“Big Brother? Big Brother?”
A hazy voice drifted into his ears. Someone shook Zhou Zhuoli’s shoulder twice, and he opened his eyes to see Zhou Zhuoyi standing beside him. A faint sense of disappointment stirred in his heart.
What had he been hoping for? People couldn’t just sleep and wake up in the past.
Zhou Zhuoyi asked worriedly, “Why are you sleeping here? What if you catch a cold?”
Zhou Zhuoli replied, “It’s nothing. Shouldn’t you be heading to school? Let me drive you.”
Zhou Zhuoyi said, “Don’t bother. You’ve been so busy these past few days. I just wanted to wake you up and get you back to your room to sleep.”
Zhou Zhuoli didn’t argue, but he drove him there anyway.
After they arrived at school, Zhou Zhuoyi didn’t get out of the car right away. “Big Brother, can you take me to see Brother tonight?”
Zhou Zhuoli fell silent for a moment before saying, “Little Yi, you know Zhuoyuan is sick. And you just got out of the hospital yourself. Things got so messy last time—I think it’s best if you two don’t see each other for now.”
Zhou Zhuoyi looked utterly dejected. “All right, then. I’ll wait until Brother recovers before going to see him.”
Zhou Zhuoli’s expression softened with reluctance. He watched as Zhou Zhuoyi entered the school building under the escort of security before telling the driver to leave.
The car felt stuffy, so Zhou Zhuoli rolled down the window. A cool breeze rushed in, clearing his foggy mind for a brief moment.
He needed to apologize to Zhou Zhuoyuan and make amends.
~~~
“Are you out of your mind?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the bank transfer notification on his phone.
Zhou Zhuoli’s throat bobbed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what you liked, so I just sent you some money.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan was an expert at assuming the worst. “Why are you sorry? What did you do? Did you say something to Lin Boxu? Or destroy some of my documents? Break something of mine?”
Clearly, none of those things would be worth that much money. Zhou Zhuoyuan’s guesses grew wilder, and he started to panic. “Did you mess with my school records so I can’t take the Gaokao? Sell my info to my enemies to protect Zhou Zhuoyi? Buy my lifespan with money and transfer it to him?”
Zhou Zhuoli said, “…You read way too many novels.”
Pei He wouldn’t let him badmouth Zhou Zhuoyuan. “Little Yuan only reads novels for twenty minutes a day while he’s been in the hospital these past couple of days.”
It wasn’t really the novels’ fault. Zhou Zhuoyuan’s knowledge came from his past life’s time on Steady Sound.
If rebirth hadn’t happened to him personally, he never would have imagined such plotlines. Compared to rebirth, those scenarios actually seemed far more realistic.
He quickly transferred the money back. “No way. I don’t dare take your money.”
Zhou Zhuoli’s chest ached with frustration. He’d treated Zhou Zhuoyuan poorly before, sure, but did he really need to be this guarded against him?
Unable to voice any accusations, Zhou Zhuoli could only raise his hand in a solemn oath. “If I harbor even a shred of ill intent or ulterior motive toward you, may lightning strike me down…”
Zhou Zhuoyuan cut him off. “That’s not necessary, Zhou Zhuoli.”
The sky outside had deepened to a somber blue as students poured out after class to grab dinner, their laughter echoing faintly in the distance.
Zhou Zhuoyuan met his gaze steadily. “If Lin Boxu said something that made you feel guilty, you can let it go.”
“You don’t need to pity me just because my life in the Lin Family was rough and come over here out of the goodness of your heart. What happened there has nothing to do with you all. You can keep doing whatever you were doing.”
“My life from now on will only get better. I don’t need your sympathy.”
Would it really get better? Then why did he keep getting sick? Why did injuries keep happening?
Zhou Zhuoli instinctively thought Zhou Zhuoyuan was just being stubborn again, toughing it out. But when he looked into his brother’s eyes, he saw an unignorable depth of resolve.
Right. His little brother had grown up.
Without anyone giving him enough love, he’d taken root and sprouted in the mud all on his own.
A little tree that grew up like that might not be the sturdiest, but it was tough as nails. His experiences had taught him that even if no one ever cared for him in the future, he could still thrive.
Suddenly, Zhou Zhuoli felt deflated. His guilt wasn’t because of Zhou Zhuoyuan’s hard life in the Lin Family—he hadn’t even read that diary yet. It was because of how he’d treated Zhou Zhuoyuan himself.
But in Zhou Zhuoyuan’s eyes, all those guilts were the same: worthless, and only a bother to him.
~~~
Zhou Zhuoli hadn’t been gone long before Pei He couldn’t hold back anymore. He scooted over to Zhou Zhuoyuan’s side. “I’ve never seen that much money in my life. Your willpower is impressive—you actually managed to resist it.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan grinned at the flattery. “Eh, it’s okay. Mostly, I was afraid of owing anyone favors.”
Pei He couldn’t resist pinching his cheek. “Why are you taking a jab at me?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan swatted his hand away. “Who said I was insinuating it? I said it outright before, and now I’m just reusing the same words in one sentence.”
Pei He stared at the red mark blooming on his cheek and immediately felt a pang of guilt. Zhou Zhuoyuan’s skin bruised so easily—he’d only pinched it lightly, and it had turned red right away.
Before bed that night, Pei He switched off the lights as usual, then groped his way back to the accompanying cot in the darkness.
The hospital room was lit only by the faint glow of the monitors, as cold and pale as the moonlight filtering through the window.
In the dark, Zhou Zhuoyuan’s voice rang out clear and distinct. His vocal cords had healed considerably, giving his tone a crisp, pleasant ring. “Can I go back to class tomorrow?”
Pei He asked, “Does your stomach still hurt?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan replied, “Much better.”
Pei He rolled over to face the hospital bed. “The doctor might let you.”
It was a pointless thing to say—Zhou Zhuoyuan knew he had no real answer; he just wanted to keep the conversation going.
Silently counting to three in his head, Zhou Zhuoyuan said, “Pei He, thank you for staying with me.”
No response came from beside him, and Zhou Zhuoyuan drifted off to sleep.
Pei He struggled to steady his heartbeat and breathing. He had something important to say.
After a long moment, he finally worked up the nerve and whispered shyly, “I’ll always be with you.”
His heart settled as he listened to the sound of Zhou Zhuoyuan’s steady breathing.
Pei He: “?”
Refusing to give up, he climbed out of bed and blew gently on Zhou Zhuoyuan’s face.
Feeling the tickle, Zhou Zhuoyuan smacked his own forehead with a sharp slap.
