Chapter 16

After seeing Huang Huazhu off, He Yingjie did not return to the living room to continue drinking her tea. Instead, she walked upstairs and knocked on Qiu Baozhu’s door.

“...Mom.” When Qiu Baozhu opened the door and saw He Yingjie, the word “Mom” rolled around in his stomach before finally slipping out between his teeth.

He didn’t want He Yingjie to notice anything unusual about him.

He Yingjie said, “Have you been short-tempered lately?”

She didn’t look angry; rather, she smiled indulgently, which left him puzzled.

Seeing Qiu Baozhu remain silent, she stepped into the boy’s room.

He Yingjie ran her fingers along the edge of the desk and finally sat down on the chair, resting her chin on her hand. “Actually, I’ve always hoped you’d have a bit of your own temper. You’re too easygoing, which makes people look down on you and easy to bully. When you were little, you were often bullied, weren’t you? Then you made me stand up for you, right?”

The door was left ajar. Qiu Baozhu stood at the threshold, not entering the room, his expression gloomy.

He put on many performances in front of Wei Shu; when his mood relaxed, he could still put on a dramatic show.

“Yes, Mom.” The boy’s mood seemed to darken in response to He Yingjie’s words.

Facing her, Qiu Baozhu felt less pressure—much less than when facing Wei Shu.

Seeing his pitiful expression, He Yingjie’s tone softened involuntarily. “If you encounter these things again, don’t try to handle them yourself. You’re not an adult yet. You don’t understand, the world isn’t what you think it is.”

Qiu Baozhu nodded lazily.

He had heard similar advice from Wei Shu countless times.

Seeing that he clearly didn’t want to listen, He Yingjie didn’t get upset.

Tapping the desk with her fingers, her tone brightened. “Now, let’s talk about something serious. Next Saturday is your and Qiu Fei’s seventeenth birthday. How would you like to celebrate?”

He Yingjie counted on her fingers, “At home or at a hotel? Which do you prefer? Do you have a favorite style for the birthday decorations? If not, we can stick to the fairy tale theme like previous years.”

“Also, should we send invitations to the whole class again? Mom thinks if someone didn’t come last year, maybe they don’t need an invitation this year. What do you think, Baozhu?” Her gentle tone made it hard not to rely on and obey her.

After listening for a while, Qiu Baozhu finally looked up. “Shouldn’t you ask Qiu Fei’s opinion?”

He Yingjie replied helplessly, “Qiu Fei probably doesn’t like these things.”

“Then you should ask him anyway. Maybe he has his own ideas about celebrating,” Qiu Baozhu insisted.

Under the lamp, the bright yellow nails on her fingers flickered as she tapped the desk. She stared intently at the boy for a moment before nodding. “Alright, I’ll have Xiao Wan ask Qiu Fei then.”

“I don’t even know what Qiu Fei likes...” she muttered as she stood up. “Are you busy with school lately? I noticed you sometimes seem distracted when eating.”

Qiu Baozhu recalled secretly drawing and avoided He Yingjie’s gaze, simply nodding. “A little.”

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Grades aren’t everything.”

She approached him, cupping his face lightly in her hands, sighing, “Look, you seem to have dark circles under your eyes. You’re not looking well.”

Through He Yingjie’s well-maintained face, Qiu Baozhu remembered how his seventeen-year-old self might have responded to such a sigh.

“No way,” he twisted his chin away from her hands and pouted, “It’s because Mom doesn’t love me anymore.”

He Yingjie laughed out loud.

“Alright, alright, really,” she said, fondly squeezing his cheeks, “No matter what you become, Mom will always love you.”

Her reaction confirmed that Qiu Baozhu’s reply was right and flawless.

The boy’s lips curved into a small smile as he shyly lowered his long eyelashes, his green eyes calm and clear.

—

Late at night, Qiu Baozhu quietly carried his pillow and sunflower blanket to Qiu Fei’s room.

Qiu Fei leaned against the headboard. When he saw him, he just lifted his eyes slightly before lowering his gaze back to the book in his hands.

“The biography of Ramanujan,” Qiu Baozhu said softly as he slipped in carefully under the covers. “A mathematical genius, right?”

“You know about him?” Qiu Fei’s tone was surprised.

“I’ve heard of him, but I’m not familiar.”

“He died young. Even if he were still alive, you wouldn’t know him.” Qiu Fei flipped a page but suddenly stopped.

He turned his head, expressionless, looking down at Qiu Baozhu, who obediently held the blanket corner with bright eyes.

“Did you just bring that dirty blanket with you?”

“No.”

Qiu Fei closed the book and reached under the covers, pulling out a corner of the blanket. They exchanged a silent glance.

“What’s this?”

“It can’t leave me.”

Qiu Baozhu tugged the blanket corner from Qiu Fei’s hand and tucked it back under the covers, feeling satisfied and secure again.

“...”

Qiu Fei put down the book and lay back, removing his glasses.

He neither closed his eyes nor spoke.

“Qiu Fei?”

“Hmm.”

