

Mi Yang walked on the street where the morning mist had not yet completely dissipated. Looking at the familiar grass and trees, he felt a little more relaxed. He had grown up in Shanhai Town before, and after graduating from university, there was a period when he wanted to come back and continue to live such a simple and peaceful life, find a gentle person, and the two of them would live a lifetime without arguing, with relish.

But when he thought of this, a figure would always jump out domineeringly, and he couldn’t get rid of it.

After walking for a while, Mi Yang suddenly smelled a pungent smell, like something had been burned.

He looked around and saw a group of half-grown boys secretly hiding in a sheltered corner of a wall, gathered around, doing something. After a short while, another puff of white smoke came out, which immediately drew a chorus of “wow”s of envy.

Mi Yang: “…”

Wang Bing was hiding in the corner, showing off that he could smoke. He had rolled a few “cigarettes” with white paper yesterday, and at a glance, they looked quite real. But after they were lit, the taste was not the same.

After the old loofah vine was lit, the spiciness was much more pungent than a cigarette. After taking a puff, it was both bitter and astringent. Wang Bing’s eyes were almost tearing up from the smoke. But in front of a group of little brothers, how could he show weakness? He was still exaggeratingly swallowing it to show off, and while he was getting a full house of applause, his face was also flushed.

Mi Yang felt the pungent smell even from such a distance and was a little impressed with Wang Bing.

Wang Bing was hiding in the corner, enjoying the envious gazes on one hand, and preparing to grit his teeth and take another puff on the other, when he suddenly heard an angry roar from the other side of the wall, “You little brat, you’ve learned some skills. Are you trying to rebel?!”

Mi Yang was also startled by this sound. He looked up and saw a tall and sturdy woman climb over the low courtyard wall. With a hand as big as a palm fan, she grabbed two or three little rascals and pushed them all to the corner of the wall. The few of them shrunk there like quails, trembling, and not a single one dared to run.

Someone even tried to call for help, “Wang Wang Wang…”

The woman was furious and poked his forehead. “You little bastard, you’re not learning anything good. You dare to smoke!”

Another one was about to cry. “No, no, I wouldn’t dare, Auntie Wang!”

The woman sneered. “It’s no use even if you call me the Queen Mother of the West. No one is running away today. You’ll line up and go home in a bit, and let your parents take good care of you. I don’t see you being so enthusiastic about your studies. You all know how to get together to learn bad things!” She turned her head and looked at her son, angry. “Wang Bing! You turn around. I’m talking to you. You’re not competing for first place in anything else, but you’re so fast at learning these things?!”

Wang Bing had been like a mouse seeing a cat since he had seen his mom. His legs were weak, and he had inhaled a puff of “smoke” and hadn’t dared to exhale. Now, his face was flushed, and his internal organs were about to burn. He was already feeling very uncomfortable. Being called out, he trembled with fear and couldn’t hold on, starting to cough. This cough choked his trachea, and the veins on his temples were bulging. He was a mess of tears and snot.

Wang Bing’s mom was probably really angry. She snatched the half-smoked “cigarette” from her son’s hand and reached out to pull his ear. Wang Bing, in front of so many people, was not willing to tell the truth and stubbornly closed his eyes, about to endure it.

Mi Yang walked over with his basket. “Auntie.”

Wang Bing’s mom had never been called that before and didn’t realize at first that he was calling her. It was only when Mi Yang called her a second time that she turned her head. “What is it?”

Mi Yang held up the basket. A full basket of vegetables and fruits was still covered with dew. Each one was carefully selected by the old Mrs. Cheng as the most beautiful, very likable. Mi Yang was dressed neatly and looked like a scholar, and his smile was also likable. “Auntie, my grandma asked me to send this over. She said to thank Grandma Wang for letting us pick winter dates yesterday. The dates at your house are very sweet, much more delicious than the ones sold outside.”

Wang Bing’s mom’s expression softened a lot. You don’t hit a smiling face, especially when the other person is here to thank you. She also returned a smile. “Mi Yang, right? Don’t be so polite. Your mom and I were very close before. Qing’er even called me ‘big sister.’ Just treat this as your own home. Whenever you want to eat, just go and pick them yourself. Auntie’s family has a whole grove of winter dates. There’s plenty.”

She was smiling at Mi Yang, but her grip on her little brat’s ear had not loosened.

Mi Yang glanced at it. “Auntie, about Wang Bing’s matter, it’s actually not like that.”

Wang Bing’s mom frowned. “I caught him red-handed. How can it be fake?”

Mi Yang pointed to the half-smoked cigarette in her hand. “I actually gave him this yesterday.”

Wang Bing’s mom was stunned. This was a little guest from the town, after all, and she had heard that his studies were very good and that he had won many awards. He was standing there, looking like a scholar, and she couldn’t bring herself to treat him like the little monkeys at home. She just blinked her eyes and repeated, “Huh? You, you gave it to him?”

Mi Yang nodded. “You can let them go. I’ll explain to you.” He said as he winked at the few who were shrinking in the corner. One of them was clever and immediately scurried away. The other few followed suit and also ran away.

Wang Bing’s mom was too lazy to catch them and just held onto her own son, still looking at Mi Yang, her brow already furrowed.

Mi Yang waited for everyone to run away, then took the cigarette from her hand, broke it open, and showed it to her. “Here, look. This isn’t tobacco. It’s an old loofah vine… Wang Bing didn’t actually smoke. You’re strict with him, so he wouldn’t dare. But he had already told others, so he had no choice. He went to my grandma’s vegetable garden last night and grabbed a lot of loofah vines. If you don’t believe me, you can have him take you to have a look. I’m sure there’s still a lot left at home.”

Wang Bing’s mom looked at her son as if he were an idiot. “You smoked a loofah vine?”

“Mm.” Wang Bing’s face was red. Smoking this was different from smoking a cigarette. After all, it was a fake cigarette, so the crime was lighter, but it was also very embarrassing.

Wang Bing’s mom still taught him a lesson, not too lightly and not too heavily, and scared him, “Even if you’re just pretending, you’re not allowed to play with this in the future. This is not something a child should know!”

Wang Bing also felt that he was particularly stupid and quickly nodded.