Brother, Don’t Delete Me! 10

Chapter 10: The Little Mermaid

Luo Jing ended up transferring from the back seat to the front while still in the car.

Plastic Bag was placed at his feet. The temperature inside the car gradually rose, and the puppy slowly closed its eyes, seemingly falling asleep again.

It was the dead of night, and there wasn’t a single other car on the wide asphalt road.

Huai Dan was naturally quiet, and Luo Jing couldn’t think of anything to say for a while, so the car was rather silent, only the mechanical voice of the navigation occasionally giving directions.

After five minutes of silence, Luo Jing couldn’t take it anymore.

In a quiet and dark place, people tend to overthink. After Luo Jing involuntarily imagined the person driving next to him suddenly turning into a doll for the third time, he finally spoke, “Brother, it’s so quiet, let’s play some music.”

“Go ahead.” Huai Dan glanced at the restless child beside him and switched the electronic screen to the menu, letting him fiddle with it.

Luo Jing quickly found the Bluetooth connection settings with his knowledge of electronic devices. After connecting his phone, he excitedly opened his music app.

The next moment, the sound of the Great Compassion Mantra filled the car.

Huai Dan: “…”

He almost lost his grip on the steering wheel.

He gave the child beside him a complex look, which was met with an innocent “What’s wrong?”.

“…Nothing.” Sometimes, he really wanted to open Luo Jing’s head and see what was inside.

Listening to the Great Compassion Mantra all the way to the foot of the mountain, Huai Dan’s face remained expressionless, but he felt an unprecedented sense of calm inside.

The road up the mountain was a winding mountain path. A hint of light gradually appeared on the horizon, and some cars appeared here—it seemed there were quite a few people who, like them, couldn’t sleep and decided on a whim or had planned to watch the sunrise.

Huai Dan drove up the mountain, circle after circle, listening to the, in a sense, soul-purifying music, a rare look of fatigue on his face.

“Brother, is this considered drowsy driving?” Luo Jing asked curiously, noticing his fatigue.

“Yes, and whose fault is that?” Huai Dan said helplessly.

“Hehe.” Luo Jing looked at his profile with a slightly ingratiating smile, then suddenly noticed something. “Brother, don’t move, I’ll take a picture of you. You look especially handsome right now.”

“Go ahead, but change the music after you’re done,” Huai Dan said.

“Okay, okay.” Luo Jing chuckled.

Luo Jing finally abandoned the Great Compassion Mantra and opened his own playlist.

Replacing the mantra was an English song, with a lazy tune and a pleasant melody, strangely fitting the current atmosphere.

The sky gradually brightened, and the orange light shone through the car window onto Huai Dan’s face, making his features appear clear and defined.

“Brother, have you ever thought about becoming a celebrity? I think you’re better-looking than all the celebrities in my dad’s company,” Luo Jing asked, looking at the image on his phone screen with satisfaction.

“Not interested. You can try it,” Huai Dan politely declined.

“Oh, I see.” Luo Jing felt a little pity, then thought again that Huai Dan indeed seemed out of place in the entertainment industry.

Because he inexplicably looked very expensive. Luo Jing felt that compared to the stage or screen, he was more suited to overlooking the city from the floor-to-ceiling windows of a top-floor office.

Thinking this, he subconsciously began observing him, and through his observation, he made a new discovery.

Huai Dan saw him staring at him for a long time, then noticed his gaze on his wrist. He took off his watch with one hand and handed it over: “Here, play with it.”

Luo Jing wanted it, Luo Jing got it.

He reached out and took it: “Brother, do you have a second pair of eyes?”

Then he began to examine it carefully: “This watch is so cool. My dad seems to have a similar one.”

He then put the watch on his own wrist and compared it, deciding it looked better on Huai Dan.

“Like it?” Huai Dan asked while driving.

“I like how it looks on you,” Luo Jing said. Perhaps he had watched too many TV dramas, as he felt the next line should be “If you like it, I’ll give it to you.”

But forget it, this watch clearly had a string of zeros after its price tag.

Hearing this, Huai Dan’s lips curled slightly, and he didn’t say anything more.

“Brother, I feel like you’re really too good to me.” The atmosphere was good, and Luo Jing felt it was suitable for chatting. “Do you need something from me?”

Huai Dan chuckled after hearing this, somewhat speechless, and asked in return, “What do you think I need from you?”

Luo Jing thought about it, feeling like there wasn’t really anything.

But then again, he was currently with his sister, it was their first meeting, and he was staying at their house. It seemed reasonable to try and win over his future brother-in-law.

Thinking of this, Luo Jing felt all the questions were answered.

…But did people nowadays have to go to such lengths to please their girlfriend’s family?

Luo Jing didn’t understand, but he appreciated it.

“Because you’re a cute child,” Huai Dan suddenly said.

Luo Jing was about to retort that he wasn’t a child anymore, but then he thought again and asked, “Do you like children?”

“No,” Huai Dan replied without hesitation. “They’re noisy.”

“Then am I not noisy?” Luo Jing’s eyes sparkled.

“A little.” Huai Dan paused, a hint of laughter in his voice. “But I can tolerate it.”

Luo Jing was instantly touched: “Brother, I wish you were my real brother.”

Huai Dan chuckled and didn’t reply.

Actually, if Luo Jing wished, he could be.

Luo Jing really liked this brother. Thinking about it, a brother-in-law wasn’t that different from a real brother.