“How long has it been since we last slept together?”

“I can’t remember. Four or five years, I guess.”

Seems about right...

“Qiu Fei, how do you want to celebrate your birthday this year?” Qiu Baozhu worried that He Yingjie had only verbally agreed to ask him through Aunt Xiao Wan, so he decided to ask Qiu Fei himself, hoping to let his brother feel his care.

Qiu Fei was silent for a long time.

“Aunt Xiao Wan asked me before. I don’t have any special ideas. Just like before.”

Before?

Qiu Baozhu thought back.

They were born in the same hour and had always celebrated their birthdays together.

But almost every birthday party seemed to center only on him, never Qiu Fei.

Qiu Baozhu had tried to fight for Qiu Fei’s interests.

On his own birthday in eighth grade, he replaced his favorite floral and balloon decorations with astronomy and airplane themes Qiu Fei liked.

He even wrote on the invitation: “An aerospace-themed birthday party!”

But when it was time for Qiu Fei to appear, he refused to come downstairs, burying himself in books, wasting Qiu Baozhu’s half-month of effort and turning the party into a joke in many classmates’ eyes.

After that, Qiu Baozhu stopped caring about Qiu Fei’s birthday arrangements.

One year, He Yingjie’s invitations didn’t even have Qiu Fei’s name on them.

“What flavor cake do you want?” If it weren’t for the fact that Qiu Fei had cherished him deeply in a past life, Qiu Baozhu probably wouldn’t bother with him.

“Order whatever you like.”

“Order two—one raspberry pine nut and one Longjing tea cheesecake.” Qiu Baozhu released his grip on A Beibei and began to plan.

Qiu Fei’s eyes flickered. He hadn’t expected Qiu Baozhu to know his favorite cake flavors.

Because he thought Qiu Baozhu’s animalistic instincts outweighed his humanity.

Qiu Fei didn’t know exactly what kind of animal Qiu Baozhu resembled, but many of his actions made Qiu Fei feel his feelings weren’t wrong.

Little animals don’t know what others truly need.

They only show kindness in ways they like or have, even if the recipient doesn’t need it or feels burdened.

“Qiu Baozhu, have you been going through something lately?” Qiu Fei whispered, almost murmuring.

Time seemed to flow and freeze simultaneously, filling the room with an eerie silence.

After a long moment, Qiu Baozhu cleared his throat.

“Qiu Fei, I had a dream. I dreamt I died.” He spoke hesitantly, then turned toward Qiu Fei, suddenly curious. “Qiu Fei, if I really died, what would you do?”

The boy was curious about how people would react to his death—those he liked and those he didn’t—all of them.

But now, only Qiu Fei was by his side.

He definitely wouldn’t ask Wei Shu what he would do if he died.

Given their current relationship, Wei Shu might think he was confessing.

“I guess... nothing much,” Qiu Fei said, hands behind his head. “People die, it’s natural, only the order is different. You leave here, but soon you’d have a new beginning elsewhere.”

Well then...

“Are you acting off because you’ve been thinking about these kinds of things?” Qiu Fei’s tone returned to normal.

Qiu Baozhu silently stroked A Beibei.

Qiu Fei caught a glimpse of his hesitant expression and easily recalled the fierce way Baozhu had swung his tennis racket during gym class earlier. Changing the subject, he asked, “Do you have some grudge against Wei Shu? You seem to really dislike him.”

“A little,” Qiu Baozhu gasped softly, speaking slowly, having prepared a reasonable explanation in his heart.

“He was cornered by some people before, I helped him call the police, and he told me not to meddle!”

The boy’s tone grew firm and intense; his green eyes burned brighter with anger.

Qiu Fei believed him.

“Wei Shu’s family situation is complicated. It’s perfectly normal for him to be distrustful.”

He understood very well. His brother was someone adored by all, but when he showed kindness, he was scolded, which must have hurt deeply.

Perhaps because of their blood connection, or maybe some twin telepathy, Qiu Fei frowned unconsciously.

But after a moment, he regained composure.

He said slowly, “Those people have their own code of conduct within their field. Your calling the police broke those unspoken rules. Wei Shu probably didn’t want you to get into trouble because of him.”

Qiu Fei seemed to anticipate what Qiu Baozhu might say next and added, “In fact, it turned out that Wei Shu was right to tell you not to interfere.”

He was referring to the incident where Huang Huazhu came looking for Qiu Baozhu afterward.

Listening to Qiu Fei, Qiu Baozhu kept pinching the palm of his hand.

He didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t want to hear that Wei Shu was looking out for him.

The boy remained silent.

Qiu Fei looked at him questioningly, only to see his cheeks puffed out like balloons.

“What’s wrong?”

Qiu Baozhu’s courage wavered as he voiced the question he’d long feared, seemingly confirmed by reality.

“Qiu Fei, do you think Wei Shu likes me?”

The next moment, a crisp “snap” sounded, and everything went dark before Qiu Baozhu’s eyes.

Qiu Fei’s voice came softly.

“...We have class tomorrow. Go to sleep early.”