Some things are like that. Usually, you never think about them. But once they pop into your head, they stick there like you’ve taken the wrong medicine.
For the rest of the day, Jiang Chu’s mind kept circling back to that “Bro” sound.
Leaving aside the whole “spark” and chemistry part, he realized he kind of wanted to hear Qin Zui say it again.
There was a certain satisfaction in feeling like he was raising his little brother.
After working overtime until almost nine at night, Jiang Chu drove home.
Halfway there, while waiting at a red light, he figured Qin Zui would be getting out of school around this time. He sent him a message and went to pick him up at the back gate.
He parked in their usual spot. The bell at the 27th High School hadn’t rung yet. Jiang Chu waited in the car, planning to make Qin Zui call him “Bro” again as soon as he got in, and also grab some late-night snacks to take home.
At 9:20, students started filing out. Qin Zui wasn’t in the first batch. After the main crowd passed, Jiang Chu finally saw him coming out of the school, flanked by two classmates.
The girl was Lu Yao; Jiang Chu recognized her. She was still pretty, but a bit reckless. Wearing a skirt that showed her calves in November, she was shivering, talking and hopping around beside Qin Zui, her breath forming white puffs in the cold air.
On the other side was a guy, about the same height as Qin Zui, wearing a black mask and dressed very stylishly. Jiang Chu’s first thought was that it was Du Miaomiao, but looking closer, he didn’t recognize him.
The three of them came to the car. Lu Yao bounced over first and knocked on the window, smiling as she called out, “Hey, big bro!”
“Aren’t you cold?” Jiang Chu smiled back.
“I’m okay, my coat is thick enough,” Lu Yao said, lifting the hem of her skirt and pointing at her legs for Jiang Chu to see. “I’ve got knee pads on under the skirt.”
Qin Zui looked like he couldn’t bear to watch. He reached out and swatted her skirt back down. The guy beside him leaned on Qin Zui’s shoulder and laughed. His eyes crinkled as he pulled his mask down to his chin and greeted Jiang Chu too. “Bro.”
Jiang Chu’s eyes moved from his arm to his face. “The handsome guy and pretty girl trio, huh.”
“Then you’d have to be the center.” The guy said.
“Too kind.” Jiang Chu smiled again.
Qin Zui opened the passenger door to get in. Lu Yao complained to Jiang Chu, “Bro, look, Qin Zui won’t even say goodbye to me.”
“You’d better get home. Your legs are turning purple.” The guy grabbed Lu Yao, who was clinging to the car window, and pulled her back. He held up five fingers at Jiang Chu and waved. “Bye, bro. Drive safe.”
“A friend of yours?” Jiang Chu asked Qin Zui as he drove out of Back Door Street.
Qin Zui was taking off his jacket. He hummed in affirmation.
“He’s got good social skills,” Jiang Chu said. “You never mentioned him.”
“Nothing to mention.” A pack of gum fell out of Qin Zui’s jacket pocket. He tossed it into Jiang Chu’s glove compartment.
“What’s his name?” Jiang Chu asked.
Qin Zui glanced at him before answering. “Gao Xia.”
“Gao Xia…” Jiang Chu repeated, and couldn’t help laughing. “Your classmates have interesting names. ‘Lu Yao’ the horse, and ‘Gao Xia’ the scene…”
[T/N: Referring to the famous line ‘A lake rises in the high gorges (Gao Xia).’]
“You like them?” Qin Zui blurted out, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Like what?” Jiang Chu was confused. “Two students. High schoolers.”
Qin Zui stared at him for a moment, said nothing, and took the gum back. He unwrapped a piece for himself and threw it in his mouth.
Jiang Chu drove for a bit, then it suddenly clicked. He turned his head sharply to look at Qin Zui. “You don’t mean…”
“Watch the road.” Qin Zui frowned.
Jiang Chu turned his head back and slowed down a little. “You like guys like him?”
Qin Zui chewed the gum slowly at the corner of his mouth. He met Jiang Chu’s eyes. “Guys like who?”
“Guys like Gao Xia.” Jiang Chu felt a strange awkwardness.
The corner of Qin Zui’s mouth twitched, like he was about to laugh. He asked back, “Not allowed?”