Now, Luo Jing felt that the most correct thing Luo Feng had done since birth was to date Huai Dan.

So he silently prayed that his sister and her boyfriend would stay together forever and never break up.

When the car reached the halfway point up the mountain, a parking lot suddenly appeared—the second half of the mountain road could only be climbed on foot.

After parking the car, the two of them and the dog embarked on their journey.

Luo Jing was initially cheerful while climbing, but perhaps because he hadn’t exercised much during the holidays, by the second half, he was utterly exhausted.

He had been carrying Plastic Bag at first, but later, it ended up in Huai Dan’s hands.

Luo Jing desperately turned his head, hoping for some sympathetic comfort. However, he saw that Brother Huai wasn’t even breaking a sweat, carrying Plastic Bag in one hand and looking at something on his phone with the other.

In short, he looked very relaxed.

As if sensing his gaze, Huai Dan looked up at Luo Jing: “What’s wrong?”

Luo Jing: “…”

He turned his head back.

The joys and sorrows of different people were not connected.

When they reached the top of the mountain, Luo Jing felt reborn.

“This mountain, why, is it so hard to climb,” Luo Jing said, panting.

Huai Dan found his appearance amusing: “Didn’t you say you’ve been here before?”

“No, I’ve only heard of it,” Luo Jing bent over, recovering for a while.

There were quite a few people at the summit, some even setting up stalls. A blackboard with a stand displayed the names and prices of various drinks written in colored chalk. Huai Dan went to buy two lemon teas, and the stall owner gave Luo Jing a lollipop.

Watching the sun slowly rise, Luo Jing finished his lemon tea, took some pictures of Plastic Bag after letting it out of the carrier, and then had nothing to do.

And his feet were sore.

This mountain was really hard to climb.

“Brother, have you seen The Little Mermaid?” Many people were taking pictures, so Huai Dan also took one. While checking his results, Luo Jing suddenly asked.

“Yes, why?” Huai Dan was a bit confused.

“I feel like I’m the little mermaid right now,” Luo Jing said expressionlessly.

“About to turn into foam when the sun comes up?”

“I feel like every step I take now is like walking on knives, just like her.”

Huai Dan: “…”

He found it amusing and a little helpless: “Will you have another whim like this next time?”

“No, no…” Luo Jing said regretfully.

He sighed, filled with infinite bitterness, then squatted down and patted Plastic Bag’s head: “You have it easy, being carried…”

The rising orange sunlight shone on Luo Jing’s head. His hair, which usually looked black, now had a slightly brownish tint, looking warm in the cold winter air.

“Look at the camera, little mermaid,” Huai Dan took out his phone and pointed it at Luo Jing.

Luo Jing instinctively turned to look at him, a confused look on his face.

The phone dutifully captured this scene.

After reacting, Luo Jing generously let him take pictures, holding Plastic Bag’s head and posing in various ways.

Huai Dan took them all, looking at the images on the screen, a smile unconsciously playing on his lips.

After he finished, he thought for a moment and chose the first picture to post on his WeChat Moments without a caption.

Luo Jing also posted on his Moments, making a nine-picture collage. A few of his classmates who were night owls and had been playing games all night saw it and liked it.

After seeing the photo Huai Dan had taken of him and Plastic Bag, Luo Jing quickly liked it, belatedly realizing this was probably his first photo with Plastic Bag. He saved it, then, after thinking for a moment, sent it to his family group chat.

After watching the sunrise, they descended the mountain.

In the passenger seat, Plastic Bag leaned against Luo Jing’s feet and slept soundly. Luo Jing initially fought off his sleepiness, feeling it was too much to let Huai Dan drive alone while he slept. He even tried his old trick, searching for a heavy metal rock playlist to play, in an attempt to stay awake.

However, for Luo Jing, rock music could serve as a lullaby when he was sleepy. The overwhelming drowsiness couldn’t be dispelled by such trivial external factors.

He nodded off to the deafening music, as if under a spell.

Huai Dan was different.

He felt like he was going to be deafened.

He endured and endured, finally unable to stand it anymore, and reached out to turn off the Bluetooth.

The world was quiet. Huai Dan said seriously to the little ancestor beside him, who, whether asleep or awake, was determined to be restless: “Sleep.”

“Really? Is that okay…?” Luo Jing struggled to open his heavy eyelids and mumbled, then fell asleep the next second.

“…”

Huai Dan sighed.

Having been woken up in the middle of the night to watch the sunrise, Huai Dan had been worn down by Luo Jing to the point of being beyond exasperation.

Now, with both the person and the dog beside him sleeping soundly, he finally had a moment of peace.

When they arrived home, it was still early morning, and the sky was just beginning to lighten. There weren’t many cars on the road. By the time Huai Dan parked the car in the garage, Luo Jing had fallen into a deep sleep. He called him several times before he finally opened his eyes with difficulty.

Carrying Plastic Bag in one hand and supporting the sleepy, swaying child with the other, Huai Dan saw a door open upstairs as he entered the house.

The next moment, Luo Feng came out in her pajamas, just as sleepy as Luo Jing, probably intending to go downstairs for a glass of water.

Seeing the two of them and the dog, looking dusty and tired, through the railing, Luo Feng froze, subconsciously closing the door, thinking she was dreaming.

Had she opened the door the wrong way?

Three seconds later, she came out of the room again. Huai Dan was putting Plastic Bag back in its bed, and Luo Jing, overcome by sleepiness, had collapsed on the sofa.

Luo Feng was jolted awake.