Chapter 27 (1/2)

Chapter 27

Shi Yan looked like a lion whose whole body of hair had suddenly stood on its ends, his anger was so obvious that He Nuo couldn’t overlook it. But He Nuo wasn’t nervous, or worried. Every time Shi Yan looked this fierce or talked to him in a cold manner were times when he wouldn’t really harm He Nuo; it was actually the contrary, when he had on a relaxed smile on his face that looked devoid of malice that he had a stomach full of evil water. Right now, more or less He Nuo understood that Shi Yan was the type who couldn’t bring across his good intentions in a nice way. He saw Shi Yan pick up a cup of warm water and some tablets, then he walked over looking like a devil, “Eat this!”

After he ate the medicine and gave his thanks, He Nuo looked at the clock hanging on the wall. He couldn’t return home too late, so he decided to wear his trousers. Shi Yan took out a sealed plastic bag from his bag and threw it over, “Wear this.”

“?” He Nuo picked it up to take a look, and saw that it was a new piece of underwear. He was embarra.s.sed, “I don’t want this, I’ll wear back my old one.”

“It’s new, what’s there to dislike?”

For the past several years, He Nuo had always reused his brother’s old underwear. Recently, he would cut up pants that he had grown out of and sew the sides to use them as underwear, so of course it wasn’t that he disliked what Shi Yan had bought. But if he accepted others’ gifts, he would feel like he owed them a debt and that thought made him uncomfortable, especially when the favour came from someone like Shi Yan whom he couldn’t afford to repay.

“That’s, that’s not what I meant.” He Nuo stuttered a bit as he didn’t know how to explain himself. In the end, he still decided to rewear his old underwear.

Shi Yan s.n.a.t.c.hed his underwear over, threw it away, and tore open the plastic bag he brought, “Yours is so tattered and small, is it comfortable to strangle that area! No wonder your little fella’s so small. This piece is mine, once you wear it your little fella will definitely grow bigger. And coincidentally, it’s better for you to wear looser underwear for now.” He took out the underwear and pa.s.sed it to He Nuo, the latter was embarra.s.sed to death by his words and refused to take it.

“What? Do you want Laozi to personally clothe you? Then I’ll do it.” As he spoke, Shi Yan stayed true to his words and squatted down.

He Nuo quickly s.n.a.t.c.hed the underwear and he didn’t dare to look at Shi Yan as he wore it himself. But it was still a bit inconvenient for him, so halfway through Shi Yan had to help him before he could finish wearing his trousers. Shi Yan stood up and put some medicine into He Nuo’s bag, “When you go back read the instruction manual yourself, instructions for usage are written there.”

“Un, thank you.”

Shi Yan sent He Nuo home on his bicycle. He Nuo asked Shi Yan to drop him off before a row of single-storey buildings, then he would walk the rest of the way himself. Shi Yan ensured that the lone, skinny figure went through his house door before he left.

On Monday after school, He Nuo didn’t immediately pick up his bag and leave as usual. His walking posture was still a little weird, and he could only take small steps, so he wanted to wait for the crowd to disperse before leaving. But the moment he left his cla.s.sroom, he saw that a few of Shi Yan’s buddies hadn’t left and his heart immediately jumped in fright while his nerves were highly strung. When he saw one of them walk towards him, he had to force himself to stand rooted and not take a step back. When that guy walked over, he put his arm around He Nuo’s shoulder, “Hey, bro, the other day our joke was a bit over the top but it was an accident, so we hope you won’t mind it.”

He Nuo’s heart was filled with ten thousand points of shock, but he remained expressionless. Or rather, there was just too much going through his head and he didn’t know what to say.