It wasn’t that it wasn’t allowed.
“I always thought you liked the Liang Xiaojia, Du Miaomiao type,” Jiang Chu said.
Qin Zui gave a faint smile. “Oh,” he said, and stared out the window without another word.
Derailed by this random thought, Jiang Chu didn’t remember to ask for the “Bro” until they got home. He’d also forgotten to buy late-night snacks.
“Qin Zui,” Jiang Chu called out, scrolling through a food delivery app as he went to Qin Zui’s room to mess with him. “Call me ‘Bro’ and I’ll order you something good.”
“I’m not hungry,” Qin Zui said.
“Who cares if you’re hungry?” Jiang Chu kicked Qin Zui’s chair, spinning him around. “Just say it. Your classmate knew to call me ‘bro’ the moment he saw me. How hard can it be to hear it from you?”
“Why?” Qin Zui asked.
“No reason. You should be calling me that anyway. And I want to hear it right now, so just say it.” Jiang Chu couldn’t explain why. “You want seafood porridge? Or some fried noodles?”
“Don’t want to say it.” Qin Zui got up and headed for the kitchen. “Don’t order anything. I’ll make you some fried rice.”
“Fine, whatever.” Jiang Chu put his phone away and was about to follow him into the kitchen to keep bugging him when his phone rang. It was Chen Linguo.
This girl really left Jiang Chu speechless.
“Forget it then.” He sighed quietly, swiped to answer, and turned to go out onto the balcony.
Qin Zui cracked two eggs into a bowl. He glanced over his shoulder at him.
“Hey, Chu, sorry, I went shopping with my mom and just saw your message. I get what you mean.” Chen Linguo didn’t beat around the bush. She went straight to the point.
“Ah.” Jiang Chu acknowledged. Rejecting a girl was harsh, no matter how you looked at it. He wasn’t sure what to say.
“I wanted to say, even if there’s nothing between us, we could still be friends, right?” Her voice wasn’t accusatory. She even sounded cheerful. “I really like you and your friends—Da Ben, Sister Bao Li, Brother Fang, and last time, Brother Hua, Sister Meizi, Brother Du… you guys are all great people. I have a lot of fun hanging out with all of you. I don’t want to make things awkward.”
Hearing her be so understanding, Jiang Chu felt much more at ease. He smiled. “That won’t happen.”
He bit on a cigarette and slid open the window. He hadn’t noticed the temperature getting out of the car, but now, standing in his thin sweater, the cold wind hit him. He shivered and quickly slid the window shut again.
“Then I feel much better,” Chen Linguo said, letting out a cheerful sigh. “Since we’re friends, it’s not too much for a friend to ask you to a movie, is it?”
“To be honest, I’ve been pretty busy lately.” Since she had put it that way, Jiang Chu couldn’t really say no. “I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Bao Li’s been so tired of waiting for Ben to come home and cook that she’s gone back to her parents’ place.”
“I heard about it from Sister Bao Li.” Chen Linguo laughed out loud. “When we’re both free again someday, I’ll treat you all to a movie.”
“Alright.” Jiang Chu smiled and hung up.
Later, when he told Da Ben about it, Da Ben clicked his tongue and said that girl had some seriously high emotional intelligence and social skills.
“You don’t have to be on guard. You’ve only met a few times. You might not feel the spark now, but spend more time together and it might develop,” Da Ben urged again.
“We’ll see.” Jiang Chu didn’t think much of it. Tang Cai, in the other room, sneezed loudly several times in a row. It sounded awful. Jiang Chu, sympathetic, sneezed twice himself.
The cold snap had arrived. He needed to take Qin Zui to buy some thick winter clothes.
“Catching a cold?” Da Ben pulled open a drawer and took out a packet of red date, goji berry, and lemon tea that Bao Li had prepared for him.
“One sneeze means someone’s thinking of you, two means someone’s cursing you.” Jiang Chu grabbed a tissue to blow his nose and slid open the window for ventilation. “You’re the one cursing me, aren’t you?”
“Why don’t you think it’s Chen Linguo cursing you?” Da Ben, ever cautious, got up to make himself a cup of the same tea.
“Qin…” Lu Yao bounced in through the back door of the classroom, calling Qin Zui’s name as she landed at his desk. She let out a huge sneeze first, right at him. “Qin Zui!”
“Shit.” Gao Xia, who had been sleeping with his head on the desk, was jolted awake by the sound. He sat up irritably and fanned the air with his textbook. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“I have a cold.” Lu Yao fanned the air around Qin Zui too, her voice nasally and a little embarrassed.
“It’d be more surprising if you didn’t.” Gao Xia pulled the collar of his sweater up higher. “Should have worn those knee pads again.”
Lu Yao rolled up her book to hit him. Qin Zui, leaning back in his chair doing a test paper, couldn’t be bothered. But when Lu Yao swung her book, it knocked one of his earphone wires loose.
“Do you need something?” He looked at Lu Yao helplessly.
“Du Miaomiao is looking for you.” Lu Yao had almost forgotten.
“Du Miaomiao? From Class 15?” Gao Xia looked out the window, then back at Qin Zui. “You know him?”
Qin Zui glanced out the window too. He hummed in affirmation, got up, and went out.
The temperature had really dropped. There was frost all over the ground when school started that morning.
As soon as Qin Zui stepped out the back door, the cold air hit him, making him squint. He saw Du Miaomiao, wearing a thin little jacket, hopping around at the stairwell. He was also showing off his ankles in a very flashy way.
“Qin Zui!” Du Miaomiao raised his arm and shouted when he saw him.
Qin Zui walked over. “You looking for me?”
“Looking for your brother.” Du Miaomiao tried to shove his hand into Qin Zui’s pocket.
“Then contact him directly.” Qin Zui mercilessly pushed his hand away.
“I don’t have his number or his WeChat. And if I ask him, he’ll probably just tell my uncle!” Failing to warm his hand, Du Miaomiao pulled a bottle of hot milk tea from inside his jacket and shoved it into Qin Zui’s hands. “I need you to ask him a favor. We have a parent-teacher conference next week. I want him to come as my parent for me.”
Parent-teacher conference?
“Your uncle’s not home?” Qin Zui asked, looking at him.
“Ugh, you ask too many questions.” Du Miaomiao hopped impatiently. “If I wanted to ask my uncle, why would I be talking to you about this? Just tell him.”
“What if he doesn’t want to?” Qin Zui pressed.
“Then I’ll ask Uncle Benzi.” Du Miaomiao sounded a bit dejected. “Actually, Uncle Benzi would be best for this kind of thing. But he’s too fat. He doesn’t have your brother’s looks. We wouldn’t look like we’re from the same family…”
“Idiot.” Qin Zui almost laughed. He shoved the milk tea back at Du Miaomiao and turned to go back to class.
“Remember to tell him!” Du Miaomiao hissed after him. “Talk to him about it when you get home tonight. Don’t let him call my unc— Ah!”
Before he could finish, the students passing by gasped along with him.
Qin Zui spun around immediately. Du Miaomiao must have slipped while hopping, or someone accidentally bumped into him. He stumbled, his body tilting precariously towards the stairs, one arm reaching out towards Qin Zui.
Qin Zui quickly stepped forward and grabbed him. He managed to pull him back, but just then, Du Miaomiao’s hot milk tea bottle rolled right under Qin Zui’s heel. Tripped, Qin Zui stumbled backward several steps. Du Miaomiao, carried by the momentum, fell onto him. As they hit the ground, Qin Zui’s left ankle slammed hard against the metal railing of the corner.
“Holy shit! You scared me to death!” Du Miaomiao pushed himself up onto his knees. The feeling of weightlessness from the slip had broken out a cold sweat on his back. He wasn’t cold anymore.
A few classmates rushed over to help them up. Du Miaomiao bent down to pick up the milk tea. When he turned to call out to Qin Zui, he saw Qin Zui’s expression change as he stood up, staring down at his left foot.
“You okay?” Du Miaomiao froze, then bent down to touch Qin Zui’s calf.
“Don’t touch me.” A bead of cold sweat rolled down Qin Zui’s temple. He carefully put some weight on his left foot, testing it. He frowned. “Might be dislocated.”
